it's Sunday..

and i miss my mom. not a good day then, and not much i can do about it. Erica and Ann came to scrap on Friday night, we did material, and i had to scrap my girls. i always complain that i don't have girls to scrap, but then i realized that i do, they are just animal girls! (never talk back!!)
Friday afternoon turned out to be a huge success, i taught a brown paper bag mini album to about 120 ladies. Must admit, i was nervous, but once they got started it was great fun. i loved to see all the moms, grans, and girls together, they looked spectacular. So, those of you who attended, leave a comment if you found your way to my blog, it would be interesting to hear from you.
i am taking a sabbatical for the rest of the year from teaching! Very hard decision i had to make, but now that i've made it, i know it was the right thing to do. The online classes on Designers Notes will continue as planned, so, maybe i'll see some of you girls there! take care and have a blessed day tomorrow
k
xx

sneak preview...

oh, i am super excited about the first class on designers notes, and i love the technique!! Check out the website to find out when the class is running! Love to see you there!
k
xx

the big 40

yeah, it's his birthday tomorrow! he will definitely get breakfast in bed, as the tradition is in our home, and he will do nothing in the house tomorrow!! i made him this little album, one of Wilna's classes on Designers Notes, and it contains the letters from the boys and the voucher gifts we made him. the vouchers are stuffies we will do for him during the next week, just to show him that we love and appreciate him.... and we truly do!
this man is amazing and i am thankful for him! we love you...
take care
xx
k

and the good news is....

i am the newest design team member for Designers Notes, and i am soooooo excited!!!
Check out the link on the left, and, i hope you all going on the Bundu Weekend to Nelspruit with me!!
i am stuck in Johannesburg at the moment, the only good part, i met Claire and i am staying with my sister-in-love!!
just to let you know, there will definitely be class on Friday evening at Sakara, and finally....Saturday class at Waltons!!
Friday will be a double layout and Saturday we are doing the clipboard thing!! (i need one for my office) he-he
i will only be back in Tzaneen on Thursday evening, to email you the pages and requirements, so, be on the look-out!
love you lots
missing me husband and kids like crazy!
karin
xx

the colour orange...

i dunno why, but the colour orange just speaks to my heart. i have so many orange things it is scary! so, obviously i used this beautiful embossed paper from Basic Grey, kept it for a long time, and finally found the perfect page to use them.

it is so wonderful to do a page on this amazing son of ours. Nearly fifteen, and the source of laughter in our home! i am so proud of him!!

For Friday's class, you need to bring a big envelope, can be white or brown, depends what colours you want to use.
Photo's: i used the two big photos, and the smaller ones were printed on transparency.
Bring your thing-a-magi's, a nice page to use all sorts of embellishments!

have a blessed day!
karin
xx

zip my lip!!

eeehhhhaaaaaa!!
i zip my lip and i won't let the secret out yet!! But soon, oh, very soon i'll shout from the rooftops!!!
the last two days was amazing, i am still up there somewhere in the clouds, and i live my word for 2007!!
gra-ti-tude
my heart is filled with gratitude, life is good and all is well!

i dreamed of my Dad and my Mom last night, so very real, and this morning i felt comforted in a way! i don't know if i ever shared my Dad's funeral letter with you, it was the hardest thing to do, but i loved doing it for him. he was my rock, my super dad, and i was his little girl!!

and my mom, i still fail the words to tell anybody how special she was, and how much i miss her, every single day!! i have not done many pages about my mom, it seems to difficult, but this one i had to do. after she died, we found letters addressed to her grandchildren hidden in her closet, as if she knew she would not live to be there for them.
i had to scrap the letters to my children, to remind them how much she loved them, and for me, to every now and then read them and remind myself how to love unconditionally!
xx

Created with love...

we discussed today how God created us, each and every one of us individually and we are all unique, and i just had to write this letter to my son. when i close my eyes now, i can imagine how the Divine Thought of him formed in God's Mind, and how He gave him that sweet face. i imagine God's proud face when he blew the breath of life inside him, someone so precious and perfectly created.
i found these photo's of him and Gemma at one of Nino's rugby games, so, for today, these two are Divine Creations.


my prayer is this, that you will realize today that you are God's Divine Creation, and that He loves you with a Divine Love!

love from a grateful heart...
xx

joy

browsing through all my photo's, i came across these three, and it made me smile! there is truly joy in our family, we have fun times, we laugh and play often! do you? make time for each other, spend time together, play with your kids, they are small for only a minute in your life! enjoy them!!

the rak goes to......
ANMARI!!!! congrats, i'll deliver your gift in person!

it is very late, just after twelve, so, in fact, good morning! i long to lie down next to my DH, see you later!
xx

it is Christmas again!!

guess what, i cleaned out my scrapbook room, i found many things lost and decided to give away the doubles here on my blog. it is called a RAK (random act of kindness) cause i firmly believe that the more you give the better!

What do you have to do? Just leave a comment, if you are not a registered blog user, choose the anonymous option and leave your comment, but please remember to write your name and email address at the end of the comment in order for me to contact you. I will then give every comment a number and on Friday morning i'll choose a number and send you your gift, maybe give it to you in class on Thursday night if you are the lucky one! If you are an out-of-town'er or even live in another country, i'll post it to you!

All you have to do is tell me about your favourite book, and why? Mine is the wonderful novel, Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers, and it is about the book of Hosea in the Bible. I red this book many times, I bought it recently as a gift for someone i love (can't say who she is cause she reads my blog and i haven't given it to her yet) Once you read this book, you will run to the Bible to read the book of Hosea again, it is amazing how patient Hosea was, and how strong his relationship with God must have been.

About the first RAK, i'll give you a hint....it is all about embossing....

ok, now about Friday's class. We are making this double layout Christmas page, and this is what you need. it is very busy, lotsa layers (inspired by Ali ) but very nice.

Bring along:

Photo's - i used 40 x (6x8) and 4 x (13x10)

2 x transparencies

sealing wax and rope

Paint and foam stamps

Christmas embellishments and paper

Remember, you don't have to do a Christmas page, you can use this layout for any theme, perfect time to scrapbook many photo's.

Class is at six at Sakara, Thursday, 11 January 2007 (i'll be away on Friday cause it is "happy birthday Jolene")

have a blessed day

luv ya lots

karin

xx

my little butterfly...

'my lottle botterfly' as pronounced by the youngest member in this family, and irritating everybody, he's been saying it for the last, i don't know how long!!!! This includes everybody, his dad is his 'lottle botterfly', I am his 'lottle botterfly', and his brother is his 'lottle botterfly'. I think his brother is attacking him at this very moment from the 'eina' and 'ouch' sounds that comes from downstairs, but not to worry, maybe that will stop him!

I long for my family tonight, i miss gemma, jolene and my sis!

Everytime i look at this picture of my sister with gemma, i am thankful, this was taken after an operation during her fight against cancer, and by the grace of God alone, she was declared 'clean' after her last test!

This new year kicked off very busy at work, spend the whole day with people in my office, problems to solve and contracts to sort out, but i figured, if all the not so nice things is over and done with, the rest of the year will be a breeze, (don't wake me yet...)

I want to leave you with 2 things, first is a commentary by Joyce Meyer on Phillippians 1,

do not be discouraged with yourself, just because you have not yet arrived at a place of perfection in your thoughts and behaviour. God would not be angry with you if He came back today and found you just as you are, as long as He sees that you have the right attitude and are cooperating with the work He is doing in you. He knows you are a work in progress - and you will be for as long as you live. Enjoy where you are, on the way to where you are going!

just awesome!!!!

and the second comes from Psalm 25,

the secret (of the sweet, satisfying companionship) of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its (deep, inner) meaning.

My eyes are ever toward the Lord for He will pluck my feet out of the net!

have a wonderful day!

love and many kisses

karin

xx

What a day!!!

Can I please tell you about this last day of 2006! It started in the early hours of the morning, to be exact, few minutes past twelve, Bouts and I on our way to bed, realized we can't find Beethoven.
Let me introduce Beethoven:

Meet our 12 year old baby, he was a gift from my Dad to Nino on his second birthday, and he was just gone! He is terrified of thunder, and normally he is always with me, I was upstairs in my scrapbook room and only realized then that he was missing. We search for hours, Bouts got into the car and drove around town, scared that maybe somehow he got out the gate and was wondering around.

I have never prayed this much for my animals and we eventually found him, all wet and scared. I was so thankful I cried! (i think Bouts too)

The good thing about this day, 31 December 2006, is that it is the "Poppies's" birthday. Let me introduce you to them:

On the left is Abby and the other one is Noela. They are 2 years old today, happy birthday to them, and we love them like crazy! They keep us all young and on our toes, VERY BUSY girls these two, always up to something. LOVE to swim, and Bouts tries his best to keep them out of the pool, to much hair in the filter he says. I will let you know later who wins this contest!!


Then, last but not least, there are the other two, older women in this dog family of ours, let me introduce them:

On the left is Missy, she was my Mom's dog, and we adopted her after my Mom died. Chicka on the right is ours since she was a baby. These two are the two difficult old ladies, smallest but they rule all the other other animals in this family.


Now you know our dog family, the birds I will introduce to you later, and today we pay tribute to Gato, the only cat we ever had, who died two years ago in December at the wonderful age of 15 years.
We are thankful for our animals, they are kind and loving and I love that God created them, we can learn so much from them!!

I hope you all have a wonderful last day of 2006, we are spending the day with friends who will be arriving later. The braai will start at about seven tonight, and will go right through untill next year.
luv ya all
karin
xx

Santa's little helpers...

Just look at them, and the reason they look so funny is cause the sun was shining into their eyes! We had so much fun with them, I cannot remember what we used to do before they all came along!

My own, personal family! I love to say that!

Every Christmas spend with them is a gift, and I pray for many more!

Nino posed for a photo with Ouma Meraai, just look how tall he is!!!!

The Christmas Eve dinner table speaks for itself, dinner was provided by the Turkey Squad (middle picture) and the setting by Santa (Johan) himself!




Last but not least, Santa, Mrs Santa and the little helpers. Thanks from the Botha's to the Herbst's for a wonderful Christmas!

I leave you with this verse from my new Bible!

Proverbs 16:3
Roll your works upon the Lord (commit and trust them wholly to Him, He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and ) so shall your plans be established and succeed!

luv ya lots
karin
xx

It is all about freedom

I bought this wonderful Bible,

The Every Day Life Bible, with notes and commentary by Joyce Meyer, and I have been blessed!! I loved this morning's commentary in Joshua, it is all about being faithful, listen to this!

God works through and blesses faithful people - people who are faithful in the wilderness (in times of testing) as well as in the Promised Land (in times of blessing). Being faithful means being devoted, supportive and loyal. Faithful people are worthy of trust or belief, they are reliable, consistent, constant and steadfast. They will stay wherever God places them and be true to those God has given them to work with.

If we want to exercise authority, we must first learn to come under authority and stay wherever God has placed us until He moves us. We must do the right thing simply because it is right, even though we may never understand the 'why' of every situation - which is a real test of our faithfulness and obedience.

Do you want to have authority and be respected? Then learn to be reliable and loyal, God loves to reward the faithful.

Do you understand as I do, that through being faithful comes freedom. I made this page for Nico, to tell him all about this freedom. To let no one stand in his way, but to be kind, wise and gentle with other people's feelings. I trust this child, I know his potential and I love him with all of my heart!

My wish for you is a funfilled, glorious day tomorrow!!

love and kisses

karin

xx

God's promise for the New Year

It's the last days of December'06, I haven't felt like talking for a while, hence the silence on my blog, missing my Dad and my Mom like crazy!
One very good thing came from all of this, my relationship with God is becoming stronger, and that is my only wish for the New Year, a deeper love for my Saviour, a deeper understanding of His power and love for me, and faith, life changing faith every day of my life!!

I need to share this morning's scripture with you all, and this is God's promise to me (once again) for the New Year, my future, my Husbands future and our Children's future! Share this wonderful Word with me!!


11 - For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.
12- Then you will call upon Me, and I you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you,
13- Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me (as a vital necessity) and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
14 - I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will release you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and all the places to which I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive!!

Isn't this amazing, my God is a Strong and Mighty Tower, a Refuge for my soul!!
Amen

Have a glorious day!
love
karin
xx

young man

Just a little boy, but he takes up space in my heart like a grown man! This is my niece's son, CJ, and we are so proud of him. He is growing-up so fast, every time I see him I stand amazed how beautiful he is! I love everything about him, this page tells the story!

the value of family

We sometimes forget to appreciate the people in our family! Today I made this page to do just that, these pictures of Anna and Johan are my favourite and they both look stunning!
This is to dedicate their marriage, for sticking it out, for having great kids and for being good family!
I know many people, but I have never met somebody with such a big heart as my sister-in-law! Her second name should have been 'Giving' for that is what she always does!
We may not always say it out loud, but from the bottom of this family's heart, thank you for always giving! Not only the gifts, but your time, your love and your friendship.
May God bless the four of you with great love and my prayer for you is this:

Psalm 91!
'For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guart you in all your ways, they will bear you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone'

May you be blessed and cherished!
love
xxxx

Yeah!!

Dunno about you, but I never scrapbook my photo's in a specific order, whatever inspires me is normally the next project. I absolutely love to see how some of the ladies scrapbook their pictures in chronological order. Me, I am by far to 'deurmekaar' but I admire how organized they are!
We had our 16th anniversary this year, and yeah!, I finally made our wedding album. Although, what you see here is just the album, nothing inside yet!
I hope to finish this album before our next anniversary, and give it as a gift to myself, a 'from Karin' - 'to Karin' gift, I just love those!
I sincerely hope all you scrapbookers are inspired to do this wedding album with me, lets start at the beginning, that important day that made you a family!

I leave you with Isaiah 46:8-10

Remember this, and be assured. Recall it to mind, you transgressors.
Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is not other!
I am God, and there is no one like Me!
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done!
Saying, My purpose will be established and I will accomplish all My good pleasure!
Truly I have spoken, truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, surely I will do it!

Love you all
karin

Da Kiss...

My husband has a busy nature, always in a hurry, and me, well, I am slower. Every morning he wakes the children in a hurry if you know what I mean, well, the other morning I went into Nico's room to wake him up. In stead of putting on the bright light, I went for the softer light next to his bed, instead of saying, "Nicky, wake up you're late", I just sat down next to him, kissed him softly and whispered in his ear about the new day and the wonderful cup of coffee I am going to make him now.
Last night, we went to bed much earlier than usual, so Nico came into the room and asked if I could rather wake him in future. If you know my husband, and how he loves this children, then you will understand the huge challenge that was presented to him at that moment.

Now, this morning, he kissed me all over my face, (that is how I get to wake up every morning), and off he went, to Nico's room. I jumped out of bed and chased after him, shouting "don't you dare!" But, remember, I am the slower one, and when I got to my son's room, he was laying in bed with Nico, holding him close, kissing him softly on his cheeks and telling him how much he loves him. Now, I couldn't do it better, except for putting off the bright light and switching on the softer one. I just love them! I found this photo browsing my computer this morning, another kiss at another time, but the same love! Enjoy with me.

This is who I am...

How good it would be if we could learn that God is easy to live with. He remembers our frame and knows that we are dust. He may sometimes chasten us, it is true, but even this He does with a smile, the proud, tender smile of a Father who is bursting with pleasure over an imperfect but promising daughter who is coming every day to look more and more like the One whose child she is. Apart from wife and mother, this is who I am!














My article on Art Journalling finally came to light in Creative Reflections, issue no: 11!
I simply love the colours, since pink is the new black, it is no wonder they look so great together!
The fun in making this mini album, was only half the joy, the book I did this about, is what really mattered.
The Root of the Righteous, by Mr AW Tozer! A man of God for sure, with wonderful insight into the Word of God.
I loved this, these are the things I want my children to learn, I want them to understand what life is all about, and most of all, I want them to really know, that to serve God is the coolest thing to do in this world.
Hope you have a blessed day tomorrow!
Love
Karin

It has been a long time...

I know, it's been a very long time since I blogged, life sort of changed a bit for me. I had a moment by myself this morning, and somewhere along my line of thinking, I became aware that I am one of those people, who, when they hit the water, they immidiately start swimming. I am thankful that God made me this way, otherwise I would have drowned by now.
Many things happened this past two months, but I suvived.
I lost my Dad, he died on the 9th of May, four days after his birthday and it still hurts terribly! I must admit, I still have this feeling of being lost, not having my Mom or Dad anymore, being alone is terrifying, but I find a lot of comfort from the Word of God. I absolutely have to pay tribute to my best friend in this world, after 16 years of marrige, he supports me every step of the way, and I am so thankful that he is simply there for me!

There is also the possibility of selling everything and moving to Burgersfort, and I hate the very thought of it. I love this town, I love this house, I love my friends, and I love how happy my children are in school here, but sometimes we have to do things we don't like, and unless God says otherwise, we are going.
I want to say out loud, that I am willing to go if that is what He wants us to do!

My sister-in-friend is touring the States at the moment, she has been gone for very long now, and I also want to say out loud, it is time she comes back!!!
I miss our looooonnnnggg conversations on the phone, and I hate that she is over there, and I am here.
So sister-in-friend, get your freakin thoosie on that plane and come home!

Have a blessed day
Karin