First Sunday in Advent

Ok how did it get to be Advent already - I think this year has just flown in really quickly.

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. At Church we have a candle which we light each Sunday during Advent and this year we also have some Advent boxes - one for each Sunday! The first one contained an alarm clock! How many of us dislike the alarm going off in the morning - but we know that it means that we have to get up and start  getting ready for the day. So on this first Sunday in Advent we know that we have to start getting ready for Christmas - getting ready for the birth of Jesus - not just getting in the food and the presents. The countdown has begun!

What are you doing to get ready for Christmas, to prepare for the birth of our Lord Jesus?

Fingerless Gloves

Well the carpet is down and I have almost got all the furniture back in. Also have a large pile of books which will be going to the charity shops so the bookshelves look much tidier now! Am thinking of getting a Kindle for Christmas, husband got one for his birthday - this might help the place be a little less cluttered with books - as we hate to get rid of books!

No pages done yet for my Gratitude journal - but I have been creative. I knitted a pair of fingerless gloves using Patons Linen Touch cotton. They were really quick and easy to do.

Slipped a little!

Oh dear I have slipped a bit this week with making pages for my Gratitude album and Art Every Day Month. My sister we here for a few days at the beginning of  last week. Instead of doing some creative art I did some creative baking instead and made this cake. She brought back some lovely sock wool from Germany so I have been some sock knitting every night.

I have been doing the volunteer training with Citizens Advice Bureau and really enjoying it, so that took up Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

Then on Friday the womens Guild had a display in the Library. Each local Guild had a table and we displayed some info about all the national projects the Guild support. Each year the Guild raise a phenomenal amount of money.

On Friday night our church had a quiz, our team won - hurrah!

I have had a lot to be thankful for this week - family, baking, work of the Guild, work of projects, winning the quiz. Hoping to be able to make some pages this week, although we are getting a new shower in tomorrow and a new carpet in the dining room on Tuesday!

Art Every Day Month - Day 13

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Art Every Day Month - Day 12

Today I am thankful for all the people who come along to Messy Church. We hold Messy Church once a month on a Saturday morning and it is for all the family to come together to praise, do crafts and activities and share food together. Today we were looking at Hannah and Samuel and prayer. It was a good morning.

 Remember I said that I was blocking a crochet project - well here it is - although the colours look better in real life. It is a table mat and is done in a variey of cottons.

Art Every Day Month - Days 10 & 11

Yesterday Mum and I went a run in the car and visited a wool shop - I was good and only got a couple of patterns, but Mum treated herself to some nice wool for a cardigan. So today my page says I am thankful for having  a car and being able to go places.

Tonight was youth group night at the church, IGNITE. For various reasons we have not met for a while so it was good to get back and I think everyone enjoyed it. This session we are starting off looking at the book of Romans. Today my page records that I am thankful for the young people that come along to the group.

10 on the 10th

Its the 10th on the month again, so here is a list for Shimelle's 10 things on the 10th. This month I thought I would share 10 favourite films - not in any order though!

1. X-Men films - all of them
2. Fantastic Four films - all of them
3. Superman films - all of them

do you see a pattern here?

4. Memoirs of a Geisha
5. Kramer vs Kramer
6. Planet of the Apes
7. Shakespeare in Love
8. Gone with the Wind
9. An Officer and a Gentleman
10. Shall we Dance

You can find other lists here

Art Every Day Month - Days 7, 8 & 9

It seems to be easier to find the time to do a page each day than it does to actually load them on here, but here are my pages for the last three days. I am now all caught up. I have also been creative each day in that I have done either some knitting or crocheting. I have finished another crochet project and it is currently being blocked so photos will follow shortly.

On Monday both Andrew and I were feeling under the weather so we had a film day - we watched both Madagascar DVDs, which are always good fun and also National Treasure.

 Tuesday's page was about being thankful for the flowers that we see about us and all the different colours that there are.

Today was Andrew's first parents night at secondary school. I was thankful that he got a good report from all his teachers. He seems to have settled in well and doing fine in all his subjects, albeit he is a rather quiet boy in class - he certainly isn't at home!

Art Every Day Month - Day 6

Bit late getting this posted but I did actually do it on Sunday night. I used watercolour pencils and just freely coloured in the background then added the words and the sticker.

Sunday was such a lovely day that we went for a walk along the beach at Wig Bay in the afternoon. Then I didnt feel well at all on Monday with a sore back - wonder if there was a connection!!!

Art Every Day Month - Day 4 & 5

Two simple and quick pages to share with you today:

The first is the page for Friday. I am thankful for being able to meet together with others at CAMEO crafts (Come and Meet each Other), a monthly craft group in our church. This week we were making boxes from Christmas cards - I don't have any photos as I forgot to take my camera and the boxes are for our Christmas stall in a few weeks time. We are going to fill them with tablet etc and hope that people will buy them for gifts.

Page for Saturday is about being thankful for the colours of Autumn. This weekend the weather has been really lovely, so we had a family day in the garden yesterday, trying to get it tidied up a bit before winter - everything in the garden is just sooo wet at the moment though.

Art Every Day Month - Day 3

Today I am grateful for music. I often listen to music while I am crafting.

We have recently bought a keyboard for the boys and I to learn and yesterday I spent some time practising on it and really enjoyed it.

Do you like to listen to music when crafting?

Art Every Day Month - Day 2

Well I was busy last night! I did the next page in my Gratitude Journal and made some Christmas cards.

I was grateful for the Scripture Union group at our local school, which I help run. We have about 20 children who come along each week to hear about God. This year the P7s, who have been coming regularly since P4, have asked for  a smaller group for themselves where they can go deeper, we have called this group Scripture Union Advance.

Our Church is having a Christmas sales table at a Quiz in a couple of weeks, so I thought I would make some Christmas cards, using up some decopatch sheets I have had for some time! Yes, I am decluttering and tidying all my craft stuff this week.

Art Every Day Month - Day 1

I made this last night, but the light was not good for taking a photo, so I am posting a day behind, which is probably what shall happen throughout this month. This is the front cover for my Gratitude journal. It is a zig zag book. I painted the covers with bronze and a touch of gold paint.

My Gratitude page for yesterday. I was thankful that it was such a  lovely day after all the dreadful weather we have been recently.

My verse on my calender for this month was very appropriate for this project:

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High" Psalm 92:1