SDK's Scraptuary

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Thankful Thursday~God's Fine Needlework

Good morning from the Scraptuary @>--%-----

Welcome to another Thankful Thursday.
If you have a cup of tea handy or some good ole joe, bring it on over and sit a spell. Today my heart,my mind, and my spirit are overflowing with thankfulness. The subject that I am thankful for on this day may surprise you... depression. Yes you read right, I said depression and here is why...

In my mind at this current time in order to be thankful, you need to experience something hurtful. Those who know me are aware that I have and continue to struggle with health issues. Now I realize that health is something we can take care of on our own to an extent. And it's also something we can take for granted and let go to the wayside just as quickly.

  A very dear Divine Sister in Christ noticed that I kept repeating patterns and was stuck in a rut. The kind of rut that no matter how hard you try it just got deeper and deeper...yep you guessed it the rut of depression. It overtakes even the simplest task, or thoughts and turns them into an irrationality of not being worth accomplishing. The thought life of a depressed forty year old female is something that I would not wish on even the most disliked person on earth. To give a visual, remember in the Charlie Brown cartoons when the characters would get angry, that black scribbly cloud would appear above there heads, that's my thought life. Everything looping in and out of each other and no clarity what so ever, just one big jumbled mess with no pause, constantly running.
To help me with this mess, the first thing I am thankful for is God's written word.
In 2 Corinthians 10:5 it reads
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. NIV. 

5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.  NLT

3-6The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity. MSG

Depression itself is full of arguments and pretension against our Father's knowledge. It has convinced me many times to miss church and fellowship, to avoid phone calls from very dear friends that are just simply making sure I'm still breathing. Depression takes the place of living the life God has intended for me to have. One of the sight effects of the big D is anxiety that can rear it's ugly head in many different forms. For me I get very impatient and snappy, (even as I write this the font keeps changing and I get frustrated...UGH!!)

But chew on this, who gave us our health in the first place? Where did it originate? Remember that DSC I mentioned earlier, she blessed me with a book that is bringing me some much needed clarity in all this mess. The title is Calm My Anxious Heart , A Woman's Guide to Contentment by Linda Dillow. When racing thoughts keep me from settling into bed at night, I have started reading this book til my eyes cannot read no more and finally shut. I would like to share with you by paraphasing an excerpt  from 
Chapter 3~ Content to be Me pages 43-44...God Created Your Body... 
  
In  Psalm 139 God created not just our personality but gave us our bodies. Verse 15 in the NASB reads "My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth" The Hebrew translation of wrought means "embroidered". It is the same Hebrew word that is used to refer to the skillful and artistic needlework in the curtains of the OT tabernacle. When God fashioned me in my mother's womb, He wove each chosen thread intricately to create a beautiful one of a kind pattern, and knit together every vein, muscle, nerve, every curve, and indentation that is uniquely me. What tapestry can begin to equal the human fabric? 

Amazing image...our Father sitting in the most beautiful place, picking out each piece of "thread", putting it thru the eye of the needle of "life", wrapping each hook carefully and precisely, and embroidering every detail of us...I am learning to be thankful for depression, for it's  ironic reflection is content, that no matter what my emotions may be today or in the days to come, I was woven together by the One who loves me most. However the depressive thread trys to unravel God's pattern for my life, I am thankful that He won't let it, and that He is my strength, hope, and future. 

-----%<@ Until We Visit Again, Thanks for Droppin' In@>---%-----

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Wordless Wednesday




 My Father in heaven inspires me daily thru my beautiful family <3
-----%--<@ Until we visit again, thanks for droppin' in @>---%-----


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Useday Tuesday~Shabby Chic Memo Block

Hello from the Scraptuary :) Hope everyone is having a great evening. 
Welcome to Useday Tuesday's where the goal is to use the scraps of paper and embellishments that are just laying around my creative space. 
Being that invitations and cards are what I make most, I have a TON of scraps. 
It wasn't easy to narrow the choices of what to use out of the abundance of lovely leftovers...
It was very tough but I finally picked a few choice pieces and fav tools out...
would you like to see what I made? drumroll PLEASE...
 I came up with a Shabby Chic Memo Block &lt;3 
You can clip pics of the kiddos, forget me not notes, or any small message you would like.
Hope my lil' project stirs your creative spirit to use your  scraps. Please leave a comment with the link to your blog I would love to see what you come up with. Have a blessed evening my friend.
-----%---&lt;@ Until we visit again, thanks for droppin' in @&gt;---%-----








Monday, August 8, 2011

Funday Monday

Good Afternoon from the Scraptuary :) 
Today is Funday Monday where I journey down memory lane, and travel waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
back in the craft files of creative days gone by. Five years ago I used to make lapel pins out of fun foam. I would create them either by the variety of shape buckets or punch out basic shapes with handpunches and hot glue them together to make whatever character or figure I wanted.The most requested were for the major seasons and holidays during the year. I sold them for a $1 each to friends and family.

Why fun foam you ask? Well it was affordable, usually always on sale, easy to work with, and you can make alot of them for very little cost. They also turned out more lightweight than your typical brooch. The most fun of making them for me was adding the detail...can you guess what I used? ok because i know it's just between us, I'll let you in on one of my secrets... The dimensional  Tulip Fabric Paint. It is perfect for projects like this, comes in every color imaginable, has a very small tip which allows awesome control for detailing, drys quickly without flaking or rubbing off. One of the amazing things is I still get asked about them to this day. Some of my friends still wear them occasionally which makes me smile everytime I think about it..to me it's the greatest compliment anyone can give a crafter when they hang on to your art for years.
 
I am so looking forward to our visit tomorrow for Useday Tuesday...some of the scraps and embellishments in the Scraptuary that have not been touched in awhile will be put to good use to encourage family or friends...hmmmm will it be a card or decor piece? 
Please drop in to find out.
 
Hope you enjoyed this Funday Monday post :) 
-----%--<@ Until we visit again, thanks for droppin' in@>--%-----

Sunday, August 7, 2011

A Beautiful Blessed Weekend

Good Morning my fabulous followers :) 
Love was abundant this weekend for my family & I :) Not only have we spent some fabulous quality time with our family...we also witnessed the beautiful union and blessed marriage of our handsome distinguished bro & beautiful radiant sis in Christ.....
Mr. & Mrs. Darron Williams

Whoooo hoo CONGRATULATIONS Darron & Twanda!!! A beautiful ceremony for and incredible beautiful couple!! So grateful we witnessed the untiy of two soulmates. 
 This weekend has been awesome! I'm feeling incredibly blessed.  
 
As I posted Friday we are visiting family that I wish I could see more often. The distance and busyness of life keeps us from doing so. I am sooooooo grateful for the hospitality, love, and warmth that was given to us for these two and half days... not to mention the story swaps of our childhood and learning what an incredible man my lil bro has become. Let's not forget the real reason for the weekend was to meet my beautiful lil' baby niece Ava Irene for the first time. Yes I spoiled her as much as I possibly could by holding her every available second that I could. She is without a doubt the most beautiful precious lil' angel and I'm proud to be her auntie.
Hope each of you has a blessed day. 
----%--<@Until we visit again, thank you for droppin' in@>--%----