I've been busy getting my Etsy store up and running and also on getting the Christmas Card Blog going.....but I have managed to squeeze in a few layouts! I'm trying to keep up with the journaling class at the Digi chick....it's been really good so far and it is stretching me creatively...that's good right!?!?!

I have a couple of layouts to share! First I was surprised to head on over to the Digichick the other day and see that my layout was picked for layout of the week! I shared this one with you the other day and it was picked for LOTW!!! I was so excited!!
The next layout I did was for sketch #41 over at 52 Sketches. And also for the bible verse Thursday challenge over at CPCM. The challenge was to use fall colors and a verse on the seasons. I chose 

More exciting news is I found a wonderful new site that is just starting out! It's called Log Your Memory and it looks like it's going to be a great place to hang out! The site is all about your journaling and the importance of the stories behind your photos. They have an actual log book that you can get to keep track of your memories until you can scrap them! For a busy Mom like me with a lot of kids....this is a great thing!! So go check them out and join in the challenges on their forums! they are having a kick off contest and the prize is one of their log books!!! I'm off to work on that challenge!!

I'm writing over at my Scrappy Blog today so please come over and hear our big news!

I'm finally ready to spill the beans and tell you what i have been working on this past week! You will see something new on my side bar here.....Yes it's my very own Etsy Shop!! Hearts at Home Designs!

I have been wanting to open an Etsy Shop for a while but just never took the time to do it. The reason I took the plunge at this time is for a bigger and better cause than just me selling my items. Let me tell you what God has been doing!

The kids and I have been learning about Africa and the many orphans that are trying to survive there. Our hearts have been touched by their stores and their lives and we have decided to try to make a difference in their lives by raising money to send to them. This money would provide clean water, food and many basic things that we take for granted. Now, we like to create and so God gave us the idea of creating for Him!

We have been following an amazing ministry called Amazima. A young girl named Katie is running this ministry and blogs about her days giving us a glimpse of the daily needs of these children. The need is so great and we are told in James 1:27 to help the fatherless and the widows.

And so we are stepping out in faith that God will use our hands to produce items that will raise money to help these children of God! We will be giving to Amazima Ministries 50% of all our profit from the Etsy store! So please go and browse through our store and come back often as we will be adding things on a regular basis!

We will also be taking custom orders so if you have a favorite verse or saying and you would like it made into a canvas or a card, please just let me know!

We look forward to seeing God move, won't you join us!

I just posted the sketch over at CPCM so head on over and join in the fun! I created a card this week with the sketch..



I also got a couple more layouts done for this months october challenges over at the Digichick!


Have a blessed day!!

I was so excited to get to create some things for our friends baby shower....She works at the stable with my girls and so we decided to make her some cute onsies with a rocking horse on them....I just created the picture and text in word and we used inkjet t-shirt transfer paper to get it onto the onsies! Sooo easy and they are absolutely adorable!! I altered a box I had to put them in and made a matching hanging tag!



I also altered a wooden door hanger and then I followed a tutorial over at the Hybrid Chick for this name banner.

There is a lot of detail that is hard to see in the banner, I took 2 close up shots to try to show some of it. I used the tutorial over at the hybrid chick but put my own twist on it. They used jump rings to put their's together but I did not have any and so I used ribbon on mine. I actually used all things I had on hand and did not buy anything extra...(I was proud of myself!!)
I finished it off with a card and bag and it came together really well!!

A day spent enjoying Gods glorious earth!! Hope your enjoying the fall weather too!!

Yes, I've been busy....I have a new venture up my sleeve and I'll be able to tell you all about it in a few days!! So check back!!
I've also been busy in the scrap room! Here are a few layouts I just finished up....

I am taking the Every life has a story class over at the Digichicks....it's all about improving your journaling skills. This layout was done for the first challenge. You had to take a layout you already completed and add journaling to it. This layout had some journaling but I added a lot more and told the whole story of the day instead of just a few words. This is Christophers 6th Birthday this past week.


Now this is a paper layout I just finished of Christophers 3rd birthday....what a cutie!! I am really enjoying going back and pulling photos from the past few years to do layouts. So what I'm really saying is I like being behind!!! I'll be back soon to tell you my news!!!

Happy Birthday to my special boy!! Yes, today Christopher turns 6! I can't believe it! It seems like just yesterday he was toddling around trying to keep up with the big boys and know he is one of the big boys! He is spending the day with his Dad and brothers at Pop-Pops doing big boy jobs! Then it's home for homemade french fries for dinner and homemade cinnamon rolls for his birthday dessert! Then we will pull out the video from the day he was born.....and also his baby album!

Christopher you are turning into such a wonderful young boy! You are the best big brother to Caleb, always there to help him and play with him! Your heart for serving and following Jesus is humbling to me.....your simple and truthful prayers teach me and remind me that God cares for even the simple things in our lives. May you be a strong warrior for Christ and stand on the truths you are learning from His word! We are so blessed to have you in our family!!! Happy Birthday my big boy!!

Last night I decided to participate in a speed scrap over at The Digi Chick. What fun!! I never did a speed scrap before and I was a little nervous about what to expect! And it started at 10:00 which is way past my bed time!! But I stayed up and made it though and has a lot of fun!

The way it works is about every 10 minutes the hostess will post another prompt and you go and add to your page. When the hour is up you have about an hour to finish your layout and get it posted in the gallery....the ladies that participated were a blast and Cheryl our hostess did a wonderful job!

They gave away 2 kits...I did not win but came away with this wonderful layout that I am really happy with! I love this pic of Caleb and wanted to get this moment in his little life saved so we remember it!

So I highly recommend speed scrapping! Lots of fun and it really stretches your creativity!!

Books cover the couch, the kitchen table, the counters....math, phonics and writing....legos ah! yes the legos....the carpet is covered...I can never conquer the legos! Lunch dishes in the sink waiting and it is already time to get dinner going...

The mess is never ending....always returning and I struggle to make this life balance. My mom's house was always spotless....yes she only had 3 children and we left to go to school everyday...my 7 are always here always learning always creating...growing!

But the seen things can sometimes overpower the unseen. The mess that is staring at me can talk of the learning and growing that happened here today or of the books that were not put in their place and the paper that is left out another mess to pick up. How I view it makes all the difference.

Ann has a wonderful post up at her site and she says

I water this grove of children. The water pours and think how I want a crumbless, smudgeless, spotless house, a house with empty laundry baskets, empty sinks, empty garbage cans, with floors like mirrors and mirrors like water, and a pantry lined neat like books in the study and pies lining the counter like sweet children all in a row. I want the (seeming) perfection all day that only happens at night when the whirl slows to a still and the six children sleep, their books and their legos, their papers and their creations, all finding their resting places too. I want a father-in-law who walks in mid-spin and sees what I have done with a day, with a week, and smiles his satisfaction.

I want things seen.

These can be idols.

Yes these things can be idols....clean houses and mannerly children....

 How do I forget that I actually exist more, fully, wholly, when I do that which I was made for? Worship. Communion. Prayer, hidden and intangible, it is the day’s true product, it’s ultimate purpose.


So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Daily I must remind myself.....the unseen is what is most important! The process of life here is messy and ditry and gets out of control sometimes...but we are growing and learning and striving to become more like Him and that unseen stuff is THE MOST IMPORTANT!!



So I am happy in this mess and we take time to gather in the mess and pray to the one that covers our messes.... forgives our messes....the only one that can bring balance......the only one that matters. And we are investing in unseen things...that will last forever!


Please go and read Ann's post on prayer this week..... Walk with Him Wednesday

(picture from this past week of Caleb praying....just last week he began asking to open during our prayer time, his prayers have touched all our hearts this week...precious!)