Scripture Tool

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First, I want to apologize for being SO LAZY about blogging lately!  No good excuses, just getting orders filled and just flat LAZY!!


OH! and I actually read a book last week!  I really don't love reading so that was huge.  But, it was a God thing.  It was a book called "Jesus and Company" by Don Tipton.  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G book!  I have actually had it for around 3 years, 2 feet from where I am sitting right now...I just never read it. Last week someone requested it from me on PaperbackSwap.com. (I've mentioned this site before, if you like any kind of book, hardback or paperback, you definitely want to check it out...I don't buy new books anymore, this is much cheaper)...Anyway, anyway, I figure if someone wants a book then there must be a reason, I might need to see what it says before it leaves the house.  WELL, that was God!  It was EXACTLY what I have been in need of for months now.  It is story after story of how God has done miracles of provision for Don and his ministry, "Friend Ships".  Years ago he got saved and believed almost immediately that the Lord wanted him to feed the homeless and starving all over the world, so he and his wife sold everything, cleared all his debt, and jumped in full force....with a total of $38 in the bank!  People have been GIVING him SHIPS and food and other critical needs since they started in the 80s! Incredible stories!!


Let's put it this way, I want to give a copy to everyone I know now.  As I mailed off the copy that had been requested, I logged on and ordered another copy, and I'll do that until all my friends have a copy.  I wish I could afford to give all you guys a copy!


BTW, I actually got the book from Don himself.  Do you remember the hurricane that hit Galveston several years back?  I went there with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team and "Friend Ships" was there doing what they do, feeding the homeless and needy.  Some of our team actually stayed on the ship Don had there, while the rest of us stayed in Sunday School rooms at a local church.  My group took a tour of the ship and he gave us a copy of his book.


All that to say, PLEASE read the book, I promise, you won't be sorry. I didn't want to put it down after the first page!




OK then, didn't plan to say all that!  I really wanted to let you know about something I just discovered this morning.  I don't know how many of you, if any, ever make a reference to a scripture in the Bible on your blogs.  I try to keep that to a minimum on this blog but it is hard since HE is my life and on my mind 24/7... so I have other blogs that I use to get those thoughts down.  But, just in case....  there is a FREE TOOL available that lets you make a reference to a scripture in your text and it will provide a popup of the text of the scripture when the reader mouses over it like this: John 3:16
All you have to do is copy some lines of code into your blog template one time and it will work on any post.  VERY COOL!

That's it, just wanted to share that.  I promise, I will get back to normal soon.




Prayers for a VERY BLESSED CHRISTMAS!!!  And please, remember Jesus.

COOOOL FONT!

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No time to chat but I just found this and wanted to share! 

Click on picture and it will take you to Dafont for a free download.  COOL!

He REALLY DOES Love Me!

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This is going to be a different kind of post.  There are no crafting tips, or tricks to learn, but, something happened to me today that I need to document.

Background:  I am one of those folks who has a hard time with the month of December.  I do my best to not let anyone know that because I am WAY TOO BLESSED to complain, about anything.  So, I  just grit my teeth and bare it. There are a couple of reasons....my birthday is the 5th and then, of course, there is Christmas.   Both are when family go out of their way to show how much they love you....but I haven't been part of a family in YEARS... Daddy died 28 years ago, Mother died 14 years ago, and I was divorced (no kids) 14 years ago... So, it is me, alone....(and God of course.)

Well, on Monday, my birthday, something happened with my finances that made me even question God's love for me....I thought I had a certain amount but instead I was negative $300+!!!!!!  it was like I took a hard blow to the heart and it has been tied in a knot since.  

Anyway, around 1AM this morning (12/9/11) I pinned this picture (I added the scripture for this post) and labeled it: "Me today 12/9/11"  It was exactly how I have been feeling all week, like I was all alone, standing in a sea of bills with no one to help, and I just wanted to SCREAM!  I'm not kidding!  

    

I have been having myself a MAJOR PITY PARTY all week!

Well, after I pinned the picture, I went to bed and woke up a few hours later to find that someone had bought one of my fonts!  I had $7.50 more than when I had gone to sleep.  I know, not much right?  But it has been out there for months now and I think I've sold one other copy of it!  I know people like it because it has been pinned in Pinterest TONS of times and people are always linking to the page for a better look... they just never buy!  So, I was tickled that one had sold!  And then about 30 minutes later I got a call for an order of custom Christmas ornaments (about $200 worth)  YAY!

Then, I went to a luncheon at the company I worked for two years ago... the owner sold the business and  the buying company is totally closing the Atlanta office!  After next Wednesday everyone there will be out of work!  After lunch I was standing at the door to go to my car when, Kathy, one of my friends there,  came up to me to tell me goodbye, and that as soon as the dust settles (sometime during the week after Christmas) she was going to call me so we could schedule some time for her to come over and help me clean house and get all my "stuff" organized!  !!!!!!!!  My first response was, "Kathy, I can't afford that." (that is how she earned money before starting with this company so she really is a professional organizer!).  She said... "Oh no!  I want to do it for free, no money!  I was praying and the Lord told me to do this for you!!!!"  Now, she and I haven't even talked but a couple of times since I left there two years ago.... but she was praying and the Lord told her to do this for me!!!  Guys, you can not even begin to imagine what that means to me!  I really didn't know what to say, it was so surreal!  I told her what an answer to prayer that was.

But wait, as I was driving home I remembered something.  I had not actually prayed for the Lord to send someone to help me... I never asked Him for that.  What had happened was... in the middle of my little pity party I had remembered how when Momma was alive I could always, my whole life, ask for a
"big ticket" item, something I couldn't afford,  for my birthday and/or Christmas and she would always get it for me. And sometimes I could even do that with my ex husband.  .... but, there was no one now that cares what I want, big, or small. (poor me, right?  WHATEVER!)  So, while I was thinking about it, I asked myself what would I want if there was someone who cared enough to ask.  And I said, to myself, not outloud.  I would want someone to help me clean and get my house in order!  IT IS TRUE!!!  God cared enough!  He heard and He spoke to Kathy!  I cried all the way home!  I'm crying now.  Daddy God does love me,  He hasn't forgotten me.  HUGE!!!

And would you believe that when I got home I had ANOTHER ORDER for my font!!!  TWO in one day!

So, this is what I pinned tonight, 23 hours after the first picture (I added the scripture)... Me 18 hours later:

MY GOD IS A GREAT GOD!!!

Added Monday 12/12/11:

I wanted to add this here in case you don't read the comments:

 I reread what I wrote and MAN! what a WHINNY BABY!!! I NEVER let that kind of junk out in the open air! SORRY!!! I really am not as pitiful as I came across (never write when you are an emotional mess or at night!!!) By the time I wrote it though I was all better, I just felt like you needed to know how low I had gotten so you could get the magnitude of God's love and how he knows our deepest desires and will show his love in the COOLEST WAYS!! It was more to bring glory to Him than be so stinking focused on me...ICK! I really am better, I went to the Christmas production at the church I use to go to both Saturday and Sunday nights because it was SO AWESOME! There's healing in the air :-).


John 10:10

Gifts Ready for Giving

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Yesterday I mentioned that I keep a supply of clear ornaments on hand for gift giving.  Here is what I have ready and waiting by my front door "just in case" I need to give something suddenly.

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I usually give people one with their name or monogram inside... but this is Christmas after all!  And I don't have to know anything about who I'm going to give to, I just pick one up, already wrapped, and go.


What's the magic?  How is it inside the ornament ?... or sorry, I guess you really can't tell that the nativity is inside the ball, appearing to just float in the middle.  Not magic at all.  Cut a piece of transparency just smaller than the ornament. like this:

This is the file I use to cut six at a time on my cutter...but you don't need a cutter, just cut a circle out and REMEMBER TO include a tab so you have some control once the transparency in down in the ornament.


Once you have it cut, and you have something stuck to it (like my vinyl nativity), roll it up tight enough to stick it down in the top of the ornament, once the roll is down inside you can let it go and it will automatically pop open.  You can then use something like a paintbrush to stick down inside to make most of the adjustments, or just move the tab around until you are happy, then cut the tab off level with the top, replace the ornament top... tie a ribbon, done! 

When my friend Andrea moved she gave me a HUGE box of old patterns that I am now using to do a quick wrap.  I LOVE, LOVE the look!  I made the felt holly by stitching the leaf pattern onto the felt then cut them out.  The "berry" is a covered (with felt) pin back button...so it too is a gift that can be worn.

I LOVE GLITTER!

I truly do.  As a matter of a fact I love it so much that I bought a HUGE supply of it to sell several years ago... I even have the 5 foot high display rack!  I think I probably only sold $50 worth because I stopped having folks over for craft night and no one knows about it now.  But, it still makes me happy, just having it there to look at.  

So here is how today's "stumble into something good" happened.  I found a blog where the girl had made round glitter labels using the ones you buy at any office supply store.  YUMMMY!  Gotta love that!.... So, of course, loving glitter like I do, I had to start immediately making my own.... But, I modified the process a bit... I didn't make it better necessarily, just different.

Her way:

• Spray glue over the entire sheet of labels
• Add Glitter
• Peel backing off of label sheet leaving just the labels.

The main reason I didn't want to go that route is that it has been raining here all day long and I didn't want to spray the stuff in my house.... so I punted.

First thing, I have TONS of round labels, because I love label paper almost as much as I love glitter, BUT, I also have lots of 8.5"x11"  labels and a vinyl cutter so I can make any shape/letter/whatever label I want so why go with round?!  Right? I decided to cut some fleur-de-lis in honor of my niece that loves and collects them.

Yes, I cut circles too, because I hate to waste any label paper, I want to fill the entire thing up with something!

Now here is what I did differently.  I decided to just take advantage of the sticky side of the label and dipped that down into the glitter, then use ModPodge to glue the label down to whatever....in this case an ornament.

 

Kinda hard to see, I know...glitter never reads well in a picture and the ornament is black against a black background!  Sorry!  You'll have to take my word for it...it is VERY sparkly and pretty.

Nope, I didn't just happen to have a black ornament in my stash.  I do however, keep a supply of clear ornaments because I use them as gifts a lot.  In this case though, the clear wouldn't work because you would be able to see the back side of the label from any angle that wasn't head on.  Black was the perfect choice because all of my family lives in Louisiana and my niece is Saints crazy.    All I did to make it black was squirt some black acrylic paint down inside and swirl it around until it was coated.  (much, much easier and cleaner than trying to spray paint it!)  I then glued 4 of the glitter "stickers" with ModPodge (just add it to the back of the sticker, not the ornament) ....   Ta-daaaaa!  EASY!  QUICK!  Saints Ornament!

The advantage to her way is the label is ready for sticking down.

The advantage to my way is there's less glitter waste and ModPodge is cheaper than spray glue.  And, I can do one at a time and just keep the rest for later when a different color might make more sense, or doing something, not glitter would work better.

How to Make a LARGE Round Tablecloth

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No, I am not an expert on making round tablecloths ... I just made my first one last night... but, I can warn you of the pitfalls of making one! :-).  I'm sorry that I have no pictures of the actual process (BAD BLOGGER!) because, quiet frankly,  I was way more interested in getting it right, and out of this house! (they needed it today so I had to take it to them last night).


Step 1:
YOU HAVE TO MEASURE THE TABLE!!!   If it is a tablecloth for you, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for knowing how big it needs to be!  
  - every time I talked to the girl that wanted me to make the tablecloth she would say she needed it to be 72"-73".  Well...1" difference IS IMPORTANT!  So I kept asking her if she had measured the table...no.  So finally, AFTER she had bought the fabric, and she was handing it to me, (I met her at a different fabric store) I asked again, exactly how big does it need to be?  At that point she called someone and asked them to measure!!  When she got off the phone she said she needed it to be 79" !!!  WAIT, that's not it yet. When we decided to put a cording around the bottom we went to someone to ask how much cording we would need. ... at that point she said these words... "the table is 49" across and 30" to the floor"  and all the ALARMS in my brain went off!!!  She didn't need 79" she needed 109" (before the hem) !!!!  She was including only enough to fall on one side, not both!  Guess what.... the SIX yards of fabric she bought was NOT ENOUGH to make the tablecloth go to the floor!  It is going to be 2" too short!

A +B(x2) +1" (1/2" hem)  = how many inches LONG your fabric needs to be

So, for the one I made it was 

49 + 30(x2) + 1" = 110"

3 yards of fabric = 108" !!!

Yes, that math you should have learned in school IS REQUIRED! 

BUT WAIT!!!  There's more!  Unless you are cutting a sheet, odds are, the fabric you find will not be WIDE enough, you will need to add fabric to add to the width.  I needed the other 3 yards she bought to make the piece wide enough.  (see step 2)

STEP 2:

Buy the correct amount of fabric.

Be sure to double (if that is enough)  the number you came up with in the above formula so that you can make it wide enough for a circle....

IMPORTANT: Avoid all use of words like "Diameter" and "Circumference"!!! Sadly, people don't know what they mean anymore!  What you THINK you are saying may not be what they are hearing.  Because she kept saying  "I need a 72"- 73" Diameter" instead of saying what she was actually measuring...because she was hearing 72-73" the lady at the fabric store told her that 6 yards would be plenty.  NOT!  We were TWO INCHES SHORT!

From here on I will be talking like 6 yards is what we are working with so the final table cloth will be 107" with a 1/2" hem.

Once you are certain all your numbers are correct add a few inches because these days they cut EXACTLY what you ask for!  They will cut their fingernails off  before they give you 1/4" more than you ask for!... and they NEVER CUT STRAIGHT!...so add a bit to your number.  Then, if you are like me and just the thought of having to deal with SIX YARDS of fabric turns your stomach, go ahead and let them cut it in half for you so, in my case I had two three yard pieces instead of one six yard piece.

STEP 3:

Make the fabric wide enough.

IMPORTANT: You want two seams on the sides, NOT one down the middle! so you will need to 

- split the LENGTH of one of the 3 yards pieces 

- sew one length to each side of the uncut piece thus making seams that will be on the side of the table, not one running down the middle.

STEP 4:

fold the newly created piece in half length wise

STEP 5:

Fold that in half  with  the original cut ends together forming a square (pretty much)

STEP 6:
Prepare for cutting:
- I had to move furniture for this step!  You will need a space big enough for the above square ... and for you to move all the way around it. (MY biggest obstacle!)  In my case I needed 54" for the fabric and ??? for my butt!  Like I said, I had to move furniture around to have enough floor space!


- Tie a pen (preferably disappearing ink) to one end of a string.  Make the string 1/2" the length of your finished tablecloth (mine was 54") and tack the loose end down to the floor (in my case) in the double folded corner:

- Draw a simi-circle from corner to corner. I didn't have disappearing ink so I put pins along the path...which really was good because it held the 4 thicknesses together for cutting.

STEP 7:

Cut the simi-circle.

Step 8:

Press seams open and hem.  It actually took me ONE HOUR to sew around the hem two times!

DONE!

OH!  and I forgot the most important part!!!  PRAY! throughout the entire process!

I wish I had a picture of the final product but I don't have a round table and without it, it was just a big pile of  A LOT of fabric!  

I got it to them at 9:45 PM last night.  YES!!!  Now I'm just hoping that it being 2" too short doesn't look awful.... (she said with a groan) 

Subject change....

Happy Birthday to me....happy birthday to me....happy birthday to me---eeeeee, happy birthday to me!

That's right, I will be spending the rest of my morning getting my car inspected and getting a new tag.  I would really like to talk to the person that thought making your birthday the final day for new tags was a good idea!!!!  Nothing like having to pay every year for your birthday (about $150 in my case)...another groan....


I'm off!  Have a great day! 

Talent ENVY!!

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I have to say, I don't love the final product but watch how he gets there!  UNBELIEVABLE!  I hope God lets me have this kind of talent in the ever after! (Like we will care, right?!)


Post-Apocalyptic Cover Illustration | Timelapse from DEISIGN on Vimeo.




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Cool Doodle!

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I know, I know, this is a doodle, but I think it is just so cool that I wanted to share here too.

The fun part is that ZERO talent is required and there's some potential there for really cool ideas!


As usual, I got the original idea from Pinterest link  from "The Forest Room" .  A teacher had gotten her kids to trace around their hands then take a marker and draw straight until you get to the line then
"bump" over it until you get to the other side and go straight again, like I did below.

Isn't that COOL!?!  I just love it!  Art teachers are so smart!  

If you notice, it looks like I got darker on the pencil lines, but the marker did that, I didn't...not on purpose anyway...it happened mainly where I stopped (hesitated) and started drawing straight again.  Happy fluke.

So anyway, you see how far I got with my hand before I decided to move on to the name.  I quick drew "JESUS" and started the markers moving ....

I think it would be great to get kids to do their own hand and/or name and frame it because it looks like so much more than it actually is to me.  Go check out what the kids did, I like theirs better!