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Thursday, 29 December 2022

Faith and Felt Obsession's most popular posts and pages in 2022

Following on from my report at the end of last year, The Quiet Book Bible Project Progress Chart, I thought it might be nice to show you my most popular posts from 2022 versus my most popular posts of all time (so far).


Faith and Felt Obsession - Top 10 blog posts of 2022


Faith and Felt Obsession - Top 10 blog posts of all time (so far)


Faith and Felt Obsession - Top 10 web pages of 2022


Faith and Felt Obsession - Top 10 web pages of all time (so far)


I find myself looking at the stats as a way to encourage myself. Even though my numbers are not great in the grand scheme of the blogging world, it is still way more that I could share without such modern technologies as the internet.




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Are these your Top 10?


Thursday, 24 November 2022

Alpha (Old Testament) Quiet Book - by Steph

This is the first in a series of two quiet book made by my friend Steph. 




I really loved her idea of using an Alpha symbol over the cross for the Old Testament and an Omega over a cross for the New Testament covers.




Although the books are not quite finished (and I think a lot of quiet books fall into this category), I am going to share the pages that are already done for now. Steph knew she would never get around to making a sewn book, so she opted for glue. This has enabled her to use both the front and the back of a piece of felt for activities, which is not only cheaper, but means she doesn't have to sew the pages back-to-back either. The books are bound using ribbon strung through some holes made with a hole punch. So simple!




Page one is for creation. Steph really wanted to highlight to her children the creation of spaces in the first three days, and the filling of those spaces in the following three days:

Creation KingdomsCreature Kings
Day 1 - Light
(Day/Night)
Day 4 - Luminaries
(Greater light to rule the day and
the lesser light to rule the night)
Day 2 - Sky/WaterDay 5 - Birds/Fish
Day 3 - Land/VegetationDay 6 - Land animals/Man
The Creator King
Day 7 - Sabbath




This view of Genesis 1 is called the Framework Interpretation, and although many of it's proponents hold to a symbolic meaning to the days of creation, there is no reason that it cannot and does not apply to a literal view just as readily (as Steph and I do).




Page two is one of the creatures God created - a crab. It was bought from AliExpress, so was a very easy make.




Page three is an apple tree (also bought from AliExpress) for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil story in the Garden of Eden.




Page four is a Noah's ark matching game inspired by the Betty Lukens kit I used in my Genesis 8 - In The Ark Quiet Book Page.




Page five is some corn weaving for the story of Joseph (bought from AliExpress). (Sorry Steph but I think the corn is referring to kernels of wheat rather than corn as we call it today)!




Page six is for the 10 Commandments - you can list a Commandment as the frog jumps on each lily pad. Sorry again Steph, but this is my least favourite page in this book because frogs are actually associated with unclean/evil things (think Revelation) so I'm not a fan of using them to illustrate God's Holy Law, despite how cute they might be!




Page seven is a sandal to tie and untie (bought from AliExpress) for the Children of Israel wandering in the wilderness, and we can remember how God made their sandals last the journey (Deuteronomy 29:5).




Page eight represents how God can wash us so we will be whiter than snow (Psalm 51).




On page nine you can dress up Queen Esther in various outfits, with one basic dress for before she became queen, and three more decorative ones for afterwards. Esther means "hidden" and you can hide her Jewish identity (the Star of David) like her Uncle Mordechai asked her to with her dresses. I love all the little details, so well done on this one Steph!




Page ten is David's harp (drawn free-hand - great job Steph)!




Page eleven is a mini felt Bible hidden in a heart pocket - for Psalm 119. We need to treasure God's word and learn it off by heart so we have it with us always.




This is my absolute favourite page, and it deserves it's own post, so I will be reserving photos of inside the Bible for that - sorry, not sorry hahaha.




Page twelve shows three different aspects of David's life - King, Shepheard, and how he was a man after God's own heart. You can trace the shape of the pipe cleaners from David on the left to the symbols on the right.




Page thirteen is a hand and numbers for counting. It was originally intended to be for the 10 Commandments, but two hands didn't fit on the page. Instead it could link to a few things, such as God knowing everything about us, and counting the blessings God has given us. 




A bit of trivia for you - there is no Bible verse which talks about counting your blessings. I only know because I looked when trying to match another one of my quiet book ideas to a Bible chapter... Oh well!




The hand was free cut and Steph added Velcro dots bought from office works. Most things in the book were free cut and she didn't draw at all (cause she says she is really lazy).




Page fourteen is a wooden puzzle in the shape of a precious stone. After all, wisdom is better than rubies (Proverbs 8:11). It was bought from a dollar store. Steph has written some words of wisdom on it and made a pocket out of felt in the same shape as the puzzle. 




Page fifteen is my second favourite in this book so far. Steph says the idea was "totally stolen" from an idea I had told her about for a future page. Although mine is for a different verse and will look quite different, I might just have to steal this idea right back for the verse Steph is applying it to! This page goes with Ezekiel 11:19, "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." (NIV). The heart is removable.




Page sixteen is a season tree. Whilst there is no activity, it is a rather tactile page. This page is for Ecclesiastes 3 - there is a season for everything. 




Psalms 1 also talks about a tree planted by the waters which brings forth fruit in due season.

Page seventeen is Jonah and the whale.




There are an odd number of pages because this project is still growing.




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Which page did you enjoy most in the Alpha (Old Testament) Quiet Book? That is a bit of a cheeky question, since I didn't share my favourite page here properly!

Thursday, 3 November 2022

Psalm 11 - Flee as a Bird Thaumatrope Quiet Book Page

Psalm 11 asks why we should flee as birds to a mountain when we are trusting God for protection.




Memory Verse: “I trust in the Lord for protection.
So why do you say to me,
“Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!" Psalm 11:1.

Materials needed to create the Flee as a Bird Thaumatrope quiet book page:

  • A4 felt background sheet - I used dapple grey
  • My free Psalm 11 - Flee as a Bird Thaumatrope Quiet Book Page Template Pattern
  • cotton fabric for the green mountain
  • fabric glue or double sided iron-on interfacing
  • felt scraps in green, sky blue, orange and dapple grey
  • decorative beads in orange and silver
  • short dowel rod (about 20cm in length, 7mm in diameter)
  • hot glue and glue gun
  • sewing thread to best match the page
  • scissors!
Mark and cut out the mountain shape from your mountain fabric and use fabric glue to glue it to a piece of green felt (or use thedouble-sided iron-on interfacing according to the directions). Once it is dry, cut it out and sew a fine zigzag stitch along all edges to stop it fraying and peeling. Then sew it onto your background felt to about just below half way up the sides of the mountain leaving the top open to form a pocket.




Cut out the circles from the sky blue felt and sew down your orange birds followed by their dapple grey wings, making sure to position one in the upper position and the other in the lower position. Hand sew on your decorative beads.


Testing different decorative bead positions


Position your circles back to back (ensure the birds are level with each other) and sew around the circles, leaving about a 2cm hole at the bottom. Use hot glue on about 4cm of the end of your dowel rod and insert it into the hole and press the birds together to attach it. 

Spin the thaumatrope rod between your hands to watch the bird fly away to the mountain.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.




Key Learning Areas and Skills

  • Psalm 11 - Putting your trust in God is the best way to stay safe and remain calm when you are in danger.
  • Imaginative Play - Fly your birdie to safety in the mountains.
  • Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skills through turning pages, and on this page, through using the thaumatrope.




Read the Chapter

Psalm 11

Devotional

This Christian Hymn seems to be to be using the phrase "flee like a bird to your mountain" in the opposite way to what David's adviser was. But the point in the end is the same. God is your refuge, put your faith in Him.

I have heard stories of many people who chose to stay in dangerous places because they felt that is where God wanted them. They trusted Him and escaped all kinds of danger because He looked after them. The most dangerous place in all appearances may actually be the safest because God is with you. The safe places might actually be the most dangerous because you are no longer relying on God.




I looked up some of the birds that inhabit Israel and tried to model mine on the Oriental Turtle-dove and the Laughing Dove.


Oriental Turtle Dove : (Streptopelia orientalis) in Satara
I, Ravivaidya - CC BY 2.5


Laughing dove (Spilopelia senegalensis cambayensis)
at Zighy Bay in the Musandam Peninsula, Oman
Charles J. Sharp - CC BY-SA 3.0




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Have you made a thaumatrope before? Comment below!

Thursday, 20 October 2022

Letters to Early Christians quiet book page - Interview with Jessica

Today I would like to introduce you to Jessica and find out how she came up with such a simple Bible quiet book page that keeps kids entertained for ages. When the pages are so easy to make, you might have to start coming up with other reasons for not making a start on a quiet book project!




Carissa D: Hi Jessica and thanks for letting me share your Letters to Early Christians quiet book page. I know you made this page as part of a New Testament quiet book swap because I participated in that swap and received this page (among others) back. 

You can read about what a quiet book swap is in my post about my participation in a Puzzle Quiet Book Page Swap.




Carissa D: I must admit that your page was probably Tahlia's favourite from that swap, and she absolutely LOVED this page at around 5 years old. I can't remember if topics for each page were already chosen and we picked from a list or if we made up our own page topics, but this is a unique idea I haven't seen anywhere else. So I am wondering how you came up with the idea?

Jessica: I do believe we had topics for the pages. If I remember right we swapped about 10 pages but I ended up making a bunch more at home to complete an Old Testament Book and a New Testament book. I think the idea was just that the new testament letters are so hard to capture unless you only represent one single powerful verse such as John 3:16. But I wanted to capture all of it. The concept was that the original letters were written on scrolls and to provide the kids an image of a scroll and then they could point off the ABC's or trace over the letters on the page. For very young kids they can use a pretend feather pen that was tucked behind the scroll, and trace the letters. For older siblings they could practice reading the name of the Letters from the Apostles or even memorize the names of the books.

Carissa D: I love pages that can suit multiple age groups and can sort-of grow with the child. What significance do the New Testament letters hold for you? Was there a particular attraction to the topic of this page?

Jessica: I think I chose this page simply because I had an idea I thought I could do. I don't consider myself very artistic and so if I had any idea for a page I went for it!

Carissa D:  What do you think of quiet book swaps and would you recommend people join them?

Jessica: Many many mother's struggle through going to Mass with little ones. I love Quiet books because it is an activity that the kids can do that still keeps them at least in some way thinking about God, while not letting them have a toy that they can bang into the pew and make us Mom's worry about disturbing others. Little ones need to be active and they do belong at church with us. Anything that makes it easier for them is a worthy effort. We have made four quiet books now.






Carissa D: Well done! Could you explain how you made this page please?

Jessica: Supplies- 
Background color of your choice in Felt or Fabric
1 sheet of white felt
1 feather
1 bottle black puffy paint

To recreate this page is easy. Cut out a piece of felt in the shape of a scroll (maybe practice on paper and then transfer to white felt). Sew all sides down except one so that you can tuck in a feather behind it. If you feel conformable with a sewing machine sew your lines across to give the appearance of a scroll like you see in a line drawing or you can sew the edges and use puffy paint for the lines. I used a google image for "scroll line drawing" as an example. Once your sewing is done, write out the names of all the letters in puffy paint (hopefully your handwriting is better than mine), and keep a feather behind the white felt, on the side your didn't sew for kids to practice tracing with.

Carissa D: It does sound easy. I love the embossed felt you used (we don't have such a variety of felt available in Australia). It looks like you painted the tip of your feather as well which really makes it feel authentic when you are pretending to write. Was there anything about this page that you would change if you made it again?

Jessica: I would probably have someone with better handwriting write the names!




Carissa D:  What encouragement can you give to others who might be thinking of starting a quiet book?

Jessica: I think I would have never started quiet books if it wasn't for my crafting group. Getting the unique ideas from so many different people and only having to come up with one or two unique ideas yourself makes the entire project so much more manageable. Find a community online and start from there.

Carissa D: Did/do you use your quiet books to keep your children quiet in church or do you use them elsewhere? Do they live up to their name?

Jessica: I keep at least 1 in my car at all times when I have children under 2 years old, but we use them during car rides or at church most often. Quiet books work for us unless the kids decide to argue over who gets to hold which one. We have a Mass book, Old Testament, New Testament, and a generic baby book (that my 8 year old made for my infant when I was pregnant, it is a great project to teach young ones how to sew).

Carissa D: That sounds amazing, I am really hoping my daughter Tahlia wants to start making quiet books one day too. Thanks so much for sharing your page idea with us. Sometimes getting the ideas is the hardest part!




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Do you have any simple busy book pages that your kids play with for hours? Comment below!

Thursday, 6 October 2022

Leviticus 25 - Jubilee Calendar Quiet Book Page

In Leviticus chapter 25, God explains the Jubilee cycle.




Memory Verse: "‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family." Leviticus 25:8-10 (NKJV).

 

Materials needed to create the Jubilee Calendar quiet book page:

Punch holes and insert grommets in your background sheet using the template as a guide (where the x's are marked) - see the video tutorial in the difficulty level section below. 




Thread the black elastic through the holes in rows, adding beads as you go. The beads should be in seven rows of seven beads (six wooden and one blue for the six working years and the seventh year of rest) followed by a single yellow/gold bead to represent the Jubilee year. Since I wanted to save elastic, I threaded the elastic through the nearest hole rather than going to the start of the next row. That meant I had to add every second row of beads in the reverse order.




Ensure the elastic is pulled so it is not too loose on the front and cut it to the appropriate length to allow you to tie it off nicely. Thread the elastic ends through the button and tie them together in a tight knot to prevent the knot from moving to the front of the page.

Finished!


Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sewing involved.

A very easy quiet book page!

You can watch the below video by Irina Sorokina from My Craft / Quiet books to see how to install grommets.



Key Learning Areas and Skills

  • Leviticus 25 - the Jubilee year represents Eternity and what God is going to do for us - set us free, restore us to our families and give us our land back
  • Counting - count seven lots of seven years until the 50th year - the Jubilee
  • Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
  • Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination



Read the Chapter

Leviticus 25

Devotional

The Jubilee is such good news! I believe it represents eternity on the New Earth, when we will all be released from slavery, returned to our families and given land to inherit. The Jubilee year follows seven lots of seven year "weeks", where the land was given a rest every seventh year. It was not to be sewn and grape vines were not to be pruned, etc. This would rejuvenate the land, and God promised that if they would keep the Sabbath rest for the land every seventh year, that He would bless the harvest in the sixth year so there would be enough to feed everyone for three years (which would of course last until the harvest came in in the first year of a new Jubilee cycle, with a Jubilee resulting in two Sabbath years rest for the land in a row). This was reported to have occurred during the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:29).

Although the first day of the seventh month (on the religious calendar) is New Year's day on the civil calendar, the Jubilee is not announced until Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), which is ten days later. I'm not quite sure why that is yet, but I'm sure there is a reason. Nevertheless, I can certainly see the contrast the God is intending announcing a Jubilee celebration on a day of traditional fasting. And He does state that the four major fast days will be turned into joyous occasions (Zechariah 8:19) - and what more joy could you have than when set free from slavery, returned to your family, and given an inheritance?




I have previously explained my reasons for believing that the Jubilee is the 50th year (and not the same as the 49th year as some people propose) in my Time to Celebrate: Jubilee Bead Cycle tutorial (plus bracelet craft) for the High Holidays post. 




Most people would have only experienced one Jubilee in their lifetime, at least only one that they remember. It is the countdown to restoration. Ultimately, the land belongs to God, and He divided the land between the tribes of Israel. Because the land belongs to God, it was not allowed to be sold permanently. At the Jubilee, if you had sold your land sometime during the 49 years, you would get it back. The price of the sale was to reflect the amount of time remaining until the Jubilee (if there were many years, the sale price would be more than if there were only a few years left). The family that the land had been given to always had the right to buy their land back (called redeeming it), with the price again reflecting how many years were left until the Jubilee. An example of this might be the story of Naomi and Ruth, where Naomi's husband sold his land because of a drought, and when Naomi and Ruth returned, Boaz became their Redeemer. Not only did he have to marry Ruth, but I imagine he would have paid the price due on their land. 

It seems that Sabbath rests for the land were not often kept, since the children of Israel were required to go into captivity for 70 years to allow the land to have it's rest (2 Chron. 36:21)! 




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What does the Jubilee mean to you? Comment below!

Thursday, 5 May 2022

Genesis 27 - Jacob Steals the Blessing Quiet Book Page

   In Genesis 27, Jacob deceives his father and steals Esau's blessing.




Memory Verse: "And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him." Genesis 27:23 (NKJV).

 

Materials needed to create the Jacob Steals the Blessing quiet book page:

Cut out the hand shape from the fake leather piece and sew it down in position. Cut out the fake fur piece and zig zag around all edges to prevent it from fraying, folding back the fur as you go. Sew it down along the sides of the hands and between the thumb and fingers, leaving the top edges along the fingers open so you can feel the smooth leather underneath. 




Sew the decorative trim scrap to the edge of the arm end of the fur as the edge of Esau's good set of clothes that Jacob is wearing using zig zag stitch. Sew a section of felt to the edge of the page to finish the arm.

Finished!


Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version (except on the edges of the fur - you will just have to hope it doesn't fray too badly, which it probably won't, but I like to be extra careful). Or you could fold and glue the edges of the fur, but will have to include seam allowance for that.





Key Learning Areas and Skills

  • Genesis 27 - Jacob, the deceiver, deceives his father and steals Esau's blessing
  • Touch and Feel - Jacob's hands were smooth, but Esau's hands were hairy - touch the tactile elements of the page (leather, fur, and decorative trim)
  • Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
  • Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Read the Chapter

Genesis 27

Devotional

I think this is the first tactile quiet book page I have made, and I think it is quite fitting for this story. I was having trouble trying to think how to illustrate this story and thinking about a dress-up Jacob page with Issac in bed or something. But it was seeming too complicated, and as they say, simple is best. So when I thought about how I could simplify this page, this idea came to mind. I really love how something so simple can demonstrate the whole story so well.

This is another instalment to the Jacob the deceiver story-line. Originally Rebecca is surprised to find out she is pregnant with twins, and when they are born Jacob is a bit of a deceiver in that his fist came out first and a scarlet thread was tied to his wrist to mark him as the first born, but then he withdrew his fist and Esau was actually gets born first. That's how he got his name. Then he convinces Esau to sell him his birthright for a bowl of red lentil stew. A dumb thing to fall for, but I guess Esau feels gypped by Jacob, and now when he actually lives up to his name and deceives his Dad and steals the blessing, which Esau still has to look forward to, Esau gets mad. In a few chapters time, Jacob ends up getting deceived into marrying what may have been the wife intended for Esau. 




I read in the Mishna that since Issac and Rebecca had two sons, and Rebecca's brother Laban had two daughters, that there had been some kind of agreement or arrangement made that the older son would marry the older daughter, and the younger son, would marry the younger daughter. But to Rebecca's dismay, Esau never went to claim his bride, and married locally instead. Rebecca at least wants Jacob to marry right, and uses Esau's anger as motivation to finally convince Jacob to go and claim his bride. By this stage, Esau had two wives already. Apparently Jacob was already about 77 years of age when he went to Haran (you can work it out from his age when Joseph was born and how long he stayed in Haran).

There is a big Mamma's boy theme going on here too. Issac says to his son, and Rebecca says to her son... Esau seems to be Issac's favourite, and Jacob, Rebecca's. Esau is a hunter, a real man. Jacob is a dweller in tents, a home body who does domestic things like cooking lentil stew.

So Jacob buys, steals and is tricked into getting everything due Esau. He wants the birthright, he wants the blessing, but not so much the wife. But it seems that they come as a package. And that God had plans for Leah too. 




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Have you made a tactile page? What unusual materials have you found to include?