My First Festival

Last night I had the privelege to have my very first booth in a festival. I worked for weeks crafting, gluing, making ordinary things a little more beautiful, in my humble opionion. I had some friends act as sounding boards to determine some details. I got there set up my table and stepped back very proud of the work I accomplished. Now I know I did not accomplish some great feat but I did set my mind to something and see it through and for that I am proud. I didn't sell as much as I would have liked but I did sell some things and got some great compliments. It wasn't a very big festival, it was for a local high school, but I think I made some new scrapbook friends. Check out my pictures and see for yourself. All in all I'll chalk it up to a job well done, if I do say so myself!

Creating Memories or Reliving Them

I love this time of year; the smell in the air, football games, caramel apples, costumes, turkey and then it ends with trees and presents. These things are nice but they bring me back to what I truly love; family. Family means the world to me, not just husbands, children, moms and dads, I'm including those people that when you meet them it seems like you were seperated from birth, a strong connection that you can't quite explain. I am blessed to have had people like this throughout my life, some for a season and some for a lifetime. Those that are meant to be for a lifetime always find there way back, and sometimes it is me that finds my way back to them.

I guess that is why I LOVE scrapbooking. It gives me a chance to relive those memories. I have scrapped super daughter's (SD) life up until about she was 15 months old. I have started skipping around. I may sit down and do a layout when she was 2, but I have also done a couple of her at her current age. There is no rule that says I have to do them in any particular order. I will, however, go back and put in them in order as close as I can get.

SD started asking about when she was a baby, she seems fascinated with the stories and things she did. She'll ask, "mom tell me about that time I..." and I'll go get one of her scrapbooks and we will look at the pages. She will giggle and smile and usually ask me to tell her again. I thought that one day when she was my age that she would love to be able to show her own son or daughter about when she was little, I didn't anticipate her enjoyment of them so soon. Oh course there are some pages that she won't appreciate as much when she is older, like the bathtub ones.

I was talking to a friend just a few minutes ago who has a daughter a few years younger than me who has recently joined the scrapbooking world. She was showing me pictures of when her daughter was a baby and how she was going to make a scrapbook of her growing up. She mentioned that she probably won't do every picture but hit the highlights. What a great way to walk down memory lane.

It doesn't matter if you think you'd be good at it, when SD looks at my books she doesn't critique the techniques I used or looks to see if everything is straight. I gave my mom a couple of mini books that just had a few pics in them, she looked at the pictures and saw the time I put into them. She didn't notice that I stamped something upside down.

Scrapbooking can be overwhelming, it is for me sometimes. You can do one page 5,000 different ways. Just pick some pics and go for it, you're not being graded. I will give you a happy face if you need one.

I will start posting some of my creations, so check back to see what "scrap" I've been up to. Leave comments if you have questions about scraping. Check out the websites listed for ideas and inspiration.

Whether you're young or old you too have "A Life Worth Scrapping"!

Working for who?

This is only my second post for two reasons; one I forgot how to log back on and two I haven't felt inspired to write until now. I am a working mother and have the blessing of having summers off. I forgot how important that was too me until this summer, since I have been contemplating getting out of my current field. My job starts back next week and I have mixed emotions, which is probably the reason for my not so great mood lately. I was reading articles connected to one of my favorite websites that I use for church and came across this verse.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men." Colossians 3:23

How true it is that we should do everything to glorify our God and not to please others. For as long as I can remember I have sought others approval to whether something I have done was good or not. This is also true in my work. I look towards supervisors or colleagues to see if what I'm doing is correct or "good". I let the view of others determine how effective my work is, which can be hard when your area is not an area that is deemed equal or as important as other areas. In the end I am left unsatisfied and wondering what is wrong with me.

The purpose for everything we do should be to honor and glorify God and help increase the Kingdom. If we did our work for our Creator and not for the approval of men then how much more fulfilled would we be and better yet how much more Glory can be given to our Heavenly Father. We miss the boat and sell ourselves short when how we feel about ourselves depends solely on the response of others. I know that is easily said but hard to internalize. It's a battle I have fought with my entire life. The key difference is now I have a faith in God that tells me where I can look when I need to know if what I have done is successful.

Judges 18:5 says "Then they said to him, 'Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.'"

I pray that my work this year be the work that God wants me to accomplish!

Day 1

So I have decided to start a blog. I know many of my friends have one and people even use them for business purposes these days. Occassionaly I like being a follower and I really like the thought of being able to talk without being interrupted, I thought I would start one too. I had someone ask me what was I going to talk about. I thought of a few things I could blog about...



1. God, almost like a daily devotional you could read and a way to strengthen my own personal relationship.

2. Being a wife and a mother.

3. Dieting, because I have decided that today will be the day I start my diet that WILL work

4. Scrapbooking, because I just love it!!!!



After thinking about all these things, and since I'm indecisive, I've decided I will talk about all of them because they all add up to "A Life Worth Scrapping About."



"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." Proverbs 16:9