2010 Life Path Challenge

Today's topic brings up the issue of mothers. For some this is a very pleasant thought and for others not so pleasant. Either way there are things we did with our mothers just like with our fathers so here's a chance to document those things and to think about them in regard to your own family.

THINGS I ALWAYS DID WITH MY MOM WHEN I WAS LITTLE...

May this be a tribute to your mother and a legacy for your children by example. Don't forget to add your art work to the group Flickr page by clicking on the banner above. It will take you right there. Enjoy.

Old Church

A few weeks ago we traveled to Romania. On the return trip into Ukraine we stopped by to visit a couple missionaries in Oleksyntsi. This is an old church in the town. It was fun to explore and photograph.

Check out this Altered Scrapbook

Altered Book This was done by a friend of mine in California, Debi Devitt. She used an old book. Just click on the title to go to her link and then explore around Making Mini-Books.com.

A Bit of Fall Color from the Garden

2010 Life Path Challenge

One of the things that has come out of doing this weekly challenge is that it has been like a marker to me. Each week I am amazed at how fast they come back around. Such is our lives, they pass so quickly, in the blink of an eye. Another good reason to be documenting our lives with things like this challenge. We are making a legacy to leave for our children. They will know some of the more intimate aspects of our lives and how we felt and lived. Whether you are doing art or writing, be sure to express your emotions so others will know who you are inside.

THINGS I ALWAYS DID WITH MY DAD WHEN I WAS SMALL.....

May your week be blessed, Coleen

On the Way to Romania

Romania is a country to the south and slightly west of Ukraine. We took a trip there a couple weeks ago to meet my sister and her husband who flew in from California. These are some of the sights we saw along the way as we drove to meet them. It is a lovely country and we enjoyed time in their mountains. I'll post more in the future.

2010 Life Path Challenge

Some of us are better at expressing our emotions than others. Some of has have varying ways of expressing our emotions. That's what today's theme is about. Do it in art or do it in paper. Keep it private or share it.

SOME OF THE THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY ARE...

Enjoy, Coleen, see you next week.

A Find in Romania

While traveling in the eastern European country of Romania Jeff and I stopped in a mall to stretch our legs. I found this inside and was so amazed by it's beauty. It was part of a flower shop. The bottom picture is a detail. Unfortunately the mall was a bit dark so the photo doesn't do it justice, but I thought you'd enjoy seeing it anyway. Truly an amazing work of art.

Vintage Fun

I just wanted to show you a sampling of fun and beautiful pictures sent to me by my friend Lindy in America. It is so interesting to work with these old bits of history, memories of a time long ago when life was simpler. Maybe that is why the vintage style is so popular. There is a nostalgia for many things of the past as our world races away into an uncertain future. Thank you Lindy for sharing these with me.

Vintage Post Card

Not long ago I posted about a lost post card. This is what I did to replace it. This card is now on it's way to the Netherlands...in an envelope this time. I love the old photos and this is a fun one with twin boys. If you have any old photos you'd like to share with me by email I'd love to have more to work with. You can email me here: coleenfranks@gmail.com

Nature's Marvels

This lovely is from my back yard. I just always think these ferns are so interesting and beautiful. They also reproduce like crazy and I have to thin them every year. They like shade, but I also have them in the sun and they do well except for long dry periods. Just another example of God's imagination.

Blog Award

This little lovely was given to me by Roz at "Vintage Treasures." Just click on the title to go see her beautiful blog. If you like vintage at all, she has some of the prettiest work. Thank you Roz for this lovely award. I'm passing it on.

Lost in the Ether

This is a photo of a post card I sent to Francis in the Netherlands. Now, you'd think from Ukraine the Netherlands wouldn't be too hard a distance to travel, but alas, after a month Francis has not received it, so this one is for you Francis so you can see what I made. The next one will be entirely different as these were original images. Sometimes things just get lost (or swiped). Oh well!

Artist Trading Cards (ATCs)

Just sharing a little pretty I did not long ago. There are few rules to doing ATCs, but one of the them is that they are 2 1/2 x 3 12 inches and another is that they are always traded and never sold. So this one went off in the mail as a trade. My consolation when I send off art work is that I keep a photo.

One of my Favorite Pictures

I love being a missionary. I love living in Eastern Europe. I love working with the people and teaching them scrap booking and paper crafts, but oh do I miss America sometimes. And why you ask? No, it's not the culture, though I do miss the library and coffee at Barnes and Nobel. What I miss most of all is my two daughters and three grand babies. Above is Julia and Jordan. Not shown is their little brother Tripp. Someday, Lord willing, we may be back there to live, but for now it is just visiting now and then.

A Garden Pretty

The last of the day-lilies. Thought you might enjoy it's beauty. Fall leaves some things behind, but brings other things of beauty.

2010 Life Path Challenge

Ever notice how fast the weeks come around, how fast the month passes and soon the year? If you are a crafter, it's already time to be thinking about what to make for Christmas presents and get going. When making such things we think about those we love and how we'd like to honor them with our gift. So today's posting has to do with that.

WRITE ABOUT SOMEONE YOU DEARLY LOVE.

This could even end up being part of a Christmas present you give them. Or if you are crafting your way through this challenge...do something dedicated and expressive of your love for that person. What better gift to give someone we love than an expression of our love for them and their benefit in our lives. Have fun with it. Coleen

GIVEAWAY

CLICK ON THE TITLE ABOVE TO GO TO A LOVELY BLOG AND SEE THE "FREE STUFF GIVEAWAY." YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A FREE BOOK ON BEADING. AND YOU'LL ENJOY WHAT SHE DOES THERE. VERY CREATIVE.

Blog Award with a Cherry on Top

Just received this from a sweet friend in the U.K. You really need to go over and see her blog cuz it is just beautiful. If you like vintage style, she's the one to pattern after. Just click on the post title and it will take you right there. Tell her I said hi while you're there.

THE RULES FOR THIS AWARD ARE:-
1: THANK THE PERSON WHO GAVE IT TO YOU-THANKS Maisie Sparrow, you're a gem.
2:POST IT WITH PRIDE ON YOUR BLOG- This done and I am honored to receive it.
3: LIST 3 THINGS YOU LOVE ABOUT YOURSELF. Oh dear is right Roz, let's see....
1) I love that God made me one of his children...a joy and a hope for me.
2) I am grateful that I am a missioary and I love Ukraine (17th year).
3) I am glad for the ministry God has given me.
4: POST A PIC YOU LOVE - Ok, I'll have to look around. Do that in the next post.
5: TAG 5 PEOPLE FOR THIS AWARD.
1) Cassandra at http://www.theglitteredlily.blogspot.com/
2) Kelly at http://kellysartjournaling.blogspot.com/
more later...

Such a Blessing

I have been so blessed to have time this week to lead the ladies of our church in creating crafts during their widows camp. In the top photo you will see it is the Ukrainian tradition to stand while praying so as to give reverence to the Lord. They also cover their heads with scarves. It was a great time for all, but especially for me to be able to play with them in this way.

Vintage Style

Village of Hope Camp Crafts

These are some of our widow ladies meeting this week at the Village of Hope orphan camp for a time of fellowship and refreshment. I was asked to do crafts with them. Since the weather is still hot here, out of three choices, they chose to do fans and door hangers. I am so grateful for the ladies at First Baptist Church of Carthage, Texas who just sent a box of goodies that helps me to do this work. And these ladies are grateful as well and send their thanks. For more pictures on this event visit our missions blog: http://franksukraine.blogspot.com/ or click on the title.

2010 Life Path Challenge

Vintage is a style I love, I guess because I like the nostalgia of the old pictures. This tag was done with a business card I got in a restaurant in Kiev, Ukraine where we live. Since we are very limited in scrap book/crafting materials here, I use what I can find. This weeks question has to do with nostalgia as well.

Question:
What is your most precious childhood memory?

You may have never shared that thought with anyone before, but think how wonderful it would be for others to read something like this long after you and I are gone! Of course, the whole idea of doing this weekly exercise is to have a book or record of some sort filled with things that are precious. If you haven't been here before, please come play with us. Click on the Flickr banner above to see more of the art from this challenge and to download yours. Play once or play weekly. There are many that are writing this challenge as well. Blessings to you all, Coleen

What Lovlies I Received!

These lovelies are a swap I did with Roz from the U.K. The swap was for a 4x6" vintage card in bird theme. I'm altering a book in that theme so I have several lovely pieces to put in it from Roz. It was such a delight to receive her package as she did two pieces instead of one and tied them together with lace. Such a lovely presentation.
This is the back side and I love butterflies. The flower is cut from papers with lovely Christian sentiments. The great fun of swapping is seeing and learning from the techniques of others. Then I teach some of those same ideas to the ladies here in Ukraine when I do my card or scrapbooking classes.
Isn't this a pretty tag? I love the image and the sparkly letters. Roz did both sides so it is hard to decide which side to display at home. Just have to rotate. This was an extra from our swap. What a blessing of generosity.
This is another side of the tag. Here Roz did a glassy technique on the vintage picture. I'll have to get her secret. It was so pretty.

Even the letter I received had such a cute bird picture on it that I had to save that as well. Maybe it will go in my bird book.

Check it out

Daylilies

I had some of these in the garden, but they didn't do so well after a month of upper 30's Celsius (95-102F.) and no rain. Today we have cooled off and had our first rain in way too long. Thank you Lord for the rain.

2010 Life Path Challenge

For our question this week I have something that will bring to mind actual physical places, but on the other hand, you might not want to limit it to that. Think outside the box because there is more to this life than what we experience in the physical. Especially when it comes to artsy people. So our question this week is not really a question, but a statement.

PLACES I HAVE LOVED

Certainly be sure to think about those places you've loved, like homes or vacations and you might want to devote more than one page of art or writing to this, but places you have loved may also be places in your mind....like a creative mood. Keep open and remember, what you put into this is what you will have as a treasure later to share with family and friends. Enjoy. Coleen

Artist Trading Cards (ATCs)

I wanted to share with you these lovely little ATCs that came to me all the way from Indiana over the big pond to Ukraine from my friend Lindy. I promise you that they are lovlier in person as the camera doesn't really pick up the bling. And I love bling. I"m just a glitzy gal. It is always interesting how God disposes people to one another and this is an example. Thank you Lindy for your kindness and love.

Mini-Quilt

Sometimes I do swaps on Swap-bot.com. I often choose the swap based on something I want to learn from the process of what I am doing. This mini-quilt was one of those. I had a whole month in which to do it, but I kept putting it off. I felt confronted, but then that is why I did it. So I could get past that. In the end, I did it over a couple days and I was happy with the result. I handmade everything including the flowers. No sewing machine. I like working with fabric and want to do more. Hope you like it too.

Mean Guard Dogs

This is Gracie, our watch dog (on the left) and Samson, our real watch dog. Jeff just happened to catch them in a nice morning shot hanging around the front door. It's not hard to figure out what they were waiting for. Notice the hydrangea bush in the background. It has purple and pink blooms all on the same bush. Go figure!

Purple/Pink Hydrangea

I planted hydrangeas probably 10 years ago in our sandy soiled garden and only in the last three years have they finally started blooming. They stayed small for so long and if I really was a gardener I would have figured out to fertilize them or something to give them a boost. Of course we keep putting black soil into the sand every few years, but it doesn't take long before it seems to drop down and disappear. Nonetheless, God is gracious and I have lovely bushes now.

Architecture, Yerevan, Armenia

Somehow through osmosis, I'm sure, my dad instilled in me a love of architecture. I suppose it was his pointing things out and talking about them when I was a kid. In June we were in Armenia where my husband was awarded an honorary doctorate. It was my first time even though he's been working there since 1997. I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the buildings from around the city center.