Telling Stories

Scrapbooking Your Faith Weekly Prompts {Week SIX}

I can't believe it's already the SIXTH week of Faith Fridays. I originally said I'd do this for six weeks and then see where we're at...and I think this would be a good spot to pause. Not "stop" but just take a little break, let you guys get caught up and get myself moved across the country. 

 

Again with the thumbnail image. I'm going to write a letter to Youtube. Also, you should know, I resisted the urge to comment on my hair the ENTIRE time I was filming. I'm going to continue to bite my tongue. 

So, the week six page is a combination Scrapbooking Your Faith/Page Maps page. You may already know I adore Becky Fleck, and when I get stuck, her maps always give me a great little kick start! 

Here is my page:

This week's Scrapbooking Your Faith prompt is:
Create a page that documents your blessings.

(You may choose to focus on ONE blessing and that's fine too.) I wanted to create something I could add to so I made a pocket page. 

This is the Page Map I used to create this layout: 

You can see the rest of this month's maps over on Becky's site. Truly, this is THE place to go if you need a creative push! 

I translated the sketch VERY literally, which was kind of awesome because the page came together really quickly. Here you can see the handmade tabs on the left side of the photos: 

I'm using the Webster's Pages Western Romance Collection, which is, I think, perfect for these outdoor photos we had taken last year by LyndseyLew Photography. 

I knew I wanted a circle for my title, so I flipped over one of the calendar die-cuts from Jillibean soup and built my title onto that using letter stickers (October Afternoon and Webster's Pages), a little die cut phrase from Fancy Pants and the resin bird from Webster's Pages. 

But this is the part I really want to talk to you about... the pocket. If you're new to scrapbooking, you might not be familiar with the whole idea of putting pockets on your pages. If you're not new, this may be old hat to you. 

There are lots of ways to do this. You can turn your photo into a pocket, which I considered doing, but when you use dimensional adhesive (Foam Squares), you have to account for the bottom being open. I didn't. Ha. 

So, I used an envelope. 

First, I sealed the white envelope. I turned it vertically and trimmed off the top to create an opening. Then I used some Fabric Ribbon to decorate that top just to make it less boring. This turned out to be the perfect size to fit right behind my photos. 

This way, you can cut and add strips whenever you want to, which for this prompt, I thought was kind of important. Your blessings are something you can reevaluate daily. Whenever you think of a new one, you can add it in. 

I personally thought it was funny that I couldn't really say "I'm thankful for our home" at this point since, you know, in a few weeks we won't have one. 

Ah, joy. 

Anyway. Today to celebrate the SIXTH week, I'm going to do a giveaway...

And I'll also throw in a scrapbooking mystery box to help you document this faith journey. 

Here's how to enter: 

Leave a comment on this post. Just say hi because I love to make new friends. :) 

That's it! Done and done. You'll be entered. 

BUT...if you want more chances to win...I'm offering them. Here's what you do:

1. Join the Scrapbooking Your Faith Facebook Group. (If you're already a member, leave a separate comment saying so for an addition chance to win.)

2. Blog, Tweet, Facebook or PIN this post and come back and leave a comment here for each one you do. That's four more chances to win! 

And MORE chances to win! 

My friends over at Scrapping Everyday Miracles are kicking off their Birthday Celebration with a big blog hop (lots of prizes, including my books!) You can check it out HERE. They've also got a fabulous Facebook Group and all weekend there will be prizes and games and TONS of fun, so get yourself joined up HERE! (How's that for bad grammar?)

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I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

A Sweethaven Homecoming {cover art!!!!}

I have a secret. I'm pretty darn excited about it too. 

My second book releases August 1st, and it has an actual cover... Do you wanna see? 

When you first start writing a book, you realize there are many, many things out of your control. 

I think maybe God knew I needed to give up my neurotic, control freak tendencies so he dropped this desire to write books into my heart...and it's been a learning experience ever since. 

It's difficult to put your career in someone else's hands, but in many ways, writers do it every single day. One of the biggest areas I was concerned about was the cover art for my books. Despite what many people think, authors don't design their own covers. 

And I for one am SO thankful because I could never come up with anything remotely close to what my publisher did. 

I just went over to amazon and discovered the book is up for pre-order:

I have no idea what that means or how it works, but it was nice to search for it and find something pop up! 

A Sweethaven Homecoming officially releases August 1st, just in time to watch Summer turn into Fall in my northern Michigan cottage town... 

Here's a little more on the book:

The Sweethaven Circle is back—and so is the friend they thought they’d never see again!

Country music star Meghan Rhodes has moved on with her life, leaving Sweethaven and its painful memories in the past. But when she is confronted on national television with her ex-husband’s plan to file for sole custody of their twins, Meghan takes the first flight home, back to the charming lakeside town full of regrets and relationships that need mending.

As Meghan searches for forgiveness—as well as the ability to forgive—she is overcome with the need to make things right with her children, her ex-husband, her mother, and even the friends she’d convinced herself she no longer needed. But is she too late?
 
The Sweethaven Circle is together again as Meghan works with Campbell, Jane, Lila, and Adele begin a new scrapbook for memories yet to be made. Picking up where A Sweethaven Summer left off, A Sweethaven Homecoming explores the strong bonds of friendship, the power of forgiveness, and the importance of unconditional love.

And since I'm feeling chatty...

I wanted to share this too... an interview I did this past weekend that was just plain FUN. Two girls talking bad hair, out of control photos and yep, a little bit of Sweethaven thrown in for good measure. 

 

This book is really special to me because home is really special to me (even if I don't know where my home will a month from now!) I discovered that more than ever when I went back for the launch party for my first book, A Sweethaven Summer. 

So what do you think...do you like the new cover? 

7 Ways to Make Moving (or transition) Easier for Your Kids

Last night, Adam went to see Men in Black 3 and I stayed home and watched We Bought a Zoo. I'd been wanting to see this movie and now find myself obsessed with Benjamin Mee and his landmark 20 seconds of insane courage. 

There was something inspiring about the idea of walking into a place and knowing "Yes, it's crazy to the rest of the world... but THIS is what we're supposed to do." 

I can relate. 

After all, it's not everyone who makes a big move three summers in a row. 

To tell you I'm all fine and dandy with it would be a lie. Even in the knowing, there is still sadness. Even in the excitement, there is still grief. I drive down our Colorado street now and fall in love with our little town all over again... and I find myself whispering prayers asking God to make this easier, to make all decisions clear. 

And I believe, in time, he will. 

But what about the kids?

In three years, mine have had three different schools and are preparing to go back to their first one. Forget 20 seconds of insane courage...to me, these kids have had months of it. 

First day of school this year. 

Change is inevitable...when it comes, how can you make it easier on your kids? 

Here are seven ways:

1. Talk to them about how you feel about the move. And be honest. You may be tempted to "put on a brave face" for them. Don't. They need to know they aren't the only ones with a weak stomach when they think about making such a huge life change. Tell them what you'll miss. Tell them why it makes you sad. Then spend some time talking about all the reasons you're excited. In "We Bought a Zoo," Benjamin Mee had a sense of adventure...tap into your inner explorer and get ready for the ride of your life!

2.  Pick a day and go do all the things they want to do before you move. We keep thinking of things we want to do before we move away from Loveland, but what do your kids want to do before you move? Even if it's "We should go out to Jumpin'" (a big open space with tons of inflatables)...let them do it. And make it fun!

3. Let them get an email account. While it's awfully daunting to have your kids online, there are some really great things about allowing them to have an email account. We let Sophia get an account, but we require that she gives us the password. More than once I've read her email. She knows whatever she writes at this point is fair game.  It's worth it for her to be able to maintain friendships with kids at her various schools. 

4. When you arrive in the new place, take them in early to tour the school and meet their teacher. Part of what's hard for me with this move is that we LOVE our kids' school. On the last day, they broke ground for a building expansion and Sophia was one of three kids chosen to give a speech. 

They've truly thrived here. Spiritually, the school has been amazing. I've seen so much growth and encouragement, and I don't think they felt like the "new kid" for more than a day. Before school started, I took them both in for a tour, they met their teachers and even saw photos of some of the kids in their class. It really helped. 

5. Make the actual trip fun. My kids know we have a 16 hour drive to get back to Illinois and they claim if we can go to "the hotel with the waterpark" that will make everything better. Might as well give it a try. 

6. Be especially in tune with their (mis)behavior. When we first told Ethan about our move, he acted very nonchalant about it. Sophia took it all in stride, but Ethan started getting in trouble at school. At first, I was kind of hard on him, but then it dawned on me that this wasn't about him misbehaving...this was about the emotions he couldn't process. Be more aware than ever... you don't know HOW a child is going to react to change until you see it. Don't let them get away with their bad behavior, but be there for hugging, talking, random ice cream trips. It's okay every now and then to be a softie. 

7. Throw them a party. I know it may seem indulgent, but a going away party with all their friends is a GREAT idea. Take lots of pictures and let them have a guest book to record addresses, emails and well wishes. I admit, this is going to be really difficult given all that we have to do in the next month, but I think it's worth it. 

Also, as a bonus, don't make promises if you can't keep them. Don't promise to visit the place you're leaving "every summer" unless you're sure you can. Kids will remember. 

Now...does anyone have any advice on making this easier for grown-ups? I'm all ears. 

Memorial Day in Estes Park

This weekend, I had an edit to do on my second novel, A Sweethaven Homecoming. It's releasing in early August, and I'm thrilled I got to revisit these women, their scrapbooks and explore their stories a little bit more. 

But by Sunday night, I was near meltdown state and Adam knew exactly what I needed: to get out of the house and away from my computer. 

Let's face it, writer friends...sometimes we need someone to hold us hostage to make us quit working. 

One of the things I have loved about living here in Colorado is that we have access to so much beauty. This is the view at the main intersection near our house: 

 
Gorgeous, right?

But beyond that, we're less than an hour from both Boulder and Estes Park with Denver just a little bit farther away. Now that we're moving, we've started our "before we move" list...things we have to do before we head back to Illinois. 

Something about it is a little bittersweet. 

Anyway. Yesterday, we made the drive up to Estes Park. Spotted this guy (and three friends) along the way:

Whenever there are cars pulled over on the side of the road, you know there's an elk or a big horn sheep or something equally as cool hanging out in the woods. 

Driving into Estes is pure magic:

I mean, it really is breath-taking. 

And yes, it gets my writerly mind racing. Most stories I write start with two simple words... "What if...?" The next sentence is often met with a scowly look from my better half, at which time I continue to search for MORE "what ifs..." just so I can set a story in such a remarkable spot. 

Yesterday, we had the good fortune of being in town for Memorial Day:

It was beyond cool. 

Perhaps you'll remember about my dad being a war hero (something I didn't really even know until about a year ago...he doesn't like to brag.) 

Maybe Memorial Day means a little more to me now. Maybe I can be especially grateful that we aren't remembering him, but thanking him. 

Memorial Day in Estes Park meant an Art show in the park, lots of tourists and a ton of fun. 

And my borderline agoraphobic self didn't even have a meltdown. Go figure. 

We ate at an overpriced restaurant...

(where the food, sadly, wasn't even really that good...) 

And talked about this new adventure we're on...

And I realized how thankful I am that I got to spend two whole years living in a place that allowed me to breathe again. 

So, what about you? What do you do when you need a change of scenery? 

 

Scrapbooking Your Faith Weekly Prompts {Week Five}

 

(why can't youtube give me decent thumbnail choices? I mean, really.) 

 Here is the layout I made for this week...

 

This week's prompt: Create a layout to remind yourself what God says about you as opposed to what people say about you. Use verses or quotes, but take the focus off of any negativity that's been spoken over you and focus instead on the truth of God's words. 

I really wanted to break a layout down for you, but that meant photographing in my office at night. If you can't bear with the horrible lighting, click the red X in the upper right-hand corner of your screen now. 

Usually when I start a page, I have a vague idea of what I want to do...but it's really vague. I grab my supplies:

I tend to pull everything that might possibly work on a layout out onto my desk. Makes for fun clean-up. In this case, I am using the "It's the Little Things" line from Fancy Pants, which I absolutely love.  

Step One: Use the product packaging to cut handmade scallops to go underneath your photo:

I'm a huge fan of using packaging because you get a "stripe" of all the different patterns. I cut from both ends to give a little variety. 

Step Two: Cut solid black scallops to "break up" the pattern so it doesn't get lost. In this picture, you can see I was planning to use this die cut flower on the upper right of my photo. 

Step Three: Use the leftover piece of the product packaging to cut out letters for your title. In this case, I left the "O" out because I saw a sticker heart I knew I wanted to use. Once I finished the title, I realized the die cut flower wouldn't fit where I'd planned. I also adhered my scallops down to help me keep my photo placement. 

Step Four: If there's a good amount of white space in your photo, you can use it to add a bit of decoration. Here, I used my baker's twine (From Divine Twine), tied it around my photo and then used Foam Squares to pop the whole thing up off the layout:

Step Five: The photo still needed more, so I found these paper flowers and layered them with Foam Squares, using a flower shaped sticker for the center. 

Step Six: I still loved that die cut flower, so I decided to cut it in half and use it in the blank upper right of my page. Using that as the foundation, I layered a few other cut elements, including die cuts and stickers, incorporating a bit of dimension underneath just a couple things:

Step Seven: Next, I finished my title by adding the heart and then adhering my hand-cut letters with small Foam Squares. These letters and the scallops really gave me the handmade look I wanted for this page. I also used a few mini letter stickers to create the "I Am" part of the title:

Step Eight: I stood back and looked at my page. It was still a little bare. So, I used the other half of my die cut flower, popped up a little rainbow die cut and used a coordinating paper flower and button to create a cluster of embellishments in the lower left-hand corner of my photo:

Step Ten: Still, I thought my page needed one more thing. A border to bring it all together. But I didn't want a straight border, I wanted a rounded rectangle. So, I used a scratch piece of cardstock, rounded the corners and traced around it with a pencil. I used a ruler on the straight lines: 

This worked like a charm. 

Scrapbooking Your Faith on Facebook:

So, to help make sharing easier, I'm thinking of starting a Scrapbooking Your Faith Facebook group where we can share pages and prompts, etc. but I refuse to just put people in the group without asking them, so if you're interested, shoot me an email or leave me a comment with your Facebook info and we'll get that started! This will be a GREAT way to stay in touch!

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OH! And....We have a winner!!!

All four of these books will find a happy home...

IS....

 Jane said...

Hi Courtney, I found your scrapbooking faith challenges this week and love all of the ideas. I want to start an Art journal with this in mind. I came over from Homegrown Stephanie's blog. I have been following along with her since 2007. So glad to find you and all of these wonderful books. God has been speaking to me about gentleness. I have struggles that seem to fire me up. So He's telling me to watch,listen,and use some gentleness in my attitude, behavior and reactions. I look forward to seeing you again next Friday. Thanks!

ReplyMay 18, 2012 at 07:14 PM

Jane, send your address to me at courtneycrops{at}msn{dot}com and we'll get your books out pronto! 

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So, tell me, are you scrapbooking your faith? Finding it hard to dive in? I'd love to see what you're up to...and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Hair Styling for the Style-Challenged {Or "come laugh at me"...}

Let me just start by saying if you've come looking for any kind of inspiration or actual content, perhaps you've come to the wrong place.

Sit tight. You'll see what I mean. 

I've been sporting short hair for quite awhile now, and recently have taken a shine to the wedge cut. 

As evidenced by this photo:

(Which is even too wedge-y for me...)

The truth is, I like not having to fuss with my hair, and this style makes me feel like I still did something with it. 

It's no secret that I really have no fashion sense. If I wear anything but my everyday jewelry I feel like I should win an award. I shop right off the mannequin. I pin things to "My Style" and giggle as I do, knowing there's just no way I'm going to know how to replicate most of what I see...

So when it comes to my hair, well, let's just say I'm really low maintenance. 

But see, I have this husband. 

And he couldn't care less about my hair (or his), my clothes (or his) or whether or not I even wear makeup. We're just not fussy people when it comes to our appearances. I do realize this isn't necessarily a good thing.  

So when he said to me, "Why don't you grow your hair out?" I think my response was... "Huh?" 

I haven't had long hair in years. And my hair is THICK, so letting it grow means getting through that terrible, awkward, bushy stage. After confirming Adam was serious (multiple times) I thought, "Well, who else do I want to impress? If he wants me to grow it out--even just to eliminate my wedge cut--I guess I should try." 

(For the record...I'm not usually this accommodating. I'm tremendously stubborn in pretty much every way. I'm working on it.) 

So, yesterday, we had to go to Sophia's fifth grade graduation...and I am already in "I have to cut this mop" mode...It's getting awful. I realized I need to learn to style it if I'm going to grow it out...so where do I turn? The internet. More specifically, Pinterest. 

More specifically, Kate's blog. 

Even more specifically, this post. 

And I decided to try a couple of things. I knew there was a good chance I'd end up having to wash/dry my hair all over again because there is so much room for error. I am a girl who can't even figure out how to put a bobby pin in my hair the correct way. 

My first attempt was a bouncy, curled under style. This might actually work for me. 

And I maybe should've stopped there. Because my next attempt was a curled with a curling iron style. 

Let's just say, my results were less than desirable. 

sorry for the bad iPhone photo. I had to take this to make fun of myself, thus the stupid giggle-smile on my face. 

To me, this style was not unlike a pirate's hat in shape:

I know you see the resemblance. 

There's really only one thing missing...

Am I right?

So, of course, after all of this, I had no desire to start over and I was thinking I should've quit with the bouncy, curled under style which seemed doable for someone of me, shall we say, style-inadequacy... so I kept playing with it. I watched the video again and eventually came up with this: 

I know. It still looks a little like I should have a parrot on my shoulder... (my sister told me so) and my mom's reaction was "I don't really know what to say about your hair. Do YOU like it like that?) 

Which made me laugh out loud. 

Truth is, I have NO idea how to assess it and clearly have limited styling skills, so my plan is to either cut it off or keep practicing. 

I'm going to make Kate proud, darnit. 

And I'm going to do something with it that elicits a response other than "I kind of like it and kind of not" from Ethan. 

For now, I'll leave you with my new signature "goodbye"...

Arrrrr, Matey.