Nothing to Fear

On the Eve of a New Year,
we pause to reflect.
We remember the Goodness of
our Great God.
We look back on *good* days
and *bad*.

And through it all...
we know the Hand of the
LORD is upon us.
Guiding our moments.
Guiding our days.
Leading us ever to Himself.

Where will HE take us
in 2012?

Nothing to fear.
Only hope.

We fix our eyes on HIM!

Whether this coming year
holds joys or sorrows,
we trust.
The LORD truly
does ALL things well!

May the LORD bless each
one of you in the coming year
with HIS peace and presence.
May you know HIS hand upon you.
And HIS joy within.

"The LORD bless thee,
and keep thee:
The LORD make his face
shine upon thee,
and be gracious unto thee:
The LORD lift up his
countenance upon thee,
and give thee peace."
~ Numbers 6:24-26 ~

In HIS Love,
Camille

**Photo courtesy of Emma ~
Thank you my little love! xo

Of Transfusions, Prednisone and Resting

It was a shock.

Our child with
Crohn's Disease needed blood.
Two units of packed cells.
Just to get him out
of the critical zone.

Frightening?

A little.

No.

A LOT.

After about 10 months of only
using natural means
to treat this disease,
he needed a boost.

Two things.
One was the transfusion.
The other was a pharmaceutical.

Prednisone is currently
the drug of choice.

Not the route
we wanted to take.
But, the one
that made the most sense.

For now.
And only for a very
short period of time.

The LORD willing.

We continue to use
supplements and diet
to manage this disease.
It all seems to be working.

God is Good.
All the time.


Through it all we pray.
We trust.
We lean on the LORD.
We rest.

What else can we do?

Nothing.

And sometimes,
that is the point.

The place where we need to be.
Completely and utterly
dependent on HIM.

The book of Job is such a comfort.
Job's reactions through
all of his suffering
were upright and godly.
He was beyond reproach.

We, of course, are not.

But, we serve the same God.
Job's God is my God.
How WONDERFUL
that thought is!

We continue to trust that the
LORD does all things well.
That HE makes no mistakes.

We look to HIM
each step of this journey.
We know HE is in control.
HIS ways are perfect.

We rest.


If you find yourself
in a difficult place,
do not despair.
The LORD never gives us
more than we can bear.
With HIM.

"For I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, saith the LORD,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil,
to give you an expected end."
~ Jeremiah 29:11 ~

Look to HIM.
Rest in HIM.
Pray.

Many Blessings to each of you,
Camille

**Photos in this post courtesy of
our precious Emma ~ Thank you! xo

Winners, winners, winners (part 2)

Here I am again with more winners.  Last night we announced the challenge winners and top 3 picks.  Tonight we have all the blog hop candy winners.

Stop 1 (Jen) was sponsored by

The prize of 3 images was won by #14 - Mary J. Congratulations, Mary, click on the badge above to have a look at Digital Delights and then email your 3 choices on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk.

Stop 2 (Patricia) was sponsored by

The prize of 3 images was won by #22 - Rose. Congratulations, Rose, click on the badge above to have a look at Fresh Brewed Designs and then email your 3 choices on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk.

Stop 3 (Shirley) was sponsored by

The prize of 4 images was won by Marianne. Congratulations, Marianne, click on the badge above to have a look at Karen's Doodles and then email your 4 choices on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk.

Stop 4 (Me) was sponsored by

The prize of a $10 gift voucher was won by #12 - Lorraine.  Congratulations, Lorraine, let me know your email address and I'll pass it on to the sponsor.

Stop 5 (Sandra) was sponsored by

The prize of 4 images was won by #17 - Dora. Congratulations, Dora, click on the badge above to have a look at Kenny K and then email your 4 choices on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk.

Stop 6 (Tracy) was sponsored by

The prize of 4 images was won by #18 - Rose. Congratulations, Rose, click on the badge above to have a look at Meljen's Designs and then email your 4 choices to nicole.anderson@insightbb.com

Stop 7 (Alan) was sponsored by

The prize of 3 images was won by Debbie. Congratulations, Debbie, click on the badge above to have a look at Hope Jacare and then email your 3 choices on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk.

Stop 8 (Mandy) was sponsored by

The prize of 7 images was won by Mags.  Congratulations, Mags, click on the badge above to have a look at Bugaboo Stamps and then email your 7 choices on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk

Stop 9 (Michelle) was sponsored by

The prize of £10 gift voucher was won by #23 - LeAnne.  Congratulations, LeAnne,  let me know your email address and I'll pass it on to the sponsor.

So that's all the winners announced, thanks for your patience.

Before I finish, I want to say thankyou to all our followers and participants, to the Design Team for their hard work and to all our wonderful sponsors.  Without you all this challenge blog would fail and I appreciate you all for being there.  Merry Christmas to you all and we'll be back with a challenge on 2 January 2012.

Winners, winners, winners

This is my favourite post of the year - announcing all the winners from our bloghop and challenges.  So here goes...

Challenge 23 sponsored by

The prize of 3 digis was won by #125 - Kate. Congratulations Kate, let me know your email address and I'll pass it on to the sponsor.

The top 3 for this challenge was

22 - Rachel

58 - Cheryl

121 - Scrappy

Well done everyone, grab your top 3 badge from our sidebar and add it to your own.

Challenge 24 sponsored by 

The prize of a $10 gift certificate was won by #1 - Ane Lene.  Congratulations Ane, let me know your email address and I'll pass it on to the sponsor.

The top 3 for this challenge was

3 - Maggie

4 - Berit Synnove

31 - Linda Dekker

Well done everyone, grab your top 3 badge from our sidebar and add it to your own.

Challenge 25

Prize 1 sponsored by

The prize of a 12 pack of promarkers was won by #17 - Lyn.  Congratulations Lyn, drop me an email on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk with your full name and address and I'll get your prize out to you.

Prize 2 sponsored by

The prize of 5 digis was won by #30 - Lynne in NI. Congratulations Lynne, click on the badge above to have a look at The Stamping Boutique and then email your 5 choices on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk.

Bloghop sponsored by

The prize of a $20 gift certificate was won by #10 - Berit Synnove.  Congratulations Berit, let me know your email address and I'll pass it on to the sponsor.

The top 3 for this week was

6 - Renata

15 - Nicky

22 - Simone

Well done everyone, grab your top 3 badge from our sidebar and add it to your own.

It's getting late so I'm going to leave it there for tonight.  Tune in tomorrow for winners (Part 2) with all our bloghop candies.

We've Been Around the World... and Back!

They are finished...and they are PRECIOUS!  {Just sayin'.}  Look at this great example of our finished scrapbooks:

My sweet student teacher copied all of these books for me in full color--for FREE!  I am so grateful!  (Thanks, Mrs. Wideman!)  She also took the time to put all of them in page protectors and tie them with curly ribbon!  Cute, cute, cute!!!

First, we visited Mexico and broke open a piñata!  One little friend almost hit me with the piñata stick!  Kinda scary, and pretty hilarious!  I think I will remember that day the most.  The piñata didn't break open when it hit the ground--so you better believe those first graders ripped that colorful paper donkey to SHREDS! Seriously, there were pieces of it everywhere!  HA!

 Our next stop took us to France.  We sampled Yule Logs {Swiss Cake Rolls}--which they thought Mrs. Wideman and I made ourselves, and we sort of let them believe it!  It wasn't until snack time about a week or so later that someone brought some Swiss Cake Rolls and they had us figured out.  Oh well!  We also took a little trip to the very top of the Eiffel Tower!  We visited The Leaning Tower of Pisa (and learned that it really is NOT the Leaning Tower of PIZZA). Then we went over to the Colosseum and learned that they used to have some great battles there!  We read the story of Old Befana, and drew pictures of her and her broomstick. She sure did love to sweep!

 In Sweden, we learned that they have a Christmas gnome named the Tomte, and he delivers gifts in a sleigh pulled by goats!  How interesting--and strange!  In England, we learned about the Christmas Cracker tradition, and even got our own pieces of Evergreen tree!  Long ago, people believed that Evergreens were magical!  Neat!  We even got a coin to keep from the Plum Pudding!  

 We had a special visitor come talk to us about Christmas in Germany.  She brought real artifacts from her childhood Christmas celebrations in Germany!  We sampled real gingerbread and German candy!  YUM.  We made paper gingerbread guys and girls too!  After flying all around the world on Christmas Airlines, our Passport books were finally full!  We have a flag stamp from every country!

We also learned how to say Santa Claus in 6 other languages!  I think our favorite was "Babbo Natale".  {Say it with a fake Italian accent--super fun.} 

Whew!  This teacher is exhausted from the huge journey--but I wouldn't trade it for the world!  We had a blast, and I hope this is something my students will remember (and keep) forever!!  

{If you would like to still purchase a copy of my Christmas Around the World  Scrapbook, it will be ON SALE in my TpT store tomorrow!  20% off!  Woot! Who loves a bargain?!  It may be a little late to use this year, but save it for next year.  You'll be SO happy you did.} 

Blog hop - a roaring success

Thanks to all of you who joined in our anniversary celebration.  We really hope you enjoyed it.  All the winners have been drawn and will be posted tomorrow night along with top 3 picks.

In the meantime a big thank you to all our sponsors, without whom we wouldn't have a challenge blog, and to the wonderful design team who are having a well earned break.  The next challenge will be 2 January 2012.

Bye for now xxx

How Wonderful!

How wonderful it is that
we have a season set aside to
celebrate the birth of our
Precious Saviour.

How wonderful it is
that this is a time when the
world seems more open to
hearing about HIM.

What is this season all about?
The gifts?

Or...
The GIFT?

We have enjoyed
celebrating Advent
together most evenings in our home.
Oh, what a precious time this is!
Oh, how the TRUTH comes out and the
Saviour is exalted!

PRECIOUS!

We aim to keep Christmas time
as stress free as possible,
and we seek to focus on the REAL
reason for it all.

Yes, we do have a tree.
Yes, we do give gifts.
But, we strive to keep it simple.
We seek to continually direct our attention
to the LORD and focus on the reason
for which HE came!

It all leads us to the Cross.
The purpose for HIS incarnation.
Salvation.

HE did not stay in the manger.
HE grew into a man.
HE lived the perfect life that
we could never live.
HE died to pay the penalty for the
sins of HIS people.
HE rose again,
conquering death and Satan.
HE lives!

Are you one of HIS?
If not, there could not be a better time
to turn to HIM for Salvation.
Today is the day!
There may not be a tomorrow.

Above all else,
whatever you do in this life,
the MOST important of all is that you
make sure you belong to HIM!

THAT's what CHRISTmas is all about!

May the LORD
bless each and every one of you
this Christmas and
throughout the coming year.

I am taking a blogging break
for a few weeks.
I will look forward to catching
up with you all when I am
back online.

Merry Christmas!

In HIS Love,
Camille

A Christmas Eve Tradition

Every Christmas Eve we
have dinner by the fire.

Ever since the children were little.

It began with just
Devon Cream Tea on the menu.

And now...
it includes all this!!

As the children grew
there was a need for more
and more and MORE food!

We do a full-blown appies spread.
It's dinner.

What's on the menu?

Layer Dip for Nacho Chips.
(Recipe to follow)

Red Pepper Jelly on
a brick of Cream Cheese
served with Rice Crackers.

Store-bought Sausage Rolls
with Dijon Mustard.

Mandarin Oranges.

Hot Apple Cider.

And of course...
Devon Cream Tea!
(See recipe below)

~ Gina's Layer Dip ~

8oz Pkg Cream Cheese (softened)
1/2 Cup Sour Cream

Mix together and spread into
a 9" glass pie dish.

Spread a layer of salsa over this.
Sprinkle with grated Cheddar.
Chop some green onions and tomatoes
and sprinkle over the cheese layer.

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Serve with Unseasoned Nacho Chips.

SO easy and SO good!

~ Devon Cream Tea ~

Purchase some
REAL Devon Cream.
Straight from England.
Click Here
to view the brand I buy.

U.N.B.E.L.I.E.V.E.A.B.L.E.

Really...
it is actually
SCARY how good it is! :)

Once you have some of the
good stuff on hand,
you just need to whip up a batch of
Rich Scones.

Recipe taken from
Company's Coming
"Muffins and More"
by Jean Pare (a Canadian!).

~ Rich Scones ~

2 Cups All purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 Cup Butter, cold
1 Egg
2/3 Cup Milk

Mix together all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Cut in butter until crumbly.
Mix together egg and milk in small bowl.
Stir wet ingredients into flour mixture and mix quickly with a fork.
Pat into a rectangle on your counter.
Be careful to not over-mix!
Cut into triangles or circles.
Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Bake at 425 degrees F for about 15 minutes until golden.

Cool on cooling racks.

Once cooled,
serve your split open scone
with the cream and some
fresh strawberry preserves on top.
And be prepared...
this may become a new tradition!

What special family traditions
do you revisit each year at Christmas-time?
Please share in the comments of this post.
I would love to read about them!

Many Christmas Blessings
to each and every one of you!
With Love,
Camille

A Few Ideas...

In a baking slump?
Need ideas?

Here are a few of our favourites.

Apple Tart

Absolutely the BEST
Cinnamon Buns ~
A Christmas Morning Tradition!

Whipped Shortbread ~
If I only bake one thing...it's these!

Click Here
to get to a post from
last year...
if you need a little
encouragement in the
gift-giving department.

Be encouraged!
It's not all about the amount
spent or on the trappings of the Season.

It really is all about
the LORD Jesus Christ.

Let's prepare our hearts for HIM!

Many Blessings,
Camille

2011 Bloghop

So here I am, scheduling our 2nd Anniversary blog hop.  I'm always very nervous about these things, hopefully there are no hiccups.  This is a first time for some of us, so please bear with us.

There's a lot to get through this week so please bear with me and such a long post.  Our theme this week is the number '2' since we're two years old.  You can interpret this however you like, be it by making two cards, a 2 year-old's birthday card, a twinset (card & gift), it's up to you.  In keeping with the theme we have two prizes:

Prize 1

A set of 12 Promarkers from Letraset

ProMarkers are made by Letraset and are a twin tipped, dye based alcohol marker offering a high quality product at a great price. Avilable in 148 colours, they give incredible tonal range and can be applied to a diverse range of materials, not just paper and card. ProMarkers produce vivid, bright colours right through to the subtlest pastel shades - the translucent inks can also be overlaid and blended, even further extending the range of shades and hues on offer. ProMarker's quality nibs and inks provide flawless colour lay down with consistent coverage and no unsightly streaking.

Prize 2

5 Digi Images from Stamping Boutique

I'm Tracey Malnofski, the artist and owner of The Stamping Boutique. My team and I are very happy to sponsor Cards for Men. My store has been open since September 2009.I am currently a stamp artist for UnityStampCo. and I've worked for InStyleStamps, Squigglefly, and TheDigiShack in the past. I'm a professional artist and an active member of the Artist' Guild in my community. I have quite a busy household with a husband, 3 teenagers, 5 mini-dachshunds and an Appaloosa mare. It's noisy, but I love them all. I'm truly blessed.

"The Stamping Boutique" is dedicated to quality products and original artwork. We not only provide wonderful digital images in our store, but also several lines of red rubber images. Our designers are chosen for their character and personality,as well as, their beautiful designs. We work hard to give you our very best.

Two wonderful prizes there, I'm sure you'll agree.  Our Design Team have been busy working to give you some inspiration and here's what they've come up with:

Jen

Shirley

Sandra

Tracy

Patricia

Michelle

ALAN

Mandy

Donna

Aren't they fab?  The usual rules apply:

1. Your card(s) must be suitable for a man/boy

2. It must be new for the challenge

3. It must follow the theme set.

Both challenges will close at midnight (GMT) on 18 December 2010 and winners will be chosen at Random on the 19th.  Leave your name and a direct link to your entry (not just to your blog) below.  If the link tools are not there for some reason, then please leave details in the comments and I'll add you in before I do the draw.

Now for our second event, the anniversary blog hop.  The hop has 9 stops and at each stop you'll get a word.  When you have finished you should have 9 words which can be re-arranged to make a festive phrase.  You'll need to come back to this post and leave your phrase in the comments.  I've turned the review function back on for this challenge so your comments wont be visible until the end of the hop.  I'd like it if you can post about us on your own blog but it's not a requirement for entry, just a request.

The full list of stops are here, so if at any point you get lost or you find a broken link, come back here and check it out.

Stop 1 - Jen - http://thetinybluebutterfly.blogspot.com
Stop 2 - Patricia - http://rubberstampingismygame.blogspot.com
Stop 3 - Shirley -  http://nannieflash.blogspot.com
Stop 4 - Donna (me) - http://donnasdenofcrafts.blogspot.com
Stop 5 - Sandra - http://sandra-mummy-of-one.blogspot.com
Stop 6 - Tracy - http://ahintofmagnolia.blogspot.com
Stop 7 - Alan - http://wwwaswcrafting.blogspot.com
Stop 8 - Mandy - http://craftyfoxcards.blogspot.com
Stop 9 - Michelle - http://1krazeemama.blogspot.com

Along the way, you'll find each stop has a candy to give away which has been provided by a selection of our wonderful sponsors.  Leave a comment at each stop to be in with a chance of winning their prize.  At the end of the hop we'll choose a random winner who will get a $20 gift voucher to spend at Peach Keen Stamps.

Peachy Keen Stamps is a family owned and operated leading clear stamp manufacturer based out of Northeast Wisconsin. Our stamps are made with the highest quality polymer on the market today, giving them their unique peach tint. The whimsical images designed by Kathy Jakopovich coupled with their durability make them a favorite amongst scrapbookers, card makers, and artists alike. These stamps are sold exclusively online at www.peachykeenstamps.com and at independent stamp and scrapbook stores worldwide. Please visit our website for a complete list of retail locations.

I think I've covered everything.  Good luck and we hope you enjoy our blog hop.  Finally, a big thankyou to all our sponsors throughout the year.  We wouldn't be here without you.

Faith-Building Gift Ideas

Need some gift ideas?

How about one of the following
books/magazines?
I've compiled a list of some of
our favourites below.

Happy Shopping!

A One Year Subscription to "Answers" Magazine ~
this is a fabulous resource for any family!

If you have not heard of
Answers in Genesis,
I would encourage you to go and check out their website ~
you will find that they have so many amazing,
faith-building materials available...
really, it's wonderful!

C.H. Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening" devotional ~
This is a classic and a *must-have*
(in my opinion) for every Christian.
We have found the readings in this devotional
book to be a blessing to us year after year after year.
Timeless.

Jerry Bridges' "Holiness ~ Day by Day" devotional ~
Another classic daily reading that will become a favourite.

"365 Days With Calvin"
is a recent addition to our own
library and has (so far) been a blessing.

If you are a Christian homeschool family,
and you do not have a copy of
"When You Rise Up" by R.C. Sproul Jr.,
you *must* get your hands on one!
It is so incredibly encouraging to those of us seeking to do
this task with joyful hearts as unto the LORD.
I cannot possibly tell you in this little space
what a blessing it has been to my own heart and life.
It really is *that* good!

"Little Pilgrim's Progress"
is a faithful adaptation of
Bunyan's classic work that in no way undermines the original.
If you have children between the ages of 9 and 14, this would
be a great blessing to read aloud with them.

This book is a blessing and
seeks to answer these and many other
questions from a biblical standpoint.

It is such an encouragement
to the weary Christian's heart.


"Both Paul and James speak of rejoicing in our sufferings
(see Romans 5:3-4; James 1:2-4).
Most of us, if we are honest with ourselves,
have difficulty with that idea.
Endure them, perhaps, but rejoice?
That often seems like an unreasonable expectation.
We are not masochistic; we don't enjoy pain.

But Paul and James both say that we should rejoice
in our trials because of their beneficial results.
It is not the adversity considered in itself that is
to be the ground of our joy.
Rather, it is the expectation of the results,
the development of our character,
that should cause us to rejoice in adversity.
God does not ask us to rejoice because we have
lost our job or a loved one has been stricken with cancer
or a child has been born with an incurable birth defect.
But He does tell us to rejoice because we believe
He is in control of those circumstances
and is at work through them for our ultimate good.

The Christian life is intended to be one of continuous growth.
We all want to grow, but we often resist the process.
This is because we tend to focus on the events of adversity themselves,
rather than looking with the eye of faith beyond
the events to what God is doing in our lives....

We are to look beyond our adversity to what
God is doing in our lives and rejoice in the certainty
that He is at work to cause us to grow."

~ Quoted from
"Trusting God Even When Life Hurts"
(Pages 186-87)
by Jerry Bridges ~

May the LORD guide us all
as we seek to follow HIM.

Many Blessings,
Camille

Entering In

Howie came up with a
great idea awhile back.
The idea?

To allow the children
each a twenty-minute block
of time to share with the rest of us
whatever they wanted to.

A family version of
"Show and Tell".

It went over well.
An understatement. :)

Fraser is our resident
atlas/languages/professor sort.

His pick?

Google Earth.

We visited places I had never
heard of and discovered new things.
What an adventurer!

Calvin is our budding photographer.
Some of you may have noticed
that I feature some of his work
here on this blog.
He's serious about it.

We enjoyed looking through
a photo album that he put together
last year after a family vacation.

Happy Memories!

Austin has been learning
a little about programming.
He has created little games
and question and answer sorts
of programs to tickle the funny bone.

He's even opened up a
you-tube channel as an avenue to
showcase his virtual rollercoasters.

Under that serious-looking
exterior there lurks a sense of humour.
Wonder where he got that from?

Emma has a serious love for
all things *Nancy Drew* ~
She shared an excerpt from
the book she was reading at the time.

The *original* series of novels are
being devoured at a rapid rate.
We have most of the earlier set
of books...what fun! :)

She then showed us her collection
of shells that were acquired
on our recent trip to visit with
Auntie Beverley.

God's Glorious Handiwork!

And the boys entered in.

It was an enjoyable time
spent learning just
a little bit more about
the unique individuals God
has entrusted us with.

What an honour it is to
seek to raise them for HIM
and for HIS glory!

Many Blessings,
Camille