Gifts and Strengths

extracted from parentingbydesign.com

1 Corinthians 12:7, 18-19: But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good...  But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be?

God designed each of us for a particular purpose and He specifically gifted us to perform that purpose "for the common good". Yet we often want to choose our own design for our children and ourselves. Unfortunately that choice typically includes qualities and characteristics that are honored and esteemed by the world's system. That's not the way God works. God is the architect, and He knows how the pieces fit together.

Don't you think it would be more rewarding to submit to God's design and walk in His will than to struggle to be something you were not designed to be? "All are not apostles, are they?" (1 Cor 12:29).

Try a spiritual gifts inventory with your family. Then work together on ways to use those gifts "for the common good."

Going green

I like this linen fabric from Korea. Cheery detailed prints of circus animals in a row interlaced with pseudo-patchwork pieces in shades of green. I've not made a boxy pencil case for a while 'cos I'm picky about having concealed sewn edges and the method I'm using is tricky....but still, it was ok since I liked the print so much :-)

Even the interior is green, with polka dots :-) Super roomy to fit lots of stationery. What's with kids and large pencil cases these days? Aren't the books already so heavy?

Have a blessed evening!

Adding walnuts

Have you baked before? I've baked using premixes as well as measuring ingredients from scratch. Premixes are very convenient since the other stuff that you need to add are readily available as compared to, eg. blueberries. Water, oil and eggs for brownies. I like to add walnuts for a crunchy brownie but both DS and DD don't like. Can you imagine a tray of brownies, baked with one half having walnuts and the other without?
Made this book for myself to record the recipes of dishes I've cooked. Meant for DS and DD. While they can cook a meal if the raw stuff is prepared for them, they improvise when unsupervised. LOL!

My sis called me a karang guni when I started collecting boxes. I snagged this box from my niece one evening when she started baking brownies. See the food stain at the top right hand corner? LOL!

900gsm greyboard reinforced Fudge Brownies box. 9 signatures with variant number of folios giving lots and lots of pages. Bound using longstitch so I can keep the side of the brownie box intact.
What are you recording for your kids?
Have a blessed day!

Darkest before dawn

I'll be away these few days... be back soon!

Randomness

I'm wondering, if I Like my pic in this giveaway, do I get a chance to win this even if it's mine? Odd, right? The thing is, the randomness in the giveaway draws is done by http://www.random.org/. It's a really useful website that can randomnize (is there such a word?) lists or numbers and such.
What I do for each draw is build the list hours before the draw, taking from emails or facebook or from this blog, and build that list. I usually remove myself, DS and DD unless they specifically request to be in. With the list in the random.org site, I then click it a few times to see if it works. The nearest click to the agreed time will be the final one :-)
Anyway, on with the draw....this is a handbound A6 notebook. Fabric covered, hardcover, coptic-bound. Single needle over 7 holes. Some day I'll try the 4 needle method. Four signatures of paper from sustainable forests with coordinating fly leaves.
As usual, leave a comment here or Like the pic on facebook and wait till 30 July for the noon draw.
Have a blessed day!

Taking notes

I used to enjoy taking notes during lessons, writing in longhand with felt-tipped pens in various colours to highlight the different points. I doodled when I was distracted, or wrote almost verbatim when I wasn't. It was really fun then to fill up pages and pages of fullscap with notes. At that time, I drew more joy in having a stack of neatly written and colourful notes than having a complete set of notes for their contents. Of course, it helped during revision that I could read what I wrote.
If you're a student, I strongly encourage you to take notes. It helps with rentention of what the teacher has said and keeps you focused on the topic. You can even practice your handwriting, whether the speed or the neatness. You'll even get new friends who'll want to borrow your notes.

I've been busy the past week with these notebooks. All hardcover coptic bound notebooks with a mixture of white and coloured pages. You can't see it from this pic, but I like the book on top in bottom right pic. This group has pictures of patiserrie cakes that are so pretty, like a menu. Printed paper is from Tang's Art, if you're wondering.
Have a blessed day!

More promises

Remember these?
These are the last 2 from the fundraising for Japan Earthquake that happened on 11 March 2011. It's been a while, I know. I wonder how Japan is doing after 4 months?

The thing about these verses that I applique onto pouches or covers were printed overseas. What I did was collate the verses I wanted, choose the font, arrange the layout onto a jpg file and they would repeatedly print this on the fabric of my choice. The ones here were reinforced with iron-on interfacing. If I do get repeat prints, I'd probably choose a thicker material than quilting cotton. That said, since these are printed, they will withstand washing. It's not an iron-on so you can't scrape off the ink. I'm thinking, it's just like another polka dot :-)
Be blessed by these verses!
Have a happy weekend.
ps: as with any of my items that have the interfacing for added puffiness, please iron on low heat.