Today's Inspiration

I love these verses from Jeremiah, sometimes we all need to remember that The Lord ALWAYS thinks good thoughts toward us and has a good plan for us all! 
-For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, says the Lord.
--Jeremiah 29:11-14

Another Simple Layout

One thing people tell me a lot when I ask them if they do any scrapbooking is "I would love to but I don't have the time."  Scrapbooking doesn't have to be really time consuming....I am posting some simple layouts that didn't take much time at all.  Get some great coordinating papers and a few small embellishments and you have a great page!  I used some wire mesh that has been hanging around in my scrapbook supplies for a long time and glued it to my paper with a paper flower on top.  You can use almost anything on a page, just look around your house and you'd be surprised what you will come up with!

Simple....But Beautiful

This is the page I just finished making.  As you can see it's really simple, but my new  Basic Gray coordinating papers make it look beautiful.  If you love scrapbooking but don't have a lot of time to do it this is a great way to make quick pages that look nice.  I used my cricut to cut some trees and I used a punch for the butterflies.  I added some stickles to the trees and butterflies to give it some sparkle.....oh and I almost forgot, I used dimensional stickers to make the trees really stand out.   Like I always say...great paper makes great pages!  Find four or five coordinating papers, cut out some shapes and you're done! 

Inspiration

Inspiration!  That is what I need more of on my blog!  I will post my favorite inspirational quotes and stories here.  One of my favorite apps on my itouch is my C.S. Lewis quotes app.  I just read today's quote and I love it so I will share it with you. 

Now we cannot.....discover our failure to keep God's law except by trying our very hardest (and then failing).  Unless we really try, whatever we say there will always be at the back of our minds the idea that if we try harder next time we shall succeed in being completely good.  Thus, in one sense, the road back to God is a road of moral effort, of trying harder and harder.  But in another sense it is not trying that is ever going to bring us home.  All this trying leads up to the vital moment at which you turn to God and say, you must do this, I can't. -C.S. Lewis

Where To Go From Here

Some of you may have noticed that Angela is no longer sharing this blog with me.  I am thankful to Angela for helping me to start this blog last year.  I wouldn't have been able to do this on my own.  I will miss blogging together with her and I just miss her in general since we don't see each other nearly as much as we used to due to all the changes in our lives and new schedules.  She also has 2 other blogs right now of her own to keep up with.  I hope to have her as a guest blogger soon. 

I am working on coming up with some new and different ideas for my blog to keep it interesting.  I would like to make my blog about more than just scrapbook and collage creations, although that will still be the main theme of my blog. If you have any ideas please feel free to leave comments. 

My Latest Project

My father-in-law brought me some old printer trays and drawers like the ones you get in the scrapbook stores...only these are real vintage, unlike the ones in the stores that are made to look old.  How cool is that!  I am really excited to finish decorating these.  I like the look of the burlap, it adds a nice touch.  I will be using lots of cool vintage embellishments to finish these.  I'll try to remember to post the finished product when they're done.  I have a lot of projects going right now since I started selling crafts at The Crafter's Boutique on 3rd Street in Ankeny, right across from the farmers market.  Stop by sometime there are lots of awesome crafts by lots of different crafters. 

Summer!!

Wow!  I still can't believe it's summer!  I love this time of year!  I love having the kids home all day and being on the new summer schedule...you know....staying up late and sleeping until at least 9 a.m..  I love cooking out and taking the kids to the aquatic center,  all that fun summer stuff!  I'm already dreaming about a trip to Maine this summer.  I grew up there and I visit every year to see my family.  Here are some pics from last years visit. 

These were taken in Bar Harbor.  I love the Maine coast.  You really learn to appreciate it when you live 1500 miles away!  I try to take a trip to Bar Harbor everytime I go home.  Of course Maine is known for it's awesome lobster.  My brothers and sisters-in-law always take me to my favorite restauraunt.  Here's a pic below of my lobster role, sweet potato fries and coleslaw....makes you want to go to Maine huh!!