Travel Companions...

This summer seems to be filling up with some travel plans and so I decide to make myself a purse/bag that would accommodate all the things needed when out and about on a day trip... like my camera, regular purse items, a bottle of tea, my Kindle, and a couple diapers and wipes for the little one - trying to eliminate carrying the 2nd bag! [There will still be a bag of back-up/extra stuff in the car though! :)]

This is what I finished yesterday...
The Day Tripper bag :)

 It is a little bit bigger than I first was thinking in my head...but I think the laptop might fit in it too, so that works! It's not real noticeable in the picture but on the left side is the water-bottle pocket and there is a pocket here on the front.

The only thing I think I dislike so far is the spot where the zipper meets... I'm wishing I would have gone with  either (1) trying to incorporate the longer zipper I had gotten for this project but decided not to use, or (2) gone with a coat/jacket zipper...oh well, most of my projects are learning processes anyway since I rarely use a pattern!

I think I'll load it up and try it out for church tonight :)

Earlier in the month I made cosmetic bags for Mother's day... I forgot to take picture of them before gifting them...but I do have pictures of the one I made for myself.

These turned out great and are pretty easy to make! :)

Now I need to make a couple duffle bags for the girls, some culottes, and probably a couple dresses for our Summer fun to come!

The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul:

Proverbs 13:19a

It is a wonderful feeling to have a goal accomplished! This morning in my devotional book the lady was expressing how nice it was to have accomplished homeschooling all her children and that she was excited to move on to new goals. I enjoy very much to be able to cross of items that are on my to do list...which always seems to be growing :) 

Here we see that God has this in our make-up, that we like to get things done and the feeling of success that it gives us. What's on your to-do list for today?

Blessings!

Shirt-to-Dress...

Last night I finally dug into the pile of shirts I had set aside to refashion into dresses/skirts for the girls. Today, I finished the first one...a dress for Amber!

This shirt was in a bag of clothes given to Chad...it was too small for him, so now Amber can wear it!

The Body is the bottom section of the shirt, the upper horizontal band is from the arms, and the sleeves are the cuffs with some white material attached to match the bottom ruffle.

A new dress ready for Summer!

Now on to one for Liz!

Reflections...

It's is amazing how quickly time goes flying by! A week can go by in a flash with a busy schedule...that never seems to slow down - and I know ours is definitely less filled than most! :) This is for sure one of those busy weeks...not so much in places to go, but things that need to be done.

This is a good time to pause and 'reflect' on a few things...like in this poem that has been in the nursery at church for as long as I can remember, but I never really read it till a couple months ago...good things to ponder on a regular basis!

Reflections

If I could Start over I would...
   * have more realistic expectations for myself.
   * learn to say, 'this too shall pass.'
   * make a point of enjoying every stage of life.
   * cherish every friendship.
   * put less emphasis on material things.
   * refuse to take my own transient feelings so seriously.
   * worry less about failure.
   * spend less time wondering about other people's opinions of me.
   * talk less.
   * say 'I Love You' more often.
   * fret less about the future.
   * smile more.
   * memorize more scripture.
   * be more observant to the beauty God has put in the world around me.
   * work harder at understanding how other people feel and think.
   * be less critical of others.
   * learn to laugh at myself more easily.
   * be freer with my praise.
   * put a higher premium on integrity.
   * work for more consistency in practicing the Word of God.
   * make fewer excuses and take more responsibility for my own success and happiness.
   * put a higher value on every opportunity to learn and grow.
   * complain less.
   * tell the Lord more often how thankful I am that He chose me and that He loves me and that His plans for me are beyond my fondest dreams.

~ J.S.

Take ye heed, watch and pray:

for ye know not when the time is.

Mark 13:33

Little Blessings...

This afternoon while standing in the kitchen making some sweet tea and not feeling like making dinner, also not really sure what to make...I decided to not to start anything just yet and write a blog post instead. I was in the beginning process of deciding what to share, the phone rang... It was an invitation to go to a Spaghetti Dinner -- and their treat :)

So, we quickly got ready to go and had a nice evening out...and I didn't have to cook.

It continues to amaze me how God blesses us with simple things on the days we really need it! We really do have an Awesome God!

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised

in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

Psalm 48:1

Refreshing Week...

I knew it had been a while since I wrote here, but didn't realize it had been almost a month! Whoa!

I haven't been able to do a whole lot of crafting lately, so that has been part of the dwindle in blog activity and I've been contemplating that recently... more on that in a minute :)

The past week has been busy with church ministry things, starting last Monday with our church's monthly ladies meeting...which had a great attendance and a good devotional on giving our all in serving. Then, on Tuesday, we went to our area's Tri-State Pastor's Fellowship for the day, which was a great day with a ladies get together included during the time we were there. It was great seeing old friends and making new ones!

The end of the week was winding down some and, on Friday, I squeezed in some sewing time and made a large round quilted hot pad for my new large round stoneware with handles from Pampered Chef. Loving the stoneware :)

Then on Friday I was reminded by a FB post that a church about 2 hours from here was having a ladies conference over the weekend...and at the last minute we decided that I'd be able to go for the Saturday session.

But in a great house there are not only vessels
of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; 
and some to honour, and some to dishonor.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, 
he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, 
and meet for the master's use, 
and prepared unto every good work.
2 Timothy 2:20-21


I received a great blessing from going...we learned about being vessels that God can use and to be a vessel Filled to Overflowing. They gave us practical guidance to get rid of the things that would hinder us from serving God, and to allow God to mold us and fill us to overflowing, then to share the abundance with others around us.

So between this and my previous pondering, it has directed me to try to use the blog as more than just a show of a craft project here and there with a verse just tacked onto the end....but to use this as a place to share what I'm being taught even it there is no new craft to share. However, I will still be sharing crafts as I have something, because I still love having time to sew!

A Vessel of God

by M.S. Lowndes

Shaping and moulding,

Is the potter with the clay

That is how God is with us

When we let Him have his way

Let God shape your life

Into a vessel for His use,

So He can fill and send you forth

To a world void of truth

So yield unto the master's hand

As He works within your life,

Making you so lovingly

To reflect the image of Christ.

Another year older...

My oldest little girl just turned 5 and had a great time celebrating getting another year older...

We had a party for her at church after the Sunday evening service to celebrate with our friends...it was fun and she said she really liked it :)

Then on her birthday, we had some leftover cupcakes :) and she blew out more candles...

Also, over the weekend we went to a couple of Maple Producers open houses during the NW PA Maple Association Taste & Tours Weekend.

We began at Yatzor's Sugar House, where we had pancakes and ham...and I 'gracefully' spilled my full cup of coffee on myself :) We moved on to Hurry Hill Farms and Museum so the girls could do a few crafts (which Liz remembered doing last year). We were attending a wedding that afternoon, so we were unable to go on the wagon ride, or to any other sugar houses along the tour, but it's a fun family activity!

Lizzy received a great craft project for her birthday... FOAMIES!

She did three at one sitting, and then another one later in the afternoon! She also had her new Princess/Bride dress-up dress on to be a fashionable crafter!

Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord:

and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Psalm 127:3

Awesome Chicken...

Recently it seems that my crafting has dwindled greatly...especially in the area of new and interesting projects to blog about. So, today I'm going to write about a recipe I found on Pinterest (love looking there for recipes!) called Browned Butter Parmesan Chicken.

I made this for dinner on Monday night...it was Awesome! It is very similar to a dish you would order at the Olive Garden, which is a restaurant we love...but never go to! I liked it so much that I'm planning to have it again tonight for dinner, oooohh!

I'm going to give you the recipe as I made it, but the original recipe called for a few slightly different items... you can check out the original pin here.

Browned Butter Parmesan Chicken

1 1/2 lbs. chicken, cut into pieces
1 Tbls. Olive oil
1 Tbls. Canola oil
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/2+ tsp. paprika

> Fry all of this together till chicken is cooked. Set aside in a bowl.
> Start making your pasta (about 3/4 lb.).

6 Tbls. butter
1/2 med. onion, chopped
1/2+ tsp garlic powder
1/3 cup water**
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese

> Add these items (except the cheese) to the frying pan and saute well.
> Add chicken back into the frying pan, stir together, then add the 2/3 cup cheese.
> Simmer a little longer and then serve over the pasta. Garnish with more Parmesan cheese.

** The original recipe called for white wine, which is something I do not use...I was going to replace it with something, but forgot. The chicken still turned out great without the extra liquid, but I told Chad and he suggested that maybe trying it with some water next time would help the sauce be a little bit more covering on the pasta.**

Also, I used less onion because around here I'm the only one that really likes them, but they were fried so well that they didn't seem to mind them! The dish was really enjoyed!

Perhaps you'd like to join me in having this for dinner tonight! YUM!

For whatsoever things were written aforetime 

were written for our learning, 

that we through patience and comfort 

of the scriptures might have hope.

Romans 15:4

This was a timely reminder that I found this morning after I read through my scheduled reading for the day...It's hard sometimes when you are reading through the Bible to really feel like you are getting anything out of it, especially in parts of the Old Testament.

This verse reminds me that it is there for our learning...and today as I read through part of Numbers, though I didn't get anything profound, I did realize how so very grateful I am that we don't have all the regulations they had placed on them back then...how if they did certain things the were unclean for so many days, then they had to do certain sacrifice on certain days to be clean again... I would never remember all that! I'm thankful that now we live after Jesus died for our sins and that He covers us once we become His child!