Finding great joy in finding out "I am satisfied".

Its been a month! WOO HOO! I started this whole blog thing as a way of accountability for staying close to my New Years Resolution.  I believe it is working. With one month under my belt I find a new sense of accomplishment. Am I the only one who seems to continually want more and more stuff to feed my creative side (or whatever You enjoy buying) and not really enjoy all the blessing God has shared with me. This will seem quite strange but in some ways I feel this recession has been a blessing. I believe I will never go back to feeling at liberty to keep adding to what I already do not have time to use.

At the very first entry of this blog I borrowed the words of Beth Moore, "we live in a culture motivated by one major goal-a little bit more. We have more than enough to live complicated lives, but less than enough to be contented".

I say all this as a new thrill has happened with this Resolution, and that is a real joy in being satisfied and content. Sounds simple but I believe in this age of being bombarded with advertising telling us we are not satisfied until we have whatever new product or thing they have to offer. I believe being satisfied doesn't just happen it is a mental choice we make.

The hunt through my workshop has led me to understand that there is more than enough hidden treasures here to feed my need for new ideas and technique to keep me busy for a year or two and then I will have forgot the first treasures I found and need to start all over again and they will again be hidden treasures again. It will be a never ending game. So for some of the fun I have been having this cold weekend.

 

I often do a card and then leave the sentiments for later. That way I can make it a thank you, birthday, or even symphony card when I choose to use it.  This was done with melting crayons. This is fast and a bunch of fun. I take a warming plate (you can use a old skillet on the stove set on low) and just start scribing on it as the crayon melts. You will want to make sure there is a lot of color on the plate. I don't intermix the colors too much and I just love the metallic crayons. I then pick up a card (I used blank index cards) and just swipe one side and then the other side of the card. At times I will re-swipe them if they didn't cover well. The best plan is to have a lot of index cards handy and just keep coloring and playing.  I plan to do some more and cut letters off  of it. Oh I forgot to admit to trying to talk little kids out of their metallic crayon which wasn't to hard because they usually don't like coloring with them.

 

This was just a fun card using some of my huge amount of scrap paper and a stamp set I haven't seen in a while. 

 

Now this is something new, yes new, sorry but it is a tinplate that you can cut these delicate looking flowers out. I don't think I have ever gotten over the fun I had as a girl playing with paper dolls and cutting them out.

The next few pictures were ones I played with in on of my photo editing programs as I get ready to do some fun mini scrapbooks for a few gifts. I love play with pictures in this way. The first was one taken from my camera as mom and I were rafting, yep rafting the mighty Colorado river. I don't know why I thought the little spots I add were so much fun but I liked it when finished. The second picture is a beautiful trillium I saw when wildflower hunting at Turkey Run State Park. I then add the outer mat of soft brown.

Ok, this was a fun day and I hope you have a blessed day. Keep Warm

Kat