Joe At The Lake

Each time we are on the lake Joe demonstrates again that he is a retriever through and through.  9 times out of 10 he's able to find a toy or stick or something on the beach to carry around.  This time somebody had left a plastic shovel behind so he claimed it as his own.  He swam with it, played fetch with it and generally just had a good time.

We always know when he's had enough swimming and gets tired because he'll swim to the boat and kind of hold on to the ladder til we get over to him and help him back in.  We take off his lifejacket, he shakes the water all over the place, then he finds a place to work on his suntan.

Doggie good times......   :)

Wordless Wednesday

Stamp Night Projects

Now to show a couple of projects we did at our recent Stamp Club.  The first is cute as it can be.  It's a miniature scrapbook album, maybe about 3 inches square!  The inside pages are cardstock and the front and back cover are mini envelopes.  There also is a page in the back envelope to do journaling on - just cute as it can be!  We used the new set  Eastern Blooms, the pages are Tangerine Tango and the ribbon on the front is Kiwi Kiss - all Stampin Up products.

Our second project was this card, using the new Dreams du Jour stamp set.  I love, love this card!  Again, Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango cardstock and not sure if it shows in the photo or not, but the top white layer is scored rather like a quilt and at the bottom we used the new Scallop Edge Punch - oh so awesome!  Also featured is Bella Rose Designer Paper.

And ha! - I was able to sneak in a picture of Brooklyn and it actually goes along with the topic.  :)  Stampin Up packages their stamps with the wood and you mount them yourself.  I prefer using acrylics for my stamps and finally had a lightbulb moment on what to do with all the leftover wood mounts - use them as blocks for Little B!  I put them in a little pink heart shaped basket and she dumped and filled the basket for quite a little bit.  I wonder if now I can justify more stamp purchases so that I'll have more Blocks for B?   ;)

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."  - Psalm 19:1

Preemie Eyelet Hat

photo.jpg
Originally uploaded by scrappygolden

Staying with my "knitting for others" theme that I seem to be in, I recently made this preemie hat. I finally found a model for it and doesn't she looked tickled with the new hat?

Silly aside, the pattern can be found here and only took a tiny bit of yarn and a small block of time. It truly is a darling hat and now I want to make all the hats she shows on the blog.

Not sure yet where I will donate these hats, but I'm willing to bet I'll find someplace. :)

Scarves to Donate

I am loving my newest project and am probably one of the last knitters ever to finally make one.  Allow me to introduce to you the My So Called Scarf.  I think it's one of those things that are so beautiful online, but I recently saw one in person and it about knocked my socks off!  I'm using Malabrigo yarn in the Charrua colorway and this yarn is just like buttah....soooo soft.  A true joy to knit with.

This is the second of the scarves that I had promised to a girl I work with for her church's Christmas effort to supply backpacks to the homeless.  We were asked to each knit and donate two scarves and now I see that I never blogged about the first one, so let me do that now.

This scarf I did in March and is the Sinful Ribbed Scarf with an added ruffle edge.  The yarn is Jo-Ann Sensations Angel Hair color MUL650.  It just hit me that this also is one of the softest yarns I've ever used, so apparently that's the sort of yarn I enjoy for scarves.

Hopefully both of these will bring comfort and joy to somebody that needs them this winter.

Being Still

This is one of my absolute favorite Bible verses and one that I struggle the most with.  I think many times we get so caught up in being busy and trying to fix things and make things perfect that we really don't hush long enough to listen for Him to give us direction.

In the morning during Bible time yesterday was when this verse came to me again.  It has cooled off here in Texas so I took my coffee and Bible to the backyard for reading.  After my reading was finished and I'd made notes of some new favorite verses, all of a sudden this verse just came at me.  The timing was interesting too because Friday one of my favorite friends found out her "position had been eliminated" at work and I was just devastated.  And not too long after that many of us in our family received an email that my brother/sister-in-law's dog Harmony had passed away.  Sadness - and an entire post coming on that.  But my mind had been a whirl about things happening and wanting to make things better.  And yet, God stepped in and told me to be still.  So I did.

And looking around I noticed the birds, oh so many different varieties.  My first thought was to jump up and come get the camera, but He reminded me again to be still.  And a dog barked in the distance.  And more birds flew in the yard, including a brilliant red cardinal.  And the tears started to flow silently.  Those few moments of beautiful peace and a clear mind and the Lord brings such  wonderful things.  I started to pray and the tears still flowed.  How awesome is our God who loves us no matter what.  Who listens to the words of our hearts.  And who just wants us to be still sometimes and to listen to Him.

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  - Phillipians 4:7