Happy New Year to YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In a few short hours, this year will be behind us. I hope 2007 was a good year for you, but I hope that 2008 will be even better!!!! May you love the Lord more deeply and truly. May you seek His face in all you do! And if you do not yet know the Lord, I pray that this is the year that you would seek to know Him more, with all your heart. For God is a loving and compassionate God who cares deeply for you. I am reminded of how God cares for the birds of the air in Matthew 6:25-27. God's word reminds us of how much more valuable we as humans are to Him than these. And if he cares for them, will he not care for you??? Will you trust Him with your heart this New Year!!
This year we purchased and "opened" one of our gifts early. We welcomed Pearl and Zack into our home. I share with you these pictures, and may they be a visual reminder to you of how much the Heavenly Father cares for {YOU}!!!!!
Blessings to you as we enter a new and GLORIOUS year!

Sincerely,
Sonja

A little Vintage Christmas

I love all things 'old'. I love talking to older people,( and the older I get, the harder that is to do, LOL!!!). I love shopping for antiques, and finding some 'one of a kind' things.
And sometimes I just like to play with my supplies and see what comes out. I love this Vintage Christmas stamp ( now retired ). I bought it specifically for the sleigh image. I did a little poking around the net to see what colors, and designs are typically used, and it helped me a lot. Playing is so much fun!!!!!!! And I am glad to see my daughter is catching the "BUG" too. Well, so, here's the card I had a lot of fun playing with. And thanks for stopping by!!!!!!!!








I hope you had a lovely Christmas!!

Sincerely,
Sonja

My Christmas cards this year.........

Gave one to as many as I could. I try to be a thrifty person, and was able to stamp the lace ( one of CTMH's newest stamps) right onto the card front. So all I had to cut was the ribbon, Chocolate, and Colonial White cardstock. ( and the star too, sorry forgot that one) If that wasn't thrifty enough, the ribbon doesn't even go 'ALL' the way behind the 'little town'. This way I could glue it right down, and knew it would stay. But SHHHHHHH!!!, don't tell anyone 'K'???!!!!!

Sincerely,
Sonja

Advent Calendar

Now here's something that took a little more time and effort than I had originally thought. I have plans yet to make one for myself too, hopefully. I went and bought a tart tin at Wal-Mart, selected my paper and got to work. I really wanted to use the 'Bethlehem' set from Close to My Heart because I wanted it to be a count down to Christ's birth. I learned a lot doing this advent calendar. Like NOT to use my CM, green cutter again for this project. It's just too hard on it. I will have to think of a substitute, or I am brain storming using the lids from my tomato paste. If I ever get around to doing mine, I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. I did a lot of embossing and made my own template for the top piece.





Onto more to share.....

Sincerely,
Sonja

Holiday Gifts

With most of the holidays, and gift giving over, I can now post some of the things that I have been busy making for gifts. Here's some of them.....
I was so delighted when I found http://www.cornishheritagefarms.com/intro.php. This is where I purchased some Thomas Kinkade stamps, and made some cards for my mother-in-law for Christmas. Thomas Kinkade brings her a lot of joy. So when I saw these stamps, I knew what to do for her for Christmas. I look forward to making more of them for her in the future.
And in all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, I didn't even take pictures of the bundle of cards I made for her. Too much to do. But these were the cards that I first made to get my "juices flowing", hopefully making it easier for me to create mass amounts of them. I was given a beautiful little book that I altered and am in the process of putting all my samples in, hopefully making it easier for me to pick paper to go with what I have. Saving me time and money. I will share that with you soon too.







This one was made for my Pastor's wife as a little something extra with the gift I gave her. It's made with CTMH's paper, PANSY PURPLE. That's her favorite color, and I thought she could use it as an anniversary card. Hopefully she liked it?!

Altered Picture Frame

I picked up a whole bunch of these at a Liquidation Store here in town. I love making these for gifts and personalizing it. I thought this turned out so cute. The picture of the little baby is of my {now 8 year old} little girl. Yikes, where does the time go??!!!! I just thought her picture would look so cute in there. And it does. This is absolutely, with out a shadow of a doubt, my favorite baby picture of my precious little girl. I hope my neighbour finds this to her taste. It's their first Christmas with their precious little one. How exciting to think back to our first Christmas with our little girl. Oh, to go back would be splendid, for they grow up all too fast.

Sincerely,
Sonja........wishing you a Merry Christmas!!! Only a few days left!!

You know it's been too long since your last post if.......

you have to pause and think of your password,LOL!!! No kiddin. I know it's been a while. Trying to be ready for Christmas is time consuming, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I am also busy trying to enjoy the holidays and spend some time with family. Today my daughter had another little tea party. We went ice skating. It was a lot of fun!!

I promise there are some goodies on the way.

Sincerely,
Sonja

True Friends are a Gift from the Lord. I am blessed!!!

I am at least twice blessed!!!
Well, as Christmas is approaching very rapidly, I am busy as a bee preparing. Also trying to get the last of the children's studies in.(We homeschool) But today's post is about two friends the Lord has blessed me with. Great testimonies and a great source of encouragement for me. Since I joined Close to My Heart, I was surprised to meet up again with a friend I knew at a church I used to attend. It's an amazing story really. Trish has become a great friend, with lost in common. Most importantly our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We also share a paper crafting passion, which is how me met on the CTMH boards. It is NOT by chance that we have been reintroduced to each other. We have been talking alot on the phone. And at the end of November she made her way down here for a lovely visit. I would love to have her come down again, not because she spoiled me (thanks again Trish!!), but because she is a delight to my soul.
There's another friend who has been a delight to my soul for the last 8 years. She is appropriately named Grace. Let's just say there is a lot of memories one collects over eight years!!!! One of them being every year we have gotten to celebrate the birthdays of our boys who are 9 days apart since birth. But the Lord has moved their family on. I would be lying to say I was happy/ecstatic to see them go. But I know when and where the Lord leads, you follow. I have done this before not that long ago in fact. And the older I get the more I realize my best friend is with my all the time. A young girl thinks she needs a "BEST" friend. But how vain is that. I have so much growing up to do. It's not to say that friends aren't needed. But I am called to "be" on first. I don't usually set out to share so much on this blog of personal thoughts! This blog is more about sharing my creation with others who might appreciate it, even use it. My creations, as you have seen, usually have a purpose, with someone in mind to receive them. This time I share with you another card box that I made for Grace as a going away gift. I love picking up these boxes and recovering them to make them more personal. Her favorite color is red. I thought this paper and style of box went well enough together. I made a few dividers for the inside and a couple of pens. It's a good ensemble!!?? And let's not forget, a matching card that has all that sappy stuff that girls write down and then cry over,LOL!!!!

Sincerely
Sonja

True Friends are a Gift from the Lord. I am blessed!!!

I am at least twice blessed!!!
Well, as Christmas is approaching very rapidly, I am busy as a bee preparing. Also trying to get the last of the children's studies in.(We homeschool) But today's post is about two friends the Lord has blessed me with. Great testimonies and a great source of encouragement for me. Since I joined Close to My Heart, I was surprised to meet up again with a friend I knew at a church I used to attend. It's an amazing story really. Trish has become a great friend, with lots in common. Most importantly our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We also share a paper crafting passion, which is how me met on the CTMH boards. It is NOT by chance that we have been reintroduced to each other. We have been talking alot on the phone. And at the end of November she made her way down here for a lovely visit. I would love to have her come down again, not because she spoiled me (thanks again Trish!!), but because she is a delight to my soul.
There's another friend who has been a delight to my soul for the last 8 years. She is appropriately named Grace. Let's just say there is a lot of memories one collects over eight years!!!! One of them being every year we have gotten together to celebrate the birthdays of our boys, who are 9 days apart, since birth. But the Lord has moved their family on. I would be lying to say I was happy/ecstatic to see them go. But I know when and where the Lord leads, you follow. I have done this before not that long ago in fact. And the older I get the more I realize my best friend is with me all the time. A young girl thinks she needs a "BEST" friend. But how vain is that. I have so much growing up to do. It's not to say that friends aren't needed. But I am called to "be" one first. I don't usually set out to share so much on this blog of personal thoughts! This blog is more about sharing my creation with others who might appreciate it, maybe even use it. My creations, as you have seen, usually have a purpose, with someone in mind to receive them. This time I share with you another card box that I made for Grace as a going away gift. I love picking up these boxes and recovering them to make them more personal. Her favorite color is red. I thought this paper and style of box went well enough together. I made a few dividers for the inside and a couple of pens. It's a good ensemble!!?? And let's not forget, a matching card that has all that sappy stuff that girls write down and then cry over,LOL!!!!

Sincerely
Sonja