Samaritan's Purse - Operation Christmas Child

I do have a strong belief that by giving to others, we in turn are blessed ourselves.  We may have to sacrifice something ourselves in order to do this - perhaps with our time, or our finances or the resources we have at our disposal, but it is so worth it when you see the difference it can make in the life on another person.  This is something I have aimed to teach my children over the years and it is something I would hope they take a real ownership of and when they are grown, carry it through into their adulthood.

I know that many, many people get involved with helping others and assisting with financial aid, there are so many worthy causes out there, and people too, which need out help. 

As a family, every year we choose to be involved with the Operation Christmas Child project which is run by Samaritan's Purse International Relief.    I love it because it is something which is more hands-on in a tangible sense and while it requires more effort, it also becomes something my children take on ownership for as a result.

Samaritan's Purse is a Christian relief and evangelism organization.  The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children around the world.  Take a look at their website to learn more about this wonderful project.

The concept is to share a gift with a child by filling a box with a variety of small gifts.  The box will then be collected and distributed to a needy child somewhere else in the world. 

Throughout the year we plan for this and we buy items to fill a shoe box sized box for a child.  We always include items to wear, items for personal hygene, school supplies, something to play with and something special for the child. 

We have a large family ourselves and I do budget very carefully, you have to these days with the cost of living being so high, so I have become very adept at shopping for items on sale.  I like to economize and stretch our money as much as I can, it is something I do for us as a family on a weekly basis.  So with the Christmas Boxes it is no different.  I buy all my stationery items when the back to school sales are on at the start of the year and then pack them away for when it is time to make up the boxes.  I watch for end of season clearances on clothing and footwear too.  By shopping this way, it takes the pressure off at this time of the year, both time-wise and also money-wise. 

We like to do quite a few boxes, it used to be one for each of our children to do themselves and has grown from that.  By buying items on sale I can buy more items, still spending what I initially would have if things weren't on sale, but getting a lot more for my money, which means we are able to make up more boxes to send to children overseas.

This is a great project for children to be involved with and I love that it is teaching my children to be generous and give to others in need.   

This is one of my girls and she has a particularly generous and caring nature, she loves being involved in Operation Christmas Child.

Our church is involved in this project and the school where my children go is also involved in this project and they usually have a team of staff and Year 12 students go overseas at the end of the year to help with the distribution of the Christmas boxes.  We have watched video coverage of a community of children receiving their boxes and it was so wonderful to see the joy and excitement on the faces of the children and when we looked at their surroundings, we could see that they literally had nothing.

Operation Christmas Child is something we count as a priviledge to be involved in. 

One really neat thing is that we are even able to track our boxes and find out which country they have been sent to.  Then we can look up on a world map and show the younger children in particular exactly where that country is, it just makes the whole experience more real for them.

Thank for letting me share about Operation Christmas Child with you.  If you like the look of this and have never heard of it, or would like to get involved for your own family, visit the website to learn more.  This is a huge operation around the world and I know that we are only like a drop in the ocean when it comes to the Christmas boxes we personally prepare, we play such a small part, but every little bit helps and makes a huge difference in the life of another little person somewhere else in the world.  For this reason, we are so grateful to be involved!

Loving Buttons

I don't know about you, but I have had quite an ongoing fascination with buttons and really enjoy working on craft projects where I can use some of my button collection.

If you look online you can find some amazing craft projects which incorporate the use of buttons.  Here are some of my favourites which I am wanting to make.  I've saved these all in my Pinterest account so that I can find the original websites easily enough when I go to make them.

Both of these ideas are great for Christmas Decorations

You can also turn buttons into attractive pieces of jewellery to wear

and I love this rainbow themed heart made from buttons

I have quite a large collection of buttons which has grown over the years, it incorporates everything from themed novelty buttons, Designer buttons and buttons in lots of different sizes and colours.

Novelty buttons are always fun to use - these sewing themed ones are great for anyone who loves sewing.

Beutron Buttons have great little bags of buttons you can buy, all with a particular theme - colours, novelty, etc.  It is usually much more economical to buy a bag like this instead of just a card holding a few buttons.

Pastel Collection

Bright Collection

I particularly love Designer Buttons - my all time favourites are Debbie Mumm Buttons and Mary Engelbreit Buttons.

A few of the Mary Engelbreit Designer Buttons

I do sell a few of these Designer buttons in my online stores here and here.

I have even had a few attempts at making my own buttons and these are definitely a lot of fun to do!

Handmade Button Babies

Handmade Garden Buttons

Recently when shopping in a homewares store I found these gorgeous glass jars.  They came home with me for the particular purpose of storing a few of my colour themed buttons on my desk.  I love theme!!  I can enjoy a bit of colour - which is always a source of inspiration for me.

If you know of any great button crafts - please share them - I would love to find more ideas for using buttons!

Paris, France - Quilt Fabrics

Trends come and go, as we all know, but one of the latest decorating trends which incoporates a travel theme, in particularly Paris and the Eiffel Tower, has been something I have quite taken a liking to.  My oldest daughter was the first one to develop a liking for anything with the Eiffel Tower on it and I guess that is what first got me noticing things in the stores.  Now I seem to see things everywhere I go.

This is a glass Eiffel Tower which my daughter found at our local Riot Art & Craft Store.  It was under $5 and we filled it with red decorative sand which is very inexpensive and available from most discount stores - it comes in lots of great colours.

 
When it comes to trends, what is something that excites the serious crafter/quilter?  Well it has to be quilt fabrics of course!  When ordering my last lot of quilting fabrics, I found a lovely selection of fabrics to choose from which all have a Paris theme and feature the Eiffel Tower.

To buy this fabric - click here

To buy this fabric - click here

To buy this fabric - click here

To buy this fabric - click here

Aren't these all gorgeous fabrics?  I think I love the last one the most, it is extremely pretty with the Eiffel Tower on a background of roses.  If you are interested in purchasing any of these fabrics, I have a very limited amount for sale in my store and you can click on the link below the fabric you like which will take you direct to the page you can purchase from.

I have a few projects in mind which I plan to use some of these fabrics on, but for now I am just enjoying looking at them sitting on my desk.

I was shopping at Spotlight recently and they have a lovely new selection of sewing baskets available and guess what I found

It even matches one of the fabrics I have listed here.  If you like this then you will need to head to a Spotlight store quickly, these are so nice that I am sure they will sell fast.  They came in red too.

I hope you are enjoying your day.  I am about to go pick up my children from school and am really looking forward to going out into the warm sunshine - I love the winter weather we have where I live, it really isn't cold at all during the day - for the most part it is really pleasant.  We are very blessed.

New Crafty Template

I was never quite settled on the look of my blog when I first set it up.  I did like it but I really hoped for something with more of a crafty look, something which also represented a style I loved.  I always feel that your creativity is an extension of who you are and my blog in it's own right is also a piece of who I am - so it makes sense that it represents me in some way.  Being a complete novice at all of this though meant my options were limited.  One thing I am learning is that blogging is definitely a learn as you go experience. 

Today I have been visiting many different websites with lots of different blog backgrounds and templates to choose from.  You seriously can spend hours doing this without even realizing it.  I was starting to feel like I really might have to find someone who can custom design something for me, but then I stumbled onto this website http://www.blogdesignsbydani.com/ and I found the answer to my problems. 

Dani had a template which I loved right away and best of all, it represented the crafy aspect I wanted to incorporate into the look of my blog.  She has great instructions to follow for people who are a novice, like me.  I have even learned how to change fonts, colours etc.  It's all very exciting!!

So welcome to my new look blog everyone . . . hope you like it!!

Laminate Fabric ~ Handmade Keyrings

I know I haven't been as regular with my blogging as I would like, don't you just wish life would slow down sometimes . . . but with the world we live in . . . that seems highly unlikely.

I have been able to sneak a little bit of craft and sewing into my days on the odd occassion and today I would love to share with you my latest project.

Recently on a trip to Spotlight I purchased some fabric with a difference - it has a laminate or plastic finish to it.  I have wanted to try making something with this for the longest time, but never found any fabrics in designs I really liked.  It was very exciting to find not only this type of fabric but also some lovely bright colours and styles, all of which I loved.  I did refrain and only bought a sampling of a few different ones - it is expensive and I wanted the chance to try it before I went to crazy with my shopping.

Here is what I bought ~

and ~

These colours and designs co-ordinate so well with many of my quilting fabrics - it was really quite exciting.  Something that can only be appreciated from one creative person to the next I'm sure!

Well this is what I have been making over the last week

. . . . . . Keyrings . . . . . . and I am loving them!!!!

I have been trying an amazing new stiffening product which I have used in the centres and these keyrings are very stiff and plastic coated, so they will be long wearing.  The thing I love about them is they are so pretty.

I have made a few for my Etsy Store.  If you have never visited before, please stop by for a visit and see some of the things I have enjoyed creating.

Now I'm off to enjoy the sunshine for a short time, it is a beautiful winter's day here . . . and have a cuppa with a good friend . . . perfect!!

Until next time, enjoy your crafting :)

Debbie Mumm - Quilt Designer Backgrounds

One of my all-time favourite designers in the world of quilting is Debbie Mumm.  I have loved her designs for many, many years and my home showcases quite a few of her designs which have been incorporated into homewares - teapots, dinnerware, cookie jars, books and fabrics in abundance.  Her designs have definitely inspired me over the years.

I was online visiting the Debbie Mumm Website today and checked out the latest assortment of desktop designs.  I was very excited to see that new ones have been added since I last checked them out.  Anyone who knows me, knows that my computer screen always has a Debbie Mumm design on it for the wallpaper background!

Check out some of these lovely designs!!

This next one has been my background for quite some time now

. . . up until today.  This is my new background.

I love that it reflects so much of what I like - quilting, pretty colours and lots of decorative bits and pieces.

I really like this one too . . . it inspires me to be creative just by looking at it.

This is only a small selection of the wonderful backgrounds available for your computer desktop from the Debbie Mumm Website.  Click on "desktops" and it will take you straight there.  There are simple instructions to follow for downloading, believe me - if I can do it, anyone can.  Best of all, they are free ~ Thank you Debbie Mumm!

While you are visiting the website take a look at all the free projects that are offered each month.  These projects are archived which means you can check out free projects from previous months too.  The assortment is huge, if you have never checked it out I would highly recommend it.  There are all types of craft, scrapbooking and quilting/sewing projects to keep you busy.

Here is one which caught my eye . . . a very handy sewing organizer which would be great hanging on the side of the sewing table.

Have fun visiting one of my favourite websites!

Medieval Costumes and Festival

I know that I have been missing from blogland for a few weeks, but with our mid year school holidays on, we have been keeping busy with lots of fun family activities and days catching up with friends.

One event which was a highlight for our children, was spending last weekend at the Abbey Medieval Festival.  We have some good family friends who go along to this festival every year and have told us so much about it and encouraged us to go with them.  So this year we decided we would go - it turns out that at least half of our city must have decided to go too - I had no idea it was such a huge event and so very popular!

The costumes were so amazing - and that is even an under-statement!  People really go all out for this festival with their costumes.  I was so impressed and regret not taking lots more photos.  It is worth going along just to see all the costumes.    

Our friends dress up, so we knew about the costumes ahead of time - but being our first time attending the festival, we had only planned to go as observers.  Famous last words!!

My son decided at the last minute that he wanted to dress up and we literally raced to the nearest store which sold fabric and with only 10 minutes to spare until closing time, made all our purchases in record time so that I could go home and spend Friday evening sewing something for him to wear.  It was only a very simple design and he was really pleased with it.  It was definitely worth the extra pressure I put myself under to see how happy it made him.

I had made up a medieval style dress for a school costume a few years ago for my oldest daughter, so it came in very handy for her younger sister to wear for the festival.

It was a fun and also very educational festival.  We enjoyed watching the various re-enactments, like the popular jousting tournaments.  If you look hard at the man on the field in the maroon top with the blonde hair, he was the visiting celebrity at the Medieval Festival for the day, Dr Chris Brown from the popular Channel 10 programme, Bondi Vet.

We learned many interesting facts from medieval times as we visited the various re-enactors and their encampments.  From making bread and cheeses, to learning about make-up.  The girls all loved the henna designs (like the lady is showing them) and they all ended up with their own hand designs courtesy of their oldest sister's artistic flair.

You can see I visited the more female orientated sessions - but of course I had my girls with me.  The boys all went off and did the things that interested them.   I think that was part of the fun part of going along with friends, we could split up and share the responsibility of the children and enjoy the day doing things that interested us all.  There was certainly a huge variety to choose from and even with two whole days there, we still missed out on some things.

The children all enjoyed the archery and we did come home with some safe replica sets of bows and arrows.

A highlight for my girls was definitely the gypsy encampment.  They loved the gypsy costumes and had fun making wooden dolls with the gypsies.

The other thing they really enjoyed was the gypsy dance workshop.  It was so unfortunate that this had to be cut short because it started to rain.  In the gypsy encampment there was always quite a lot of dancing and my youngest daughter, who loves to dance, was captivated by their movements and could mimick them quite well.  I can feel a gypsy costume coming on for the next medieval festival!!

It ended up being a fun weekend, and this statement comes to you from someone who really hasn't ever had much of a love or appreciation for medieval things - but in all honesty, we enjoyed it so much that I can see us all doing it again.  I will need to plan ahead - I have 12 months to work on costumes for eveyone!!