Long time no blog

Just a note about not blogging in forever.
I'm all over with stuff!! LOL
Scrapping....Card Making...Altered crafts...
Challenges...Design Teams....Bible Journaling
and everything else I decided to try!! LOL
Over the past couple years I have mainly blogged
things I want to keep track of more than for views per say.
And now is no exception!!

Look out!! :) I'm having more fun and I want to track it, so....
Here goes!! :)

Fall is Beautiful

Hello!!

I have a layout to share.

It is for 3 challenges:

1. Creative Scrappers #229

2. Scrap Your Faith Challenge @sb dot com

3. Word Art Wednesday

We got to take some lovely photo's

of the fall trees when we went to 

Maryland a couple weeks ago. I think 

the pictures on this layout are from 

Pennsylvania. I just love the mountains, even

more so in the fall!! 

The verse is I used on here is super powerful, and

a new favorite of mine:

"He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind and 

reveals His thoughts to mankind, 

who turns dawn into darkness, 

and treads on the heights of the earth...

the Lord God Almighty is his name."

Amos 4:13

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Have a wonderful, love filled day!!

Until next time..............tootles!!

Chickens in the DR

Hello again!! 

Just taking a moment to brag on 

my daughter. She has such a big heart, 

and I wanted to share this story!!

This is the lo I did for the occasion:

The story behind the pix:

Vashti is just the sweetest thing!! After Christmas (2011) she decided that she want to send a goat and a dozen chickens to another country through Samaritans Purse. She was so excited!! She used all her January allowance and her Christmas money…$84 dollars.
Which got her thinking about whether or not she could do the same thing for CCS’s sister school in Santa Rosa, Dominican Republic. So, we had a talk with Mr. Krontz, who is in charge of the Sr. Missions trip to the DR to pitch her idea!! She thought we could get them a bunch of chickens!! He was thrilled. He told Vashti that if she could raise $100 he would match it, dollar for dollar!! I decided it was such a good cause, that I would match her dollar for dollar as well. She got right to work looking for ways to EARN the $100. She didn’t want to use gifts or her allowance. She wanted to work for the money. She picked dandelions for Opop at the rich price of .03 cents each. She ended up earning $27.51. So exciting!! Besides that, she cleaned my car, did some outside work for daddy, and helped Opop clean up his yard. She ended up with the whole $100 that she could truly say she earned!! Then to top it all off, daddy gave her $30 and Gram gave her $50!! This meant that when she was all done, she had $380 with which they could buy chickens. But she was so close to $400, she decided to throw in her May allowance to make it that even $400. Off the seniors went to Santa Rosa, with $400 dollars to buy chickens!! They were able to buy appox. 127 chickens, and food for 6 months!! It’s just so exciting!! Each family from the DR school will get 3 chickens. They were so tickled to be getting a means of having food. It’s just wonderful!! Vashti was thrilled to have been a blessing to the DR. Mr. Krontz had this picture made in appreciation of Vashti’s gift. On the back of the picture is the recite for the first 102 chickens!! In 3 years she will get to go to Santa Rosa to see the people and visit the chickens. She’s already starting to save for next years chickens!! God is so good!! May 2012

Thanks bunches for taking the time to read this!! 

There is always room for anyone who

would like to help send chicken to the 

Dominican Republic. If you would like to give

to this project, please feel free to email me!! 

Thanks!! Have a wonderful, love filled day!!

Spring Break 2012

This year for spring break we wanted to

do something fun, special or exciting.

Not being able to travel far from home,

or staying away over night, presented a touch of an issue.

So we looked on line and saw that

the Henry Ford Museum was close enough

to fit all our needs!! Vashti was so excited!!
She had been there before with school,

but never really had enough time to see everything.

To top it all off, the Titanic Exhibit was going on.

I am all into the history and facts of Titanic.

(not James Cameron's movie!! Please!!)

So I was super excited too!!

We had such a nice time there.

Everything was interesting to see, but we all

loved the Titanic Exhibit the best!!

Before you go into the exhibit, they give you a card

with the name, and info of a passenger.

Vashti and I got ladies, Tim got a man.

(Go figure, huh??) 

Tim and I got people in first class,

Vashti got an 18 year old mother with a

10 month old baby, in third class.

 The picture and story of her person were

part of the exhibit. That was cool to us!!
At the end of the exhibit, is a wall with all the survivor's

and victims listed so that you can see if your

person lived or died. We all lived.

We were so fascinated by the people

we were on the ship, that we came home

and did all kinds of searches on them.

We found out so much info and pix of them,

that I knew I HAD to scrap them!!

I was so excited!!

Here are the lo's I did for each of us on our person

from the Titanic!!

First is Tim. His person was Edward Nelson Kimball.

He was in cabin D-19 and got off on lifeboat 5.

This was my person: Helen Churchill Hungerford.

She was a women's libber!! (I so am not!! *L*)

She got off on lifeboat 6.

Vashti's person: Leah Rosen Ake (and her son Phillip)

She was waiting to get on a lifeboat when someone

grabbed her baby and threw him into boat 11

as it was being lowered.

She had no idea what happened to him and wasn't

able to get on life boat 12. She got off on lifeboat 13.

The following day, she was on the deck of the ship that

rescued them and saw a lady with her baby.

The lady refused to give her the baby saying it was hers.

Leah had to appeal to the ships captain and give info about

his birthmark and circumcision in order to get him back.

(all this type of info is on the lo's)

I took the cards we were given and copied them onto cream

colored paper. Then I dropped tea on them to give them

the stains and let it dry.  I used TH's ink on the edges,

and then I sprayed it with water,

crinkled it all up and laid it flat to

dry. While it was wet I rubbed the edges to get the tears

and such on them. When they were dry I added

a little more ink to them. (I did the story spots the same way)

For the first two, I tried to embellish a bit

more since they were first class, a little less on the last one

since it was third class!!

I hope you enjoyed this little journey with me.

I hope that if you get the chance to

see the exhibit in your area, that you will!!
It was very interesting!!

I'm really blogging this for the record

of our trip and adventure!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Until next time...............tootles!!

Cards

Hello!!

So glad to have you stop by to visit!!

I have 3 cards to share today!!

Word Art Wednesday

This one was sweet.

The verse was, "I prayed for this

child and the Lord has granted me

what I asked of Him." 1 Samuel 1:27

It is the exact same verse (in a different version)

that we used on our daughter's birth announcement!!

As such, I dug around until I found the

hand print stamps I used for the birth announcement!!
I was so excited to find them and use them on this card!!
It's so hard to remember her being so tiny!! Especially when
I think about how big the stamps were in comparison
to her tiny little hands!! When she was born a quarter
would completely cover her tiny little hand, and my husbands
wedding band was like a bangle bracelet on her wrist!!
Thank you Lord, for the wonderful blessing of my daughter!!

Paper Pretties Wednesday-blue, black and white.

Tuesday Morning Sketches-sketch.

Paper Pretties Monday-Valentine.

I hope that you enjoyed looking at my cards!!

Thanks for stopping and for any words

of kindness you leave behind!!

I hope you have a wonderful,

love filled weekend!!

Until next time..................tootles!!

Stampin' Sisters in Christ

Hello!! Thanks for coming by!!
It's my favorite time of the week.

The day I post about Stampin Sisters in Christ!!

I'm gonna post the project first so I don't forget!!

It was to use an encouraging phrase and something silver.

Here's what I came up with:

This week the devotion comes from Grace Nywening .

She has some good things to say:

 Proverbs 10:20-21 "The tongue of the righteous
 is as choice silver, the heart of the wicked
 is worth little. The lips of the righteous feed many,

 but fools die for lack of understanding."

Have you ever REALLY stopped to think
about the impact our words can have?

 Our words have the power to build up or to tear down!

Proverbs. 18:21 says “The tongue has the power
of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Have you ever known someone who struggles in the area of
“holding their tongue”? Most of us have…
whether it’s that person who lashes out in unbridled anger

 and their words pierce like a knife, or that critical perfectionist

 who can never be pleased and
 has to let you know it with harsh and cutting words.

Think of the damage that can be done to the child who is told

 “you’ll never amount to anything…
you can’t do anything right”...

or the credibility and trust that is lost
 when a lie is told to a loved one.

 Sometimes things like this
can cause damage that lasts a life time!

However… have you ever had a special encourager in your life?
 Have you had someone who just believed in you,
encouraged you in the faith, helped you understand
your worth and value to God?
What a blessing a person like this is! Read More.....

This is very encouraging in itself.

A reminder that our words can cut deep

or heal a wound.

Two things come to mind when I read this.
First a verse that hangs on my mirror in

4 different translations. My favorite translation for this verse

is the message:

"Watch the way you talk.
 Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth.

Say only what helps, each word a gift."

Ephesians 4:29

The other thing is a little saying I picked up somewhere:

"We are responsible for what we do,

no matter how we feel."

I tend to say just what I'm thinking.

You don't usually have to wonder what I'm think or feeling,

I'm pretty open to tell you!!

Sometimes this is just not a good thing.

I recently lost a very dear and precious friend,

for doing just that. I wasn't trying to be mean,
I just had something on my mind and
I told her about it. It came out all wrong.
I'm so crushed and hurt that
I hurt her enough with my words, that she

keeps her distance now. I never meant to hurt her!!
I wouldn't have done so in a million years.

But I messed up and each word was not a gift....

it was a pin that pricked the heart. 

I love her so much. It has left a hole in my life.

No matter how many times I say,

I'm sorry, it doesn't take back what I said,

even if it is the truth!!

They say that you can say 10 nice things,

and just one unkind, but it's the one that will be remembered.

So...I'm telling myself....

you are all my witness, that I will work on

making each word a gift, and make better
decisions as to what will cause pain,
and what will lift one up!!

I also have a wonderful friend who listens to me,

puts up with me, and tells me that it's

all gonna work out!! She's awesome!!

I simply adore her!!

I try very hard to be that same kind

of friend to her and to others as well.

I actually work hard to be an encouragement to others.

I try to point out the silver lining of the cloud that's looming.

It can make all the difference in the world!!

Truly it can. And that's back to the verse:

"...Say only what helps, each word a gift."

I want to build others up, not tear them down!!

I'm not sure if anything I just wrote makes

one lick of sense, but there it is.

I really want to be a better friend, mother, wife and person!!

Thanks bunches for stopping by!!

Until next time...............tootles!!

Stampin' Sisters in Christ (VERY long post, personal)

Another wonderful devotion over at

Stampin' Sisters in Christ!!

I love, love going there every week and getting

my challenge!!

You have to hear what the hostess, Chris Olsen

has to say this week!!

Psalm 121:2-4 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip--he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

When I ponder over this verse, I think of how God is an ever present help not just when we are experiencing hardship but always!! Unlike us, He need not sleep and he knows every circumstance in our life and how it will turn out. A few weeks ago on my personal blog, I had shared the “Footprints” poem with my readers and how God is always with us. One of my dear friends and Christian sisters, Fhiona, shared a poem with a very similar message which I want to share with you today.

The Tea Cup

Love this story or not, you will not be able to have tea in a tea cup again without thinking of this.

There was a couple who took a trip to England to shop in a beautiful antique store to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups. Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked "May we see that? We've never seen a cup quite so beautiful."

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't understand. I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, "Don't do that. I don't like it! Let me alone." but he only smiled, and gently said; "Not yet!"

Then WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. "Stop it! I'm getting so dizzy! I'm going to be sick!", I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, quietly; 'Not yet.'

He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself and then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. "Help! Get me out of here!" I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to side, 'Not yet'.

Then I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good! "Ah, this is much better," I thought. But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Oh, please, Stop it, Stop, I cried”. He only shook his head and said. 'Not yet!' Then suddenly he put me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering "What's he going to do to me next?"

An hour later he handed me a mirror and said 'Look at yourself.' And I did. I said, That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!!!

Quietly he spoke: 'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'”

The moral of this story is this: God knows what He's doing for each of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mould us and make us and expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect will. So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life seems to "stink", try this.

Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest tea cup, sit down and think on this story and then, have a little talk with the Potter.

I SOOOOO needed this right now!!

As some of you may know,

my husband is a combat veteran, having served in Iraq for 15 months.

He was hit by an ied, and returned home

completely disabled. It has been very hard for my DD and I,

to say nothing of the things he struggles with all the time.

We have been going through a particularly tough time, and have been

having some very hard decisions to make

in order to make certain plans work in favor of our family.

I keep saying "God is in control!! He knows

where we are and what we need to accomplish to get through

the next few months. God is in control, God is in control!!"

But, I'm human and sometimes

I don't feel like anyone is in control!!

So I really needed this reminder today!!

Small story about me.

About 4 months after my husband went to Iraq,

I had an unusually bad week. The kind that nightmares are made of!!
In a matter of about 4 days, my water heater blew up,

my fridge stop cooling, my computer

crashed and showed it's wonderful blue screen of death.

I locked myself out of my car, not once but 3 times. Never had done that

before, or since, for that matter. On Saturday we went to bed and

by midnight my dd was up throwing up!! (That's DH's department,

otherwise, there's 2 of us throwing up!! Never developed that mama skill)

So after being up with her all night, I got a call about 9 Sunday morning.

It was pastor. (I was working as his secretary at the time)

He very calmly asked me where the bulletin was.

I had forgotten to fold them and put them out for the greeters!!

He gave me the next week off!!

See, worse then a nightmare!!

I went in to the office Tuesday morning to take care of a few things

and a very sweet lady from the church came by the office to see how I was doing!!
Boy was she sorry she did that!! I proceeded to tell her exactly how I was doing!!

Bless her heart!! Well, when I was all done, she looked at me as sweet

as sweet can be and said, "You know God is just using this to make you stronger!!"

I couldn't help it, I looked at her and said,

"I don't want to be strong right now, I want to be weak.  Really, really weak!!!"

Have you ever felt that way?? Totally spent.

And yet, GOD IS IN CONTROL and has everything

worked out for you!! We just have to remember

that when we are going through the potters wheel,

or into the oven or being made beautiful,

It's all part of His plan for us!!

And I know that I know, that I know, a couple things....

1. God says he will never leave us or forsake us!!
and 2. ALL things work together for good, to those who love

God, to those who are called according to His purpose!!

(that was a great devotional too...check out SSIC archives for that one!!)

The one place I know I always want to be is,

right where God  wants me to be!!

So then I read this devotion it was a wonderful reminder that

God is shaping and moulding me to be what He wants me to be.

Sorry this is so long. I know I don't usually write long,

and I defiantly don't usually write personal things,

but Chris' devotional really spoke to me!!

I think God had her write it just because He knew I needed it!!

Thank you, Chris!!

Thanks so much for reading this!!

I hope you have a wonderful, love filled week!!

Until next time............tootles!!
I forget to post the card when I post about this site!!

Here it is-we were to use a tea cup in the project!!

This is also for I Did it Creations-ribbon and lace.