Sparrow Fan Book - Craft Your Heart Challenge 1

Here is the project I created for my very first blog Challenge. It is a little sparrow fan book.
Click on the photos for a larger view.

The Story:

There are some days that my heart wells up with happiness and I have to open my mouth and express it in singing. There are other days, when I miss my mother and am filled with loneliness or my heart is heavy with worry about my little boy - those days have other kinds of songs, songs of sorrow, songs of care. Even on those days of lament, somehow through the singing, I journey through them into comfort and peace.

On these days - days of music, I have always thought to myself... "I know why birds sing. I know they can not help it, that it is just something that comes burbling up from inside them.

On the inside pages of the book are the words to "His Eye is on the Sparrow" a song which means so much to me because it comes so near to expressing those many singing days.

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,

when songs give place to sighing; when hope within me dies;

I draw closer to Him, from care He sets me free:

His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me.

Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come?

Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home?

When Jesus is my portion, a constant friend is He:

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.

I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,

His eye is on the sparrow,

and I know he watches me.

‘Let not your heart be troubled’, His tender word I hear,

and resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;

though by the path He leadeth, but one step can I see:

His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me.

Here is the book fanned out so you can see the pages.
The book is assembled with a Bigger Brad threaded through the eye of the bird.
Here are all the pieces the inner pages, front and back covers, and brad and they eye which I applied to the top of the brad using Liquid Glass

Cardstock and Patterned Papers are from the Perfect Day Level 2 Paper Pack by Close To My Heart. The patterned paper on the two birds are cut from the same paper, the reverse bird used for the back cover used the reverse side of the patterned paper.

The words were printed on vellum, which was then run through a xyron machine, trimmed to fit and adhered to the pages. Font: Constantina.

I cut the pieces using Cricut Design Studio Software and my Cricut machine. The bird image is from the Sleeping Beauty section of the Happily Every After Cartridge. Pieces were cut at 5 1/4" - the largest I could cut with my machine.

This was my first project using the Cricut Design Studio Software. I got a bit frustrated with it from time to time, but in the end I prefer the control that I have using it. I have no desire to go back to "cutting blind" and all the paper wasted with mistakes. I am happy with the software investment.

Click Here to see the challenge.

Craft Your Heart Challenge - 1

I'm trying something new that I think will be a lot of fun if y'all will participate. If this sounds like fun to you too- jump in and take the challenge!
Click Here - to see my project for the challenge.

What is important to you...
Do you have a theme, or a motto... words or an idea to live by or is there something important you have learned lately? Give yourself permission to step away from the traditional celebration of just events and milestones...

Craft something to express what's in your heart. It can be a card, scrapbook page... decor item, paper craft, pillow, bookmark - anything... it doesn't matter... make something to expresses what's in your heart.

When you've created your project post a comment with a link so we can all see what you've made!

Here is a prototype of my project. Click Here to see my final project for the challenge.
Papers and Cardstock are from Close To My Heart Emporium
The bird cut is from the Happily Ever After Cricut Cartridge.


This bird is made using the Emporium Paper Packet by Close To My Heart.

Wii Fit Accountability '09

02/06/09 Friday- headache and TIRED, today still managed 10 minutes on Stationary Bike.
02/05/09 Thursday - 15 minutes of Wii Fit, today.
02/04/09 Wednesday - Did Wii Hula Hoop and Step Aerobics and some strength training.
02/03/09 Tuesday - Ran out of time, today, but I want this to be a daily habit. So I did Wii Hula Hoop and Step Aerobics.
02/02/09 Monday 15 minutes of Wii Fit, today.
Stationary Bike while dinner cooked 15 minutes while I listened to the latest podcast from thefringepodcast.

Chicken Georgia

This is another recipe from Paula Deen's Cookbook "The Lady & Sons." This recipe is so easy to make and tastes like something from a restaurant. A shallot is like a cross between garlic and an onion... they're smaller than an onion with a brown papery skin and kind-of tear-drop shaped. They add something special to a recipe. You need a very large skillet to accommodate both the chicken breasts and the mushrooms.


4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese

Melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and shallots and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes. Move musrooms to the sides of the pan. Add chicken and cook 10 minutes on each side, or until tender and cooked through. Transfer chicken to platter or plates and sprinkle with grated cheese and top with mushroom mixture. Cover tent with foil and let stand 5 minutes or until cheese melts. The cheese will melt best if you put all the chicken on one platter, but it makes an extra dish to wash so choose which you prefer.

Serves 4

Silly Walks

This is just one of my all time favorites. Because laughter is terribly good for you, please enjoy Monty Python's


Now don't you feel better!

When Songs Give Place To Sighing

How I love the words of the old song… how well I recognize the journey those words describe….

“Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise, when songs give place to sighing; when hope within me dies; I draw closer to Him, from care He sets me free: His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me.“

How glad I am that I do not have to remain in that place where songs give place to sighing.
How our father longs to give us the garment of praise in exchange for our spirit of heaviness… Isn’t it wonderful the way He takes us from sorrow and sadness into joy… That the way out of mourning is through songs of praise.

“Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home? When Jesus is my portion, a constant friend is He: His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.

I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free, His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.

‘Let not your heart be troubled’, His tender word I hear, and resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears; though by the path He leadeth, but one step can I see: His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me.”

~His Eye Is On The Sparrow lyrics by Civilla Martin 1905~

If you don't already know about http://icanhascheezburger.com/ it's a great place for a laugh, but be careful because you can end up spending more time than you intend. Ethan and I thought we would share a laugh with all of you....

more animals

Artichoke Chicken With Roasted Potatoes

This was yummy, pretty quick to bring to the table and different and totally new. They didn't have any nice red potatoes at the market, yesterday, so I adapted by cutting up russet potatoes. Red potatoes would work better, because they wouldn't flake apart, but these were good even with the wrong kind of potatoes. This was a Pampered Chef recipe from 29 minutes to dinner. I added an additional chicken breast to feed my family of 3... because of that there wasn't enough room in one skillet for the potatoes, so I moved them into their own 10 inch cast iron skillet.

POTATOES AND CHICKEN
3 small red potatoes
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp. Rosemary Herb Seasoning Mix, divided (see NOTE)
2 tsp olive oil, divided

ARTICHOKE TOPPING
1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts (about 2 hearts)
2 tsp. chopped fresh parsley (I left that out)
1 oz grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tsp. mayonnaise

Preheat broiler on HIGH. Cut potatoes into quarters. Place potatoes, water and salt in Micro-Cooker and microwave on HIGH 6-8 minutes or until soft. Drain and set aside.

For artichoke topping, chop artichokes and parsley; place into a small mixing bowl. Set aside 2 tbs. Parmesan cheese for later. Add remaining cheese and mayonnaise to artichoke mixture and mix together.

Flatten chicken to 1/2 inch thickness using a flat meat mallet. Sprinkle both sides of thicken with 1 tsp. of the rosemary seasoning mix.

Add 1 tsp of the oil to a broiler safe skillet (this is going to go under the broiler so no-nonstick or plastic handles) I used a 12 inch cast iron skillet. Heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. If doing more than 2 chicken breasts heat another teaspoon of oil in an additional skillet for the potatoes (this one isn't going into the oven - so use any pan you want, but you will get a nicer browned crust on the potatoes if you don't use non-stick.) Add remaining 1 tsp of the oil and 1 tsp of rosemary seasoning mix to the potatoes, stir to coat.

Place chicken and potatoes, cut side down, into skillet(s.) Cook 3-4 minutes or until chicken is brown. Turn chicken and potatoes over; cook an additional 3-4 minutes until chicken is brown and no longer pink in the center.

Remove potatoes from skillet, set aside and keep warm. Spread artichoke topping over chicken and sprinkle with reserved cheese. Place skillet as close as possible to broiler heating element; broil 4-6 minutes or until top is deep golden brown. Watch closely, you may need to move the chicken around for even browning. Remove skillet from broiler and serve.

Serves 2
NOTE: 1 tsp. crushed dried rosemary leaves, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper can be substituted for Rosemary Herb Seasoning Mix.

Baked Pasta Florentine

When Mom died I brought home a set of 2 Paula Deen cookbooks that I had given her. I brought home a lot of Mom's cookbooks on that trip... but for some reason these had special significance and I had put them in a "special place" and never looked at them. I just wasn't ready yet.

So on New Years Day.... with nearly two years gone by... I started reading...
Tell me I'm not the only one who reads cookbooks!
I haven't been cooking like I usually do, so, with the holidays over I was ready to get back into the thick of it. I have a 10 year old who loves spinach, so this dish seemed a great place to start. It's from The Lady & Son's Too! cookbook by Paula Deen.
This recipe is bubbling away in the oven and I just can't wait to dig in. I will give this one warning - you'll need two big pots... one to simmer the meat sauce in, and a second to cook your pasta, and combine a bunch of ingredients with the pasta after it is cooked... so be forewarned....

Baked Pasta Florentine

One 10 oz package frozen, chopped spinach
2 tablespoon, plus 1/2 cup vegetable oil (yes 1/2 cup!)
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
One 15 1/2 oz jar pasta sauce with mushrooms
One 8 oz. can tomato sauce
One 6 oz. can tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of pepper
8 oz. seashell macaroni
1 cup shredded sharp cheese
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs, well beaten

Cook the spinach according to package directions; drain , reserving the liquid and adding enough water to measure 1 cup; set aside. In a large, heavy pot, heat the 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Brown the ground beef, onion, and garlic in the oil, stirring well to crumble the beef. Drain off the fat. Stir the spinach liquid, pasta sauce, tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt and pepper into the meat mixture. Simmer for 10 minutes, then cover and set aside. Cook the macaroni according to package directions; drain and return the macaroni to the pot. Add the spinach, cheese, breadcrumbs, eggs, and the 1/2 cup of oil; stir gently to mix well. As soon as the eggs hit the hot pasta and the hot pot they are going to begin to cook, and the cheese is also going to begin to melt. I recommend putting the oil, pasta and breadcrumbs in first, leaving the cheese and eggs until last so you can quickly stir it up. Spread the mixture evenly in a lightly greased 9"x13" baking dish. Top with the meat sauce and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serves 8.

I used sharp cheddar cheese because I just wrote "sharp cheese" on my grocery list... when assembling the recipe I realize she probably meant something more along the lines of Parmesan or Romano cheese, and the finished dish does need the saltiness of one of those in with the spinach