Renewal!

Good Friday all my crafty friends! Phew.......have you ever just been so glad that it was Friday!!!! It has been a week and a half for me and I am so glad to see the weekend upcoming! I just need to wind down a bit! LOL That being said, I got a lot accomplished, played catch up and am actually seeing some "clear space" on my desk! LOL

Today, I am going to share a tag as a part of "Tag It Tuesday" over on Sheri Whitfield's blog! Now, it's not Tuesday, but as previously stated, I have been behind and hopefully Sheri, won't have a problem with "Tag it Friday......" not as catchy is it??? LOL It's actually a feature that Sheri is hosting monthly (the third Tuesday of each month) as an invitation to have fun and meet new people! Two of my favorite things! LOL Thanks Sheri for the opportunity and I look forward to all the crafty fun!

The Theme for the month of January is new year/renewal/rebirth with a splash of gold. I started today's tag by embossing my tag with an embossing folder from Paper Studio. Afterwards I sprayed the tag with my favorite Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst in Ponderosa Pine Olive and heat set. I then pulled out another favorite art favorite my Viva Inka Golds in Lavarot, Steel Blue and Gold and went over the flowers to pull them out. I then distressed the edges with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo and a little more Inka Gold in gold.

I love my Unity Stamp collection sets and so I pulled from a couple to do this tag. As the theme is renewal, I wanted to think ahead for my year and declare and claim a GOOD year! So I pulled a stamp from my Unity Stamp Set called Lasting Thoughts that says "Good things are going to happen." That sounds like a declaration to me, so I went with it! I stamped with Archival ink in black on some craft paper, cut out with edging scissors and then distressed with Distress ink in Squeezed Lemonade and then Vintage Photo. I then just added some glitter glue from Studio and some Art Ingredients glass glitter in Gold Rush from Prima. I also stamped with a stamp from a Unity Stamp set from July 2014 that was a clock and distressed it with the same colors. In addition, I cut a "time" piece from some craft paper and distressed it with Salty Ocean and then Vintage Photo. I stamped the butterflies from the August 2014 set and the April 2014 set in Archival black ink onto some scrap paper that I had sprayed off on. I finished the tag with some embellishments from Paper Studio Spare Parts and then added some twine and ribbon. Pretty quick and easy tag!

I had so many thoughts behind my tag today based on Sheri's theme. But renewal is so refreshing! God's renewal is EVERY day! His grace and mercy are fresh and new every day and NO MATTER what we have face, are facing and will face, that promise remains true! So going into a new year should ALWAYS be a positive outlook knowing that no matter the hiccups along the way, God's grace will be sufficient to press on through and handle what may come! We, as believers, are to remain in a place of confidence in taking God at His very word that He will NEVER leave nor forsake us and that as we abide in Him, we will be under His care! Psalm 23 tells us "The Lord is my Shepherd." In this, we KNOW that the Great Shepherd will care for His flock at all costs, even to the point of leaving the 99 to go after the one until he finds it! That is the heart of the Father! He loves us that much!

The Psalmist in the 23rd Psalm goes on to declare "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!" That is praise literally running out!! That alone, declares that, yes indeed, "Good things are going to happen!" If you are dwelling in His house, have that personal relationship with Him daily and are keeping your eyes fixed on Him, it doesn't matter what you face! He has prepared you a feast before your enemies!!!! That says you have VICTORY over them, through the precious blood of Jesus....you will want for nothing! And, to boot, goodness and mercy will follow you ALL THE DAYS, not some, but ALL, of your life! That is something to get excited about!!

Our Father doesn't promise us that we won't have bad days or even tough times, but He does promise us that He is there in the midst and we can have a peace as we go through! And that because of the work on the cross, WE HAVE VICTORY over anything!

Begin the new year looking through the freshness of renewal and rebirth DECLARING God's goodness for 2015! I KNOW you will be blessed as you do!

Blessings