Knitting, sewing, and canning my way to Mexico

Wow, a lot has happened since I first announced I will be traveling with Compassion in January to visit Eduardo.

me and Matthew

My son is going to Mexico with me!!!

passport

My very first passport arrived!!

So, those were the two big announcements I wanted to share with you, but I wanted to update you on what I have been doing to raise money for the trip.

jam making

I have been making a lot of jam, like over 20 batches!! Cranberry-Strawberry, Strawberry, Blueberry, and Apricot. Jam making is something I usually do during this time of the year, sometimes just for us, but a lot of times, I will make enough to give jars of jam as gifts during Christmas. I have been able to sell half-pint jars for $5 each. I hope nobody is expecting jam for Christmas this year!

knitting dishcloths

For bridal showers, I love to give the new bride a couple of hand knitted dish cloths along with an apron. When the trip came about, I had about 10 dish cloths already completed and ready for bridal showers in my closet. After checking prices on Etsy, I decided to sell some of these in sets of 3 for $10. I picked up a huge cone of cotton yarn at Hobby Lobby using a 40% off coupon. So far, I have made 11 dish cloths from this one cone and there is more yarn on the cone!

baby blankets and wash cloths

For baby showers, I love to sew up a flannel blanket and a couple of terry cloth/flannel wash cloths. I had 15 of these in my closet done already because I usually go to JoAnn’s the day after Thanksgiving and purchase flannel for $1.59/yard. I did purchase more flannel last month to make a few more sets, and I have been selling these sets for $15 each.

So, as you can see, I have been knitting, sewing, and canning my way to Mexico! God has allowed me to use things that I enjoy doing to raise money for my trip. I am amazed at how everything is coming together to make it possible for me and my son to go on this trip!

Stay tuned for upcoming posts on how I am preparing for this trip!

Questions for you: Have you ever raised money to go on a Compassion trip or mission trip? What ways have you fundraised that have worked for you?

Capture Your 365

We are now entering my favorite time of the year (summer, yay!) and I have a few photos from the Capture Your 365 Challenge to share with you this week!

signs of summer

ISO 100, 86mm, f/4.2, 3 sec

Day 152 – Signs of Summer: Our town has a festival at the beginning of June each year and Saturday night always has a fireworks display. We love sitting out in front of our home and watching the fireworks over our neighbor’s houses. I set up my tripod and just continued taking a lot of pictures during the display. It was a great way to end an almost-summer day!

butterfly

ISO 400, 190mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec

Day 154 – Dandelions: No dandelions in my backyard and not the sharpest picture I have ever taken, but I was able to capture a butterfly! Boy, that was hard work!

negative space

ISO 100, 50mm, f/2.5, 1/15 sec

Day 155 – Negative Space: My husband surprised me with a bouquet of ‘just because’ flowers. These were the perfect subject for today’s photo prompt!

documented

ISO 400, 50mm, f/3.2, 1/60 sec

Day 156 – Documented: When it was decided that I would be joining the Compassion trip to Mexico in January 2014, I decided to start a ledger to keep track of my ‘earnings’. To remind myself that God is in control, I wrote out “The Lord will provide” from Genesis 22:14. There is no reason for me to worry about the funds for this trip because God will make it possible if it is His will for me to go. He has been providing abundantly, it has been exciting to see Him work in all of this!

What have you captured this week with your camera?

Compassion Keep In Touch Box

Since our pastor has allowed us to keep a Compassion table in the lobby of our church, I have been wanting to put together a box of items for our many Compassion sponsors. As a Compassion Advocate, I want to do what I can to encourage sponsors to be writing to their kids on a regular basis. My prayer is that this box will make it easier for our sponsors to take the time to write to their sponsored kids.

Here is a list of items I have included in this box:

• Monthly Compassion prayer calendar
• Blank birthday cards
• Blank note cards
• Tips for mailing small gifts print out from the Compassion web site
• Copies of the California coloring page from the Crayola web site
• Pages from activity pages I have found at the Dollar Spot at Target
• Variety of stickers
• Copies of a Bible verse printable I found on Pinterest
• Copies of old Explorer magazines

The box was very well received this morning with many people finding new things to send to their kids. My goal is to update the box at least once a month with the new monthly Compassion prayer calendar and any new printables I find on Pinterest.

What do you do to encourage Compassion sponsors at your church?

What will you be reading this summer?

ISO 400, 50mm, f/3.2, 1/60 sec

My absolutely most favorite place to receive mail from is Compassion, which usually contain letters form our sponsored kids. My second most favorite place to receive mail/packages from is Amazon, which usually means that new books have arrived!

Now that school is wrapping up here for the summer, I was in ‘need’ of some new books to read over the next couple of months. (I put the word ‘need’ in quotation marks because I never really ‘need’ more books, but I am such a book-nerd that I always love having new books to read!) Here is what I just received:

Cue Cards for Life by Christina Steinorth: this one was recommended lately on a blog that I follow. The book’s subtitle is ‘Thoughtful Tips for Better Relationships’. I don’t know about you, but this is something I know I need to work on in all areas of my life. Many times, I become so focused about ‘all that needs to be accomplished in a day’ that I don’t really take time to think about others in my life. Hopefully I can ‘learn’ a few simple things I can do each day to be more considerate each day.

Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist: I have seen this one floating around the social media world recently and what really drew me to want to order this book is there are some recipes included! I like the idea of hospitality, sharing a good, simple meal with family and friends. Maybe I will have to give a couple of the recipes a try this summer during a summer BBQ or two!

Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shankle: This is another one that I know many bloggers have been reading. So far, I have read 9 chapters since yesterday and have really been enjoying this one! I have actually laughed out loud by some of the stories that have been shared. I am looking forward to finishing this one up pretty quickly!

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns: Another Compassion Advocate recommended this one to me. In the introduction, the first sentence is ‘What does God expect of us?’ Since I don’t know a lot about World Vision, this book may give me a little more insight into their role in helping to eliminate extreme poverty.

Biblia para Ninos Historias de Jesus by Sally Lloyd-Jones: This one is not for me, but since I was ordering books, I wanted to make sure I remembered to order it! I will be taking this book to Eduardo on my Compassion trip to Mexico in January! I know I will be picking up other things for him, but I am really excited that I will be able to give him this sweet book that will remind him of how much Jesus loves him.

So, what will you be reading this summer?

Capture Your 365

Kind of a slow week for me on the photo prompts, but I will be sharing a couple of extra photos with you this week!

chocolate chip cookies

ISO 100, 50mm, f/4.0, 1/6 sec

Day 146 – In The Kitchen: Our pastor’s son recently got married down in Southern California and they had a reception with our church family after their honeymoon. For the reception, the groom requested homemade chocolate chip cookies. So I baked a couple of batches of my favorite recipe from America’s Test Kitchen (it is worth getting the trial membership for this recipe!)

smiles

ISO 400, 200mm, f/5.6, 1/80 sec

Day 149 – Smiles: Trying to get these two to cooperate for this picture was hilarious! They kept giggling and squirming. Not the sharpest image (shutter speed was too slow for the focal length), but I love how it captures the sweet relationship my children have for each other.

flowers

ISO 400, 200mm, f/5.6, 1/25 sec

Day 150 – Butterflies: There is no butterfly in this picture, but these flowers do attract hummingbirds quite often. Maybe I will be able to capture a butterfly or hummingbird picture one of these days.

So at the beginning of this post, I mentioned that I would have a couple of extra photos for you this week. Here is the first one:

stoppe reception

ISO 400, 50mm, f/5.0, 1/50 sec

Remember the wedding reception I was baking the chocolate chip cookies for? This is the bride and groom. While I have never photographed a wedding (and I am not sure if I will want to!), I did have fun taking pictures at this reception.

San Francisco

ISO 100, 120mm, f/7.1, 10 sec

Remember this photo that I posted a few weeks ago from our photography field trip to San Francisco? I entered it into the Arts & Crafts contest at our local town festival last weekend. I ended up winning a first place ribbon and Best of Show! So exciting!

Ready to join in the fun? Be sure to visit Capture Your 365 to print out this month’s photo prompt list. Be sure to let me know if you are participating so I can visit your blog.