A Belated Blog Anniversary!

You are going to think me nuts but I just realized I've been blogging for about one year. I was curious to see what the date of my first post was and to my surprise it was February 5th, 2009. Happy Anniversary to me, one day late!! How weird is that? I should have been paying attention and had some sort of giveaway to celebrate. Well, I'll keep thinking about that one and maybe I'll have an end of the month giveaway!! I'm fairly new so I don't have a lot of extra stuff but I'll see what I can come up with! I just want to thank you for following and reading my ramblings and making such sweet comments about my projects!! I'm blessed!

Thank you to my followers.... (this pic isn't the greatest, those buttons go perfectly with the blending or the four ink colors, but they look really dark in the pic. I think the battery was low when I took this a couple of days ago.

I have something even better than an anniversary to celebrate! I got my craft room rearranged and cleaned!! (the twin bed is outta here!!) This is incredible, I can walk in here now!! Whoo-hoo!! I still have a little more organizing to do with my scrap papers but I've made labels for the folders to make it nice and neat. I have labels for: cardstock, florals, winter, spring, summer, fall, kids and holidays. Can you think of others? I've got hanging folders to put them into. Hubby is making me something for my spools of ribbon that are to big for my jars. And hopefully I'll incorporate some of my smaller punches on that too. I have a place for my Cricut and Cuttlebug and now I need to figure out a spot for the sewing machine. Hmmmm..... I forgot about that until just now. I do have a spot under the window that could be perfect! We will see! Well, I'm off to Costco and then to a baby shower for my great nephew who was born on Christmas day, they are down here to meet all the family!! Can't wait.... Have a blessed day!

Glitter...

I have a confession.... I've never been a big fan of glitter. Oh don't gasp!! I like the look, I just have never liked the mess. Me the queen of clutter, don't like the mess, how ironic! However, I have some "less messy" glitter in my stash and I really like them, you probably know that I'm talking about, Stickles!! They come in so many colors and they even come in a "distress" look. Can it get any better than that?! (lol) Well, I finally decided to get glittery, not only that, I did some heat embossing on my card which can be messy, too. I'm definitely in a whole different creative mindset. Where did the real me go??? I even used Ultra Fine Glitter!! The card I made was in answer to the Color and Sketch challenge at Christian Paper Crafts that I posted yesterday.

HOWEVER, I think it's just too ugly to post, so I'm going to start over again or tweak the original card. Am I going to use glitter? That remains to be seen... *sigh* I'm sure I'll learn an "ultra fine" lesson from this but in the meantime, I think I'm going to go clean up some clutter... and be thankful that my glitter mess is confined to one table in one room! Oh wait a minute what is this stuff flaking off my jeans... seems I've left a trail... *sigh*

I HATE SPIDERS!

Hel-lo!

"I don't like spiders and snakes and that ain't what it takes to love me you fool, you fool..." (Jim Stafford and Dolly Parton song) Remember that one?? Of course, I don't expect my friend Andresa to remember, the song was popular in 1974!

Yes it is true, I hate spiders! I really hate big spiders! This time of the year I always find them all over my bushes in the backyard. I'll tell you right now, I'm not going to be doing any yardwork or trimming! I'm not afraid, mind you or I'd not be looking at them, it's just that they creep me out! Yucky, as Jakob would say. He also says, "Grammie come look!" So of course, I being the brave grammie that I am, arm myself with a stick and show him all the wonders of the spider and it's web. (blaaaah!) I do this so he won't bring one in the house to show ME. When I worked at the elementary school library I had some upper grade boys bring in a tarantula to show me expecting me to freak out. Freak out (on the inside, I did) on the outside cool as a cucumber. That took every bit of brave fiber in me! ("I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" was the promise in the Word that I was claiming as my own!). So, I can't close without posting some pictures of the new neighbors that have camped out in our backyard, so I'm giving you fair warning: Below my signature are some gnarly looking spiders and you may not want to go there but if you do, don't mind them, they are taking a break from their spinning class and eating some choice morsel of something.....protein I'm sure... yucky!

lunch time (this is one spider)

this is the neighbor to the first spider

Killer or Kill-her workouts plus a little more....

Good Morning! I don't want to even think that July is half over, but it is!!

I'm getting ready to jump on my exercise bike and go for a quick ride, I'm still working out the soreness from the "Killer" Wednesday workout or also known as "Kill-her" Wednesday workout. I've renamed it that cause I'm not sure if I'm going to kill my "personal trainer" aka my daughter Amy, who is working my fanny off, literally or if she's trying to kill me "butt" I guess it will be worth it all in the "end" (couldn't resist that one!).
A couple of my readers will appreciate the humor... you know who you are!! ; - )

I must say my jeans slide off my hips "like butter" which I rarely eat anymore! I'm starting to see it in inches but not in pounds! I hate the scale anyway, I don't know why I torture myself, after all I'm just trying to live healthier not necessarily get skinny! Monday will begin week 14 of my quest! Okay enough about me and my woes....

Today is Saturday and here is Journal Writing Assignment #2
"If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, share your salvation story. And if you haven't what is holding you back?"

My salvation story is fairly simple however I can see many of the events that the Lord allowed in my life to bring me to that point of receiving Him. So, I'm not sure how much to write. I will probably do a draft or two of what I want to put in my journal and really pray about it and ask for the Holy Spirit's help. I'm confident He will give me the right words to put down on paper.

Well, time is getting away from me... I really need to get on my bike and get those miles in. I hope everyone has a blessed day and I'll be posting the Sweet Shop Sketch later this weekend! I thought for sure I'd get a card made this past week but I didn't! I'm bummed but I did take a class called "Distress to Impress" and that was a lot of fun learning new techniques using Ranger products. Can't wait to share.... but I gotta practice a bit more!

LET THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH, AND THE MEDITATION OF MY HEART, BE ACCEPTABLE IN THY SIGHT, O LORD, MY STRENGTH AND MY REDEEMER.

PSALM 19:14

Fruitful? Or Needing Some Pruning?

Click to enlarge!

My lovely wisteria bush that is beginning to really blossom. Can't wait for a couple more days to see the changes.

The above picture is our flowering plum (or cherry) I can never remember, I would remember if it had fruit but all it has is blossoms then leaves, no fruit :-(

After typing that I thought about the spiritual application in that!! Oh the analogies I could go into but it's late! So,I'll try to put it in a nutshell....

It is of utmost importance that our Christian walk is not just for "show" there needs to be substance, which would be the fruitfulness in our lives.

(Read Galatians 5:13-26)

Is there fruit in our lives available for others to pick?? Are our branches heavy with fruit to share? Good questions to ask ourselves. Or do we need a little pruning?

I'm so grateful that the Lord gives us the privilege to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith or not. The best and only way to examine ourselves is in the light of God's Word. I encourage you to read His Word and meditate on it daily. Cultivate your relationship!

Have a super excellent and fruitful Monday,

Natalie

But also for this very reason giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowlege of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:5-8

Welcome Spring....or Not!

There were dark menacing clouds this morning, as I looked out my front door. However, that didn't dampen my spirit! I'm still feeling revived and refreshed from the Ministers' Wives Event!!! It was fun reliving the conference with some of our ladies this morning as I was sharing a little bit of the teaching I heard and the encouragement I received! I brought back a real nice canvas book bag for the ladies that are so faithful in teaching the kids in Sunday School and Kids Church. Thanks Annette, Stephanie, Sharon and Susie for your faithfulness every week!!! (and they loved the bag!)

I can't believe the turn in weather! How fickle spring weather can be! Snow level is down to 2,000 feet.

We are a little above sea level but we still feel the effects of it. Brrrrr with a capital "B" we even had a hail shower as I was getting ready to walk over to the church. I don't know why I'm surprised I can remember when I was in high school that it snowed the last week in March at sea level, it was a memorable day, I was getting my braces off! It's rare to snow in Eureka (where my orthodontist's office was located) which is right on the coast but it actually snowed at the beach, it was a strange sight!

My camera's not the greatest but you can see the hail leaving it's mark here in my backyard.

Well, this afternoon the hail is all melted but the cold remains! I think I'm going to snuggle under a blanket with a magazine and just rest a bit before the evening service. It would be nice not to have to go out in the cold but... I'm the pastors' wife! I'm called and I've been encouraged! I guess I will sneak over there and turn up the thermostat :-) I know the ladies won't mind that at all!

This is certainly not the most exciting post and if you've managed to read to the end, I just want to say "bless your heart!" Keep me in your prayers, I've got to get my part of the "tax stuff" together for our appointment on April 3rd. But if I hurry and get it together then I can get back into my scrapbooking mode and create!!! I'm missing that a lot. Have a wonderful day and stay warm and dry!!!

Embracing His Grace,

Natalie

And the peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

Welcome Spring!

Welcome....to you and to Spring!

Yes! Spring is popping out all over my yard! That means there is major work to be done!! Speaking of which, my son just got here, he's been laid off from his work (he just got his building contracting license last month) for a week so he's going to help us out by doing some of the yardwork and clean out the gutters (bless his heart, I think I'll sneak and get a picture or two of him working - I'm sure he'll be thrilled about that one!!)

Here are a couple of pictures I took this morning. It's an overcast day, I'm waiting for the sun to spring out some of that warmth we had for the last two days.

This first picture is of our flowering plum tree. You can barely see the pink buds but by next week this will be covered with darker pink buds then it will turn to light pink blossoms, it is gorgeous. So my plan is to do a weekly or perhaps daily journal and share with you all the beauty of this spring season here in northern California! Since yesterday there have already been changes!!

This is the wisteria that surrounds my back porch. There will be purple and white flowers and it is beautiful. Can't wait for another month before it's in full bloom. The thermometer says 50 degrees out. Brrr still a bit too cold to sit on the back porch with my coffee.

Well, that's all for now. I hear the lawn mower (my son, Sean!) in the front yard doing his thing! I'd best get my self dressed and sneak out there with my camera!

Have a super blessed day!

Natalie

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men the Lord is at hand. Philipians 4;4-5 (my scripture to memorize )

I'm Back! Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Hello friends!

I'm so excited to be back in the blogging world!! My guest room/scraproom/office has been vacated and I can now create!!! Yippeee!!! I felt like I was going through withdrawls.... that's not a good sign, of course I'm joking, but I can see my tendencies to overdo! I consider myself a pretty balanced person so it was an eye-opener! Moderation, moderation, moderation! I enjoy this so much (scrapbooking, writing, being inspired by other bloggers, etc.) it's my "getaway" from my busy life. I just don't want my priorities getting skewed.

I've been reading a lot of other blogs and there has been a theme of making lists of what makes you happy, so I'm going to get on the bandwagon here before I post my layouts...

First, I want to share a scripture from Proverbs 16:20
"He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the LORD, happy is he."

So, here goes!
#1. The LORD

2. My family (husband, kids, grandbabies - not always in that order - ha!)

3. Reading the Bible and coming to a Scripture that really ministers to me for that moment of time so I know the Lord is speaking to little 'ol me! Just makes me want to shout with joy - if you've never experienced this - there is nothing like it! It makes me realize that this book just isn't written by mere man but is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

4. First sip of coffee w/cream in the morning! (I say "Ahhhhh")

5. A finished scrapbook page

6. any chocolate (as long as it's without coconut)

7. playing the piano (by myself no audience but One)

8. Opening up the boxes of freight at Scrapper's Edge and seeing all the new scrapbooking "stuff" it's like Christmas every week!!!

9. good harmony in a song

10. a good fitting pair of pants that make me look smaller (ha!) haven't found one of those in awhile! Of course it may not be the pants....... blahhhh!

11. A CLEAN HOUSE (that should have been up in the top 5)

I'm going to stop there! Cause I could go on and on and on and bore you to tears!! But I do want to say that the word "happy" for me is determined by what's "happening" so I'd rather have "joy" that is from a contented spirit - and I truly have that and it's a wonderful gift from the Lord!

So here's what I've been working on (and it makes me happy because it's pics of my grandson Jakob's birthday one year ago) what doesn't make me happy is that it's taken this long to get to it!!

This is before I attached anything - I took a picture because there were a lot of layers and I wanted to get it back in the right order: The layout is from a sketch from CMK's Friday Formula 3/6/09. http://www.createmykeepsake.com/ (sorry the pic is so busy, but that's what my table looked like!)

ALL the pattern paper comes from PINK PAISLEY's Captivating line. http://www.pinkpaisley.com/ Isn't it beautiful!

Here is page 1 of a 2 page layout:

Here are some of the Delightful Details:

On the next image I had a "swirl" of chipboard in my stash so I traced the design onto cardstock so I could have duplicate images. I like to repeat designs, color or embellishments on my layouts, it's just what I do! After cutting them out, I painted them Expresso (Making Memories) and then sprayed them with Tiger Lily (Tattered Angels) Glimmer Mist. It's hard to see but they do "glimmer!" It's more noticeable on the other pictures at the end.

Obviously I've used buttons to embellish but I did add a blue ribbon and brown rickrac (American Crafts) underneath for the layered effect. I LOVE my Xyron Create-a-sticker for attaching my ribbon!!! The blue "celebrate" came from my stash and it's metal.

"Fun" I did on the computer at the church and I'm not sure of the font, I forgot to write it down, sorry! But it's on a transparency as is all the black writing on this layout. (except my own journaling with I did in my own handwriting) The blue cardstock was cut out from a Marvy punch. Can you see the glimmer on the swirl?

Here is the second page to the layout: Again the PINK PAISLEY Captivating line and the alphabet stickers are from that line as well. I outlined them in black because they were hard to see. It says "Babycakes (left) So Sweet (right) The "Happy Birthday" is a transparency I did on the computer. The blue scallop I did on my Cricut and I used the Celebration cartridge. I inked the edges with Tim Holtz's Antique Linen Distress Ink, then added a little tail of ribbon from American Craft, I wanted to highlight the birthday cake. It was so cute!

Here are the two layouts together and hopefully will soon be in an album!

Have a great weekend and I'm going to head back to my craft table!!!

Blessings,

Natalie

PS. I hope to get in another post before I leave for Nashville on Tuesday for the Minister's Wives Event! I'll be gone for almost a week counting my traveling days... I think I'll be too busy for withdrawls :-)

25 Days Until SPRING!!

Spring is definitely in the air!

We are experiencing the tantrums of winter trying to hold on but spring is about to be sprung! I have the proof! Central Ave is lined with these beautiful flowering trees! Pink and white blossoms all over...

This little flower I found in my own front yard to bring me encouragement that warm weather is on it's way. (notice I said warm not hot...)

These blooming bulbs are definite proof that old man winter is about to take a hike! Unfortunately, we will have to endure a few more weeks of what I term "psychotic" Humboldt County weather, constantly shifting it's mood. Just this morning as I was leaving for work it was raining, windy and ugly out, but by the time I left for home in the early evening it was beautiful, sunny (Not warm by any means but comfortable). We know better than to pack our boots and scarves away! (we can experience snow in the mountain ranges around us throughout March) But it is a season of hope... warm weather is coming. I can hardly wait!

Encouraged,

Natalie

"How great You are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like You, and there is no God but You..." 1 Samuel 7:22