Giving Thanks and Gearing Up

Allow me to present Four Hats Press' December Valentines. Send warm wishes someone's way with one of these three cards, now available at www.fourhatspress.com, at Urban Standard,Charm or Zoe's Consignment. Happy Holidays!

Maybe it is so

(from here)

The below stanza of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" is kicking my sorry-for-myself-life's-so-hard behind. I'll bet, on the first Christmas night, all worries and chatter ceased when an army of angels broke through the pristine winter night to put sound to glory. No matter how burdensome life was, Christ's first breath signaled hope for glad and golden hours. He is coming, He is here. Maybe it is true that God puts truth in the mouths of men. Maybe He does look for various ways to remind us when we've forgotten.

O ye beneath life's crushing load,

Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow;
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
Oh rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing.

This version of the song is my choice this season. And yes, I'm listening to it now -- five whole days before Thanksgiving.

A Joy Ride

It was a real treat to create this two-color letterpressed wedding invite for two friends after a sunrise bike ride culminated in their engagement. My sincerest congratulations

and best wishes for a happy marriage ahead.

Out of the Quiet

image from here

I know I haven't been very vocal in this space lately. If I'm quite honest, it's not that I've been too busy to put ink to my thoughts. Neither has it been that I've been processing my life in alternate ways. The plain truth is that I just haven't had much to say. I've been gliding through a life that's become my normal, complete with its joys and frustrations.

That was until I was recently challenged by a friend to think about God's goodness. How can I know if He is good if it only appears as though He is good to some?

Soon after our discussion, I prayed to the Lord to help me to see Him as not just good-to-me, but as GOOD. I don't think I even know what that means, if I've only ever perceived it as material blessing, financial security, relational comfort. If I count God's kindness to me as the good things I've gotten from him, I've bought into a small-minded theology.

As sure as He lives, He's begun to answer my prayers to see and know Him apart from His gifts. In a real, in-my-face way, I'm being called to trust again in a God I cannot see. I'm being asked to believe in a God that provides, a God called El Shaddai, All Sufficient. I cling to the wisdom of Proverbs that asserts:

Those who trust in their riches wll fall,

but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

Proverbs 11:28

Going to the Chapel

(photo by this guy)

I recently had the pleasure of printing a wedding invite and thank-you card set for the above-pictured maritally blissful couple. It was a treat to do the work for friends, to work with them to create an image particular to their story and to take a small part in the continuation of their beautiful lives together. Below are some images of the final products.


I've taken on a couple more wedding suite jobs, and am immensely enjoying the start-to-finish process of creating something for such a special day in two people's journey together. While my studio access is limited, I work when and how I can to print, print, print. I love the work and hope and pray that I am taking the right steps towards making it my business to be hip to hip with my own hunk of metal soon. Stick with me. Four hats press is on the move.

Fall Feast Your Eyes

...on these letterpressed November Valentines from fourhatspress.

Send a sweet note to one who seasons your life with bright color and flavor.

Find them here, at Urban Standard, Zoe's Consignment or Charm.

More Days of Fall Fun

It's my favorite time of year. When greens fade and turn to gold and orange, shining their brightest before they gracefully fall again to earth to die and begin again. The sky blue deepens; the air smells cleaner. The crisp air begs for fires and warm cups. Oh, I love the autumn.

This weekend marked my 4th Annual Day of Fall Fun, complete with many of the above things together with fun friends, tasty seasonal foods, and pumpkins.

Then, last night, it was a Halloween party, to which I donned

the below handmade (by Jacob) costume.

A french kiss, just like on my latest Sweet Something card!