craftykris24

[craftykris24]

Revival Camp - Prepare

I am working through Illustrated Faith’s Revival Camp at my own pace. I did a good job of studying kit 1′s devotionals weekly in August. I took a break and am getting started with kit 2′s devotionals.

A few days ago, I did the Prepare devotional. Since then, I’ve reflected on what I read through the devotional and what I created in my Bible. I am now realizing that God needed me to take a break from Revival Camp so I could read this devotional at this time. 

I need the Lord to help me prepare for a monumental life change that is about to come. You know how waves on the ocean start to build, then they become huge and then they crash? That’s what I feel like is going on with this change I want to and need to make. It’s at the waves building stage. 

I wanted to use both sides of this journal card to write my prayer. I made a pocket using the bag Revival Camp kit 1′s Trail Mix came in, adhered the bag to the page in my Bible and stuck my journal card in it.

I am scared that I’m not ready for this huge change in my life, but I need to trust God’s timing. He will make sure I am ready once the time is right. His plans and His timing is always best.

[craftykris24]

Scripture Sunday

Week 2 of The Reset Girl’s Faithful Life Club Scripture Writing Challenge. I splattered watercolor paint for the background. I was so happy I could use the most perfect hymn for this scripture. I found it in an old hymnal I bought at my library’s used book sale.

Products Used:

The Reset Girl’s Fresh Start Collection - Honey Lovin’ Bundle

The Reset Girl’s Fresh Start Collection - Journal Cards

The Reset Girl’s Fresh Start Collection - Crafty Club Kit

The Reset Girl’s Fresh Start Collection - Paper Punch Buffet Kit

The Reset Girl’s Fresh Start Collection - Faithful Life Kit

[craftykris24]

How to Make a Journal Card Background

I made my first video! I wanted to show how I used journal cards to make a unique background for a memory keeping layout.

Products Used:

The Reset Girl’s Fresh Start Collection - Crafty Club Kit

The Reset Girl’s Fresh Start Collection - Words & Phrases

ThePaperBasket’s Vintage Library Card Pockets

ThePaperBasket’s Vintage Library Cards

[craftykris24]

2018 Camp Reset

From July 28th through September 8th, I participated in The Reset Girl’s Camp Reset. It was a six week online camp to encourage participants to reset their self-care. Campers had access to content on the camp website that included videos, printables, YouTube playlists and Pinterest boards. Campers supported and encouraged each other through Camp Reset’s private Facebook group. I did Camp Reset in 2017 and had a wonderful experience, so I knew I wanted to participate this year. Camp always seems to come when I need it the most.

2017 Camp Reset was the beginning of my self-care journey. Until then, I hadn’t realized how much I had been living in survival mode. I needed it especially last year because I was going through massive work stress. 15 out of 24 of my coworkers were abruptly laid off when their jobs were outsourced in March 2017. I was one of the few people who still had a job, but this massive change completely turned my work life upside down. Four months into it, we were still hurting from this abrupt change and the outsourced replacement was not working out. I also had a lot of stress at home. My husband has struggled with addiction throughout our 3 and half years of marriage. I got support to help myself. He hadn’t.

2017 Camp Reset helped me invest in my well-being after neglecting myself for so long. I did well with continuing my self-care for a while after camp. But, like all new habits, it’s easy to not make it a priority after a while. That’s what happened to me this year. My work situation gradually improved, but my husband’s addiction and lack of him getting support was still an issue. We then learned in February 2018 that my husband had stage 4 colorectal cancer. He did very aggressive chemotherapy, which greatly helped stabilize his condition. But, once again, I wasn’t taking care of myself the way I deserved to be.

Thank God for 2018 Camp Reset! It allowed me to hit the reset button on my self-care and make myself a priority again through fun activities and an amazingly supportive community.

I spent Week 1 of camp setting myself up for success. I settled into my cabin--a designated space in my house where I could retreat and work on my activities. I chose my home office and repurposed the workspace where I do Bible journaling. I loved coming to my desk and working on my handbook. I also created a self-care kit, which included my favorite blanket, a special candle and a couple home spa products. 

Week’s 2 focus was on establishing healthy habits. I chose three habits, added them to the habit tracker in my camp handbook and created habit cards. I focused on exercising, spending time on my faith and participating in camp. Exercise was a habit I started in June that I wanted to continue. Faith time was a habit I wanted to improve. Participating in camp was a habit I wanted to start. The habit cards helped me have measurable activities to turn to each day. 

Week 3 was all about healthy sips and snacks! After watching the videos on the camp website, I was encouraged to create grab-and-go snack boxes. This was such an important thing for me. I work from home Mondays and Fridays and in the office Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I need healthy snacks the most when I’m in the office. I tend to snack when I’m bored. There are also a lot of unhealthy snack temptations. My boss and one of my coworkers are amazing bakers. My boss also has a candy bowl at his desk that he shares with us. My snack boxes have been awesome tools to help me stay on track with my weight goals. I gave up drinking pop (aka soda) in June. I have been all about fruit-infused water since then. I love that drinking more water (and making it interesting) was part of camp’s curriculum. 

I moved it like a boss during week 4 in my own way. Because I had established exercise as a habit starting in June, I just kept doing what had been working for me. I worked out to several Leslie Sansone YouTube videos throughout the week, took walks at lunchtime with my friends, took a walk in the park behind my house and walked my dog Chester.

Week 5 of camp was my absolute favorite and with good reason. The theme was creativity is self-care. I learned more about art journaling the camp’s video content. My mom enjoys art journaling and had told me about it, but I hadn’t tried it myself until camp. So much fun! The camp handbook had several art journaling prompts. My favorite was “Letter to My 12 Year Old Self.” I found a picture of myself from when I was that age. I also read the diary I kept when I was 12 for inspiration in my journaling. It was a hard letter to write to myself, but very beneficial because I told that little girl things she needed to hear 24 years ago. It felt so good to be creative during camp. I’ve been crafting up a storm since the end of July. I am learning that when I take care of myself, it nurtures my creativity as well. 

The last week of camp was about personal retreat planning. After watching week 6′s video content, I brainstormed ideas for personal retreats. I came up with so many more than I thought I would. I started with four I could do once a month. I’m excited that these will carry me through until the end of the year. I scheduled them in my calendar and am looking forward to the first one I have planned. These are going to be self-care dates with myself that I don’t want to break.

So, that’s what I was up to at Camp Reset this year! What I discussed was just the camp content for each week. There were so many other things I did at camp that I haven’t even touched on--attending Facebook Live events, making new friends, participating in a postcard swap. Camp Reset gave me something to look forward to everyday for the last six weeks. My self-care cup is not only refilled, it’s overflowing.

[craftykris24]

Two things this happy camper loves!🔥☕ https://www.instagram.com/p/BnaIKfrnDj1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=5ce0e3uph8gw

[craftykris24]

Welcome to My Happy Place!

Hello, creative peeps! My name is Kristin. This is my latest attempt at blogging. I had a LiveJournal blog from 2005 to 2014. I stopped blogging four years ago when life went off the rails. I was recovering from a detached retina and dealing with some family issues. That time away allowed me to think about blogging with intention. My old blog focused more on day to day life. I want my new blog to be more focused on sharing the joy of creativity.

To quote one of my favorite lines from The Wizard of Oz, “It's always best to start at the beginning…”

Crafting at Vacation Bible School when I was 10 years old (1992)

I was blessed to have a mom who nurtured my creativity from a very young age. When I was around 9 or 10 years old, we started doing craft shows together. I remember making Friendly Plastic jewelry and beeswax candles with Mom. We did several shows with her cousin and aunt at churches and schools near us. Throughout my childhood, Mom and I tried various different crafts and hobbies together, including rubber stamping, fabric painting and making a dollhouse. I learned how to knit and sew when I was in high school. I was quite the crafty girl!

Page from the first scrapbook page I made when I was 19 years old (2001)

I scrapbooked for the first time in 2001. I used stacks of 3 ½” x 5” photos that I took with my first 110mm camera and made an album. Above is an example of what scrapbooking looked like 17 years ago. It’s so funny how much the products and techniques have evolved since then!

I took a break from scrapbooking and crafting from 2007 to 2012 when I felt I didn’t have the time or money spend on hobbies. I started to get the itch again when I went to a craft show near me that also had a supply garage sale going on. A few weeks after that, my boyfriend (now husband) took me to Hannah’s--a family-owned store in the town he grew up in. It was amazing! They had clothing, accessories, home decor and a huge scrapbooking department. I kept going back to Hannah’s every few weeks. I was fascinated by how much scrapbook products had changed in the 5 years I was away from it--12x12 double-sided paper, washi tape, oh my!

Bible journaling entry I made at 2016 She Loves Color’s Designer Day

I consider 2012 the beginning of my crafting renaissance. I started making things for craft shows again, as well as memory keeping. I hit my stride in 2016. I went to Stamp and Scrapbook Expo-Milwaukee. I took a scrapbook class at Hannah’s for the first time. I started Bible journaling. I discovered more manufacturers and designers that I loved. I attended Bella Blvd’s She Loves Color in Milwaukee, WI. I made crafty friends.

Me at 2018 Stamp and Scrapbook Expo-Schaumburg

Being creative adds so much to my life! I have a group of friends that I never would have met if I hadn’t been into scrapbooking or Bible journaling. I have something to look forward to every night when I get home from work. I am able to express myself using the creative gifts I’ve been given. 

I hope you’ll join me as I share more of my projects and how creativity is important self-care!