God's Touch of Beauty

Some front yard beauties I wanted to share with you. One of my joy's is watching the plants peak through the earth's surface and slowly change until the blooms emerge.

Explosion Mini-Book

Here is the cover of a mini scrapbook I did for Yahoo Mini-books challenge. And if you'd like to know how to make it then go here.

Inside of book ready to be decorated or given as a gift.

Down the Garden Path

Jeff did this early spring (April 22nd) garden picture. I made the path from river rocks a couple years ago. I just love it and am making another. Now the flowers are much bigger and all different ones blooming. Pulling weeds and caring for the garden is definitely one of the places I meditate. It's just a little piece of heaven on earth. Someday, maybe God will allow me the privilege of being one of his gardeners.

Garden Delight

I know some of you might say "She's not a bad photographer," but I assure you when good ones happen it is purely the result of a decent camera, a good subject and the placement of the stars in the heavens. Still, it surely is evidence of God's miracle of creation. I often use the illustration when I am in the garden with others about how a plant grows. See how the top is red and also white and yellow? But notice that the stem and leaves are green. Yet, all those parts get the same water, the same minerals and nutrients from the ground. So what makes the different colors different? Why aren't they all the same color? That is the miracle of God's creation. It is awesome to consider how he did it.

Handmade Flower for Kid's Camp

Well it is not as beautiful as God makes the real thing, but it was fun and easy to do. Check out this site for easy directions, cut and paste: http://www.making-mini-scrapbooks.com/paperflowers.html I don't get much chance to play around like this so when I do it's usually because I'm preparing for a class or a kid's camp. We have camp coming in July and there is much to prepare. We usually start out with up to 100 kids and by the end of the week that can swell to 200. You can imagine we go through some craft materials with that many kids doing crafts 5 days a week. Our camp will be July 13 through the 18th. Our theme is friendship. We are blessed to be having a team from Antioch Baptist Church in Conway, Arkansas led by Dan and Cindy Williams to participate in our camp and help with teaching and fun. Pray for them too as they prepare.

Back Yard Beauty

Thought you might enjoy this picture I took in the back yard. One lone tulip, yet such beauty. Truly a testimony of God's love for us that he so decorates our lives with such color and wonder.... a foretaste of heaven to come.

Another Freebie

Free is great right? Well here is a 27 page e-book on collage From Artella. Copy and paste for some fun: http://artellaland.com/giveaway-PeaceByPiece.html Then go to the body to download the book.

Free E-book for Mini-Scrapbooks

Here's something fun. Those who like to create, check out (copy and paste) this link: http://www.simplyhandmademag.blogspot.com/ to download a free e-book of mini-scrapbooks. I've already been all through it and there's lots of great ideas. Happy Scrapping, Coleen

Smile Cards

Just wanted to say thanks to all who have sent Smile Cards. All that I've received so far have gone to prison ministry and I'm sure they will make some folks happy. One lady who works in the prisons asked if she could give some to some men who work in the men's prisons. She said that often men and women like to pass on the cards to their children. I have put words of encouragement on the backs in their language. I've also been told that there are some Sunday schools in America that are doing smile cards. This is of course, exciting to me since what I have had so far is not a large number, but appreciated by each individual that receives them. Thanks again to all who have sent. They really are beautiful cards that I am proud to pass on to the prison workers.

Scrapbooking in Church?

Yesterday I presented the first class of a seminar I have been working on called "The Gratefulness Spot-365 Days of Gratitude." This is a scrapbook of the old time variety in which there is a spot to write down at least one thing we are grateful to God for and thankful about. We had a page dedicated to each week and prepared for a month of gratefulness. In addition they can decorate anyway they want and add photos. As they develop their scrapbook, they are also making a witnessing tool to show their friends. We had 13 ladies and followed our time with tea and cookies. It was a fun time of fellowship. Tomorrow I will do a similar class for the youth of our Bucha church called "Heritage of Faith." This class I've already done many times around Ukraine. It is a way of documenting your faith through the means of scrapbooking. They include their testimony, baptism, and life in the church, their walk of faith. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him..." Romans 15:13

Tolstoy and Scrapbooking

I am having the great pleasure of participating in a round-robin challenge. That was where we each came up with our own theme, made our book and then sent it to the next member on the list for them to do a page on "my theme." This person's challenge was to do a lay-out on classic literature so I chose the book "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy. I just thought it appropriate to do something from this part of the world.

Inner flaps that open for a surprise underneath.

Butterflies

This was a fun accident. I hit the wrong button on the copier and I got black and white instead of color copies on my butterflies. Well, they were pretty so I decided not to trash them. Later on I did a black and white fat book challenge and came across the butterflies as I was looking for something to do. Perfect, I thought, since I hate to throw anything away that's pretty. Fat book means it is 4"x4" and it has some sort of 3-D embellishment, thus the name "fat book," as after you have not even too many together in a book it becomes very fat. Such fun. Click on the "Butterfly" title above to go to the Yahoo mini-scrapbooks group home page.

Easter Children's Play

I am so often amazed at the talent and spirit with which children are so freely creative. Of course, a play like this takes a lot of work and is a credit to the people who work with them. This was the story about the risen Christ from the tomb and we even had a cardboard tomb. The gold soldier costumes were made by one of the teachers and myself from poster board one church so graciously sent us. My thanks to all those who sacrifice to send us materials for the work with children. It certainly adds to their joy and ours.

Bethany Church, Bucha, Ukraine

These cute little bags were sent to us by dear ladies at First Baptist Church at Carthage, Texas. We filled them with candies and some small trinkets to give to the children in five Sunday school classes for an Easter treat. Just a small expression of the true gift of the risen Christ. Thank you ladies for you love and generosity.

Inchies

I would like to show you how I have displayed the "inchies" we did this past winter. They run along and decorate the top of my bulletin board. Inchies are 1" x 1" squares that you decorate in any way and then trade with other artist. These are the inchies I received from all over the world, ie. U.S., Europe and Haiti. Great fun swapping with these talented ladies.

Our Little Old Man

This is Samson, our little old man, age 14. He is one of the reasons we went to Nikolaevka last month so we could bring him back home. His litter mate, sister, Delilah passed away this past winter. Sam is showing his age, but just still as bouncy as ever. We bought them in the Crimea when they were palm size the second year after we arrived in Ukraine. My how time flies.

A Love Gift for Family

If you look closely you will see a heart of Crocus' in the grass. I planted these last fall as a spring surprise for my family. Of course, the first year they are pretty sparse, but they will thicken up each year. I may just have to hide another heart in the grass each year. They are so beautiful.

A close-up of God's beautiful creation.

Leah's Book Done for Julia

This is a scrapbook Leah did for our granddaughter Julia who is soon to be 6 years old. She did this in a board book so it would be heavy duty for Julia to play with and show around.

Julia and her beautiful mother Sarah. Notice any resemblance?

All three grandchildren, Julia, baby Tripp and Jordan.

The whole family at Christmas time 2008, L-R,Jordan, Sarah, Tripp, Jaime and Julia.

Jordan and Julia, ages 3 and 5 here.

Last Page

Grandpa, Grandma and Auntie Leah

Pretties

These little pretties are called "Inchies" because they are an inch in diameter and were done for a challenge at Handmade Mini-books Group. They are being sent to someone in America who will distribute them to several places around the world. I will in turn receive back that many from other artist from those same places. Just having fun.

Leah's Work

This is some art work done by Leah a while back. She really is quite the creative one when she wants to be. I think there is a budding artist in there trying to get out, but it doesn't have much chance since she is such a busy bee. She is in the youth choir at church and she works with youth in our church plant at Yablonka. She also has a small group or two she attends. Lastly, she works in Kiev with a mission helping in the office. We don't see her a lot, but that is how it is with a soon to be 22 year old. She is a happy kid and fun to be around.

Easter Preparations - Costumes

Easter in Ukraine happens a week after Easter in America, but I can tell you that the pastors are already speaking about it in church. And they will continue for some time after the actual holiday. Today I had the privilege of helping prepare costumes for two little solders from the children's choir. They will do their play Easter morning. We made armor from gold colored poster board. I will try to get pictures to show you later. Easter is still two weeks off for us. They turned out well and the boys wanted to start sparing with their swords. It was fun.

Skeletons of Summers Past

Just wanted to share with you this shot Jeff took looking out at the Black Sea on our last night before leaving Nikolaevka. The structures you are seeing are summer slides into the sea for one and another into a big water tub that, of course, is not there right now. As quiet as this village is in winter, it comes alive in summer with vacationers from all over Ukraine and Russia as well.

Scrapbooking Class in Simferopol, Ukraine

I had the exciting privilege of working with a number of young ladies on Saturday in creating "faith books". These are scrapbooks where they chronicle their walk of faith. Since there are no scrapbooking stores in Ukraine as yet, we must be more creative in how we do our books. They are simpler in some respects, but for these ladies, very pleasing to learn how to do. And most importantly, they have a place to record their walk of faith and the people who were a part of it. This makes a wonderful book for them to share with their friends and also telling the story of their faith life.

Hours of Fun

That's me in the black sweater with several of the young ladies in the class. We had such a good time and they are now started on something they can add to for years to come. Please pray for these ladies that their books would be a wonderful influence to others.

Sharing Ideas

Faith-Booking Class in Simferopol, Crimea

Greetings from the Crimea region of South Ukraine. As you probably already know, we are here for a mission. On Saturday, tomorrow, I am doing a scrapbooking class for 10 young ladies. I am so pleased the Lord gives me this opportunity to work with young women. They will be making a scrapbook that documents their Christian walk of faith. This will not only be valuable for themselves, but it will be a great way for them to share about their experience with friends by showing their scrapbooks. Please pray for us even if you see this after Saturday that it might be an ongoing blessing to many.

Ukrainian Homes

Jeff's trigger happy finger can't help but stop along the way to capture some of the scenes. The Lord has taught me patience through this as each trip takes longer than for most travelers, but the results are often worth the time. Photography for Jeff is part of recording his ministry, but has also become a hobby for capturing God's beauty.

Pivenny Bug River on Road to Crimea

Ukraine Travels

On Monday we left the Kiev (spelled Kyiv here) region to travel south to the Crimea where we still own our very first home we bought upon arriving in 1994. The Crimea is a large peninsula that hangs out into the Black Sea just north of Turkey (my geography got a lot better after we moved here). The terrain is mostly what they call a steppe region, that's a high plain, but it also has mountains that run down the eastern side of the peninsula. This is the location of the historical war-time meeting "Yalta Conference" held in 1945 with Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. Well, I'm running down a historical rabbit trail, so I just wanted to say that we are spending a few days here to pick up our dog, do a scrapbook conference for a church, and visit some folks who are part of the church we helped start here in Nikolaevka. Check out this for a related article: http://franksukraine.blogspot.com/

I Challenge You - Smile Cards

Friends, I have taken on a project that has been humming around in my head for a while. I take it to mean that it is spirit-led, as it just doesn't go away, so I'm now going after it. I'm writing so I might invite some of you to join me in this endeavor. The prisons in Ukraine are very dismal places. The elderly who are house-bound are often in a very depressing situation. I can't do much for all these people, but there are those who visit and minister to them. Therefore, what I can do is make pretty cards to give to those people to pass on. I invite you to do the same. I am making small 4x4 cards for economy sake. I'm using pretty pictures from magazines, Bible verses and poetry (in Russian of course), and anything that I think would put a smile on someone's face. You could do anything that you think would be an encouragement to someone. Pictures of flowers, animals and children are especially liked, but it doesn't have to be like that at all. Just use your imagination. Send one or send several and I will make sure they get into the right hands. If this interests you, email me at coleenfranks@gmail.com and I will give you a mailing address. May you be richly rewarded for your efforts.

Making Mini-Scrapbooks

Click to join mini-books

Valentine Challenge, Fat book pages

Jordan's Album

This was our Jan/Feb Challenge project from Yahoo Mini Groups. We do various mini-albums for scrapbooking and such. Jordon's is one of my granddaughters. This challenge was to do a scrapbook by recycling something. I chose a child's board book because I was making this book for Jordan herself (age 3), so I wanted something tough to hold up to a lot of carrying around and flipping through as a three year old would do. Leah is doing one of Jordan's older sister Julia which we will show you soon. Here is the URL for Yahoo's Mini-Books Group if you want to check it out: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mini-books/ Also, if you'd like some easy directions for mini-books check out this website for clear easy directions to some fun stuff: http://www.making-mini-scrapbooks.com/

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Altoid Tin Mini-Scrapbook

Since Cinnamon Altoids have long been my favorites, I thought it fitting I should make a mini-scrapbook from one. I brought enough back last time I was home to make a few more. Check out Big Picture Scrapbooking for directions. . You'll probably have to sign up but they have a number of free classes with easy to follow directions. The following picture is the inside minus the photos, as yet.