Happy New Year and Favorite Posts

Hello, friends, and happy new year! 2013 brought many wonderful memories and changes, and they are all good. God continues to bless me beyond what I deserve. Thank you for joining me on my blog this past year and may 2014 bring more inspiration and crafty goodness to our lives. It has been my tradition to post my favorite posts at the end of the year. So here goes... 

• I enjoyed Les Miserables so much that I jotted down some thought-provoking themes from the movie.
• My Grandpa's amazing story is not just one of this year's, but my all-time favorite posts.
• The paper crafting community gave out a sweet and humongous farewell to Cath of the MoxieFab World blog fame. 
• This year's devastating typhoon Haiyan that affected my home country, the Philippines, made me reflect on how thankless we, who are rich compared to most of the world, could be sometimes. Please continue to pray for those affected by the typhoon. Though they may not dominate the news anymore, their struggles for survival continues.
• I started something that I've been wanting to do for a while - opening an etsy shop!
• A bittersweet post as we said goodbye to The Craft's Meow and the life lessons learned in trusting in a good God who doesn't disappoint.

I became a DecoArt blogger contributor and Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L ambassador this year. I continued on with my product design work with Spellbinders, Penny Black and Want2Scrap. It's so fun and count it as a tremendous blessing to work with companies whose products I already love! I also started dabbling with mixed media this year and really enjoy it. No wonder that many of my favorite projects this year fall under this category style:

InLinkz.com

Finally, here are some great articles, some of which are helpful as we prepare to face the new year:

• Did you buy your child an Iphone or any mobile device this year? Then, you should read THIS.
• The Most Courageous Resolution for 2014
• How to Read the Whole Bible
• Pray For Your Daughter 31-Day Challenge
• 18 Things I Will Not Regret Doing with My Kids (also, wife and husband) 
• 40 Resolutions to Consider Making
• 4 Godly Disciplines Unique to this Decade
• In light of the previous link, I really like this article on humblebragging.
• When Nothing Created Everything

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Christmas Thank You

I apologize for being absent here. Christmas just kind of crept up on me and was so busy with travels, cooking, baking and hosting. It's been a long time since we spent the holidays with family, so this year has been a real blessing to us! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, full of wonderful memories.

I have a thank you card today that uses some holiday papers, City Sidewalks, by Pink Paislee. I inked the ephemera elements before adhering. I used lots of Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L here.

The sentiment is by Penny Black. The border is cut using Spellbinders Classic Scallop Edgeabilities. I adhered Want2Scrap pearls on the top corners of the Main Street card and the sentiment banner. This is a good idea for using up your Christmas papers.

Have a great weekend. I'm sure we'll be hitting the theaters with my girls and looking forward to a relaxing time.

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Penny Black Merry Christmas Card

I have a quick post for you today. We have a busy weekend up ahead. One of my kids has a piano recital tonight while the other two will go caroling with the young people from church at the Retirement Home nearby. We're also hosting the youth afterwards for a Christmas party and watching the Hobbit movie. I can't wait to see the new one, but I have already forgotten much of what happened in the first movie! :) Tomorrow, our church is hosting the Women's Christmas party and I'll be speaking on "Jesus in the Eyes of Mary." It's been a great study and I can't wait to share with the ladies tomorrow. 

Today's card is somewhat CAS. I simply stamped the village from Penny Black's Winter Village stamp set with ink to coordinate with my Kraft cardstock. The border is die cut using Spellbinders' Classic Scallop Edgeabilities and Insert.

The white sentiment is SRM Stickers. I embellished the buildings using some Want2Scrap pearls. And finally, some Twinery twine to match the border patterned paper.

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Merry Christmas House

I have a very red card for your today using my Penny Black Merry and Happy stamp set and my favorite Want2Scrap products. The papers are by Pink Paislee.

I painted the Want2Scrap chipboard house with DecoArt Gesso. I embellished it with the W2S heart bling. More bling is added on the bottom.

Have a great hump day! :)

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Embellished Vintage Christmas Tags

Happy Monday! I hope you are all staying warm. I've been reading many updates on FB about snow all over the place. Thankfully, we haven't had any here! I am an island person through and through. Even though I haven't lived in one in so long, I'm still "allergic" to cold :). I do enjoy watching snow fall, esp when I craft, but only if I stay home.

My projects today are embellished tags that I shared on the Want2Scrap blog last week. You can get the free pritnable tags HERE. And the complete supplies and instructions can be found HERE.

This is it for me today, friends. We have a busy week ahead: lots of guests, parties, exams and concerts! I'm teaching at our church's Women's Christmas party this coming Saturday (if you're local and would like to join us, email me and I'll send you info) and I'm loving the extra study time in God's Word. As I shared on FB: When studying the Christ of Christmas, I don't know which is more awe-inspiring: His divinity and equality with God the Father in all essence, or that He was fully human like us.
 
And I will leave you with this beautiful verse:
"We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, ...For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." ~Hebrews 4:14-16

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