Going to GIAL! ... sometime ...

Hey friends,

I got officially accepted to GIAL! Ok, I guess I need to back up. I applied to the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics. It is a school in Dallas, TX that is associated with SIL and Wycliffe Bible Translators. I applied for the certificate program which can be done in either 5 or 10 months. I would be studying grammar, phonetics, phonology, second language acquisition, and all that other good stuff.

I was planning on going in July and doing it in 10 months. However, I may not be able to go in July for financial reasons. If not, I can save up money and go in January and do it in 5 months. So, either way, I would finish in May ‘08. So that’s a good thing. Please pray for wisdom […and money…] for that decision.

Another complication to that was that my hours at my job got drastically cut back last week. I only worked 2 days last week. But yesterday I got another job! Praise God!

That’s it for now. Thanks for praying.

Important Update about SE Asia Trip

As you know I was planning on going to SE Asia this summer on a missions trip to observe what God is doing in Bible translation. After praying a lot about this I have realized that since I know that this is what God wants me to do I should take a proactive step in pursuing an education in Bible translation rather than observing it. I have decided not to go to SE Asia, but instead go to some type of training program in the summer or fall. I really feel at peace about this decision. Thanks for your prayers. I really appreciate them.

If I have failed to tell you personally, I am sorry. It is because I have a lot of people I needed to tell and I probably did not get to you yet. If you have any questions, I would love to answer them. Please email me: rachelstaab [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com.

Pantone Prophets Predict Palette

They have done it again. Pantone is out with the fall 2007 color report. This fall, women’s fashion colors will be bold and dramatic. No neutrals for us, kids.

The yellow color they have chosen is called “Lemon Curry” - a fitting name as it looks exactly like the color of dhal. Dha is a lentil sauce that, combined with rice, is a staple in Bangladesh where I grew up. Oh… and the connection with curry would be that rice and dahl is the foundation for a curry meal. Check it out: Pantone’s Lemon Curry vs. Mom’s Beef Curry on rice and dhal.

 

Now if they can just capture the color of the new rice growing in the patties… Impossible I’m afraid.

Original Valentine's Day Cards

I created a series of Valentine’s Day cards this year. They are may be available for ordering here someday... I enjoy designing greeting cards–something about the importance of both the imagery and concise wording. I created this one first:

It incorporates the last five lines of Shakespeare’s Sonnet XXIX (29), my favorite of his sonnets. I originally put the whole sonnet on there, but it ended up being too crowded. The cards are printed on 8.5 x 5.5 inch cardstock so the canvas ends up being 5.5 x 4.25 inches. Kinda small for an entire sonnet. So I trimmed it down to the best lines. Then from that I created this one:

I used the outline of one picture to mask another picture. I scanned in a doodle of a heart and incorporated that in. Then I made an even more simple card:

This one is the also what the inside of the first card looks like.

Original Christmas Cards

I designed these cards for an AIGA design contest.

I liked them and thought you might like them too. You know, it’s a requirement for me to like whatever I do. If I don’t like it, ain’t nobody going to like it. They might be available for purchase later.

Hope you like them.

Illustration Friday - Ghost

Clouds make me think of ghosts. And my friend’s face is pretty ghostly in the picture from which I derived this.

Illustration Friday - Smitten

One of my all-time favorite Bible verses is Psalm 45:10-11 I used “The Message” translation in this week’s IF illustration.