Delivery Day

Today was delivery day for the message/information bulletin board.  

I was please to be able to deliver it and see it put in its "home". For the time being, white paper was placed on the tiles where messages will be displayed.

There was another task for me to complete at the church and that was the application of a wall decal which the Pastor and I created. There is an amazing website Wall Praise where you can order premade or create your own wall decals. The Pastor chose the verse to be used and we worked together on the fonts and sizing of the decal. 

This is my second time putting up one of their decals, so it went pretty smoothly. It is located in the main foyer just outside of the sanctuary. In the picture above, the doors to the sanctuary are closed when opened the right door is against this wall, so the decal was placed in the middle point between the sanctuary door and office door on the right.  

What is nice about the decal is that your eye is first drawn toward the emphasised words "near God, Lord God, and Your works". The decal is subtle but definitely pops. 

All in all we are pleased with the outcome of both items.  

It all Starts with a Thought

Lately, I've been being asked how I come up with the bulletin boards I've created. As with anything "creative", it all comes from a momentary thought or idea. Some boards are based on a preset idea or theme but the majority that have been made are without direction. Of course, seasons may dictate the direction in which my mind wanders. The most recent bulletin board I did was spring themed. Above is the sketch that was produced while talking out the concept with my creative sidekick, Deborah Cabrera, who is also very creative and talented. To make some of the elements, I will sometimes look at photos or clip art images to accurately reproduce them. Here is the end result from the above sketch.

One thing I've learned is that when an idea comes to mind I must get it down on paper in some form. Recently, while in church, I had two ideas come to mind.  One has to do with being on a journey and the other came from a statement made by my Pastor regarding broken vessels. I quickly sketched these ideas on my sermon notes paper. 

Most of the time these small sketches are enough to start the creative wheels turning and ultimately the idea morphs into something more than the original sketch. There are times though when I do have to do a more detailed sketch of the idea to make sure that it will be able to work the way it is planned. Also, I do this to keep from wasting product while making the finished board. Right now, I'm working on a board that is suppose to look like stained glass and I found it necessary to detail sketch it so to avoid any paper waste and additional frustration on my part. I still need to color in the tiles according the color tones of the paper I have decided to use. This will keep me from having the same color being next to each other. 

When it comes down to it though, my ability to create these boards are a result from the gift God has bestowed on me. When I was a teenager, I remember drawing up floor plans and making room scapes with the intention of being an interior decorator. Then, in college, I chose to pursue communications and enjoyed writing.  While married, I got into stamping and creating cards and with the birth of my children came scrapbooking. Then, I settled in to doing crafts for my home and friends. All along God was showing me my abilities. 

In August of 2010, I got asked to help with the creating of a few bulletin boards at my church and since then God has been blessing me with ideas and honing my talents to take the bulletin boards to a new level. Here is one of the first boards that I helped create.  

I consider these boards my offering to God. He has blessed me with this gift and He gives me great joy in creating these. My prayer is that these boards minister to those who see them - a tool that will help them draw nearer to God. In the past year, I've been praying (along with my dear friend) that God would take this creative effort to where ever He wants it to go. My desire is to be in His will bringing glory to Him. God has blessed me with another church that I'm creating boards for along with the opportunity to make a few for my children's school.  

Another way that God has blessed me is with the viewing of these boards via this blog and also on Pinterest. It gives me personal joy to be able to share these boards and have others desire to create them and spread the message they have. 

God is truly showing me that this is the path He has for me at this time and I want to be wholly in His will so that He can use me as He desires. 

Happy Birthday Jesus

Today my plan was to work on the elements needed for another bulletin board but I just wasn't up to the task of making precision cuts on foam board so I switched up my "work" schedule.

Instead I started working on a few Christmas gifts I've been asked to make. While preparing all the items I would need for the gifts, I remembered my conversation the day before with my friend, Debbie, where I mentioned the idea of making a Christmas  banner for my home. 

It has been over a year that I made my first banner at the request of friend for a party. Who knew that would lead to multiple banners being created. Sadly, I've come to realized that I've never made one for my family or home. It seems silly that I've created banners for other's but not for those who have my heart. Today I rectified this matter!

As a Christian family, we recognize Christmas as the day we celebrate our Savior, Jesus Christ's, birth. Since Emily, our first child, was born, we have been having a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas night as our dessert and yes, we sing "Happy Birthday" and Emily and Matt interject in "cha, cha, cha" for Jesus as well. As the kid's have gotten older, they look forward to this celebration. 

So, the first family/home banner I made says "Happy Birthday Jesus".  It is hanging in our dining room where our Christmas tree is. This room is also the main entrance into our home so all who enter our door will see and know that we celebrate the birth of our Savior during the Christmas season.

A Busy "Work" Week

This week was my first week of implementing "work" hours for my crafting/bulletin board projects. I'm so glad I did because it has been a very busy week.  

On Monday, I made the lamp and post for the lamp post element being used on the winter themed bulletin board at church. I cut the letters and background to be able to make changes to the kid's school perpetual calendar. Also, I started making titles and elements for a school bulletin board for a friend's technology classroom. 

Tuesday, I had a friend come over and we worked on several memory boxes she was making for Christmas. Then, I made 4 more elements for the technology classroom board. I still have a few things to do with the titles and 2 more titles and elements before I turn all the items over on Sunday. 

Wednesday included a trip to a local wholesale floral store to get the pine needed for the winter themed church bulletin board. I then headed to the church and worked on preparing the tree bulletin board for its final phase. I'm going to be sad when I take this board down. It was my favorite board to make and "change" with the trees outside. Sadly around noon the migraine that was lurking in my head became full blown and took me out for the rest of the day. Thankfully, I was able to get some rest and sleep last night.  

Today I spent the morning putting up the new winter themed bulletin board at church. This board is going to be another one that will change over the next 3 months it is up. This is the Christmas/December phase. January there will be the addition of snow elements and then February a little valentine.

Sadly, my migraine was still lingering so when I finished the board I had to come home and rest. The problem with that is I still have a few "jobs" I need to finish before Sunday. Tomorrow I have to put up the "month" and switch the numerical dates on the school calendar....so tonight I still have to put it together. Then, I have to complete the items for my friend's technology classroom by Sunday for delivery. 

Tomorrow, I have plans to do some crafting/work shopping with my friend, Debbie and then Saturday Dave and I have a date to go Christmas shopping for the day.  Hmmmm....hopping I can fit it all in. Oh did I mention Sunday, I have to work on elements for another winter board at the kid's school?  This month is one busy month but I am so not complaining. 

Emily's Point of View

Today when Emily got home from school I went through her student planner and books just to see what she had to accomplish for the evening. I'm trying to take the reigns off and let her become more personally responsible for getting her work done and quizzes & tests studied for.  

I don't know why I looked in her spelling composition book seeing her spelling workbook was also there and the list of words she needed to study were in the workbook. I guess I was just being lead to look at it.

I opened to the page last written on and it was a paragraph which I thought was a bit odd seeing this is where she writes sentences using the spelling words. Then I read the title and I knew why I was lead to open this. Here is what Emily wrote. 

Always Put Together

My mom does crafts for people. She makes picture cubes, billboards, and more.

She uses paint, stickers, tape, string, and others. I love my mom's creative work!

When she delivers her work to people, she gets $25! I love the way that 

mom is. If you want to get one of my mom's crafts go to Facebook and 

put in Always Put Together and she'll make the craft you want. 

I cannot tell you how good this made me feel. Crafting is something I enjoy doing! Slowly it is turning into a small business. I've mentioned to the kids when I am working on projects and they have seen the bulletin boards ("billboards") I've created at church and now at their school.  Occasionally, when I am on the computer, they might ask what I am doing and most of the time it is blogging on either this blog or my other "crafting" blog Always Put Together.  At times, I've wondered what they think of all of this and if they feel it takes time away from them (I've only just put a limit to my "working" hours). Apparently, it is something Emily is proud of. 

What I love is her comment about how I get $25 when I deliver my work - that is the cost I charge just for the banners - I'm still trying to figure out how to charge for bulletin boards. 

I also love that she has become a major source of advertising for me - "she'll make the craft you want".

All I know is that I was lead to read this.  I have been debating on where to take this whole "crafting" adventure for a while now and I have to say this "message" lets me know that my daughter is proud of the work I do and who I am. In my book, that is priceless. 

Sorry....so long

It has been a few days since I have blogged and it is not for lack of wanting but lack of time.  I've been very busy working on home and craft projects (check them out at my other blog Always Put Together ) during the day. Then, the kids started AWANA Wednesday night and last night was Back to School Night at HCS.

A New Avenue

Friday was a great day for me. I was able to get my "required" cleaning done early and spent most of the afternoon crafting between packing for our mini family weekend get away.

I'm always trying to make different items. A few months back on a trip to my favorite craft store, Hobby Lobby, I purchased a plain wooden cross. I ended up being very pleased with the outcome. The cross is painted a beautiful chipotle red which coordinated very well with the scrapbook paper that I chose. The paper is actually from a Christmas collection and is called "Figgie pudding". To make it a little "special", I took some garnet gems and placed them on the cross sections of the circles and also some larger gems at the top, bottom and sides.

This is definitely an item that I will continue to make. I may just have a wall dedicated to crafted crosses in my house.