Looking back . . .

When we take a minute to stop and look back to times when we were children, we may find ourselves comparing how it was “then” to how it is “now.” Maybe you younger gals don’t notice a lot of change right now because you have not yet reached an age to have many years to look back on. That’s okay; you’ll get there. :)

The other day as I was scanning pictures of my newest scrapbook page creations, I was thinking about how much scrapbooking has changed since I was a little girl. Back “then” a scrapbook and a picture album were definitely two different things. My Mom gave me my first scrapbook when I was in the 5th grade. I kept all sorts of little treasures in it – birthday cards, notes from girl friends, cutouts from the newspaper, perfect attendance certificates from school, and other memorabilia. Photos that Mom snapped and gave to me were put in my very own picture album (it was a big deal). Of course, this still can be done separately. However, the popular trend of scrapbooking today has grown to mean a creative page with the combination of the two. It’s a lovely way to express memories.

For quite a while, it was hard for me to break from tradition. I just could not bring myself to leave out any pictures by just choosing the best ones for creative pages, and I certainly couldn’t “crop” a picture! Holy cow, that would be as bad as writing in my books, or worse yet – writing in my Bible! Of course, I overcame those last two hang-ups a long time ago.

What finally started me with creative scrapbooking was my trip to Israel and walking through the Holy Land. It had such a spiritual impact on me that there was no way that I could just put the pictures in an album and call it good. I wanted the memories of what I saw and did to vividly come to mind when looking at the pictures. I wanted to see the keepsakes along side the pictures, and I had to have journaling – bits of history, emotions, descriptions -- words to help me remember.

So here I am – scrapbooking away and having a gloriously fun time! Although the two pages I’m showing you today are not of happy times, visiting the Holocaust Museum was part of my trip and I want to include everything I experienced. So that's why I want to share with you how I memorialized the day spent at Vad Vashem.

On the first scrapbook page, the middle photo is of the young men and women in the Israeli army. They are very young -- just like our own young soldiers -- it breaks my heart when I think of war.

The Memorial Pen at the bottom right on the second page symbolizes Vad Vashem's message -- Remembering the Past, Shaping the future. The barbed wire stem recalls the pain and trauma of the Holocaust, while the leaves stemming from the wire symbolizes rebirth and hope.

Will you remember to pray with me for our armed forces?
Annie

"We are . . .persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed . . ."
II Corinthians 4:9

10 Minute Birthday Card

Postage Collage Images; Happy Birthday rubber stamp by Denami

Design

Use Your Talent!

Have you said this or heard this before -- I'm not talented . . . or . . . I don't have any talent? I used to say that about myself. However, when I became a follower of Jesus, I soon learned that our Creator instilled within each of us a unique talent, a gift, which He wants us to use for His Glory. Uhmmm, using our talent for His purposes -- makes you stop and think doesn't it! Before I came to this realization, I was busy using the talents, I thought I didn't have, for my own benefit. During the early years of marriage, we lived on a limited budget, so I became a do-it-yourselfer. I sewed curtains, drapes, and pillows. I took up ceramics so that I could make pretty little decorative items for our home. And then I turned to oil painting solely for the purpose of having pictures to hang on the walls. I sewed some of my own clothes, and made baby clothes, and even made diapers. Wow, can you even imagine such a thing as making diapers in today's world! Looking back, I believe that God was allowing me time to develop my talents so that they would be ready for His use in His time. Once I placed my talents in God's hands to be used as He chose, He gave me many opportunities to use them and serve Him in various church and personal ministries. I feel very blessed when God sends someone to me with a request to create something.

There's no such thing as a person without talent. We each have at least one talent that has blossomed or is waiting to be developed. Are you a good listener? Do people enjoy visiting your home? Do you like helping others in various ways? Are you a good team player? Do you like to cook and feed others? Are you happy working in the background and not receiving acknowledgment? Don't you see, there is no big or little talent in God's eyes -- they're all the same to Him. It is not the kind of talent that we have that is important, it's what we do with it that counts. God is looking for faithful one-talented servants. "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." Luke 16:10
I pray that you will use all your talents for God's glory and to do it God's way. Annie

Peaceful Summer Day

Just couldn't ask for a nicer day. Had mocha and a scone with a dear friend this morning at my very favorite Coffee Cabin, lunch with the sweetest hubby ever, and shortly will be going to my monthly scrapbook club. I'll be posting some new scrapbook pages in a day or two (just finished them yesterday), but today I want to share with you some pictures of my adorable great-grans, my kitty-kid, and our new little family member.

Uhmmm, let me see if I can get this right: Brody-6 yr, Kaden-5 yr, Ryder-4 yr, Kameron-4 yr, Lexie-2 1/2 yr, and baby Isaac 4 days old, YumYum-9 yr, and KoKo-12 weeks. Whew! How the Lord has blessed me.

Rejoice

The other day I was doing the dreaded task of dusting, and having come to a bookshelf holding the books I've made over the years, I just had to take a little break and look through a few of them. I was amazed at the many different styles sitting there -- altered books, CD books, a hand-shaped book, accordion books, house-shaped books, envelope books, paper sack books, tag books -- just to name a few. I guess you can tell by this time that I love to make books. Most recently I completed a book with multi-shaped chipboard pages. It's one of the Kaisercraft "Beyond the Page" album sets. You can see more book shapes at http://www/kaisercraft/net.beyond-the-page. The book is named Rejoice with each page bearing a bible scripture -- its purpose is to be a praise book to the Lord. The scrapbook paper used in this project is from Deja View, the Timeless Collection. Laying each board page on a piece of scrapbook paper, I cut around it using a craft knife; very simple to do even if you don't like craft knives. Using my favorite adhesive, Aleene's Super Quick Dry glue, I attached the scrapbook paper to the board page as I cut each one out. I know many of you like to use tape runners and there are some pretty good ones on the market. My favorite tape runner is Scotch glue tape, this stuff really holds! Forever! The book was bound with metal rings and I tied a 3-ribbon bow on each ring. Pictures of the pages are posted in the Slideshow section so you can see the rest of the book there. I pray that this little book will lift your spirit and brighten your day. Annie

Living in Faith

On occasion I'm asked what does "faith" mean to me. Dictionaries include in the meaning to put trust in, to be committed to, to place confidence in, and to rely upon. For me, as a Christian, faith is having the assurance that Christ is who He professes to be and having trust that He will do all that He promises to do. I really like how faith is explained in the book, "The Kingdom, Power, & the Glory," by Chuck and Nancy Missler, which says, "Real faith is not feeling, not seeing, not understanding, and not knowing but still choosing to trust and rely upon Him. It's being convinced that no matter what we see happening in our lives, no matter what we understand to be true, and no matter how we feel, God will be faithful to His Word and perform His promises to us in His timing and in His way!"

Isn't that beautiful? If you want God's will to become a reality in your life experience, then you must have faith. The Bible tells us, faith is "the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen."
(Hebrews 11:1).

I pray that you grow in faith day by day as you walk with the Lord, . . . Annie

Summer Days

When I think of summer, one theme that comes to mind is tropical blue water, sandy beaches, and sea shells. What I actually get is a backyard pool and sea shell patterned beach towels. Oh well, that’s OK . . . while I’m floating around on my air mattress I can pretend I’m anywhere in the world. So far, the waters of the Carribbean are my favorite. Thank you, Lord, for my imagination! This brings to mind the tapered, tri-fold sea shell card I made. Using a white 8 ½ x 11” sheet of cardstock, I made a tapered diagonal cut from the top of the 8 ½” side to the other end of the 11" length, leaving one side 8 1/2 " high and the other side about 3 1/4” high. Then fold the cardstock into thirds. Using sea shell stamps, I stamped the images all along the diagonal cut on the inside of the card. Then after turning the card over, I stamped just the middle section with stamps that matched the images other side. Next I cut out around the top of the sea shell images. Tiny little “real” shells were used for embellishment, and the card was finished off with a sentiment which I stamped, cut out the words, and then layered them onto the card. Using the basic card shape, you could use any stamp design as long as it is approximately the same shape all the way around. I think I’m going to try some flowers or leaves next, or make a child’s card using teddy bears. Ooh, now I’m excited to get on to the next one!

Folded Card

Inside of Card