Snowman Christmas ornament

We made part of this ornament at a stamping party: We poured Crystal Effects on the top, then pulled it down the ornament to make "icicles," then sprinkled glitter on top to make them sparkle. (Again, I apologize for the pictures... it was hard to get a good picture with the reflections on the glass and light, etc... but you get the idea!)

First, I drizzled some glue on the bottom of the ornament (inside), and sprinkled glitter in there, for the effect of snow inside.

I stamped a row of snowmen (and women! LOL) on typing paper, colored them, and cut them out. I then wrapped them around a pencil and stuck them through the opening on the top of the ornament.

It took me FOREVER to get the row of snowpeople uncurled enough so that you could actually SEE them in the ornament. I ended up finally gluing one end of the row to the side of the ornament. When that dried, I did the same to the other end, and tried to line them up as much as possible.

I thought it turned out very cute, and was very impressed with myself! I think it will be quicker next time I try to do it, since I learned a lot through trial and error!

Bridal shower gift box and card

I stamped and decorated this gift box, then made the card to match. It's really sparkly and shiny in real life, but it's hard to take pictures of it!

Diaper fold pocket

Again, made at a stamping party. These would make great "favors" for a party.

Snowman felt snowflake

I'm the BIG BROTHER!

A friend of mine was looking for a "big brother" t-shirt, and couldn't find one. I offered to make one for "big brother" Silas, so this is what I came up with. I then made the card to match. He LOVED his shirt!

Lightening

I was trying to see if I could get pictures of the lightening in the storm the other night. My trigger finger isn't really fast enough, but here are a couple of shots that I managed to get a little lightening in (if you look closely, you may be able to see it!)

You can just see the forks of lightening at the top left of this pic:

Flash after the lightening:

If you click on this pic and look at the very top center, you can see the forks of lightening here, too:

My camera did fine taking the pics on the Fireworks setting (rather appropriate for trying to catch God's fireworks on camera, I think!) Now, if only the one holding the camera was a little quicker on the draw... :-)

I'm still alive...

So much for consistent blogging, right?? I have been stamping some, stitching some, but mostly taking pictures a lot lately. I'll have to just post a bunch of pictures of the cards that I've made recently without the info, and if you want info, you can e-mail me. Chris bought me a new camera for Christmas... it's Suh-WWWWEEEEEETTTT! I've posted a ton of pics on my FB site, and will post some here, too, but you only get to see my favorites... not all the hundreds that DON'T turn out so well! :-) (I know you'll appreciate that!) So, without further ado, here's some stuff for you to look at:

Spring showers

Louisville, KY skyline
My camera has a photo stitch setting... you can take up to 26 pictures left -> right or right -> left, top to bottom or bottom to top, and you can also do 4 pictures clockwise. The camera automatically crops off part of the picture so you can line up the next one in the viewfinder, then has a computer program that "stitches" them all together to achieve the panoramic view you see above. Pretty sweet! :-)

Recent cards that I've made: He is Risen (at a stamping party)

Happy Birthday for my niece who turned EIGHT this year! Where does the time go?

Free Giveaway!

Hey, everyone... check out my friend, April's, very cool pink purse. It's the free giveaway on the blog linked here: http://allieparkersthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/02/fgf-crochet-purse.html

I'm not really into pink, but this is adorable! You can see more of her creations on the link to Stitch Twitch on the link above. Happy looking!

Wedding Photography Give-away

Do you know anyone who is engaged to be married in the year 2010? If so, you HAVE to check out my friend, Christi's, {SMASHING FABULOUS} Wedding Photography Give-away! You can nominate your couple, and they can be eligible to win a photography package worth $5,000!!! Just click on the link above for all the details and rules! Also, Christi does just AWESOME photography... or in her words, "Rawsii: {Smashing Fabulous} art." You'll have to check out her work... Ammmaaaaaazing! :-)

Results of the Pregnancy Test

A dear friend sent me a CD with the following song on it soon after we had found out that we miscarried our babies in December. This song has become very dear to me, and again fits the situation that we find ourselves in at this time:

For My Good and For His Glory
words by Rebecca J. Peck

I must admit that I don't understand
why God would let me face this painful circumstance
All I have to cling to is His word and His name
But that's enough, so I will trust

It's for my good and for His glory,
This trial's not the end of the story
There's a bigger picture God alone can see
Faith will take me through this sorrow,
For I know He holds tomorrow,
And He assures me
It's for my good, and for His glory.

Because I love the Lord He's promised me
To work all things for good, through tears I still believe
That His ways are higher than any of my own -
Though my heart aches, He makes no mistakes.

It's for my good and for His glory,
This trial's not the end of the story
There's a bigger picture God alone can see
Faith will take me through this sorrow,
For I know He holds tomorrow,
And He assures me
It's for my good, and for His glory.


Again, I am sorry to send a mass, impersonal e-mail (or blog post!) like this, but it would take me forever to type e-mails to each one of you that have prayed for us through this in vitro fertilization cycle. We are SO disappointed to have to tell you that our pregnancy test and bloodwork both came back today - NEGATIVE. For whatever reason, God has chosen NOT to give us a baby to hold through this process. As the lyrics of the song indicate, this is very painful for us, and our hearts ache... but we also know that God can see the bigger picture and has a REASON that He has chosen not to give us the desire of our hearts at this time. We are thankful, though, that we now have 9 babies up in Heaven waiting to meet us when we get there. Though we would LOVE to have them HERE, they are so blessed to not have had to live through the trials of this life, but to go directly to an eternity in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm sure many of you will wonder what we do from here... and we have no answer for that at this time. We believe that had God wanted to give us a baby through the IVF process, He would have done it in these 3 tries. So, unless the Lord gives us a HUGE sign that He wants us to go through that again, we do not plan on that. (Not to mention, it is expensive and emotionally draining!) At least we can now look back and not have regrets at not having tried that option when it was available to us. A couple of people, even today, have asked us about adoption. At this point, we do not have any peace about pursuing adoption. Of course, God may just choose to give us a baby on His own... I mean, if He can make a virgin conceive, NOTHING is IMPOSSIBLE with Him, right?!?!? :-) (I don't mean to be sacriligous, just finding a little humor there!)

So - all that to say, I guess we would just ask you all to please continue to keep us in your prayers. Pray for wisdom for both of us as we seek God's will concerning our family. Although we know that God's grace is sufficient, please pray for God's hand of grace and comfort to rest on us. Pray that we are able to truly trust God for His will in our lives. It is far too easy to do "lip-service" and pretend that we are OK, but the words not getting through to our hearts. Also, please pray that we will continue to grow closer to God and each other. Again, we cannot thank you all enough for all of your prayers on our behalf. They mean so much to us, and we often are overwelmed at the love, care, and support you have shown to us through this difficult time.

We pray that someday we may be able to share with you that our family has grown... though how that will happen we are just waiting on the Lord to show us!

We appreciate you all so much. Thank you for your prayers.

Serving Christ,
Chris & Heather Beth
Ps. 91:1, Lam. 3:22-23

Mitchell Family Calendar Pages

I tried to post these pages yesterday, but Blogger was giving me fits! Here are the Mitchell Family calendar pages from 2008:

JANUARY

David & Kim Fox, Korissa
(Kim is Chris' sister - #5 out of the 8 kids)

FEBRUARY

Mom&Dad Mitchell
my in-laws

MARCH

Chris & Heather Mitchell (that's me!)
(Chris is #2 out of the 8 kids)

APRIL

all of the nieces and nephews on the Mitchell side
top left, clockwise: Korissa Fox with Kimberly & Kailey Mitchell, Nathan Mitchell with Korissa Fox, Jacquline Mitchell, Tynan & Tron Rhodes

MAY

Jonathan Mitchell
(Jon is the "baby" of the family... #8 out of 8)

JUNE

Tyson & Sandy Rhodes, Tron & Tynan
(Sandy is Chris' oldest sister, #4 out of 8)

JULY

Julianne Mitchell
(Julianne is #6 out of 8, and is twins with Tiffany)

AUGUST
Tim & Cristina Mitchell, Kimberly, Kailey, & Nathan
(Tim is Chris' oldest brother, and #1 out of 8)

SEPTEMBER
Burt & Julie Mitchell, Jacquline
(Burt is #3 out of 8)

OCTOBER
The nieces and nephews again: Top left, clockwise, Kimberly Mitchell, Kailey Mitchell, Nathan Mitchell, Jacquline Mitchell, Korissa Fox, Tynan Rhodes, Tron Rhodes

NOVEMBER
Tiffany Mitchell
(Tiffany is #7 out of 8, and is twins with Julianne)

DECEMBER
Nieces and Nephews by family

I tell you, it is a lot harder to do the Mitchell calendar than the Chromy calendar... just because there are so many family members! With only 3 extra pages not taken up with Chris' parents and siblings, it was hard to figure out how to do the pages with our nieces and nephews. Now that there are 4 families with kids, I had to be a little more creative with the 3 extra pages! :-) Hope you enjoyed seeing pics of our families!

Chromy Family Calendar pages

This is the third year that I've made family photo calendars for each of our families for Christmas (though they don't usually get done until February!) Here are the pictures from my family's calendar:

JANUARY

Tom & Heidi Thomann (My sister and oldest sibling)
Tyler (13 yrs), Jacob (10 yrs), and Emma (6 yrs)

FEBRUARY

Grandpa & Grandma Decker
(my mom's parents and my only living grandparents)

MARCH

Dad Chromy (and Mom, too) :-)

APRIL All of my nieces and nephews:(from top left clockwise)
Tyler Thomann, Jake Thomann, Aksana Chromy (1 yr), Emma Thomann

MAY Mom Chromy (and Dad, too!)

JUNE Chris and Heather Mitchell (that's me!)
(I'm the middle child of 5...
I have an older sister and brother, and 2 younger brothers)

JULY Nieces and nephews again (from top left clockwise)
Jake, Emma, Tyler, and Aksana

AUGUST Steve & Kathryn Chromy
~they are expecting their first baby - a boy - in June~
(Steve is my older brother)

SEPTEMBER Nathan & Caroline Chromy ~ the newlyweds :-)
(Nathan is my "baby" brother - they got married in June 2007)

OCTOBER

Nieces and Nephews once again...
Ty, Jake, Emma, Aksana (with Jovi the dog), and
Emma & Aksana playing piano.

NOVEMBER

Greg & Rachael Chromy
Aksana
~they are expecting baby #2 in September 2008~
(Greg is my middle brother)

DECEMBER

Two pics of the whole Chromy clan...
The 1st pic is from April when we all got together in FL for Easter weekend and to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday
The 2nd pic is from Nathan & Caroline's wedding in June 2007

Well, that's it for the Chromy's! Hope you enjoyed the pics! :-)