Tuesday's {Tip} Printable Library Cards

I love library cards but I don't have any on hand. Thus, I never use them on my creations. Well, Shimelle had a class on Two Peas in a Bucket. She made a reading log, and she also had a free printable--colored library cards. They are super cute (as is her reading log). I thought you might like to have this file for yourself so that you too can have library cards available next time you want to use one. You can find the printable library cards here and the reading log with instructions here. I hope you enjoy this! Have a great Tuesday!

Baby Kiwi & Layers of Color!

Oooh, I am so excited to share this layout. Not only do I love these stamp sets from Layers of Color but I couldn't wait to share the story of what our new baby did! We got an e-mail from the breeder about Kiwi, and this is what she said:

Patter,
I didn't forget ya! You'll get new pictures tomorrow! We had to scrub your girl down completely today. She decided to take her first flight and landed RIGHT into the formula bowl. So, picture day is a day off, thanks to Miss Battered Bird! *laughs*
Yours, Tina

We all got such a huge kick out of that! My husband even asked if she got a picture of our "Battered Baby." He will turn into a scrapbooker yet!!! :)

Now a bit about the layout. First, the picture is of Kiwi (the precious girl with the orange and yellow on her head) but not of the actual accident. I wanted to at least share the story because we loved it! And you too can certainly use other pictures or no pictures at all when creating a layout to share a story. The two stamps I used were the Layers of Color Royal Birds and Layers of Color Old World Flourish. I took a stamp from the Old World Flourish set and stamped it onto the chipboard star and the chipboard number after painting the chipboard and spraying it with Shimmerz Spritz Baby's Breath. Papers: Basic Grey June Bug, Bazzill
Stamps: Layers of Color Old World Flourish, Layers of Color Royal Birds
Stamp Ink: Memento tuxedo Black, SU only orange
Embellishments: Deluxe Designs chipboard star, Shimmerz spritz baby's breath, FolkArt wicker white paint, Basic Grey offbeat buttons, Stickles orange peel, Scenic Route chipboard circle, Basic Grey chipboard number, Making Memories black tiny alpha stickers, Heidi Swapp chipboard black alpha, Pink Paislee alpha stickers, Jillibean bean seeds (felt flower), misc. notepaper, misc. ribbon, Elle's Studio journaling tag, Karen Foster scrappers floss white

So, I hope you enjoyed our "Battered Baby Kiwi" story. And I also hope you are inspired to scrap a story too! Have a blessed Monday, and thanks for stopping by!

Note: This layout was published in the September 2009 issue of Scrap Street Magazine. See the issue here. :)

Organizational {Friday} Target itso Storage!

Happy Friday everyone! Wow, do I have a fun Target find for you today! I think some of you may love this organizational piece! Let's look at what I found! It is a storage line called "itso." They have cubes of all sizes, fabric drawers, plastic drawers, trays that fit in the drawers, etc. There are SO many storage options. I could see trays of ribbons, trays of stamps (like I use them for), stacks of paper, trays of embellishments, etc. Let your imagination run. And yes, 12x12 paper fits too!!!

Here are links to the 3 pieces I use:

itso Storage Cube
itso Divided Tray
itso Fabric Storage Bin

And here is how my stamp drawer looks: Two trays actually fit in one drawer. So, for the entire unit, I have four trays! They do make a drawer that would fit the four trays but because of weight, I like these "half" drawers better. I also choose to use the divided trays but they make a wide or open tray too! You can also stack multiple cubes. There are endless options with this "itso" line!

If you go to the Target site, just search on "itso." You will get 100+ search matches. Be sure to look at them all because there are different sizes and colors (including pink). :) I just love it, and I hope this has been helpful to you today. Enjoy!

Many Creations, New Releases, & Prizes!

It seems like it's been a while since I have shared my design team work with you. I thought I would take a moment and share some of them with you here today. There is also LOTS of news to share so be sure to read closely. :) I wouldn't want you to miss out on new releases, prizes, or contests! :) Let's get started!

Memory Box Creations
First, I want to share some Memory Box creations. My layouts are my favorite because they are of a new addition we will be adding to our family! Her name is Kiwi, and we should get her around Sept. 1st. We are so excited. She is a white-bellied Caique. Our Cockatiel passed away in March, and we truly miss having a feathered friend around the house. :) Then here are some cards I have created for Memory Box: And be sure to check this Memory Box link. We just revealed our HUGE new holiday release! Lots of stamps, papers, and jewels! Yum!!! And for step-by-step instructions on any of these Memory Box creations, see my Memory Box blog here.

Layers of Color
If you haven't heard, Layers of Color is celebrating their first anniversary! Laura is giving away THREE stamp sets but you must comment on the Layers of Color blog by tonight to get entered! On the blog, you will also find out details of a contest going on too. Today is the final day to enter the contest but it's not too late. Get that crafting stuff out, and get working!

Now for my creations. Right now I just have one card to share for Layers of Color but I am working on more. This card is one of my favorites because first, I LOVE the Garden Borders stamp set, and second, it's my favorite color pink! Poppystamps
Here are a few Poppystamps creations. We are now selling woodmount and clear stamps, and you can order them directly from the Poppystamps site! Thanks for looking, thanks for stopping by, and thanks for the sweet comments you always leave. I enjoy and appreciate each of you! Have a blessed Thursday!

Tuesday's {Tip} Make Your Own Envelopes

I ran across this excellent tutorial by Lauren Meader showing you how to make your own envelopes with a simple formula! This is a great tutorial to print off and keep as reference! You can find Lauren's tutorial here. I hope you will give it a try! Enjoy!

His Holy Name {Challenge 15, Immutable}

Challenge Word 15: Immutable
God’s Attribute: God is Unchanging. He is Immutable. Malachi 3: 6 says “I the LORD do not change. . .” He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

How does this affect my daily life? Do you ever wonder how the God of Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, etc., could be the same God of today? Do you feel like He was different thousands of years ago? Well, the God of a thousand years ago, the God of all creation, the immutable God is the same God we have today. He does not change as clearly stated in Malachi 3:6 “I the LORD do not change. . .” He is the same today as He was yesterday, and it is what He will always be.

We change our minds, our jobs change, and we are surrounded by change. We change in how we view things as we grow in our knowledge of the Lord. I am a completely new person in Christ than I was before coming to know Him in 1997. Have you changed? Are you becoming more like Him as you walk in obedience to Him? However, it is important to remember that while we are to change and grow in Him, our God does not change, and He does not change His mind. 1 Samuel 15:29 says “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change his mind.” We can rest in Him knowing that nothing about Him changes. J. I. Packer said “Created things have a beginning and an ending, but not so their Creator. The answer to the child’s question ‘Who made God?’ is simply that God did not need to be made, for He was always there. He exists forever, and He is always the same.”

As the third verse of the hymn “Immortal, Invisible” says:
To all, life Thou givest—to both great and small,
In all life Thou livest—the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish—but naught changeth Thee.

Oh so true, and we can rest in that and trust that He will not change! Praise be to God! My page for this week shares two of my favorite verses:
Malachi 3:6 “I the LORD do not change.”
Psalm 102:27 “. . .You remain the same and Your years will never end.” Papers: Memory Box biscotti cranberry, Making Memories Sabrina
Stamps: Just Rite dater
Stamp Ink: Colorbox Fluid Chalk blackbird
Embellishments: Karen Foster Scrappers Floss white, Liquid Pearls white opal, Making Memories tiny alpha stickers, Basic Grey Offbeat button, Jillibean Soup bean seeds (felt flowers), Elle's Studio tags, Deluxe Designs chipboard flourish, Glimmer Mist graphite

Remember to use the Keyword HHN09 when posting in online galleries, and to chat about the challenge, join us in this thread here on Splitcoaststampers! I pray that you will remember this—no matter how your circumstances change, the immutable God will always be there to love, protect, guide, and comfort you! Blessings to you,

Scripture Challenge 2009 {Weeks 29 & 30}

It sure has been quiet around cyberworld it seems. Blogs, message boards, etc., seem quite slow. I guess most people are vacationing or relaxing. I hope you will take these quiet moments to enjoy your next two studies, and they are:

Week 29: (God's) Word
Week 30: Obey

Remember to use Scripture Challenge Keyword: SCRC209 when posting to online galleries. Also, please join us in this thread here on Splitcoaststampers for links to your pages and general discussion about the challenge words. Enjoy reading His Word, and I will see you again on August 2nd! Blessings to you,

Organizational {Friday} Color Swatchbook

Most of you probably remember my organizational posts sharing how I create color swatches of my Copics, Stickles, stamp ink, etc. I have even added to my binder to now include swatch pages of my Shimmerz and Twinkling H20s. This book is SO handy, I literally use it every time I craft. If you missed those posts, here are the various links:

Binder Containing Color Swatch Pages
Stamp Ink Swatches
Stickles Color Swatches

One of my wonderful readers, Christina, shared her colorswatches with me a couple of weeks ago. I love how they turned out. I thought you might like to see another swatchbook sample. You can see Christina's swatchbook here.

If you want to see my pages for my Shimmerz, Twinkling H20s, or Copics, let me know, and I can share those another week. Thanks for stopping by, and have a blessed Friday. And be sure to leave Christina some love when you stop by to see her swatchbook. I am sure you would make her day! Blessings,

My Jillibean Soup {Creations}

Yeah, I am SO excited to finally share by guest design work for Jillibean Soup! Gosh, I love their products, and if you haven't seen their CHA sneak peeks, you need to go to the blog and look. WOW!

Anyway, my creations are up on the Jillibean Blog here, and I will share them here also. I am SO excited. Thanks go out to Jill and Jillibean for allowing to share and enjoy these wonderful products!

This first creation is my notebook for Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). Those of you that have subscribed to my blog long enough know that I make a new notebook every year for our new study. This upcoming Fall, we will be studying John, and it is a 32 week study thus I used the Jillibean twill and cut it apart to make the number 32 on my notebook. :)Papers: Paper Trey Ink (back), Jillibean Soup Cold Raspberry, Jillibean Soup Cream of Mushroom
Alpha: Quickutz blossom
Embellishments: Bo Bunny brads, Queen & Co. brads, Jillibean Soup journaling sprouts, Jillibean Soup ribbons, Stickles cinnamon, Jillibean Soup bean seeds, DMC floss, clip from office supply store

This next creation is another 8x8 layout for my BSF album I am creating. This photo is from when I went to headquarters in May. Papers: Memory Box parsley (photo mat), Jillibean Soup Cold Raspberry, Jillibean Soup Cream of Mushroom
Embellishments: 7Gypsies photo turn & brads, Jillibean Soup journaling sprouts, Jillibean Soup bean seeds, misc. buttons, Jillibean Soup twill

And my last creation is a card. I love the Jillibean felt flowers or bean seeds as they call them. I used them on every creation as you probably have noticed! Thanks for letting me share these creations with you, and be sure to visit the Jillibean site and Jillibean blog! And a HUGE thanks to Jill and the team again for allowing me to guest design for them! Have a blessed day!

Elle's Studio {2010 Calendars} & Free Workshop

Most of you have seen me mention Elle's Studio before. I love her tags, calendars, notepapers, products for 365, etc., that she offers. Everything is great for layouts, cards, tags, altered items, etc.

For July and August, she is offering a free summer mini book workshop along with a couple of free tag downloads. You can find the information on her site here. It looks great!

She also has gotten in stock all of her 2010 calendars. So, if you are making Christmas gifts and need 2010 calendars, Elle has them! You can find them all here. I hope you enjoy looking around but beware, she has LOTS of cute stuff! :) Have a blessed Tuesday!

Join Us in Writing a Faith Journal!

Some of you may remember that last year I created journaling jars and questions for my mom and two aunts for Christmas. My friend Shanna Vineyard hosted a challenge on Create My Keepsake to create these; however, Shanna's questions were not necessarily faith related. Here are the jars and journals I created: I know my mom has been writing in hers, and loves it. I can't wait to read it someday! Well, I want to leave a faith legacy, and I have created faith-related questions for our journals. I am going to be hosting a challenge on the Christian Papercrafts Community where I will post these faith questions two times a week (Wednesdays and Saturdays). You will create a faith journal to leave for your family some day! We are not altering a journal; we are not creating jars. I will "pull" the question and you will journal about it. You can see complete details in this thread here. I hope you will join us in writing your faith legacy! Have a blessed day!

Tuesday's {Tip} Links

I have learned over the course of 2+ years blogging that it really is nice to have a link list. I currently have them for my organizational ideas, Scripture Challenge, and His Holy Name Challenge; however, I don't have one for my Tuesday's Tips. I thought today, I would compile that list, and then you will have easy access to all of my tips posted here on my blog. This way you can hopefully find things more easily. And if you have missed things along the way, now is your chance to see them again. This list will be updated as I as more tips. I hope this is helpful. Enjoy!

Nos.
6x6 Paper Pads
2010 Calendars
2011 Calendars

ABC
Advent Calendars
Altered Clipboard Instructions
Altering Spiral Notebooks
Bazzill Matches
Big Shot Dies--Make a Pin Cushion
Bow Tying
Camera Strap Cover Tutorials
Camera Strap (Ruffled)
Cardstock Swatch Book
Chipboard--25 Creative Uses
Color Challenges
Color Idea Book/Rolodex
Colored Pencil Tutorials
Copic Markers
Cuttlebug Embossing Folders--Using Ink with Them

DEF
Fabric Yo-Yos
Flowers--40 Ways to use Them
FS & ISO Sites

GHI
Glossy Accents Clogged?
Glue Dot Tips
Heat Embossing Small Items
Heritage Interview Sheet
Inking Corners & Tricky Places

JKL
Journaling in Your Own Words
Korker Ribbons & Bows
Library Cards

MNO
My Blog Resources
Nestabilities--Altering the Size
Notebooks (see 'Altering Spiral Notebooks' above)

PQR
Paper Medallions
Personalized Stamps
Photographing Projects
Planner Pages
Printing on Small Scraps
Project 52
Quilted Cards
Ribbon--101 Uses
Ribbon--Storing on Bobbin Cards
Rolodex Files--Uses For

STU
Seam Binding--Coloring Your Own
Sewing Tutorial
Sheet Music
Stamp Cleaner Recipe
Stamp Conditioning
Stamp Positioner
Stick Pins--Covering the Point
Stickles Product Review
To Do Books

VWXYZ
Vacation Photos--Managing the Mess
Video Set-Up for Tutorials
Vintage Buttons

New Stamp Company {Poppystamps}

Dave of Memory Box Co., has launched a new stamp company called Poppystamps. There are many cute images, including cats and dogs, that are all great for coloring. Here is a birthday tag I made for my aunt using the Poppystamps Catie Cupcake {220C} stamp: Papers: Memory Box Rhubarb Tart, Bazzill
Stamps: Poppystamps Catie Cupcake 220C
Stamp Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU chocolate chip
Copics: R000, R20, R29, R35, E37, E50, G40
Embellishments: misc. ribbon & lace, Stickles diamond, Nestabilities

I didn't completely color the image in because of the beautiful patterned papers. I guess you could say I did some "sporadic coloring." :) I also colored in the cupcake icing with Stickles for a little fun.

You can order directly from the Poppystamps site, and there are several stores that are already carrying them too! Also, you can find the Poppystamps blog here. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by today! Blessings,

His Holy Name {Challenge 14, Eternal}

Challenge Word 14: Eternal
God’s Attribute: God is Eternal. He is El Olam. He has no beginning or end. The Life Application Study Bible defines eternal and everlasting as:
Eternal—“perpetual; forever; characterized by abiding fellowship with God.”
Everlasting—“perpetual or enduring through all time, see eternal.”

How does this affect my daily life? First, it truly is hard for us to understand an eternal God because everything we know has a beginning and an end. Think about it—our daily schedules, the time we go to church, birthdays, deaths, the time you go into the office and go home, holidays, the time you wake up, etc., etc., etc.—everything has a beginning and an end. But our God has no beginning or end. He is infinite. He is not limited by time or place, and He has worked and will continue to work His good purpose through the ages.

While it is hard to comprehend, it is also comforting. His love for us endures forever; it is an everlasting love. His plans are perfect, and they stand firm forever. Psalm 33:11 says "The plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations." He is also there supporting us at all times through the good and the bad. Deuteronomy 33:27a says “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms . . .” Oh that is so very comforting yet incomprehensible. He is forever with us comforting us, loving us, supporting us, leading us, etc. Amazing!

And as God is an eternal God, you too can have eternal life that is offered through Jesus Christ. We have all sinned and rebelled against our eternal God, and you will experience eternal suffering unless you are reconciled (made right) with God by asking for forgiveness and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Through Jesus Christ, you can have eternal life and fellowship with Him. If you have not accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, will you do that today? Feel free to e-mail me with questions. A.W. Tozer said “God’s eternity and man’s mortality join to persuade us that faith in Jesus Christ is not optional. For every man it must be Christ or eternal tragedy.” I pray you will accept Christ today and avoid eternal tragedy.

For my page today, I used two scriptures:
Psalm 90:2 "Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."
Jeremiah 10:10 "But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God, the Eternal King."Papers: Bazzill, K&Company Wild Raspberry
Stamp Ink: Memento tuxedo black
Embellishments: Heidi Swapp lemonade stand chipboard alpha and journaling spots, Karen Foster Scrappers Floss white, Bo Bunny brad, Liquid Pearls white opal, Making Memories mini circle tag and tiny alpha stickers, Creative Imaginations buttons, misc. metal cross, Jillibean Soup bean seeds (felt flowers)

There were so many great scriptures to use, and I did search on both eternal and everlasting when I did my study. I hope that helps you as you study.

Remember to use the Keyword HHN09 when posting in online galleries, and to chat about the challenge, join us in this thread here on Splitcoaststampers! Blessings to each of you as you study. In Him,

Scripture Challenge 2009 {Weeks 27 & 28}

I pray you had a nice July 4th for those of you celebrating in the U.S. Ours was quiet which is what I like. And if you weren't able to rest, I pray after your study these next two weeks that you will find time for rest. Here are your next two words:

Week 27: Rest
Week 28: Strength

Enjoy your time of study, and I will see you on July 19th with two more words. May you rest and be filled with His strength! Blessings,