Booklets of Hope for Today

Good morning! 

I’ve finally made a few more mini booklets. I had made three initially, but I was giving them away faster than I could make them. One for a friend who got sick, one for a birthday (we try to keep it small) and one for someone who was upset. To my surprise, all of them really appreciated them.  So, I told them all, enjoy them and if you find someone who you feel needs it more than you, then please pass it on! 

That’s how my little lights in the darkness were born. My little books of hope!

Here’s three more I made. I’m only going to show you a couple of pages in each one, but will include some quotes and scriptures for you. Also some choruses from songs I found encouraging.  Using sticker paper rather than adhering each one down with double-sided tape was much easier and less time consuming. 

I’ve made the pictures large so you can see the writing better. The only challenge was keeping the quotes small enough to fit into the 3”x 4” spot. They’re all encouraging, hopeful, or make you feel better about yourself or life in general. 

I cannot set these up as a pdf file as I'm currently using Open Office which doesn't support the correct file types.  I can write them out for you and you can make your own in Word using a table. 

For fonts, I used "Times New Roman," "Priscilla," and "Ink Free." 

Quotes and sayings:

It's hard to hear God's voice when you've already decided what you want Him to say. Sanctification and Spitup	I have given God countless reasons not to love me. None of them changed His mind. Lysa Terkeurst
Remember... Fear and Faith Cannot co-exist. Elsie Welc	Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but gets you Nowhere.
The devil wants you to worry about what's next, so you can't enjoy what's now. The devil is a liar! Sanctification and Spitup You can't wait until life isn't hard anymore before you decide to be happy. Nightbird	Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. Proverbs 12:25 Let your Smile Change the world But don't let the world Change your Smile
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! Isaiah 43:1	Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.  Ps. 55:22
Hard now Doesn't mean Hard forever	If today was heavy Put it down And give it to God

Songs I've incorporated: When peace like a river attendeth my way when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say It is well, It is well, with my soul!	Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in His wonderful face!! And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace.

On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand all other ground is sinking sand! Scriptures I've used:	Jesus take the wheel Take it from my hands Because I can't do it on my own! Carrie Underwood
Isaiah 35:4 Jeremiah 29:11 Romans 8:31 Hebrews 13:5,6 Psalm 27:1 Deuteronomy 31:6 Isaiah 40:31 Romans 8:28 Isaiah 41:10 Psalm 55:22 Proverbs 12:25 Jeremiah 29:11 Psalm 46:1 Isaiah 43:1 Proverbs 1:33 Luke 12:25 Matthew 11:28 Psalm 46;10 Psalm 23:4 Eph 6: 10, 11 Isaiah 40:31 Psalm 91: 1,2 John 14:27 Joshua 1:9 2 Tim. 1:7 I had a lot of trouble with the formatting on this post. I guess this is the best I can get for now. My apologies! Well, that's all Folks!  Blessings, Carmen

Little Book of Hope

We certainly live in unprecedented times. I talk to many people who are fed up, discouraged and depressed due to the virus and the political climate. Add to that the fact that we live in the Interior of BC where wildfires are ravaging our forests and our homes, and where thick smoke has been a daily experience prompting evacuation alerts and orders, plus road closures. We’ve had to weather heat of up to 50C (122F), and when we’ve had rain, it was accompanied by lightning, starting even more fires. Yes, people are stressed and worn out and need encouragement. 

All this made me want to remind people that life is still good, God is still good and there is still hope. I tried a couple of different things but finally came up with a tiny little booklet you could throw in your purse, car, backpack. Whenever you find someone who needs encouragement, you can give it to them. They can drink in the hope and maybe pass it on when someone else needs it. 

My only complaint is that I should have added more pages, but this will not be the last one I make, and there’s always room for improvement. 

My Little Book of Hope! Take it in then give it away! 

SUPPLIES:

 

8x8 Stamperia Cosmos pad

Blank card stock cut at 3 1/2” x 2 7/8”

Bind it all machine 

Sticker paper

Scriptures

Quotes from ‘Uninvited’ by Lysa Terkeurst

Quote from Nightbird

Quote from Craig Groeschel

Thank you for stopping by! I’ll be posting some cards here today or tomorrow using the same Stamperia pad.

Blessings,

Carmen

BRUTALLY HONEST SLOGANS

Prayer Pocket with Measurements

Hello there,

I have a little treat for you today. 

My sister in law, Janell, loves to work in her scrapbook room making cards and playing with papers and ink. Watching over her are a bunch of monkeys because Janell loves monkeys. There's even a nasty rumour out there that she sleeps with one, but you didn't hear it from me --- Shhhhhhhhh. 

Ok kidding, seriously though my sister in law is one of the sweetest ladies you'll ever meet. My brother is a lucky guy!! 

We chat back and forth all the time and share our crafts and ideas, and recently she showed me something that she made for a couple of ladies. I had never seen one before and so I asked her if I could share it here with you. 

Without further adieu: This is a Prayer Pocket.

What is it's purpose? To write down who or what you are praying for.  To encourage you, to help you keep track.

I really just want to look at it for a while!

Note the stitching and the embellishments. It is just so cute! 

There are several pockets in there. Here they are dislodged from the pocket- 

Love the turned over corner and the little ribbon pulls on some of the tags. I especially love the dragonfly embelly....I have to ask her where that came from. Super cute!!

Below she shows us the back of the tags. Plenty of space to write and make lists. Perfect!

Isn't it lovely? I think this is a great 'just because' gift idea for a friend, someone that goes to church and someone who loves to pray. 

When Janell sent this to me I asked her if she had any measurements for these. She sent me some photos with measurements included. It will sure make it easy for you us to duplicate this beautiful prayer pocket. 

Measurements for Prayer Pocket: 

Measurements for the Two Part Pocket.

Again, LOVE the stitching! 

Want to know where to get Scripture Stamps? I'l link below.

I just love the edge punch on the bottom of this tag!

The dragonfly!!! Ka-ute!!

Sweet little corner punch

Love the ribbon on here.

I want that 'Joy" stamp!! 

Here's what she attached on the back of the little boy and the dragonfly tags. They are 2.25 X 2.25

  

Adorable, right?

Love it!

Here's where I've bought my Scripture stamps from. I have a couple of sets and I know Janell has at least one set of them. Check out Our Daily Bread Designs.

Do you want to see what else Janell and her monkeys are up to? Check out her Etsy Shop 

                                                     CreateBcuzURpricless 

I looked around to see if I could find anymore prayer pockets. There was only one I could find, which is where I believe Janell got her inspiration from. There is no link to a blog, unfortunately, but it was on Pinterest, so I will share the photo for ideas. This one was shared by Jeannie Phillips.

Thanks for stopping in -  

Oh, and someone wanted to say good-bye! 

Blessings,

Carmen

A Christmas Gift a Grandparent Will Love!!

A few years ago I made up a book for my parents and my inlaws of their grandbabies as a Christmas gift. Both sets of parents just loved them and so every year at Christmas time I add pages to their books.

This year we had two more babies born so I made up three pages. Two for the one set of parents and one for the other set, since one of the babies was my sister's grandson and therefore only applied to my side.

It's an 8X8 book, which is perfect for the size pages I wanted to make, and I usually make them fairly simple. The point is to get all the information in there along with a photo.

Since some of the kids were already teens or young adults at the time, I added a page beside their baby page with a photo of them as teens, and something about them. For example, on one of my sons pages I added his poetry. My nephew was really into Soccer, and his name had that meaning, so I added a soccer themed page for him, etc. So there are quite a few pages.

Here are the pages I did up this week:

This one is of my grandson who was born in the Spring. As you can see, I blanked out the info for this post.

This is my sister's grandson...my 2nd nephew or my great nephew(?). These two are almost a couple of months apart. It's too bad we don't live closer together because these two would've been good friends.

Then I added them to my parents book! As you can see, it's getting rather full!

Blessed indeed. :-)

We will be giving my in-laws theirs when we go to visit this December.

Have a good day!
Carmen

A Little Butterfly Tutorial

Good Morning,

I hope your day is looking a little brighter than ours. It's still nice out here, but definitely overcast. On the bright side, the birds are chirping, the garden is growing happily and the butterflies are flitting about. It's a good day. 

My girlfriend has butterflies that come up on her screen with some fairy type music when I email her. It's fitting because I love butterflies. I've been playing around a bit with some free printables. These would be great on cards, in your scrapbooking or as a decoration.

Yes, I have butterflies stuck to my craft room cupboards with zots...a little crazy, but it's me.

Anyhow, here's what I made. That's little Bella's head of hair with the butterfly. She's a surrogate grandchild, aka my DIL's sisters' daughter.  :-)

I think they're adorable and I made a bunch. I'm enjoying making them so much that -- well -- you'll see -- it's a little addictive.

You don't need much either:

Mod Podge

Foam Brush

Acrylic

Butterfly Printables

Scissors

I took a foam brush and brushed the mod podge onto the acrylic.

I'd already cut out some printables leaving a bit of the cardstock on -- it just makes more sense then carefully cutting them out twice.

Next pick out your butterflies. I'm using up some leftover acrylic pieces, but you could do a whole page at a time if you want.

Place them face down on the mod podge. Using my finger I rub over them for a bit while they're initially drying so that they stay down well.

Here's the other side while still wet. You can see it looks cloudy at first. They take an hour or so to dry.

These guys were already dry, so I'm showing you these. Notice the ones on the bottom were printed onto vellum instead of cardstock. 

There are pros and cons with using the vellum. It's nice that the pattern is visible on both sides, but the streaks of the mod podge show up a bit on the vellum and the colors aren't as bright. They still look nice though.

Here are a few finished ones. Some with hairpins, some without. The left two are vellum.

Here's the rest of my stash waiting for some acrylic. Addictive I tell you.

I used some laminate on a couple of the butterflies, but I found it left more of a dull finish. For the little bit of time it saved, it wasn't worth it. The acrylic is definitely the way to go. 

Oh and look what I got at a garage sale yesterday for a toonie and a quarter! ($2. 25)

Yay Me  I love it 

Well, the rains are starting outside. I'm so glad I got my peppers, parsley and sage planted today. I'm so excited about our garden this year. 

I may be dutch, but I'm truly not much of a gardener. However, I became aware of Monsanto and all the GMO's (genetically modified organisms) it's literally trying to force down our throats, so I decided we had to grow our own organic garden.

Did you know that GMO's cause many allergies? No wonder people are allergic to everything these days. Also, their seeds produce food with seeds that do not produce anything, If you care about what goes into your body, you should really check it out.

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Have a healthy, happy day ~

Blessings,

Carmen

Catching up on Grandkids Albums!

Hello!

If I'm honest with myself, I'd have to say that I'm not much of a scrapbooker. However, I did start a couple of albums a few years ago that highlighted all the kids and grandkids for my parents and my in-laws. It was a Christmas project that I started so late, that I had to do 3 layouts a day in order to get them all done. The nice thing about it was that all our kids (4 of them) were similar layouts in both books, which took some of the pressure off. 

Since then, I have been adding pages every time a child is born or someone gets married. This also meant adding some of our precious 'instant' grandchildren (some people just get REALLY blessed!). 

Since I'm going to be seeing my parents and my in-laws soon, I thought I'd better get busy and catch up on some of these pages.

Like I said...I'm not a great scrapbooker, but I did have fun doing them up! Obviously most of these are quick pages. Have a boo...

These two are my sister in laws kids. 

This is my granddaughter. It took me so long to do up the page that I had to put an updated photo in there as well. Tsk tsk...

This is our niece and her husband on their wedding day.

This is my brother and his wife....such a sweet girl! Love her!

Oh, and I was going to use this paper to make a layout and changed my mind after I cut it all out. So I guess I have a layout ready to go. Lol...

Just as an afterthought, this paper was created by two ladies on Vancouver Island under the name "Upsy Daisy Designs": and it was made in Vancouver, BC. Unfortunately they stopped because of personal demands; growing families, etc. These papers are from their Home Sweet Home line. 

Well, that's all I have for you today. I'm going to get busy on some digitals soon. I have a few images in mind!

Have a good long weekend everyone!

Blessings,

Carmen

Children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward. Psalm 127:3