Once a Month [old stuff] Giveaway

I [still] have bunch of stuff that needs to GO
-and I'm really tired of seeing the OMG abbreviation everywhere

[I try hard to make my mind read 'oh my goodness!]

So am hoping that we might also come to think of it as

'Once a Month [old stuff] Giveaway!

I plan to randomly draw a name from the comments on this post and send that person a little bag of goodies that hopefully they can use[new to them and all, you know...]
- Just browse through the blog and leave a comment about your favorite post from FEBRUARY.

Comments will close on Thursday night March 11that midnight [central.]

And the Winner for January is:

Viji Siddharth said...

Hey Judy! I like your ten on tuesdays posts and the post with just a picture and a quote by Corrie Ten Boom. Well Said....
You are very generous to do this everymonth. Thankyou for the chance
Love
VIji#5858

Viji - send your mailing address to me

Judy@faithbasedpages.com

and I'll get a little box of goodies out to you soon!

Everyday Goodness

I did it. My gift to Craig last year was to learn to knit. He so wants me to be able to carry-on the Christmas stocking tradition that his mother started when she made theirs back in the 1950s. Love them. And he wants our future daughters-in-love and grandchildren one day to have the same stockings hanging in their homes.

So last January [09] I bought myself a little ‘Teach Yourself to Knit’ kit at Wal-Mart. I have memories of Mrs. Starkey across the street teaching me to crochet and I know Lorna and I knitted a few hair bands back in the day, but I’d never tackled anything of real substance. I started with a simple little purse – and it took me quite a while to get the stitches right [taking out, knitting and purling again and again and then taking it all out once more…] Turns out that while I’m right handed I’m more definitely a left-handed knitter [possibly more continental.] But I finished that purse – haphazard stitches everywhere. Then I was on to a few caps – with some ending up with pointy little tops. A bib seemed easy enough and was fun to practice working patterns. Then I did the little sun-dress for MK.

And then it was time to face the stocking. I found a cute [and much too complicated] pattern and thought I’d give it a go using whatever yarn I had on hand. [It’s supposed to be green, red and cream, I think.] The pattern didn’t matter too much to me – it’s the technique of making that heel and toe that had me befuddled. But I set to work and many [many] weeks later after putting it down and picking it up again I have a completed stocking. Yippee.

And it’s terrible looking. If you look closely you can see that I tend to add stitches [and whole pieces of a pattern] and the decrease instructions finally clicked in my head somewhere around the last three rounds of the heel... So it’s definitely not something I’ll share with others [except in this carefully staged photograph – ha] but I’m happy I did it. I faced my fears of stocking heel. And survived. And, I used double-pointed needles to knit it in rounds – a really fun thing to do.

What’s next? Well, I hate to throw it out here – but I’ve found the pattern that was used for my sister’s family stockings [my mother-in-law did those too] and they’ve had a new family member added this past year…it’s a scary thought, but I think I’m going to go for it. Just don’t ask about it because it may take me a couple of years to complete. But it’s a goal.

Ten on Tuesday 02-22-2010

1. Loving the Olympic commercials so much more than those for the Super Bowl this year! [“I’m sitting on a horse.”]
2. Michael J gave me a scare this week – on one of our snow days I went out to place a tray to gather snow for snow cream and as I walking in I turned around and he was RIGHT BEHIND ME – and didn’t back off until I was inside the house. [He’s the fox that lives in our yard.]
3. Who loves the smell of negatives as much as I do? Those who took a lot of photos back in the pre-digital days would recognize the smell instantly [it’s kind of like crayola crayons, or powdered paint for me – it just takes you instantly back to another time and place.]
4. Yes – still scanning negatives, and as anticipated, there’s so many more once I got to 1986 – when our first baby boy was born!
5. Yay! More than two days of normal [for us] temps this week – mid 60s* And it feels so wonderful!
6. And double yay! The sun is back!
7. Traveling some – I’ve been on the road 5 out of the last ten work days and the month’s not over yet.
8. Add in the weekly two hour phone conferences [plus the extra stuff – exciting as it may be – that goes along with it ] and my work weeks are getting crazier and crazier...
9. A very scrappy weekend – a fun new crop place Friday evening with friends, a crop I haven’ t been to for a while on Saturday, and a class in the afternoon too. Whee!


10. And finally – we are captivated by curling. We’ve looked up the rules and learned new words like ‘house,’ ‘biter,’ ‘guard,’ and ‘hammer’ – maybe because this is the ONE winter Olympic sport we think we could do?

"If you look at the world, you'll be distressed.
If you look within, you'll be depressed.
If you look at God you'll be at rest."

February's Monthly Challenge

February Challenge:

[Loosely based on layout in February Creating Keepsakes, p. 23 and a previous challenge from Cindy Lee over on the Faith Based Pages Yahoo Group]

Size: one or two page layout – any size

Colors: brown, pink, maroon

Photos: 2-3

Embellishments: three hearts, journaling in strips of paper

Technique: Hand / machine stitching

Scripture:"Kiss me again and again, for your love is sweeter than wine." Song of Songs 1:2

Begin today and complete your own interpretation of this challenge!
Put your project in our Flicker Group or post a comment and link to show us your page[s] before March 1^st and you could be chosen to receive a little giftie from me.
I’ll post my layout on that date and April's challenge will be posted the third week in March. I look forward to seeing what you do!

Ten on Tuesday

1. My car is on the Toyota recall list. I’m praying daily that it doesn’t happen to me, meanwhile my mantra is: “Turn off the ignition,turn off the ignition” – hoping I’ll be prepared if it does and not do a total freak-out. [Of course, our T. Corolla did this – but it really was the car mat getting caught on the gas pedal and all I had to do was a little ‘flip-up’ with my foot to get it to un-stick…]
2. I read blogs – Sometimes I feel like I read a lot of blogs and sometimes I feel like I don’t read enough blogs [there’s JUST SO MUCH INFO OUT THERE and I want it all.]
3. Some blogs I’ve read this week have made me so sad for the writers who are obviously searching for The Truth – but looking in so many different places without finding Him. Praying about how to approach / respond / reach out to these people I know only peripherally and who have no idea what Christ has to offer them.
4. And I keep / write a blog – a place to share with family and friends, a place to record stuff I want to remember [and possibly scrapbook later] – a place where I’ve become more purposeful about what / how I write – and now I’m surprised to see I have ‘followers’ [and that makes me happy, and a little scared too – I’m afraid I might let them down.]
5. And on that same thought – I’ve had two people ‘un-friend ‘ me this month on facebook – have I offended or bored someone in some way?
6. We had a beautiful snow downtown one morning this week – all melted by noon.
7. And yes, we had snow two other days this week – a little on Sunday morning and a little more on Monday morning- I’ve got to embrace winter ‘ cause it’s here to stay!
8. Did some traveling this week for work and family time. Always fun to see those we love.
9. Happy Mardis Gras to those down South - hope you had a wonderful 5 day weekend!
10. And finally, I made an appointment for my yearly check-up [18 months late] – I wish I could just make these when I’m leaving the office and not have to remember to schedule them myself.

Happy Valentine's Day

You know you’re in love when you don’t want to fall asleep
because reality is finally better than your dreams.
Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel – writer, cartoonist

So thankful I can wake up to my dream every day!

[negative scan of photo of a photo - our wedding 1983]

Top Ten Lessons from Charlie Brown #2

For 50 years the daily comic strip "Peanuts" entertained millions of readers. Every day, the adventures of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and the whole gang provided many laugh-out-loud moments while at the same time offering a daily inspiration and lessons on life. With the death of "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz, I reflect on how much I enjoyed sharing the adventures of the "Peanuts" gang and I remember the many lessons they taught me...
2. Persistence wins out.Charlie Brown often lost, failed at much, but he never gave up. Even though he knew Lucy was going to pull the football away before he could kick it.... Even though he knew the tree was going to eat his kite... Even though he knew his team would lose the ball game, he kept on trying.
Submitted by Jim Allen, a personal & business success coach, who can be reached at Jim@CoachJim.com, or visited on the web at http://www.coachjim.com/.Jim Allen wants you to know: Charles Schulz taught me much through his daily work. Now, I hope to return the favor in some small way.

Thankful for --

A recent assignment on the Faith Based Pages Classes Group was to do a layout with ten photos and a list of things we're thankful for -And since I've learned how to make a template [in case you haven't heard-] I wanted to go ahead and do it digitally. I used the Port au Prince digital kit that I recently purchased from Songbird Avenue [benefits Haiti] and photos I've had for a bit [and have definitely used in other layouts.] I really like how it turned out --

Ten on Tuesday

1. Getting back on the treadmill after our holiday wasn’t as hard as I’d imagined – it actually feels good – and my body seems to want it… this is [so] very odd for me.
2. And, while I know I’m still no great athlete [I do 30 to 40 minutes a day, folks] I can look back to a year ago and see a HUGE difference. Yay for me – my new goal: two marathons a month [WALKING 52 miles total – and if you think about it, THAT really shows you how very little I’m doing –] I hope to get up to a MARATHON A WEEK! Can I do it?
3. The winter garden is planted! We hope to have little sprouts of onion, cabbage, bibb lettuce, brussell sprouts, and spinach coming up soon.
4. How fun to have two of my favorite people in the scrapbook world mention me on their blogs. You can see why here and here.
5. After waiting – and waiting [and waiting] to find out about the aftermath of the plane crash on Wisteria Lane I turned on the TV to find that I MSSED IT. It was on the first week in January while we were out / town. Hulu, here I come-
6. And after Drew set me up with Hulu I realized I’d not only missed the first episode after the plane crash – but FOUR more – so I’ve spent a couple of evenings knitting and catching up with the folks in Fairview. Ha.
7. No out of town travel for work this week and was nice to have time to get caught up and organized in several areas [manual revisions, email, the never-ending paperwork.]
8. PMS or PMH? All I can say is that for the last six months or so I’ve awoken with a HEADACHE on THAT day, consistently – who knew?
9. Started working through the scanning of the negatives – what a TRIP down memory lane. The scanner is doing such an excellent job. Can I just declare it one of the best gifts – ever?
10. And finally, this week I ate the last little package of micro-wave kettle corn that we picked up in Colorado – I haven’t been able to find it around here [yet!] and that makes me kind of sad.

God is a God of Freshness and Change -

[I just love those snowy aspens!]

by Charles R. Swindoll
Exodus 35:21, 25-26
God is a God of freshness and change. But wait, before I leave that thought, let me make something very clear: God Himself isn't changing, nor is His Son. He "is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8). Isn't that a great thought? God is no different this year than He was last year or a decade ago. Nor will He change one hundred years from now. But even though He is the same, His working is different. It stays fresh. His ways and methods are forever fresh, unpredictably new.
I need to warn you, if you like things to stay the same, you're going to be terribly uncomfortable in heaven. Everything is going to be new. God is a God of freshness and change. He flexes His methods. He alters His way so much, it's as if you've never seen it before. You can't imagine what it may be like next time.
God says we are to be "imitators" of Him, which really means we are to "mimic." Since God is a God of freshness and change, so we should be. If we are to fulfill this command, then I suggest that we stay fresh---that we remain open, innovative, willing to change.
Every age knows the temptation to try to restrict God's dealings. The majority of people in this world are maintainers. Once we get things set, we don't like them changed.
Are you open to change in your life? Are you willing to risk? Are you flexible enough to innovate? Are you willing to tolerate the sheer possibility of making a massive change in your direction for life? "Lord, is it South America? Great! Or Indonesia? I'll do it. I'll move or change my profession. Fine! Are You leading me into a new venture? I'll do it. Count me in!"
That's the spirit! It may mean moving across the street. It may mean moving across the States. It may mean moving across the seas. How flexible are you? It may not involve a move at all, only a willingness.
Reprinted by permission. Dear Graduate: Letters of Wisdom from Charles R. Swindoll, Charles R. Swindoll, © 2007, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Copying or using this material without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited and in direct violation of copyright law.

Stories to Tell

Stories to Tell contains random - crazy - often inaccurate [but real-to-me] memories I want to record for my scrapbooks. I'd love to hear how these might prompt some of your own memories-

Green Stamps:

I have vague and random memories of green stamps – how many of you collected them in your household too? When we would do our bi-weekly grocery shopping at the Liberty Grocery Store [which always began with dinner out – a treat for us--- at Southland] my mom would receive a certain number of green stamps depending on how much we’d spent on the groceries. [Sometimes we’d get the big yellow ones that were ‘worth’ more.]

After we got home and the groceries were put away [my job was to put all the canned goods in the bottom cabinet], I’d plead for the chance to put the stamps in the little books where they were collected. Each page held, maybe 50 stamps [but again the yellow ones took up more space] and once the books were filled we’d go to the Green Stamp Store to redeem them. I have memories of looking through the Green Stamp Catalog, but I can’t remember what it held – small appliances? Toys? I’m just not sure. But I do know it was a treat to look through and dream of how the stamps might be used.

I have a [very] vague memory of a Green Stamp Store over in Sheffield, but during a recent visit to the Shoals Craig and were driving around Florence and reminiscing – and came upon the old Seven Points Shopping Center and he vividly remembered the Green Stamp Store there – and I can also remember visiting it – was it the only one, or was it larger than the other store that I recall?

Random memories of simpler times… did any of you ever send off the tops of cereal boxes for a treat? I could ramble on about that too, but I’ll end with sharing the best thing I ever got with cereal box tops: a print of horses running in a storm, larger than 18x24, and still framed, and in my attic today – fun.

A little ps fun

I know many of you read The Pioneer Woman [link to the right, and down a little] so you've already seen her sweet little tutorial on enhancing snow photos. And I wanted to give it a try - case in point, this precious photo of MK that I grabbed off her blog.
1. Is straight-off-the-blog, cropped by the parents , but I'm not sure if it was enhanced or straight out of the camera goodness - such a great photo
2. I played with it a bit a week or so ago -using some actions [I can't remember what] and thought I saw some changes at the time, and
3. Today I opened up the straight-off-the-blog photo again and used the [simple] hardlight and curves technique the PW shared - and I'm loving the results - but what do you think - that's what really maters!

Ten on Tuesday

1. Never [ever] move a pound cake from one level of the oven to another mid-bake. It makes for a flat, but oh-so-sweet, heavy ‘thing.’ [I’m not sure I can call it a ‘cake’ – but people ate it, including me.] Rest assured, it DID NOT look like this, even though I DID use the Pioneer's Woman's delicious recipe.
2. I finally learned how to make a digital template – and I know I’ve shared that information with EVERYONE, but I’m just very pleased with myself.
3. There’s just something special about doing lunch with good friends – and Emma’ Tea Room was THE BEST place for our little group that hasn’t been together for far too long to go and catch up on a cold winter’s day.
4. Got good news from a favorite magazine today… and I have to say – I agree with my friend [who’s been published a ga-zillion times] you can just never be quite sure what they’re looking for in the scrapbook publishing world. Of the ten submitted, there were at least two others that I thought would be chosen [for sure.] I understand the publishers have to make choices based on color combination, size of layouts, etc. But I did especially love these:
5. But since I only do pages that mean something to me I’ll still treasure them for my own. [These photos of the boys from younger days had originally been scrapped the “late 90’s way” – and those of you who started with this great hobby back then know EXACTLY what I’m talking ‘bout. – So fun to have these favorite photos enhanced with some of the products available today! Also the layout of Trey and September’s wedding? – love it…]
6. Speaking of scrapbooking [– and weren’t we?] I am so enjoying using page packets and found some cute ones at JoAnn’s on-sale for $1.99. Yippee!
7. I want to knit something! It’s been so – so long since I’ve picked up my needles – and I saw some of the cutest caps while we were in Colorado that I really think I can make.8. We’ve started Beth Moore’s Psalms of Ascent in my Bible Study Group – she does such IN DEPTH research to present these studies to us. And while I’m not a history lover – she does a wonderful job of making the background stuff come alive for even me.
9. Waited most of the day Friday to see if we would, in fact, get the ice that was predicted. Ice in the South is far [far] worse than snow – it means falling trees and no electricity – and truthfully, we haven’t had an ice storm since we’ve moved to our little tree filled acre in town…and, nope, it didn't happen. This time.
10. And finally – we’re cooking a little more often at home these days [or, maybe, we’re bringing in more leftovers…] and this has resulted in more ‘stuff’ for the compost pile – and that makes me happy.

Faith Based Pages Challenge - January

I hope some of you took the time to reflect on your 'every day blessings' these last two weeks. These could be big things or not so big - I just randommly chose three - my family - always and forever the biggest blessing ever to me, my scrap space - so nice to have space to just create freely, and my car - I'm 'on the road' an awful lot and it's nice to have dependable transportation [photo from when it was sitting on the lot waiting for pick up over a year ago.] If you've done the challenge this month, please feel free to comment or email and let me know where I can see it - I say it over and over - but I really do love to see how everyone creates differently.