Surprise Yourself!

Happy Monday to you!  Had a not so fun weekend as I was in the bed for most of the weekend.  Been having some dental trouble at which I was taking antibiotics, which didn't settle well with me at ALL!!  The two coupled together put me down for a few days!  Hope to have it all cleared up soon!

I can stay in bed for a little bit, but then I just get so frustrated from being there that I simply have to do something regardless of how I feel!  After running the gambut of movies in my DVD drawer, reading a release of the first chapter of a book by Deborah Harkness that I am waiting to come out with baited breath and playing Mario Brothers on the Wii with my daughter, I finally decided on Sunday that I felt well enough to go to my closet and do a quick mixed media tag because I needed a "fix!"

It didn't really take long and I really didn't have anything in mind but to use some things I had maybe put to the side and not used in awhile, you know, in the name of "newer & craftier" art supplies!! LOL!!  Nothing AT ALL wrong with the art products I used mind you, it's just we become such art supply "hounds" that things get put on the back burner for the latest product!!!  I enjoyed it and it was just the "fix" I needed on an otherwise downer weekend!

I played with some gesso through one of my first stencils ever, a plain old circles stencil that had varied sizes of circles.  I'd forgotten all about that guy and it was at the bottom of the heep of other "so called, fabulous" stencils!  LOL!!  Poor little guy felt so lonely and abused!! LOL!!  Anywhoooo.....I continued with my fabulous Tim Holtz distress stain ink pads (how did we ever live without those?), some fabulous Unity Stamps and wonderful Dylusions.  Nothing real earth shattering, but I really liked how it turned out in spite of myself!! LOL!!

Hey, next time you are feeling kind of yucky and need to get out of a slump, encourage yourself just to get in there and get your hands dirty.  You never know what you might come up with?  You may be surprised!!

Have a fabulous week!
Blessings!

True Fun!!

Happy Thursday!!

In my journal spread today, I just wanted to express just plain happiness and what art journaling is for me...just TRUE FUN!!  It is a simple page, but with all of my favorite colors and I just had fun doing it!  One of things I always try to keep in mind in doing my art journals is just that...to have fun!  I'm not an professional artist and don't aspire to be one.  I started art journaling out of a need to express myself and because I just love playing with color and texture.  I've come to realize not to take it too seriously and just enjoy!  I usually incorporate my faith which is usually my inspiration, so that keeps me relatively grounded!

Today though, I just wanted to express fun!  What is your fun?  How do you express it? Is it therapeutic?  Do you want to reach someone else through it or is it just self gratifying?  In God's Word, He expresses that "Whatever you do, work at it with ALL your heart, as for the Lord and not for men." (Col 3:23)  What does that mean?  It means do your service as unto the Lord and it WILL be gratifying to yourself as well as to others!  Don't go at it to satisfy "men," or "others!"  We will NEVER truly satisfy another!  So don't try!  The only One you really need to be worried about is our Father in Heaven!  If you do it as "unto Him," you CAN'T go wrong!!!  You will in turn be self gratified, lifted up and encouraged through the process!

In His Word, God notes that He wants us to have the desires of our heart (Ps. 37:4) even the smallest things like fun art journaling!!  But if we desire to delight in Him first, it makes it all the more fun and all the more blessed!  He's interested even in the small things of our lives!  He is such a loving Father!!

Have true fun today and in no matter what it is that you do, do it as unto the Lord delighting in His Holy Name!

Blessings!  

The Little Things!

Happy Monday to you!  I had a great weekend of craftiness.  Sometimes with my house chores duties, I don't always get to do as much art on the weekend as I like!  Of course, if I had my way, I would do art 24/7 and everything around me could fall down!! LOL!!  Well.....not really...my OCD would eventually kick in!! LOL!!  But I was able to play in my closet this weekend and it made for a happy me!

Today's page was inspired by my oldest daughter who is 14!  She is at that age where everything is much bigger than it really is, in her mind, while selling herself short with the small things.  Of course, I share my wisdom, mostly from experience, but also from the heart of our Father in Heaven.  And, of course, I get a lot of the eye rolling and the "Oh mom.....you just don't understands!"  I have to remind myself I was there once too, but by gosh, I just want to spare her some of the same mistakes I made!  Isn't it funny how it all seems so clear as an adult?

I had a Tim Holtz sentiment stamp that I really liked and I thought I would use that to convey the thought.  I also used some scraps from my other daughter's art stash that I thought went well, and of course, she was quite pleased I did!  I started with some gesso through a Crafter's Workshop stencil and used some Dylusions Ink Sprays over top.  I continued with some Silks acrylic glaze and Liquitex black ink for drippage.  I finished with some good old Washi, Distress Ink and Faber Castell Big Brush pens for shading. Turned out to be another fun piece!

As I was doing the page, again thoughts of my daughter were going around my mind and Biblical wisdom I had given her that I thought I should "note to self," as well.  From time to time, I dare say we have all sold ourselves short!  Fact is, God sees ALL the little things!  Everything has to start from somewhere, but sometimes in our eyes, the small things seem so insignificant.  But to God and the purpose and will He has for your life, big results come from small beginnings!  It's all about your relationship with Him through Jesus Christ and our growth therein!!  We are to be about changing from glory to glory!

In Matthew 13:31-32 God's Word says "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches!"  Everything we do has significance in the Kingdom of God!  Nothing is too small because it's a means to something BIG!!  We make an impact and change the course of our own life, not to mention the course of someone else's life just by sticking it out with the small things until they manifest to big ones!  Small seeds turn into BIG BLESSINGS!!!

Next time you want to sell yourself short, just remember that God said in His Word "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future!" (Jer 29:11)  The things you do may seem tiny in your mind, but small beginnings can have big results!

Blessings!

  

Summertime!

Well, it really hasn't hit full summer here yet in good ole Georgia, but we already have balmy, humid 90+ days here!  This in fact is typical Georgia weather and you would think one would get used to it, but it still makes me crazy after all these years! LOL!!  It's times like these that that dream cabin in the mountains screams to become a reality!!

This is a typical picture of my free spirited daughter and my hubby!  

They are like two peas in a pod!  She's such a sweet girl and just happens to be my "art buddy!"  When I started doing art journals, she was so inquisitive!  She got me to buy her a journal and she would sit with me on the couch and play.  As my hobby progressed so did her inquisitions!!!  As we ALL know....our hobby can get real expensive, so I just sat back to see how far she wanted to go with it before I sowed a lot into it for her! Kids often quit things right in the middle of "I just have to do this!" LOL!!  But, she has been steady and earnest with her interest.  So this past Christmas she got art supplies galore!!  We also bought her a drafters desk, and my husband being a talented cabinet builder, is going to build her some shelving to go over top for all her crafty goodness!

This page out of one of my journals today is inspired by her!  I did this to show her how easy it all could be starting with just a simple stencil!  I took a few of her stencils that I bought her, with a little free hand, and came up with a real summery little page.  I Zentangled in the patterns and then finished off with my Derwent Water Color pencils.  I had fun and she gave me a lot of ideas for my patterns!  She's quite crafty herself and I will put one of her pieces on here in the near future!

Creativity can start with the smallest of things!  Just start, and things can go from there!  Hope your summer is starting off well and maybe not as hot as ours here in Georgia! 

Blessings!

Everything is Beautiful in its Own Way!

Do you remember that old song from Ray Stevens?  I still like that song even though, until recently, I hadn't heard it in years!  But the sentiment behind it is a message, that as a people, we have all but forgotten!  In a world where "a cause," or "people's rights" are at the forefront, we've lost that EVERYTHING IS beautiful in it's own way!  God created and said "It is good!"  We have evolved into something far from what God intended when He created us, but as I try to remind my children, we are ALL special and beautiful in God's eyes!  I also try to remind them that beauty on the outside is skin deep.  The real beauty of a person comes from the inside!  We were created in the image of God!  God sent His Son to cover the sins of our evolution, but when Jesus died, he left the One in the Holy Spirit to live on the inside of us to guide and direct us and to teach us how to reflect the very character of that Spirit living on the inside of us, the character of Christ!

I made this journal page out of my desire to reflect Him in all I say and do.  I do try to find beauty in ALL things, but most importantly I want to be found reflecting "true beauty," the hidden beauty and person in the pocket of my heart, Jesus Christ!  I did this page with mostly acrylic paints directly onto a gesso'd page with a brayer as well as through some stencils along with some wonderful Tim Holtz and Unity stamps, some of my fabulous emphemera stash and finished it off with Washi tape and one of my favorite products Inca Gold!  I loved my result and felt like it reflected what I wanted to say!

1 Peter 3:3-4 says, "Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."  It's clear that God is concerned with the heart and that what is at the very heart of a believer, Jesus, is very precious to Him!  Because He gave us the beautiful gift of Jesus Christ to live on the inside of us, that makes us very precious in His site as well!

Blessings!

Laughter is the Best Medicine!

The old adage comes to mind today...."When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!"  In the world today when everything seems to run amock, to me, laughter is the best medicine!!  Life is too short to allow circumstances to get you down!  Whilst those circumstances can cause hiccups in your every day life, we all have opportunities to make lemonade out of those lemons!!  It's what you do with those circumstances that matter most!!

For me as a believer, the victory on the cross at the hands of Jesus is what pulls me through the valley!  His victory was SURE over death and the grave and that victory covered ALL things opposing our Father in Heaven!  That means sin, sickness, debt and ANY circumstance that opposes God's work here on earth and in Heaven!  That victory was sealed with the blood of Jesus, that when He died and sent the One in the Holy Spirit to live on the inside of us, we were endued with that same power He possessed from on high!  That means we have the SAME victory He does and we have the SAME power over ANY circumstance that Jesus does! Isn't that AWESOME news!!!

Laughter is such a colorful word and can pull you up out of any pit!  If you don't believe me try it!  Smile at someone and more times than not, they will smile back at you!  They say that laughing extends your life!  That's encouraging!!  I'd much rather be found smiling and laughing than pursing as if eating sour lemons!!!  This page was just out of my happiness in the moment!  Nothing really in mind except laughter!  I collaged many wonderful papers that I have in my stash along with yummy acrylics and of course my Crafter's Workshop stencils from wonderful Julie Fe-Fan Balzer designs!! Just super fun!

So if life has handed you lemons today, pull out your journal and make happy lemonade with all your fun stash!  By then end, maybe you will be laughing....if at nothing else....yourself!! LOL!!!  Here is a little phrase entitled "The Optimist," which appeared in a 1940 rendition of the Rotarian:

"Life handed him a lemon,

As Life sometimes will do.

His friends looked on in pity,

Assuming he was through.

Them came upon him later,

Reclining in the shade

In calm contentment, drinking

A glass of lemonade."

I love it!  Cheers to you today!

Blessings!

Growth

Today's tag was so much fun!  I love doing tags, but I always use the manila tags.  So to break from the "norm," when I did my Hobby Lobby trip this time, I decided to buy the darker tags.  I had mixed some Silks acrylic glaze with some Faber Castell Glass Bead Gel for another project and because I don't like to waste anything, I took the excess and put it through some stencils on several tags for future projects.  I continued with some Broken China Distress Ink through another stencil to finish the background.

I'm a huge Unity Stamp fan and am a Layers of Life member, so I wait with baited breath each month for my new stamps!  I call it my little gift to myself!!  The flowers are from this past months kit, which I love.  As I haven't gotten on the Copic bandwagon, quite simply because I can't afford it, I colored them with my Bic Markers, which color and blend just fine for me. I then added some of my beloved emphemera stash!  I have a whole drawer dedicated to that stuff!  Probably won't use it all in my life time, but it's like a sickness...can't stop buying it!!  And who can live without Washi tape?? LOL!!

My heart was geared towards the summer scenery!  Georgia has been blessed with lots of rain this year, which I am happy about, we are usually brown by now because of the lack of it.  But this year has brought out the beautiful flowers.  Makes for a nice afternoon drive!  I was reminded of how as believers, if we aren't properly "watered," we won't grow either! How does that happen?  Well, it's all about relationship!  God's Word calls us to "grow" in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).  But in order to do that you have to have a relationship with the Father!  God's word is "living water" to our body and spirit!  It requires us to get into that Word, read it and let it be life to our bodies and grace and knowledge to our heart, mind and spirit!

I want to grow and be ALL I can be in Christ.  I am so thankful that I am FULL of life, the life of Christ.  And just like a flower that God formed as a bud to bloom, when properly watered, it can turn to the Sun of Righteousness that His bright beams can aid in perfecting its beauty and symmetry!!  I pray that Heaven's light may shine upon YOU today that you too can grow and be all YOU can be in Christ! 

Blessings!!

Sealed Heart

As a believer, I am so thankful to be sealed by the Holy Spirit of God!!  We have been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross that separates us from the world, that says we are God's own for His purpose here on this earth!  That just gives me a sense of fullness and joy!!

As a bought believer that is sealed, it indicates that we are priceless in His eyes, worthy, important or of value!  That means, to God, we are very important!!  I don't know about you, but that just makes my heart complete!  There are those in this world who don't feel like they are worth anything or of no value to anyone.  That is such a sad place to be in.  We all want to feel like we are worth something to somebody!!  Well, in Christ, YOU ARE!!!!

My journal page today reflects a heart grateful and thankful to be a part of the Father's Kingdom here on earth and for eternity in Heaven.  Most of the background was made using some of my fave stencils with Dylusions Ink Sprays and even some of my homemade acrylic sprays.  I love using modeling paste and did so mixed with some of my Silks Acrylic Glaze through a stencil.  I wasn't real satisfied with that outcome because the mica doesn't really show after you mix with modeling paste, but the color was still fine!  As always I use Tim Holtz products where I can, so I did so using his tissue tape and some stamps.  Some of the embelishments were Tim Holtz along with Maya Road.  This spread made my heart smile!

I encourage you today, if you don't know that you are loved and worthy, seek God's Word and let Him assure you of ALL you are to Him!

Blessings!

Born to Shine

Today I am pressing through to do a blog post!  You know, you have those days where you just don't have the spunk you need to be the "chipper bird" to face the world.  I had a long weekend and I think I am just trying to bounce back!

That being said, I pulled a tag to share that I did not too long ago to remind me that, no matter what circumstance I find myself in, I was born to SHINE!!  While I realize that may mean a different thing to many, because we all shine in our own special way, for me, I want to shine for Jesus!  He is the light in this dark world that we live in and He lives in our hearts and as such, we can and should shine brightly reflecting God and the glory displayed in the Son's face (2 Corinthians 4:6).

I did this tag using Unity Stamps, which I love, along with my wonderful Silks Acrylic Glaze, Faber Castell Gelatos and Faber Castell Big Brush Stampers Pens.  I think the thing I love about the Silks is that it is such a happy paint because it allows the gelatos and big brush pens to glide along right on top of it for a smooth look and finish!  Not sure if I will ever get bored of using them!  And Faber Castell just simply has some of my favorite products to use!  It was a fun tag to do and brought a much needed sunshine to my face today!

If you are feeling down today or are just in a slump, remember that our hope is not in "things" or in a "circumstance," but in the victory of Jesus on the cross!  He conquered over ALL things!!  In God's Word Paul was troubled on every side, yet not distressed, perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed....why?  Because of the VICTORY of Jesus over sin, death, hell and the grave!  That is definitely something to SHINE about!  Don't let satan rob you and steal you of your joy today!  If you need a power boost, God's Word produces joy in our hearts and satan has NO leg to stand on as long as joy and light are present there!

Let the joy of the Lord be your strength today!

Shekinah Glory

Shekinah Glory......what a beautiful expression!!!  From my studies of this expression, I have found that it is a form of a Hebrew word that literally means "he caused to dwell," signifying that it was a divine visitation of the presence or dwelling of Jehovah God on this earth.  Wow!

In the Old Testament God's glory came in a cloud pillar by day and fire pillar by night to direct the Israelites. God had already told Moses that "no man shall see me and live," (Exodus 33:20) so that was His way of manifesting Himself to His people on earth at that time.  The Israelites, much like people today, just couldn't get the hang of faith and taking God at His Word.  Moses, I believe, was so beside himself at the display of their unbelief, that he requested to see God face to face, but God let him know very quickly that His Glory was to awesome and powerful to be seen in its entirety by man.  I believe had God allowed Moses to see Him in ALL His awesomeness, He would have died instantly.  Those are just my thoughts.  But God chose to manifest Himself in the pillars of cloud and fire for an unbelieving people to know that He was with them to guide their way and to light their way day or night.  His presence was "dwelling" with them day and night.

For New Covenant believers, the fullness of God's presence dwelled in the man Jesus Christ.  That was His glory manifested on the earth at that time.  Jesus was the last sacrifice, the fulfillment of the Old Testament Covenant.  His sacrifice allowed us to have a one on one relationship with the Father.  Jesus promised that as He left this earth, He would leave One, another advocate to help and be with us forever - the Spirit of truth (John 14:16).  He lives with us and will be in us (v.17).  As believers, we believe in the Holy Trinity, The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit.  The three are One!  If you have received Christ, that Glory now lives on the inside of YOU!!!  In verse 21, Jesus makes sure to comfort us by letting us know that whoever has and keeps His commands loves Him and whoever loves Him will be loved by the Father and Jesus will in turn love them and show Himself to them!  God's divine presence, His Shekinah Glory!!!

As a believer, I KNOW that God's presence is all around, but most certainly I KNOW He lives on the inside of me!  I have seen His glory in others and I have seen His glory manifested when I step out in faith, obey His commands, and walk in His will and way for my life!  I can step into the throne room of His glory daily when I seek His presence through His Mighty Word!  It is beautiful and it is life giving!

I did the page above in my "Tangles Journal" expressing my heart for ALL HIS GLORY!  By far, that page took me longer to do than any journal page I have ever done, but It was SO worth it.  I free handed the vision I had in my mind and then went over it with a Micron Pen adding the tangle patterns and then finished it with Derwent Inktense Pencils for color.  It is on of my favorite pages!

Seek His presence today, you won't be disappointed! 

Special Delivery!

I think just about everybody loves getting special prizes in the mail!  Nothing makes me more giddy than receiving some crafty goodness in the mail after I have ordered it and waited with baited breath for it!  Funny how it doesn't take the bills any time to come in the mail, but order some goodies, and it takes FOREVER!!

All that said, I had seen some vids from CHA in January of Rebekah Meier and all her wonderful new stencils and knew I just had to have them!  I love stencils and all the nifty things you can do with them.  Well it seemed like FOREVER, (there's that word again), before Crafter's Workshop had them available for stencil hounds like me to get a hold of them.  But once they were, you can betcha that I ordered them!!  I love Rebekah's style and her wonderful stencils reflect that.

One  of my favorite things to do is tags because I love to give them away for gifts or "just because!"  On this tag, I used Rebekah's stencils and had fun doing so.  I used some Calypso Teal and Pure Sunshine Dylusions ink sprays through some random background stencils and then mixed Lumin Arte's Pink Azalea Silks acrylic glaze (which I love, love) with Faber Castell's Glass Bead Glitter Gel through Rebekah's Gothic stencil.  I ended up spraying some Crushed Grape Dylusions over top of them just to give them a little more zing.  I used some more Silks through another one of Rebekeah's stencils for further texture and did a little doodle stamp on the edges.  Had to add some Tim Holtz emphemera and of course EVERYTHING finishes off better with Tim's Walnut Stain Distress Ink pads!

So glad I got her stencils.  It made for yummy fun and future fun for sure!  Now I think I have to find a "just because" friend to give it to!  I love bringing a smile!

Set Apart

All my life, I have been a little "different."  When you are younger, that's not always a good thing because then you feel like you are not "part of the crowd."  Had I been secure enough to embrace my differences, I probably could have done a lot more in my life!  Of course, back then, I didn't understand why I was different, so to speak.  But God did!  Before the foundations of the earth, He called me into being and made me "different," set me apart for His purpose!

In His Word, God tells us that we are a "chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that we may declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9)  We are called to be "different," not like others in the world.  We live in the world, but we are NOT of the world.  Why?  Because we are living stones in the Master's plan!  Who we are and who He has called us to be are all a part of the great plan He has for the nations.  Being "different" from others means that what your supply for that plan is different from another's supply.  The Father needs your uniqueness, your differences because you will be an intricate stone in the wall of His plan.  Just like someone else's supply will be another intricate stone in that same wall!

I look at who I am now and am so thankful to be a believer and be "set apart!"  I want to be unique for Him.  I want to draw others to Him.  So when people say to me now you're different, or the mold was broken when you were made, I say, yes I am and THANK YOU!  It also shows me that God has a great sense of humor!!! LOL!!

Are you "different?"  Embrace that difference.  Stand set apart and be "uniquely YOU!"

Tree of Life

I have a few art journals and try to rotate working out of them so that I don't get bored.  They especially come in handy if I get into a creativity slump in one or the other.  In one of my journals I practice Zentangle art, which I don't necessarily do well, but enjoy doing.  Zentangle is an art form that was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas of http://www.zentangle.com/  that is really an easy-to-learn, relaxing and fun way to create images by drawing repeated patterns.  Sometimes you can create a deliberate image through the patterns Rick and Maria have developed or you can just do patterns on what is known as a tile, which is a basically a 3 1/2 x 3 1/2  piece of heavy stock paper that you can have cut yourself or you can buy in a Zentangle Kit from their site or I have even seen in Hobby Lobby, Michaels and the like.

Many people have enjoyed this art form which was developed to create in a fun, lighthearted and relaxing way.  We have enough stress that we either create for ourselves or we work in daily and this was a way to get away from all that while creating something beautiful.  When I first came across Zentangle, I was actually searching for something else on line for my water color journal and got linked to this really neat method.  I thought I would never be able to do it, but their mantra, if you will, is "Anything is possible, one stroke at a time!"  I couldn't believe what came out on the paper after I gave it a whirl!  I really enjoy doing Zentangle and the creativity out there using this art method is unbelievable.  You can get as intricate as you desire with this method or just have fun.

This piece is one that I had had in my mind for quite some time. I knew I wanted to do this using one of my favorite scriptures out of Psalm 1:1-6.  That scripture speaks to me all I desire to be in the Lord, rooted and grounded, being filled daily and being fruitful for the Lord.  I want to continually delight in the Law of the Lord and walk in His will and way as I meditate on it day and night.

If you have never tried Zentangle, give it a go.  It really is fun!  Happy tangling!

Blessings

Tim Holtz Haul!!!

Ok, so it's safe to say that I an enamored with Tim Holtz!  Yep, I would probably worship at his art studio door!  Ok, maybe not worship, but you get the idea!  There are so many wonderfully talented mixed media artists out there that I glean from, but I really do love Tim's style!  One day, even though I am not an artist per say (except for in my mind) and don't have any sort of amazing art business or teach classes, I will find myself at one of those fantastic CHA event's oogling all his craftiness at his booth as he happily hands over one of those amazing projects that he does for retailers to see his new goodies and says, "here this is just for you!"  SNAP OUT OF IT, you say!!  I guess you are probably right!! Until then I will just have to settle for those awesome CHA vids on YouTube and Hobby Lobby!!! LOL!!

Speaking of Hobby Lobby, every couple of months or so, one of my awesome girlfriends and I do a "girls day" together.  You know one of those days where you go out, WITHOUT the kiddos, and just be completely goofy girls!!  We just spend all day together and even rebel as parents and don't come home until midnight!!!!  I know right?  What on earth!! Just cause we can!!!  LOL!!  But usually our soul purpose is to do a HUGE Hobby Lobby Haul!!  It's a sickness really because we live completely out of touch with the rest of the world in the small town we live in and there is virtually NOWHERE to shop for art supplies, but Hobby Lobby within an hour to two hours drive.  It is what it is, hence you gotta love the internet even with their completely absurd shipping prices!  Whew....all that said, this trip, I hit pay dirt!!!  Hobby Lobby was having a HUGE clearance sale.

I usually head straight to the back of the store, to the back wall, which is the clearance wall.  I normally find some pretty cool deals, BUT THIS TIME, it was AWESOME!  I hardly ever see Tim Holtz products on sale, but this particular day, there was so many goodies that I think I got one of everything!! LOL  Virtually everything you see on this table I got on clearance!  Most of it was Tim Holtz, but there was also some fabulous Heidi Swapp sprays, Claudine Hellmuth paints and some Crafters Workshop stencils!  I was like a kid in a candy store!!!  I was awing and oohing so much that a nearby lady came back to the clearance section based on the fact that she heard my cries of giddiness and had to come see!!  Too bad she came after me...(smurky, grinning snear).  Needless to say, I have been happily and merrily playing ever since!!

We all deserve a little surprise now and then.  It's so much fun and really makes you feel like you have found the infamous pot of gold!!!   But what it really reminded me of was the fact that because God blesses us abundantly, we should be a blessing to others!  God's provision covers all facets of our lives.  His Word tells us that He knows the desires of our hearts and wants to bless us with those things if we would just delight in Him (Psalm 37:4).  Do you mean even art products?  Why sure, why not.  I believe that God can bless even a small desire like that when we continuously honor Him and give Him the glory for those blessings.  It's what we do with those blessings that bring back the glory to Him.  My art journal pages reflect my love for my Lord and Savior, but I also do many projects with those art products that I give to others that I hope sow a seed and draw those into a deeper relationship with Him.

So, the next time you feel like you have found your prize in the Cracker Jack Box, remember to give ALL the glory and ALL the praise for His goodness to you, back to Him because He loves YOU that much!

Blessings!

Our Help

My heart is grieving today due to the passing of my brother-in-law yesterday evening.  Yesterday, something stirred in me to do this journal page and I believe, now, that it was a "God thing."  Yes, it came from a heart that most certainly believes and knows that I know from whence my help comes, but I believe it was God preparing me with His precious Word for the call I got this morning from my sister.

The author writes this Psalm out of a heart confident that his help comes from the Lord for any trial, any circumstance.  In His Word, God time and time again assures us that as believers who are joined in covenant with a loving Heavenly Father, we able to draw upon Him for comfort, security, guidance and care.  Grief is a human response that I believe God considers for His precious children and out of His enormous love for us, offered His Son on the cross to take on that yoke so that we could focus on eternity and the peace that it brings.

I'm so thankful that God ministered this to my heart yesterday, that His Word would quicken my spirit today and that I could minister that encouraging Word back out to my sister.  I'm so thankful that I have a Heavenly Father that is always one step ahead of me preparing the way and my rear guard to protect me and lift me up when I fall!

My prayer is that YOU would come to know the amazing love of the Creator of the Universe whose arms are open wide, who wants to keep you from all harm, who watches over your life, and who will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Blessings to you today!