Typography Adventure

It has been an exciting week! I've been trying to take advantage of the last week of winter break by creating things that have been in in my mind for a while (esp the build your kingdom one). I didn't intend to make something every day, but somehow it ended up that way. And shh, it sounds bad, but the best inspirations come from doodling during messages. Here are all the ones I made this week! Instagram has been a great place to learn and get inspiration from designers, typographers (is that what you call them?), and photographers. It's so exciting creating things!

This was based on missionary Elijah Park's seminar for the youth group last Saturday. He taught us the importance of studying (not just reading) the Bible - why we should study it and how we should study it. The main thing that stuck out to me was "read, read, read." In order to study the Bible, we must read the same passages over and over again. And then we will gain a deeper understanding of the passages. I realized that reading the Bible is a continuous process. If you read the Bible once, that's good. But that's only the beginning of your journey of knowing God! I also realized that I have merely been reading the Bible the past few months. I read it, but I didn't gain much understanding. I want to be able to meditate on a few passages this year and truly glean from it! But of course, I can't do this without the help of the Holy Spirit. 

The background is the foundation of the addition to our church! I also love the lyrics of the sound "Build Your Kingdom Here" by Rend Collective and see is as a prayer for our church. Listen to the song here!

flat brush + ink
This was part of Susan's new years key verse that stuck out to me the most. "And I realized we're all broken." And this made me wonder - how many times do we see people smiling and seemingly happy on the outside, but completely broken on the inside? Probably far more than we realize. I believe this perspective will change how we treat and love others!

This was from Aug's message to the youth group a few weeks ago. He encouraged the youth group to truly love one another.

background: Quantums Cafe, Comp Sci Building at UMCP
"Lord I need you" - the only way I survive every semester. I cannot believe the semester is about to start so soon! I'm still in vacation mode and I really cannot gauge how difficult this semester is going to be. But I pray that God will strengthen me and carry me through!

Aquash water brush + ink; background: NYC
Just a reminder that you are loved. (: 

From Philippians 2. I've been reminded this whole week about the importance of unity within a church. As a church, we are united by one common thing (person) - Jesus. And it's important to realize that. I may not have anything in common with some people at church, but it's okay. I am still called to love them because Jesus loves them. I can choose to lay aside my interests, and listen to theirs, because unity is more important than my interests. If you are interested, you can read the whole chapter here.

2014

As 2014 began, I decided to write post-its throughout the year, thanking God for the little and big things as well as my prayer topics. I finally went back and read all of them today! Although most of the post-its were written in March and the latest one written was in May, it was a good reminder of all that God has done. In 2014 I experienced new struggles, temptations, victories, failures, but through it all, I see God's goodness and favor over my life.

Here are a few:
"I'm thankful that God gave me such an awesome community to live in. Even though we do get annoyed at each other at times, God gave us each other. I've grown in so many ways because God, you have used those around me. 1/1014"
"I am so so thankful that our internet got faster and now I don't have to wait for videos to load. 1/15/14"
"So thankful God answered my prayers & I won the raffle for the iPad mini. 2/12/14"
"Shared Spring Symposium on Genesis 1 today. In you, there is life God and only in you. 3/10/14"
"God, I pray for summer plans. 3/26/14"

Looking back, it's cool to see that God answered all these prayer topics and provided in His perfect timing! I haven't blogged consistently last semester due, but I hope to blog more this semester.

Mason jar Preethi gave me last year for my birthday. :)

Abraham Lincoln

I wanted to document and share the process of digitalizing an artwork. I'm still in the process of learning how to use Adobe Illustrator so it's not perfect, but this is the workflow that I found that works for me! I think Abraham Lincoln's quote is the most complicated artwork I've created with Susan so far. How did this come to be? I really like this quote by Abraham Lincoln so I asked Susan if she had any ideas. After an hour or so she sent me this:

She drew this, took a picture of it, and texted it to me. 

I deleted the words using the eraser took and filled in the picture with black. I also changed the lighting. You can see that the lighting is kind of weird here, but I did this so that when I traced it on Adobe Illustrator, it could give me the cleanest look.

I opened the previous photo on Adobe Illustrator and clicked the "trace" button. Sometimes if the picture isn't clean enough, it doesn't give you the picture that you want. But this is what I wanted! Then I opened this file in photoshop to save it in JPEG.

Then I printed a copy of Susan's picture and rearranged and rewrote the words in pencil. Then I traced it one more time to a clean sheet of paper (bottom to top paper).

I traced the words with a pen as neatly as I could. Then I took a picture of it with my phone and put it in my dropbox. (Dropbox makes things soo much easier!)

I changed the lighting by changing the levels to try to get the cleanest look. I think I ended up erasing the speckles in the corners.

I took it to Illustrator and "traced" it. I also took it back to Photoshop and stretched some of the words. I think it's really subtle, but I think it made a difference. I tried to curve the words "you want to" and "a man's" a bit more so it could follow the overall shape more.

Then I made the words into a "brush preset."

Which allows me to use it as a brush and just "stamp" the words.

I "stamped" the quote on the Abraham Lincoln's face (which I created earlier) and took it to Adobe Illustrator and "traced" it for the last time. I might have also gone back and forth to work on little things. And ta-da, it was done! (Well, I realized there's still something wrong with it, but it was finished.)

So what is this "trace" thing I keep talking about? (It's all that I know how to do on Illustrator at the moment...haha). But it's really simple! You open your file and then just click "image trace" and just wait for it vectorize your image. The difference between Photoshop and Illustrator is that Photoshop is pixel based while Illustrator is vector based. This means that you can blow up whatever you make in Illustrator and it will still look good. But if you blow up something you make in Photoshop and you made it really small, you'll be able to see all the pixels once it's blown up.

2015 Key Verse Testimony

At our church, we write what we call a "Key Verse Testimony" each year. At the start of every year, we choose one Bible verse for the year that we hope to hold onto for the year. We also take time to reflect on the previous year. Here's what I wrote for this year!

As 2014 began, I chose 2 Timothy 4:2 as my new years key verse. 2 Timothy 4:2 says,

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage -- with great patience and careful instruction.” After learning the Word of God my whole life (19 years) I felt that God wanted me to share with others the gospel - the good news with my peers and what he had done in my life. If I believed the gospel to be true - that Jesus died for my sins and rose again from the dead to conquer death, what kind of friend was I if I didn’t share my beliefs with my closest friends? Though this is a constant struggle to talk to my friends about God, I believe God taught me over and over what the gospel was. And I am continually amazed that the simple gospel has the power to transform lives! In the beginning of the year, I had no idea where God was going to take me with this key verse but it has been very exciting! As the new school year began, I took upon new responsibilities as a youth group teacher. And it was (and is) a great opportunity for me to share the gospel with the youth kids. I used to read 2 Timothy 4:2 lightly but throughout the year I realized how difficult it is truly do what Paul commanded. “Correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.” As a high schooler, I thought it would be easy for adults to correct kids, but I realized how difficult it was to correct rebuke and encourage. I also studied the Bible with my friend Helena throughout the year. Although it was difficult to meet every week because of our conflicting schedules, I’m thankful for the times we did meet. As I shared my beliefs, I was reminded by God’s goodness - who God is as the creator, loving Father, etc. I realized the importance of Paul’s command to “preach the word…” I learned the joys of sharing God’s love with someone who has not experienced the love of God yet. However, I also learned of the difficulty and struggles of being dedicated to consistently have Bible study. The word of God has the power to fully transform lives. And I believe as believers, it is our responsibility to share this gospel - to share Jesus’ love because in the end that’s all that matters. I also learned that the work of God is fully His. The Holy Spirit works in His timing in people’s lives. My responsibility is not to convince others, but to simply share what God has done. And it is their decision to accept or reject him. But I also learned that there’s a greater responsibility when you teach others. I think that’s why Paul says - “with great patience and careful instruction.”

2014 was a year of creativity as well. God gave me opportunities to learn about video editing and typography with Susan. I also saw God provide in His perfect timing with my school work, grades (in both semesters), summer plans, and God taught me a lot through my key verse. God gave me boldness to share His words with friends, strangers, and the youth group. I also gave my first youth group message last year! I also learned of God’s sovereignty over my life.

For 2015, I believe that it will be a year of hope. I chose Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility value others above yourselves.” I can be really selfish and do things ultimately for my gain. I hope that I can continue to grow in loving and hoping for others, especially the youth group. Although this is really difficult, I hope to live out this verse by really consider others this year, following Jesus’ example of humility.

December in Pictures

Christmas Worship Service + actual birthday. So thankful for these guys!

Made during finals week during a "study break." #LightenupUMD

I turned twenty a few weeks ago. It's been a lot of fun celebrating over dinners and conversations. (:
This was dinner at Silver Diner with Hannah!

Panera with Susan, Mary Anna, and Luca!

Christmas card making date with Susan. 

My sister's DIY mug made by Susan

A Capitol model in the botanical garden in DC.

Testimony of God's Goodness

     Each semester seems to go by faster and faster each year! I want to take some time to reflect on God's goodness and sovereignty and share a bit of what God has done in my life throughout the last semester (I've been meaning to write this blog post for a while, but it's been hard to get back into writing blogposts after a while). A lot of people have asked me during the fall semester if my classes were difficult. Every semester in college is difficult - so I replied that yes, it was difficult. However it was difficult in a different sense than my previous semester had been. My spring semester of freshman year, I took BSCI207 (Principles of Biology III) and CHEM241 (Organic Chemistry II) which were really difficult classes. I spent a lot of time studying for both classes because they both required time to understand the material. However this semester, I took Genetics and General Chemistry II (gen chem 2), which were still difficult classes but easier than Principles of Biology II and Organic Chemistry II. God also provided new opportunities and I began my first year as a youth group teacher as well as a Guided Study Sessions (GSS) leader for Principles of Biology III. Both provided great learning experiences in leading small groups. I thank God for these opportunities!
      I also had to take gen chem 2 lab, which turned out to be more difficult than I expected it to be. In the beginning it was difficult to adjust to because you had to be very detailed oriented to do well in the class with significant figures and calculations. After a low grade on my third lab report, I began to ask God for help for each lab report. And it's amazing how God brought me through this class! These lab reports took the minimum of four hours each week. In high school, I would do all my work in the weekends before hanging out with my friends or work ahead so I wouldn't get behind (Yes, I would do homework on Friday nights). However, I found myself unable to do any serious schoolwork over the weekends this past semester due to events and meetings. This was really stressful because I would have to do all my work and studying during the weekdays. However, God never failed to provide and I began to do well in gen chem 2!
     ...Until I was looking through my gen chem lab folder over Thanksgiving break only to realize I had forgotten to turn in my lab report the last lab. Ironically I went to lab early that week. I was trying to figure out what the lab that week was going to be like because it seemed like my lab mates also had no idea what was happening. And so, I completely forgot to turn in my lab report (it was completed and in my folder in lab). I emailed my TA and even asked my professor, but they wouldn't accept the late lab report. So I couldn't do anything but take the 0 for the lab report. And so I received a 10/75 for that lab (10 points from prelab quiz and notebook). At that point, it dropped my grade 7.5%.
     Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Even though it was difficult to see and believe the good at the moment, I trusted that God would use this situation for his glory. Although this was near the end of the semester, there were a lot more points to be earned in the class with 3 more lab reports, a second midterm, and the final. I ended up doing well on the midterm and final. And due to the curve, I got an A in gen chem 2 lab! I thank God for helping me with each lab report, midterm, and the final. And I am so thankful for my parents and friends who prayed for me. Also (this may be something small) in the syllabus, my professor said the lab reports were going to be worth a certain percentage of our grade and our tests were going to be worth a certain percentage of our grade as well. Somehow he exceeded the points for the lab reports and had to scale back our grade to what he said in the syllabus. While this brought down some people's grade, I think this actually helped raised my grade. Just through all this, I see God's sovereign hand over my life. It's hard to believe we're at the end of December and beginning 2015 very soon. 2014 has been a really exciting year for me and it really has been a year of creativity! I am also looking forward to all that God has in store for us in 2015! (I'll try to write more reflections because it's been too long!).

God is good. All the time.

Winter Photoshoot - Rebekah

Took a few pictures with Rebekah today in our usual place (the woods near our house)!