Card - Thank You

I am so grateful for the physiotherapy I received at the beginning of this year.  

It's been six months since I was released by my physiotherapist. I decided to drop off a thank you card to express in my gratitude in being able to climb stairs, be pain free, and in general enjoying walking and movement again.

It does mean 30 minutes of ongoing therapy at home but I know all my routine and it is keeping  my mobile.

Thank you!

The card base is Stampin Up Lost Lagoon in the A2 size.  I cut a piece of watercolor saran paper I made years ago.  I cut it to leave a nice border all the way around. I wrapped a length of SU Pool Party tiny rick rack around the front of the landscape oriented card.  I cut the word from heavy white card stock. It was adhered with Bling Zots. A few of those also keep the knot in place and the rick rack straight on the inside. 

One Thousand Gifts - Between Sessions

We are encouraged to continue looking for the gifts.

I am grateful for being able to teach classes.  With bible study and card club I enjoy the process regularly.

I am grateful for connections on line with bloggers and photographers.

I am grateful for a call from my aunt to get together this week.

We are asked to look deep in the mess and dirt of our lives to find a treasure a gift that is hidden there.

I have been dealing with problems with new appliances, deliveries and customer service.  I've had to be deliberate and intentional to follow up on these issues.  I am grateful for the time and attention to detail have have been blessed with.

One Thousand Gifts - Session 1 - Attitude of Gratitude

I started leading this bible study tonight - One Thousand Gifts Bible Study - A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp.
Nine of us met tonight to share and learn.
I look forward to a time of slowing down, being intentional, checking my attitude and increasing my gratitude.


Session 1 - Attitude of Gratitude

Can I write down the gifts I have been blessed with?  Can I do every day till I have counted 1000 then continue? When I start to intentionally look in my life for blessings I find them everywhere.  When I write them down the invisible becomes visible.  Providing me a place I can go back to in difficult times to remember how blessed I am.

One point I picked up this session was giving thanks is the other side of prayer. Sometimes prayer becomes a list of my needs but a gratitude journal becomes the list of blessings I have received.

We started our gratitude journals tonight and one of my blessings - Friends and Family.

One Thousand Gifts - Between Sessions

There is Between Session work in the One Thousand Gift bible study.

We are asked to continue to write down our gift list.  To always have a place to write handy - a file on the phone, the computer, a note book and or a dry erase board.

Ten more dots to write down gifts in our guide.  I will share a few from this week.


1. Tea with a friend
2. Time to make art
3. A clean house
4. A good visit with a sister

I found these journals at a local craft store and made them available to the participants if they did not already have a journal.





Ann says when we move too fast we no longer collect memories.  How can we collect our memories so we can retell and share our stories with others?  Where do we go back to remind ourselves of our stories?  I find that when I am too busy I forget to take pictures then I have little to remember the experience later.

A few suggestions are:

1. Scrapbooking - digital or paper
2. A digital photo frame with regular updates
3. Keep a guest book and bring it out when company comes.

Do you have ideas you want to share?  Leave me a comment.

One Thousdand Gifts - Session 2 - Grace in the Moment

This is week two in this bible study - One Thousand Gifts - A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp.  I look forward to a time of slowing down, being intentional, checking my attitude and increasing my gratefulness. The video is very well done with wonderful images. There was good attendance.

Session 2 - Grace in the Moment
This week Ann talked about accepting the hard things along with the easy things in life with the same open hand.
Thanksgiving for all that come provides grace in the hard moments.

She talks of a friend who could not think of a single advantage of always being in a hurry but many regrets to many broken and missed moments due to haste.

Live in the moment where time slows and God is present and you are paying it your full attention.

Habits can free you!

Those who keep a gratitude journals experience.
1.  Absence of stress
2. Progress toward personal goals
3. Higher levels of determination and energy
4. Feel closer in their relationships
5. Increase their happiness by 25%


I want some of that!  How about you?

Share Your Cup - This Week

I've been at the sewing machine a bit more this week. I've made 2 more Scrap Sacks for the sister who got the pot protectors and my niece who did not want to move the bag from the paper crafting area to the sewing area.

I'm working through the stack of fabric and I have bought a few pieces of solids in order to create coordinated pieces for sale in the spring.

I am working on a car litter bag as well.  More about in a later post.

I have been going through my book on Photo Elements and doing some of the suggested exercises.

This is an exercise of laying a texture image over a photo.  The texture image was very subtle but by using the color option in the layers menu with a percent between 65-80 percent I was able to create vintage looking images from very vibrant and colorful photos of flowers.

The image was too subtle for the look I was trying to achieve so back to the camera to take more shots.

This is a book I read over the holidays.  It's a true story about a man who decided to write 365 thank you cards - one for each day of the year.  It did take him over a year to do it because at times life got in the way.

It changed how he looked at things.  When you start looking for an opportunity to be grateful many good, happy, wonderful things come to you.  I'm sure they were there all along but looking for them brought them into focus.

He looked up teachers from high school in order to write a note about how he was encouraged by them when he was younger.

He was doing the exercise in 2007 and I would say that greeting cards have fallen quite out of use in the last decade.  The idea is still there.  Exercise gratitude and express it in whatever form works in this day.

Check out my Blog Give Away in my Featured Post.

Sharing with bloggers at Share Your Cup #230 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson.

Be Present for Christmas - Lesson 5 - Watch & Wait

Today's activity is preparing a Grateful Jar.  I started with 500 ml Jam Jar.  I created a tag and printed it on kraft card stock.  I made the corners round with a punch.  I put a 1/8" hole in the top left hand corner.  I cut a length of white cotton thread and ran the fold through the hole and pulled the ends back through the loop and pulled it taut.  I placed the cotton onto the red ribbon and added a knot and trimmed the ends.
The red ribbon was then tied onto the neck of the jar and knotted twice and the ends were trimmed.
I adhered a small glassine sleeve on the back of the tag and placed my grateful notes inside.  These notes are small pieces of paper.
Regularly, write down things you are grateful for and place the note in the jar.  When you are having a bad day, open the jar, read about the gifts and blessings you have received and surely your spirits will be uplifted.

I'm selecting my lessons from The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp.  The book provides 24 lessons for each day of Advent of which I have chosen 6 for this class.  We will have readings, questions, discussion, and an activity each week.

In this weeks lesson we read Habakkuk 2:1, 3:16-19 which talks about how the people are going astray and the prophet beseeches God to help.  Despite the sad state of affairs he decides to go to the top of the watch tower and shout "I will trust You, God, and I will watch, and I will wait.  I will find joy, make joy, take joy, see joy!  Rejoice and re-joys again!"

Share Your Cup #215

I worked on my lesson plans and activities for the Advent preparation class "Be Present for Christmas" which I am offering next month.  It is a class for adults to help us to pull back from the commercial aspects of Christmas and focus on the Reason for the season Jesus. It is based on the book "The Greatest Gift" by Ann Voskamp.  We will be having 6 lessons this time and I have updated 3 of the lessons so that it will not be the exact class from last year.  I will be posting my lessons as I teach them.

I brought some produce home from my sister's house last weekend.  I cut up this beautiful red rhubarb into chunks and froze it for crisps in the winter.  The tomatoes are grown by a friend of hers and there was a bag full of those in various stages of ripeness so I could enjoy them over a period of time.


We had a very good fellowship time on Thursday. I have taken over the planning of the group because I thought it was important that it continue.  The women really appreciated the time together to share prayer concerns.
I did a devotion on Tea - Is that a surprise? We mentioned Hospital - Tea, Hones - Tea, and a few more.  You can find it here.
Sharing with Carol at Art&Sand - Share Your Cup #125

Christmas Thank You Card

I started my Thank You cards for the gifts I received during the Christmas season.  I generally like to use the gift wrap from the packages in my cards.

This paper was very cute with rows of colorful little houses.  I have to select my pieces carefully as there are places that were folded, had been taped and of course at times the paper was ripped.  I found card stock to really match this gift wrap.  I cut the paper with the Stampin Up Top Note die, then I cut the turquoise in 2 pieces so that I could make sure the full back of the paper was supported after I had offset it.  Then I layered this onto a piece of navy card stock then onto a hot pink card.  I chose a piece of turquoise card stock and stamped it with the Hero Arts gratitude stamp in navy ink.  I ripped it above and below the sentiment and then glued it across the card.  I made several so I well on my way to having the number I need.

I'm getting together with this friend tonight for our annual movie night following the holidays. 

Be Present for Christmas - Lesson 1 - The Small Shoot

I have provided a journal for the participants. It provides a central place organize their experience.

Each week, they can include their prayer lists, the lesson plan, their Random Acts of Kindness, their family activities, and other relevant information.

I have cut a Stampin Up Top Note to be adhered to the front or the inside cover to identify the owner of the journal and the class.  Some journals have stripes, some dots and some chevrons.  Red, pink and grey.

I'm selecting my lessons from The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp.  The book provides 24 lessons for each day of Advent of which I have chosen 7 for this class.  We will have readings, questions, discussion, and an activity each week.

The stump brings forth a small new shoot.  From what appeared dead life emerged.  It's not about the dead past but what we can create going forward. We must come as we are, ready to look at the smallest, find the shoot in the stump, find the broken in the cracks of the world and offer a word of love which will bring about miracles.

This pink one is my book for the class.

Be Present for Christmas - Gratitude

I'm teaching a class I've called "Be Present for Christmas" and the first class is tonight.  It is a class to help people slow down, focus on the reason for the season, and prepare their hearts for Christmas.

I am starting with Gratitude.  I've read Ann Voskamp's 1000 Gifts from which I have taken a small excerpt about this very subject.  Living with an attitude of gratitude changes us.