Thank you card for our faithful friends

Hello,
ISBG Fans!  I am still busily making cards with the Fairy Garden kit.  You can never have too many thank you cards around and the latest kit stretches so far.  I made this stair step card using the Summer in the garden kit.  All of the components and embellishments, except the black ink, and the prima iron swirl are included in the kit.  What a joy to have a card on hand that I can send to anyone to say thanks.

If you haven't already gotten on board with the kit club, I hope you will take a look.  The quality of the papers and embellishments is amazing!

Here's a little close up:

I think the colors are amazing! So on trend and beautiful.

Have a blessed day and I will be back with some tags to share next time.

~ Victoria

We Are Coming Back!

It is time!  Catholic Scrapbooking is coming back.  It is time we spread the message of our faith through our creative art.  If you would be interested in being a guest contributor, let me know!  E-mail:  Victoria at drvamears at yahoo dot com.

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Pre-Class Information

The Pre-Class information is posted in the tab above.  Each week will be posted in a tab along the top!  Welcome and let me know if you are joining!

Peace be with you!

Beginning April 3, 2013......

Beginning April 3, 2013, I will be beginning a six week person and faith enhancing class series here at Catholic Scrapbooking.

What does it cost?   Not a thing for the class itself, this is free to anyone who would like to participate along with me.  You may wish to document your journey and I will provide a suggested list of supplies that we will use.

What will I gain?  A refreshed soul, and hopefully a clarified faith.

Details:    Each week a new, written, thought provoking lesson will be posted on this blog. You can choose to do as much as suggested or as little as you like. This short course will be based on the teachings, as I understand them, of the Catholic Church.  I welcome people of all faiths to participate and if your views differ, welcome open, respectful discussion.  The lessons will stay true to the catechism of the Catholic Church, conservative beliefs and lessons from the saints.  If this is for you, just leave a message below to let me know you will participate along! 

You will have the option to post your art in a on-line gallery and link it here!

What is next?  Look for a suggest list of supplies by the second of April.

Peace be with you..........

Catholic Women Rejoice 2012

I had the unique opportunity to attend Catholic Women Rejoice!  What an amazing event.  I hope that each of you in the Portland Area will have an opportunity to attend next year.  Here are some photographs of the amazing event!

50 Days of Easter

Did you know that the Church celebrates 50 Days of Easter? The 40 days of Lent seem small when you consider the incredible gift of Jesus on the Cross. So now we continue in the Easter Season in the joy of knowing that we are blessed and forgiven. I have two layouts of Easter, that are very much the personality of my family, but share some of the gratitude I have for my blessings.

My DS is 10. He is a big guy at 5'3" and 127 lbs. He is athletic and outgoing AND right on the cusp of teenage behavior. That being said he is also still a little and naive boy. The Easter Bunny brought him a tiny replica of himself, which as you can see he just loved. At our house we love St. Nicholas and the Easter Bunny and we choose to believe in the simplicity and joyful times they bring. I love this time with my son.

The other layout is of my husband. This was just after Easter Services. He had just finished singing in the choir and was about ready to lose his voice after the rigorous schedule the choir follows during Holy Week. But he was not too tired to pose for this rather silly photograph! I love him as our spiritual leader and leader of silliness.

I hope each of you is having many blessings during the 50 days of Easter!

Happy Easter to All!

Have a joyous Easter! Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again!

Arch for a Friend

I was to make an arch for a swap! Luckily I got a pal that wanted something that focused on Jesus. What more perfect time of year to remember the Holy Family and the amazing sacrifice for each of us of Jesus! I used public domain images and an arch cut out that I got from Crafty Secrets, a business based in Canada and Blaine, WA. On the back of the arches in the center I printed the Magnificat. It is mailed away to my dear pal now.
Thanks for stopping by and find inspiration this season!

Making Your Own Flowers Tutorial

At least one of you asked for it, so you all get it! Here is how to make dimensional flowers from flat cuts. You will need medium weight paper, glue, scissors, and patience!



I have the Cricut that cuts to 5" wide, so I can make flowers from 1 - 5 inches wide. I am demonstrating a two inch cut. The cartridge is used is the Mother's Day Bouquet Cartridge. I used flower image 15 for the demonstration.









These flowers can be made from fabric or paper. You can also use punches rather than using a machine for cutting. For each of these flowers, I am using three pieces cut to the identical size.



Out of the first flower cut one petal to the center, the second cut two (will look like a heart), and the third cut three. For this flower we will use each of the larger cuts and the cut of three petals.



I like to lightly fold up one of the end petals, it really helps me to be able to roll the cone more accurately.



Apply glue to the front of one petal and form the cone out of each of the flat cuts.



I like to secure my flowers with clips, but you can just as easily hold them until they begin to dry.



Now comes the fun part, putting the flower together! Take the smallest cone (made from the three petals) and cut off the bottom at an angle. Fill the next larger cone with a drop of glue and place the smaller cone inside. Let dry. You will repeat this building step with each of the cones. It is best to cut off the tips so they lay correctly and the centers don't stick up too high.







When I do the outside layer, I like to lightly bend down the petals. I think it gives a more natural look.



The finished flower should look something like this:



You can end here or use spritz to finish. I used Smooch gold spritz and Tattered Angels Cinnamon Glimmer Mist to finish my flower. These are super inexpensive to make, when compared to premade flowers AND are fun too!



Our Lady's Rose - Thanks for stopping by to look! Peace be with you.

Blessings in Abundance

Some days as a mom, I don't feel so blessed. You know the kind of day, not following instructions, not being respectful and all those "no's". The Book of James 1:12 says, "Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." Let's face it some days are trials. But, we keep following our pathway faithfully and then we are blessed!

I made this LO of my son and I following a particularly challenging day, when the battle of the wills was on. Nobody won! Go figure! I am truly blessed by my son. He is smart, talented, willful and persistent. Sounds familiar......

Please show me your layout of blessings in your life AND let me know if you would like to learn how to make the kraft paper rose from flat punches or cut out flowers.

Peace be with you.

Believe In Miracles

With today's earthquakes and resulting tsunami, we look at photographs and it doesn't look like there is a miracle to be found. We need to remember at these bleakest of times, Jesus walks beside us. He knows our needs and as time passes, I am confident that we will hear of small miracles. For now, I offer praises that my co-workers wife's family, who live in Japan were South of the earthquake and are safe. I am thankful that our dear friends in Hawaii are safe, we spoke to all of them today. These indeed are small blessings and things to be thankful for. I will continue to pray for those who are effected by the disaster and hope that what is needed will be there for everyone.

I made this card a few days ago for the 365 Cards challenge of an arch shaped card. Arch shapes always remind me of church windows. I used Pink Paislee Papers, Prima flowers and a wonderful sentiment sticker from SRM Shine Your Light Stickers. Lets all hope to be a light on a hill at this difficult time.

<3 Victoria

What Are Your Lenten Plans?

What are your plans for Lent? Are you giving something up? Are you adding something to enrich your faith life?
Let us know what your plans are and if you have artwork, post it on Mr. Linky in the previous post.
May your Lenten Season be reflective, a time of penance, and blessing.

Preparation for Lent

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.

Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice.

The distribution of ashes comes from a ceremony of ages past. Christians who had committed grave faults performed public penance. On Ash Wednesday, the Bishop blessed the hair shirts which they were to wear during the forty days of penance, and sprinkled over them ashes made from the palms from the previous year. Then, while the faithful recited the Seven Penitential Psalms, the penitents were turned out of the church because of their sins -- just as Adam, the first man, was turned out of Paradise because of his disobedience. The penitents did not enter the church again until Maundy Thursday after having won reconciliation by the toil of forty days' penance and sacramental absolution. Later, all Christians, whether public or secret penitents, came to receive ashes out of devotion. In earlier times, the distribution of ashes was followed by a penitential procession. (from www.catholic.org)

What are your needs this lenten season? What can you give or give up to focus on living a more Christ-like life? Be called to that purpose. Please link up an paper arts or other art work that you are working on to celebrate this lenten season.

Peace be with you.

Upload your art work:

Happy All Saints' Day!

All Saints' Day officially the Solemnity of All Saints and also called All Hallows or Hallowmas, often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November by parts of Western Christianity, in honor of all the saints, known and unknown.
The day commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in Heaven and is a national holiday in many historically Catholic countries. The next day, All Souls' Day, commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet reached heaven.
Catholics celebrate All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day because of the fundamental belief that there is a prayerful spiritual communion between those in the state of grace who have died and are either being purified in purgatory or are in heaven (the 'church penitent' and the 'church triumphant', respectively), and the 'church militant' who are the living. Different Christian traditions define, remember and respond to the saints in very different ways.
Who are the saints you admire? How are you living a saintly example? Let’s design some layouts to answer these questions!

Assignment August Challenge - the Eucharist

What does the Eucharist mean to you? This month, I would like to see layouts that show this. Link your layouts below, so we can come and comment! Peace be with you

My Patron Saint

Here is my example for the challenge!

Assignment July: Scrap Your Saint

In these summer months, it can be hard to find time and inspirations to scrapbook. After all we are out enjoying the time with our families and all of the wonderful activities of summer.

I am going to take time this week to reflect on my patron saint.

What is a patron saint?
According to catholic.org "Patron saints are chosen as special protectors or guardians over areas of life. These areas can include occupations, illnesses, churches, countries, causes -- anything that is important to us. The earliest records show that people and churches were named after apostles and martyrs as early as the fourth century."

Who is your patron saint and why are they important to you? What examples can we take from his/her life? I would love to see some layouts from you about this! Feel free to post them here!

Pentacost Sunday - Come Holy Spirit

What is Pentacost and what does it mean to you?

A feast of the universal Church which commemorates the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ, on the ancient Jewish festival called the "feast of weeks" or Pentecost (Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10). Whitsunday is so called from the white garments which were worn by those who were baptised during the vigil; Pentecost ("Pfingsten" in German), is the Greek for "the fiftieth" (day after Easter).

My challenge to you this week is to do a layout that shows a tradition around Pentacost or what the Holy Spirit has meant in your life.

My LO is of my dad when he was small. The tradition in his church was to parade in white garments, young and old got together and did this. Please link your layouts back to the blog so we can leave you some loving feedback!

Peace be with each of you.

Challenge #1 - We Believe

Nicene Creed - Profession of Faith

We believe in God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
and all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in fulfilment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

The challenge for us today is to:
1. Pick a size of layout that you want to do for your book (12 x 12, 8 x 8, 6 x 6, 8 1/2 x 11, 12 x 6 or some other size)
2. Create your first LO and post a link to it back to our site, so we can leave you some love. Your LO should focus on the Nicene Creed, our profession of faith, and what it means to you.

Looking forward to seeing your LOs here!

Challenges for Your Catholic Faith Book

Welcome to the Catholic Scrapbooking Challenge Blog! I am glad to see you here. Whether you are a life-long Catholic, a new convert, or a seeker, welcome. We will be working on a book to pass on our faith, document our faith life and maybe throw in a few fun cards and altered items along the way! I hope you will choose to focus on what being Catholic means to you. Every challenge on this blog will be based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Bible and the special seasons and event of the Church. While we are on this journey we will share inspiration, layouts and our journey of faith. Please consider joining me as you can to talk about and share this most important aspect of our lives.

We will have a challenge two times a month and tutorials as well. In the near future, I hope to gather a design team of inspired Catholic women (and men too!), who are committed to sharing the faith.

Challenges will be posted on the second and fourth Monday of each month. Check back often for inspiration and challenges!

Also please sign up to follow this blog! I will look forward to getting to know each of you better. Peace Be With You!