Darkness Lifting

Well, we're half-way there. We're spending the night at a motel, and one more day of driving should get us to our destination. I've gotten to do some knitting and some pleasure reading, and things look a little brighter - the dreariness seems to be lifting a little. I am trying to be in tune to the lessons the Lord is trying to teach me through this. Thank you Josh and Cora for your encouraging comments! They really mean alot. Y'all keep praying for us please.
'Til later,

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

-Kyrie<><

Dark Days And Disappointments

Ok, this post really isn't as morbid as the title ... maybe ... I just couldn't come up with anything better, and I'm really discouraged right now. Mom's oldest brother passed away Christmas morning right after midnight. Her father fell and broke his hip the day before Thanksgiving, and has been in various hospitals (all at least an hour's drive away) ever since. College starts back for me Jan. 7. My registration didn't go through, so I don't know if I'll be able to get all my classes for this semester, and may be forced to graduate a whole year behind. That's not a big deal - the graduating late - it's just those eight extra months of school. I've got to get in contact with the instructors for the classes I will be taking this semester, and order books. The Grandmother is discouraged about the slow progress The Grandfather is making - they both just want him home. We all do. She, Dad, Mom, Trissy, and I are all exhausted from driving (some of us) to see him every day except two, I think, since he's been in the hospital. Trissy has been taking up my slack during school and finals, so she is tired. We were both sick with a virus all last week. Today is Mom's birthday, and instead of celebrating it, we are getting ready for a two-day drive, week-long trip, to go to her brother's funeral. Mom is tired worrying about The Grandparents, sad about losing her brother, and pressured while making plans to be gone several states away, for a week. Dad is tired from worrying about Mom all the time. And while our Christmas was nice (although very different), none of us have had a 'real' Christmas break.

So now that you've listened to my list of woes, let me say I'm sorry to weigh you down with my problems. I just had to let it out. Please pray for my whole family - we are all tired and discouraged. And please pray for me - I know I should be noble and selfless and submissive, but I am having alot of trouble right now being any of those, though I want to so badly. I just want to stay here. I don't want to go to a funeral, and I sure don't want to lose a whole week of my three-week break from school - especially since I'm really struggling with the stress of the college issues that have got to be taken care of before January 7.

I know God is soverign - He not only knows how this is all going to turn out, He planned it to turn out that way. Whenever I think of that, it is a great comfort - I know He will give me just enough strength to get through the 'schedule' He has laid out.

I wish it would rain - a beautiful, thundering, rejoicing, winter rain.
Somewhere, it is raining.

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

Winter In December

Thanks to all you wonderful good-hearted northerners who conspired to answer my desperate request for ~ * SNOW * ~ after the crazy day last week when the high was 75 degrees! It was a wonderful and heart-warming surprise to see the lovely little flakes falling so cheerfully as we loaded up yesterday morning for Sunday School! It is indeed now begining to feel like winter here (yesterday's high was supposed to be 40-ish), and even though they didn't stick, those snowflakes reminded me of the great blessing the Lord provided when He invented friends!

Ok, I know y'all didn't really send the snow of course, but it was a wonderful encouragement just when I needed it, and did remind me of the goodness of God, and the dependability of good friends.

Thank You.

A Christmas Tag

Ok, on a blog I just discovered recently, and am really enjoying, the young lady who authors it requested a Christmas tag. I've been wanting to do a tag for a while, so this is a good excuse! Hope this fulfills your 'want' Lucy!

1. What is your favorite Christmas memory?

2. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

3. Do you do Christmas baking? If so, post one of your recipes.

4. Do you send out Christmas cards? If so, are they store-bought, or home-made? Do you like to use 'cute' ones, 'inspirational' ones, 'elegant' ones, or combinations?

5. What is your favorite Christmas song or carol, and why?

6. Do you go somewhere for Christmas or stay home?

7. Do you usually have guests for Christmas?

8. Do you do volunteer or charity work of some kind at Christmas? If so, tell what, and some of the lessons or memories you've gotten from the experience.

9. Do you give gifts at Christmas? If so, are they store-bought, home-made, or a combination? Which do you like to give best? Which would you rather receive? Why?

10. Do you use a Christmas tree as part of your decorating? Why or why not (give specifics)?

11. Do you get snow where you live? If so, what are your favorite snow-related activities? Why? If not, what do you imagine your favorites would be, and why?

12. What is your favorite Christmas story? Please post it if you have access to a copy.

13. Is your birthday also in December? Do you know someone who's birthday is in December? If so, is an effort made to make it special and seperate from the Christmas celebrations? If so, what are some of the ways you/they accomplish this?

14. What are your favorite Christmas/Winter color combinations? (Ex.: Red and Green, Red and Black and White, Red and Gold, Green and Gold, White and Silver, etc.)

15. Are there some special ways you focus on Christ at Christmas?


Ok, I may keep adding to this tag - I had fun coming up with it, and hopefully it will be a challenge, as well as an enjoyment to all who participate! I will try to publish my own answers later.
I tag
Lucy of course,
Cora,
Grace,
Jenna
and anyone else who wants to do it!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Summer in December

Well, we had an absolutely beautiful summer day here today! Seventy-five degrees, a cheerful sun shining, and a wonderfully lovely breeze. The only problem is, this is DECEMBER 22! For crying out loud!
Ah well, such are the oddities of living in my beloved Dixie. Any of y'all northerners want to send us some SNOW?! ;D

50 Free Christmas Cards From Shutterfly!

I read on Emily's blog about a wonderful promotion Shutterfly is doing this Christmas! They will send 50 Christmas cards FREE to anyone who will blog about the offer! How can you beat that?! My cousin uses Shutterfly frequently to create unique and meaningful gifts. They always turn out great, and each item has such a nice personal feel - not as if you just went out and picked something random up for the occasion, but something with meaning and thoughtfulness. I've never used Shutterfly personally, but I've been impressed with what I've seen of their work.

They have a wide variety of gift ideas to choose from, - calendars, stationery, mugs, albums, canvases, even mousepads - as well as invitations, and of course, they offer picture development.
They have such a large and varied selection of Christmas cards, it was hard to choose just a few of my favorites! I love the Family Wall card, the Red Revamped card, and the Snow Flurries Cocoa card, and that's just the first page! There are Elegant Cards, Fun Cards, and a nice selection of Religious and Christian Cards (where my most favorites are)!

If you're interested in participating in this great offer, click HERE to learn more! And be sure to look around at their other great Christmas gift options while you're there!

Thanks Shutterfly!

'An Old-Fashioned Christmas' Event - Week 2 - Fabric

{Visit Grace's blog here to learn more about the 'Old-Fasioned Christmas' Event!}

Note: This is week two of Grace's Old-Fashioned Christmas event, and I am excited, because this week's topic is FABRIC! I have found so many great tutorials, besides personal experiences of my own. Because uploading pictures takes time, I may be adding to this post even after the week is over. But for starters, here are some of my fabric crafting inspirations ;) !



Satin Flowers







Felt Hearts



The link I posted above is to the blog post where I found these hearts. The post had nothing about these hearts except the picture; but as soon as I saw them, I was like, "Oh my! I've got to make some of those!!" :D
So please pardon the lack of quality of my photos - I was taking them in a hurry - and hopefully you can enjoy your own jar of wonderful little felt hearts, or do like I'm going to, and drop one in a loved one's stocking with a note reminding them how much they are loved!

First select the felt you are going to use. I got this value pack at Wal*Mart, and it has a nice color variety (the colors are much more vibrant than in the photo - sorry y'all!). If you want a Christmas theme, then obviously the red and green and white would be a nice choice.



Next decide on the size heart you want, and draw out a pattern. You wouldn't believe the time it took me to get mine just right! I wanted mine a little lopsided, to give it sort of a folk-artsy look, but I didn't want it to look totally sloppy! (If you want yours shaped evenly, try folding a little piece of paper in half, then cut out half a heart on the fold. Unfold it, and you've got a perfectly shaped heart.)



Cut out two hearts from the felt you want to use.





Go through your embroidery thread stash (or if you don't have one, go to Wal*Mart or Hobby Lobby ;) ) and pick the color that you think suits your heart.



Find a needle that has a nice large eye, but that isn't too thick and chunky to go through the felt easily.



Take your embroidery thread, pick out three strands, and carefully separate it down. You want approximately 12-16 inches of the three-strand thread for one heart. I pull the strand until it has pulled from the full length of the skein. Hope that makes sense. If you want, you can just pull and cut the entire thickness of thread (six strands), then separate it and save the other three-strand section for another heart.







Put your two hearts together ...



... and start your stitching with a double-stitch to serve as a knot.











Make sense?

When you get almost around the heart, take a tiny amount of quilt batting or fiberfill, and stick inside to give the heart a little thickness. I save quilt batting trimmings from my quilting projects, and a pinch of that works perfectly.







Finish stitching around the heart, repeat the knot, pull in your tail (I use the needle, and pull it back into the heart itself), and your done!


Some more tutorials and/or resources involving fabric (Note: I cannot vouch for the appropriateness of the entire content of each site, only the pages I've linked to below):

Fabric Labels made using transfer paper:



Fabric Postcards:





Gifts:

Gift Card Cozy:



Scrappy Fabric Rose:



Ruffle Flower:



Felt Rose:



Big Felt Flower:



Cotton Flower:



Wool Flower:



Fabric Flower:



Composition Book Cover:



Thumbtacks:



Felt Toy Truck:



Toy Pasta:



Doll House Party Banner:



Ruffle Pillow:



Burp Cloths:



Embellished Knit Shirt (Applique):



Embellished Knit Shirt (Flag):



Embellished Knit Shirt (Flowers):



Ebellished Knit Shirt (Ruffled Neck):



Re-purposed Sweater Purse:



Camera Strap Cover:




Decorations:

Stocking:



Ornament:


Snowflake Pillows:



Snowflake Table Runner:



More Sewing Project Ideas!

'An Old-Fashioned Christmas' Event - Week One - Paper

{Visit Grace's blog here to learn more about the 'Old-Fasioned Christmas' Event!}

Mini Notepads

This week's theme is 'Paper'. There are several paper crafts I've been wanting to try, but this is the only one I've actually gotten to do! I plan on making several of them as stocking stuffers. I varied mine a little from the instructions, adding a front initial cover, and extending the back cover down the length of the rest of the pages. I really loved how it turned out!

Some more tutorials and/or resources involving paper (Note: I cannot vouch for the appropriateness of the entire content of each site, only the pages I've linked to below):

Fabric Labels made using transfer paper:





Wrapping:

Gift Bows:



Jones Design Company Gift Tags (LOVE THEM!):

Gift Bags:



Gift Bags and Tags:





Gifts:

Christmas Art Journal:



Woven Paper Journal Cover:



Patchwork Paper Jar:



Bookpage Canvas:



Paper Sailboat:



Printable Book Plates:



More Printable Book Plates:





Decorations:

Paper Flowers:



Bookpage Wreath:



Paper Lantern Ornaments:



Paper Garland idea number one:




Paper Garland idea number two:



Happy crafting!!