October | 2014 | Uniquely Yours Craft Journal

Lighthouses

15 Oct 2014 Comments Off on Lighthouses

by uniquelyyourscraftjournal in Perspectives Tags: endless love, God, light, lighthouse

Light always follows darkness

Endless is Your Love

~Tom Kendzia

You know my heart. You know my mind.

You know my words..long before I speak them.

There is no place that I can hide.

Endless is Your love for us.

Surely there’s a place, even You don’t know.

If I can climb there, if I fly there, can I hide from you?

Can’t I hide at night, darkness by my light?

Can you see the day in darkness,

Can you find me there?

Wonderful Your works, countless as the sand.

Earth and Heaven know Your beauty,

Fashioned by Your hand.

I have always had a fascination with lighthouses. These magnificent beacons of hope and light guide travelers safely to shore every night. Some of them have fallen into disrepair and are idle. Others have solar-charged battery-powered lights and are maintained by the U S Coast Guard.

Originally, the source of the light was fueled by open flames, then candles, then whale oil, kerosene and finally the electric light. The lenses were rotated by a weight-driven clock wound by the Lighthouse Keeper. The Fresnel lens focused 85% of the light but has now been replaced by rotating aerobeams similar to obstruction lights.

The words of the hymn above remind me of the way that God shines His light and Truth into our lives so that we can see clearly the things He wants to change in us. Sometimes we are stubborn and don’t want to change. Sometimes we are ashamed and try to hide our sins so deep that we sometimes forget them. When I “hear’ the words to the hymn above echo in my heart, I go to Him in prayer. His arms open wide and I am enveloped in His love and forgiveness. His light shines out and covers me and leads me to His dwelling place.

~Sallie

Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given

To Sallie and uniquelyyourscraftjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

You may reach Sallie at uniquelyyourscraftjournal@outlook.com

The Fall and Winter Card Gallery

14 Oct 2014 Comments Off on The Fall and Winter Card Gallery

by uniquelyyourscraftjournal in Card Gallery

Halloween Mason Jar

Jar lid

Spooky tree

Fall

Harvest Girl

Christmas candle

Season’s Greetings

Questions and Answers – Part 2

14 Oct 2014 1 Comment

by uniquelyyourscraftjournal in Roadmap Tags: platform, posts, schedule, word press

Dear Fellow Journalers,

After reading all I could about blogging, I started researching web platforms. A friend/neighbor, suggested word press. Four books later, I started my craft blog: uniquelyyourscards@wordpress.com My categories include: Pursuit of Happiness (monthly), Friday Scribblings, paper adventures, tutorials and to date I have 35 followers. The WordPress books are as follows:

“30 Minutes to a word press web site” by Erick Alyn
“How to create a website using word press” by Brian Patrick
“How to create a web site with word press and start a profitable on-line business” by Ming Jong Tey
“WordPress for all” by Chris O’Connor

I started by selecting my categories and deciding on a schedule of posts. Many of the books suggest writing 2-3 times a week, so I decided on Monday and Friday for the craft blog and Wednesday and Friday for this blog. I started collecting my craft topics in a notebook and my journal topics and Pinterest pics in an email account expressively set up for the blog(s).

For this blog, I wanted a word press theme that would reflect my writing/craft lives and be un-cluttered. The “Koi” theme has hand-drawn illustrations on a parchment page. Widgets are pre-determined. I try to write posts about 3 months in advance. I set aside a week at a time. This allows time for ideas to “percolate”. Most all of the content is either written by me or my authors. I don’t subscribe to sites that offer to write content for you. I also don’t write with SEO’s in mind. In the beginning, I thought it might be an avenue to explore to bring more traffic but decided to travel a different path. I guess all of you agree!

If you want to contact me “off-line” you can email me at uniquelyyourscraftjournal@outlook.com. You can follow me using the Follow Button which is on the right side of the blog. The other authors, “G”, Paul and Marybeth email me their posts and I put them up. I do not edit them. I feel that it would be a great disservice since they are sharing their creative endeavors with us. One last thing, some of you want to know some of my secrets and I do have a few links I can share with you. If you refer my blog to 3 others, I’ll be glad to email you the link(s).

I hope I have answered all of your questions! Keep those comments coming!

‘Til next time,

Sallie

Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given

To Sallie and uniquelyyourscraftjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

You may reach Sallie at uniquelyyourscraftjournal@outlook.com

Questions and Answers

13 Oct 2014 Comments Off on Questions and Answers

by uniquelyyourscraftjournal in Roadmap Tags: blogging, books, pursuits

Dear Fellow Journalers,

Over the last several months and especially the last 2 weeks, I have received many comments and questions from all of you. I really appreciate your comments as they help me understand what fuels your writing passions and what inspires you. So I decided to answer all of your questions in one post.

The author of this blog, uniquelyyourscraftjournal.wordpress.com is me, myself and I. I am, as my about page attests, a retired senior citizen who loves spending time with family and friends, is active in her community, enjoys crafting and journal writing. As a child, I was described as a “tomboy” by my Mom who despaired over my torn jeans (due to tree climbing and riding horses) but I lost the “moniker” when I became a teenager. By then I was writing stories and poems, reading voraciously, and taking lessons in Irish Step Dancing.

I married, became a Mom, taught school and was active in women and church groups, town activities and of course the PTA. When the rubber stamping “bug” swept in, I was immediately “hooked” and crafting took hold of me.

When I first started thinking about writing a blog, I was working for a large corporation and commuting 2 hours a day. Our son was grown and starting his own family and I knew no one who blogged. I did have a website which I helped develop and was making some money selling my handmade greeting cards. Fast forward 2 years. I was now commuting 4 hours a day. Yikes! Journaling became my outlet as I did not have much time to craft unless I got up at 4 am each day! I researched some books about blogging and here are my favorites: