Ravelry, Planning and other Random Things

Well as much as I think that my new sedentary life will yeild me more time to stay up on my set blog schedule my only constant is daily Devotional and Prayer time.  When you give your Will over to God's Will the day can go any kind of way as long as you are being kind and helpful along the way.

Let's jump right in and I will share my latest SWAP package that I recieved from Paisley Spirit on Ravelry from the Cowl Swap group I'm in.  Needless to say I love everything and look forward to knitting/crocheting and getting lots of compliments from wearing my wonderful cowl she created for me.

Here it is my Erin Condren Life Planner in a Day Runner Binder. Ask me how you can get $10 off your very first order.  I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about taking my planner and ripping it out of the coil and cutting off the side just to 

put it into a Binder.  Turns out I love it.  I did just 1 month and after a week went ahead 

and did all the way up to March 2015.  

The next thing I did was pull out my Cricut Expression and figure out how to make my own dividers with ornate tabs just because I could kinda thing.  It took me a while because I use the Cricut Craftroom software and for some reason I could not get both shapes to weld into one shape for cutting.  I had to walk away and then since I find everything on Socail Media I figure the fastest way after searching the site for help was to try Facebook and YES I hit the jackpot.  I found the answer I needed and proceeded to make these babies.

                                                   That line is the problem I tried to fix.

Here's my cute Top Tabbed Dividers cut, laminated and punched

                                                                         FRONT

                                                                           BACK

MY DAY RUNNER BINDER

                                                                     
                                               MY LABELED TOP TABBED DIVIDERS

Well that's it for now hope you enjoyed my little post and I pray all is well if not know that God is able to do whatever you stand in the need of.  I will be posting several videos here in the next few weeks until then Be Blessed, Be Encouraged and always Be Creative.  

                                                     

German Short Row Tutorial

German Short Row Method    This method right here has changed my knitting just so you know.  It creates such a nice look and it's so easy to remember.  I hope that this method of creating Short Rows will de-mystify the whole process.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.  Happy Knitting!!!  









Here's what my German Short Rows look like.

Life, Erin Condren, Instagram, Smashbooking and ME

So it's been almost 2 months since my last post and alot of things have transpired since that time.  One should be obvious my Blog has a new look thanks so much to Ms. Paulina D.  I want to thanks so much for giving my blog a new look.......Paulina YOU ROCK GIRL!!!!

Let's jump right in.  Life well, since the last post I'm still not working trying to get my Etsy shop up and rolling making a few sales but the fees are killing my profit so there maybe a change in shops real soon.  My health is about the same I am having some better days and feeling a little stronger.  Thanks to my DD Carmen she gave me and her son a great gift a virus so for the past 10 days there's been a lot of coughing, sneezing, tea with honey, Nyquil, Theraflu, Ricola, Water and Orange juice and needless to say handwashing just because, Lysol sprayed throughout several times a day with windows opened to air out the house. LOL

Instagram well I finally did my first Instagram/FB giveaway in collaborations with The Ink Road and Forever Anchored 316 both with shops on Etsy.com were so awesome in helping my followers have an awesome experience

 I can't wait until I reach 500 followers there will be some gift cards and goodies involved.  Thanks to everyone that participated but especially to my collaborators you were so awesome!!!!  Hugs to you both.

Erin Condren..........I have really blossomed since I first heard about this Planner.  In my previous post and Video I talked about my first planner and then my discovery of ECLP which I'm absolutely in love with.  Since this time 2 months ago WOW it's been that long I've become involved in a lot of FB groups specifically for Erin Condren Planners.  Here are a few pics of my Planner

This first pic is a screen shot of how I would like to eventually master in my planner.  What I love most is the neatness and Jen D. is the creator of this lovely layout and in my book the master of great layouts in planning.

This week was in July and it was getting pretty busy I just took a look back and wow it became even more hectic 

Here's a Dashboard I made by laminating the left side and then punching 1/8" holes and spliting them so that they just snapped into the Planner.  I use these to write Biblical Inspirations weekly.

Here's on of my weeks in August and although most ECLP users don't color coordinate with the specific month I do.  I never plan with a theme in mind it's always with color, and stickers and I'm trying to get into using the same color ink as the month BUT so far that's not consistent.

Here we have September and I've tried to be a lot more organized in how I list my items. One thing I'm learning is this is an ever evovling process and I still have a long way to go.  

In my next post I will talk about my FoldOut Dashboard I made and how it's helping organize my living space and my wallet. So stay tuned for that.  Next up let's talk about something I've wanted to do since I first started this hobby.

Smashbooking is a form of scrapbooking but without serious forethought at least that's normally my approach.  To me it's like making a collage of your life in stroy form.  This group I joined on FB Smash & Share had a 30 Days of Lists Challenge for August and I thought why not and jumped right on in.  Here are a few pages that I made

She Reads Truth........The Beatitudes Blessed are the Spiritual ZEROES when the Kingdom of the heavens come upon Them

Today's She Reads Truth Bible Study 

This study is on the Sermon at the Mount and Jesus is teaching the mulititudes the Beatitudes.  I see them as God's promises.  How do you view them and how are they applicable to you today?  Jesus was speaking of God's promises to His believers BUT at vs. 12 it let us know that we would go through rough times. This passage to me is like as a child and your parents tell you it's going to be ok because you're special and well loved. God loved us so that He was willing to make us (who are we that God would even consider this) some promises when our walk becomes challenging. 

I walk away today feeling grateful in the knowledge of God's promises to me as a Believer

The Sermon on the Mount.............She Reads Truth

It has begun the She Reads Truth study of the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 4:12 through 5:1.  This blessed me as I got some disturbing news regarding my health on yesterday and have yet to fully process it all.

Here's my prayer that goes with this lesson today.  Father God please forgive me for allowing my flesh to cloud my judgement of your plan for my life.  I'm sorry for not walkin gin you promise to me  2 Corinthians 12:9  And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ my a rest upon me.  Father God thank you for bringing Your Word to my rememberance.  Thank you Father God for loving me enough to chasten me; and if there is anyone else that felt like me lets' remember that even in our most difficult times God you layed out safety nets to keep us aloat until we could swim again.  I am your vessel do with me what you will and grant me the strength to endure as a good soldier in these last days that others may see your power and come to know you for themselves.  I love you Lord in Jesus' Name Amen   Be blessed and keep God first no matter what.

She Reads Truth ~ Ruth 4:18-22

God had a plan and He has a plan for us too. Just like Ruth and Naomi when they loss their loved ones and was poor and rejected there was a plan. My first thoughts when reading the scriptures was thank God Naomi was obedient to the voice of God and went back home and that the bond between Ruth and Naomi was genuine and true.  I love how God is so faithful to love us in our points of depair, pain and  doubt.

God is so awesome in His completeness there are never any loose threads or seams left undone.  I haven't been with you all but a week but I love this story and as a single Mother who had to come back home after my marriage ended I get this story.  I'm still waiting on my Boaz and I will say that until you are really willing to submit yourself to the will of God there will always be some loose ends in your life.  At least that's my story.

Bible Study.............She Reads Truth

Good Morning Everyone,

So I have been doing Bible study for a while but I don't think I've taken the time to share it here on my blog. I was on IG and found this group SheReadsTruth and they are currently finishing the book of Ruth.  I love this story because it's a story of love, loss, desperation, loyalty, restoration and joy.

So today's question is Who Names You today- your God or your circumstances.  Now when I read this I immediately said in my mind God because He called me Victory.  The lesson takes us back to Naomi when she changed her name to Bitter because of her grief and bleak looking future.  So as I look at this I have to think back to when I really allowed my circumstances to define who I was at that time.  My name has been defeated, lonely, desperate and dejected.  I wasn't looking towards God for direction I was caught up in my situation BUT I'm so grateful that God loved me enough to let me know that I'm the apple of His eye in Psalm 17:8   Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings  
This is what did it for me,  once Naomi realized that God was in the plan she was able to hear God for what she was to do next.  I thank God for loving me enough to speak to my circumstances and lead me on the path that is best for me.  Ruth gave Naomi the support that she needed to look up and I pray that we will remember to look up dispite our circumstance and know in Faith that God is able to see us through it.  
Please join me as I fellowship with She Reads Truth Blog you will love it!!!!!

Getting My Life Back on Track.........thanks Erin Condren

So I use to be a stickler for having a planner and Franklin Covey was always my fav.  But as Smartphones came into my life I pretty much relied on them until Oct. 2011 after my 2 daughters and 3 other family members were in a horrific auto accident.  I was overwhelmed by all the information I needed to have and keeping certain things compartmentalized I went to Target and found a planner and life was grand again. Forward to last year, instead of getting a planner I decided because of my church projects and such I would opt for project planners instead so I now have one for Outreach, Minister and  DVine Redemption.  that was ok for the most part and will still use them as they help set up meeting agendas and contacts of People who are in charge of specific tasks and as you can see you have the left column for what action was taken from the plan that was set in the right hand column.  I now needed something for the rest of my daily life and schedule.

Last month I was looking at getting a daily planner and of course I went to social media for reviews and what I was really looking for.  I finally went on Esty.com and found Melvedy Designs planner but when I got it although I liked it and the setup was good it was not enough space for me to really PLAN anything for a full day.  I went back to Social Media and on YouTube I started seeing videos on FiloFax, Erin Condren and Lily Pulitzer.  After determining that the cost of  Filofax was waaayyy out of my budget and Lily Pulitzer was good but it was something about the Erin Condren Customizable Life Planner that really drew me in and the option to have a 12 or 18 month planner was appealing as well.  I watched in upwards to 60 videos and everyone was enthusiatic about her product so I made up my mind to go from this  SORRY FOR THE BLURRY PIC MY SHAKING HANDS.

 The Erin Condren Planner is to your left and the Melvedy Designs Planner is to the right.   See the difference in size and from what I learned the Erin Condren Life Planner is A5 size planner.

 Here's my Erin Condren Life Planner in Fleur Feliz pink/purple there are also other planners ie. Teachers, Sorority, Inspiration/Quote, Wedding along with Address and Notebooks.

 Here's the month at a glance nice amount of room for jotting times down or below you can customize your planner to include specific bills, social activities and such look below

 At the end of your planner there is a note section with lined and unlined pages for jotting down list of various things that are important to you.

 What I also loved about her planners is that they are Bright, Customizable, there are Inspirational Quotes throughout and at the on the top of every month at a glance page. It comes with re-positional stickers with whatever you want them to say.

 Here's a tow-sided pocket for storing whatever you like.  It also includes a clear vinyl pouch that you can place whatever you need for planning on-the-go.

And here are my additional stickers with my church emblem my girls and my grandson along with event stickers just for the things that I know are important to me.  

 to finish it all up you can also order a band to hold your planner all together

Well you can check out my YouTube video of my first impression of my planner when I opened it along with the accessories I purchased to jackup my planner and make it more personal and fun and the FREEBIES that are included.  If you think this planner is for you hop on over for $10 off your first order   Stay tuned for my 30 day review and how I'm using my planner and setting it up.

Until next time keep lifting me up in prayer and I will be doing the same for you.  My next review will be a video review about my Natural Girls Rock packages I received.   Take care and God bless.

Changes

Hey Y'all it's been a very long time since I've been able to post and boy has there been alot of things going on.  There has been some creating going on but not all that I would like.  Well for starters why don't we just cover the last 6 months in pictures.  That might help alot better.

This is me on a cane from a walker after a trip to the ER

This young man is my grandson Kaiden at 2 months old

This is me in the hospital after having to be carried out of church because I couldn't move my neck or arms

These two are of me and my ex-husband after having to have a cervical discectomy and fusion from c3 to c7 with frontal plating.  In other words I had 3 herniated disc in my neck so I have 3 cadavor discs and in the front of my neck I have a plate with 8 screws. 

This is me at home some weeks later after my shower allowing the steri-strips to dry before putting my collar back on.  At this point I'm still in misery.  The recovery was absolutely awful and this isn't my first surgery BTW.

 An here's lil Mr. Kaiden again on his way to church being occupied until it's time to go.  He's growing up so fast.  Already able to say Hi, Bye bye and Momma yeah no Da Da but Momma I can't believe it.

This is me Monday June 16, 2014 sitting in the hospital waiting to have an EMG of my left arm as my Neurosurgeon is trying to rule out the possibility of Surgery #2 to that I say the Devil is a Liar although the use of my left arm is worse than before the surgery.  Yesterday I had the second test a Myliogram with contrast and cervical CTScan.

So this is what's been going on with me personally for the past 6 months on my next post I will give you some great things that are going on with me in my crafting, career and ministry life.  Take care stay creative and be blessed.