Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Hidely-Ho...Back from Hiatus

Hidely-Ho, Neighbors!  I’m coming back to the blog after a very long (and not entirely intentional) hiatus and the first thing I want to do is share with you what’s been going on here at Crafty Neighbor the last few months.  I feel really bad that I haven’t posted anything in a while, but when I give you the rundown of what I’ve been up to, I think you’ll agree I’ve had my hands full.  So I hope you’ll forgive me, and I promise to get some fun projects posted here on the blog as soon as possible!

As you may know, in addition to running Crafty Neighbor, I am also a travel agent, working from home at my own little Crafty Neighbor Travel.  One of my favorite things to do is organize group cruises (especially my scrapbooking cruises!) and this year I’ve had the good fortune to be able to cruise with three of them.  We have also hosted our semi-annual scrapbook garage sale (July) and our “Think Pink” Crop for the Cure fundraiser (September) for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk (November). 

Fundraising for the 3-Day took up a great deal of my time this year, but I was determined to walk this year, so fundraise I must.  I also needed to spend a lot of time training, but unfortunately, my father became really ill in July, and he is now at home with hospice care, which has required me to travel back and forth to my hometown over 350 miles away as often as I can to help care for him.  But before I start sounding all sad, I do feel very blessed that Dad is doing a little better at the moment, I did raise enough money to participate in my 3-Day walk, and just a few short weeks ago I returned from our 8th Annual Scrapbooking Cruise where we had a fabulously amazing time!

So that’s what I’ve been up to these last few months, and I’m sorry if I’ve left you in the lurch!  But just because I wasn't’ posting on the blog doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy creating lots of goodies to share with you, so I’m really excited to show you some of them over the coming weeks, and I hope you’ll be excited to see them, too! 

One of the projects I’ve been involved in has been a great source of comfort to me throughout my Dad’s illness.  In July, right before Dad was sent home from the hospital, I took a class at Personal Scrapbook in Allen, Texas on Bible Journaling taught by Tracy Pounds, the owner of the Little Blue House in Keller.  I had seen some blog posts and pictures on Pinterest, and I was intrigued, so of course I had to give it a try. I love my regular art journal, but I especially love the time I can spend with my Bible studying the Word and illustrating the lessons I have learned.

My very first Bible Journaling page was meant to
convey my reasons for starting this new hobby.
If you are interested in Bible Journaling, you can find lots of examples on Pinterest and by Google search. There are also several Facebook groups for Bible Journaling, which makes it very easy to learn and share.  I won’t share too many of my pages, because that’s not what this blog is about, but I wanted to show my beginnings, and I may share other pages from time to time.

The last thing I wanted to share with you is the dates for our next cruise!  Mark your calendars and get ready to join us on TWO new scrapbooking cruises including the 9th Annual Crafty Neighbor Scrapbooking Cruise departing January 8, 2017 and our all new Crafty Neighbor Scrap Cruise Lite departing October 3, 2016.  You can find out more about each of the cruises by clicking on the links, or send me an email at cruise@craftyneighbor.com.

That’s it for today!  Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at some of the projects from our annual cruise.  I have some fun layouts, craft projects and mini albums to share with you plus a give-away later this week!  Until then, go do something crafty!

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