Review: Joyful Momma's Guide to Cartooning

Joyful Momma's Guide to Cartooning is available from the Joyful Momma Bookstore.

Review by Penny Raine:

When I heard that Kimberly had a new book available I was so excited. But at the same time I wanted to run the other way. However when she sent me one, I thought, "there is no avoiding it now." Why was I hesitant? Because Kimberly's books are always so great they get your creative mind so involved you can think of nothing else. When my husband read her "Quiet Times In Loud Households", he wouldn't even put it down for mealtime! So when I heard about Cartoon Creations I knew it would be way too much fun and I just did not have time for something new and fun. As usual Jesus had another idea. As I began to read her book I began to think of ways to incorporate it into our homeschooling. Learning is only absorbed when you see a reason for it, so I like to give my children several ways of using what they learn. With Cartoon Creations I can now add cartooning to our list of exciting ways of showing what they have learned. It fits right in with illustrated stories and lapbooking and is lots more fun than writing a boring report. Cartoons even add to their letter writing abilities. I have always tried to combine drawing with writing and this fits great.
In true Kimberly fashion, she doesn't miss a beat, and includes every detail I could possibly think of. She even includes "10 Principals for Christian Cartoonists". Her techniques are very simple and yet show details. She even gives you ideas on how to share or publish your cartoons. I just have one thing to say, "Thanks Kimberly, you have done it again!"
blessings, Penny Raine
http://www.pennyraine.com

Defeating Depression

One of the things that took me most by surprise when I had children was depression. I knew that the primary source of the problem had to be physical since it seemed to arrive like clockwork as soon as I conceived, as one of the first symptoms of pregnancy, and left as soon as I weaned my last child almost 10 years ago. As I struggled with my feelings in this regard, I also struggled to find a solution to the situation. On the one extreme were those who believed that "real Christians don't get depressed" (and a few even caused me to doubt my salvation), and on the other hand, were those who saw it as solely a medical issue needing little more than the right pill. While medicine does help some, I was not willing to risk my unborn and nursling's life by taking medications that couldn't be guaranteed to help me without negative side effects, after reading up on it more (I suggest, as does the writer of the book I mention below, that you don't discount medications if you need them, but that you do some research into the pros and cons). Instead, during this time, I began my love affair with the Psalms and Proverbs, my two favorite books of the Bible, and I did a lot of crying out to God.

During that dark period in my life, as I struggled with wanting a large family, but not wanting the emotional rollercoaster I seemed to be on with each pregnancy, God showed me so many good things in His word, and helped to sustain me. I can't say that I read the Bible enough and it all went away, nor can I say I always handled it well (understatement of the century), but I can say that I serve a faithful God, and a good God who does all things well. When I came out on the other side of that season, I saw how much God had done in my life to prune me for His glory.

Because of this issue in my own life, and running a website with resources for moms, I have kept my eyes peeled for a great book, audio, or program that would be a blessing to Christian women who value children, value family, and love the Lord who still struggle in this area. As I looked around, I found things that seem to fall on the one side or the other, but never in good balance until now.

Cynthia Carrier, of Values Driven Family, created a program that I feel does strike that Godly balance I've been looking for. Her package, "Defeating Depression: Cooperating with God to Experience Victory over Negative Emotions", is a biblically based examination of depression and other negative emotions, with practical helps and encouragement. Mrs. Carrier's Audio Seminar Package is packed with good things to bless and encourage you: a 45 minute MP3 audio, an ebook, a workbook/journal, 20 designed Scripture memory cards, Cindy Rushton's "Mommy Care Package" Audios, and some uplifting audios from OneVoice.

After reading Cindy's Ebook and listening to her audios, I was encouraged that finally someone got it right, and had created such a helpful resource, but I also wished I had this available to me when I first began struggling in this area myself as a first time mom. Though the ebook is small (just 15 pages of text), it is absolutely packed with meaty encouragement and uplifting, practical advice. Everything she says, I felt, was spot on for any momma struggling in this area.

Review: Basic Cake Decorating with Kathy Brodock

Growing up learning Calculus, Advanced Chemistry, and reading Chaucer, I sadly missed out on other skills that I now use every day, namely homemaking skills. As a young wife and mother, beginning my career as a stay home mom (quite different from the training I had received), I tried to catch up on learning things I wish I had learned in the first place. This task of learning was difficult as there were few resources I could find that truly helped me.
That's why I appreciate Mrs. Kathy Brodock and her ministry www.TeachingGoodThings.com, because she is providing resources that will help to teach and disciple other young wives and mothers who also didn't get their training early in life. Even better, you can use her wonderful resources to help you in training your own daughters, as I am doing.
When deciding which of Mrs. Brodock's DVDs to get first, the choice was easy: Cake Decorating. Why? Because that is one thing that I either outsource to others, or do a lousy job at, though I have always wanted to learn. Being an artsy sort of person, I've figured it can't be that hard to learn, but alas every workshop I've taken or book I've read has been of no help to me. I figured the real test here would be whether or not she could teach me (yes, even me) how to decorate a cake that didn't look like I had fallen somewhere in the process. Worst comes to worst, I figured, maybe one of my girls could learn how to do cakes and take that job off of my hands. Up until I watched Kathy Brodock's DVD, my pastry bag and star tip were used almost exclusively for filling taco shells with sour cream.
As soon as Mrs. Brodock's DVD arrived, I popped it into the DVD player and started watching. Even though the video was done on a home video camera and not produced slickly in a studio like other instructional videos, the content is superior, and the quality of both sound and video is well done. In a real-life, practical, down-to-earth way, Kathy Brodock takes you by the hand and shows you how to do it, making no assumptions that you already know things like how to fill a pastry bag with icing, or how to even make your own icing for that matter. For the record, I found out while watching the video that I had been doing both wrong all along. I felt like I had a girlfriend over, showing me how it's done.
I wasn't the only one watching the cake decorating DVD, though. Each of my children were soon digging through the pantry to see if we had some Crisco and powdered sugar so they could whip up some icing to practice with. For the rest of that week, too rainy to work in the garden or play outside, my girls practiced making cake decorations on waxed paper, then scraping it back into the bowls to practice more again tomorrow. They watched the engaging DVD over and over again, and even the neighbor's girls joined in and practiced making roses, leaves, stems, clowns, and more.

Mrs. Kathy Brodock has really hit on something big with these training DVDs that offer practical Titus 2 style training in a style that anyone can understand.

I've included some pictures to show you just how effective her video really is.

~Esther (age 10), ready for action~

~some first samples of piping and stars~



~Anastasia, age 11, did this rose on the first try, thanks to some wonderful instructions!~

~The Girls did this Thank You for Mrs. Braddock after they were done



~Esther, age 10, and Isobel, age 9, designed this cake all by themselves, just from watching the video

And Proof that Kathy Braddock was able to teach this old dog a few new tricks:



Success on the first try!

So, if you are looking for an easy to use video for decorating cakes, I give Basic Cake Decorating with Kathy Brodock 5 stars, and two thumbs up. One of my girls said it should be more like 10 thumbs up because each of them are also giving it two thumbs up too. :-)Look at www.TeachingGoodThings.com for more quality videos and instructional materials to better learn new skills for hearth and home, and to pass those skills onto the next generation.