Idle hands are the devil’s workshop. I’ve kept my hands busy making new things for my Etsy shop, Harvest Lane Cottage. I’ll be listing more over the next few days. My husband showed me how to load the photos. Life is so full of learning experiences, isn’t it? We laugh about me being technologically impaired! ~smile~ I do love creating with my hands, though. Handmade things just give such a cozy feel to things.
Blessings!
Laura
Busy at Home
I’m sitting in the library staring at a blank page. I don’t exactly have writer’s block; but, nothing is coming easily to my mind this morning. I’m going to do a little stream of consciousness writing like we did in college. Have you ever done that? It’s just writing whatever thoughts come into your mind. The idea behind it is to get you writing something, anything, to push through the blank page problem and get your mind working.
I remember when I was younger, thinking that I think best with a pencil in my hand, or a pen, or now a keyboard! It’s almost as though the very act of moving my fingers helps me to think more clearly, to focus my thoughts. I think that is why I also enjoy needlework. When I quilt, for instance, I am able to lose myself deep within my thoughts as my fingers move meditatively through the motions of making the tiny stitches. The stitches must be tiny, not toenail catchers, as my quilting teacher told me. My grandma used to look at the back of the quilt to examine the stitches better and see how close they were.
I was up late last night crocheting another washcloth. I’m going to pin my husband down and have him show me how to put the photos on the computer so that I can offer them in the Shop.
I’ve also got an idea or two for a couple of new items that I’m going to try to work up over the next few days. Be watching….
Blessings to you!
Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage
I saw this sign recently; and, I thought that it describes my marriage to Lowell perfectly. On the 24th of May, we celebrated 22 years of marriage. Prior to that, we “went steady” for four and a half years. So, for the last 26 1/2 years, he’s been my man. We were in high school when we started “going steady”. I remember that when we got to three months, I thought this was pretty special. When we’d been going together for six months, I decided that this was forever and we were going to get married! I didn’t tell him right away, but all of my decisions from there on out reflected that priority. ~smile~ The funny thing was, I was only seventeen, so young. Consequently, neither of us dated around. He was always there for me; and, I was always there for him. It’s just the way things were and the way they would always be.
We married young and in debt, just before my last semester of college. We had rough times from the start. We had a few good years; but, marriage has never been easy. There have been blissful times; and, there have been times when the only thing that kept us together was commitment. God has been faithful to us; we’ve been faithful to Him the best we knew how, and we have been faithful to each other. Over time, God has added four children to our little family. That’s a long story in itself!
My point in telling you this is that our life hasn’t been easy. We’ve loved each other like crazy, we’ve been mad at each other, we’ve been through really bad financial situations, we’ve done well financially, we’ve been through moves, parenting trials, lost jobs, a failed business, and many other things. BUT GOD! God has given us an unwavering commitment to each other and to our marriage.
I believe with all my heart that is available to any couple who wants it. It’s not easy, especially when things are strained between you. But you absolutely must NEVER contemplate a future apart. You must NEVER NEVER NEVER even mention the dirtiest word, the most deadly word ever spoken by a married person, DIVORCE. If no one ever says it, no one will do it. It must not even be an option. For us, it is not. We have vowed before God. We will be…
TOGETHER…
FOREVER…
NO MATTER WHAT!!
God bless you and your marriages. Pray for your marriage, for your children’s marriages and future spouses. Young ladies, pray for your future husbands. I call it the pre-Prayment plan!
Laura of Harvest Lane
I have a new handmade crocheted cotton dishcloth in my shop.
Laura of Harvest Lane
Busy at Home
I invite you to visit a new blog I’ve found this morning. It’s called Cottage Remnant. I read her post about finding God’s Will for her life. I thought it was insightful and thought that you might like to read it, also.
Enjoy!
Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage
Happy at Home
Hello Friends,
I’ve noticed lately that a couple of my friends are using the phrase, “I’m a user not a collector.” Many of us who like to scrapbook, whether it be Creative Memories or an eclectic style, like to collect supplies. There’s always a new set of paper that would be just right, a cute sheet of stickers, a new gadget we want to try. It can really be quite expensive.
I’ve had a few really tight years financially lately. I have found that I truly am a “user” when it comes to scrapbooking supplies. My family albums are all Creative Memories. In the beginning, I was just too scared to use anything else. Good marketing, eh? I expect that I will continue to use their albums for my family albums. I’ve been out of pages for my books for some time. They’re rather expensive to buy. So, when a friend asked me to come scrapbook with her, I thought of another thing to do.
I have tons of leftover photos that were either duplicates or just didn’t make it into the CM albums. I also needed some nice Christmas gifts for my mother-in-love and my kids. So, off to Wal-Mart I went. I bought acid-free cardstock, acid-free page protectors, and acid-free craft glue stick. Then, I got busy making pages!
I already had most of the photos separated by event or at least in chronological order in envelopes or in my big CM file box. I just took out a file, whatever I felt like working on that night, and separated the photos into four or five piles. Then I would make a page with whatever pretty stickers or paper I had on hand, for each of my children and/or my mother-in-love. If I didn’t have enough photos, I’d just decide who I thought would enjoy them most and make pages for those people. I didn’t sweat the small stuff. I just worked quickly, with love, and enjoyed it so much: because, it didn’t have to be perfect!!!!!!!!
I journaled or put Bible verses on each page. I then finished the pages by putting the recipient’s name and the date of the pictures on the bottom. That way, I can do them in whatever order I want and put them in correct order later. Freedom!!!!!!!
Lastly, all the pages went into a file folder together, in random order, until I got page protectors and notebooks to put them in. I used 1 1/2 inch nice quality white notebooks. They have a cover that allowed me to slide in a 10×13 photo; so, each child has an album with his or her photo on it! Now I finally have a use for 10x 13 photos!
Shortly before Christmas, I put the books together using the acid free page protectors that you can buy in the office section of Wal-Mart. They turned out great. I’ve been using the same method to add to the books ever since. I’ve already had to move one child’s pages to a larger book! Naturally, the older ones have more photos because they’ve been alive longer!
What’s the point of telling you all of this?
FREEDOM!
I now feel free to be creative even if I don’t have the “right stuff”. These albums may not last a hundred years; but, they are blessing my family right now. I was putting off putting things into albums because I couldn’t do it “right”. In the meantime, the kids were forgetting. I don’t want to do that anymore.
So, when things get better, I expect I will continue my Creative Memories albums. They really do have a superior product. BUT I am not going to let my perfectionism get in the way of making wonderful memory reminders for my children NOW.
Making do!
Just Something to Think About…
Laura
Happy at Home
“It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly.” ~Thoreau
How true!
I watch one television show weekly, Extreme Makeover, Home Edition. Last night they did a two hour special In New Orleans. They built a house and a church. They also showed pictures of the widespread devastation that still calls New Orleans home. Just south of me, here in Missouri, and in Northeast Oklahoma, whole communities were devastated or leveled by tornadoes.
It reveals much about what is truly important in life when we listen to the stories and testimonies of those who have been struck by a natural disaster or fire. They are so thankful to be alive, and if Christians, to have protection from God. They seem to be closer to God.
As I look around me, I have piles. These piles don’t bring me peace. I want the peace that passeth all understanding that Paul talked about in Philippians chapter 4. For me, part of getting that peace is going to be getting rid of the “stuff” that is holding me in bondage.
I’m still working on collecting things for a yard sale. I’m going to start praying, before I work, for God to show me what truly is clutter in my life.
How about you? Is there some decluttering that you need to do?
Just something to think about….
Laura
