Goals for week beginning February 25, 2013

Graphic by Little Birdie Blessings

Another Monday!  Mine is off to a slow start because of an early morning dental appointment, but here are this week's goals:
*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study
*  Start Sunday School lesson 12
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook
*  Memorize Exodus 15:13
*  Read 2 chapters in How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground
*  Limit sugar
*  Exercise 5 or 6 times
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays and finishing UFOs
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post 3 to 5 times in each of my blogs if possible
*  Continue trip planning
*  Begin work on kids' devotional book for summer 2013
*  Begin planning an overnight getaway
*  Make a simple winter table runner
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for  Zone 5, the living room-- and, later in the week, Zone 1 -- the front entry, dining room, etc. Still want to keep working on Zone 4 as well.
*  Spend 2 hours updating my A-Store
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do.

And here is how last week went:
*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study -- DONE!
*  Start Sunday School lesson 12 -- not done
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook -- -- DONE!
*  Continue reviewing  Psalm 103 (memorized some years ago) -- nope; decided to skip the review for now and concentrate on some new verses.
*  Read 2 chapters in How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground -- not done; I read part of one chapter.
*  Limit sugar -- not done
*  Exercise 5 or 6 times --  managed 3 times, I think, maybe 4.
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays and finishing UFOs  -- DONE!
*  Keep up a good water intake -- DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night -- DONE!
*  Post daily in both of my blogs if possible -- not done; I managed a few times in each
*  Get plane tickets for Nevada -- DONE!
*  Continue trip planning -- DONE!
*  Make a simple winter table runner -- not done
*  Finish making  Christmas shadow box with vintage items -- DONE!
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for  Zone 4, the bedroom -- not done
*  Spend time helping out with family needs -- DONE!
*  Spend 2 hours updating my A-Store -- not done
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do -- DONE!

This week looks relatively calm (although that could change in an instant!) so I'm hoping for a productive week ahead.

 

Just a quick post ...

... with a few random thoughts.  There's not a lot going on here, although there could be another ten inches of snow here this weekend.  We'll see, but it looks as if we are on track for another nor'easter.

Vintage card from my personal collection

My thoughts are very scattered these days.  I have a lot on my mind all at once, and am finding it hard to keep track of everything.  Each of the things I'm thinking about is something that, if I turn it around, has great potential for thankfulness.  (For example, the planning for a trip to visit loved ones.  The planning is stressful, but how wonderful that they want us to visit and that we can afford to go!  Or how about the annual summer devotional book I put together for kids in our church's childrens' ministry?  It takes a lot of thought, but this year I can thank God that I can re-use one of the older manuscripts with only a little extra work.  I can praise Him for this opportunity to use my writing gifts for His glory; I can thank Him for the kids who are part of this ministry and the chance to encourage them spiritually; I can thank Him too for the lady at the print shop who told me last year that I could save money on the printing by emailing a pdf of the manuscript to her.)  See what I mean?  Every one of these situations (and there are many more) is taking mental energy, but every one of them also contains much to thank God for.

All that to say I'm  not sure how much blogging time I'll find in the next month or two.  I will try and get here at least to post weekly and monthly goals.

I've been wanting to share a few links with all of you -- sites or posts you might find interesting or edifying.  Do you ever visit Little Birdie Blessings?  If not, you will want to visit.  Abby is a pastor's wife and lives in Maine.  She makes beautiful graphics using vintage images, Scripture, sheet music and more.  The graphics are often free for our personal use, so do check this site out.  Every Thursday Abby shares some encouraging devotional thoughts from Scripture.  Here's one I enjoyed:  Everyday is a Gift.  (I may have shared that link already, but I can't remember.)  I hope you all enjoy Little Birdie Blessings as much as I do!

Sweet Tea and Simplicity is another favorite site.  Mrs. Smith has some inspiring devotional thoughts.  Here is a recent one I enjoyed: You Are So Loved.

If you've never visited TipJunkie, do take a look.  You will find lots of inspiration for homemaking, crafting, and so on.

I can't remember if I shared this here, but The Legacy of Handmade from Myra at My Blessed Life was an encouragement to me to keep on creating handmade gifts for my loved ones.

I have found many fabulous sewing tutorials at Sew4Home.  If you haven't seen their site, and if you love to sew, you will want to visit soon!  Lots of inspiration and sometimes they have great giveaways of fabric, books, and sew on.  

Do you prefer cross stitch?  Check out this wonderful site: ABC Stitch Therapy .  I've visited their store.  It is right here in New England!

For fabulous embroidery inspiration, go here: Crabapple Hill Studio .  Many of their projects and patterns are on my wish list.

If you have little girls who love paper dolls (or maybe have never seen paper dolls but might enjoy them), check out these free printables:
New Year's Paper Doll and
Paper Doll Camping Set.  Those are just a couple of the sets available.  They have paper dolls for most of the holidays -- Christmas, Valentine's and so on.  Very cute, and there are accessories and backgrounds to match.

I finished up a couple of craft projects this week -- one being a pair of vintage style pillowcases to coordinate with some sheets I already had.  I've had this fabric forever and finally found time to make these up. 
 
I've made many over the years for adults and kids alike, using all sorts of different fabrics.  This is a quick and easy project once you have the pillowcases cut out.  The main pattern piece is rather large and unwieldy.  Find the easy tutorial here:  How to Make a Vintage-Style Pillowcase.


And I also finished a project I've been wanting to do for years -- a Christmas shadow box using a vintage wooden silverware tray and lots of vintage bits and pieces. 

 
I found the idea and basic instructions in Gooseberry Patch Christmas book 7. I'll post more pictures of the process and finished shadow box over on my Christmas blog.

I'm making dinner for my daughter (who's recovering from surgery) tonight and changed my original plan of making white chili to making this: Chicken Chili Lasagna.  Salad will be all the accompaniment that is needed.

Photo by Taste of Home

 It's delicious and will be easier to transport on their iffy back road and driveway.  I don't think they will mind the substitution!  For dessert I am taking this tried and true recipe for

Photo by Taste of Home

Blond Brownies .  They are yummy and so easy.  I baked them in a foil pan so the pan won't need to be washed or returned.


 I will be making these tomorrow, most likely, to have with our Saturday baked beans and cole slaw:  Oven Potato Wedges.  So easy.  You might like to try them, too.

One last thing -- I have a folder on my computer desktop called "Blog posts in progress".  One of the items in it is a word processing document with a list of links I want to share or have shared.  I happened to come upon this one: God is in the Details of Life from 2010.  It's no accident I stumbled across this link today.  With all I have on my mind, this was a powerful and encouraging reminder.  Maybe it will help someone else today too!

Weekly goals for week beginning 2/18/2013

Photo collage by Little Birdie Blessings

Very quickly, here are my goals for this week:
*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study
* Start Sunday School lesson 12
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook
*  Continue reviewing  Psalm 103 (memorized some years ago)
*  Read 2 chapters in How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground
*  Limit sugar
*  Exercise 5 or 6 times
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays and finishing UFOs
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post daily in both of my blogs if possible
*  Get plane tickets for Nevada
*  Continue trip planning
*  Make a simple winter table runner
*  Finish making  Christmas shadow box with vintage items
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for  Zone 4, the bedroom
*  Spend time helping out with family needs
*  Spend 2 hours updating my A-Store
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do.


And here's how last week went:
*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study -- DONE!
* Finish Sunday School lesson 11  -- DONE!
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook  -- DONE!
*  Review Psalm 103:1-5  (memorized some years ago)  -- DONE!
*  Read 2 chapters in How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground -- only read one
*  Limit sugar -- didn't do too well with this, but tried
*  Exercise 5 or 6 times -- only managed 3 times
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays and finishing UFOs ---- DONE!
*  Keep up a good water intake -- -- DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night -- DONE!
*  Post daily in both of my blogs if possible -- not done
*  Do some research toward our trip to Nevada  -- DONE!
*  Make a simple winter table runner -- not done
*  Make a Christmas shadow box with vintage items -- started, but not finished
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for  Zone 3, the bathroom, plus doing some decluttering and dusting in the living room and bedroom  -- DONE!
*  Write some TripAdvisor reviews -- DONE!
*  Spend 2 hours updating my A-Store -- not done
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do   -- DONE!


We'll see how it goes this week!

Pinterest project: A simple Valentine bunting

 
A few weeks ago I came upon this adorable Valentine project :  simple Valentine bunting and promptly pinned it to my Valentine's Day Pinterest board.  It's always a great day when I actually do make a project or recipe I've pinned.  I thought this looked like a fun and quick project to to with my 9-year-old granddaughter after school, so last Wednesday we gave it a try. 

I gathered the materials ahead of time -- an old book (this one, The Little Duke, had seen way better days!), some card stock and scrapbooking paper, buttons, glue, and twine.  I had some pretty scrapbooking paper, but also printed some of the free printable scrapbook paper from Activity Village onto card stock.  It came out so cute!

Our supplies

K. chose pink scrapbook paper for her hearts.

I chose red papers for mine -- the one on the far left looks pink but is a fine red check.

I like the look of this so much that I am going to make more for the other 2 dining room windows.

Hope you have enjoyed this look at our simple Valentine buntings!  The designer has made some with shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day, and stockings for Christmas.  I think they would also be pretty with snowflakes for winter, pumpkins for fall, etc.  I can see that I am going to have to try my hand at more simple seasonal buntings.

Goals for week beginning 2/11/2013

Vintage Valentine from my collection

Here are my goals for this week:
*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study
* Finish Sunday School lesson 11
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook
*  Review Psalm 103:1-5  (memorized some years ago)
*  Read 2 chapters in How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground
*  Limit sugar
*  Exercise 5 or 6 times
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays and finishing UFOs
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post daily in both of my blogs if possible
*  Do some research toward our trip to Nevada
*  Make a simple winter table runner
*  Make a Christmas shadow box with vintage items
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for  Zone 3, the bathroom, plus doing some decluttering and dusting in the living room and bedroom
*  Write some TripAdvisor reviews
*  Spend 2 hours updating my A-Store
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do.


And here's how things went last week:
*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study -- DONE!
* Finish Sunday School lesson 11 -- not quite done, although I did spend tons of time on it.  I ended up adding to lesson 10 just a bit so I could finish it up cleanly this week.
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook  -- DONE!  (I actually made 3 pages, I think.)
*  Review Psalm 103:1-5  (memorized some years ago) -- again, not done, though I did read over it several times
*  Read 2 chapters in How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground  -- not done; only managed part of one chapter
*  Limit sugar -- did okay with this
*  Exercise 5 or 6 times -- exercised 4 times, so not too bad
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays and finishing UFOs -- DONE!
*  Keep up a good water intake -- DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night DONE! (every night but  one)
*  Post daily in both of my blogs if possible -- not quite done, though I did post several times
*  Do some research toward our trip to Nevada -- did a very little research, not enough to call it done
*  Make a simple winter table runner -- not done
*  Make a Christmas shadow box with vintage items --  not done
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for  Zone 2, the kitchen, plus doing some decluttering and dusting in the living room and bedroom  -- not done
*  Write some TripAdvisor reviews -- not done
*  Spend 2 hours updating my A-Store -- not done
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do -- DONE!

What got in my way?  Mostly just real life.  Thursday for example, went like this:  Got up before 5, had Bible reading, then breakfast.  Went to the grocery store at 7, came back and put groceries away, then had my prayer time before going out at 9 to deliver my dad's groceries.  After putting them away, came home and worked on my Sunday School lesson, then had lunch before heading out to pick up my dad at  12:40 for an appointment at 1.  Got home around 2:30 and worked on Sunday School and other tasks until time to start supper at 4:30 in order to deliver a meal to my dad around 5:30.  Ate supper a little after 6, then headed out with Mr. T to do our Walmart shopping.  Got home around 7:30 and had about an hour to accomplish whatever else I could (I chose working on a handcrafted gift) before it was time for prayer and then bedtime.  I know other people have busy days too, and am not feeling sorry for myself, just stating facts.  Life. is. busy.

All that to say I am hoping for a much more productive week ahead.  But life is out there.  And there are appointments.  So we'll see how it goes!

A bit of winter decorating

A scan of a vintage Christmas card from my collection; can you spot the glitter?

 Before I add a few hearts and other Valentine-y items to my winter decor, I thought I would share a few pictures of said winter decorations.  It's snowing up here and a nor'easter is said to be approaching!

My winter ribbon board.  Most of the cards on this one are newer.  The exception is the black and white card toward the middle on the left. It is a sketch which local innkeepers used as their Christmas card many, many years ago.   Notice the cute tin skates in the upper lefthand corner.  I bought those years ago at a tea room in South Carolina on a visit to my daughter.

Some of my lighted houses.  These were under the tree at Christmas time, but I keep them up all winter for the pretty, warming glow of their lights.

Lower shelf of my winter hutch.

A corner of the middle shelf with some of my snowmen.  The opposite corner is below, with more snowmen and a wintry tag.

This shows the middle shelf in its entirety and most of the top shelf as well.

The top shelf with my small collection of glittery houses and bottle brush trees.

The yellow glittery house was made by my friend Fuchsia.  She even made the snowman and the little sparkly tree ... and can you see the candles in the windows?  The tree behind the house is a 25¢ after-Christmas find.  I added some snow and glitter to it.

Wintry table runner and plaid placemats (30¢ each on clearance at Walmart some years ago).  I love the dish that looks as if it's carved from ice -- a gift from my hubby quite awhile ago.  We found the matching candle holders at a thrift store!

A closer look at the dish so you can see the pretty design inside.

For a wintry centerpiece I filled the dish with glittery snowflakes.

Glittery snowflakes trim the lighted evergreen garland over the picture window.

On the back door, a favorite wooden sign and a "January" mitten garland made by my friend J.

And that's how it is out here on a wintry New England day!

Recent simple crafting

Guess the reflection of the window got in this picture.  But I'm using it because I like the way the glitter shows up on the roof of the house.

Here are just a few recent crafts I have completed.  It's slow going, as my crafting time is limited due to other responsibilities.  But I sure do have fun whenever I am able to take a few minutes (or even, happily now and then, a few hours) at the sewing machine or crafting desk!

Snow themed mug rugs I made as a fun little surprise for my daughter.  I had just a few scraps left of a  number of blue snow-themed fabrics.  They went beautifully with the snowman fabric -- also a remnant from another project.

The back of the mug rugs.  I found this remnant of pretty fabric with its design of frost patterns (or frosty tree branches, I can't tell which) at an antique shop when our family was visiting this past fall.

The most recently completed pieced place mat.  This is turning out to be such a fun use for the various bits and pieces of Christmas fabric in my stash.  It doesn't really matter what the center circle is since it will be covered with a plate, but I like the vintage look of the birch-bark-like print on this one.

This is a little plastic house I painted eons ago.  I decided to spruce it up with some snow medium and glitter so it will look nice with my other glittery houses.  For now, though, I'm keeping it on my crafting desk where it sparkles in the lights of our little bedroom tree.

Hope you've enjoyed these crafts.  I'm trying to finish up a set of ten of the pieced place mats, and have tons more ideas for mug rugs, so hopefully I'll have more pictures to show before too long!

Goals for week beginning 2/4/2013

This is a scan of a page from a calendar my girls had when they were little. 

Monday again and time for some weekly goal-setting!  Here's what I hope to accomplish:

*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study
* Finish Sunday School lesson 11
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook
*  Review Psalm 103:1-5  (memorized some years ago)
*  Read 2 chapters in How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground
*  Limit sugar
*  Exercise 5 or 6 times
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays and finishing UFOs
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post daily in both of my blogs if possible
*  Do some research toward our trip to Nevada
*  Make a simple winter table runner
*  Make a Christmas shadow box with vintage items
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for  Zone 2, the living room, plus doing some decluttering and dusting in the living room and bedroom
*  Write some TripAdvisor reviews
*  Spend 2 hours updating my A-Store
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do. 

And here's how last week turned out:


*  Spend time in 1 Samuel Bible study -- DONE!
* Start Sunday School lesson 11 -- DONE!
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook -- -- DONE!  (I actually made 3 or 4 pages, I forget which.)
*  Review Psalm 103:1-5  (memorized some years ago) -- not done; ended up reviewing different verses.
*  Read 2 chapters in How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground -- DONE!  (I actually read 3 chapters)
*  Limit sugar  -- wasn't consistent with this
*  Exercise 5 or 6 times -- not done, only managed once or twice, plus a walk
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays and finishing UFOs  -- DONE! (That is, the items are not done, but I kept up with crafting on them.)
*  Keep up a good water intake -- DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night -- DONE!
*  Post daily in both of my blogs if possible --not done; only managed 2 or 3 times in each
*  Do some research toward our trip to Nevada -- not done
*  Type up some reports for the church annual report -- DONE!
*  Make a simple winter table runner -- not done; the snowman print I intended to use turned out to be crooked.  Very crooked.  I will have to cut it up and use it in smaller projects -- it was just something from my stash, so it's not as if I wasted money on it.
*  Make a Christmas shadow box with vintage items -- not done.  I have a red wooden silverware tray that used to be my mother's which I want to use as the shadow box.  This is a project from one of the Gooseberry Patch Christmas books.  Would you believe nearly every time I put silverware away (in my generic Rubbermaid® silverware tray) I get to thinking about this shadow box?  I have just got to go ahead and put it together.
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for  Zone 5, the living room, plus doing some decluttering and dusting in Zone 4, the bedroom -- some of this got done, but not all.
*  Write some TripAdvisor reviews -- not done.
*  Spend 2 hours updating my A-Store -- not done.  I did go and look at it.
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do -- DONE!


Last week went fairly well, but I really need to aim for a more productive week, starting now!  So I am off to finish writing up a schedule for the day!

Celebration Giveaway from Karla Dornacher!

(Photo by Karla Dornacher)

If you enjoy colorful, uplifting, God-honoring art, you will want to check out this Celebration Giveaway at artist Karla Dornacher's blog.  She is giving away a first, second and third prize (first prize is pictured above) to three very blessed people, so do head on over and check it out!  You can enter by leaving a comment there and/or by posting about her giveaway on your blog.  Get in on the celebration!

February Goals

A vintage Valentine from my collection

 This seems like quite a long list for such a short month, but here goes:

FEBRUARY GOALS
* Read through the gospel of Mark and into the book of Luke, journaling as I go.
* Read 4 chapters in How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground
* Memorize at least 4 Bible verses and review some older ones.
* Finish 1 chapter of 1 Samuel Bible study book
* Exercise at least 20 times.
* Get to bed by 10 pm each night.
* Limit sugar.
* Drink enough water each day.
* Keep up with Kelly's missions in homemaking zones of the week.
* Check out airline tickets for trip to NV in spring.
* Spend several hours updating my A-store.
* Read 4 chapters in A Woman's Call to Prayer.
* Make at least a dozen items for sale at craft fairs.
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family.
* Start planning summer devotional book
* Post often in both of my blogs -- probably not daily, but more often than weekly
* Decide on the next course of study for my ladies' Sunday School class
* Finish some UFO craft projects for the home.
* Continue writing down my memories for faraway grandchildren
* Look after local grandchildren while their mom recuperates from surgery
* Complete some tax-related tasks
* Finish several handcrafted birthday gifts for March and April birthdays.

And here is how January went (it's rather pitiful!):
JANUARY GOALS
* Read through the gospel of Matthew and into the book of Mark, journaling as I go -- DONE!
*  Read 6 chapters in How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground -- nope, only managed to read about 3 chapters
* Memorize at least 4 Bible verses and review some older ones -- memorized 3 or 4 verses, but didn't review as many of the older ones as I hoped to
* Finish 1 chapter of 1 Samuel Bible study book -- DONE!
* Exercise at least 20 times -- not done; only managed perhaps a dozen times
* Get to bed by 10 pm each night -- DONE!
* Limit sugar -- not done.
* Drink enough water each day -- DONE!
* Keep up with Kelly's missions in homemaking zones of the week -- didn't keep up as well as I'd have liked to.
* Check out airline tickets for trip to NV in spring -- not done.
* Spend several hours updating my A-store -- not done.
* Read 4 chapters in 1/2 Price Living -- DONE!
* Make at least a dozen items for sale at craft fairs -- not done
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family -- DONE!
* Finish some UFO craft projects for the home -- DONE!
* Finish making gift tags from last year's Christmas cards -- DONE!
* Finish several handcrafted birthday gifts for March and April birthdays -- not done.

I'm certainly hoping for a more fruitful February!