That wonderful heat machine that I love...

...called a laminating machine! Yep, I really do love that thing! It makes all my cutouts and posters sturdy, clean, neat and perfect! This week I had a few things to prepare for Kid's Klub (starting next week already!) at the Learning Center and so I dug through my huge stack of posters and cutouts to see what I could laminate while I was there.

I discovered I had a pile. A thick pile. Yes, quite the pile.


Ummm, yes, I know--I have enough fall, Thanksgiving, Christmas, winter, spring, Bible themes and misc. posters and cutouts to use for my Sunday School classroom for a zillion years to come, BUT I just love all of them!!

And yes, I know--I said I wasn't going to buy one more single set of ANYTHING!!! But who can resist these cute little swinging monkeys?

Or this pink elephant?

Or these adorable whales?

I know I couldn't! And so these were a couple of the new sets I needed to laminate before using them over the next few seasons. I really don't mind clipping out the characters and laminating each one--it doesn't take long.

What do I get tired of doing? Cutting out ALL those pieces AFTER their laminated! Anybody want to join me for a cutting party??? I'll supply the scissors; just bring yourself!

Cooked paper!

Since I just know you all are dying to know how to cook paper (yeah, all 4 of you reading this ;)), I decided I would inform you just how to do it. You see, even if no one is reading this, I use it as a reference tool to look back on, review and track some of my projects and ideas. :)

For Kid's Klub we have been talking about Jesus and His teaching and miracles while on earth and the fact that we should be storing up treasures in heaven. So my craft idea became a treasure map. A treasure map with eternal locations written/drawn on it - verses from God's Word.

In order to create a treasure map, you have to have 'real' treasure map paper and that's exactly what I made Tuesday evening.

Here's what you do:

Start with 8 1/2 x 11 white sheets of paper. Tear the edges and then crumble each one into a ball and spread out flat.

Spread onto a cookie sheet.

Pour on dye (tea). Don't make the tea too strong or you'll have dark treasure map paper that's too dark on which to see what you've drawn.

Spread the dye all around until the paper is soaked. (Be sure not to pick up the paper at this point or you'll end up ripping more sheets!) ;)

Place in oven and cook until done (dry). Do not place directly over burner for too long or you'll have crisp, burnt treasure maps. :)

And the result - cooked paper!

Or treasure map paper!

Or tea-stained paper!

Or whatever else you want to call it!

Scripture treasure map!

Oh, and then my other idea which didn't work out quite so well - invisible ink. You see, the majority of my ideas are trial and error, so while the cooked paper worked, the invisible ink needs a little more experimenting. Perhaps that will be a future craft project. :)

From 2000 to 2010; what a difference 10 years makes!

2009 is gone and 2010 is here! As I've been thinking back on the last ten years (the last five especially).....oh, so much has happened! Our family has changed dramatically, friends have come and gone, jobs have changed and so much more!

In that year of 2000, who knew that...

...I would work at Southgate Fabriques for 7 years, starting out knowing so little and working my way to teacher, store manager and now owning my own business in that same field.

...the statement I made the summer before would be proven totally false. Yeah, I only stated so firmly to my sisters, "I enjoy sewing, but it's not something I would want to do every single day."

...my first plane flight would be to Washington D.C. for a Bernina sewing machine convention in 2001. And that was before 9/11 and all the security was of the utmost importance.

...I would buy my first sewing/embroidery machine - a Bernina 180, soon to be followed by three other machines.

...a car phone the size of a letter size sheet of paper would turn into a cell phone that could handle photos, texting, email and much more only being the size of a credit card. And that we have become so reliant on that piece of technology.

...Jena would graduate as a LPN and later as a RN (well, we did know she would eventually do that!), work at at the Women's Center in Dodge and then work at Meade Hospital, all the while loving her job!

...Krissa would decide print journalism was her field of expertise and would attend BJU.

...we would spend hours on the road taking Krissa to and from BJU and attending her graduation. I can so clearly recall Mom looking forward to that moment and then as it turned out, she wasn't here when she graduated.

...we would move in a three story house just down the road and Dad would remodel it to use as a rental house.

...Grandma and Grandpa would celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary and then Grandpa would only be with us for a few months after that.

...our family would be hit with a huge blow of discovering Mom's brain tumor and three months later watching her step into her eternal home. Only 10 months after Grandpa was gone.

...Krissa would move to Birmingham, Alabama (Mom would have loved knowing Krissa was in the same city where she lived for several years.) to intern at Southern Accents for 6 months.

...I would buy my very first laptop computer. And now to think I can't live without it. Well, not that original one.

...technology could change so much. To the point where it would be the basis of my business; from buying and selling to teaching online to students in other countries.

...watching Dad loose Mom would be the hardest thing I've ever been through. And how that loosing someone changes your entire outlook on life.

...I would unexpectedly find "someone just like me", named Joanna, in the most unusual circumstances, proving that God brings just the right person into my life when I didn't even know she was needed.

...Krissa would travel to California before settling in Lexington, KY, working for of all things - a farming magazine. She can't seem to get away from "the farm".

...Jena would move to Oklahoma City to fulfill her dream of working in a NICU at Children's OU.

...attending Camp Good News every summer would still be happening. Even though it's dwindled to only me, myself and I instead of all three of us.

...a certain person named Ryan would come into Krissa's life and our family would return to the happy number of five. (Becoming official this year!)

...and through it all God has remained faithful!

God has allowed hardships and struggles in our lives and yet in so many ways blessed us as well. As I look forward to the next year and following years after that, I can't begin to imagine what they will hold. Just as 1o years ago, who would have known the above. I'm thankful that even though I don't know and nor care to know, God does. And through the fun times and difficult moments, He continues to be the same unchanging, awesome God that He is.

Ahhhh....digital scrapbooking!

I love the finished scrapped paper albums, but I just can't seem to get a handle on it. I have to admit; my area of expertise is fabric, not paper. Both of my sisters are great scrappers and enjoy working with their stack of papers, metal grommets, ribbons, fuzzy tails, stickers and die cuts, but not me.

I have to admit, too, that I started my little collection of paper scrapping and I just didn't catch onto it. Yes, it's still sitting in a pile of Rubbermaid totes in the same place in my room that it was 5 years ago. I think I did one or two pages? I love the idea; I just can't seem to create the wonderful pages my sisters can. Plus scrapbooking takes a huge amount of time; something I never can find enough of.

But, when digital scrapbooking started circulating, that's when it really caught my eye. Technology is right up my alley, so working with digital backgrounds, ribbons, elements and text is a treat! Since being in business online has forced me to improve my photography (still one of my goals this year to improve!) and graphic ability, I can see myself doing this type of scrapbooking.

I've been working with some graphics to fill some business needs and I couldn't resist and started dabbling in just a little bit of scrapping. Ah, yes, this could easily be another hobby I can add to my ever-growing list. But it still is a huge time consuming process. But just look at all the fun papers and elements available and do you know all the tools and things you can do in Photo Elements, let alone, Photoshop????

photo from Scrapbook Elements; Ake's Lovely Daisies Collection