Stolen Words...

I stumbled across this quote on Brin's Blog...A Messy, Thrilling Life.....it just seemed very appropriate...

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have."

Hugs,
Debbie

Let's Get Started......

I have really been looking forward to getting started with this...so today, let's just do the basics...

First, it doesn't matter what size book you choose to use. You can use what I did--an artists sketch pad (and those come in several sizes)...a regular scrapbook....just whatever feels like fun to you.

What do you need...really it depends on what you would like to work with...some ideas:

• Scrapbook papers and cardstock (these can be used for your backgrounds, to frame pictures with, for writing blocks....or just to decorated the page a bit)


• Colored pencils....great for doing little illustrations...and you don't have to be a great artist to do this. Sometimes fun squiggles and stick people are a fun way to illustrate an idea.
  
• Adhesive...I love the scotchtape brand scrapbook tape..that has been working really well for me. But there are alot out there..glue sticks are good too!


• Pictures.....photos, magazine pictures, etc....just begin keeping an eye open for unique picturesof things you "love"


• Memory Items...that menu from a favorite recipe...a paint chip from your favorite room...wrapper from your favorite candy bar. This is just something that might work for something on your list. You probably don't want to do this for every item (then again, it is YOUR book, use this item as much as you like, as little as you like, or not at all).
  

Remember, this is different than a regular scrapbook. I have scrappin friends that are militant about having whatever they put in their books not damaging the books so that they will be pristine in 100 years. Frankly if it comes to chosing between being "pristine" and sharing a memory...memory wins every time And think about it, there are things that we know damage books....but with the way things change (going digital and such)...they will be able to view the books (if our intention is to share these) over the years.

So what are we working on today:
I think it would be great if we all shared a list of 5 things we love each Monday...things that we are going to concentrate on in our books first. Doesn't mean you have to stick to those if something new comes to mind...but it is a great way to at least start thinking about it and planning what you would want on those pages.

Now a note....we as women have "our list"..we love our husbands, children, parents, siblings, God, church...you get my drift....these go without saying...and yes, you can include them in your book (once again..it is YOUR book)...and these are in mine, here and there...but I really want you thinking outside of the usual...and really think about those things that make you smile....inspire you....get your creative juices flowing....or just brighten a moment in your day. (I remember Oprah sharing once about her gratitude journal, and how sometimes she just looked for a cute squirrel in the tree...cause that may be all she had to list that day if it was really bad!!! LOL)

By next week, I hope to have Mr. Linky up and running and hope that you will be able to share your pictures of what you are working on.

So your assignment for this week:

1. I would love for you to leave a comment about what you have found to work with for your book.


2. A list of 5 thing you love...


3. Do something fun for the cover of your book (you can do it now...or if you want to see how your book goes for a different idea for how you want your cover)


4. PLEASE do or at least work on your first page, which should be your introduction....possibly a picture of yourself, why you wanted to do this, maybe something you hope to share with this book.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments....invite your friends to play along here, it is such a great way to get to know someone else---even those that you think you know everything about will surprise you!!!

So glad you are working with me on this and I can't wait to see what you share next week!!!

***Don't forget to enter the drawing!!! Just a few days left!!!
Have a great Monday!!!
Hugs,
Debbie

**My things I love list for this week:
favorite resturant
best friend
favorite books
favorite quilt shop
favorite room in the house
(Looking forward to seeing your list...I already have pages completed in my book..and you will see how you can continue to grow your book as you find new places, new things, new people and new experiences in your life!!)

February Valentine Love....

Who the heck stole this month??? It is just flying by so fast and I haven't been able to do much of what I had hoped to accomplish this month. And I missed wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day!!!

BUT....what I had planned for that post was to share with you some of the "new" things that I love. I thought it might be fun to do this once a month and hope you will join me by sharing any "new" stuff that you have found in the comments....c'mon, play along!!!!

I LOVE the Orville Redenbacher Naturals popcorn...Lime and Salt flavor. Yes, my family turned up their noses when they saw the box, but they are new converts too. Love the flavor and just the right snack for "something different"....

I LOVE the blog "Stuff Christians Like"....great thought, lots of humor...and just some things that make you go. "hmmmmmm"

I LOVE the "house helpers" knit pattern posted on http://www.knittybittys.blogspot.com/ . I am strictly a "simple" knitter and this is a great pattern, so darn easy and I love using these around the house and for gifts.

I IMMENSELY ADORE the Summer Wind Quilt at the last half of this blog post...
Simplify . I am a new quilter and there is just something about this quilt that grabs me. I saw the original pattern and while pretty, it didn't get to me till I saw it in these colors...definately on my "to do" list.

I LOVE Sephora....ok, now all of you can just shake your heads in disbelief that it has taken me so long to catch on to this. But I just found that there is one within reasonable driving distance AND my friends FINALLY clued me in to signing up online for their great deals. I am sharing this so you don't have to wait any longer to develope Sephora-love!!

I LOVE my girlfriends on the Celebrate list...gals that I have known forever and new friends that share their hearts, laughter, some tears...but always the example of what good friends truely are!

AND I WOULD REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LOVE IT...if you would join me here on Monday, February 23 for my "Things I Love" scrapbook/journal group....AND IT WOULD BE AWESOME if you would check out the previous post on my fun giveaway!!!

Something else I love??? All of you that stop by to visit, comment, have great blogs that I read and am inspired by....thank you for sharing a bit of "you" with the rest of us...now COMMENT why don't ya??? LOL Tell us some of the things that you love....

Hugs,
Debbie

For Your Gift Closet Giveaway.....

It is finally ready....I have found some fun items for a giveaway. It is my way of thanking all you dear friends that stop by to visit and to comment....and a way to introduce this blog to some new friends too.

In the past, we have talked about having a gift closet. It is so great to have some items on hand for quick last minute gifts...or to put together great gift baskets for those special occasions. I don't know about you, but if I am surprised by forgotten birthday, or just something where a friend needs a pick me up, it usually occurs when I am "broke" or don't have time to get out to shop...having these things on hand, really make it easy to "bless" someone in your life.

SOOOO...what is in the giveaway? I have put together an eclectic collection of fun items to use for yourself or to have on hand for gifts. The give away includes...a set of 4 stacking boxes (these can be used to decorate with or to use as gift boxes), a folkheart notebook, a Mary Englebriet mug (it is large and I love using mine but it is also such a good size to use for gifts--fill it with coffees, cocoas, teas, honey sticks, candies), a small gift book "Apronisms" with fun quotes and two tarts in the Amish Country Store scent to fragrance your home or add to a gift. This gift package retails for around $40.

And how do you win??? I want to make this very simple for all of us!!! The contest starts today and runs through March 1st with the random drawing being held and posted on March 2nd. To enter the drawing....

*just leave a comment below and be sure you leave contact information

*for an additional entries leave seperate comments that you have done any of the following:

become a follower...or if you are already a follower..just let me know.

become a twitter follower....there is a box for this on the right side of the page...

blog about it and invite your friends (5 additional entries)...leave your blog link

I hope you will all join in!!!! Have fun with this and let me know if you have any questions!!!
Thanks for participating!!!!

Hugs,
Debbie

***Also check the post for February 9th about our Things I Love journal group...I would love to have you join in!!!!

Want To Join Me????

In browsing around bloggy land...I ran across a blog that was doing a series of posts called Wednesdays with Mom. (And of course, I am not sure where the heck I found it...it was one of those late nights looking at blogs from the blogroll of the blogroll of the blogroll of someone that I read frequently...I have to start writing down the info!!! I am delusional when I think I will actually remember where I found it!!)

I found the blog!! http://thehouseofwhimsy.blogspot.com

The posts were great as she used an old photo of her mom and then one from today to tell her mom's story. I thought this was such a great idea...and wanted to "blog-lift it". Then I remembered who my mom is....the woman that is rarely found in front of the camera. She runs from them. And when you do actually get a picture of her, it is usually the same look, no..not the glamour shots pose, more like a horror picture where they just discovered the ax murderer!

What makes me sad is that I have so few pictures of my mom to scrapbook and share who she is in our lives and how important she is. I also remembered that I have inherited this hatred for pictures from her, as I also run from the camera. If you do see a picture of me, the one I use in my profile...it is the same one that turned out half way decent, so I just use that for everything. Sad, isn't it?

About 2-3 years ago, a friend and I decided that we would do a scrapbook to celebrate our turning 50. A 50 things I love book.....sadly, it was great in theory, but not something I pursued at that time. But when I got to thinking about my lack of pictures and info from my mom...it made me realize that we as women leave so much "unsaid". And wouldn't it be great to have something from our moms, grandmother, aunts...something that was fun and told us more about who they were or are??

When thinking about this the last few days, I ran across the beginnings of that 50 things book....I changed the title as the book holds more than 50 pages and I thought it would be fun to just take it all the way through. I used an artist sketch book I found on sale at JoAnns....and decided to do a page for each item....

The front of the book is just covered with scrapbook paper...and I used a window and shutters I found in the doll house section at Hobby Lobby and painted it brown and glued to the page with a picture behind it. The words are just from a David Walker sticker set from Hobby Lobby...very, very simple.

As I started though the book, I just made a list of pages I wanted to do...if I had paper on hand that I liked for the idea...I just went ahead and glued down the paper and decided on how I wanted to do the simple layouts. For me, I just want to do a picture, maybe two and some journaling on each page. Then if I didn't have the picture or the journaling ready...I just used a post it note to remind me of what I was planning for that page.

To be honest, I should be a world renown scrapbooker if it was based on my love of papers, stickers, rubberstamps and all the great accessories. But I find I just don't do it for some reason...but these simple pages appeal to me. I am not trying to accomplish 40 of the latest techniques on each page.....it will not be winning any awards......you won't see it on the cover of one of the scrapbooking magazines. But I am working to make it something that is a reminder to me of all I have to be grateful for, those things that I hold dear, the things that make me smile....and someday, just someday....maybe there will be a granddaughter or great granddaughter that will enjoy looking through these pages, who knows?

My goal is to not stress about this, but find something each week that I am grateful for and that I love...and do a simple page about it. Would you like to join me???? I just think it would be great fun if several of us did this together. It would be a fun way to encourage each other and to exchange ideas. These pages can be as simple or as elaborate as you want....it is your book and do what makes you happy.

If you would like to do this, I would like to start it here on February 23 (we will post on Mondays)...that will give you time to find the book you want to use. It can be any size...just what would work for you. And time to gather a few supplies...some favorite papers, pictures, glues...and any accessories you would like. I would love to have you as part of this group....if you are interested PLEASE comment below so I know who wants to play along. I will try to figure out the whole "Mr Linky" thing so that when we get started you can post your pages to your blog and I will have your links here to take people there.

Looking forward to see what you come up with!!!

Check back tomorrow....I have been working on a giveaway and it will be posted on Tuesday!!!

Hugs,

Debbie

Creatively Speaking.....

After all the craft shows for Fall and Christmas... I thought I would take just a wee bit of time off to get a break and then jump back into it, trying to work on doing some Spring shows this year. Well my time off has stretched much further than I thought it would. And I found what I needed was to play with something new to get those creative juices flowing again.

Do any of you deal with that....just needing a kick start to get moving again??? When I lived in Indiana there were several awesome quilt and craft stores...as well as several really good prim shows that I could visit for inspiration and fresh ideas. Living where I do now, I rely for most of my inspiration on the computer...and while there is some great stuff here, it is not like being there in person to feel the fabrics and chat with the designers/instructors.

Knowing that I needed a creativity boost....I signed up with a friend to take a quilt class. Now I have worked in quilt shops, been around quilting for all of my life (my mom, grandmothers and aunts are all wonderful quilters)...but I never had the desire to really step into quilting. First, I am sooooo not a precision person..and you really need to be able to match things up. Maybe this is why I love my primitives, not quite so perfect!!! But I thought I would give it a go anyway.

I have found that I love quilting....my favorites are primitive and cottage look fabrics. Sadly I see a new addiction forming...LOL Here are some of the squares from my beginner class....

And having some fabrics on hand from my stash (and the wonderful stash provided by my friend, Jen)... I decided to play with a design I found online, and came up with this cute wallhanging.

The great thing about trying something new is that it can inspire you in several different areas and get you out of a "creative funk". I always encourage friends to take classes....and go with an open mind. Not every class is going to be a lifelong pursuit....but sometimes you surprise yourself with what you learn...maybe something about how to use a fabric or other supply in a different way....sometimes it is not even what you learn from the intended class but from other students....and how awesome to be able make new friends that share your passion for creative endeavors????

I am so looking forward to playing more with the quilting and want to look into some classes on machine quilting techniques and binding....(that was not covered in our class)...but I have found some great online info on these too.

Have a great evening!!!
Hugs,
Debbie

Prepare To Be Dazzled....

Well, maybe not...but I did get your attention, didn' I????? (smile)

Life has just been very busy lately....and I have been composing bloggy posts in my head, but sadly they didn't quite make it to the computer. But tonight I have a house full of college guys cheering for their favorite Super Bowl team (nope, I don't really know who the heck is playing...LOL)...so I thought I would sneak off to the computer and catch up a bit.

Around the first of the year, I started blog surfing through some of my favorite blogs.....and it started me thinking about what this blog was going to be when it grew up. It is so easy to get sucked in to wanting to be like this one or that one.....or needing to do daily posts of what everyone else is doing...cause truly there are some awesome things out there and some great contests that I want to win and would love to share that with you.....but then if I do that, am I much more than just a billboard for everyone else??? Then there are the blogs that post that they want to go "deeper" and share more meaty topics...especially if they are a Christian blog....and then all the followers begin to worry that maybe their own blog is to frivilous and they should have more depth too......(maybe this is why Christ has called us sheep...we are easily lead here and there...)... So where am I to go with this?

In all of this...one thing I am reminded of is that Christ has called all of us not to be a second hand version of someone else....but a spectacular version of the wonderful woman he created us to be...with all of our talents, quirks, faults, gifts, enthusiam, creativity and more.

Sometimes I think we believe we need to be Moses coming off the mountain with great words of wisdom....but you know, that didn't happen every day. Moses had relatives that I am sure irritated him.....had parties to go to......laughed at the antics of his children.....just plain messed up at times. And in sharing those everyday things.....we can all relate because we know how that feels. It is the fun, quirky, everyday things that bring us together and let each of us know that we are not alone.....

So what do I want this blog to be....a reflection of me. I want to share my favorite blogs...recipes....craft ideas....home decorating.....great and horrible movies I find.....ideas....things that are on my heart...... Because I want it to be me sharing my life, like girlfriends around the table -- sharing a cup of tea and sharing a bit of their hearts and lives.

I may not always get this bloggy thing right.....but when I sit at my computer to post....know that I am here to share what is on my heart....with my bloggy friends.

Hugs to you all...

Debbie