Exciting News!

In addition to being invited to serve another term on Mystic Paper’s Design team, I received some other great news this week… I have earned a place on the Design Team for Mini Books Anonymous!!!  I have always loved mini Scrapbooks- I know several of you out there have received an earful on my opinions about the 12×12 format- but the main reason I love mini books is due to their ability to tell a complete story under one united theme.  I am thrilled to be able to share 3 mini books over the next 6 months with a whole new set of blog followers.  As an added treat, at least 3 of the Design team members are international!  It’s hard to believe I’m working with women from Mexico, Singapore, and Brussels (by way of London)!   What a treat!

Blog goodies!

Thanks to Where Women Create and Rebecca Ray designs, I now have this FABULOUS, hand-made purse to enjoy!

Even the handwritten Thank-you note was lovely-

Thank me?!? No, Thank YOU!!!

July D.T.

This months Design Team assignment for Mystic Paper is going to be so fun!–

(Notice the cut out section of paper in the bottom right corner.  All 3 of the Design Team girls have now confessed to getting started before remembering to photograph their materials!  Call it passion, not ditziness!)

Each of us girls, Holly, Shari, and myself, were given one sheet of Cavallini paper (intended to be wrapping paper, but beautiful enough to use for anything!).   Our to-do assignment?  ANYTHING WE WANT!  (Whoo-hoooo!)  Truth be told, this travel themed paper didn’t exactly ’speak’ to me at first, but I pressed on, determined to follow my own rules and make it work!  Can’t wait to share, stay tuned!

All-American Design Team project!

What a treat it was creating this project!  I knew once I saw the patriotic paper from Cosmo Cricket, with the nice, long Memorial Day holiday to spend creating in a cabin (decorated in Red, White, and Blue, incidentally) in the woods, that the opportunity was ripe for inspiration!  I had been wanting to set aside a time to photograph Jonathan, Noah, and Eden and I knew a weekend in Pine was the perfect time to take pictures of my ‘All American Kids’!!!

Each page of my book is made from a paper bag.  I used the great striped ribbon from my packet to attach the bags together, but instead of keeping the bags flat, I folded each ‘flap’ down, and stapled scrim (the leftover outline after punching sequins out of metal) between the flaps.  I love the explosive, sparkler look it gives to the book!

Each child was given their own page, a bag and an insert.  Jonathan is always such a good sport with pictures, and he photographs well.  However, he is still 8 years old, and I actually love the 2 pictures taken near the end of the session where he’s goofing around and making faces for the camera.  He wasn’t complaining or being un-cooperative, he was just entertaining himself during a not-so-exciting activity.  He always makes me smile!

Noah was pretty quiet during while I took the pictures, but his innate ‘Noah-ness’ still shined through.  Noah recently got glasses, and he chose his hair style himself.  When I say he is a unique little boy, I mean he is truly one of a kind:  His humor, his cheerful attitude, his sweet nature, and his interest in God and the Bible never cease to amaze us!

Eden looked so sweet in her polka dot skirt and red headband, but I think my favorite ‘look’ of the day is what has come to be known as her Silly Face- basically, crossed eyes and tilted head.  Matt and I have started catching people from church, such as her Sunday School teachers, asking to see her Silly Face!  When I took the picture (on the ‘Eden’ page insert) I just cracked up laughing, and the next 2 pictures in the sequence show the boys looking at her, then laughing, too.  She is such a funny, sweet little spirit, who desperately needs a savior (they all do)!  As Matt commented this week about Eden- “Your words are polite, your attitude-not so much!”  We pray for God’s work in her life!

I had so much fun putting this book together.  I especially loved taking objects (such as paper bags, and the cardboard ‘buttons’ that didn’t even match the color scheme) and turn them into a beautiful, coordinated project.  (The updated buttons are visible on Eden’s page).  I am always looking for things of beauty-found even in the every day and mundane.

Of course, there is, IMHO, no better place for inspiration in the everyday, than (where else?)  Mystic Paper!  Does anyone want to visit with me next time I pick up my packet?  Let me know!

June D.T.

Pure Bliss!!!

I have been having a blast putting my June D.T. project together for Mystic Paper.  The paper is all Cosmo Cricket, from their Halfway Cafe collection.  Each gal in the D.T. (make sure to visit Holly and Sheri this month!) received Patriotic themed paper from a variety of brands, and was instructed to make a Paper Bag book.  Fun!!

I received my kit last Saturday, and was planning on visiting Pine, AZ for the week of Memorial Day.  I had been planning on doing a photo shoot with my 3 kiddos.  Between the paper and the holiday, it was not hard to decide on a color scheme and theme for our photo shoot!  So, I dressed them up in Navy and White, and started searching around town for some All-American inspiration!  Here is a peek-

I can’t wait to share my Patriotic Paper Bag book with you!  Stay tuned!

May layout

I have been so excited to share the layout for Mystic Paper this month-I really love the way it turned out!  I had a bit of a slow start with it, because it was Jonathan’s ‘turn’ for a scrapbook page, but the paper I’d been given was purple…and floral!  Well, I decided to forge ahead and came up with this.  I think it works for a boy, but I must point out how much altering I did.  I loved all the paper I’d been given, but just a few small changes made it perfect for this project, like inking the edges of the sticker along the edge, or painting over some dimensional stickers from Making Memories I’d won on a blog, and layering them with the Basic Grey stickers, or inking the edges of the purple polkadot numbers to make them really ‘pop’…

As I mentioned in an earlier post, so often craft supplies just sit and do nothing because they never seem ‘just right’…Well, I say, if you see something for sale, or for free, or you already own it, MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU!!!

The layout opens to reveal my journaling about Jonathan’s 8th year of life, as well as a Postcard that had been sent to us the week I began my layout.  The librarian at his school took the time to write this AMAZING note for us.  Here is the transcript-  ”Dear Kellso Family- Jonathan is such an amazing child.  He is well behaved, very bright, and a leader in his class.  But most of all, he has a kind and gentle spirit.”  Wow!   It is so special and humbling for people outside of our family or direct friends to point out evidences of Grace in the life of my child.   Jonathan, we love you so much, we are so proud of you, and pray for you daily!

May cards

Here are my card projects for Mystic Paper design team for the month of May.  The flower and dragonfly are both from Basic Grey paper that I was given in my kit.  The flower came from what is probably my favorite piece of paper I’ve been given all year.  I am so glad I bought an extra sheet of the paper to keep all to myself.  (Just kidding, I’ll probably use it… someday).  I was asked to make one card, so I consider the dragonfly card my ‘traditional’ submission- the ribbons are available at Mystic paper, and were part of my Design team kit.  I colored the background of the car a bit with Tim Holtz Distress Inks in a new color- Bundled Sage!  (Oooooh!)  It is such a nice, soft, subtle color.  I used iridescent green Perfect Pearls to ‘glitz’ up the dragonfly and the swirls in the background.

With the flower card, I felt I could get really crazy and creative.  I ‘mirrored’ the design of the flower petals with brown squeeze paint, and filled them in with different shades of Purple and Violet Acrylic paint- a technique often used by Claudine Hellmuth with her acrylic paints.  I sealed all the purple, as well as the flower, with a glossy medium to make it smooth and shiny!

There are some classes coming up at Mystic that I wanted to point out-  I saw the Wonders of Nature book in person, and it is AMAZING!!! Check out the upcoming classes if you have the chance!

May Design Team

Every month I go and pick up my Mystic Paper design team kit, and every month it’s like opening a treasure chest!  I never know what brand, color, style, or extra goodies I’m going to get!

This month, it is a collection of papers and stickers from Basic Grey, the highlight of which was (in my opinion) the floral page as pictured on the top left.  The colors and pattern are so stunning!  Along with the papers I received one piece of paper (the purple polka dots) from Bo Bunny, as well as an assortment of ribbons, all available at Mystic Paper!  I can’t wait to show you what I came up with-almost none of the stickers or papers were used ‘as-is’, I altered or embellished every piece.  I did this not because each piece wasn’t great by itself, but because I needed to use them in a certain way.  Often, crafting materials go unused because they’re not ‘just right’, which is a waste of money, materials, and space!  I wanted to look past the first impression of the papers to show that the materials should be working for you, not the other way around!

Make sure to check in on Holly and Sheri’s blogs to see what they made with their May kits!  Sheri’s is awesome, and I can’t wait to see what Holly comes up with, as well!

April D. T. – Cards!

After much delay due to the meltdown of my desktop computer, I’m back with my Mystic Paper design team cards!  I had a lot of fun playing with my papers from Graphic 45, Bo Bunny, and Jenni Bowlin, along with the German Scraps.  I paired most of the cards with lengths of ribbon and ink, all available at Mystic Paper!

These first two are both small, about 3 inches across.  I would categorize them as ‘notes’, and making both of them only took about 15 minutes!

All 3 of these incorporate the German Scraps, a die cut sheet of flowers accented with glitter.  There are many different types, with and without glitter, and I was surprised at how easy they were to use.  They made my cards look so professional!

This card and envelope were made with 2 different sized squares of brown paper.  I simply folded the larger square around the smaller square, and tied the corners together with lace.  I adhered buttons to each corner to hold the lace, but eyelets, brads, or any other embellishment could be used.

Obviously, I took great care in straightening the lace before photographing.  Enjoy its crooked beauty!

The next two are my favorite.  I love looking for unexpected materials to use in my crafts, and putting things together in unexpected ways.  I bought these miniature paper bags ages ago, but had never used them.  Fitting tags inside and turning them into cards was such a perfect application!

Thanks for visiting- I’m off to collect my May packet already.  I can’t wait to see what’s in store for this month!  Don’t forget to visit Holly and Sheri’s blogs to see their April D.T. creations!

Read through the Bible in 90 (non-consecutive) days

My desktop is on the fritz, and I’m having trouble with uploading pictures to my blog… So, while I can’t show you my DT cards for this month (yet!) I wanted to make sure you knew I wasn’t gone forever!

Just this week I completed something that has been a huge blessing in my life and I wanted to share.  Lisa from Simplified Saving mentioned, just before the new year, that she had committed to the 90-day Bible reading plan for the first 3 months of the year.  Right away, I knew I wanted to do it, too.  I committed to getting up early, and would often read in the afternoons and evenings when necessary.

My GOAL in reading through the Bible was to know God more fully, praying the knowledge would lead to greater Love, and a heart change to become more like Christ with a life that honors God.  Reading through the Bible quickly and purposefully was my METHOD of doing this.   I am confident that God has grown me through this time, and I really, really enjoyed it!

I’m sure you’ve noticed that it has been more than 90 days since the new year.  You are correct!!  I was on pace to finish within the 90 days, a few days before Easter, when I was asked to speak to the women of our church, alongside my sister, on being ‘Workers at Home’ (Titus 2:5), with my focus on Proverbs 31.  My desire to devote the appropriate time to studying for this lesson led me to realize that doing that, as well as reading 10-15 chapters of the Bible a day, was simply taking too much time.  Realizing that my GOAL of knowing Christ more fully would not change, I ‘put a pin’ in the reading PLAN for one month.  But, I jumped right back in and finished Revelation yesterday!

I learned so much through this time, here are a few highlights:

1.  Reading completely through the Bible in a short amount of time brought to light SO FULLY the fact that The Bible is one unified book, made up of several smaller books.  Through time, distance, writing styles, literary styles, and human hands, the Spirit has made known God’s very words.  The Bible does not contradict, it interprets itself.  It desires to be known.  It is complete, and AMAZING!

2.  I believe most people’s image of God is QUITE different than the picture of God painted by the Bible (the accurate picture).  This ‘hit me’ over and over, as early as the very first day.  While reading the story of Noah’s ark (you know, cute animals, gently floating boat, nursery decor, etc., etc.), I couldn’t help but notice one little detail, often glossed over:  For the 8 people on the boat to live…EVERYONE ELSE had to die.  These weren’t hypothetical, theoretical, or imaginary people.  They were people.   For God to choose Noah and provide an escape plan, he shut the way of escape to many, many others. (But did they desire escape?  Genesis 6:5)

Through this story and many others, we are reminded of the distinct dividing line between God’s people, and everyone else.  God’s perfect plan of escape (salvation) for His chosen people, and the inevitable conclusion for those OUTSIDE of his plan.  The question is:   Can we remedy this (true, but sometimes difficult to look upon) facet of God, with the knowledge that ‘God is Love’ (1 John 4:8) that people often focus on.  Absolutely!!!  Which brings me to-

3.  Jesus!  Throughout the last 2 weeks of the Old Testament, spending time in books of prophecy, I knew I was not the only one looking forward, seeking, yearning, for Christ!  ’Like a Woman in labor’, the entire earth was yearning for Christ to come, and I was, too!  Of the 12 weeks of the reading plan, the New Testament only took up 2 1/2 weeks.  Having read through creation, fall, the many trials and wrong turns of the Israelites, I could feel, deep within my heart, that ‘the good part’ was coming… There was something ‘off” about living in the past, the old way of thinking for weeks and weeks.  Finally, well into March, it was MY turn!  Hallelujah!  Christ has come!

There is SO much more I could share, but I mostly want to convey, that no matter what the method, seeking Christ and His Word is an investment that will never come back fruitless!  Praise God!