♥ Valentine Card Inspiration ♥

 

  Valentine's day is a great holiday to celebrate the love we have for our family and friends, with card making and card giving and a perfect time to meditate on God's love toward us.

Here are several tips to making cards. 

 Make sure to use a different types of scissors to make your cards unique in their shape.

Stitch cut outs on to your cards with your sewing machine.

                                                 Add lots of hearts!

Use a pen to customize your cards with simple doodles.

  Use creative paper for the theme of your cards.

 

Craft stores sell the cutest paper!

Use stencils for elegant designs.

Hearts make cute valentine-y flowers. :-)

 

Use paper animal cutouts to make your cards more friendly.

                               If you don't seem to have any inspiration, find some by
                                          searching through magazines and online.

When all hope seems lost, make your cards simple & have fun!

 Add lots of love to your cards and let your family & friends know you care about them. :-)

Making memories...

Do you ever stop and smile when you know your making a memory that you'll look back on later in life? I thought I'd share some of my memory making.

The joy of making rice crispy treats with my sisters. Sticky, gooey, fun.

 It's double the fun when made at night... :-D

                                                  Giggles, laughs, and smiles. Yes, a memory made.

                                            All three of us together making a sweet treat.

                                    The best part?

                                              Hearts...!

                                          
What other memories have been made recently? Why, an inside winter picnic!

                        Spreading out a blanket, and eating with my family.

                                        My little brother.

                                             And yes. Eating our treats. We all love 'em.

                                          A cute, sticky, toddler hand. Precious.

                                      Having fun with the ones I love....

Have you been making some memories? What's one of your favorites?

Complete.

When it was just my Father, Mother, two sisters and myself, my life felt complete. Our happy little family. I loved being together. And as our family has grown I feel the same way. Our family feels complete with my added siblings. And when my little sister is born I'll feel my family is still complete. Sometimes I wonder how I could and can feel that our whole family was and is complete when my whole family is still not born. I didn't expect our family to grow in size and neither did the the rest of my family. Since we didn't have any expectations of anything changing we were content.

This is how I often seem to feel. Empty. Unsatisfied.
Because I don't feel that I have everything in my life that I want. If only I were smarter, if only I had more stuff, if only I were more popular, if only I weren't introverted,if only I were prettier, if only, if only.
If I didn't know anything but the life I had and knew nothing of all the extras of life, I still wouldn't be happy.
I shouldn't be thinking of my life as a bunch of ' if only's that I am expecting. I need to think of my life as a bunch of once in a life time adventures, living out my life to the fullest in the completion of God each day.

I am... we all are, broken with out God and we can only be happy, content, satisfied, and complete with God.

God... is love. (1 John 4:16)
God... is truth. (1 John 5:6)
God... is light.  (1 John 1: 5)
God... is life. ( 1 John 5:20)

Without God we are without love, truth, light, life.
If I truly want to be complete I need to turn my gaze to my Savior and not to my expectations of life, because God knows best.

 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying,  "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
 John 8:12 


 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 Romans 6:23

(Emphasis added)

Cold rainy days are an excuse for....

 Drinking several cups of cocoa.....

                         ......With fun colorful mugs, mittens and gloves!
                                   

 Crocheting with cheery red yarn....

Wearing fuzzy slippers and cozy leggings....

Wearing warm stylish jackets....

Having a flower photo shoot inside...




See, you can have fun on a rainy day... :-)


                   

What do you do on rainy days?

Photo Contest

Lydia at Reel Christian is having a winter themed photo contest!

 ....Hop on over and enter your best winter photo!

Light makes everything just a little bit brighter...

The weather around here's been gray and dreary...  
                                        ...other than Saturday and Sunday!

The weekend was so beautiful! Sunshine, warm temperatures; that light made the day so much happier. It's amazing what lighting can do to a day.

That's why my word for 2011 is Light. 
Many people I know have captured their year with a one word resolution and goal.
(Most had decided theirs' earlier in the year, but there are still 11 more months to live through, in 2011.)

I decided on the word light, because it reflects God himself. He's the light of the world and therefore I want to reflect Him this year. In my attitude, my actions, my very being.

So my year goal is being pinned to the word...
                  light.

What's your word for 2011?

Musings

  
"I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition."
- Martha Washington

 Our attitude is so significant in each situation. I discover this daily.
I am always amazed how my attitude effects a problem.
If I become angry or frustrated it makes it a lot more difficult to handle the circumstance.
Even if we are feeling emotions that we can't stop we can at least hide our mood and pray that God would gives a better attitude.

But if I truly want to be happy I need to first be content and delight in the Lord... :-)

Take delight in the LORD,
   and he will give you the desires of your heart.

            Psalm 37:4

The reveal!

 I did give you some hints by the pattern picture on my last post. It says skirt on the pattern piece and even the pattern number.           

Here is the pattern that I used for my project, the one I bought last June. It has taken me quite a while to start on it. :-) I bought the fabric and other notions before we were snowed in and finished the dress last Tuesday.
                                     I decided on view C. (The middle picture.)

And here is how it turned out...

I made it out of cranberry colored corduroy and wore a black top underneath. I added a scarf -which I've had for years and was surprised it matched the dress- and black heels. This pattern was fairly simple and other than the darts, I was familiar with most of the instructions and pattern pieces. It's very comfy and warm, too!



So...what projects are you working on? :-)
                 

Sewing

I've been busily sewing the past week and have finished my project...

::The reveal is coming soon!::     


                          Can you guess what it is?...

Words

 Words are a incredible thing.

You can create so much just by using words. You can create a beautiful painting. Vibrant and bright with strokes of color and detail. The paint brush working hard to make an outcome of pure loveliness.

You can create a photograph with words.A snap shot, real and life-like. Crisp and clear.
A luminous memory of vivacity and life. A reflection of times and events.

Words can be created and imagined into a intricately embroidered quilt; stitched with care with small and large threads each adding expanse and character to the special fabric as the needle stitches carefully.

Words can be written to form a picture of musical notes gracefully dancing, singing out and creating a soft melody that gives depth and emotion. 

Words give and show so many different feelings and descriptions. With them we can picture almost anything.
With them we can express our mood, thoughts, opinions and over all perspective of any issue or environment we live in. This gets me all thinking once again of the creator of words and language itself : God.

We can do some much good with our words and just as much evil.
We can show encouragement and discouragement.
We can share love and dispense hatred.

I truly need to think before I speak (and write) if I'm striving to honor God with my tongue. It's so crucial what comes out of my mouth.

  Ecclesiastes 5:2
 Think before you speak,
       and be careful about what you say to God...

Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful...!

We've had snow big time. It started snowing at around 10:00 on Sunday night and the ground was covered, like I haven't seen before. It was amazingly beautiful! We couldn't help but go out in the snow. So my sisters and I bundled up and headed out. Our neighbors were just as excited as we were and we all had the best time. We tried sledding on the road which was piled up with fluffy white snow. Everything was covered. We went for a walk in our neighborhood and stayed out in the snow until midnight, enjoying the heavy white flakes falling on us. My hair was a thick sheet of ice when we went inside. It took some time getting it all out of my hair!
Then the next morning we did our school and went out once again. It had started raining freezing rain before we went out and there was a thick layer of ice on top of the snow. Crunching it was so much fun... We experimented by putting maple syrup on the ice and eating it. And we even tried chocolate syrup! Some of the roads were closed and almost all the roads are iced over and slippery. Most schools are out, too. (Not ours!)
We've been enjoying our snow and we got a total of six and a quarter inches of snow! We've been very thankful for our warm cozy home.

                                              Our neighbor's tree...

                                                   Our car....

                                        

                                             My brothers' toy helped clear the ice. :-)

 

 

 

I hope your having a lovely day!!! 

How's the weather at your house?

Books and Reading

Through 2010 I read some very memorable, thought provoking, inspiring books. I hope to top it this year with an ever more abundance of good reads. There are several books which I read last year that I have been meaning to write reviews on.

There are so many books out there that I have yet to read and dearly want to read. And some I am sure I haven't heard of and would most likely want to read. :-)

Books are a wonderful tool if you want to learn about something. There seems to be at least one book out there on any subject your interested in.

At the moment the most encouraging book I am reading now is Joyfully at Home. Some books have several popular quotes, this book is quotable in it's self. I am not done with the book yet, but have fully enjoyed Jasmine Baucham's humor, insightful, descriptive thoughts and beautiful way of phrasing and defining each topic in her book. Her book is definitely inspiring, delightful and refreshing.I couldn't decide which snippet to share, but I finally decided on this quote from her book.

"Home-making is a ministry, not a fantasy. A realistic picture of marriage shouldn't put a damper on our prayers for the Lord to prepare our hearts for whatever the future might hold; rather, it should give us a true vision for what we should be praying and preparing for, and how we should view the season that we already occupy: Singleness is a ministry, too. Every season is an opputunity to glorify the Lord in the difficulites and in the triumphs."

 Miss Jasmine's book is great and I highly recommend. Although I am not fully finished reading- I'm on chapter nine- It's a great book!


 What books have you been reading?

                        Any one's that you recommend?  :-)