Be-Attitudes Faith Blog Hop

Welcome to the Be-Attitudes Faith Blog Hop!  Every month we choose a theme with which to honor Christ and become closer to Him.  We then create a project to reflect that theme and boldly post it on our blogs so that the whole world sees that even our talents belong to Him! This month we have chosen the Beatitudes found on Mathew 5:3:12 and we invite you to hop through our blogs to see the Lord’s Glory manifested through the work of our hands and the stories He has written in our lives.  If you arrived from www.mypapertreehouse.blogspot.com, you are in the right place.  If you just happened to land here, make sure that you hop on over to www.mypapertreehouse.blogspot.com to begin the journey.  Know that we have been praying for you and hope that the Lord would bring you just a bit closer to Himself…

In Matthew 5:3-12 we find the well known Beatitudes.  This portion of Scripture is very peculiar because every statement begins with “Blessed are those…” and yet the attribute that is mentioned right after is NOT something desirable before the eyes of the world.

Look at the list of attributes along with the blessed reward:
Poor in spirit: Kingdom of Heaven
Mourn: comfort
Meek: inherit the earth
Hunger and thirst for righteousness: will be filled
Merciful: will be shown mercy to
Pure in heart: will see God
Peacemakers: called children of God
Persecuted because of righteousness: kingdom of heaven
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you

If we were to be honest, we would all say that none of us would like to be considered poor in spirit, or be caught in the midst of mourning.  Meekness is considered a sign of weakness and in America Hunger and Thirst for righteousness is replaced by hunger and thirst for worldly acceptance.  It is very difficult to be merciful and pure in heart for our hearts are always seeking to satisfy our own needs; and we are not willing to make peace if that peace requires that we would submit to someone else’s authority.  We do not want to be made fun of, or persecuted, or bad mouthed…  Yet all of these things the LORD calls blessed!

The reason why they are Blessed is because only when we have these attitudes can we truly see ourselves for who we are and God for who He is.  Only when we see the depravity of our being and the sin that enslaves us, can we be set free by the only ONE that is Pure and Holy!  May He grant us the privilege of being called BLESSED by Him because in us are found the Be-Attitudes.

With this in mind I can say that I have spent about three weeks experiencing all of these attitudes, not realizing that the Lord was trying to test to see whether I truly believed that experiencing difficulties on earth means I am blessed.  May I say that for a very long time it did not feel like I was blessed!  When I stopped and looked back at my life without Christ, and the thoughts and fears that overtook me then - I got to SEE how blessed I have really been since I met Jesus.  There is a renewed gratefulness in my heart and a huge appreciation for what the Lord has done.  He promises to give a sound mind, and indeed this He gave!  I ask the Lord to keep that in the forefront of my life, so that I may never forget that the Hands that made me are truly FAITHFUL!

There is no greater gift than that of finding Christ, but we would like to bless a group of you with some Grand Prizes from the following sponsors:

Paper Tree House Studio: Digital Paper Set
Shabby Vanity: Blog Button and Banner makeover.
Tombow: Adhesive Package
Scrapbooks & Stuff: Cricut Cartridge
Scrapbooks Etc.: 1 year Subscription

To qualify, like Paper Tree House Studio in Facebook, become a follower of their blog, and leave a comment.  Those that choose to participate by creating a project that follows the theme will have a greater chance of winning, so make sure that you create something or share your own story in your blog to then come back and share with us your creation and thoughts.

Hop on over to Kari’s blog to continue in this journey…  May you be filled with the “Be-Attitudes” this week.

Love in Christ,

Nana

PS: Great things will be coming to this blog very soon, so stay tuned!

God's Promises Faith Blog Hop Winner

This past hop was really special for me because knowing that God is faithful throughout the entire world really solidfies my faith~! :)  Thank you for stopping by and leaving such loving words.  I will take my time to digest what you all said and in turn respond back to you.. :)

Our next hop will take place on August 27 and I would love for you to help me promote it.  Here is the button for it:

Like I promised, I chose one random winner which I will bless with a little something.. and that blessed someone is: AMANDA JOHNSON! :)  Congrats!

Please e-mail me with your information.  :)


Thanks again for participating and I sure hope to see you hopping again soon...

Love in Christ,

Nana

God's Promises Faith Blog Hop

Welcome to the God's Promises Faith Blog Hop.  If you arrived here from Paper Tree House Studio you are in the right place.  If you just arrived at my blog, you should go to Paper Tree House Studio (www.mypapertreehouse.blogspot.com) in order to start at the beginning.

Every month a group of brave women get together to showcase the Glory of God.  This month we want to showcase His faithfulness during trying times, so kick back, relax and let the Lord touch your heart with His Truth!

Did you know that there are 1260 promises in the Bible?  I did not count them myself, but am blown away by the fact that each and every promise the Lord gives, He is faithful to fulfill.  It is pretty easy to believe this when times are easy and abundance surrounds our lives, but is that the same when trouble hits?

The Bible says that our hearts are deceitful above all things and then it adds WHO CAN TRUST IT? Have you ever considered that maybe the reason why we don't trust God is because we spend more time looking at how big the waves in our lives have become and forget that God created the entire UNIVERSE with just His breath...  Think about it, the Lord spoke the ENTIRE World into existence... the only thing created that was made with His hands was man and woman.  That is why He says that if He provides for the birds and the plants, how much more to His children?  You are precious to the Lord and He will not fail you, even when it feels He might.

In this hop you will read the stories of women like you that have faced trouble and probably even lacked the faith to believe in the miracle the Lord performed at the very end! Our prayer is that you would open your heart to the Truth found in these promises and that you would even share with us what God has done in your life.  Your victory may become our hope... :)

During the hop you will find many chances to win prizes! All you have to do to be considered for one of those prizes is leave a comment and become a follower of the blogs you will hop through.  For the Grand Prizes , make sure to leave a comment, become a follower, and "LIKE" Paper Tree House on Facebook.  This will allow you to find out about future hops we will be having.

Here are the brave women that dared to share their stories:

Paper Tree House - http://mypapertreehouse.blogspot.com/
Nana - www.youniquereflections.blogspot.com
Tammy - http://www.fromme2upapercrafting.blogspot.com/
Susan - http://susanascorner.blogspot.com/
Jennifer E. - www.createoften.blogspot.com
Candy - http://www.sweetstamper.com/
Amanda - http://asjmade.blogspot.com/
Wendy - http://wendyscrappings.blogspot.com/
Nicole - http://scrapmethis.blogspot.com
Jessie - www.scrapbookingmiami.blogspot.com
Diane - http://dianemarra.typepad.com/
Vicki - http://mawmawsthoughts.blogspot.com/
Lynne Kirsch  - http://slasewcraftiness.blogspot.com/
Carolyn Phillips - http://messmuddleandfun.blogspot.com/
ScrappyZeni Pradel - www.scrappyzeni.blogspot.com


Grand Prizes:

Stamping Things: The Topper Ink Pad Holder (http://www.stampinthings.com/stamp-pad-holder.html)
Paper Tree House Studio: Exclusive PDF file tutorial for Mini-Book Taught at CHA.
K Andrew Stamps: Stamp Set
Tombow: Grand Adhesive Set


God's Fulfilled Promise in my life:

There are so many Scriptures that speak about how the Lord will protect us, but I have always been intrigued by the fact that the shadow of His Wings is enough to protect Me.  If you are anything like me, it is very easy to believe that God can love others, that He wants to answer the prayers of the other faithful women, that He is able to protect and secure others...  but not ME!  It was not until I experienced a very difficult season in my life, (a season where I disliked someone so much I literally told the Lord I did not want to go to Heaven if this person would be there), that I actually sensed the shadow of His Wings over me.

Just like in the picture of my layout, I felt defenseless, surrounded by water I could not swim and completely vulnerable even before the Lord!  I knew what I was feeling was sin and that therefore I deserved to be scorched by my problems, but instead I experienced the loving hand of my Father carrying me and protecting me.  Somehow the Lord brought me to realize that His shadow was over me and because of His faithfulness (in spite of my unfaithfulness) I would not burn or drown!  Since then I believe the impossible because I experienced it!  May you encounter Him in this way this week... :)

I would love to bless you with a special goody bag, so please leave me a comment with your own experiences with the Lord.  I will be choosing one blessed winner. :)

To continue hopping go on over to Tammy's Blog http://www.fromme2upapercrafting.blogspot.com/  and make sure you leave her some love! :)

Thanks for hopping through this faith hop.  Know that we are praying for you and really hope your eyes are opened to the Truth about the Lord's Faithfulness! :)

Love in Christ,

Nana

Father's Love Faith Blog Hop

There is only one more day of this beautiful Hop so if you have not had a chance to go visit it, I ask that you would click on the picture and begin hopping...  :)  It is truly a very inspirational hop!  :)

Love in Christ,

Nana

Cricut 360 - Cricut Cartridge Giveaway....

I want to break the silence with wonderful news..  Over at the Cricut 360 Challenge Blog we are getting ready to kick things into motion, but before we do we want to invite you to come try to become our very first winner!  Here is what you need to do:

Click on the banner to be taken over to Cricut 360 and follow the directions that you will find there...  :)  Once you do you may win the Create a Critter Cartridge from Provo Craft!  :)  Hope to see you there!

Love in Christ,

Nana

______________________________________________________________________________

Quiero romper el silencio con unas muy buenas noticias... En el blog nuevo de retos, Cricut 360, nos estamos preparando para darle comienzo a la inspiracion, pero antes de que comience la diversión te queremos invitar a que seas nuestra primer ganadora!  Esto es lo que debes de hacer:

Presiona el logo de el blog y sigue las direcciones que hayaras... :)  Luego de que hagas esto, podrás ganarte el Create a Critter de Provo Craft! :)  Espero verte allí!  :)

Besitos en Cristo,

Nana

Blog Hop Winner!!

Hello after what feels like twenty years!  :)  I finally was able to draw a winner of my surprise RAK!  Without further ado the winner is....

Patricia Hurlburt said...Love your card. Thanks for sharing!
Patti

Please send me an email at mypapertreehouse@gmail.com with all of your contact information so that i can send your prize your way...  :)

Thanks for playing along!

Love in Christ,

Nana

Proverbs 31 Woman Faith Blog Hop

Welcome to another special Faith Blog Hop sponsored by Paper Tree House Studio! You should have arrived here from (blogger's name) if you are following the hop.  If you just happen to have fallen here go to the beginning of the hop over at paper Tree House Studio.

At the end of every month a group of bold women gather to give Glory to God with the talents He has given us in a very loud way... :) Our prayer is that through the projects we have created you Will be able to see Him in all of His Glory! May He touch you today as we look at the theme of the Proverbs 31 woman, and may you find that you are indeed everything He designed you to be.

This is how the hop works:
Below you will find the list of the beautiful and brave women that are ready to show their weaknesses in order that you may see His strength. :) Follow the line-up and please leave some love throughout the way. Allow yourself to cry, laugh, smile, along with any other emotion the Lord may bring your way. You will find that there are many prizes throughout the hop. In order to qualify to receive them you must be a follower of the blog and you must leave a comment. Know that if you are announced as the winner of a prize you are responsible for contacting us in order for us to make the prize go your way.

Here are our sponsors:

Paper Tree House Studio: Scrapbooking Kit (valued at $45)
Tombow: Amazing Adhesive Pack
Scrapbook News and Review: 1 year subscription to their magazine.
Punky Sprouts: Sweetie Album
Sweet Stamper: Stampin' Up Stamp Set

Now let's get the hop started! :)

The woman described in Proverbs 31 seems to be perfect! She works hard for her family, keeps up with the house, makes sure that the entire family is fed, is respected by others and her husband, and the list goes on... It can be very overwhelming to try to attain her status- which leaves many of us feeling as though we do not amount to God's standards. If you are anything like me, you too have felt as though there is always something that is just not right in your womanhood. Maybe you are not sweet enough, or neat enough, or submissive enough, or clean enough... Whatever label you do not amount to it can leave you feeling overwhelmed and discouraged.

God did not put this part of Scripture in the Bible so that we would draw away from Him filled with shame due to our incapacity to do what He expects of us. On the contrary, I have become every day more certain that He inspired these words because He wants to show us His Grace. The truth is: we all fall short of the Glory of God and there is not even one that is good amongst us. He KNEW this when He made us and when He decided to save us- and in this He loved us.

The proverbs 31 woman is meant to be a reminder of how much we need Christ! God desires that we would be women like the one portrayed there, and He knew that these areas would be our weaknesses, so He gave us this map of virtues so that we would not conform to the world but allow Him to transform us. The Bible teaches that in our weaknesses He is strong! My prayer is that you would allow the Lord to show you those areas where you indeed fail so that in turn you would learn to be mesmerized by His great strength. You will be doing things you never imagined when you fully rely on Him. In Him you already are the Proverbs 31 Woman you so desire to be. May He show you that truth today as He heals you from all insecurities.

Paper Tree House Studio: www.mypapertreehouse.com


Nana www.youniquereflections.blogspot.com


Jessie www.scrapbookingmiami.blogspot.com


Carrie http://carriewimbish.blogspot.com/


Carolyn http://messmuddleandfun.blogspot.com/


Diane http://dianemarra.typepad.com/


Karel www.kareljcreations.com


Jennifer www.createoften.blogspot.com


Kari http://purplefuntastickcreations.com/


Wendy http://wendyscrappings.blogspot.com/


Melin http://www.PaperCraftingWorld.Blogspot.com/


Nicole:  www.scrapmethis.blogspot.com


Chalese http://delectabledesigns-chalesek.blogspot.com/


Candy www.sweetstamper.com


Christel:  http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com/


Lisa Peters: http://www.handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/

I have struggled so much this month with accepting the truths the Lord says about who I am as a woman.  Being a mom of two children under the age of 4, owning a business, being a teacher, and trying to be an artist can become very overwhelming.  I end up feeling worn, torn, and exhausted - not at all like the woman found in Proverbs 31.  But as I sat to create my project, the Lord gave me a beautiful image of how He sees me: He whispered tenderly in my ear "you are worth far more than ruby!".  It is truly a privilege to be able to be called the daughter of the ultimate King of kings!  The One that cares enough about the little things because He knows that we live our lives here - in the little so that in turn He can be seen as He is: HUGE!  May you too see how you are made to be worth far more than rubies! :)




Thanks for stopping by!  Leave a comment and become my follower and I will consider you for a drawing I will have in search of the winner of a surprise RAK!  Be blessed!!


Your next stop is Jessie's Blog. Remember to leave a comment on this post if you want to be considered for one of the Grand Prizes. :)

Love in Christ,

Nana

Dynamic Duo Blog Hop Inspiration...

As you all know we have been participating on an awesome hop representing two AMAZING companies: Punky Sprouts and TaDa Creative Studios.  We had to create a project using product from both of these companies and I truly had a blast!!  :)

Here is what I created:

To make this I started off by peeling the awesome Punky Sprouts Playground Corrugated Cardboard.

This is such a versatile surface!  You can use it to create your own covers, mini-books, or a typical layout with lots of texture.

After I peeled the Playground, I used gesso and some mists to add some colors to my background.

Using my scissors I cut the blue waves out of the blue TaDA paper.  Using a punch I created the scallops of the striped paper to then layer all of it with a curled ribbon to add dimension.

Here is a close up:

TaDa has such beautiful and detailed patterned paper that it was easy to create your own embellishments by cutting the images from the papers.  That is how I got my rainbow and clouds. 

Finally, I added the pictures and the rest of the embellishments...  :)

Thanks for hopping with us!

Love in Christ,

Nana

Dynamic Duo Blog Hop Announcement!

Don’t miss out on the Dynamic Duo Blog Hop
A TaDa Creative Studios and Punky Sprouts Mini-book Bonanza
May 16th-27th

Rules for a chance to win FREE products
Each day go to the following 2 blogs:
http://tadacreativestudios.wordpress.com/
http://punkysprouts.blogspot.com/
Post comments to show your participation. New inspiration will be posted daily. At the end of the 12 day hop, please go to each manufacture’s blog and post a comment telling them your favorite album style and favorite paper collection used in the samples shown during the hop. Your name will then be entered in a drawing to win both! 3 winners will be picked!

Good luck!

TaDa Creative Studios & Punky Sprouts

Winner and Cricut 360 DT Call!

Thank you ladies for leaving me such sweet comments!  You are all so sweet and I am so grateful that you stopped by to say hi.  My prayer is that the Lord would encourage you to be a part of this ministry in some way... 

i have chosen a random winner so i wanted to share her with you:

Theresa said...Oh my gosh I love love love this little mini album! So beautiful!
TFS
Theresa

Please e-mail me Theresa at mypapertreehouse@gmail.com with your mailing address so that I can send you the prize.

Next month's blog hop will be on May 27-29 with Proverbs 31 as its theme. 

I am recruiting ladies that want to be blog participants, as well as sponsor, and women that are willing to help me spread the Lord's Word.  :)  If you think this is something you are interested in doing, you can ask to be a part of our facebook group and you can get more information there.  :)  If you cannot be part of the hop, at least help by posting the banner on your blog so that others would know... :)

Once again, thanks for being part of this amazing journey!

On another note:

My friend and I are starting a Cricut Challenge Blog that will launch on July 1st.  We are looking for 12 designers that are willing to show off their creativity... :)

Go check it out... it is going to be great! Click HERE

Love in Christ,

Nana

Fruit of the Spirit Faith Blog Hop

Welcome to another Faith Blog Hop presented to you by Paper Tree House Studio!  If you have been following the hop then you should be arriving here from the Paper Tree House blog.  If you just came across this hop, then go to Paper Tree House to catch the beginning of the hop.

Every month a group of bold women gather to make the Name of the Lord famous and to share the talents we have been given by Him. We also like to share a little bit of Truth that we have learned from the Bible and/or a bit about how He has impacted our lives. This month the theme is “The Fruit of the Spirit”.

As Christians we are expected to demonstrate the Fruit of the Spirit because the Spirit of God abides in us. In Galatians 5:22-23 we find the following definition: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” There are many misconceptions about this fruit. People look at the list of attributes and they are convinced that God has not given them one of the “fruits”, and so they live with remaining sin and a sense of defeat in certain areas of their lives.

If you look at the passage again you will notice that the word FRUIT is NOT plural. It is only ONE fruit, so if the Spirit of the Lord abides in you, then the attributes that characterize the Spirit live there as well. If you are not experiencing one of the characteristic of His Spirit in your life, pray that the Lord would cleanse you and purify you. He is into the business of completing those He saves. My prayer is that you would draw near to the Lord and that He in turn will draw near to you…

The same way that the Lord blesses those He loves we want to bless you. We have found an amazing line-up of sponsors and we want to share with you what you could win by hopping around with us:

Paper Tree House Studio: Cricut Create

Scrapbook News & Review Magazine: One year subscription to their online magazine.

Zutter: Distrezz-it-All

Scrapbooks & Stuff: Seasonal Cartridge

Papperie: Yummy Goody Bag

Bonita Rose: One spot to her AMAZING Color Your World Class.

Shimmerz: Yummy Goody Bag (Go to their page and tell them that Nana sent you and you might get an even bigger prize)

Now in order to win one of these Grand Prizes you will have like us on Facebook, leave a comment on this post, and become a follower on our blog. Then you have to follow the hop order as you follow and leave messages in the posts of all the amazing and talented women that are part of the lineup. All throughout the hop you will find RAK’s and special giveaways, so make sure that you complete the entire hop!

Here is the list of brave and beautiful women that are stepping out in FAITH:


Nana – http://www.youniquereflections.blogspot.com/
Lynn - http://www.pensandneedles-lynn.blogspot.com/
Kristal - http://www.gettingcricky.com/
Kari - http://purplefuntastickcreations.blogspot.com/
Karel - http://www.kareljcreations.com/
Zeni - www.scrappyzeni.blogspot.com
Jessie - http://www.scrapbookingmiami.blogspot.com/
Robin - http://www.robinscrapnest.blogspot.com/
Carolyn- http://www.messmuddleandfun.blogspot.com/
Melin- http://www.cookingwithcricut.com/
Monique F. - http://living-in-the-positive.blogspot.com/
Carol - http://huffandpuffscrap.blogspot.com/
Chalese - http://delectabledesigns-chalesek.blogspot.com/
Monique B. - http://uniquemonique01.blogspot.com/
Christel - http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com/

For this hop I created this mini-book:

I have decided that my books are to reflect the Truth. :) On the last page of this book, my intentions are to write a prayer for my daughter.  In it I will express that because she was hand-made with love by God, it is my prayer that one day she too will be able to experience the Lord's Spirit in action in her life.  That she too, one day, can do something that apart from Christ she would have not been able to do.. and when that happens may she remember why she was able to accomplish this!

I have a little something to share with you:

If you become a follower of my blog and leave me a comment, I will be choosing the winner of the punch you need to make this flower.

To continue with some fun, hop on over to Lynn's blog at http://www.pensandneedles-lynn.blogspot.com!  

Love in Christ,

Nana

I Invite you to the BEST SCRAPBOOKING EVENT EVER!!

I am ECSTATIC!!  I will be teaching in Puerto Rico and I want you to join me and the other AMAZING teachers!  Here is the line-up:

We are going to have a BLAST in Puerto Rico from June 11-13; the BEST SCRAPBOOKING EVENT you will ever attend!  Check out the website for more info: http://site.puertoricoscrapbookevent.com/

Love in Christ,

Nana

Happy Birthday...

I recently received my box of goodies from Punky Sprouts and it had some really AMAZING yumminess: My Little Shoebox Paper, Shimmerz, For the Luv of Art Stamps, and of course the Punky Sprouts product which is ALL to die for!

Here is the first project I create using For the Luv of Art stamps and Punky Sprouts corrugated cardboard:

I colored in the image using distress inks and truly had a blast.  I am starting to get a bit addicted to that technique... :)  The distressed edges were created using my favorite tool ever created, the Distrezz-it-All, which makes distressing easy and quick with guaranteed results.

I created this card with the following challenges in mind:
Birthday Sundaes - Anything goes
Card Makin Mamas - Embellish It
Digi's With Attitude! Challenges Challenge #20 - Anything Goes
Catered Crops: Distressing, Stripes
Prairie Fairy Fridays: Oh So Spring
Craft Us Crazy: Easter or Spring
Dutch Dare Card Challenges: Spring Has Sprung




Thanks for looking!

Love in Christ,

Nana

I won over at the Catered Crop!

Hello again!  I am so excited to announce that my alligator layout won the challenge over at Catered Crops and this week they are featuring my recipe..  :)

Look at the cute little award I received:

Go on over to their blog and play along with us in the challenge!  It is such a neat concept and you will have tons of ideas to work from...

Thanks for choosing me ladies at Catered Crop!  It was truly fun!

Love in Christ,

Nana

Beach Pail Tutorial PDF Files/ Tutorial de Mini-album

Hello!  I have been very busy with some great things that will be coming very shortly!!  In the meantime, I wanted to share this album i created using My Mind's Eye.
Hola!  He estado muy ocupada con unas puertas muy grandes que El Señor me ha abierto.  Les podré contar muy pronto!  Mientras tanto, les quería enseñar el álbum que creé usando My Mind's Eye.

As I promised at the Tree House's Studio, here is the PDF file to make my Beach Pail Mini-Album.
English Tutorial: http://www.scribd.com/doc/51945522/Best-Buddies-Beach-Pail-Album-Tutorial-English
Como le prometí en el blog de Paper Tree House, aquí está el archivo para que puedan imprimir  el tutorial.

 Tutorial en Español: http://www.scribd.com/doc/51946530/Best-Buddies-Beach-Pail-Tutorial-Spanish

Enjoy!!
Que lo disfrutes!!

Love in Christ,

Besitos en Cristo,

Nana

Blog Hop Winner!!

Ladies, I have been so blessed by this hop.  the Lord has encouraged me, challenged me, taught me, loved me, kissed me, among many other things - and ALL thanks to you.  I am beyond humbled to know that there are such amazing women that love the Lord and are willing to be transparent for His sake.  I am convinced that He indeed will heal all of us in His time, and while we wait may we hide in the shadow of His wings where we can find refuge!

The winners for the Grand Prizes have already been posted, so if you have not checked those out, you need to go do that now.  You can look at that post here.

I am happy to announce the winner of my RAK...  Random.org gave me my favorite number and also one of my favorite artists!!  BONITA ROSE!  Congratulations Bonita for playing along with us even with how busy your schedule can be.  You are an inspiration and a real blessing to me.  Please e-mail me your contact info so that I can have the prize shipped out to you.  :) (By the way, please check out her blog.  It is filled with yumminess that you do not want to miss.)

Next month's blog hop's theme is Fruit of the Spirit.  Please help me get the word out there by rocking this button on your blog with a link back to the following post:

Please e-mail me if you want to be a part of it so that I can add your name to the list of participants. 

Thank you so much again for those of you that left me a comment.  If I did not respond to your comment, I promise I will get to it very soon so come back and check.

Love you more than I can say!

Hugs

Nana

Heartache No One Sees Faith blog Hop

Welcome to the Heartache No One Sees Faith Blog Hop!! If you are hopping with us you should have come from Bonita's blog here: http://alifeunrehearsed2.blogspot.com/.  If you just happened to find this post, please go to http://www.mypapertreehouse.com/ so that you can start the hop from the very beginning. :) Now to the hop:

Women have a very unique way of being strong, yet gentle. through this process we find ourselves many times hiding heartaches that truly affect us, but somehow we cannot bring ourselves to talk about. Sometimes it is because of "what would people say" or because we want to keep a certain image, or even because we are trying to keep our loved ones from becoming worried: we hold on to the heartache and even come to believe that "this is as good as it will ever get". Today we are out in the internet laying our hearts bare before the world. We have come to understand that God IS who He says He is and indeed He will complete the work He has begun, and so we lay our heartache before Him in hopes that He will meet us here. As you go through this hop, take the time to think about your own hidden heartache, and if any of our blogs motivate you to speak about it, leave us a comment or even send us an email. As sisters we should remain together and encourage each other to continue the walk towards His arms: the only place we will find rest and comfort.
 
Here's how the hop works:
Like last time we have some GRAND Prizes to share with you, plus most of the blog owners are willing to share some RAK with you. In order to qualify for the GRAND Prizes you ought to leave a comment under this thread and become a follower of this blog (if you are not one yet). We are asking that you would also become a follower of paper Tree House Studio on Facebook so that you can stay updated with our challenges and contests. In order to qualify for the RAKS i ask that you would also become a follower of those blogs and leave them a comment with your thoughts about the project they might have created or the story they were willing to share (if any). It can be very humbling to share our hearts with the world, yet the Bible says that our troubles come so that we can console another going through the same thing. My prayer is that the Lord would use this for His Glory as He heals all of our hearts.
Now for the GRAND Prizes:

Paper Tree House Studio: Cuttlebug V2 Machine

Scrapbook News and Review Magazine: One Year Subscription

Bella Blvd.: $45 retail value worth of their yummy product

Echo Park: Be Mine Collection

Scrapbooks & Stuff: Cricut Your Story

Punky Sprouts: Sweetie Mini-Book

The Paper Blossom Shop: $25 gift certificate to their shop.

Bonita Rose LIfe.Love.Color.Art: 1 spot to her new self-paced Color Your World 2.0 workshop. Read more about it in her blog: http://alifeunrehearsed2.blogspot.com//.


Remember that in order to be considered a winner, you should leave a comment here and become a follower. :) It is that simple.

As you hop through the blogs you will see some very open lives, and others that are not as much. We are all being molded everyday more into His liking. Know that I have been praying for each of the participants, and as you begin to open your heart, I will be praying for you as well. It is my desire that the Lord would begin to build a community of bold women that would be willing to show their weaknesses so that in turn He can be their strength. Maybe next month we can hop through your blog as well.. This will happen every month on the very last weekend of the month, so please plan to be here learning about Him and about His love for YOU and His commitment to make you His!

(If you get lost, make sure to go check out the list of participant's over at http://www.mypapertreehouse.com/)

Here is my hidden heartache:

I am filled with insecurities... Insecurities about being a woman, about being a mom, about being a wife, etc...  It does not matter how hard I try, no matter what I do I always end up feeling guilty.  If I scrapbook because it is what i want to do, i feel guilty because I am not with my children.  If I am with my children, I feel guilty because I am not cleaning my house. If I am tired and i want to go take a nap, I feel guilty because i always have 20,000,000 things pending...  (you get the picture).  Feelings of inadequacy consume me at times and I am left with no other option than to crumble at Jesus' feet and once again ask Him to become my everything. 

There is also a sense of unsatisfaction and almost like a hunger that needs to be satiated in my soul and has not yet.  When it is intense i notice that I tend to withdraw from the Lord because I see such glimpses of who i used to be that it makes me wonder whether or not He will ever be able to heal me... 

I have come to learn that the Lord does not always heal you the way we would like for Him to do so, but for sure it is the PERFECT WAY and He WILL INDEED HEAL!!  :)  That is a promise I hold on tight, especially during my rockiest times.  To remind myself of that I created my first offcial art journal to record His Truth...

i want to know your story and I want to pray for you.  Please leave me a comment... I really want to pray for you!

Here is my first offcial art journal:

Here is my RAK:

Remember that to qualify for the GRAND Prizes you must leave a comment over at http://www.mypapertreehouse.com/ and become a follower.  If you want my RAK you need to leave a comment and become followers here as well...  :)
Thanks for participating with us... Now hop on over to my sweet and talented Rebecca's blog: http://www.polkadotdoordesign.blogspot.com/




Love in Christ,



Nana

See You Later Alligator

 One of my close friends is an alligator wrestler and a couple of months ago my family and I went to see her show.  It was an unbelievable show, especially because she weighs close to nothing ans was up against a 7 foot gator.  Here are some pics of her in action:

At the end of the show, she gave my son a tiny gator so that he could play with it.  He, being the boy he is, thought is was the coolest thing!  I was blessed to capture some awesome pictures of his reaction.  Here is my favorite:

What better line to scrap my little boys reactions with than Echo Park's Little Boy line!  Here is the layout I created:

and then some close-ups:

the bling

Boys will be boys

star with bling

Distress-it-All effect

Paper ribbon

I have created a tutorial for this layout, but it will be a surprise the way you will receive it.  stay tuned!

Thanks for looking!

Love in Christ,

Nana

Challenges for this layout:

Pile-it-On: Bling
PaperCutz: anything goes
MyGrafico: anything goes
Amber's Crafts: anything goes
Catered Crop:  Stripes and mini print, blue, green & brown
Scrappy Saturdays with the Bug: Spring with a twist of Green

Jillibean Soup DT Call Submission Projects

I just finished sending my submission over to Jillibean Soup and am so nervous about the outcome!   : /  There are so many talented women out there, but I had to give it a try!  :)  Here are the projects I sent out their way (some you have seen before, others you have not):
Acabo de terminar de envíar mis proyectos a Jillibean Soup y estoy sumamente nerviosa por los resultados.  Me encantaría estar en su equipo de diseño pero reconozco que hay muchas mujeres talentosas.  No pierdo nada con tratar verdad? :)  Aquí están los proyectos que les envié (algunos los conocen, otros no):

They are still having their DT call, so go check them out if you want to be one of the blessed to be in their team.  :)
Aún están teniendo su llamado de diseñadoras, así que ve a ver los detalles si te interesa ser parte de el equipo.

Come visit me tomorrow.   I will be posting a little tutorial on how to create the cute little owl card.  :)
Visítame mañana.  Estaré poniendo el tutorial de cómo crear la tarjeta bonita con la pequeña búho. :)

Love in Christ,
Besitos en Cristo,

Nana