Marionette - Who's pulling your strings?

Ok, so it isn't a mystery that I love to play with graphics and turn what I feel are powerful words into a word picture. Whether they be Bible verses, quotes or from songs, a picture pops into my head and I enjoy the creative process of designing it - often simple, but to me, they are powerful.

This one today, is from a song I posted here. Having written in that post, that I'm not an auditory learner, I think that is why I enjoy creating the graphics, it is something for me to envision the full meaning.

With this one, I thought about my own personal faith walk and how sometimes I am going through the motions. Often, it feels like a puppet on a string. I just do what I know I'm supposed to do, but there is no feeling, no emotion behind it.

As I thought on it this morning, I wondered if we take a look at our lives often enough to see who or what is pulling our strings? Is it finacial worry? Is it striving to be like someone we admire? Is it a set of rules or guidelines we feel we must follow?

On the flipside - do I even want strings? I want to be able to worship and live the way Christ is calling me to - and maybe that means cutting those strings ... I don't know - I just know that "I don't wanna spend my whole life asking, 'What if I had given everything instead of just going through the motions?'"

I hope that this image will stay in your mind and that you'll have some time to reflect on it - pleae let me know your thoughts.

Monday morning blahs...

I can't take it all in!

Projects

What a full week! And a good week! It was a hard start at the beginning of the week: Sewing or Cleaning....which one to do???

Over the weekend, I got this fun pattern. Quintin has been wanting me to sew something for him and I didn't really know what I could make him. This week, well almost in a day really, I made some shorts for all the kids. I used a hunting camouflage fabric for the boys, leftover from this project. I had some Hello Kitty fabric that Elle really wanted me to make something with. But I didn't want to make her a dress/skirt...'cause then she'd want to wear it Sunday mornings. And I'm just not sure Sunday mornings are ready for Hello Kitty!! LOL!!! ;-)

These pictures make me smile- Elle and Quintin picked the poses themselves!!

While I did do some sewing...I knew I needed to clean too!

I spring-cleaned each of the kids bedrooms and their bath. And, we re-arranged the furniture in Elle and Quintin's rooms. They love how their rooms look now. Except, Elle was used to sleeping with one side of the bed against the wall...so far, she's only fallen out once! UGH!!

It feels so good to walk into their rooms now...not that they looked awful, but they just look more fresh and clean! Even the kids notice it!

I'm not going to post any pictures of their rooms today, I'll save them til next week, for Mary's Design Inspiration Carnival! You can find the link at the top of my left sidebar.

I'm taking "design liberties" and posting the graphic here! Can you see that white text at the bottom left of the paint brush graphic? That's me!! Wheee!!!!

So, that was my week. A few big projects tackled...a few more to go - but at least I could let go of some dust bunnies!

Have a great weekend!

Something to chew on

<3 <3 <3 (tilt your head right) <3 <3 <3

Where are you looking?

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:12-13

Today

Taken from: The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall

200th post

This is my 200th post, didn't I just write my 100th? Wow! I want to wish each of you a great holiday weekend. We're spending some time with family this weekend.

I found this quote by Patsy Clairmont in my Women of Faith Devotional Bible. I took the picture in early summer and had been waiting to find some words to go with it!

Friday's Song

I awoke singing this hymn and as I kept signing, this simple graphic came to my mind - I had to make it and share it. I've been listening to this song on Jars of Clay's Redemption Songs CD. This song is blessing me today, I hope it blesses you as well.

You can hear the song here.

Blogger Redesigns

Thanks for all your sweet comments about my new blog and Susan's redesign. I really enjoy learning how to make the changes. Its a challenge to me, if I see something on a blog, to learn how to copy it and put it on my blog.

When I first started blogging, I saw all these cool looking blogs - templates I'd never seen in the blogger options. So, I started digging and 'googling' for ideas how to do it.

Its taken some time, but I've learned a few tricks. My favorite part though, isn't with the blog templates. As I mentioned yesterday, I enjoy making the graphics. And then, just recently, I came across a new blog, with this description:

A dummies guide, tips, tricks, help for all new bloggers on Web templates, Blog templates, designs, widgets, layout, JavaScript, HTML codes, SEO, Google AdSense, gadgets, diagnostic tools, and how to monetize Blogger or Blogspot blogs.

Here is the link.

The changes are made in the html code of your blog design - if you decide to make changes, make sure you save your current html code (copy and paste it into a word doc). Changing the html codes around can delete your sidebar items, so be careful. Each time I start changes, I practice with a 'practice blog' that isn't public - then I can see how things work before making the changes official. There is also a 'preview' button when you change the code and you can see if the changes worked. If they didn't work, you can hit 'clear edits.'

On that site, you can find how to turn graphics into buttons (links) like I've done with my link to Momma Roar's Kitchen blog.

Now, Melodye, I'm off to build my house! ;)

Happy Saturday!

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*:-:¦: Leigh Ann :¦:-:*
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10th Winner & It's all over

Okay, the "It's All Over" part of the title, needs to be sung like at the end of a football game followed by the claps.

The final winner in my Birthday Give-Away contest and winner of the book The Ultimate Gift is:

Myrna

Congratulations!!

Drop me a line and I'll get that in the mail to you!

I've had a great time with these give-aways, I wish I had something I could give to each of you. Congratulations to the winners!

I do have one more give-away and this goes to someone who has entered all 10 days and still, bless her heart, has never won. So, Diana, please email me - I'd like to send you a Southern Living subscription! Thanks for playing everyone!

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It's all over...the celebration, the birthday, the desire to hang on to being 31... ;D just teasing

I was talking to a dear friend on the phone last night and I mentioned that I've noticed as I get older, birthdays just aren't the same - they aren't as magical as they were when I was a little girl. Today came and went like any other day. No streamers hanging from the ceiling, no balloons. As a little girl, I always was so excited as the month of July approached - it just felt, I don't know, magical. And we didn't have huge birthday parties when we were children - I think my parents just had a way of making us feel special on our day.

But you know what? Yesterday did have a touch of magic - I was able to have a HUGE birthday party and invite all my friends to my little corner of the world (wide web). So many wonderful wishes for a happy birthday - it was awesome, so thank you all for your stopping by and for your sweet comments (whether you wrote 1 or 5)! My heart is full and overflowing, you have truly made this a very special birthday - one I'm not going to forget.

I am so blessed -
~A dear friend dropped off a card and cupcakes for me.
~My mom came out and gave me a big hug.
~My wonderful hubby commented on my blog and gave me a terrific birthday card.

~My children sang Happy Birthday countless times to me throughout the day.
~I have a family who loves me.
~I have a family to love.
~My mother in law called to wish me a happy birthday and is having us down on Thursday night for supper.
~My hubby said I didn't have to cook so I picked up take out!
~My ribs (thanks for the suggestion Aisha) were delicious.
~Even though they gave my order to the car that came ahead of me and I had to wait an extra 30 minutes while they remade my order - I was blessed with a free soda and chocolate cake!!

~I've learned that mistakes happen.
~I had the opportunity to speak with a dear friend, who doesn't live close, for almost 2 hours on the phone last night!
~I've been blessed with 32 wonderful and happy years of life.

~I'm blessed by each of you.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for a wonderful and magical birthday this year. I pray an extra special blessing, today, on all who've blessed me.

Thank you my friends.

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*:-:¦: Leigh Ann :¦:-:*
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Blogging Break

I'll be away from the computer again this week. Have a great week and I look forward to catching up with you later!

(`'•.¸(`'•.¸¸.•'´)¸.•'´)
*:-:¦: Leigh Ann :¦:-:*
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A verse from Proverbs

In my Bible, the introduction to the book of Proverbs says, "As you read Proverbs, understand that knowing God is the key to wisdom....Don't just read these proverbs; act on them!" I am challenging myself to 'act' out what I am reading. I'll be away from my computer for a few days, so I wish everyone a wonderful week!

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*:-:¦: Leigh Ann :¦:-:*
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Bumper Sticker - Just for fun

Friendship

This week I've been talking with Quintin about Adam and Eve and how God made Eve as a friend and helper for Adam. We've also talked about needing friends and how special friends are. One of the suggested activities is to bake a friendship cake (carrot cake is suggested) and take it to a friend. Today, we're going to make our favorite Banana Chocolate Chip Loaf and deliver it to some friends with a poem about friendship.

I wish I could share some of the bread with each of you, but, since I can't, I'll share the recipe! This recipe was given to me by my mom, we made it a lot growing up!

Banana Chocolate Chip Loaf
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs (beaten)
3 bananas (mashed)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (we usually add a little more!!)

Cream together sugar and butter. Add beaten eggs. Measure dry ingredients. Add bananas and dry ingredients alternately to creamed mixture. Add chocolate chips. Bake in a greased loaf pan for 45 min at 350. *I like to bake mine in small loaf pans and I get 4 loaves out of this recipe. Enjoy!!

Isn't it AWESOME?

2nd update - Maggie has given permission for this to be published on blogs again. You'll notice it now has a watermark.

I think it is so awesome - I wanted to update this post...again! he he :)
5/7/07

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The picture had to be removed.

From Magnanimity:
So…here’s the bad news: due to the above, it (the graphic posted on Friday) is currently available for printing, posting, or personal use without permission from the authors, and from LifeWay. And, one huge favor, if you’ve posted it, would you help all of us by please removing it. That would help everyone involved act responsibly. I’d so love to hear from you equally in obedience as I did in celebration. Spread the word. God bless you richly."


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The above is Beth Moore’s Columbia Commission (An Artistic Interpretation) by
Magnanimity. To read more go to the Living Proof Ministries Blog.

Thank you for letting me share this Maggie!

Making the Graphics

I wanted to share this since a few of you asked. This is how I make my graphics, there may be an easier way, but this is what works for me, lol. I use MS Publisher and HP Image Zone.

MS Publisher allows me to create the graphic with pictures and add the text. In Publisher, I can save it as a 'jpeg' file, by going to "Save As" and clicking on "Save As Type" drop down menu and choosing "JPEG File Interchange Format."

Once I have it saved as a JPEG, I can open it up in HP Image Zone and crop it down to size, rather than being a full page.

I hope this is helpful to some of you who wanted to know. I am not sure if it can be done in other programs or not, but wanted to share how I've learned to do it. Let me know if you make some graphics, I'd like to stop by and check them out.

Also, here is how to do the strike through: