Reconnecting with an old lover...

For the past six months or so I began again doing something that I discovered when I was around 10 years old. I became an avid reader!! yes, my old lover is my love of books. When I was a child I really liked the adventure and mystery books. As a teenager who did not know the Lord Jesus, I got caught into the teen romance novels and vampire fiction books. As an young adult, I loved psychology and human behavior focused books. During a time of intense search for God, I became a bit mystic and I read a lot on New Age books, and the life of the saints. As a newborn Christian I read the Bible and books on the Bible, books on the life of Jesus, on the Christian walk, marriage and the purpose of life.

Recently I have been reading on Christians personal accounts on their life struggles.  Gayle's book really touched my heart. I am a firm believer that marriage is a covenant relationship. That basically means that we share the joys and failures of each other. We don't give up on each other but we strife to stay together and uphold each other in the day of victory and the day of shame. I strongly recommend her book because her life lessons go beyond homosexuality, in fact, it has more to do with forgiveness, restoration and faith than anything else.

One of the amazing surprises in the book is how Gayle shares of  how God is listening to our daily prayers and in the most unexpected ways He answers them. 

I will, in future posts, share other books that have recently impacted my life.

Now, as a Mom of 4 homeschooled children, reading can be a challenge. I love to curl up with a good book and read for hours on end. When the opportunity presents itself and the book is really good, I am known to sit and read and only get up when the book is finished. It's a sad moment for me, indeed, when the last page is finally read!

So you can imagine, homeschooling 4 children, nursing one and running a household, how and when does a Mom read?

Well... here is my confession.... I read while:

1) in the bathroom... sometimes I forget I am still there after 10-15 minutes. Usually the screaming of the children brings me back to reality;
2) in bed while nursing and putting a baby to sleep. I wait until the baby is sleeping and then pull the book from under the pillow and read until she lets go of the breast and I can get up;
3) in the car. When we go on trips, I always carry one or 2 books I am currently reading. My husband drives the van, the children sit back and enjoy an audiobook or music CD and I read! :)
4) at home, when everyone is busy doing something but the house is peaceful and I need a break. I let the laundry slide, we buy carry out for dinner and I read.
5) 2 or more books at once. That's right! I read many books at once. I usually grab what I am yearning for at that moment. Reading more than one book keeps me reading even if that one book is kind of dragging at the moment, or the subject is no longer interesting to me. That way I can always come back to that book if it appeals to me again.

I have found that reading has helped me relax and reconnect with my God. Many at times, the Lord will minister to me while I am reading a book. He will reveal to me the solutions to issues with the children or situations at our home. He will speak to me in the most personal and profound way.

For me to read a book is so very personal. It's an intimate thing to uncover someone's thoughts and perspective of life. I see authors as brave people that put their thoughts in black ink on white pages. My childhood dream is to become a writer. I have a long way to go, but maybe someday. :)

Do you like to read? How do you make time for it in your busy life? What book has recently impacted you?


I have some amazing books I have recently read FOR SALE here.

Be blessed,

Tereza

And the winner is....

Cheryl!!!

Go check her out and congratulate her! 

Last weekend I blog hopped with OperationWriteHome and I offered some BLOG CANDY.>>>>>>>>

After 125 entries, I used random.org to select the winner and # 34 was selected. So Cheryl, please email me with your address and I will send you some vintage goodness.

More coming soon. :)

Be blessed,

Tereza

Thrifty Thursday: storage for my ribbons!!

**** This is a re-post from my other blog that has been put on hold*****

Check out the BLOG CANDY on the side bar!!!

The other day I was trying to organize my craft room. It used to be my dining room now it is our library/ craft room/ study room. 

I needed a place to store my ribbons. I have so many spools and I thought maybe I could hang a rod on the wall and store them there. My DH (he is wonderful) made a big fuss about making holes on the wall and what rod to get and blah blah blah.


I realized it was going to be a big problem and I would have to wait a while before I got my storage solution. So... I just put my brain to work and came up with this.





I used an old bulky piece of Styrofoam I had in my closet where I store my boxes and shipping supplies. I covered it with a piece of fabric and stuck some bamboo kabob sticks in it. Then I organized my spools by type and size. To finish it up I covered it up with another piece of fabric to keep it safe from the dust.

There is a saying in Brazil that says "If you don't have a dog to hunt with, you hunt with a cat." Can you translate that into an English saying??

Now, it may not look the best but it solved my storage problem. :) Hey, the day my studio looks like something out of a magazine, it will probably BE in a magazine. LOL

Next week, I will try to share some photos of my Studio. You can see my all finished up and messy "studio" HERE.  You might remember my husband made me a new table. You can see the Before pictures here.

How do you store your ribbons??? Thanks for stopping by,
Tereza

Melissa Frances Blog Candy anyone???

I have a new Page entitled BLOG CANDY and it is on the top right of my blog.......>>>>>>>>>>>>

Blog Candy winner will be announced on March 12th...so go check out the page and see what you need to do to win some awesome vintage sweetness. :)

Be blessed,

Tereza

Reading list of February 2011

Because we read so much and we have many children I decided to keep a list of the books we read monthly. This way I can have a reference list for future use.

Below are most of the books we read during the month of February 2011. This list contains the books we checked out in our library.  Reading level varies and some were Read Alouds but most of them DD8 read by herself. She is the only one already reading. Wyzard or I read to the children.

There are many different themes covered here. Some books were used to cover Science, History, Biographies, Geography and more.

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman, Caroline Binch 
It's Valentine's Day by Jack Prelutsky
Noodle by Munro Leaf
Mouse's first valentine

I'm Going to Grandma's

The End by David LaRochelle, Richard Egielski
Love You When You Whine

Penny Loves Pink
Are You Quite Polite?: Silly Dilly Manners Songs

Bread and Jam for Frances Big Book [BREAD & JAM FOR FRANCES BIG BK]

Bright Eyes and the Buffalo Hunt (Books for Students By Students)
 You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together
Inventions by James Robinson
Ponyella
Do I have bendy bones? (Ask me why)

Madeline at the White House
Music in Me
Simms Taback's Great Big Book of Spacey, Snakey, Buggy Riddles
The Friday Nights of Nana
Half A World Away
Police Officers on Patrol

And that was everything we read, besides Bible stories and many books we already owned.

Would you like to share your favorite books? Or the books you use to homeschool your children?

I am already compiling the Reading List for March and there are some really fun books in it, so be sure to check back next month.

Blessings,

Tereza

Operation Write Home Blog Hop

Hi everyone,

Today I am blog hopping with the awesome card makers that send their handmade cards to Operation Write Home. If you haven't come from the blog hop you might want to start HERE.

I have lots to share so make sure you go all the way to the end of this post. BLOG CANDY is at the end of the post.

I want to share with you a bit how I create my cards. Yesterday, it went like this....

I was reading the Country Living magazine of this month and saw the  photo of a hallway with a staircase and a dresser that had flowers for knobs. (picture on the right) The wall color was a beautiful guava rose and there were white flowers and black and white and stripes... I had to put the magazine down and run to my craft table and make a card. The inspiration juice was dripping off me as I found the guava cardstock and cut it into 3 cards and then found my white flowers. Then I quickly searched for something to make the yellow centers... Ah-ha!! 3D yellow paint. The scraps of striped black and white papers were easy to use - they were just laying around on my messy table. So here is the result of such great inspiration...

Have we inspired you enough to make a few cards and send them on to our Heroes?? I hope so. :) The next deadlines are:
March 18th for Easter cards
March 31st for Mother's Day cards

If you need some more encouragement be sure to check out my videos and some tutorials on my YOuTube channel. :)  Also check out OperationWRiteHome Ustream videos...they are so much fun and you get to meet Sandy the lady who began all this!!!!

Make sure you hop over to Misty to see what Springy creation she has come up with. :)









And above the BLOG CANDY... Every comment will be entered to win, if you follow me you get an EXTRA chance to win, and if you sign up for my newsletter you get ANOTHER chance... so there is up to 3 chances to win this awesome vintage kit... Melissa Frances papers, handmade embellishments, Prima roses, a Sarah Kay stamp, ribbons, laces, wrinkled baby pink seam binding, manila tags, raw chipboards, doiliesand even some Papertreyink cardstock for you to get started making cards. The winner will be announced on March 12. So you have a whole week to come back here and enter for more than one chance to win.

I have used these gorgeous papers to create my last vintage chipboard album. Go check it out!!!

Have fun this weekend blog hopping and be blessed,
Tereza

Hot pink and classic black and white Bridal cards

 This beautiful custom order is going

all the way to Australia.

These to your right are personalized

cards going to the Mother of the Bride and her to be in-laws.

What a sweet thoughtful way to express a bride's feelings!

The Bride is also giving cards to her Bridesmaids expressing her thankfulness for their help and support during her wedding preparations.

The Bride requested the cards be made slightly different so each one is unique.

The inside of the cards can be blank or contain a personalized and customized poem or message.

Blessings,

Tereza