{Scripture Challenge 2} Challenge Word #5, Follow

Today’s challenge will be a bit shorter, and I haven’t had time to make a page with this “room move” going on; however, I pray you are blessed by today’s study!

Challenge Word #5: Follow

Have you ever owned a puppy that continuously followed you? Or do you have small children or do you remember when your children followed you like little puppy dogs? I know sometimes we tend to get exasperated when there is someone always on our heels! But, let’s think about why they follow us. Well, those little puppies and precious children follow us because they love us, they feel safe around us, they enjoy being with us, and because they need direction. As adults, we need love, safety, fellowship, and direction too! A lot of times we feel lost and don’t know where to turn. Sometimes we feel like our lives are in shambles because we didn’t make the right choices or we followed the wrong “guide.” Who are you following? Are you following your best friend, the ways of the world, or are you following Jesus Christ because you love Him, because you feel safe with Him, because He gives you direction, and because you enjoy His fellowship?

Rick Renner writes that “the word ‘followed’ is the Greek word ‘akoloutheo’ which means to follow after someone or something in a very determined and purposeful manner.” Are you purposefully following Jesus daily? Are you purposeful in seeking His will for you in all things? Are you following His ways as He leads you or are you asking His blessing after your start out doing your own thing? Stay put until He calls you to follow.

Deutoronomy 13:4 says “It is the LORD your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve him and hold fast to Him.”

Matthew 16:24 says “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’”

As Christians, we are called to follow Him—not the world or our own desires. I pray that you will follow Him daily, move as He leads, and that you will learn to listen to Him so you know when to move or when to wait.

Remember to use Keyword SCRC210 when posting in galleries. Also, feel free to leave a link here for others to see using Mister Linky. Enjoy the time you spend in His Word.

Continuing to Clean!

Wow, I am still in moving and cleaning mode here! I never thought it would be this much of an undertaking to move rooms around. I am going through everything too since it's silly to move it if I don't use it. LOL! So, my move can benefit you! I have updated my "for sale" post. You can see all of my current items I am getting rid of here. I will continue to update the post as I go through my stash. There is also a link in my sidebar. Check the date to see when it was last updated so you don't miss something! :)

And Mom found me two more great goodies for my room! And the prices were unbelievable. Let's just say she practically stole them! Mom, you are amazing! Thank you!

I will try and get our next Scripture Challenge posted this afternoon but it may be later than normal. I also will probably not get a page done. I don't have any place to create yet. LOL! So, please bare with me. I appreciate all of you! Have a blessed Sunday!

Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge #4

Welcome to another fun Saturday challenge! This week the ODBD Challenge Team is challenging you to create a card or project that is outside of the box. You are to create a card that is a different shape or use a different fold (accordian fold, shadow box, pocket, easel, wiper, slider). There are many tutorials for different styles of cards in the Patterns, Templates, and How-To section of Splitcoaststampers.

For my card today, I chose to create a "house" card. I made up my own pattern, and I used the ODBD new release called "Nest." My finished card measures 4"x4". :) I also pieced the nest inside the card using the same paper that is on the roof of my house.Papers: Creative Memories CS, October Afternoon Weathervane, October Afternoon Detours
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Nest
Stamp Ink: SU creamy caramel, Versafine vintage sepia
Embellishments: misc. baker's twine, misc. buttons, Prismacolor pencils, Martha Stewart mini hearts border punch

I hope you enjoyed my creation today. If you would like to join us in our challenge, be sure to use our Challenge Keyword ODBDSLC4 when posting your creation to online galleries, and please leave a link to the challenge. I hope you will also visit the other ODBD Challenge Team creations! They have some amazing "out of the box" creations that you don't want to miss!

America Kuhn
Chris Olsen (CT Coordinator)
Christine Okken
Francie Gumprecht
Natalie Dever
Sabrina Jackson

Remember to have your submission added to Mister Linky on the ODBD blog by Friday, March 5th, at 8 p.m. EST. Enjoy, and have a blessed weekend!

Organizational {Friday} Update to Posts

Well, I wanted to let you know that I am in the middle of moving my crafting space. It is a HUGE undertaking! I currently have an office downstairs, and then my crafting space is upstairs in our media room. I love being in there with family; however, I also would love for my husband to have his own space. So, I decided to turn my office into our formal dining room. It is a smaller room thus it would not fit all of my office and crafting furniture but it would be perfect for the dining room. So the original formal dining room will now become my office/crafting space. It seems small to swap two rooms and incorporate a third space into one of them but it has been more than I ever anticipated. I started last Saturday, and I still have a long way to go.

Here is my desk being moved out of the old office with EVERYTHING piled on top of it! Then I already have moved the china cabinet in. And see my little step stool? Yes, us 5 feet "tall" people need a stool wherever we go! LOL!And here is a unit my Mom just bought for my new room yesterday at an antique store:
Isn't it cute? It's an old spice cabinet. The outside dimensions are: 25" wide x 13 1/2" high x 12" deep. Each drawer measures 9" x 2 2/3" wide. I am SO excited to add this to my room. It will be perfect. Thanks Mom for shopping for me!!!

So I may be slow in posting until I get this move done. It is turning out to be a much larger task than I imagined! I can't wait to have it done, and I will share pictures of everything when I have finished. For today, you are welcome to look at my "old crafting space" posts found here and here. And I did finally get the dining room at least finished. Here is what it looks like now:
Enjoy, and thanks for hanging in there with me while I complete the move! Blessings,

{Faith Journaling} Challenge #15

Last week, we journaled about different versions of the Bible. This week I thought it would be fun to share:

**When did you get your first Bible? Do you still have it?

Luke 11:28 says "He replied, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.'"

A lady at BSF recently shared the story behind her Bible with me, and it is an AMAZING story that will always be with me. Remember, generations to come will love reading when and how you received your first Bible.

To see all of the journaling questions posted thus far, you can always refer to this post or click on the label "journaling challenge" at the end of this post to see each individual posting in this challenge. Enjoy sharing your faith story! Blessings,

Just Had to Share Our {Snow} Fun!

Okay, we haven't seen snow in years! Yesterday we got hit. It was SO beautiful--large gorgeous flakes that came down fast. And can you believe it was near 80 degrees this past weekend? Anyway, to those of you that live in the north, you probably think this post is crazy but to us it was beautiful. However, that being said--one day was enough! My poor children didn't even know how to dress in it. The kids wanted to go out in it. I told them sure, have fun! This was an amazing experiece for them. But I was TOTALLY cracking up. I knew they had put gloves and coats on but I didn't check the bottom halves. They were in their pajama bottoms!!!!!!! LOL! They froze. I called them in, told them how to dress, only to find my one of my daughter's with a scarf lightly tied around the hood of her coat. It was not serving any purpose. Back in they came. I just died with laughter. By the end of the day, they were all saying how they hate snow, and one day is enough! One of my girls was still cold 5 hours later, and she just couldn’t get warm. We haven’t seen snow here in years, and that is enough. As beautiful as it was, we are done. Thank goodness it will get up to 50 degrees today. I want the 80’s back I had this weekend. Beautiful snow but glad it’s done. :) Here are a few pics I took yesterday. I hope you enjoy them. Have a blessed and warm Wednesday!

Tuesday's {Tip} Reusing Wood Blocks

How many of you have unmounted your wood stamps? Well, I personally haven't yet because I think they look so pretty on the wood though they definitely are harder to store. For those of you that have unmounted your stamps, what have you done with the leftover wood? I hope if you haven't used it that you will now. Here are some ideas I have run across while surfing the web:

*Millie on Splicoaststampers recommended adding a piece of sandpaper to the block and using it to distress your papers.
*Mille also suggested adding a piece of felt to the block and use it as a dauber.
*Add photos of family and stack.
*Create children's play blocks.
*Make a post-it note holder.
*Nancy Ward makes style stones out of them. Look here. Cool!
*Sell them or donate them on various crafting sites. Lots of crafters would love to take them off your hands!
*Check this post here on Splitcoaststampers for many more ideas!

Use your imagination and see what you can create out of those leftover wood blocks! Also, if you don't have any blocks but want some, Cornish Heritage Farms sells new blocks here from $0.89 to $4.79 depending on the size of the block. Enjoy!

Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge #3

Happy Saturday, and welcome to another ODBD challenge! Since it is February and we are acknowledging national hero’s (President’s day) or people who are special to us (Valentine’s Day) in the U.S. The Challenge Team is challenging you to acknowledge and CASE a crafter you admire or a creation you admire changing just two elements to make it our own. To see all of the challenge details and prize information, be sure to visit the ODBD blog!

Today, I decided to CASE someone whose work I had never seen before. I saw hollerinastamps card, and I knew I wanted to CASE it. Be sure to look at her gorgeous card! To create my card, I changed the colors to navy and kraft, and I also changed the border punch. I had to go just a bit farther and change the verse stamp I used too because I did not have the set she used. I used the GORGEOUS ODBD new release You Will Find Refuge set!
Papers: 7Gypsies, Memory Box sapphire notecard & cs, Paper Trey Ink kraft cs
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs You Will Find Refuge
Stamp Ink: SU creamy caramel, Adirondack denim, Tim Holtz Distress Ink faded jeans
Embellishments: Spellbinder Nestabilities oval and scalloped oval, KaiserCraft pearls, Martha Stewart arch lattice border punch, Ribbon Retreat ribbon

I hope you enjoyed my creation today. If you would like to join us in our challenge, be sure to use our Challenge Keyword ODBDSLC3 when posting your creation to online galleries, and please leave a link to the challenge. I hope you will also visit the other ODBD Challenge Team creations! They have some amazing pieces that you won't want to miss.

America Kuhn
Chris Olsen (CT Coordinator)
Christine Okken
Francie Gumprecht
Natalie Dever
Sabrina Jackson

Remember to have have your submission added to Mister Linky on the ODBD blog by February 25 at 8 p.m. EST. I hope to see your entries! Enjoy, and have a blessed weekend!

{Faith Journaling} Challenge #14

There are several Bible versions on the market today, and it seems we all have a favorite. So, today I thought we should share:

**What Bible version is your favorite to use and why?

Proverbs 30:5 NIV says "Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him." Enjoy your journaling time. And to see all of the journaling questions posted thus far, you can always refer to this post or click on the label "journaling challenge" at the end of this post to see each individual posting in this challenge! May you be blessed as you read His Holy Word.

Tuesday's {Tip} Make Your Own Flowers

I ran across this amazing post of Wendy's a few weeks ago! Look at these flowers! She has a great tutorial in her post here! I hope you will give them a try. Use an old dictionary, old hymnal, Bible encyclopedia, any old book! Thanks Wendy for allowing me to share this today! Enjoy!

{Scripture Challenge 2} Challenge Word #4, Home

Happy Valentines Day, and welcome to our 4th challenge! I had another word picked out for this week but after preparing an expository lecture that I delivered last Tuesday night on John 13:31-14:14 and then hearing about the loss of a high school friend on Sunday, the loss of a young stampers husband Monday, and my uncle going into hospice care on Friday, I really felt God wanted us to look at the word “home.”

Challenge Word #4: Home

Do you ever travel on business or take an extended trip away from home? How much do you miss your home when you are gone? My husband travels to China, India, Taiwan, Ireland, and other places many times a year. One of the things he always says when he is gone is “I can’t wait to get home to see you and the girls.” Do you truly miss your home when you are gone? How do you feel when you get back? Ingrid Trobisch said “If there is such joy when we return to our earthly homes, imagine the joy of our reaching our heavenly home!”

Well, in John 14:1-4, Jesus says “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus calms the hearts of the disciples as He tells them He is leaving, and we can be calmed by it also. He is going to prepare a permanent home for them in His Father’s house—Heaven. He is also coming back for us. What a great comfort! According to scripture, Heaven is a place God dwells, and Jesus sits at the right-hand of the Father. It is described as a kingdom (2 Peter 1:11), an inheritance (1 Peter 1:4), a city and a country (Hebrews 11:16), and a home (John 14:2). I encourage you to look up those scriptures.

Heaven is a home for God’s children. The KJV calls it “a house with many mansions.” He is preparing that home for me and for those of you that believe in Him. How reassuring it is to know that I have a permanent home in Heaven with Jesus! It is a place reserved and made especially for me and for you as a believer. No one else can take it and Satan cannot follow. It is permanent! It is an exclusive place for those who have trusted in Jesus. Wouldn’t you like to know that you have a permanent home? And if you don’t have a place reserved in His permanent home will you make that choice to believe and trust in Him today?

After hearing about these unexpected tragedies this week and finding out my uncle has entered hospice care, I wanted to tell you that one of the most amazing gifts you can give your family is the assurance of your salvation. If you haven’t told them your salvation story and how you came to Christ, and that you know you will be at home with Jesus in Heaven when you die, will you do that this week? That is one of the greatest gifts you can give your family! Let them how they can find you after you die. That is a comfort and a gift that is immeasurable. If you don’t know a family member’s salvation story, ask them! And if they don’t know Christ, that is the perfect opportunity to share.

Most of us fear the unknown, and as Max Lucado says “death is the great unknown.” Jesus tells us in John 14:1 to “Trust in God; trust also in me.” We shouldn’t fear life at home with Him in Heaven. The best is yet to come. Does your family know that? Do they know where to find you?

For my page this week, I used lots of pearls and Stickles as I thought of how beautiful I image Heaven to be. I also included a crown from the Layers of Color Granny's Jewelry stamp set as I thought about going home to His Kingdom. The photo corners around the scripture are from the Layers of Color Touch of Elegance set. I added Stickles to the photo corners too to add even more sparkle. Papers: Memory Box Spearmint, Cut Cardstock aquamarine metallic, KI Memories Flower Child die cut paper
Stamps: Layers of Color Touch of Elegance (photo corners), Layers of Color Granny's Jewelry (crown)
Stamp Ink: SU bashful blue and close to cocoa, Ranger clear EP, VersaMark
Embellishments: My Mind's Eye button, KaiserCraft pearls, Thickers darling, Stickles platinum, Bazzill blossom, Spellbinder Nestabilities Labels 4

The scripture I used was:
2 Peter 3:13 “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.”

And just a note about your study this week. If you use Biblegateway, some words you might search on include:
*Home
*House
*Heaven
*Father's House

Some of these searches will yield MANY verses. You can limit your search to a certain book of the Bible too if that helps you.

Remember to use Keyword SCRC210 when posting in galleries. It will be easier for people to find your work if you use our keyword. Also, feel free to leave a link here for others to see using Mister Linky. I hope you all are looking at everyone's pages. There truly are some amazing creations, verses, and journaling! You don't want to miss out. Enjoy the time you spend in His Word. Blessings,

Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge #2

Happy Saturday! I pray you enjoyed our first challenge last week! Did you get a chance to play along? I hope so but if not, we have another fun challenge for you today! For this week's challenge, the ODBD Challenge Team would like to challenge you to use red or pink and bling on your creation since tomorrow is Valentine's Day. It need not be a Valentine's Day creation. To make the challenge even more fun, we will be giving out a prize, a $15 gift certificate to be used toward stamps at the Our Daily Bread Designs store!! Entries for the prize must be submitted by Thursday, February 18. For complete details, see this post here on the ODBD blog. Entries must be left on the ODBD blog post.

For my card for the challenge, I used a kraft notecard then layered ivory paper and kraft paper for the background. I also embossed the top piece of kraft paper and sponged it a bit. Can you see it? Then after cutting out my center ovals, I lightly stamped the hearts from the ODBD Love One Another set for the background and then added the ODBD Scripture Collection 1 stamp on top. The leaves and pink bling were a RAK I received last year but hadn't used yet. I thought they were perfect for my card. :)
Papers: Paper Trey Ink cs, Basic Grey Bittersweet and Sultry
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Love One Another, Our Daily Bread Designs Scripture Collection 1
Stamp Ink: SU creamy caramel, SU close to cocoa, Memento angel pink
Embellishments: Spellbinder Nestabilities oval and scalloped oval, Heidi Swapp bling accents (photo corners), Prima Crystals (flourish), misc. flower bling, misc. leaves, Cuttlebug forest branches embossing folder

I hope you enjoy this week's challenge and have a chance to play along. If you join in, please be sure to use our Challenge Keyword ODBDSLC2 when posting your creation to online galleries. Have fun!!

Organizational {Friday} Sponges & Daubers

A couple of weeks ago, someone posted this amazing storage for sponges on Splitcoaststampers. It looks so colorful and beautiful, doesn't it? Well, I don't use that many sponges, and I really wanted to see what the ink looks like sponged. It certainly looks different than when it is stamped and different than a piece of cardstock in the same color. So, today I want to share how I organize my sponges and daubers so that I also get a sampling of the ink.

First, I found this great storage box in my daughter's room. I think I had purchased it a long time ago from Michael's but never used it. She wasn't using it either, so I took it for this great organizational purpose. LOL! Now let's look at each section in detail. The sponges I purchased at Michaels some time ago. I don't use too many different colors so I only bought one package. The package contained two circular sponges. In my box you only see one circular sponge cut into pieces. First, I cut out several "tickets" using my Quickutz ticket die and PaperTrey Ink cardstock.Then I folded each ticket half. I wrote the name of the ink one one side of the ticket and also sponged the ticket in that ink color so that I can see how it looks sponged. Next, I used the cute little flower stamp from the Layers of Color Touch of Elegance stamp set to stamp a sample of the color. After creating each ticket, I stapled them to each appropriate sponge. This way I now have a sample of both the stamped ink and the sponged ink.
I only have a few daubers, and they fit perfectly in one section. I labeled each dauber with the ink name using my labeler and store them in a section of the box.And lastly, my Tim Holtz ink blender tool along with the felt and sponge refills also fit perfectly in my box. I have never had a convenient place for this tool and refills so it was SO nice to see them fit so beautifully in this box.And just a note, sponges and daubers give a very different look. You may even want to store a sponge and a dauber using the same ink color so that you can achieve different looks. Also, cosmetic sponges are great to use too and give yet a different look. So, lots of fun things to play with and organize. I hope this has been helpful. And remember, to see all of my previous organizational posts, see this post here with the full listing. Have fun!

{Faith Journaling} Challenge #13

God tells us in John 14:13 "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father."

**How often do you pray? Describe your prayer time.

He will do anything asked in His name. Now this doesn’t mean He will automatically grant what we are asking for. Sometimes His answer is yes, and sometimes it is no. He will answer in a way that will bring Him glory by furthering His work. We are to pray in His name. Do any of you talk out loud to yourselves? Why not talk to God instead of yourself? Talk out loud to Him as often as you can. Praying and talking out loud to Jesus helps us realize we are talking to a person and keeps us focused on Him. Enjoy your time of prayer and journaling. Also, to see all journaling questions posted thus far, you can always refer to this post. Blessings to you,

Tuesday's {Tip} Cardstock Swatch Book

Last month, Lisa posted an amazing swatch book that she made. I asked her if I could share it with you, and I truly appreciate that she has allowed me to share it with you today. You can see more photos, get instructions, and get a copy of her Microsoft Word file by visiting her blog post here.

Thanks so much Lisa! And remember, to see links to all of my Tuesday's {Tips} visit this post here. Have a blessed Tuesday!

Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge #1

Welcome to our first challenge hosted by the ODBD Challenge Team! We are so excited to have weekly challenges and hope you will join us!!!

Since Valentines is quickly approaching, the team is challenging you to use hearts. The hearts can be on your designer paper, in your image, on your embellishments, (ribbons, pearls, gems, charms) etc. Use your imagination and have fun! And did you see that one lucky winner that plays along with us will get a $15 gift certificate to be used toward stamps at the Our Daily Bread Designs store!! While it is not required to use Our Daily Bread Designs images and sentiments on your creations, we would love to see them if you have them. There will also be 1 or 2 creations chosen to receive a spotlight award. Please visit the ODBD blog to read all of the details on how to play along in the challenge.

For my challenge card, I used the ODBD Love One Another stamp set. I stamped my image onto the watercolor paper available here in the ODBD store after cutting out the paper using Nestabilities Labels 4. Then I colored the image with my watercolor pencils and sponged the edges. The ribbon I used is actually velvet and so pretty in person. It's hard to tell in the photo.

Papers: Bazzill, Webster's Pages, Aquarelle watercolor paper
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Love One Another
Stamp Ink: Versafine vintage sepia, SU creamy caramel
Die Cuts: Spellbinder Nestabilities Labels 4 and Borderabilities Fleur de Lis
Embellishments: Derwent watercolor pencils, misc. velvet ribbon, KaiserCraft pearls

Well, thanks for looking, and we can't wait to see what you create. If you would like to join us in our challenge today, be sure to use our Challenge Keyword ODBDSLC1 when posting your creation to online galleries and link them back to the ODBD blog post here. Blessings,

{Faith Journaling} Challenge #12

As part of your journal, it is important to share about your church experience as a child. So today, please share the following:

**As a child, did you grow up in the church?

You may not have grown up in the church, and that is perfectly fine too. Journal about it. God calls us at different times in our lives. Enjoy your time of sharing, and remember this will be a treasure for the generations to come! Blessings to you!

Tuesday's {Tip} Quilted Cards

Have you ever made a "quilted card"? Well, I made one "sort of" that was published in Paper Crafts magazine. Here is the card: Now that was any easy and boring quilt I guess you could say. I just punched a bunch of squares out of various patterned papers. Well, now I have seen people making "quilted cards" using their Sizzix/SU top note die. They are super cute. Here is one I made last week for Memory Box Co.: Then in addition to using the center of the "quilt," I then used the "leftover" outside piece to make this card: Papers: Memory Box Gossamer, Memory Box kraft notecard, Memory Box cherry blossom notecard
Stamps: Memory Box Thanks Script A833, Memory Box Branch Heart E1310
Stamp Ink: SU close to cocoa, SU creamy caramel, VersaFine toffee
Embellishments: misc. ribbon, Sizzix Bigz Top Note die, Memory Box mint pearl stickers

Super fun! And if you are looking for a great tutorial, Diana Gibbs created a great one! You can see her cute card and tutorial here. Isn't that adorable? I love how she embossed hers. Imagine the possibilities using other larger dies!! Well, enjoy, and happy paper quilting! :)