{Little Drummer} A Story + Christmas Photography

December 24, 2017December 24, 2017 | Allison

“Come,” they told me, “a newborn King to see.”

The journey was long, but we were strong.

“Our finest gifts we bring… to lay before the King.”

Blankets and wool against the cool.

“So to honor him… when we come.”

Kneel down, creaking sounds; bow low, down we go.

My father and the other shepherds knelt beside the manger in awe, but I stood back. I had come to see a king, and here was a child wrapped in dirty rags and laid in a feeding trough. I had come to see a palace, and here was a drafty stable shed. I had come to honor him, but he didn’t even look at me. The baby’s eyes were closed and he slept silently.

But then I remembered what the angels said, and a thrill of fear pierced me again at the thought of their thundering voices and blindingly bright faces, faces that had seen God Himself and yet deigned to appear to us, the lowest of the low. Shepherds. They had said, “You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger,” and at the thought, they had been filled with such ecstasy that they poured out the most beautiful and terrible song I had ever heard, with a thundering, pulsing beat that made my heart ache in reply. And they were right. There you were, sleeping among the stiff rags and coarse hay.

Remembering this, I knelt – out of obedience at first. But when you opened your eyes and looked straight into mine, I knew that you were no ordinary King: you were our Messiah, our Savior, the long awaited perfect Lamb, better than any unblemished sheep we raised for the temple. For in your new-opened eyes I saw the wisdom of eternity, and a love more beautiful and terrible than the song of the angels. Love for me, a lowly shepherd boy, a little drummer.

I longed to give you a gift then, a gift worthy of such a King. But I had nothing.

Little Baby,
I am a poor boy too.
I have no gift to bring
That’s fit to give the King.

I looked down at my feet in shame and there was my drum. The only thing I possessed. It would not do much good to give it to you, but maybe… I raised my eyes humbly to your mother who was watching you with worship on her calm and tired face. I asked her if I could play for you. My father held out a hand to stop me, but your mother smiled and nodded.

The night was silent then. Silent but for the rhythms in my memory, the precious stones I had collected on our journey until I had a chance to drop them one by one onto my drum. Now I let them go.

Tha-THUM. Pa-RUM. Tha-THUM. Pa-RUM. The piece started slowly and softly, to the deep beat of my own heart. Rip, strip; rip, strip. I added the comfortable beat of sheep chewing up grass.

The song was gaining strength, but it was still hungry. I fed it more rhythms, dropped more stones: The heartbeat quickened and pounded as the angels appeared, then the tempo scattered and broke into the complicated, powerful roll of the angels’ hymn that had nearly ripped my heart out when I listened. Finally the heartbeat slowed again, accompanied by the slap of our footsteps traveling to meet you. And then everything sped up and crashed together at the moment when you looked at me and I saw a Redeemer in your eyes.

I thought I was finished, but the rhythm took hold of me and I played a song I did not know, a song I had never learned. The staccato tempo of the donkey’s feet carrying your mother here. The cries of pain as she brought joy into the world. The first breath of a new life and yet a life that had always been. The sound of a thousand thousand hearts beating in unison, aching with longing for a King, a Savior to heal up the cracks where sin seeps through. And the shivering bleat of a perfect, unblemished little lamb who held deep power inside.

The song swelled and grew as I added each new rhythm, flying upwards and outwards until it blended with the billowing, whirling wind outside. The pulses crept under my closed eyelids and traveled with a delicious tingle down my cheeks and into my mouth, where they piled so high that the corners of my lips stretched up to hold them all. Still they kept seeping in until at last they overflowed and burst out my mouth in a jumble.

The laugh bounced off the drum with the rest of the precious stones, then followed them over the side, single file, until the only stone left was the soft, deep thump of my heartbeat. At last, it too danced off the drum and the world was silent once again. I sighed, satisfied, my gift completed.

I opened my eyes and looked at you. And you smiled at me.

**************

Well, that was fun! Maybe not the best thing I’ve written, but something I’ve been wanting to write for a while. I know, I just posted a Christmas story… sorry ’bout that. (I promise I will cut down on the writing and Christmas-themed posts and get back to normal after December. XD)

But I just love the Little Drummer Boy song. It’s such a sweet and powerful reminder that we, too, have nothing fit to give our King – and yet he laid down his life for us. Though we crown him with thorns, yet he smiles at us. The least we can do is play our life song to him in gratitude. ♥

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the little story and Christmasy pictures. 🙂 And MERRY CHRISTMAS, GUYS! I hope you have an absolutely stupendous one. ♥

***Allison***

Write Christmas: My Entry

December 17, 2017December 18, 2017 | Allison

Heyyy, guys! DID YOU KNOW IT’S ALMOST CHRISTMAS? Oh, you did? Well. Anyway, speaking of Christmas, I entered the “Write Christmas” writing contest (see details here), and I wanted to show you guys my submission today! 🙂

First, can I just say that writing an 800-word story is REALLY hard? I mean I love writing short stories, but this was a very short short story. O.o I edited and fiddled with it and finally got it down to exactly 800 words. XD

At the same time, a small word limit was quite helpful for practicing tight, clean writing, which I loved. Okay, enough about that stuff – here’s the story! I put the prompts I used at the end so they don’t spoil anything. 😉

Christmas Coal

William heard them whispering when they thought he was asleep. He wasn’t asleep because he was cold; that was what they were whispering about. The coldest Christmas Eve anyone could remember, with no coal to guard them from the gnashing, growling, wild wind that clawed through their leaking walls.

The boy’s heart ached as his mother’s whisper turned to a sob, and he wished longingly that he had money to get them coal for Christmas. But he had nothing – until the wind swept an idea into the room. William brushed his black hair out of his face along with the cold, dark thoughts, and fell asleep smiling.

The plan recycled itself through his head the next morning when he catapulted into the snowy streets. Every night on Christmas Eve, St. Nicholas appeared in the town square to spread gifts to children gathered there. But before he did, he always asked if they had been good that year, else they would get naught from him but coal. A bag of coal, and just for being naughty!

William’s first victim was a horse and carriage. He darted in front of a strutting gray mare, shouting and waving his hands until the horse reared back in terror, nearly slamming the carriage into an iron railing. There, he thought grimly. Surely that was naughty enough for a bag of coal. But as he spun around to leave, the driver clambered out of his seat and rushed toward the boy, whose eyes widened as he was met not with a box to the ears, but an embrace.

“Oh! What a brave one ye are, lad! M’horse wouldna be prancin’ so pretty if na for thee. Who could ha made so deep a pit right in t’middle o’ t’street, I canna fathom, but I bless the good Lord who sent thee today.” The old man winked and pressed a silver-wrapped chocolate into the boy’s palm. He watched blankly as the driver remounted and carefully maneuvered his steed around the snow-covered hole. All that risk for nothing! Ah well, at least he had thought of a second plan.

William shuffled slowly along the sidewalk, waiting for an older boy and girl to pass. When they did, he rushed between them, holding a sprig of mistletoe above their heads. The boy and girl stopped and glanced at each other with delighted smiles of recognition, then at the leaves in the air. The older boy chuckled awkwardly. The girl blushed and murmured something. Suddenly, to William’s horror, they kissed, right under his hands! He drew back in disgust, but not before the girl had pressed a golden butterscotch into his hand.

“I’ve been waiting so long,” she whispered happily. “Thank you. And Merry Christmas!” The boy only nodded in confusion and stumbled off, leaving the two talking and smiling together. How could this have happened again? At this rate he was never going to get his coal!

But as the afternoon wore on, each new plan was received with gratitude and a piece of candy instead of the angry words he eagerly anticipated. Why was it so hard to be naughty now, and so easy the rest of the year when he tried to be good?

Finally, as night arrived, William had one last chance. There sat a bag coal, waiting temptingly on the doorstep of a shabby house for him to snatch it up and race home. But his hand was stayed by snatches of a carol sung in a sweet, high voice nearby. “Do you know what I know? A child, a child, shivers in the cold – let us bring him silver and gold, let us bring him silver and gold!”

The boy stopped. He pulled his thin jacket closer around him and closed his eyes miserably. If the High King had given up Paradise to shiver in a cold stable that he might warm the icy, sinful heart of all the world, how could he steal warmth from a stranger who might need it more than he? William knew the answer: he couldn’t. He would gather some wood from the park, and though it wouldn’t burn long, it would warm his family for a bit. And at least he had the candy.

But William gazed at his handful of gold and silver sweets in his palm, and then looked up to see the caroler standing near. She was very small and thin, with dirty red hair and hollow cheeks. Her eyes were bright, and she was smiling at him.

All at once he stood up and held out the candy. The girl gasped with delight. Then she caught up the bag of coal behind him and held it out too. “Take it, please,” she beamed. “It’s an extra bag. We call it Christmas Coal.”

*********************

Prompts Used:

Ah, that was fun. 🙂 I hope you enjoyed reading it, dears! And since this post is so short, I thought I’d include some of my favorite Christmas songs/videos I discovered this year. The first one is hilarious, and the other two are just beautiful (and did you know the second one is sung by a fifteen-year-old?!). ♥ Let me know which one was your favorite, and Merry Christmas! 😀

***Allison***

Drawings and Such + Why It’s Okay to Make Bad Art

September 3, 2017November 12, 2018 | Allison

YAY, I am so excited to share some of my recent art with you guys! I’ve been drawing a lot lately, and I think I’ve really been improving, so that’s good. 😉

Also, before we start I wanted to mention this super good video (which I’ll show you in a moment) by Hullo Alice that talks about why it’s okay if not every piece of art turns out perfect. I thought it was such a good message!

Sometimes when people try to make art and it doesn’t end up looking like the idea in their head or they search the web and find soooo many better artists out there, they just give up, and think, “I’ll never be good at art, so what’s the use of trying?” The use of trying is that you WILL get good at art if you give yourself a chance. You might not ever get as good as the professional art you love looking at on Pinterest, but you’ll certainly be a terrible artist if you never try.

Listen, before you make some good art, you’re going to make (a lot of) bad art. That’s just how it works with anything – art, music, math, anything you try to learn. And that’s okay. Making bad art is part of the process of getting to be a good artist. If the piece you’re working on is terrible, just let it go, turn the page, and start again. You’ll get better if you keep trying over and over again, I can promise you that.

Okay, now that that little rant was over and you (hopefully) watched the video, I can show you my art. 🙂 I decided to include some of my “bad art” (although not my worst XD) in this post too.

Let’s get started!

I shall start with some of my favorite art I’ve created – a zentangle elephant. 🙂 It took me FOREVER to draw this, as you can probably guess. XD I had just purchased a new fine-tip pen at Hobby Lobby, and it was great for detailed work like this!

I also made a mandala in a similar style. I think it turned out so pretty! It’s probably the best mandala I’ve done, because usually they get pretty skewed. XD

Another mandala.. YIKES sorry for the terrible picture. O.o

Next up we have a little design I made for Livy’s magazine here (which you should totally check out!)

I’m also submitting this for the next issue of her magazine. 🙂 I had a lot of fun with this one!

I’m not really sure what I think of the next piece… I guess it’s neat, but it didn’t really turn out like I was hoping. Oh well! Waterfalls are really hard to draw, aren’t they?

OOH! I love this drawing I did of the lovely Aria from purrfectlyinspired.com. It’s the best portrait I’ve done, I think!

Okay, here’s something I drew from you guys’ suggestions: a fairy. In the spirit of the post, I shall show you the two horrible renditions it took before I got it to turn out right. XD (I used them for testing pens and stuff, in case you were wondering. 😉 )

Actually the first sketch isn’t that bad… just, well, a sketch.

AHH SO CREEPY. Her face got smudged and made it look even more awful. XD

But finally that bad art enabled me to draw a good piece. Muuuuch better, yes? I hope you like the fairy, Sylvia!

So for this one I was trying to draw something interesting without using any reference photos. Well I sure paid for that with how her legs turned out. XD YUCK. I could NOT get the foreshortening and angle and all that stuff right, so I just called it good enough and finished the picture. 😛 I like the rest of it, though!

Some little water drop doodles from this amazing tutorial. You might think these are good until you see what I was looking off of. XD

Here’s a (pretty rough) concept sketch I did for a possible WordCrafters cover. What do you think? Do you like the idea of all the characters lined up like that? Also I need a better tagline. XD Tell me your ideas! I’ll also do a more in-depth post when I’m ready to start editing WordCrafters.

Heh heh, do you like my play on words? Unfortunately the ink ran all over the place, but it’s okay because it wasn’t my best picture or anything. (It looks like the horse is shooting ink out of her nostrils. XD)

Ooh, this one is funny! I made this birthday card for my sister Megan who loves donkeys.

Ha ha! Yeah, I had fun with that. Although it took quite a while to draw the donkeys inside the card. O.o

Next we have a page of doodles. I picked a couple of random colors from my watercolor brush pen set and drew this. WHY DO THINGS LIKE THIS ALWAYS TAKE SO LONG?!

Here’s some bad-ish art. It got kind of all blurred together.

BWAHAHA this did NOT turn out right. Poor, failed pineapple. XD

Lookee it’s a cute wittle hedgehog from Clara’s suggestions! 🙂

Random watercolor doodle…

Blech, some more bad art. I very much dislike the color scheme – or lack of one.

I’m really happy with this one, though! I thought it turned out pretty cute. 🙂 My watercolor brush pens are so fun for drawings like this.

A doodle/test page.

I haven’t finished this one and don’t know if I will or not, but this was drawn from a photograph of dew drops on a flower.

I really like how this turned out! My best horse picture so far, definitely. It’s a picture of my friend K. A.‘s horse, Gadget.

few more pages from my Bible journal… (would you like to see another whole post about it?)

Here are the ATCs I made for Hayley’s ATC trade (now closed).

And lastly, we have another rendition of the moonrise galaxy painting I did here.

And that’s about it! As for the bad art, some of you are probably rolling your eyes and saying, “Allison, seriously? You call that bad art?” Well I’ve done worse art – believe me. I just didn’t show it. XD Anyway, I know the feeling. I see “bad art” from other artists and I’m like “WHOA I wish I could draw that well!” And so you see, it depends on your perspective. Your bad art might be more beautiful than you think. ♥

I hope you enjoyed this post! Which pieces were you favorite? Do you have any suggestions for what I should draw next?

***Allison***

P. S. My county fair post is coming up next! 🙂

Art Lab, Episode 19: Galaxy Art

January 20, 2017November 12, 2018 | Allison

Hi, guys! Welcome back to Art Lab.

I’m so excited for today’s “art lesson” on how to draw galaxies! I learned this from the lovely video down below which was made by a teenage artist named Sydney Nielsen. She is super good at drawing!

Art Inspiration:

Ahh, so pretty. 🙂 I decided to use a slightly different technique but with the same idea for today’s art.

I started with a black paper, so it would blend in with the rest of the drawing better, but you could definitely use white if you want. I also wanted to try using oil pastels instead of colored pencils, and it turned out very well! So just a note: whenever I say “oil pastels” in this tutorial, you can also use colored pencils like she showed in the video.

Let’s get started!

You will need the following:

paper, blank envelope, or ATC
oil pastels (or colored pencils – the higher quality ones like Prismacolor work best for blending)
white acrylic paint
paintbrush
white gel pen (optional)

1. Like the video showed, I started with light colors and gradually blended in the darker shades. I used the pink and blue combination because 1.) it looked so pretty when Sydney used them and 2.) there were several shades of each in my oil pastel box. XD

galaxy-1-1280x854 — Blech, what terrible picture quality. XD

2. Next I drew in the white sparkle stars. I think this is what makes the piece really special and space-y. 🙂

3. Almost done! Just need to finish the stars yet. Get out your white acrylic paint and start splattering. It works best to get your brush a little wet before splattering the paint, but you don’t have to. Do NOT do this step on your mom’s favorite fuzzy rug or in your best Sunday clothes. Trust me, that will not end well. XD

If you want, add a few more sparkle stars with a white gel pen. I like to do this because they stand out more than the pastel or colored pencil stars do. And you’re done!

Isn’t it pretty?

I hope you enjoyed this episode of Art Lab, dear readers. 😀 Have fun! And like always, if you make some art inspired by this post and would like to share it with us, we’d be delighted to see it! Get the details on how to send to us here, over at The Art Lab blog.

***Allison***

Merry Christmas to All! :D

December 24, 2016December 24, 2016 | Allison

OH MY GOODNESS IT’S CHRISTMAS TOMORROW! How can that BE?!

I hope you guys had a great Christmas Eve! We sure did. 😀 We went to a Christmas celebration at my grandparent’s house where we ate tons of delicious food and played so many fun games. Then we visited my great grandma who sadly is in the hospital right now (nothing life-threatening though, thankfully). And after that we went home where we put on our new pajamas, made some popcorn and hot cocoa, and drove around looking at Christmas lights. So fun!

Well, I thought I’d post a little Christmas photoshoot to get you extra much in the Christmas mood. 🙂 And also because I LOVE these colored Christmas lights! Enjoy!

Ohhh I love Christmas bokeh so much. ♥♥♥ 😀 Did you have a favorite picture? My favorites were the 7th and 8th and the last two . 😀

WAIT. Before you go, I really want to show you this amazing, inspiring video Dad found last night. This girl is ten years old, and she has autism and ADHD. She also has a beautiful, beautiful voice. The article said she started singing to build her confidence at school. She sings the song “Broken Hallelujah”, but it’s a Christian version with different lyrics. I think it might be my new favorite Christmas song. ♥ Oh it’s sooo pretty! Listen for yourself:

Wasn’t that gorgeous? *Happy sigh*

Did you have a good Christmas Eve? Are you excited for Christmas? (Or did you have a good Christmas, if you’re reading this post after Sunday?)

***Allison***

P. S. My aunt who is a professional photographer came over the other day to give us our family pictures, and she helped me figure out my camera a bit more. It turns out my camera was on manual focus instead of auto focus, which was really annoying – it takes forever to focus using the focus ring, and for some reason it came that way when I bought it! Boy am I glad she fixed that for me. XD It’s weird because I knew my way around my old camera really, really well, and now I feel like a beginner again with my new dSLR. XD Oh well, it’s exciting!

Crayfish Cleaning

October 12, 2015June 5, 2016 | Allison

Ladies and gents, I present my new video! Enjoy! (This crayfish is named “Duncan,” by the way. ☺)

Isn’t it weird how he cleans his eyes? It looks painful!

***Allison***

A New Video of… a Fly?

October 1, 2015June 5, 2016 | Allison

Yep, my new video is of a fly. But flies are more interesting than you might think. It’s fascinating to watch when them clean themselves. When this little guy cleans his head it looks like he’s about to pop it off, and just take a look at his proboscis!

Here’s a bonus picture. 🙂

Look at those big compound eyes and delicate wings!

***Allison***

Metamorphosis

July 30, 2015June 5, 2016 | Allison

Recently, we have been picking caterpillar after caterpillar off the parsley and dill in our garden. So far we have, hmmm, I think 11 caterpillars! Some are small, some are big, and some are in chrysalises! We had the privilege of watching a few caterpillars turn into chrysalises right before our eyes: the caterpillars hung from a branch or twig for, I don’t know, maybe 24 hours, and then in like five minutes they shed their skin, and there was the chrysalis!

I took a video of this below.

The caterpillars are really easy pets to take care of, but boy do they eat! That’s pretty much the only thing they’re interested in. The six caterpillars in chrysalises right now don’t eat (of course!), but the four others are just stuffing themselves. Every once in a while they shed their skin so they can have room for more food, so they can get bigger, so they can turn into chrysalises, so they can turn into butterflies, so they can lay eggs, so the eggs can hatch, so more caterpillars can stuff themselves! It’s a never ending cycle. These particular caterpillars are black swallowtails. I can’t wait to watch them turn into butterflies, and hopefully I can get a video of that too!

Have you ever kept caterpillars as pets? Did you get to see them turn into butterflies?

***Allison***

A Caterpillar Eats His Skin

July 10, 2015June 5, 2016 | Allison

This little guy came over on a carrot top, shed his skin, and ATE it! We didn’t see him shed his skin, but we got to see him eat it! Here are some photos, and a video! (Doesn’t it look like he’s eating to the music?!)