Advent is a time for preparation...

Thought it was about time to get back into blogging, since I haven't posted in FOREVER!!!  Life does get in the way, sometimes!

Anyway, I love the season of Advent!  Preparing for Jesus' coming...  Celebrating His historic debut AND looking forward to His return to reign!

With that in mind, I just finished a project that my family and I can enjoy for years to come...  I was inspired by an advent calendar posted last year by a talented paper-crafter -- Sharon Harnist!  She used an MDF kit by Kaisercraft to make her own calendar and I loved it so much, I had to buy one, too!

I've been collecting little pretties for this for over a year now, and I think it came together nicely...  But, I have to say, it is IMPOSSIBLE to find any beautiful scrapbooking paper that has sacred images on it.  SO, I made do with a set of background papers by Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby brand) and then found a GREAT nativity pop-up card and some paper "scraps" at D. Blumchen Co. for the centerpiece!  LOVE DBC!!!  They have some wonderful German crafting things, including the old-style lametta tinsel, glass glitter, Dresdens, etc.!

Without futher ado, here are some pix of the finished product -- hope you like it!  To quote my eldest son, "there's a lot going on" here, but that's what makes it fun, eh?  :)

Blessings to you and yours, this Advent season and at Christmas!

M.

What's in a Name... ???

No doubt you've heard all kinds of sayings about names... How important a good name is, how much better it is to have a good name than riches, etc... I've always had a "thing" about names. I've always wanted to be sure I spell others' names correctly (and that they spell mine correctly, too), always been interested in how people's names were chosen, what the name means in the original language, and so on...

So, I suppose it comes as no surprise that, now, I have a framed name picture hanging in my living room!!! LOL!!!

Remember all the stamped "name frames" that were REALLY popular a year or two ago? I sort of took that idea and built on it a little... Here's what it looks like and what I did:

My surname is now Japanese, thanks to my DH, and my maiden name was German! I like to tease him that our union represents the "axis" nations in WWII... Weird, but true! LOL!!! Never mind that we BOTH are citizens of the USA, and our families had been, as well, before WWII! LOL!!!

Anyway, wanting to create a piece of framed art based on our surname, I asked a dear friend, who is from Japan, to do our name in Japanese calligraphy (kanji) for me. She sweetly obliged and her work is featured in the top portion of the piece.

The other section of the piece spells out our name vertically, with each letter of our name as the first letter in a Bible scripture that means a lot to us. I tried to come up with scriptures that were representative of our family in some way, and here is the result (all from the KJV):

A -- As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, o God. Psalm 42:1

R -- Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice. Pilippians 4:4

I --It is God that girdeth me with strength and maketh my way perfect. Psalm 18:32

M -- Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Psalm 100:1,2

A -- And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Psalm 9:10

I printed the verses out on a transparency sheet, then backed it with a piece of brushed gold CS, attaching it with gold mini-brads.

After creating the art panel, my next step was to cover the mat with some washi paper that coordinates with my family room decor.

The frame with the filleted mat is actually one I picked up at Fred Meyer(?), with a different piece of art in it. I just liked the frame and, since the picture was on a great sale, I figured I could remove the original work and insert my own! I have to say, though, that installing the fillet back onto the newly-covered mat was a little tricky! There has to be a way to make it a little easier... I just haven't figured it out yet! LOL!!!

Anyway, I'm very pleased with the result!!! Hope you like my little experiment, too!

Blessings,

M.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

CHRISTMAS!!!!!!! See all the beautiful white stuff God sent to us on Saturday?!? We awoke to 4 inches or snow, and then it continued snowing into the afternoon, and we ended up with SIX inches that day!!!

The boys went sledding twice on Saturday and had an absolute ball! What a wonderful day!

Aren't these trees and bushes in our front yard lovely?!? I love snow-laden trees!





















This is the view from our back deck, Close to the middle of the yard...


And this is the view from the deck, into the right-hand corner of the yard (the rose arbor!)...























Here is the left-hand view of the yard...
























And the bird feeder...


I tell you -- with each change of season, I always marvel at the things God has created and how well He orchestrates them all! Everything designed to perfection... such amazing variety (even no two snowflakes are alike)... Our God is AWESOME!!!

Sweet Memories...

So I've been following some blogs of a couple who just adopted three children from Colombia... Talk about a heart-string tug!!! Their thoughts have triggered *sweet, sweet memories* from when I was a child, and some deeper thoughts as well!

I have an adpoted sister from Korea. She arrived on February 11, 1970, when she was almost 15 months old (and what a *baby doll* she was!!!). She is my best girlfriend of all time AND my sister! You can't beat that!!! And that's saying a lot, since I have seven other siblings as well! LOL!

Anyway, as I've been reading their blogs, I've been thinking about how wonderful adoption is! God takes the orphans and sets them into families! The adoption process -- and the resulting family -- is as much of a miracle of life as giving birth! Different, definitely -- but a miracle all the same!

Seeing the deep *LOVE* these new parents have for their children is like getting a glimpse of God's love! How wonderful it is that *HE* has chosen to adopt *US* as His children! We have all of the legal rights that Jesus has in God's family! We can claim as our inheritance all of God's riches in glory! And, even better, we can claim God's *amazing LOVE* as our own!!! Wow! What a great gift to us!

I wonder what gift we are giving *back* to Him?!? What expressions of love can I offer Him today? It's worth some thought...

Taking JOY in the journey,

M.