October Wrap-Up

  What a whirl wind this month has been! At the beginning of the month, I joined a photo-a-day challenge with some friends. It was so fun! I used my phone camera & I edited with instagram (follow me at stephrichy if you'd like) to make things easy. If you've been following me on Facebook, you've likely already seen some of them.

  Here's this month's photo-a-day recap:

1. Fall
2. Leaves
3. Bubbles
4. Stairs
5. Mirror
6. Straw
7. Water
8. Peek-a-boo
9. Something Purple
10. A Light In The Dark
11. Laughter
12. Candy
13. #13
14. Hallway
15. Pumpkins
16. Something Black
17. A Stranger
18. Stars
19. Doorway
20. Signs
21. I Ate This
22. I Am Here
23. Shoot From The Hip
24. Decorations
25. Makeup
26. Moon
27. Scar
28. Something That Scares Me
29. Panic
30. Broken
31. Spooky

I really enjoyed getting creative & brushing off some of my old photography skills. 

On to November (which I'll be posting about later today)!

Enjoy your day!

Pass It One Project - And a chance for you to participate!

  Several months ago (I'm so behind on this!), my bloggy friend, Amy from One Artsy Mama asked me if I would like to participate in the "Pass It On Project".  As soon as I heard the details I was on board! 

  Here's how it works:

  The person who invited you to participate (Amy, in my case), sends you two handmade items. One is for you to keep, the other is to give away to a friend.

  Then, you choose two bloggy friends who would like to participate & send them two handmade items, which they will keep (the first item) & give away (the second).

  When that's all done, you blog about it & have a little show & tell about what you got & what you passed on. 

  Amy sent me these adorable fabric bracelets:

I kept the grey one that I'm wearing (and wear a lot!) & gave the turquoise one to my friend, Jennifer. 

For my passing on, I gave Mandy @ This Girl's Life some of these felt pinwheel gift toppers...

As well as throwing in a little bonus - some thanksgiving/fall place cards.

If you're wondering where the second person in the project comes in, that's where I need your help! 

I contacted several other lovely bloggy friends, but none of them were able to participate. :( 

So...

If you are:

1) A blogger

2) Crafty

3) And want to participate

Let me know by email or just leave a comment! I'd love to send you some of these goodies too!!

I'll randomly pick a friend based on the response I got on Friday!

Chalkboard Verse Art

So, chalkboard art is still a huge trend.

After finding this free chalkboard background recently, I was itching to create some "art" with it.

I chose a favourite verse - Proverbs 3:26 from the Message - & went to town.

Here's what I came up with...

So, take this to heart. Don't panic.

Thanks for reading. If you like what you see here on Silver Boxes, I'd love it if you would become a follower on Google Friend Connect, subscribe by email (sign up on the right sidebar), 

or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

Mother's Day Free Printable

I've created my first printable for Mother's Day!

You should be able to click on the image & print it off. 

Or, click HERE.

Enjoy!

Check out the great parties I link up to here!

Thanks for reading. If you like what you see here on Silver Boxes, feel free to become a follower, 

subscribe by email, or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

This printable was featured at:

What Is Keeping Me Busy These Days

  Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Did you relax & enjoy some warm, spring weather; do spring cleaning; create something lovely; or something entirely different? 

  I had the pleasure of spending some time with some dear friends on Saturday. It was a fun time that involved Starbucks, shopping, & lunch. 

  Here in Saskatchewan, the days are getting warmer the weather can't decide what it wants to do. Should the sun shine or should it snow? We've had snow the past 2 days. The trees are getting thick with buds anyway & I'm longing to see the first hint of green on the branches, but that will come soon enough. I must remind myself of the blossoms of May that are on their way. 

Things are still busy around here although Easter is over. My kids had this past week off of school & we kept busy with:

• Dentist appointments (no cavities for either kid - yay!)
• Grocery shopping - I've been going through the fliers & "shopping the deals". It requires some more planning & driving around, but we're seeing a difference in the grocery costs. Perhaps I'll do a post about this soon.
• Going through the kid's toys, books, & puzzles - cleaning, organizing, & making piles of what they no longer wanted to keep. 
• Posting the kid's items for sale on Kijiji. They have both already made a good amount of money & they plan to save their earnings for spending money on this summer's trip.
• Doing some spring cleaning. My list is coming along bit by bit. This weekend, we washed all the bedding & curtains.

  In the midst of all these tasks, we have had some rest & relaxation. I got to sleep in here & there & get in some reading. It's been a nice Easter break.

  Stay tuned for a little thrifty makeover & some new scrapbook layouts later this week.

Enjoy your day!

Happy Easter!

Crafty Thoughts & Mountain Layouts

  I have to admit something to you.

  I like to make crafts. Oh, you knew that already? Ya, I figured. :) I'm what you'd call "a crafter".

  I also believe that a crafter doesn't have to be holed up into one specific kind of crafting. Not sure what I mean?

  Well, when I started this blog I just wanted to share the stuff I made, created, & decorated. After I did just a bit of searching on other crafter's blogs, I noticed that not many crafters were scrapbookers or card makers. And if they were, they often didn't share their paper crafts on their blogs. The same went for the paper crafters out there. Scrapbook layouts or cards were pretty much all you found on their blogs. It's almost like "someone out there" determined that a blogger couldn't share more than one genre of craft on a given blog.

  After I noticed this, I started to feel pressured (albeit a self-inflicted pressure) to make more generalized crafts & keep my paper crafts to myself. But after a few months of "hiding", I'm ready to throw caution to the wind & just be me! I have come to the realization that I can have several different crafting interests & I can celebrate them all!

  Lesson leaned.

  Am I the only one who has felt this way?

  I want to encourage you to stop hiding your talents & let them ALL shine! The world has something to benefit from what you have to bring to the table. Even if it's just a smile. :)

~~~

I'm still working on scrapping last summer's photos. I'm getting very close to finishing. Here's some of the pages from our summer vacation to Jasper National Park in Alberta.

I used a lot of Bo Bunny for these layouts. I'm in love with the wood grain paper! 

Go celebrate the talents that God put in you.

Enjoy your day!

Merry Christmas! (My 100th Post!)

  Today is my last post for this year. It's also my 100th post. What a rewarding few months of blogging this has been! I want to thank all my readers - new ones as well as those who have been with me from the beginning. I'm so blessed to be doing what I love & sharing it with all of you. Thank you for reading.

  In the new year, you will start to see some changes around Silver Boxes. I've decided to cut back a bit on the amount of postings I do in a week. I'm going to try three a week & see how it goes. Monday, Wednesday, & Friday will be the new schedule. I'll let you know if things change.

~~~~~

  As we head full long into the heart of the Christmas season, let's remember the reason for our celebrations - Jesus. God sent His only son to the world, to live a sinless life, to die on a cross, to rise from the dead, & to be the Redeemer of the human race. 

  Jesus wants to be your personal Saviour too. This Christmas, open your heart to Jesus. If you haven't already, ask Him to forgive your sins & make you one of His children. When you do this, you will truly experience the true reason for Christmas.

~~~~~

  From our family to yours, we wish you the very merriest of Christmases & a wonderful New Year! 

Enjoy every moment with your family & friends. I'll see you in 2012. 

Love,

Lend a Helping Hand this Christmas

  Christmas is all about giving. Or at least it should be. Sadly, with all the commercialism that often surrounds the Christmas season, the real reason for Christmas can get lost in the shuffle.

  That's why I'm encouraging you today to take a break your own preparations to help someone else with theirs. Pick up the phone or send an email & see who could use a hand. Whether it be shopping, baking, wrapping, or decorating, pick something you like doing & offer to help someone else with that task.

  If you don't have a lot of free time, just give a couple of hours. I'm sure the recipient of your kind deed with be forever grateful. 

  If you don't have a friend who needs help, purpose to spread some joy in another way. Buy a Starbucks or another hot drink for your child's teacher. Offer to help in a soup kitchen or at your local food bank. Plug a parking meter that has expired if you're out shopping. Pay for the order of the person behind you in the drive thru.  

  These are just a few ideas of how you can give this Christmas away. So go ahead, spread some extra cheer & do something a little out of the ordinary. Because Christmas isn't Christmas until you give it away.

“For God loved the world so much that He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."  ~John 3:16

Enjoy your day!

Linkin' Up:

One Artsy Mama

An Easy Christmas Centrepiece

 Today, before I share what I've prepared, I would like to take a minute to focus on the real meaning of Christmas. If you're not familiar with the real reason for Christmas, let me tell you very kindly that it's not about Santa, stockings, or snow (although I'm not opposed to those things). It's about one gift that was so generously given to all of us... Jesus. I know that December 25th isn't necessarily the day that Jesus was born. I know that many of the traditions we've adopted as "Christmas" traditions have pagan roots. 

  The point I'm trying to make is this: December 25th & the days leading up to it is to be a celebration of the coming of the Messiah - The Saviour of the world!

  I like to think of this season as the biggest birthday party of the year! I believe we should put up decorations, sing Christmas songs, & make tasty things to eat. But let us (me included) not forget that it's all about & for Christ.

  As my favourite carol, Joy to the World, says, "Let every heart prepare Him room..." 

  So, let us not just prepare our homes. Let us open our hearts & give room to Jesus... the real reason for the season.

  To read the story of Jesus' birth, click here. 

~~~

  I'm off to a great start this Christmas season. We finished our Christmas shopping this weekend, I've done most of the gift wrapping (more on that tomorrow - stay tuned!), I've got a good start on the Christmas baking (to see what I've made so far, click here, here, & here.), & the decorating is all done! 

  I'll still enjoy creating Christmas crafts as well as doing some more baking throughout the season. But now I can focus on enjoying it all with family & friends as well as helping out some friends along the way (more on that coming soon too!). 

  In my Christmas decorating this year, I wanted to do something different on my dining room table than I've done for Christmases past. When I was pulling out my decorations, I came across this 3-tiered dish that I inherited from my grandma. I had almost forgotten about it.

All I had to do was add some Christmas ornaments & it was done! 

How fast is that?!

During the day

You could do it with pinecones, candies, or whatever you wanted. So easy!

In the evening with the glowing lights

I hope your Christmas preparations are going well too. 

Enjoy your day!

Linkin' up to these fine parties:

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Craft-O-Maniac

Tuesday Talent Show

Homework

Mommy By Day, Crafter By Night

Today's Creative Blog

My Girlish Whims

It's Overflowing

Why Do We Create?

  I wanted to take a break from the projects & recipes today & focus back on why we create. Have you ever thought about that? Why do we desire to create beauty... whether it be crafts, furniture makeovers, or tasty recipes? I believe it comes down to us wanting to be like our Creator. God created each of us with unique talents & abilities. Think of it - Not one person on this earth is exactly like another person! The creative power of our Father God is incredible. I believe our wanting to create a little bit of beauty of our own comes from a desire to be like more like God.

  And there's nothing wrong with that. I love how Bailey from Let Birds Fly puts it,

"Exodus 35: 31-33, 35 says, "and the Lord has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills--to make artistic designs of work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts....He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers-- all of them skilled workers and designers."

To this day, what we do is for the glory of Christ. God gave us skilled hands; with everything we make, craft, create, draw, paint, cook, etc, it should be to the glory of God, because He is the one who commanded us to use our talents." 

   I couldn't agree more! God didn't give us talents for us to squish in the back of a closet & never use. We are to use them, enjoy them, & create with them - to His glory!

Via

So go create something wonderful & know that you're using the gifts that God placed in you to enjoy.

Have a fabulous day!

Verse for the day