EMBOSSING WITHOUT A MACHINE by the Frugal Crafter

CARD CLASS IN UKRAINE

Greetings from Ukraine

Though life has been rather chaotic with all the political action in the country we try to keep a  semblance of normality in our day-to-day activities.  Sometimes that is difficult.

 This group of ladies and I have been crafting together for several years now.  We've done a prayer journal, a min-book and now we do cards, which is always a useful craft to give friends.

 Most of them have children and they are in a church about 45 minutes away from where we live.  That sometimes hinders our winter classes, but not often since the busy highway that connect us is usually clear.

 My thanks to all those of you who have sent lovely materials that they use in their creations.

They have joy over doing them and I couldn't do it without your help.  Bless your hearts.

"LET US REJOICE"

This year went so fast.  2013 is about to end.  Did the year go the way you expected?  Did you have some disappointments?  Maybe some unexpected delights?  God doesn't promise that all will be roses, but he does promise to take care of us, one day at a time.  If we can have a heart of gratefulness in all things, we will have joy.  If we have an expectancy of good and look for it, God will bless that attitude.  I made a decision a number of years ago to exercise a grateful heart....to look for the things I should be noticing and glad about....to count my proverbial blessings.  Has everything been roses since I made that decision?  No, there's been death, illness, injury, and more, but as I look back, the Lord was with me through it all and gave me peace.   As you go forward into this new year, why don't you make a decision to "rejoice and be glad in it."  I hope you will.  You will never regret.  Happy New Year to all our friends.  We love you.

Be Friends with Failure

 As artists we always have this interior critic running a dialogue.  "Is this good enough?"  You're not really an artist."  "Should I really be doing this?" This little cartoon will help your perspective.  Click the link below to go to "doodle alley, comics that nourish."

Be Friends with Failure

BIRD BOOKS # 2, REPEATED PER REQUEST

My dear sweet husband did this on digital format for me.  So nice to be able to show the whole book at once.   It was fun to do and includes some work from art friends and some of my own little pieces.

FEATHER FUN

This has been my silliness of late.  I did the lower ones first from hymn sheets of an old book that was put in it's binding upside down.  So it made a perfect candidate for crafting.  What you can't see here is the beautiful shimmer they each have.  The upper group was made from cardboard headed to the recycle bin.  I really do like birds so it stands to reason I would like feathers as well.  I'm already making more on this feather kick.  Not sure where it will end, but some have already flown off to other parts of the world.  I also shared this idea with my class  and they all wanted to make some as well.  So fun!  Hope you like them.

LADIES CAMP IN UKRAINE

Such a sweet group of ladies.

That's me standing behind the ladies.  They made such pretty cards. 

Two of our proud ladies, Natasha and Dina.

Listening intently on the topic of dealing with offenses.  A good topic for all.

Some light moments while creating.  We all get to feel like children again when we create.

Oxsanna, who led the group even made a card.  Posing with me, the shorty.

So grateful to all those who send supplies that I can do this ministry.  I bring everything they use and I couldn't do it without you.  You are a blessing to many.

WASHI TAPE ~ HOMEMADE BY JENNIBELLIE

VINTAGE TAGS

"Life is like a bowl of cherries."

"Keep moving forward, don't look back."

"Live everyday up to your expectations, not others."

Jennibellie ~ Flowers from Scraps

These are the cutest flowers ever and you'll love how simple they are.  A great way to use up those scraps we always have so many left over.



And if you still need more flower making ideas then go to my Pinterest board called "Crafting Flowers" for lots more tutorials:  www.pinterest.com/coleenfranks

FABRIC POST CARD

Made this little pretty a while back.  Everything is done by hand, no machine.  The flowers are hand cut and glued as well from old jeans.  I had fun doing it, but it was the first and probably the last. My patience is not so good to stay with something like this for so long.  Hope you like it. Let me know what you think.  Your comments are always an encouragement.

JENNIBELLI ~ GOING GREEN ON PAINT SUPPLIES

This is so simple....one of those...well, of course but are you doing it?  I wasn't except with some small hand wipes.  Going big now.

NO SEW, NO GLUE FLOWERS

This is soooo easy you'll love it and you can use them in so many projects:

CARD MAKING IN UKRAINE

Cards from my ladies class in Borydyanka.  They are doing such lovely work.  If you want to see more click in the right panel for FranksUkraine blog as these are just a few.  I travel about 40 minutes every two weeks to be with them.  We alternate between cards and their prayer journals.  Soon we will have those all set up.  Thank you to all who send materials.  I couldn't do this ministry without you so you are a blessing to many.  Love and hugs, Coleen

Cards from Ukraine

I made these cards just playing around in my upstairs studio. The one in Russian says, "It is your choice," referring to Joshua 24:14c: "As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord." This has always been our family verse. It's not something that we just decided one day, but it came from years of living it, grateful for all God has done for us and thus giving back out of that gratefulness. We have been blessed beyond measure. Does that mean we haven't had troubles or been tested through various challenges? Of course we have, that is life on earth, but we chose to keep hearts of thanksgiving in all things because we know we are so loved. Zephenian 3:17 speaks of that love: "The Lord your God is in your midst," A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in his love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."

CARD CLASS IN UKRAINE

This coming Tuesday I will be doing a card class with Ukrainian ladies in a prayer group. I work with about 15 of them and we will do cards, but I will be teaching them techniques like on this card. In all of these classes I have the opportunity to share testimony with them, so I'd appreciate your prayers in this.

A GREAT MIXED-MEDIA IDEA

I like looking at tutorials around the net...and there are a lot of them out there, but once in a while I run across one that is good enough to repeat here. This one will get your imagination going. Enjoy and let me know what you think of it.

THE SOUND OF BIRDS BY CARLY SIMON

A little piece I did not too long ago. I love doing things with birds. One of God's marvelous creatures. This is a 3x5 inch "Skinny" as they call that size. The buttons are Mother-of-Pearl and the lace is vintage from my collection started back in the 60's. The little journal box says, "The sound of birds stops the noise in my mind" by Carly Simon. This little bird flew overseas.

HOW TO CREATE A ZINE

Tim Coffey Video - Christmas Cards from Cardboard Box

I love how this guy recycles everything and saves me money.