A Surprising life...

     Being born again of the Spirit is an unmistakeable work of God, as mysterious as the wind, as surprising as God Himself. We do not know where it begins, it is hidden away in the depths of our personal life. Being born again from above is a perennial, perpetual and eternal beginning; a freshness all the time in thinking and in talking and in living, the continual surprise of the life of God.

From My Utmost for His highest  by Oswald Chambers

God is constantly surprising me as I express, invest and pour out my love to Him.

More Mini Scrapbooks!

       Well happy Sunday to you! We didn't get the ice they were promising....YAY! Sometimes I just love when those forecasters are wrong. Wouldn't you love to make a living off being correct as infrequently as they are?

      As promised, here is a sampling of the way too cute mini chipboard scrapbook albums I have been working on. And by working I mean playing :)

Pretty darn cute if I do say so myself!

And super fast. What a great baby shower gift! All the new mommy has to do is pick her favorite photos and put them in with some special words and memories on the tags or journal spaces. Lots of pockets and ribbons and one of a kind beading. love it!

And....just because I can't resist, here is a shot of me and my little Boo. 

     Have a day full of love.

New creations to make us smile

     So, I have a new love. 

Oh, wait...he's my baby love but not my new love. But doesn't that photo make you smile?! He is a 2012 creation, just not mine :)

Here are a few samples of my new "love to create". And they make me smile. Hope they make you smile as well. They are chipboard mini albums. I started with some of the free chipboard that comes as backing to some of the Stampin' Up! Designer Series Papers and also the white backboards that many DSP packs have. Cut them to size, used some of the sets of paper and die cut stickers off of SU's clearance rack and added my own special touches and voila!

 Glitter paper, embossed cardstock, cute tags and pockets for journaling and lots of space to include your pix! Fun and easy- and a beautiful way to show off your favorite photos!

Later I'll show you some baby mini albums I made. Too cute! 

And if you want to check out the latest on Stampin' Up's clearance rack or their new spring mini catalog

just click the link below!

www.janebuchanan.stampinup.net

A step in the right direction

     Well here I go moving forward already in 2013. Today I took a medical-surgical certification exam and .....PASSED! Yes! Sweet success!

     What does that mean? I am now a board certified RN with a med/surg specialty. It means a small raise and it's nationally recognized by ANCC. But one of the best things it means to me is that I can still study, learn and pass a really difficult exam! No, my brain is not yet dead. Hurray!

     One more step in the right direction. One more reason to be grateful!

     Thank you, Lord for creating me with a determined spirit, a desire to grow, a willingness to change and the ability to focus. Now keep my heart kind, compassionate and caring and my hands competent, creative and capable.

Focus!

     Tis the new year. Resolutions? Hmmmm. Focus.

     On the positive. On what is true and lovely and pure and kind. On the beauty and hope in life. On what there is to gain by new beginnings.

     Have you seen the commercial that talks about gaining in the new year instead of losing? I love that commercial. It shows people at the beginning of the commercial talking about their weight and losing weight seems to be the focus. Then they switch to people responding to what they want to gain in the new year.

     For me? Hope, Joy, Love, Creativity, Perspective. and Focus.

     What do you hope to gain in the new year? 

And here is that painting I promised. My extremely talented daughter in law, Brooke, painted this from the photo I shared in an earlier blog post. This brought tears the second I saw it. For many reasons, but I think mainly because I had mentioned that this was one of my favorite photos with my grandson and Brooke heard me and put time and effort into creating this for me. And it is so GOOD! 

Thank you, Brookie!

And thank you little baby for bringing sweet joy to my life.