eP friend!!!

When Joy first showed me the Changito stamps that they were going to sell in the eP store I knew I would be hooked. I mean, who can resist a cute little monkey? Stampendous has not failed to to impress me. Each time they have new Changito stamps I fall more in love! Summer is basically over, but I thought I could still use the Changito Chef one more time. Isn't he cute??? The sentiment is called Chef's Choice--Let's Ketchup . The sentiment is actually only 2 lines on the stamp, but I used a marker to ink the sections so it would fit on the circle.

This simple card is my first sample as the eP friend of the week! I have to tell you that Joy and Daisy are my friends in real life as well as through their store. It is hard NOT to point you to their store for crafting supplies when I share my creations because I love their stuff, their prices, and their customer service is great too! So check out my blog this week for more cards and projects made with the fun products you can buy at Eclectic Paperie! I have some very fun projects to share!

DETAILS
stamps: Changito Chef, Chef's Choice--Let's Ketchup
ink: Palette Hybrid--Noir Black, Copic Markers
paper: Stampin' Up
other: stampin' up circle and scallop circle punches

Kids Class round 2

The school I substitute at has an enrichment program for the elementary students. The enrichment classes meet one hour, one day a week, for 5 weeks. Students get to choose from many different fun classes. I taught a craft class for 2nd and 3rd graders last spring and decided to do that same class (tweaked a little) this fall.

In April I showed this picture of the covered notebook and beaded pen that the kids did the first class. I hope to do this again, but I learned that this is way too much for 12 young girls to all finish in an hour!

I also plan on doing cards one class, altering a wooden picture frame, making clear marble magnets and decorating t-shirts. Should be a lot of fun and I hope to take more pictures this time around.

One Touch

I was standing at the checkout counter at Target searching my purse for enough money to pay when the cashier started talking about reading "the book"...I thought he was talking to someone else until he kept talking and I looked up and realized he was looking at my shirt that had a cross on it. He said something about how he had read part of the Bible once and he had a sadness in his eyes when he said that he wasn't where he should be, he wasn't living life how he should. I have to admit that I was a little bit at a loss for words. I don't know exactly what I said, (later I thought about all of the things I "should" have said), but I tried to share in the minute that I had that no matter how far away we are from God, He is always there waiting for us to return. There is no place that we can go that is too far for God to rescue us from. He just looked at me like he couldn't believe it and told me he was too far away. I left that day with a sadness in my heart for the lack of hope in this young man's life.

In the Bible Jesus often went to those that others considered "hopeless," people that probably had lost hope themselves, and He healed them. He often healed their physical ailments, but He also healed their spiritual ailments. There was no one too dirty, too sinful, too hopeless to heal.
He still heals today.

Nicole C Mullen was another one of the singers/speakers at the Women of Faith conference. One of the songs she performed was called "One Touch." It is a song about the story from Luke 8:43-48, where a woman who had been struggling with a bleeding problem for 12 years reached through a crushing crowd just to touch the hem of Jesus' garment and be healed. But the song isn't just about that Bible story, it is also about people today. People who are pushed down by their issues and are longing for some hope. Reach out and touch him, He is right there waiting, He will make you whole again.

Click to listen to ONE TOUCH by Nicole C Mullen

Women of Faith

I had the opportunity to go to a Women of Faith Conference with my friend Brooke this weekend. The conference has phenomenal speakers. I think that most of them could also be classified as comedians, but I have to say my favorite comedian of the group is Anita Renfroe. She is so funny! She often shares a popular song that she has "rewritten" Check out this post from last year to see the song she performed last time I went. This year she shared a remake to Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats," called "Before I Eat." Hil-ar-ious!

Anita Renfroe--Before I eats Video

Sandi Patty also sang and talked at the conference. I remember listening to Sandi's music when I was a kid, but believe me, she can still belt it out and rock a stadium! She has a new book out that is on my have-to-read list. It is called Layers.

This is what the description on her website says:

Looking through the layers of failures, disappointments, shame, and fear, women find who God created them to be.

Every woman struggles with the feelings hidden deep within her. Coping with issues ranging from a poor body image to worries about past mistakes, she covers her guilt and pain with layers of behaviors and beliefs that keep God's grace from penetrating her heart.
In Layers, singer and WOF speaker Sandi Patty gets real by candidly revealing her own struggles. Peeling back the layers of poor choices and excesses, she shares with readers how to find the peace that comes only when she learns to be content with who God has created her to be.

I can't talk about the singing without mentioning another woman--Natalie Grant. WOW! I have her "Relentless" album and love it, but hearing her sing and speak in person was a special experience. Listening to her sing "In Christ Alone," brought tears to my eyes. I am not sure who wrote the song, but it is beautiful.

In Christ Alone


In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand


In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live


There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ


No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

Next time I will share a few more must see/hear singers and speakers from the conference and maybe another video. :)

Apartment pictures

For those of you who have been begging...I mean asking for pictures of my new place here they are. I didn't take pictures of the kitchen because for one it is pretty ugly (The countertop is pink) and also I hope to put a washer and dryer in it at some point, but right now it looks pretty empty.

Here is the left side of the living room from the front door. Note the couch without arms. That is all that would fit in my old place. At some point I will get a bigger couch and maybe a chair.

Right side of living room and looking into the hallway.

"master" bedroom. Looking in from the door. The wall you can't see across from the bed has a closet. For a picture of the other bedroom look back to my moving day post. The room with all the boxes is my "office." This is the sign outside my door. Pretty cool, huh? ;)
A picture of me in my office, just for fun.