This week, I don’t have a specific idea in mind, because I’m still working out details on the series.  However, I think I’m going to start with the following verse for my first layout:

Deuternomy 6:6-9 – These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

My best friend Laura uses this verse as her “theme” verse for her website and blog.  As I thought about how to get started with a book on my spiritual heritage and legacy, I kept coming back to this verse.  So, we’re going with it.  (Thanks Laura, for the inspiration)!

Beyond scrapbook layouts, Allan and I have talked several times about using scripture as art in our home – and with digital scrapbooking we can custom design the “theme” by which we want to live.  I’m thinking small pictures AND large framed posters.  Wouldn’t that be cool?

I’d love to hear YOUR ideas on verses that fit who you are, and what you want to convey about your spiritual heritage.  We’ll be talking more “in-depth” over the next few weeks, and I encourage you to join in via the comments or by email if you prefer.

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I’m still on a little “high” from the weekend event, Deeper Still. Each speaker – Priscilla Shirer, Kay Arthur, and Beth Moore – gave an incredible, meaningful, meat-filled lesson, and I have been processing all of it since Saturday night. I’ve also been talking a lot about it all (that’s one of the ways I “process” – I talk), and my poor husband has been so very patient, listening and nodding his head and occasionally trying to offer up a comment.

I’m even more convicted than ever that I need to be saving the stories of my faith in a way that can be read again by me, my family and my family to come. I’m working on ideas for how to do that through digital scrapbooking, and I hope to share some of those ideas here over the next few weeks and months.

So, with that in mind… as I was thinking about a Monday Challenge, the word TRUTH kept popping into my head. Miss Kay Arthur spoke on Saturday morning about TRUTH. She challenged us to think about whether we even know what truth IS, what we are doing (or not doing) with the truth, and what this country will look like (and already looks like) when Christians don’t stand up for or fight for or teach or KNOW the TRUTH.

My challenge to you this week is to work on a layout that speaks about your understanding of TRUTH. However that appeals to you and whatever it means to you – work on a layout and express it artistically. If you DO this, please send me an email or post a comment with a link, will you?

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It’s going to be a busy week around here! Here’s what’s coming over the next few days at DigiScrapChat:

- A new hybrid article written by Monique Patry. She will be writing guest posts here at DigiScrapChat, centered around fun hybrid projects. Look for her first post this evening…

- Another grab bag reveal WITH a coupon. I will post it tomorrow…

- Wednesday WOW with layouts by another fabulous digi-scrapper

- Thrifty Thursday with links to all the great sales and specials I can find

and a few other fun treats!

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Laughingly, I said, “Son, can we just get through the FIRST day of FIRST grade FIRST, please”?

He agreed that yeah, it’d be fun to get through first grade first.

And in case you haven’t noticed – yes, we have a THEME today!

So, let’s make our Challenge for Monday a THEME Challenge, shall we?

And because I’m excited about the FIRST day of school, let’s make the THEME challenge a bit of a CONTEST. Good idea? Yeah, I thought so!

Here it is:

Challenge – complete a NEW layout about “firsts” – could be about the first day of school, could be about your first time flying, could be about your first time eating sushi and not throwing up (ok, sorry, that was gross… but I do live with a 6 year old… and his FIRST day of school is the inspiration for today’s challenge).

Where was I? Oh yes, complete a new layout… about “firsts”…. post your link here in the comments!

On Friday, I’ll pick a random winner, and I’ll award a random prize. I haven’t decided what it will be yet, but past giveaways/contests have netted everything from $5 digi-scrap gift cards to Starbucks gift cards, to books from amazon.com (scrappin’ related, of course!).

There you go – take a chance, do a layout, maybe win a prize! And if Samuel has a great FIRST week of school (we can sure hope!), maybe I’ll pick a few extra winners on Friday!

Layouts… I want to see layouts…

Happy FIRST day!

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Well, I know where it went, and I want a little of it back, thank you very much!

I guess I probably won’t get THAT, so we need to make the most of what is left.  FOURTEEN DAYS!

In the spirit of panic, my challenge to you today is not specifically a digi-scrap challenge, but instead a “life” challenge.  I am challenging you (and ME) to get OUT of the house (with the kids if you have them), find something FABULOUS and FUN and MEMORY-worthy to do, and enjoy the dog days (what does that even mean, exactly) of summer!

Now, in the meantime, if you happen to snap a few photos and decide to scrap them – all the better!

I am going to make myself take pictures of us doing our fun summer activity, and I promise to post a few photos here later this week.

Ok… be off with you… and your children… or nieces and nephews… or pets…. or just YOU!  Go have a fun almost-end-of-summer kind of day!

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And now for the THREE winners from my Friday night post/giveaway:

Joy at When Does Daddy Come Home

Dianne at Bunny Trails

Natalie at I AM (not)

Congrats Ladies, you have email – let me know if you didn’t receive it! And thanks to ALL of you who visited… I hope you’ll consider coming back again and again!

Now, on to the Monday challenge…

For the regulars here, you may have noticed that my blogging has been a bit more sporadic than it was during the school year. Of course a lot of that is due to our summer schedule, with my oldest son being home during the day (which means there are THREE little ones that need me all day long, not just two).

Aside from that, I’ve found it a LOT more difficult to blog since June 11th, when we found out that my sister has breast cancer. Quite honestly, I’ve found it a LOT more difficult to do most everything. I’m going through the motions a lot, and maintaining (sometimes barely), but my mind is not 100% THERE in anything I’m doing. A part of me is in CA, wondering and worrying, hoping and praying, thinking and doing more praying…

It should come as no surprise that my creativity is at an all time low. I’ve been trying to push and FIND the creativity, but I finally realized that I need to give myself more time and patience. I have a LOT of projects I want (and need) to be working on, but for a time, it’s just going to take longer to start and finish them.

So, on that note, I’m not issuing a true challenge today. It’s just too much for me, so I’m giving myself a break, and YOU too – in case you might be struggling with a creative block, a busy schedule, a tough day.

RATHER, I’d just like to hear from you – if you have done a layout recently that you are proud of, please share. If you are struggling creatively, tell us about it. If you have a blog post you want us to read, link up in the comments! Basically, just talk to me today, share what’s happening in your part of the world, and IF, IF, IF you are up to it, work on a layout today and preserve just one more memory!

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Here is a layout from 2006 that I want to scraplift.  Every year Granma gets the kids new pajamas for Christmas Eve, and we try to take pictures of them wearing them.  You can see how much fun THAT is… and this was with just TWO kids.  The pictures of all THREE from this last Christmas are just as fun.  I like this layout that lets me so many pictures in one.  I think I may just use it each year as the official Christmas Pajamas layout.

Wow, they look little!!

AND, since we haven’t done one in ages, today is a Giveaway Day!

Post a link in the comments to one of your own Christmas layouts (one you’ve done in the past or one you did for today’s Monday Challenge), and you’ll be entered to win one of TWO $5 gift certificates to the digi-scrap store of your choice.  I’ll close comments on this post on Thursday night at 8 p.m. central, and pick TWO winners!

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED – WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED FRIDAY MORNING!

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My husband and I traveled to CA last Wednesday, with our three children, so we could spend some time with family and help strengthen and encourage my sister Sarah who was recently (has it only been a week and a half?) with stage four breast cancer.

Here in CA, I have had internet access, but there hasn’t been a lot of time, and quite honestly not a lot of motivation, to blog the last few days.  On Thursday, we spent the day at the hospital, helping and then waiting while Sarah went through a surgical procedure to have a port put in, to make chemo treatments much easier.  It was a difficult day, but she made it through.

Friday we spent the afternoon in the beauty salon… getting our hair cut short.  Sarah’s hospital counselor had recommended it in preparation for the chemo treatments which will surely cause her hair to fall out.  Sarah’s lovely friend Jill made arrangements with her stylist for us all to come in and get new hair-dos.  It was a fun, together, kind of afternoon… with only a few sad undercurrents.  (You will be able to see the write up WITH pictures on Sarah’s health blog soon).

Saturday was spent with family, taking brother and sister pictures, taking family pictures, and wishing it weren’t QUITE so hot! (We apparently brought the Las Vegas weather with us to northern CA).  My brother and his wife had to fly back to Nebraska, so we said our goodbyes to them.

Today, Monday, Sarah begins her first chemo treatment.  She and I will have a light lunch and head to the doctor’s office.  Our mother will be watching all the kids – my three and Sarah’s two.  My husband will be heading home to Las Vegas so he can work for a few days, while my kids and I stay here to help through this first round of chemo.

I’ve been thinking about whether to try and post a Monday Challenge … and honestly, my mind is tired.  My tummy is nervous, and my body aches (sympathy pains?) just a little in anticipation of the afternoon we have ahead of us.  I can only imagine what my sister is feeling (I’ll see her in just a little while), but I’m sure her fear and anxiety is higher than mine.  So, all that to say… no Monday challenge today.  If you pray, please say a prayer for her around 1:30 pacific time.

I’ll try to be back soon…

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I worried that I wouldn’t be able to sleep well, because stress and anxiety tends to keep me awake, but I prayed and God blessed me with GOOD sleep the entire weekend.  Last night, I could barely keep awake, and got a full night’s rest.  Today, after talking with my sister, I’m energized and feeling optimistic and hopeful.  It’s great to be feeling this way.  When I talked to my sister, we laughed and made plans for later this week, and next.  What was just a sliver of hope now feels like a big boulder of certainty, and I want to keep it that way!

So today, in honor of my sister and the battle she and the rest of our family is about to engage with the ugly monster cancer, I am challenging you (and myself) to do a layout that reflects hope, optimism, resilience, bravery in the storm.  Find a picture that speaks of overcoming or victory.  Do some journaling about a time when you or someone you know climbed a mountain that seemed insurmountable, and made it to the top! (And you know I’m speaking metaphorically, right?  Although if you have actually CLIMBED a real mountain, please DO share!)

And if you do a layout for this challenge, will you please send me an email or leave a comment?  I want to start collecting all the positive energy and stories I can gather, for myself and for our family.

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I want to take a break for a month week day or two, but I have two, no three, other projects waiting in the wings – not to mention my own kids’ scrapbook pages that are not being made as quickly as I’d like.  Add to that, I’m leaving town for a long weekend, and I’m NOT taking my laptop with me.  (I’m traveling with my six year old son Samuel, and if you knew Samuel you’d understand why I need as FEW things in my hands at the airports as possible!)

Anyway, to keep my mojo going, and because I really don’t have time to take time off, I’m going to challenge myself (and YOU TOO, aren’t you lucky?) to work on SIMPLE pages today.  Get something done, even if it’s not the most artistic page ever.  Preserve a memory, one way or the other, and keep on’ keepin’ on!

And let’s keep it simple in honor of Monday, and all the days off we’ll have someday when the kids are grown and the dishes are done and the bills are paid and life is slow and sweet and we have nothing left on our To Do list but “Take a Nap”.  Or at least let’s keep it simple in honor of the IDEA of that far off day, because I’m guessing that day is NEVER gonna come…

So, who is with me?  You?  The gal in blue in the back?  Great!  Let’s scrap a memory today, shall we?

(And do share a link in the comments, if you get something simple scrapped today, will you?)

(I’m so demanding with my shall we’s, and will you’s)

(Aren’t I?)

(I’m quitting now…)

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I’m notorious for having GREAT ideas, and then running out of time to implement them.  (Just ask my sister who had a birthday on May 2nd, and is STILL waiting for her present). (She will love it when she gets it, but it’s a bummer she couldn’t have received it on her birthday)!

So… are you planning a project, a present, a great idea for Father’s Day?  My challenge to you today is to work on it a little today, a little tomorrow, and get it done this week!  Have you not even THOUGHT about Father’s Day yet?  Well, my challenge to you is to think about it today… work on it tomorrow… and get it done this week!  Take it from me, it’s no fun waiting until the last minute.  Getting the “digi” part done THIS week will leave you plenty of time for constructing any hybrid parts, or printing any books and/or layouts.

Also, I’d love to get some links to great hybrid or just plain’ ole digi-scrap ideas for Father’s Day gifts.  Or super templates for Father’s Day layouts.  So put your thinking caps on, or get your fingers moving and share a comment with your ideas or links.

Let’s make this even more fun (because you KNOW I like to do giveaways!).  If you leave a comment with a link to or an idea for a Father’s Day gift, I’ll enter you in a little giveaway.  I’ll leave comments open on this until Thursday, and I’ll pick one random winner to receive a $5 gift certificate to the digi-shop of the winner’s choice.

Happy Scrappin’ Folks!

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