Restoring Our Womanhood

Scrap of Faith is a Christian Crafting Site dedicated to inspiring women in their faith and in their hobbies.

Each month a new theme will be posted, with verses to encourage, with challenges to inspirire you both in your faith and in your craft. We hope that you will jump on board the journey of Restoring your Womanhood and that God will use these challanges to draw us closer to Him and also give us a purpose in our roles.

We would love to hear from those who are following along so please leave a comment, and share a link to your blog :-) Also on the Scrap of Faith forum there is a weekly thread for encouraging each other through the journey.


Friday, May 23, 2008

BEACH PHOTOS
I love taking photos of children on the beach, but the full sun especially in the middle of the day can be a bit of a challenge.

Challenge: Full sun
Solution: Try and find some shade
Beach huts, trees, the shade from a cliff, underneath a pier. Look around and see what you could use to provide shade





Challenge: There is no shade
Solution: Backlight

The clear blue sky and full overhead sun can cause harsh shadows on one side of the face, while blowing out the other side. The main trick to avoiding this is to watch the way you position your subject.


Even when the sun is overhead, you can still position them in direction that will provide more shade on their faces. Walk around them and look at the way their shadows are falling on the ground. Position them so that they are facing their shadow. (or at least position yourself on the shadow side of them) The sun will hit the top and back of their head, creating not only a beautiful glow around their hair, but will also keep their faces out of the direct sunlight.





Use a daddy to block the sun :)


Position yourself on the shaddow side of your subjects while they play. When they turn towards you, you'll be in the perfect spot to snap them.


Challenge: Full sun

Solution: Use it.

This works better in the morning or late afternoon when the sun is lower. Just position your subjects so they are directly facing the sun, not side on to the sun. Their faces will be more evenly lit. One tip.... watch where your own shaddow is falling. If you don't want it in the pic, you may need to stand back more and zoom in with your camera.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008


This is a LO I did last year that talks about my quiet time room. I use the sun room in our home to have my quiet time. It looks directly out on what a friend of mine calls our park. This is my special "God" place. It reminds me everyday how blessed I am to live in such a beautiful place.







My journalling is under the pic.













This LO came from my wandering mind while I was doing the Love Monogram. I am just so thankful that Jesus Loves ME.

Under my journalling is my Bible verses. John
3:16 and Romans 5:8






Blessing

Gail

Tuesday, May 20, 2008


My first digi layout from scratch!
I am currently doing a digi course for beginners, (see www.jessicasprague.com) and when the chance came to try a layout from scratch, I turned to our very own Scrap of Faith May Challenges for inspiration! Due to a nasty bad back (which means I am standing as I type this with my laptop perched on top of a couple of plastic tubs LOL) I'm not allowed to sit, so I decided to combine the word and sketch challenges into one so I could still participate but keep my sit time to a minimum. I have used digi elements from DebF at Pickleberry Pop and also freebies from Shabby Princess. Hope you like it! I'm off to have another lie down - but dont you follow my example, get those challenge entries in, as usual your creativity and interpretation is so inspiring. Have a great day!!!
Tracey

Monday, May 19, 2008

Yay - we have a slide-show with challenge entries. Well done those who have already got work there, they all look fantastic!


This is my effort for the sketch challenge. I really love layering papers so I guess that's why this sketch appealed to me. I've used basic grey archaic papers, loving the brown and blue at the moment.


I just happened to sit in on Alexander's Sunday School lesson recently. His prayer really summed up the two biggest things in his life at the moment. Honey sandwiches and dinosaurs. That's the kind of thing I want to remember about him as a six year old!

Keep working on those challenges ...

Saturday, May 17, 2008

My Prayer Journey


These are my offerings for the Prayer challenge. The first is a mini album I did on prayer and featuring images and info on my prayer life.
The layout is one I did featuring my favourite prayer place, which is in my prayer closet (my car) on the banks of the lovely Georges River in Picnic Point, Sydney. This is the place I always gravitate towards, especially when I have big things on my mind or big decisions to make - and I am always amazed at the answers I receive (the concept that the God of the whole universe actually speaks to me is still a major spin out) but also the way in which He speaks to me using examples in nature - of which there are plenty on a waterfront!

Blessings,

Tracey

Friday, May 16, 2008

There are some great challenges this month, and I must admit I have really enjoyed doing these layouts.


My first layout is for Challenge 1 - Sketch Challenge - to any size layout, traditional or digi based on the sketch by Trina McClune found here.



I had to turn this around a little as I did not have a portrait photo that I could use. I haven't participated in sketch challenges much in the past, but I have really love doing the last couple.





I loved doing this challenge This second layout is for Challenge 3 - Word Challenge - The word for May is "WORLD". Do a Layout or Off the Page project based on "WORLD".


Recently I have watched a couple of Louie Giglio's DVD's entitled "Indescribable" and " How Great is Our God". This certainly put into perspective just how great, how Huge and our aweseome our God really is - He is the creator of the Universe - this Earth we live in is a very very small part of God's creation, and yet God so loved us, that he sent his only son to die for us, so that we could have a relationship with him and live with him forever. This was the inspiration behind this layout.


My final layout is for Challenge 5 -Mystery Challange - "Meet with God". Scrap a layout or OTP which shares where you meet with God. This might be your Church, your Bible study group, the top of a mountain, the shower ... wherever it might be where you feel you meet with God.

This is my response to the challenge to scrap where I meet with God. Although I regularly spend time with God at home in my bedroom or office, it is the times that I sit watching the sun set or the waves rolling in on the beach that I am really aware of God's aweseomeness, his majesty, and his power. I guess being a creative person, watching a sunset like this reminds me that God is also creative and that each sunrise and sunset are an expression of his creativity, as these vibrant colours are splashed across the evening sky. Scenes like this really do bring me into the presence of God and make me want to worship and praise HIM.
The Heavens declare the glory of GOD: the skies proclaim the works of his hands.
Psalm 19:1.



How are you going with this months challenges - I'm so looking forward to seeing your layouts.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

A cheerful heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22



I love this photo of my daughter on a swing. She looks so happy and cheerful. Unfortunately she's not always like this. More often than not Rebekah is a 'glass half empty' kind of kid. When things aren't going her way it would seem the whole world is crumbling down around her.

My aim is to catch her being happy, encourage those cheerful moments and help her experience life in a more positive frame of mind. So I've used the journalling in this layout to give her some 'life advice' about being happy. "Live life as if you are on a swing, flying through the air with nothing holding you back. Free to enjoy the moment ... free to be all that God created you to be."



How does this verse speak to you?
Can't wait to see your layouts for this months challenges.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008


QUIET TIME WITH GOD

Here's my take on Bev's challenge, "Where do you meet God" My Journalling reads. My favourite place in the house to sit and read the bible and read my prayers is on the couch in our bedroom, however the only places that I get real privacy and get lost in my thoughts with God are the shower and out at the clothesline. Perhaps they are the two places the kids don't want to be around me. Recently for my birthday Mark got me the message translation and I have found this translation to be great for spending more time in the word. Because the language is modern, I am getting lost in God's story and finding it hard to put down. I also let the prayer book open where it may and the prayers have always been right what our family needs. I am so amazed at God's intimate knowledge of all our needs, physical and spiritual.

This layout was created using Rowena's Lost in Space Kit. It can be found here.

Don't forget to email me your entries. We have only had one so far and it needs some friends to make a slide show :-) Besides we just LOVE seeing all the wonderful work that you do.

This month it's my turn to do the layout with instructions. I'm busy trying to write a turtorial for one layout in both traditional and digi, both with step by step instructions. So if you have been wanting to get into digi, but don't know where to start then this will be for you. WATCH THIS SPACE.

Sunday, May 11, 2008


Just finished my take on Trina's sketch.
Posted by Picasa

Here's my response Beverly's challenge to scrap where I meet with God. While I meet with God most days in my room at home there's just something about being at a beach that draws me into a time of silent praise and worship to our Amazing God.

How are you going with this months challenges?
Posted by Picasa

Saturday, May 10, 2008



"Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so, little to ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong. Yes Jesus loves me. Yes Jesus loves me. Yes Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so."

This song from my childhood was going through my head the whole time I was putting together this months OTP project, Altered LOVE monogram. What security to know that Jesus does love me. ME a sinner. What have I done to deserve his love, NOTHING, but he has chosen to love me. AND no matter what I do he will still love me. WOW. He gave His life up for me he forgives my sin and has made me right with God, he has given me His spirit to guide me and to make me like him, again WOW.

My prayer is that each of you will know this love of Jesus Christ and that you will "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:18b-19).

This was a fun project to put together. Made using BG two scoops range including die cut stickers and alphas. The back is also covered in paper and this is where I did my journalling:- Bible verse about Christs love, a few quotes, my thoughts on Christs love and of course the above song "Jesus Loves Me".

Have fun trying this project, please put a pic in the gallery when you do make it.

http://www.4shared.com/file/46953267/80802ea8/Gail_Instructions.html?dirPwdVerified=c4f8a5fc

Blessings

Gail

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Saturday, May 03, 2008

April Challenge Winners

We've done the draw and the winners for each category are.................................

Challenge 1 - Leisa Cook

Challenge 2 - Anne-Marie Richardson

Challenge 3 - Gayle Smith

Challenge 4 - Gennie Joy

Challenge 5 - Kerryn Leworthy

Congratulations Girls :-D Watch your inboxes for your voucher to Christianbook.com.



The Biggest Lesson God has taught Me - Beverley Warwick

God has taught me many lessons over the 34 and a half years of my life. Some were fairly simple to learn and some I'm still learning – let's face it, I'm a slow learner!

It's hard to pick 'one' as the biggest, but the truths in 1 Peter chapter 5 formed a very important lesson for me. One that served as a key turning point in my life.

Resist him (the devil), standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are under going the same kinds of sufferings. 1 Peter 5:9

I learned this lesson as a teenager and it's one that has stayed with me through many trials I've faced on my journey as an adult.

I was brought up in a Christian home. My parents took me to Church, taught me Bible verses and trained me in Christian things. I accepted the Lord Jesus into my heart as a young child and then 'recommitted' my life to God at every kids camp I went to thereafter – just to be sure I'd get into heaven!

As a teenager, however, I began to question the truths I had been taught. I started asking questions. Is God real? How can I be sure? I became depressed and started wondering about what would happen if I died. I reasoned that if God was real, then when I died I would go to heaven and if God didn't exist then dying would simply be the end of my life. Both options seemed better than dealing with the problems I was facing as a lonely teenager.

I was soon to discover that God certainly was real and interested in my life. I went to a weekend sports camp with my youth group where we not only played sport but got together to sing Christian songs and study the Bible. I found it impossible to stay in those meetings. My doubts of God's existence and my thoughts of suicide made me very uncomfortable to be in a place where everyone was talking about God.

My friend noticed this and arranged for us to talk privately with the camp speaker, Lew. I said nothing at all about what was bothering me, all I could do was cry. Lew opened his Bible and began reading the verses found in 1 Peter 5. He spoke about standing firm, about how others throughout the world have undergone the same kinds of sufferings. My heart was opened at this point as I began to understand that other people have also asked these questions.

He went on to explain that there comes a point in every persons life when they must accept for themselves the existence of God, the truth of Christ's love and the miracle of His death and resurrection. He explained that there must be a change in believing because your parents do, to believing because you know it to be true yourself.

I believe it was God speaking through this man. I hadn't said what was bothering me, yet what he was saying was exactly answering my thoughts. At that moment I knew without a doubt that God was real and I would stand firm in my faith. I was comforted by the next verse too...

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10

God had called me and in his grace He, himself, would restore me and make me strong enough to deal with my teenage problems. As Lew prayed with us my tears flowed, not of intense sadness this time, but complete joy in knowing that God had restored my faith and he would help me to stand strong, firm and steadfast.

Since learning this lesson I have been comforted by these verses in many 'tough times.' Whatever the problem might be I know that I can stand firm in my faith. There is no need to waiver, to wonder how on earth I can get through another trial. I know that I am not alone – others throughout the world have had the same kinds of problems. If they got through it, then I'll get through it too. And I can claim the promise that God will himself restore me and make me strong, firm and steadfast once again.

And the awesome thing about this, is that God cares for all our problems. The big ones and the small ones. We can stand firm knowing that He cares that same whether our problem is a life-threatening one or simply a case of a hard to toilet train toddler!



PRECIOUS AND LOVED - GENNIE JOY


The Journaling on my LO reads:

Precious and Loved

As I sit and ponder the biggest lesson God has taught me....I come back constantly to the incredibly long journey that He needed to take me on...the journey of Self Acceptance! Not just to read Scripture and know 'Head Knowledge' that I am acceptable and loved just as I am, but 'Heart Knowledge' in the very depths of my soul. I love both Psalm 139 and Isaiah 43. Both are Scriptures that God has imprinted on my heart. I am precious to Him and loved and am therefore acceptable to others, a person of great worth. Gennie 20.3.08


The Biggest Lesson God Has Tuaght Me.

When asked the question ‘What is the biggest lesson God has taught you?’, how do you respond? How do you choose just one? Or for that matter, the biggest one??? When faced with this dilemma recently I thought of some of the many lessons that God has taught me over the years I have walked with Him. I thought of ‘Keeping my peace…His peace’, of ‘patience’, of perseverance’, and of ‘trusting Him’. I thought of ‘learning how real and important prayer is’ and how I came to really understand ‘the truth of depending totally on Him for absolutely everything’. So many lessons, some easily learnt, others still being learnt over and over again.

There are so many lessons in life that God has taught me…but really there is no choice, no competition when asked ‘this’ question! By far the hardest and biggest of all lessons that God has needed to teach me is ‘Who I am in Christ’. To not only accept myself, but to accept that He created me with all my faults and failings, with my weaknesses and strengths because He KNEW me and He knew what I would pass through on this earth and what I would need to not just survive but to thrive as well.

God needed to teach me that I was lovely, loved and loveable. That I am His child and His vessel, use-able in other’s lives, and created for His workmanship, for His glory. That I am beautiful to Him on the inside and on the outside. That nothing I do (short of outright rejecting Him) can alter His love for me and who He created me to be.

Why was this such a hard lesson for me to learn? Well, hand up if you have ever seen a photo of yourself and thought ‘yuck’! Or, ‘I look terrible’. Hand up if you’ve ever NOT put your photo in a blog or an Avatar or on a Layout, just because you didn’t like the way it looked, or the way you looked in it! You felt that you were too fat or too thin, too wrinkled or too ugly. Too undeserving or too……….. (you fill in the gap)!

We have all struggled to some degree or other at some stage in our lives from a wrong view of who we are in Christ, a poor self image, a lack of confidence in who we are or how we fit into this world. There are so many reasons for this. A home life growing up where Christ was not the centre nor were His words taught and lived out. A place where there were a lot of the ‘right words’ and a lot of show, but behind closed doors a lot of ungodliness took place, (such as was the case for me). Or, maybe it was schoolyard bullying where you were told ‘It doesn’t matter’, Or worse, you were repeatedly told that ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me’. Perhaps it was a marriage not built on Godly principles or an abusive relationship. Or maybe, it was just the constant barrage of media and advertising that tells you: ‘You’re not thin enough’, ‘You’re not beautiful enough’, you don’t have a big enough house, car, goods, accessories’. For some people the lies are slow and insidious, for others they are overwhelming, condemning and oppressive, if not depressive.

They are however, all lies, lies of the enemy, the evil one, Satan himself who ‘Prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour’. (1 Peter 5:8) The ‘world’, of which Satan is the master, gives so many negative messages that it is hard for us to stand strong in the truths of what God says about us. But, listen to some of Psalm 139! ‘You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!’ Psalm 139:13-17

David is talking to God and acknowledges just how important he is to God. How much God loves Him and the ways in which this is revealed to him. It’s a beautiful example of a theme that appears all through Scripture. Our worth to God and how precious and loved we are by Him.

One of my all time favourite passages of Scripture is found in Isaiah 43. “But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honoured, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." Isaiah is giving a prophesy about God’s people who have been scattered, but whom He will reclaim because they, like us, are precious in His eyes and honoured and He loves them!

Learning the truth about who we are in Christ is hard for many, many people. Because of the abusive home life I came from, where secrets abounded and truth was unreality, it has taken years for God to penetrate the lies that had filled my life. It has been an enormous journey, a huge effort, a lot of hard work to re-train my brain and to re-order my thinking. But slowly, once God got me out of that situation, He (and eventually I) started the rebuilding process of putting a life back together based on His word and His truths. It has taken years and years and sometimes I still have to remind myself of the truth, but overall, I have learnt that I am special! I am a child of God, I am fearfully and wonderfully made AND I am precious and loved by God just the way I am. Not that I can or should stay as I am, but as I walk, day by day, with Jesus by my side, I am who He wants me to be and I continue to grow and change in Him, by the Grace of God!

The biggest lesson of my life has been to learn that I am (and you are too!) a child of God, precious, special, deeply loved by the creator of the whole universe! God is MY Father, My best Friend, My Saviour and My Lord. I pray that you will know these truths as reality in your lives too.

(For further reading, an excellent book on this subject is 'The lies we believe' by Dr Chris Thurman.)

Thursday, May 01, 2008


Thank You

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who entered the challenges this month. WOW what an amazing selection of layouts and SO MANY!!! :-D we are just so thrilled at the level of participation and it's just amazing to see so many people scrapping their faith. We will draw the winners on Sat the 3rd of May and they will be announced here on the blog. Also the new round of challenges will be announced then too :-D

Thanks again and I know I can't wait to see what you all create for May :-D

When we ran the comp for new DT members the theme was "The Biggest Lesson God has Taught You". Some of the applicants have graciously allowed us to share their lessons with you. We hope you enjoy their stories and creations as much as we did.

Today we are sharing the wonderful contribution from Meredith Harmer.



Hand written Journaling
When I was married in 19991 this is not how I imagined that my family would look in the year 2007 – but the fact that it does look like this has taught me many things.


Typed Journaling
Everybody has a story to tell – but sometimes we don’t take the time to hear it or to understand it. If you asked me in my early 20’s if I was judgemental I would have answered “NO” but I would have been wrong. When it comes to other people’s stories we often see what we see from the outside looking in, then join the dots together and make our own conclusions or judgements.
Very rarely does life go exactly according to plan and mine was no different. I expected that by the age of 30 I would have had my family of three children. Instead I was the mother of one – beautiful Bronte. I had two miscarriages in 1999 but then nothing year after year. People began to make their own judgements about me, suggesting that it was “time” I had another baby, or asked why I had chosen not to. Little did they know!! So one day when I was having a word to God about these people he gently reminded me that I was one of them.
He pointed out that I often made judgements about others without knowing their story. This lesson was powerful, significant and life changing – JUDGE NOT.

REFLECTION

Over the years I have learnt that it is very dangerous to point the finger at other people’s faults because God has this gentle but very direct way of pointing that finger right back at you. It was difficult for me to face the fact that I had been judging other people, but I quickly realised that God simply wanted to show me how subtle and easy it was to fall into this trap.
This lesson began simply with a reminder not to judge other people but has evolved into much more. God went on to show me that if I changed the way I responded to people’s questions about my family- rather than being hurt, to be open and honest about the situation (whatever it was) then they would understand a little bit about my story, a little bit more about me. In doing this I began to notice a trend, I had given other people the opportunity to share their story – it was about being real with each other.



This was a new season for me, I had become open to the Holy Spirit, become open to being taught, to being changed from the inside out. Don’t get me wrong - I am no angel BUT I am determined with the Spirits leading to be more and more like Jesus.
I love that Jesus loves us too much to leave us the way we are, and I am thankful for the promise in Phil 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

The journey so far has not been straight forward, but each bump in the road has taught me to trust God’s plans and not my own. He has this life of mine firmly in his hand and is unfolding it way better than if I called the shots.



Proverbs 3: 5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean NOT on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your path straight. (a note of thanks to Colin Buchannan for helping me remember where to find this treasure)