Gifts for the AA groups meeting at our church

At Christmas our church tries to do something special for the AA groups that meet in our meeting rooms. We bring them cookies. Woot!! Who don't like cookies. Me like cookies. C is for cookie that good enough for me.

Whoops sort of lost track of my thoughts. Well we make them a package and this year I added a craft to each package. I made verse boxes. Here is one of them:

So each of the boxes holds about 30 cards. On the front of each card is a saying that I found from an AA inspiration page. Here are some of these quotes:

And then I picked bible quotes that echoed these thoughts, like this:

The little folders have an accordion side that allows you to put your favorite verses up front:

And they have the cutest little snaps to close them. They are snaps for baby clothes and when you add them to paper that has been laminated they provide a nice strong closure. You can see a packet of snaps in the bucket behind the verses.

Here is the tutorial for making the folders.

1. Download the MTC file (verse_box_share.mtc). And cut out one of each of the three shapes. In the file they are on different pages (box, trim, trim3) and they look like the shapes on the left. I wanted colours that looked nice together so I invited over my colour consultants (who are the most wonderful people and good friends to boot) to pic the colours out. I think they chose about 20 different combinations. The main part of the folder was usually cut out of 12x12 patterned cardstock and then the trim was a complementary colour.
2. Fold all the perforated sections before you laminate in order to make the folding after laminating easier.
3.  Then the next step was to laminate the folder with the trim in place. I did this by cutting a laminate folder to the width of the main part of the folder. With a tiny bit of glue to hold the trim in the right place. The pieces look like this going into the laminator. The laminating sheet only covers the patterned area of the folder.  
4. Once it is laminated, refold the perforated lines on the folder. I used my Martha Stewart scoring board but any method will work. 
5. Then you are going to add the snaps to the top and bottom of the folder. The snaps I borrowed from a friend and they are the KAM snaps. There are 3 different pieces and they look like this the below picture. A and B are different sides of the same piece. So at the rounded end of the folder you will attach the A/B piece to the Pin piece with the A side showing against the patterned paper. And at the square end of the folder you would attach the A/B piece to the Box piece. IMPORTANT: the square end of the folder has the box piece showing against the patterned paper
   
6. Now comes the fun part. I know it all seems so much fun so far!! I think I put together 120 of these babies and it gets easier as you go. So you are going to fold the tabs up. The tabs that are rounded (kind of looks like a bracket ) you will fold back and forth inward on the folder until it looks like this:
7. The last step is to attach the tabs together with glue and tabs. Here is a poor video to show you how. https://youtu.be/4JZKairJYo4
8. And le voile. Et fini.

A glide and slide nativity card

I found this tutorial for making slide and glide cards and thought it was adorable:

So I decided to make my own with a nativity scene. Here is what mine looks like:

Here is a video of it working:

I am going to pretty it up today (if I have the energy).

Baby Congrats card with swinging bassinet

A pop up baby card with a double slider front. No one ever said I was a simple girl or that I embraced simplicity. I made this card for a very dear friend of ours that just had a baby. Here is a video of the pop up card in action:


So the file is pretty detailed but essentially, the front part of the card is composed of a double slider base (MTC file front_base page) and then a print and cut page (front_pull_out page) is made of items that go onto the double pull out. Here is a instructional of how to do a double slider by Beccy: http://beccysplace.blogspot.ca/2015/04/tutorial-double-slider-card.html

Then the inside of the card is a pop up card with a swing on it.  The first page in the MTC file is the pop up card. Then the second page is all of the complementary pieces. There is a picture window, a wood floor with a rug and a pink wallpaper and then of course the swinging bassinet. There are pieces that match the wallpaper that go on the pop up tabs. It is all print and cut with a bit of gluing down.

Note: I did not put fold lines at the bottom of the chair or the dresser because it was such a tiny attachment.

Build me a snowman and Something old challenges

I am enjoying entering crafting challenges so thankfully my blog title still works. I created my own stamp placement tool. It is a dvd case that will allow you to restamp the same image over and over in the same place until it is fully inked. So a lot of my cards will feature stamps in the next little while. Here is a snowman that I am entering in fresh brewed designs build me a snowman challenge. Here is my card:

Isn't she a-dork-able. I love the sweet motherly type snow woman referencing the Game of Thrones.


I made another card for Beccy's Place Something old Challenge. This is a stamp that my mother-in-law gave me. He is quite a cute frog. I had a lot of trouble on this card. First I didn't put tacky spray on the grid so the page kept moving in the stamp placer. But I got that fixed but then I realized that the paper I used smudged. And then I got black ink all over the place. I learned from my wonderful sister that the best crafters take an error and make it a feature. So the smudges became glitter snow. The poorly cut banner had some washi tape added to it and the frog got redone on another paper and stuck on top of the smudged frog.

All in all, I am learning lots about stamping. I only have one stamp pad but I guess in time I will get more. I enjoy the short time frame needed to make cards.

Countries of East Gate Alliance Church of Ottawa

Create your own visited countries map or check out the JavaScript Charts.

Children Playing box card

MTC File: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxY0fZP9AEREdHJEU0dKMUs5UlU/edit?usp=sharing
SVG Files: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxY0fZP9AERESlpkbjh3NE84RXc/edit?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxY0fZP9AEREdndVMWpzMUptLVU/edit?usp=sharing

Bucket o Flowers

MTC file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxY0fZP9AEREY0VIUEtlNkp5N1U/edit?usp=sharing
SVG file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxY0fZP9AEREbWRjZjIta0NuSnc/edit?usp=sharing

You will need to add flowers.

Volcano Craft

This is a simple craft with big effect. You will get disposable shot glasses to make the reaction in. The way I did the reaction is that I put one Tablespoon of Baking Soda in the shot glass. I took a used water bottle and filled it 2/3 the way with vinegar added some dish soap (dawn), red food colouring and red glitter to give it some fun. I printed and cut out the following volcano, and then covered it with mactac. I put the shot glass in the cone that I made and then I poured the vinegar solution into it.

Supplies:
Cardstock for cone
mactac for the cone (optional)
vinegar
baking soda
food colouring (optional)
red sparkles (optional)
dawn (optional but highly recommended -- makes it foam)
disposable shot glasses

Instructions

1. Print and cut out the following cone on card stock. Leave a 1/4 to 1/2 inch margin around the top of the volcano Link to pdf
2. If you want the volcano to survive it's maiden voyage, you may want to mactac or laminate it.
3. Wrap the cone around the shot glass. Cut the top of the volcano to accommodate the glass and be able to close. 
4. Tape the cone together. 
5. Put a Tablespoon of baking soda in the shot glass
6. Put the volcano into a pan or a foam plate or the sink
7. Pour the vinegar mixture into the shot glass.
8. Rinse Repeat.

One Perfect Spring (Irene Hannon) ... 4/5

This book was very emotional. I loved the characters and the story line. Although the guy got the girl (a near necessity for me to like the book) there was loss and pain as well as love joy and sweetness. The heroine, Claire Summers, is a single mom. She is raising her daughter, Haley, to become an amazing young woman. The lady next door and Claire have become friends when Claire helped Maureen through a health crisis. Haley sends a request to Keith's company to help Maureen. 

Keith is a workaholic. He doesn't work hard and play hard, he just works hard. He is afraid of becoming attached. When he meets Claire there is interest on both sides but he reminds Claire of her ex-husband, and she comes off as a crazy lady. But sparks continue to fly as they come to know that things are not as they seem. 

Together they try and solve a mystery and in the process emerge from their own long harsh winters.

Back Cover

Independent single mom Claire Summers is doing her best to make lemonade out of the lemons life has handed her. Workaholic Keith Watson is interested only in the bottom line--until a letter from Claire's eleven-year-old daughter reaches his desk and changes everything.

As the executive assistant to a philanthropic businessman, Keith is used to fielding requests for donations. But the girl isn't asking for money. She wants help finding the long-lost son of a neighbor. As Keith reluctantly digs into this assignment in his usual results-oriented style, he has no idea how involved he and Claire will become--nor how unusual the results will actually be. Who could have guessed that a child's kindhearted request would bring love and hope to so many lives . . . including his own?

Through compelling characters and surprising plot twists, fan favorite Irene Hannon offers this tenderhearted story that demonstrates how life is like lilacs--the biggest blooms come only after the harshest winters.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group

Book Review: Meant to Be Mine by Becky Wade ...4/5

I love this book. I love that the love that began when they were young was picked up when they were mature enough to make it last. Sigh. I just love it when God does that. I am one of those people who put myself completely in the characters shoes. I become immersed. When they are sad, I cry and when they do something funny I laugh. I fully enjoyed being these characters.

Celia Park is a great mom with lots on her plate and she is trying so hard to make it all work out. She thinks she has to do it all and does not trust Ty. Well honestly I wouldn't either. 

Ty has been coasting for 5 years. Well he has been making money and becoming successful but his life is sort of stuck in neutral. He has avoided Celia for 5 years and goes to visit her to get closure. But holey mackeral he gets a big opening. 

It is a great book.

Back of book:

Ty Porter has always been irresistible to Celia Park. All through high school--irresistible. When their paths cross again after college--still irresistible. This time, though, Ty seems to feel exactly the same way about Celia. Their whirlwind romance deposits them at a street-corner Las Vegas wedding chapel.

The next morning they wake to a marriage certificate and a dose of cold reality. Celia's ready to be Ty's wife, but Ty's not ready to be her husband. He's a professional bull rider, he lives on the road, and he's long planned to settle down with the hometown girl he's known since childhood.

Five and a half years pass. Celia's buried her dreams so that she can afford to raise her daughter. Ty's achieved all of his goals. Or thought he had, until he looks again into the eyes of the woman he couldn't forget and into the face of the child he never knew he had.

How much will Ty sacrifice to win back Celia's trust and prove to her that their spontaneous marriage can still become the love of a lifetime?

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group

Book Review: Dying to Read ... 4/5

So after last week (or maybe the week before), I was ready for a book where the guy got the girl. (It's a thing for me.) I picked up this book and it was laugh out loud funny. I loved the heroine. She becomes a detective sort of by accident. She stumbles onto a murder and then stumbles onto the murderer (s). It was a great fun ride.

The book is very quirky and it was fun all the way through. Not a very serious read, but I did fall in love with the main character , Cate Kincaid. She was warm and loving and her internal dialogue was so darn funny.

Back Page:

All she wanted was a paycheck. What she got was a murder.

Cate Kinkaid's life is . . . well, frankly it's floundering. Her social life, her career, her haircut--they're all a mess. Unemployed, she jumps at the chance to work for her PI uncle, even though she has no experience and no instincts. After all, she is just dabbling in the world of private investigating until she can find a "real" job.

All she has to do for her first assignment is determine that a particular woman lives at a particular address. Simple, right? But when she reaches the dark Victorian house, she runs into an hungry horde of gray-haired mystery readers and a dead body. This routine PI job is turning out to be anything but simple. Is Cate in over her head?

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Book Review: Whispers in the Wind ... 1/5

Well a rating of 1 out of 5 isn't really fair to the book because I am punishing it for not being what I expected. =). Picture this, I was having a hard day, I was tired exhausted and I just wanted to escape to a place where happy endings were always the case and the guy always gets the girl. So when I saw an envelope in the mail with new books to review I was so relieved to have a place to escape for a bit.

If you had asked me about 1/3 of the way through I would have said that I liked the heroine and thought she was believable and someone I would like to cheer for. I started having a sinking feeling about half way through the book. There was no hero. Well there was a couple of good guys but no potential beaus for our heroine, Cassie.

Needless to say, no hero showed up and my hope for an evening passed watching a good guy get a good girl were not to be. I am not sure that I can be objective after that.

So I will leave it there.

Back Page:

She's Come This Far.... Must She Turn Back Now? After fleeing North Dakota and the now defunct Wild West Show, Cassie Lockwood and her companions have finally found the hidden valley in South Dakota where her father had dreamed of putting down roots. But to her dismay, she discovers a ranch already built on her land. Cassie's arrival surprises Mavis Engstrom and forces her to reveal secrets she's kept hidden for years. Her son Ransom is suspicious of Cassie and questions the validity of her claim to the valley. But younger son Lucas decides from the start that he is in love with her and wants to marry her. Will Cassie be able to build a home on the Bar E Ranch and fulfill her father's dream of raising horses, or will she be forced to return to the itinerant life of her past?

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Book Review: my stubborn heart ... 5/5

I loved this book. I cannot say it any other way. The main character, Kate Donovan, is a woman who thinks that marriage and kids are not God's will for her life. She also thinks that good looking men are out of her league (or not worth the trouble). Enter the good looking man. Matt Jarreau is a hockey star who hung up his skates when his wife died. He has completely withdrawn from life. He has been hired by Kate's Gran to renovate the family home. He anticipates working in peace and quiet. But Kate and Gran have other ideas. Kate constantly works beside him (even with his not so subtle hints that she should leave). But she is on a mission to heal him. 


The book is wonderful and funny and really well written. Kate is a very secure, warm and loving individual with just a few insecurities to give her character. Matt Jarreau is a great guy who is buried under a mountain of grief. He comes alive bit by bit and at the end he is the man that God meant him to be. There is an elderly gentleman in the book who has a major crush on  one of gran's lady friends. He bribes Kate into helping him get a date and it is hilarious what she has to go through to get him the date.


Publisher page for my stubborn heart


Back page:

Kate Donovan is burned out on work, worn down by her dating relationships, and in need of an adventure. When her grandmother asks her to accompany her to Redbud, Pennsylvania, to restore the grand old house she grew up in, Kate jumps at the chance.

Upon her arrival in Redbud, Kate meets Matt Jarreau, the man hired to renovate the house. Kate can't help being attracted to him, drawn by both his good looks and something else she can't quite put her finger on. He's clearly wounded--hiding from people, from God, and from his past. Yet Kate sets her stubborn heart on bringing him out of the dark and back into the light... whether he likes it or not. 

When the stilted, uncomfortable interactions between Kate and Matt slowly shift into something more, is God finally answering the longing of her heart? Or will Kate be required to give up more than she ever dreamed?

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".  

Book Review: The Pursuit of Lucy Banning ... 3/5

Every once in a while I come across a romance where I don't identify with the characters. And I think it may be that they are just people I would not understand in real life. In this case the heroine Lucy Banning has a thirst for knowledge and loves learning in a time when learning for women was discouraged. She goes behind her fiancee's and parent's backs in order to pursue her goal of a degree. She calculates and plans how to escape notice. I think her goal was noble and in the end people understood that this is what she wanted to do. But it just seemed dishonest.


However, the book was really well written. I loved the setting in Chicago months before the world fair opened. I also loved how the Lucy's ex-fiancee's suffered from a mental illness and how it was portrayed and dealt with within the family. Lucy showed great compassion in going to the rescue of him, after he had stalked her and tried to kidnap her. I will look for Olivia Newport's next book to see if I can relate to those characters better.


I also love the cover picture... =)


Publisher's page about The Pursuit of Lucy Banning


Back Cover:

She has a secret to keep. But will she give her heart away?

Lucy Banning may live on the exclusive Prairie Avenue among Chicago's rich and famous, but her heart lies elsewhere. Expected to marry an up-and-coming banker from a respected family, Lucy fears she will be forced to abandon her charity work and squeeze herself into the mold of the well-dressed wife who spends most of her time and money redecorating.

When she meets Will, an unconventional young architect who is working on plans for the upcoming 1893 World's Fair, Lucy imagines a life lived on her own terms. Can she break away from her family's expectations? And will she ever be loved for who she truly is?

Get swept away into the lavish world of Chicago's high society as Olivia Newport brings to life an age of glitz and grandeur, stark social contrasts, and one woman who dares to cross class lines for what she believes.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Book Review for Chasing the Sun...5/5

I haven't given a rating before but this one is definitely a 5 outta 5.

Here is the back cover:

Hannah is desperate for help..
William is determined to regain his family's land...

When her father disappears in war-torn Mississippi, Hannah Dandridge finds herself responsible not only for her younger siblings but also for the Texas ranch her father recently acquired. A marriage of convenience could ease her predicament... but is it the true desire of her heart?
Wounded soldier William Barnett returns home only to find out that his family's ranch has been seized. Though angered at this turn of events, he's surprised to discover that it is a beautiful young woman with amazing fortitude who is struggling to keep the place running.
Despite these circumstances, Hannah and William form an uneasy truce... and an undeniable attraction builds between them. In a land where loyalties are divided in a country ravaged by war, is there any hope that the first blush of love can survive?

I loved it, absolutely loved it. The main character is Hannah. Hannah has had a hard life but she doesn't seem to partake in the "Drama Queen" role (that many of us seem to slip into so easily). She simply does what needs doing and follows God. The book is set during the American Civil War in Texas. Hannah has two younger siblings that she cares for so selflessly. During one scene a group of Comanches (or Numunuu, the people, as they call themselves) arrives in her yard. She walks out to them and greets them as if they were dropping by for a cup of sugar. This earns respect from the leader of the leader of the Numunuu and me the reader.

The hero, William, is equally as inspiring. He reminds me of my hubby. =) He is peace loving and gentle and kind.

I loved the book, did I say that already?? This one is a winner, thank you Tracie Peterson and Bethany House for a delightful experience.

Organizing on the cheap: spices

I've been doing a lot of organizing lately. It's been fun. For some reason it soothes me. Here are some of my projects:

My spice cupboard is my pride and joy. I am immensely practical and this situation works. There is a three tier shelvy thingy (I believe that that is the technical term). So I think I picked something like this up somewhere. Knowing me I bought it on sale or second hand.

And then I bought spice jars at Dollarama, as you can see they are 3 for a dollar.

And then I used my handy dandy labeller that I got for free with a mail in rebate. I have a pt-2100 and it allows me to plug it into my computer and print labels with icons on the computer. I don't think you can see but there is a little salt and pepper shaker next to the name of the spice. I have 2 shelves of this many spices and the great thing about is that spices come down for a recipe and then they just have to find the right empty spot to be home again. this is the final look:

Book review "In Too Deep"

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".  

 

 

I love this series by Mary Connealy. The first in this series was Out of Control. The series is about 3 boys, raised in the west in the 1800s. As children, their parents were distant and non-caring. So they explored the countryside with no restraints. There was an incident that scarred the three of them in different ways. The first born (in Out of Control) learned to deal with the world by trying to control his environment. The second born, Ethan (In Too Deep), reacted to the incident by not allowing himself to feel for anyone. Anytime he felt any emotion he would slap a big old smile on his face and not feel the emotion anymore. 

I thought it was very much like how we all cope with whatever life throws at us. Some people pretend that it never happened and doesn't affect them. Some people, like me, try and control every situation so that we never get hurt again. And some people just break. 

I love this book. Imagine a real hero. A person that for all his grinning is incredibly broken inside and avoids emotions like the plague. But despite his fear, does what is right. Ethan agrees to marry Audra because of circumstances. And then Audra helps him to see that his views about himself are not accurate. I don't think you necessarily need to read the first book to get this book but it sure makes some stuff easier to get.

Here is the back cover bit:

In 1866 Colorado, Ethan Kincaid agrees to a marriage of convenience with the same casual disregard he gives every decision. Audra Gilliland, young mother of two, accepts his proposal because she wants to stop being a burden to her newly married stepdaughter.

And suddenly both of them are in far deeper than they'd planned.

Ethan doesn't expect Audra to affect him so profoundly, and when she begins to, he's terrified of the pain he's felt before when someone he loved was seriously injured on his watch. He's determined that his new wife will do as he says so he can keep her safe from the dangers that lurk on their ranch.

Audra has been cared for all her life by one man or another--and they've done a poor job of it. Now she's planning to stand up for herself. And her new husband had better agree or get out of her way!

What will it take to transform two wayward hearts fearful of getting in too deep into two trusting hearts ready to risk falling deeply in love?