sharing the blessings of my day with you / a Baby shower card

 Hi all, Its a cold rainy winter's day here but very warm at heart.   First Ben is safe and well in Nepal we spoke to him on Skype from Kathmandu where they were enjoying a few days rest and look around, they are now back into teaching, He looked and sounded really happy and has not been sick with the change of food etc. Here is a picture he sent us of his grade 3 students. This makes me so happy!! we printed it out and put it on the fridge with Beth's pic from India last year and I say a little prayer every time i look at it. This was our first blessing....

I love reading biblical novels and so dose my brother Darren we get really excited when we get together and talk about these books.... so I get a parcel in the mail today with a book inside for me! "wives of David" trilogy book 3 on Bathsheba and some awesome piano playing music that his son dose and records on disc but the most powerful thing in that parcel was reading his letter. His last line said...Wishing you all the best of happiness and God's grace and blessing be upon you my beautiful sister, sincerely your loving brother Dak.... (which is our childhood nick name for him) this had a huge impact on me as I have not really shared with you the family struggles I have had while growing up, his letter made my heart peaceful and happy. my second blessing ....
It is my goal some day to share my experience of how I came through family struggles, taking these struggles into my marriage which was very damaging, crashing, dealing with panic attacks and fears in my life and coming out the other end knowing that all along I am Gods beloved. Which leads me to my third blessing.... my counselor! if you have not seen his button on the left side bar of my blog and are in need please do so! This man through Gods grace bought me from a very dark place of anger, control and panic. When I was at one of my lowest he simply said "I can help you!" and for me that was one of my truing points. I was so excited as I talked with him today and he shared with me that he is now doing Skype counseling world wide! what an amazing way to help others outside of our small valley area in Australia!  If you feel touched or impressed to find out more don't put it off! God has given this man the very powerful gift of healing our mind, body and spirit ...one text I know Tony encouraged me with many times was from 2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. I thank God for each day for what He has done in my life through Tony. This was a key factor in the re-commitment of our wedding vows just this Christmas past and I was very honored to have him and his wife there for that. Click on his button and links below for more info...

This is Tony's approach......  Holistic counseling and life-coaching is a life-changing process that looks at the deeper aspects of your life bringing healing and restoration and new life to the surface. We work on every aspect of your life, body, mind, soul and spirit gaining access to the root of the problem and empowering you to find the freedom and life that you deserve. This powerful proven process brings results for depression, anxiety, panic attacks grief and  loss and a whole range of other emotional difficulties.
Skype counseling and life-coaching available worldwide.

Lastly my beautiful boss is going to be a granny for the first time and here is what I made her for their baby shower....

Isn't it so cute!! I had so much fun making it.... lots of love goes into the things I make. I like to pray blessings for those people as I create and place each part together.
This is not my original design. here is the link for the baby crib pattern  http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=1761142&mpage=1&key=&#1761142
 http://www.artyfartydesign.co.uk/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=9&=SID
If you want this to fit inside a 12 x 12 box you will have to re-size the crib pattern a little smaller, I had to learn this the hard way! enjoy
Blessings to you

 and a last thought

Listen to advice and accept instruction, 

that you may gain wisdom in the future.

 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, 

but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. 

Proverbs 19: 20-21

Making a bird nest with your grapevine wreath die

Hi all, well its been a strange day here ..... the weather has been strangely cool for mid summer which I guess it's good to have some relief from the humid days and nights.....I watched the Australian movie called "Jessica" with my girls, good movie but it left me feeling really strange about the whole issue of injustice for the rest of the day...... extended family can be a strange thing too, the first two I can figure out but not so sure on the family one, a little wake up call for me today to show what really matters I think. sigh.......

well I'm still playing here with my grapevine wreath die from memory box, just love it! I know I'm not the first to make a tiny bird nest like this but I thought I'd show you how I went about making mine. Using the grapevine wreath die cut I basically wound it up like you would a rolled rose. I had some mini fake bird eggs (bough ages ago from a cheap shop not real sure where you can get them now) but though I'd go with a couple of pearls as eggs. These would look great for Easter, Valentine or even a baby shower card. I finished my card with a new die that came in the mail today called Branches from QuicKutz or I think they now call themselves Lifestyle crafts. (bought mine on eBay) you get three different branches on the one die. I tore a piece of card stock for the tree trunk and added the branch using small hearts for leaves and adding the nest i reckon it came up pretty cute! anyway enough talk watch the video for all the details and enjoy!
Blessings to you

and a last thought
“The tongue has the power of life and death...” (Proverbs 18:21, NIV)

how to make a Book easel card

Hi all, the last few days here have been a bit frustrating as our daughter was so glad to be back to the mothership as she calls it she watched 3 weeks worth of master chef on line and put us back to dial up......... grrr ...so... waiting for the 5 days to clock over before its back to broad band seemed like eternity but it wasn't and we got other things done ! including mountain bike riding, bats chasing us on the bikes...scary! and some new projects to add to my blog :) I made this book easel card some time ago and decided to do a tutorial on how i made it. You will need the Labels seven die set from spellbinders or you could cut your own templates.

Cut yourself a base card stock 13 X11 cm this worked good as it made the card look bigger as the largest die isn't big enough in its self for the card...unless you want a small card. I used the 3 largest dies for this project. 1 largest die for the book cover and the next 2 smaller ones one in very vanilla and the other in whisper white for the pages. Watch the video for all the finer details on how this was made. here are some more angles and another version..

and a last thought

The whole bible was given to us
by inspiration from God and is
useful to teach us what is true
and to make us realize what is wrong
in our lives; it straightens us out and
helps us to do what is right. It is Gods way
of making us well prepared at every
point, fully equipped to do good to everyone.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Blessings to you

Baby Jumpsuit punch art Box set

Hello again, where has this week gone?? Dave is still at home on his long service holidays and we've had our son Ben at home from having surgery on his toe. Beth made a surprise visit home from Uni for the weekend which was so nice and still hard to say goodbye again! So I'm in my craft room late at night trying to sneak in a post for you all. Been looking around on the net as you do and came across this cute little baby jumpsuit idea. Here is the original designer and her link, she used all circle punches for hers but i wanted to show you how to do this with those great Stampin up punches. She has some beautiful things so pop over and take a look!
It was one of those days when it took me a million takes to get the video right...my son is still teaching me how to edit!! so i ended up with a heap of Jumpsuits and was really annoyed then I though i should make some thank you cards with these and so it eventuated into a baby box set you could give to a new mum. I love how good things come from sometimes really frustrating situations then you really see God at work! The stamps and colours i used were Stampin up's

Life Definitions #115928
Defining Alphabet #116354
Flight of the butterfly #115798
Big bold Birthday #116342
Perfect Plum card stack and ink
Pale Plum card stock and ink

So for the Jumpsuit you will need:

And to make the safety pins for the box you will need:

The Box is really simple and Ive included how to make this on the video below. A few close views!

When i give this away i will include all the extra safety pins i made so the new Mum can put these on a scrapbook page! ......I also wanted to show you what my daughter has been up to at school, she is loving textiles this year and has just finished and handed in her assignment for last term. she made a quilted Duffel bag....

Then bought me home this cute Owl book mark for my Bible she made in her extra time in Textiles....isn't it sooo cute!!!

Well i hope you have enjoyed these fun projects, you can purchase the products i used from my Stampin up web site!......until next post

Blessings to you

and a last thought

It is God Himself who has made us what we are
and given us new lives from Christ Jesus;
and long ages ago He planned that we should
spend these lives in helping others.
Ephesians 2:10

Gutter Guard Mesh embossed Baby Card

Hi All, Ive been playing around with my cuttlebug the last few days and and decided to run some Gutter guard mesh through to see what it would do. It was very cheap so I got a whole roll of the stuff some time ago to use on another project coming up. Its a flexible plastic mesh used here to keep the leaves out of your roof gutters. Anywhoooo :) i ran this through the cuttlebug and loved the results so much i needed to share the results with you all. This card is off to my twin sister who recently had a baby girl....and i love the spellbinder flower sets i won from Bizzy Becs site. So here's how i made the embossed background.
Open up your cuttlebug and put your A plate then B plate and the gutter mesh on top.
Next lay your card over the top.

Now use using a square of silicone baking sheet lay this over the top.

You will need a shim....i used 2 card backing off the emboss folder packages..for some strange reason i kept them all and they are the perfect shims for these projects. Go's to show you should'nt throw everything out!!

Lastly place on top your other B plate and roll them all through.

Here's the results, the one on the left was done with the silicone sheet and is the one I like best... love the puffy effect. And the right one was done without the silicone sheet using more shim layers still great.

So i hope you've found my little adventure helpful. Click here to see how to use Fiskars emboss plates in the cuttlebug also. Until next post ...have a happy sabbath....Valita

and a last thought

These words are trustworthy and true;
I am comming soon! God who tells His prophets
what the future holds, has sent His angel to tell you this
will happen soon. Blessed are those who believe it
and all else written in the book.
Revelation 22:7

Special Moments

Another card i made for the same baby shower. This one was inspired from Brenda a very talented lady from the COC forum. I started to IF(iris fold) the pattern but got so side tracked with the cut out.
I used my emboss folder to give her dress more dimension giving the illusion of the shape of the baby inside and it just happened that the pattern also matched the cuff of her sleve and neckline. One advantage with the cuttlebug emboss folders is you can see through the folders and place your paper where you want. I also inked around the edges etc.
The flowers and leaves are a cuttlebug die. The word verse took on a different twist ive not tried before. As always you dont have just the right verse or wording for your card so i hunted around my stamps and found one from Hero Arts that almost fit. then just inked up the top and bottom words leaving out the word Bouquet and stamped this first.Then using the word experience from See-D's stamp set (my set is called A Word or Two) i simply stamped this into the space that i'd left and I have a whole new verse stamp cool hey! i think it looked great in a different font also it puts more meaning into that word.


Sorry i cant share the the pattern for copyright but thanks Brenda im really pleased with how this card turned out and it was very well recived at the baby shower.

This is the verse i wrote in the card and
a last thought for you today

Gods ways are as mysterious as the pathwayof the wind,
The manner in which a human spirit is infused
into the little body of a baby while it is still
in its mothers womb.
Ecclesiastes 11:5

Baby Shower Card

Hello, its cooled off alot here today my toes are cold as i sit here .....nice to have a change though. Well I was asked to Make a baby shower card for a lady so everyone who was comming could sign it and this is what i came up with. I'm so loving using my cuttlebug machine and the dies. The baby here is a cuttlebug die and the circles are the nestibility dies. The stamps are the so very set from Stampin' up. I made this card as a gate fold but only attached the scalloped circle to half the top flap which opens a little different and gives plenty of room inside for people to write there well wishes. To close the card just tie the bow. Well i hope this can inspire you and ill add some more pics here of the same card....Valita

and a last thought

Now that you realize how kind the Lord has been to you,
put away all evil, deception, envy, and fraud.
Long to grow up into the fullness of your salvation;
cry for this as a baby cries for his milk.
1 Peter 2:2,3