A New Springtime

National Letter Writing Month 2016

  My love for letter writing began as a young girl when I used to receive letters from my Great Aunt Sadie. She would write to me about nature and the wildlife she saw scampering about her yard near her tiny cedar-shake cottage. It was as if I had my very own personal Beatrix Potter.

These special letters also cultivated an appreciation of stationery. The feel of the paper and the pretty designs are always beckoning me! I like to make my own simple cards and envelopes.

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  Making cards can be a very rewarding and relaxing process. The supplies I use are:
  
• card stock
• glue sticks
• washi tape
• stickers
• rubber stamps
• ink pads
• tape
• sharpie fine point markers

The possible choices to create cards and envelopes are endless. The scrapbook and paper craft arts have really grown over the years.

Stationery does not have to be handmade either. There are so many pretty and amazing cards nowadays. They do not have to be expensive either. There are a lot of quality and affordable and attractive choices at craft and dollar stores. It is not the price but the sentiment of receiving a handwritten letter that makes another person's feel special!

I think it is special to make a simple package of goodies and tuck them into the card as well. It can be some snippets of twine, some inked tags, samples of washi and a sticker or two. Vellum sheets taped on either side make a nice envelope to hold the ephemera.

Letter writing can be a joy and an inspiration to others. It is a beautiful way to give something of ourselves. It is an art and a culture to share and pass on to future generations. Happy letter Writing!!

 

 

 

Happy Planner/ Plan for the Fam' #2

I like to include inspirational quotes in my planner pages to give me a positive focus for the week!

Since or Lenten meditation is "Transform", I picked this butterfly paper to decorate these pages. The wooden looking paper is to keep in my the Cross of Christ! I want our family plans to reflect both!

Lenten Pocket Letter

Sending this Pocket Letter out to a very sweet person I met on Pocket Letter Pals! She surprised me with a lovely pocket letter on a day I really needed some extra support! I really believe God uses our creativity to bless others!

Purple is such a comforting color. It is the color for Lent to remind us of repentance. it is also the color of passion and royalty, of Christ's love for us and His and our kingship in Him!

Some goodies for my pocket letter pal. Happy Crafting! Bless someone today!

Happy Planner/ Plan for the Fam'

In this Happy Planner spread, I tried some very simple water color painting. I outlined the squares with water color pencils and lightly put a very small amount of water on a slim brush and gently painted some of squares. The paper pad is a 12x12 by We R Memory Keepers, Wildflower.  I chose it because it is floral but still in warm winter colors and reminds me of Lent.

Bible Journaling

If I cannot attend Mass each day, I like to look up the daily readings on this website or read them in ," Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread". I use the Gospel reading as my journal page meditation.

A like to write the quote and were it comes from in the Bible.

Writing a small prayer on my page helps me to focus on that thought throughout the day!

Any kind of medium can be used: colored pencils, paints, sharpie markers, etc. Right now I am using gel pens. Bible Journal is a great way to bring into focus God's word for the day and to set the tone to keep His love before me!

Planner Party Sept. 11-13, 2015

 There is a craze of planning on the internet lately! some very talented women have found a creative way to bring planning to a whole new level. I have been following Help! Mama Remote, she is a talented lady who shares her love of planning, Bible journaling, etc.

I am trying to set up the weekly pages according to our homeschooling classes, dinner making @ 12:00, and the kids soccer practices and games. I will also include Dr. appointments and special family occasions as well.

The process includes using washi tape, scrapbook paper, stickers, stamps, markers and pens. It can be kept simple or made as elaborate as you want! I t is a great way to use up scraps from previous scrapbook projects!

 These cute soccer stamps have been a fun addition to the spaces where I write in my kids sports dates. I picked them up at A.C. Moore about $2.

That is my spread for this upcoming week, hope you enjoy it! Happy Planning!

 

 

Summer Library Picks

 

Pictures Tell A Story

These are one one of my favorite sets of pictures because they tell a special story. My youngest daughter and I read this library book called, " Mama Built a Little Nest".

 The boo told about how a cuckoo bird will lay its egg in another bird's nest so that the other bird's will raise it.

The next day we noticed a bird's nest in a wreath on our front porch and in it were 2 light blue eggs and one speckled brown egg, It was just like the story in the book!

A New Way to Scrap

The other day I was at the craft store and I saw some cute wooden boards covered with scrapbook paper and had a bulldog clip to hold the picture onto the board. I thought it was a great way to display pictures so I created my own version.

This paper pad called Flutterblossom went perfect with the pictures I had of my girls that I took in the spring. I used a cereal box for the backing and covered it with scrapbook paper to finish it off. I used a paintbrush and covered the photo and front pieces with Modge Podge to give it some stiffness.

To finish the project I used one of the bulldog clips and secured it on with tape from my tape gun. The last step was to put a piece of ric-rac through the clip  to hang it up with.

Instead of putting these pictures in a scrapbook, I wanted to hang them up to be able to see and enjoy them for a while. When I get tired of the picture I can attach the whole layout onto a piece of 12X12  scrapbook paper and in the book it can go.

 

 

A Small Tag Sale Haul

A couple of weeks ago my husband offered to take me  to some tag sales!

My new rules for tag sales:

• practical finds
• something I can use to organize with
• can I use it to scrapbook
• will it be useful
• do I room to store it

This time I picked up:

• a picture holder( practical)
• an art or utensil caddy
• a galvanized planter ( I'm using it to hold some magazines on a chest in our living room)
• some ric-rac ( for sewing or scrapping)

I think all of this came to about $8!

Practical, useful and frugal tag sale fun!