The Cloth Sloth
Handmade with love by Lisa Barker
April 7, 2026
The Cup and Thimble Project
This cup and thimble project began in a simple conversation among friends. One friend spoke about the challenges of living with a chronic health condition, and another responded, “Some days you are a cup, and some days you are a thimble.”
From that image came these textile teacups, made from upcycled fabric, each paired with a thimble – a tangible reminder that our capacity is not fixed.
Some days we feel large -- able to hold, give, and carry so much. Other days, we feel smaller, shaped by stress, illness, or the quiet, unseen weight of being human. This piece is a reminder that our worth is not measured by how much we can hold or pour out, but by our presence in each moment, exactly as we are.
The thimble speaks to those days when we feel small or limited. Though tiny, it serves an essential purpose -- it protects, it supports, it makes creation possible. In the same way, even on our smallest days, what we hold and offer still matters.
There is beauty and meaning in showing up as we are, whether that is a cup or a thimble. Both are enough. Always
Empty Vessel
by Karly Randolph Pitman
with thanks to Carol Ames for the image and Lisa Barker for the prompt
A thimble can hold a teaspoon of water, a pitcher, a gallon. A tea cup, somewhere in between. Our hearts were made to be capacious – to stretch and hold and feel. But the body has her limits, as does a day, as does time. Sometimes I confuse my body with my heart, forget which one I live in. My heart easily says yes, and yes – yearning to play, or to give, or to belong. But it's the body that holds the measure of my capacity, how much I pour in, what pours out. Slowly, slowly I'm learning: there's as much love in a thimble as a teacup, as a lake, as a sea. The amount of water or the size of the container isn't the question. It's what vessel my body carries easily today, aloft on the heft of my shoulder, the water I pour out to quench another's thirst and mine.
Karly Randolph Pitman
http://www.growinghumankindness.com
November 14, 2024
Tree of Hope Butterflies
The butterflies will be helping out with this great cause. Butterflies symbolize so much about hope, beauty and transformation. How perfect that they are part of the logo for this wonderful organization that supports families who have a loved one living with serious mental illness.
