The Twinery/Serendipity Stamps {Blog Hop}

The Introduction:
If you are hopping along with us today: You should have come here from The Twinery's blog. If you did, you are in the right place! Welcome!
If you aren't already a follower, I'd love to have you follow my blog!
If you are on Facebook, please "like" Ink Blots by TRD.

If you are one of my regular readers: Thanks for coming back! I love having you! Please join along in the hop - you can start at the Serendipity Stamps blog.

The Hop Order:
Serendipity Stamps
The Twinery
Tifany DeGough
Anya Schrier
Rebecca VanDeMark
Vickie Zimmer
Stacey Schafer
Julie Warner
Melyssa Connolly
Karen Amidon
Melania Deasy
Cathy Weber
Suzanna Lee

The Prizes:

The Twinery is giving away a fabulous Sampler Pack of Twines:

Serendipity Stamps is giving away a fantastic prize as well – check out The Twinery's blog and the Serendipity Stamps blog to find out how you can enter to win one of these great prizes. 

The Projects:

For today's project, I've got two tags to share. Both tags were created using the same basic supplies - so it's a bit like a two-for-one deal. 

I started off with a basic manila tag, then used the Thanks Die from Serendipity Stamps to create my sentiment. For this one, I removed the die cut word (to be used on my next tag) and left the negative, which I backed with cardstock. Next, I used Solid Maraschino twine from The Twinery and the French Pastry Tiny Doily Die from Serendipity Stamps to create a flower. I die cut multiple layers of tissue paper using the doily die - and then fluffed up the layers to create a flower. I love how the doily edges peek out and give the flower some beautiful detailing. I used the Solid Maraschino twine as a sort of "leaf" - looping it on one side and leaving the random tails peeking out on the other side. 

For the next tag, I created the base tag out of cardstock (using the manila tag as a template), and then die cut the French Pastry Tiny Doily Die from a manila tag. I still had the Thanks Die cut from the previous tag, so I used that here for my sentiment. It's all tied off with a beautiful double bow created with The Twinery's Solid Maraschino twine.

Thanks for stopping by today!

The Next Stop:
Anya Schrier

Supplies: 
Twine: The Twinery (Solid Maraschino); 
Dies: Serendipity Stamps (French Pastry Tiny Doily Die, Thanks Die);
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Book Review :: Modern Pioneering by Georgia Pellegrini

Modern Pioneering by Georgia Pellegrini is one of those books that you absolutely can judge by it's cover. This is a beautifully designed and photographed book. Every page is filled with great tips, tricks, recipes, ideas, and how-tos. 

Modern Pioneering is divided into 4 major sections (The Garden, The Home, The Wild, and The Rest). Each of these sections contain a variety of delicious-sounding recipes. I love the style of the recipes that are included in this book. The recipes are not so wild & out there that you will be scouring multiple stores just to find the ingredients (or gag just by looking at the ingredient list!), but they are not so "normal" that you already have multiple versions of them in your regular cookbooks. The recipes seem easy and do-able, but have just enough of a twist to make them truly unique. (My mother-in-law was visiting when this book arrived and she had a hard time letting go of it so that I could take a peek. She already has plans to make the Cauliflower Steaks with Pine Nut Dressing - found on page 70.) 

But this book isn't just a cookbook. Modern Pioneering will not only tell how you to create something delicious with potatoes (like Rosemary Potato Puree or Apple Cider Potato Salad), but it also tells you how to plant potatoes, how to grow potatoes (even in a garbage bag!), how to harvest potatoes, and how to store potatoes. 

And there is more to Modern Pioneering than just food (although the majority of the book does have to do with food in one way or another - growing, curing, cooking, etc.). This book also gives instructions for things like: How to Change a Tire, How to Pick a Lock, How to Turn Mason Jars into Lanterns, How to Negotiate at an Antique Market, and more. 

Modern Pioneering is a book I plan to use over and over, and I can't wait to start testing out some of the recipes. 

FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through the Blogging for Books book review bloggers program. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

The Twinery/Poppystamps {Blog Hop}

The Introduction:
If you are hopping along with us today: You should have come here from Monika Wright's blog. If you did, you are in the right place! Welcome!
If you aren't already a follower, I'd love to have you follow my blog!
If you are on Facebook, please "like" Ink Blots by TRD.

If you are one of my regular readers: Thanks for coming back! I love having you! Please join along in the hop - you can start at the Poppystamps blog.

The Hop Order:
Poppystamps
The Twinery
Monika Wright
Tifany DeGough
Ira Huberts
Christine Meyer
Kimberly Coleman
DoBea Alberts
Mary McMillan
Tobi Crawford
Michele Henderson
Anita Mulcahey
Yvonne Dunlop

The Prizes:

The Twinery is giving away a fabulous Metallic Twine Sampler:

Poppystamps is giving away a fantastic prize as well – check out The Twinery's blog and the Poppystamps blog to find out how you can enter to win one of these great prizes. 

The Project:

Today's post for me is hard. 

I have just in the past couple of days lost my precious baby nephew, and although I know I will see him again, my heart is aching so much right now. Seeing this card in particular is hard for me, because as I was making it I was thinking this would make a beautiful sympathy card - but didn't have a reason to make one at the time. Unfortunately now, I have the task ahead of me of making what will probably be the hardest sympathy card ever to make. 

With that said, I really do love how my card turned out. It is clean with just enough dimension for a bit of interest. There were hundreds (maybe thousands) of people praying for my nephew Roscoe over the past 10 or so months, and so I would like to use today's card as a "thank you" for all those prayers. 

Prayer is powerful. 

This card was created using the beautiful Massa Leaf Background and Massa Leaf Outline dies from Poppystamps and is topped off with Solid Caribbean twine from The Twinery.

Thanks for stopping by today!

The Next Stop:
Ira Huberts

Supplies: 
Twine: The Twinery (Solid Caribbean); 
Dies: Poppystamps (Massa Leaf Background, Massa Leaf Outline);
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (Rustic Cream); 
Vellum: Papertrey Ink (Stamper's Select Vellum);
Patterned Paper: Heidi Swapp (Hello Today 12x12); 
Stickers: My Little Shoebox (Mini Alphabet Stickers - Seaside);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Book Review :: Plain Faith by Ora-Jay and Irene Eash, with Tricia Goyer

Plain Faith is a very interesting book. I was initially interested in it because I enjoy reading Amish fiction (such as books by Beverly Lewis, Wanda Brunstetter, etc.), but this book really is much more than just a way to get an inside peek at the Amish way of life.

The main text of the book is told by Irene and Ora Jay Eash in a traditional narrative style, but the text is enhanced with copies of letters that the Eash family had written - to their family or a grieving group they were a part of. These letters are interesting to read and really are a good way to see where the Eash family was at in their journey at the time.

Some who are raised in an Amish community will end up leaving the Amish being mainly motivated by the comforts and freedom of an "Englisch" life. This was not the case of the Eash family (although they did certainly find freedom) - they studied and prayed their way out of the Amish faith and into their current Christian community.

For me, Plain Faith ended up being so much more than just a story of a family that stopped being Amish. The trials they faced and the very rule-focused society in which they were raised made this book easy for me to relate to, and helped open my eyes to how similar a person's situation can be when on the outside it may appear that there is not a lot in common. Much like the book Unveiling Grace by Lynn K. Wilder (which I reviewed previously), Plain Faith takes you on a grace-discovering journey...and is sure to leave you inspired. I believe in a firm foundation of truth and obedience as do the Eash family, but this book showed how an over-focus on rules, regulations, and traditions can end up forcing out the truth (and the love) from a faith community.

I highly recommend Plain Faith to anyone who has an interest in the Amish (including Amish fiction fans), but also to anyone who comes from a very rule-based/checklist background...and also to anyone who wants to hear more about God's grace and love for all of His children. This was a wonderful, easy-to-read book.
FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

The Twinery/Chic Tags {Blog Hop}

The Introduction:
If you are hopping along with us today: You should have come here from Amy Coose's blog. If you did, you are in the right place! Welcome!
If you aren't already a follower, I'd love to have you follow my blog!
If you are on Facebook, please "like" Ink Blots by TRD.

If you are one of my regular readers: Thanks for coming back! I love having you! Please join along in the hop - you can start at the Chic Tags blog.

The Hop Order:
Chic Tags
The Twinery
Amy Coose
Tifany DeGough
Jennifer Haggerty
Christine Meyer
Mandy Kay Starner
Jennifer Cuthbertson
Jennie McGarvey
Suzanna Lee

The Prizes:

The Twinery is giving away this fabulous Sampler Pack of Solid Twines:

Chic Tags is giving away a fantastic prize as well – check out The Twinery's blog and the Chic Tags blog to find out how you can enter to win one of these great prizes. 

The Projects:

Each of my cards today were created using the same supplies - baker's twine, embellishments, and cardstock. The pre-made embellishments from Chic Tags made these cards come together rather quickly, and the twine from The Twinery pulled it all together. 

For my first card, I used The Twinery's Solid Pink Sorbet twine and various embellishments from the Chic Tags Cloud 9 collection.  I can see how these embellishments would be great for layouts or pocket scrapbooking, but they were just asking me to use them on a card. :o)

As soon as I saw these wood veneer "sequins" from Chic Tags, I knew I needed to use them. They would be great colored with mist or ink, but I decided to leave them au naturale here.

My second card again uses the squares, clips, and mini icons from Chic Tags, but this time I paired them up with The Twinery's Ocean twine. I love the Ocean color - it's just muted enough, but still a great pop of color.

These cards were quick and easy to make, but I am really happy with how they turned out.

Thanks for stopping by today!

The Next Stop:
Jennifer Haggerty

Happy Dance Card Supplies: 
Twine: The Twinery (Solid Pink Sorbet); 
Embellishments: Chic Tags (Cloud 9 Collection - Squares, Clips, Mini Icons, "Sequins" Wood Veneer);
Cardstock: My Favorite Things (Replenishments);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Supplies: 
Twine: The Twinery (Ocean); 
Embellishments: Chic Tags (Cloud 9 Collection - Squares, Clips, Mini Icons);
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (Harvest Gold); 
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Book Review :: Urban Watercolor Sketching by Felix Scheinberger

Today I am sharing something that merges my love of books and my love of crafting...a book called Urban Watercolor Sketching by Felix Scheinberger. With watercolor being so trendy today in papercrafting, I had to jump at the chance to review this book. 

I must say, I was interested in this book more for the intriguing pictures on each page than the content of the text...but there is a lot of great content here. If you are looking for a step-by-step process on how to replicate a few specific images - this book is not for you. If you are looking to be inspired, learn about the basic techniques of watercolor, learn about watercolors themselves along with a good dose of color theory and design techniques - this book is for you. 

Now - have I played with a box of Crayola watercolors? Yes. Did I know that "real" watercolor sets use "pans" or can be modified for one's personal color preferences? No. I have dabbled with watercolors for fun, but really hadn't taken any more time with them than to spread some across a page when I am feeling the need to create something (or to create along with my kids). This book opened my eyes to the options that watercolor provides and let me see how watercolor can be combined with sketching to create many beautiful pieces. 

Each two-page spread in this book is dedicated to a single subject and has text accompanied by watercolor sketches to get the idea across. There really is so much more than I was expecting. I did not expect to learn about what watercolors are made of (currently or historically). I did not expect for the author to cover ways to convey mood with color - but he did. After reading this book (which didn't take long because it kept my interest so well), I wanted to immediately get out and sketch and paint. And this is not just a book that you will want to read once and be done with. It would be wonderful to sit down with it and paint, practicing the techniques that the author describes. (Maybe it should have come with waterproof pages!) Although I didn't feel that this book really covered much about sketching, it certainly did inspire me to pick up a pen and draw. 

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but it truly was inspiring and is a book that I will reference over and over. 

Looking for the press release? You can view it here. 

FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through the Blogging for Books program. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

Roscoe's Story :: Prayer is Powerful

Today I wanted to take a little time to share with you a little bit of the story of my nephew, Roscoe. Roscoe was born almost 9 months ago - delivered at 28 weeks and 5 days and weighing in at a whoppin' 1 pound, 2.7 ounces.

We had known before the delivery that he would be coming early and the events surrounding his birth were truly scary. We were praying for him to get big enough before he was born to be able to fit the smallest breathing tube available, and he just barely passed the mark. Knowing that just because of how early he was delivered and how small he was, every day that he remained alive was such a wonderful blessing.

Roscoe has been in the NICU the entire time (almost 9 months now), and there is so much more that needs to happen before he is able to go home with his parents. We have been praying for this precious little guy. Big time.

God is good, and he takes loving care of his children...but that doesn't always mean things are easy or the answer we think is best. All of the journey has been laden with medical issues, but there have been some times in particular where it sounded like Roscoe wasn't going to make it through. One of these times was just recently. People from all over the world, including many people our family has never even met, have been praying for Roscoe. It has been so encouraging! We know that God listens to our prayers and I believe He has allowed Roscoe to live this long because of those prayers. And I am begging Him to let Roscoe live longer, be healthy enough to go home with his parents, and live a long life. God is able. 

In all this time of praying, the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (in Daniel 3) keeps popping up in my mind. I think of how they told King Nebuchadnezzar that they knew God was able to deliver them from the fire. (A fire that consumed others who even got close to it.) But they also knew that even if God chose not to save them - it was not enough to sway them from trusting only in Him. 

If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.

Daniel 3: 17-18

In this situation, I know that God is able to heal Roscoe. He is Jehovah Rapha, The Lord our Healer. He is able to let him live. He is Elohim, Strong Creator. He is able to allow him to be healthy and go home with his parents. But I also know that even if God doesn't heal Roscoe...I will still trust in Him. I will continue to strive to live as He wants me to. And although that should be so easy to do with how much God has done for us...it is still hard to say sometimes. But I know...

God is good. 

All the time. 

My brother (Roscoe's dad) is so much better with words than I am. Please, read the blog that he keeps updated with Roscoe's story. Read how many prayers have been answered already in Roscoe's life and how God is (and has been) faithful through all of this. 

Please - pray for Roscoe, his parents, and the doctors and nurses that are watching over him. And please, encourage his parents by adding your name to Roscoe's prayer map.

Prayer is powerful.