BoB Sneak Peeks and Winter Serenade Layout

Compassion. I created this layout on Sunday, before the earthquakes in Haiti. For the past 48 hours it is a word that has been in the forefront of my mind. Yesterday Abby came to me, sad, once again, for people who don't have clean drinking water and those who need wheelchairs. This concern comes directly from participating in Advent Conspiracy at Blackhawk Church. She has been made aware that there are many people in this world who are without the very basic of needs. As you can imagine, with the news coverage of the earthquake, she had some pretty big questions and concerns before bedtime last night. There is much to pray about.

This layout was inspired in part by the BoBunny "cold hands, warm heart" sticker. My hands were always freezing when I was younger, and I heard this saying often. I was also inspired by the January GCT scraplift challenge at ACOT - one small photo surrounded by stickers is perfect for the beautiful BoBunny Winter Serenade papers, in particular when using Overture as a backdrop to build upon. I also incorporated a couple of challenges from Scrapbook.com - specifically I doodled wtih a glitter pen, and added trailing butterflies. The Winter Night paper is just perfect for blingy butterflies, and I used BoBunny acrylic scrolls, coated with Glimmer Mist, and pearl accents, as the trails.

Winter Night was also used to punch snowflake shapes. I selected an "ancient" fiber from my stash, a fuzzy white string to thread through the buttonholes, as it tied in with Abby's fuzzy hat in the photo.


Smaller snowflakes with pearl gem accents, and 2nd butterfly create a cluster on the left side of the photo.


Clearance ribbon - seriously, now is the time to stock up on a few spools of lightly wired holiday ribbons. (ok, you may have missed out this year - but watch for things like this after holidays!) Holiday colors extend way beyond red, green and white. I noted turquoise paired with milk chocolate, several shades of plum, pink, aqua all a part of this year's holiday ribbon offerings at Michaels. Personally I plan to use the aqua on summer paper craft projects. The light wire allows me to tie a bow and have control over its foof and dimension. I wove in a short string of pearls in my stash from creating for our wedding - almost 20 years ago! (LOL)


There are a few things I wish to point out about the journaling block. First, note the title written above. I held my breath as I hand-wrote the title. No white rub-ons exist in my stash that I hoped I would find. You can barely seem them in the photo, but I used a gold glitter pen to doodle some starbursts, that I hope people will think of snowflakes. In addition to taking a lightly loaded flat paintbrush with Liquitext Titanium white, around the photo edges, I chose to skritch and scratch with the gold glitter pen directly on the photo as well, to create a double border.


I am very much enjoying every moment of creating with BoBunny's Winter Serenade. Just when I thought it could not get any better, I catch a glimpse of the BoBunny new releases and am blown away. Just wait until you see it! When? How about now? Visit BoBunny's blog starting Friday, January 15 for peeks at the new releases. Starting next Monday there will be bigger peeks and some giveaways. Be sure to check it out! If you are not already following BoBunny on Facebook or Twitter - don't wait another day! BoB followers will also have a chance at a giveaway.

More reflection on the Haitian earthquake. I watched a bit of the news this morning and the scenes were horrendous. I've also been reading news/messages sent to Lifeline Christian organization by e-mail from Gretchen, wife of founder Bob DeVoe. More than 50 women from the United States were already in Haiti at their mission village in Frand Goave, about 5 miles from Port au Prince. Last I heard some women are still missing. The Lifeline clinic is still standing, and with the nearest hospital in a pile of rubble, you can only imagine the droves of injured coming to their ill-equiped facility. My sister and her husband had plans for the past 6 mo. or more, planned to return to Lifelines mission compound in Grand Goave Haiti. Originally they were to be flying to Haiti with departure set for Wednesday. Now, with the airfields congested and flights cancelled, they await news on whether or not they will be leaving Wednesday. I know my sister, an R.N., is more than willing to extend her originally planned stay to and help the Haitian people, whom she has grown to love after several trips to Grand Goave these past years. Consider how you might find a way to help in the relief efforts. It can be donating formula, shoes, bandages... I have heard that organizations and churches across the country will be setting up collection sites. It can be monetary. Donations can be made to Lifeline by sending a personal check (thereby eliminating credit card companies getting their percentage - personally, I think in a time of crisis CC companies should abstain from any fees for non-profit organizations), or of course, any organization of your choice. No doubt churches will be taking up collections as well. Perhaps you are a prayer warrior and God is or has called on you to pray for everyone involved. With continued after shocks, and risk of disease, those who are providing relief efforts need warriors praying for their safety.

Meanwhile, I am praising God that we are not situated on a fault line here in southern Wisconsin. Remember to never take a day for granted, and happy creating!