{Faith Journaling} Challenge #7

Welcome to the last day of 2009! I thought we should think about this year as we approach today's journaling question.

**What are you thankful for today and/or this year?

If you have just joined my blog, welcome!!! I am so excited to have you joining me! And if you would like more information on my Faith Journaling Challenge, you can see all information and previous questions in this post here. I pray that each of you have a blessed and joyous New Year ahead! See you in 2010 with your next journaling question! Blessings,

Tuesday's {Tip} Project 365, Project 52?

Okay, so raise your hand if you started Project 365 with me last year but quit after a month or so. Yes, I never finished. I LOVED the concept but it was way too much for me. And the kids LOVED looking at the photos in the album. Man, I let them down! Anyway, did any of you complete it? Wow, I would love to know if you did! So amazing if you were able to keep it up!

Well, as I said, I loved the concept; however, a picture a day with journaling was just too much. I have thought this year I might like to try Project 52. I can take a photo a week and journal what I want about that week. That MAY not be too much. I pray not! LOL! I think it is such a great idea, and I even found a great idea by Crystal (ScrappinAKA) on 2Peas. She said "It is awesome because I didn't just do pictures but also in place of some pics I did receipts, memorabilia from an event that day, scans of my sons artwork from school. Just stuff I want to remember from each day." Now what a cool idea! She DID complete Project 365. I like using her idea even for Project 52!

Of course there are many ideas all over the web (blogs and forums) for completing Project 365 or a Project 52. Becky Higgins has one called Project Life and is selling a kit. Scrapbook Graphics had a Project 365 for 2009 with free digi templates. I am not sure if they are doing it again this year but the 2009 challenge may be a good reference for you. Simple Stories by Memory Works has a Life Documented kit that you could use. I am going to use the same format I set up for 2009 using my Basic Grey papers with my We R Memory Keepers album and divided pages. I just cut the beautiful Basic Grey paper into 4x6 sheets, and then I stamped beautiful edges and the dates for each journaling sheet. I really like what I created for the short time I did this last year thus I will give it a try again. Here is how I started 2009: Wow, now looking back on my photos, I am really sad I didn't stick with it. Let's see if I can stick with Project 52! So, what will you be doing? Have a blessed day!

{Faith Journaling} Challenge #6

Wow, it's Christmas Eve! Hard to believe! This year has flown by for me! Are you ready for the big day tomorrow or for your special family gatherings this evening? Well, today is the perfect day to:

**Describe your Christmas Eve traditions.

I pray that your Christmas is filled with love, joy, and the celebration of Jesus beyond His birth remembering why He came--to save you and to save me. Merry Christmas to each of you!

Tuesday's {Tip} A Freebie From My Friend Norma!

Today, my friend Norma is offering a special treat to all of my blog friends. She created this gorgeous digi kit, and she is sharing it with all of you!This kit has two patterned papers, two textured cardstocks, upper and lowercase alphas, two quotes, a stamp tag, a sun sticker, and a journaling tag. This would certainly be a great kit to use for the Scripture Challenge 2 beginning on January 3rd!

To download, click both links below. Norma asks that you not share the link but send your friends here to my post or to her blog which you can find here.



It would also be great if you download the kit to leave a thank you for Norma on her blog. I know she would love to hear what you think about the kit or how you might use it! Be sure to look around her blog while you are there. Norma designs for My Little Shoebox, Cut Card Stock, and several other amazing places. She is an amazing designer, photographer, and child of God!

Thank you Norma, for your generosity and sweetness! And enjoy your Tuesday "freebie" everyone! Blessings,

We Have Challenge RAK Winners!

Good Monday morning! Are you excited to see the names of the RAK winners? Well, let's get right to it! We have two different challenge winners!

Scripture Challenge 2 RAK Winner
This lucky person wins the 6x6 vertical stand. Random.org drew our number:

Here are your random numbers: 47
Timestamp: 2009-12-21 11:41:49 UTC

Comment 47 belongs to:
magentals said...
Patter,I have participated in both the scripture challenge and His Holy Name. I am looking forward to pressing farther on with this new challenge. I am thankful for the Lord leading you to do all of the challenges and reminding us just to jump in. Finishing the challenge is important but the quality of time and effort we spend on what we do do, is even more important. Lori
December 20, 2009 9:45 PM

Lori, congratulations, and I am so glad you have participated in all of the challenges thus far! Please e-mail me so that I can get your stand in the mail to you. And regarding your comment, I also find my study time for these challenges more enjoyable and important the my creative time. It is so awesome to learn and grow!

Journaling Challenge RAK Winner
Now for our winner of the book "To Our Children's Children" by Bob Green. Again our winner was drawn by random.org:

Here are your random numbers: 1
Timestamp: 2009-12-21 11:54:34 UTC

The first comment belongs to:
Janelle said...
What a lovely gift you gave your family members last year. As a Creative Memories consultant for 10 years, I was really into journaling (or, at least, the idea of it), but have allowed life to take over and haven't kept up with any of my plans. Thanks for the chance to win this book. Maybe it could help me get back on track! (Or, make some meaningful gifts for family memmbers...)
December 17, 2009 6:17 AM

Yeah Janelle! And again please e-mail me so that I can get your book in the mail to you, and I pray it helps you get back into your journaling!

Thank you all for your comments. I love getting a glimpse of how God uses these challenges. And I am SO excited to continue with the Journaling Challenge and get started with the Scripture Challenge 2!! Have a blessed week and a very Merry Christmas!

His Holy Name {Challenge 26, Immanuel}

I cannot believe today is our last study for the His Holy Name challenge. I pray you have enjoyed each and every study, and most of all, I pray you have grown in your knowledge of our precious Lord! Let's look at today's study.

God’s Attribute: Jesus is Immanuel—God with us. Matthew 1:22-23 says “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us.’”

How does this affect my daily life? Do you know people around you that are lonely or suffering? Or maybe you yourself feel that way. Do you feel like God has abandoned you in the midst of your struggles? Well, God never leaves us. He is always with you, and He is always with me. We are the ones that don’t look for Him, or we walk away, or we say we are too busy for Him. As believers, we can know with confidence that He is with us. He is Immanuel. Mary Foxwell Loeks said “It is because of the death and resurrection of the Immanuel that we can know God is with us.” What a comforting thought and a promise we can count on.

The book of Matthew starts with Immanuel, God with us in Matthew 1:22-23, and it ends with the promise that He will always be with us. Matthew 28:20b says “. . .surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” We can count on His promise and know that He is with us in our joys, our sorrows, our busy times, our successes, failures, etc. Will you go to Him in all things knowing He is there waiting for you? Will you share Immanuel, God with us with those around you?

Ann Spangler says “Today let us ask for the grace to make Immanuel known to allow His light and His life to shine through us.” And what a great time of year to share His light! Last night as our pastor gave his sermon, he suggested that as we stand in a line of frustrated people or people in a hurry, offer to let someone go in front of you or even go to the back of the line. What a great way to shine our Immanuel to those around us.

As I studied for today’s post, I came across a prayer called “St. Patrick’s Breastplate.” It is rather lengthy so I will only share my favorite part with you. St. Patrick wrote this prayer to strengthen himself with God's protection as he prepared to confront and convert Loegaire, high king of Ireland. Here is part of the prayer:

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I thought this particular part of the prayer was so beautiful and so appropriate for our study today. If you would like to see the rest of this prayer, just do a google search on “St. Patrick’s Breastplate.” You should get a lot of hits.

For my page today, I used the new release from Layers of Color called Touch of Elegance. I stamped the smaller flowers and the one larger flower. I then used Pop Dots on the smaller flowers to accent the center of each circle on the Basic Grey paper. I also added Stickles to the stamped images.
Papers: Basic Grey Nook & Pantry
Stamps: Layers of Color Touch of Elegance, Provo Craft 12 pt.
Stamp Ink: SU creamy caramel, Colorbox Fluid Chalk dark brown
Embellishments: Scenic Route alpha stickers, Stickles eucalyptus and cotton candy

The scriptures I chose were:
Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Matthew 28:20b ". . . surely I am with you always. . ."

And I used part of Matthew 1:23 to create my title "Immanuel, God with us."

Remember to use Keyword HHN09 when posting in online galleries, and to chat about the challenge, join us in this thread here on Splitcoaststampers. Also, today is the last day to register for the RAK for the Scripture Challenge 2 that I will host next year. See my post here for details and to enter! Thank you all SO much for joining me in this study this year! I look forward to our study beginning in January, and remember Christ will never leave you. He is always with you. Merry Christmas,

Scripture Challenge 2009 {Weeks 51 & 52}

Wow, did you make it through all 50 studies? I pray you did and that you now have a gorgeous album or display with each week's creation! Feel free to post a link here when you are done! I am sure participants would love to see what you have done this year. Now for your last two words:

Week 51: Birth
Week 52: Love

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. May the Lord bless you for your studies, and don't forget to join us for the 2010 Scripture Challenge! Details are here. Blessings,

{Faith Journaling} Challenge #5

So, how is your journaling coming along? I pray you have been able to keep up. I think by only doing one question a week, that will help everyone keep up and really focus on the meaningful things to write in your journal. Let's continue this week with another Christmas question:

**Do you have a favorite Christmas hymn?

This week, I am also giving a way a RAK to one lucky {Faith Journaling} Challenge participant. I am giving away a copy of this book "To Our Children's Children" by Bob Green. This book is filled with nothing but questions for journaling. I love this book, and I used it to create journaling jars for my family members last year. You can see what I created last year in this post here. This book has a few faith-related questions but not a lot. It is still a GREAT book, however, and I highly recommend it. You can read about it here on amazon.com. To win this book, please let me know how you will use this book or how you are coming along with your faith journaling. Leave your comment here in the comment section by this Sunday, Dec. 20th, at 11:59 p.m. Central Standard time. I will randomly draw one lucky winner and announce the winner on Monday.

Enjoy, and remember, to see all of our challenge questions thus far see my post here. Enjoy your time of journaling! Blessings,

{Faith Journaling} Challenge #4

As I was reading The Homeschool Minute that arrived in my e-mail box the other day from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, I came across this comment written by Deborah:

"God wants us to remember our past, and remember His deeds in it. Writing down His goodness to us and through us is a task worth the undertaking." She then quoted this scripture: Psalm 77:11-12 "I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds." (NIV)

How perfect is her statement and quoted scripture as we create our faith journals!

So, as we continue this challenge through the holiday season, let's look at this question today:

**How did you celebrate Christmas when you were a child?

Enjoy your journaling time, and remember, to see all of the previous week's questions, see the list here. May you be blessed as you remember and record for the generations to come! Blessings,

Tuesday's {Tip} Advent Calendars

Do you have a little spare time on your hands? Have you made an advent calendar yet? How about giving them as gifts to use next year? Well, I know with my husband being sick, I haven't had much time to do anything; however, I have always wanted to make an advent calendar. It still hasn't happened but I came across a few tutorials that I thought you would LOVE to see and gain inspiration from.

You can see an amazing canvas advent calendar made by Jill Marie here. She also used crackle paint on her calendar which gives it a really fun look! And if you are someone who needs lots of pictures when looking at tutorials, you won't be disappointed. Jill Marie included several step-by-step photos which makes this a great tutorial. Thanks for sharing Jill Marie!!

Here is another canvas advent calendar tutorial by Beate Johns on Splitcoaststampers. This tutorial also has a lot of great pictures!

Dawn has a great cookie sheet advent calendar that might inspire you. You can find her calendar here!

And finally, here is a fun advent calendar by Nathalie made out of matchboxes and hung on a yard stick! What a great idea!

For more advent calendar ideas, check the gallery of your favorite online sites. Here are just a few I looked through:

2Peas in a Bucket--Over 400 advent calendar ideas seen here!
Scrapbook.com--Over 190 advent calendar ideas here in the gallery by searching on "advent calendar." :)
Splitcoaststampers--Over 350 advent calendar ideas seen here!

I hope you find some great inspiration. Have fun, and I would love to see links to your advent calendars if you create one! Have a blessed day!

Layers of Color {Masterpiece Monday}

First, before I share today's releases and creation, I wanted to wish my precious mother a very happy and blessed BIRTHDAY!!!! She is such a blessing in my life, and with our recent trials both Mom and Dad have been right there helping anytime we need it. I couldn't get through this without them. I pray your day is blessed beyond measure, Mom, because you are a blessing to SO many. We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now for our last week of new releases from Layers of Color, I am showcasing the new set Rise & Shine (10 stamps in set). I created a little "country fun" card using Basic Grey papers and the Rise and Shine set. I just LOVE this set. Hmm, I think I have said that about every Layers of Color set. LOL! Laura is so talented! Anyway, you can do so much with this set, and imagine it on recipe cards too. Oh so cute!

For my card today, I used 4 of the 10 stamps in the set. After stamping them and using my watercolors to color each image, I sponged the "dirt" at the bottom of the chicks and the hen. I added a little stitching too for fun, and the gingham ribbon finishes off the country look!
Papers: Basic Grey Boxer, Basic Grey Scarlet Letter, Paper Trey Ink, Strathmore watercolor paper
Stamps: Layers of Color Rise & Shine, Cornish Heritage Farms Hey Chick CDD-1636C
Stamp Ink: SU creamy caramel, SU chocolate chip
Embellishments: misc. ribbon, Derwent watercolor pencils, sewing machine

Yesterday I shared my creation using the new Touch of Elegance set on my His Holy Name 6x6 page. If you missed that post, you can see it here. And here is a quick look again at my page: Papers: Webster's Pages 6x6 collection pack, Paper Trey Ink
Stamps: Layers of Color Touch of Elegance
Stamp Ink: SU ruby red & so saffron, VersaMark, Ranger clear EP
Embellishments: Scenic Route alpha stickers, misc. twine, Creative Café button, Jillibean Soup bean seeds (felt flowers), Robin's Nest dew drops, misc. ric rac

To see more creations using the new Rise & Shine set and the new Touch of Elegance set, see this post here on the Layers of Color blog. Thanks for stopping by, and blessings to you!

His Holy Name {Challenge 25, Messiah}

God’s Attribute: Jesus is the Messiah. Dr. Henrietta C. Mears explains Messiah as “The Savior whom God promised to send. Jesus is the Messiah. In Hebrew, Messiah means ‘the Anointed One’. In Greek, the word for Anointed One is ‘Christos’. Christ is the name used in the New Testament to show Jesus is the Savior.”

How does this affect my daily life? Who is Jesus to you? He is the cute little baby you put out with your nativity set each year? Or do you truly look at Him as God’s promised Messiah that would save the world from their sins? Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew to show that Jesus is the promised Jewish Messiah. Matthew 1:21 says “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

Jesus’ work on the Cross demands a response from us as believers. At the moment Jesus gave up His spirit, even the temple and the earth responded to His work on the Cross. Matthew 27:50-51 says “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.” How do you respond to the Messiah’s work on the Cross?

As believers, we are also to prepare others to see Christ. How are you sharing Christ the Messiah with others? Do you use every opportunity to share Him? During this season of Christmas, it is the perfect time to give others the gift of the Messiah. Will you share Him today? How about inviting them to your church or a Bible study you attend?

For my page this week, I wanted to use the color red denoting His work on the Cross and the color of the Christmas season. The photo corners were created using one of the new stamps from the Layers of Color Touch of Elegance set. The stamp is actually a square that I cut in half after embossing. I then sponged the edges of each photo corner.Papers: Webster's Pages 6x6 collection pack, Paper Trey Ink
Stamps: Layers of Color Touch of Elegance
Stamp Ink: SU ruby red & so saffron, VersaMark, Ranger clear EP
Embellishments: Scenic Route alpha stickers, misc. twine, Creative Café button, Jillibean Soup bean seeds (felt flowers), Robin's Nest dew drops, misc. ric rac

The verses I used this week were:
John 1:41b-42 ". . . We have found the Messiah (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus."

Remember to use Keyword HHN09 when posting in online galleries, and to chat about the challenge, join us in this thread here on Splitcoaststampers. And if you missed my announcement about the 2010 study I will be hosting, please make sure you see my post here. :) And don't forget out the {Faith Journaling} Challenge. We have only completed 3 entries, so jump in with us. You can find the details here! I hope you will join us! Now go out and share the blessed Messiah! In Him,

Scripture Challenge 2009 {Weeks 49 & 50}

Can you believe we only have two more postings for our study for this year? Well, this week brings two great words that I hope you will enjoy looking at. Our words for this week are:

Week 49: Surrender
Week 50: Assurance

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. I pray you surrender everything to Him, live for Him daily, and thank God for the assurance you have in Him. Blessings,

Announcing {Scripture Challenge 2} for 2010!

I am interrupting my Organizational {Friday} post to bring you exciting news! I am SO excited to announce that I will be leading another Scripture Challenge for 2010. This Scripture Challenge will be similar to the one I hosted in 2008 and re-ran in 2009. In 2008, I used the 7Gypsies ATC holder to hold all of my scriptures for the year. Here is what it looked like when we finished the year: And this year for the His Holy Name Challenge, I created 6x6 pages that I put in a 6x6 We R Memory Keepers album. For this coming year, I am going to use this vertical stand from Taylored Expressions. The stand can be stained or altered and will hold 6x6 page protectors. So, I will be doing 6x6 pages again this year that will hang in this stand. You can certainly create anything you wish for this challenge. These are just ideas. Now let me share a bit about how this challenge will work.
**I will post a word every other Sunday beginning January 3, 2010. Mark your calendars! :)
**Challenges will be posted usually by 5 p.m. Central Standard Time on challenge Sundays.
**My post will also share some thoughts, the scripture or scriptures that I chose, and a picture of my 6x6 page.
**Then you will study your Bible and find scriptures that are meaningful to you based on the word posted for that week.
**I love using Biblegateway to look up single keywords in the Bible. It is a great resource for this study.
**Then you will create an ATC card, scrapbook pages of any size, or card using your selected scripture based on the word for that week.
**Feel free to look at the 2008 Scripture Challenge here to get an idea of how this Scripture Challenge 2 will work.

Is there a time limit to complete the challenge?
No, there is not a time limit to complete the challenge. This is for you! You do what you can when you can. On occasion, I may offer RAKs, and at those times there will be a deadline. Watch out for those. :) You may join this challenge at ANY time throughout the year!

Do I need to sign up?
No, you can just subscribe to my blog to get the updates.

Will this challenge be hosted on other sites?
No. In the past, I have hosted my challenges not only on my blog but also on Faith Sisters, Splitcoaststampers, Create My Keepsake, etc. I have found that it takes up a lot of time to post in multiple places and the participation seems to drop because there are so many "scattered places" to post. So, for 2010, you will only be able to find the challenge here on my blog. So make sure you subscribe if you haven't already. :) And if you have friends that you think may be interested in joining us, feel free to send them the link to this post!

Where can we share our work?
A lot of us will be sharing on our blogs and in various galleries such as Splitcoaststampers, 2Peas, Scrapbook.com, etc. Wherever you share, you can use this keyword and it will help others find your work more easily--Scripture Challenge Keyword SCRC210. I am also going to try to use Mister Linky for this challenge so that you can leave a link to your work here on my blog for others to see. Pray that I can get it to work. LOL!

Is there a blinkie for this challenge?
Yes, but let's call it a button instead of a blinkie. :) I did not make one that blinks for this year. It is a "stand alone" button. You will find it in the sidebar of my blog. Right-click and save it to your computer. You can then add it to your blog, your signatures on message boards, etc. I hope you like it. I purchased the digi kit to make this cute button from The Shabby Shoppe. A great place for digi goodness if you need anything!

How About a RAK!
(Note: This RAK has been awarded and is no longer available.)
I am going to give away this wooden stand to one lucky Scripture Challenge 2 participant. It is slightly different than the one I am using but it still holds 6x6 page protectors and can be altered to match any decor. :)
What do you need to do to win this stand? Leave a comment in the comment section here telling me if you have participated in any of my other faith challenges, if you are new to my challenges, and/or where you have posted the Scripture Challenge 2 button. Comments must be received by Sunday, December 20th at 11:59 p.m. Central Standard time. One winner will be randomly drawn from the comments on Monday, December 21st. This stand will be mailed to the winner so that it is received in time to begin the challenge on January 3rd.

Okay, so I think that is it for now. Please e-mail me if you have more questions. Blessings, and see you January 3rd with our first Scripture Challenge word!

{Faith Journaling} Challenge #3

So, how are you enjoying this challenge? Are you using your own handwriting? I would love to hear your responses/thoughts/questions. Feel free to share in the comment section. :)

Now, as we begin this holiday season, I thought for the next few weeks we should look at what Christmas means to us and how we celebrate. Here is your question for this week:

**What does Christmas mean to you and how do you share & celebrate?

Now, I hope you are dating your entries. That will definitely be important for the years to come also. Enjoy your journaling time this week, and I will see you next week! Blessings,