Hi crafty friends! Another post today, just to share my pix that I took of Becky Wentworth's and Pam Wildeboer's tags that I sent them this month. They both have posted these, but I thought I would post different pix so that you could see a different view. Pam was actually my Tag Swap Partner this month, for the month of February over on Creative and Sharing MIxed Media Art Community on Google+. But I love to send Becky tags just because I believe we all deserve a little something special in the mail every now and again!!! :) We do Tag Swap's with a different theme each month. It has really been fun and if you are interested, hop on over and let one of the moderators know and you swap along with us!! Here are the two tags I sent Pam:
Here are the two tags I sent Becky:
Ok, the plan was to tell you what I did with these guys, but my life has been a whirlwind lately and I thought I wrote it down somewhere, but I didn't do such a great job at that.....cause I can't find it!! LOL What you can be sure of, is they were done with LOTS OF LOVE and LOTS OF FUN!!! Let me just tell you, that if you just happen to be reading this blog and were wondering, doing these "swaps" are a great labor of love! You will never meet more wonderful folks as we have in our crafters communities over on Google+!! If you are crafty or even if you aren't and you want to give it a go for the first time, come on over and participate with us! You won't find any MORE encouragement, friendship or inspiration than you will on our communities! I'm blessed to be a part, and I know you will be too! Blessings
Good Friday all my crafty friends! Well, as with all things with me lately, when it rains it pours! I'm NOT claiming that mind you, because I'm claiming VICTORY over all this ruckus that we have had lately, but fact is, there has been a lot going on. We are finally about to get things finalized with my mom, yay mom!!! :))) As many of you know we have placed her in a wonderful nursing facility that we all love and she is doing well, however with that, comes the clean out of her current apartment, boxing up and trying to sell things she no longer needs!! Phew, what a BIG ordeal! My mother literally had NOTHING, but for someone who had nothing, it has turned out to be a lot!! What would that say for the average person trying to make a move!! Aaaaaahhhh, that's what!!! Anywho, we have to have her out of her apartment by this Saturday, so it has been a frantic frenzy this week. Then on top of that my daughter has had this evil virus that has been going around our area! So, the plan to get ahead with posting, has failed!! Oh well, there is always another week!!! LOL, LOL Today I want to share last week's art journal page for my Take Deeper Art Journal February Week 2 challenge. This month's theme is Love and Week 2 was "Love God" from Matthew 22:37 that says "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." When we do our study of the scripture part of the study worksheet is identifying a "key" word and then really doing a deeper study on that word to help better understand the intention or heart of God concerning the word and scripture. The word I picked out of that scripture was in fact "love." But love has many facets and meanings and the study I chose was "agape" love or "agapao," with is the verb tense of the word. Agape love expresses the deep and "constant" love and interest of a perfect Being (God) towards entirely unworthy objects producing and fostering a reverential love in them towards the Giver (God). In other words, agape love is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love, which is the highest form of love! Agape love is the kind of love that describes the kind of love that Jesus Christ had for God the Father and US when He went to the cross! There is NO GREATER LOVE!! God loves us with with that same whole heart and we should do NOTHING less towards Him! In order to love God that way, however, we have to KNOW Him. In order to know HIm, we have to spend time with Him, remain in His presence, like Moses at the burning bush, that we would be changed!! Let me tell you, spending time in God's presence, WILL CHANGE YOU!!!! As that change takes place, from the inside out my friends, you can then share that same love with others!!!!
When I read that scripture I absolutely thought about the word "LOVE" and immediately God said "I Am!" So I did my page on that thought knowing that as we remain in His presence those things that "He is" will reflect off to us and we can then look more like Him daily!!! I began the page with some gesso and then got out my Faber Castell Gelatos, and just went to layering away!! I used Metallic Blueberry, Blueberry, Boysenberry, and then finished the edges with Metallic Grape. I then simply did some background stamping just to give it a little texture. I found this really cool burning bush online and knew I wanted to use it. So I fussy cut it out and applied it with Mod Podge. I then I used my Mango, Spearmint, Green Tea, Coconut, Chocolate and Red Cherry Gelatos on my craft sheet and spritzed with water and then began to paint on the picture to blend it into the page so it didn't look like I just stuck it on there. I then used Aleene's and drew the bursts of sunlight out of the bush and sprinkled Finnabairs wonderful glitter over top to give it that dazzle. Then I took my white gel pen and drew little dots around as if it was His presence continuing to trickle out through the air. as it trickled out, it brought forth the words I felt we would embody, which is really God's heart, if we continued to stay in His presence. I finished by stamping "I Am" with Tim Holtz's Worn Text Alphabet Stamps and then "Love" with some cheapo single letter stamps I got at a thrift store. I also highlighted "I Am" with Finnabairs glitter as well. I then edged with Archival black ink to top it off. Voila! How much time do you stand in the Fathers presence? I can tell you that He would enjoy your company, that He could share His WHOLE heart with you. He wants to have a relationship with you; close, personal and unconditional! Won't you take time for Him today? I guarantee you that you WILL BE BLESSED!! Blessings
Good Thursday all my crafty friends! My sights are set on the weekend! I think I have a "date night" with myself on Friday!!! Yipeeee!! LOL What that means is that I think my girls are spending the night off Friday evening and my husband has to work this weekend so he retires quite early because he has to be up by 3:45am to go to work. Sooooooo, I GET THE TV ALL TO MYSELF!!! Is it strange that I am so pumped up about that???? Probably, but in my home, Mom get's last choice of ANYTHING, so tomorrow, I get 1st choice!!! Again, YIPEEE! I'm feeling back to back "chick flick" movies coming on!!! LOL I hope I can hold out! LOL Sooooo, today I am going to share yet ANOTHER "Valentine themed" tag! I have been having fun with these tags this month! I'm sorry, but who doesn't love reds and pinks together and little hearts??? So here we go! This was really a quick and simple tag except for those baby hearts, but it was worth it to me! I actually started the tag using the same colors I have been using for this months's projects. I started with Maya Mist Bubblegum Metallic (I will be sad when its gone because it's hard to find anymore) all over the tag and then sprayed some Lindy's in Autumn Maple through one of my fave stencils from Ronda Palazzari stencils from Crafters Workshop called Well Rounded. I use that stencil A LOT! I then distressed the edges with Distress Ink in Dusty Concord. I have this great Mandala stamp that is three pieces that fit one inside the other that I had my eye on for ages at Hobby Lobby, but it was so expensive that I would never buy it, but I finally broke down and got it with my 40% off coupon. There is not sticker on it, so I don't know who made it, but anyway, I used two of it's pieces and stamped with Archival black ink. I also stamped with a cool Unity Stamp that I love from Christy Tomlinson's Collection called Distressed Quilt at the bottom. Then I sprayed with a fixative because I wasn't real sure where I was going from there. Then I took one of my favorite supplies, Daler Downey's Pearlescent Ink in Sundown Magenta and dripped from the top down because I had in my mind that I wanted to do something with "bleeding hearts." I love that ink. It is so yummy pearlescent! I then pulled out my Big Shot and die cut some lovely hearts with card stock and book page. I distressed the biggest heart and smallest heart (although you can't really tell) with Tim's distress tool and then I hot glued all three together down the middle because I wanted the edges to be free because I was going to pretend I was my friend Ruth over on Google+ and do a faux stitch down the middle! I don't sew....AT ALL....so I have to pretend!! LOL I then applied the smaller hearts with Aleene's in the drips to suggest "bleeding hearts." I finished the tag by applying a little glitter from Finnabair on the bookpage hearts, shaded with a Faber Castell Big Brush Pen in Magenta, outlined the hearts with a Faber Castell Pitt Pen and then stamped the edges with a new favorite collection of mine from Unity's Layers of Life January 2015 .set. Voila, quick and easy! I love bleeding hearts or Lady in the Bath as they are known across the pond! They are what is known as the quintessential cottage garden flower! I don't have a cottage, although that would be a dream of mine......actually just moving to an English or Irish countryside and buying a lovely cottage would be a real dream of mine......one can always dream! It's easy for me to get off subject, as you can see...hee hee. Anywho, I would love to have a garden full of them. So, I found this lovely picture online (obviously it's NOT mine and the photographer's name is imbedded in the photo, so I'm not robbing..LOL) with this beautiful thought from 1 John 4:11 that will go along with my next journal page that I post either tomorrow or Monday! Aren't they the most beautiful flower??? I can see that cottage now!! LOL I hope you have a blessed day with continued thoughts of love on your mind! Blessings
Another post today my friends. Boy....I'm getting there, slowly but surely! LOL As a part of the Tag It Tuesday Link Party for February over on the lovely Sheri Whitfield's blog, Cards and More by Sheri, I am going to post and link up my tag and "party along!" LOL Sheri's challenge was to "think outside the box!" I confess, I am not real good with that kind of thing! I am, unfortunately, a creature of habit! So that being said, I went out as much as my brain would allow right now! LOL Sheri's tag actually pushed me in the direction I went with this tag! She had the cutest tag that you can see here. Forgive me for spinning off of your tag Sheri, but I made a couple and they all kept coming up "obvious" Valentines....ha ha ha So much for "outside the box!" I started this tag by spraying Perfect Pearls Mist in Mint and then I spritzed Maya Mist Bubblegum Metallic, Dylusions Bubblegum Pink and Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Gold. I then distressed the edges with Distress Ink in Dusty Concord. I took one of my favorite background stamps from Unity Stamps called Distressed Criss/Cross and stamped with StazOn Mini Ink pad color in Emerald City here and there. I love Tim Holtz's layering stencils and would LOVE to have them all.....I'll get there....eventually...LOL, but I took one of my favorites, which is Burlap and mixed some of Finnabair's heavy gesso with Daler Downey's Black Ink and pressed through here and there for some further texture. I love, love, Dina Wakely's stamps and I got the Clearly Collaged Heart Set for Christmas and so I used one of the larger heart stamps and stamped on some cute scrapbook paper, fussy cut and then distressed with Tim Holtz's distress tool. I found this cute frog online and then adhered the frog and heart to the tag with Mod Podge. I love my Big Shot that I got for Christmas, so I have been trying to use it as much as possible. I have a Sizzix 3 piece Crown Set that I found at Tuesday Morning so I used the crown diecut on some goldish looking card stock. The crown was a little too big for the frog's head, so I cut it down and then I wanted it more gold, so I sprayed it with Heidi Swapp Color Shine in gold and then I still wanted more gold to it, so I added some of Finnabair's gold glitter and then I was satisfied. I adhered the frog and tag with Mod Podge and then embellished with some jewels and Studio Glitter glue in hot pink. To finish, I stamped "TOADly in Love" with Archival black ink and distressed with Distress Ink in Spun Sugar and Vintage photo, adhered with Mod Podge and then shaded the sentiment and frog with Faber Castell Big Brush Pen in Magenta. I also gave "little miss" some lipstick and eyelashes!!! Watcha think? She's a cutie no? My sentiment wasn't original, I found it online, but I thought it was so cute and it thought I could come up with a cute tag from it! So, all in all it was a spin off from Sheri's monkey, but I hope you enjoyed anyway! Thanks Sheri for the Tag It Tuesday Party! I have been having fun and I look forward to next month! If you want to be involved, just hop on over to Sheri's blog and link on up and party with us! :)
Good Wednesday all my crafty friends! Valentines Day is over, but "LOVE" continues to be in the air! Love is a word that embodies SO MUCH, so we should be about expressing "love" DAILY not just on Valentines Day! That being said, I am continuing this week, with projects of "love." It has been so fun! Well, as I mentioned yesterday, I am about playing "catch up" on all my many projects! So today, I want to share Week 1 of February's "Love Theme" over on His Kingdom Come's Take Me Deeper Challenge. Week 1 was based on the scripture for John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." That is a scripture that most everyone knows by heart and it is a HUGE scripture to be sure for believers, But that scripture is HUGE on SO MANY LEVELS! Many things quickly come to mind when I think upon that scripture, but the first thing is that it speaks on the ENORMITY of God's heart and LOVE for us! He sacrificed His ONE and ONLY SON that we be saved and live eternally, that is an AMAZING LOVE!!! Think about that, would you sacrifice your son or daughter for another? The scripture that kept coming to me out of Jhn 3:16 was John 3:34 that tells us that "God does not give the Spirit by measure!" What does that mean to you and I? To me that says, there is NO END to His INFINITE love poured out to us by the Holy Spirit! You can have as MUCH OF GOD or as little of God as you want!! But from His end, there is NO END! It is limitless!! All you or I have to do is receive it! Christ was the FULLNESS of that INFINITE LOVE and when we receive Him, we receive that same power packed love to live on the inside of us, to guide, encourage, comfort, empower and equip us that we walk daily in that love for His glory!
Week 1's journal page was a quick one, but one that really spoke to and encourage me. I began this page by spraying Maya Mist Bubblegum Metallic, some Lindy's Stamp Gang Autumn Maple and some Dylusions Postbox Red. I then just simply distressed the edges with Distress inks in Fired Brick and Vintage Photo. I stamped a border on each side using Unity Stamp January Layers of Life Collection and the heart with Unity Stamp December Layers of Life Collection. I then drew and fussy cut out a measuring cup and adhered down with Mod Podge and then shaded with Faber Castell Gelatos and Big Brush Pen. I knew the thoughts behind my measuring cup was the "Spirit" poured out, so I filled it with fruits of the spirit and then as the cup is poured out, it flows "Christ the Fullness!" I added some of Finnabair's Gold Rush Glass Glitter at the top because the "Spirit" is like gold to me and then I finished with stamping the scripture at the top. Voila! God does not give us 2oz., 4oz., 6oz., or even 8oz. of His love! He give us FULL MEASURE, pressed down, shaken together and RUNNING OVER!!!! As my daughter would say, "that's just how he rolls!" LOL There is NOTHING short with our God, least of all His amazing love! I encourage you today to seek His amazing love that will FILL YOU TO THE BRIM!:) Blessings
Good Tuesday all my crafty friends! Well, I FINALLY washed my car on Sunday, so guess what? It rained yesterday!!! LOL It's like clock work! Forget the rain dances, if you want it to rain where you are, just give me a shout out to wash my car and it will be done!! LOL Thank you Lord for the rain, but we need to get together on the timing thing! LOL
I have been sharing with you on how behind I am, so I am truly hoping I catch up this week. Today I will be sharing my Week 5 Journal Page from Take Me Deeper journal project over on His Kingdom Come. This is actually January's last week page and tomorrow I will share last week's journal page and then I will be caught up! Hallelujah! LOL!
January's theme was "Transform," so Week 5 was "Transform Purposefully" based on the scripture out of Philippians 2:12-13. The word that stood out to me with this scripture was "will!" Will is the power of choosing one's own actions, to "purpose", determine to or elect to. On my journal page this week I thought of the flowers of the field and how they submit themselves to the sunlight or "turn to" and position themselves to the sunlight that they may grow! As believers, when we purpose ourselves and submit ourselves to the light, that is the very presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we can also grow...grow in His will for our lives. We are to purpose in His will, not ours!
As believers, we are given "free will" and the beauty of "free will" is that you make your own choice. But the freedom in that very choice is when you humble yourself and submit that "free will" to your Father in Heaven, which positions you to transform, but not just transform, but transform with a purpose to endeavor to do His will! You are saying, "yes Lord, I willingly go wherever You may lead me!" Not out of my own selfish desires, but out of complete love and passion based on your sacrifice on the cross for ME! Understand that NOTHING in and of ourselves stirs that kind of desire, it is ONLY the indwelling power of Jesus Christ that moves us beyond "self" and towards gazing upon that very work on the cross! That is freedom, that is victory!
I started this journal page with a botched gelli print effort that I decided to cover up! LOL I know we have all been there! :) LOL It turned out to sort of look like sky and clouds in the background so I just went with it! LOL I simply used cheap acrylic paints and distressed the edges with Dusty Concord and Vintage photo. I then stamped with a script stamp here and there with StazOn Saddle Brown.
I then adhered a piece of hymnal page (the name of the hymn escapes me, sorry) that speaks of yielding to the Father your days and moment and never departing from those ways! I thought that was fitting, so I used it as sort of like the horizon and then stamped some flowers here and there that are from a Unity Stamp Collection from May of 2014. I then took a Tim Holtz stamp that is sun rays and stamped it with VersaMark and then poured Finnabair's glitter over top and then dried it to see what would happen. It didn't emboss, but it did the trick! LOL Then I just simply stamped a border and words that I was focused on for this scripture and did some shading with Faber Castell Big Brush Pen in Nougat. Pretty easy page, but said what I wanted to say.
Those of you who take the time to read my blog, know who I am and what I am ALL ABOUT! I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and if I can lead "one" to Christ through my art or anything that He impresses upon me to write in this blog, well then I have done His will! In case you still weren't really sure who I am, I encourage you to watch the video below because IT SAYS IT ALL! May it bless you today! :)
Good Monday all my crafty friends! I hope you all had a wonderfully relaxed weekend! Some of you may be having an extended weekend! Those are always nice aren't they? I try not to "wish" my life away (as my mama always used to say), but I sure to do wish those came around more often!! LOL Today, I want to share some AMAZING Happy Mail and a quickie card I did for Valentines Day! This month my tag "swap partner" over on Google+ Creating and Sharing Mixed Media Art was the lovely Pam Wildeboer! I love Pam's projects that are FULL of color and whimsy and so I couldn't wait to get her package in the mail this month!!! I actually got it last week Pam, but I have been running around here like a chicken with my head cut off, so I am just now posting! Anywho, when I say that package in the mailbox, I couldn't get to the house fast enough, and the kiddos were right behind me....open it mom, open it!!! LOL They have already been conditioned to watch the box for our monthly swaps! Isn't that hysterical??? Pam DID NOT disappoint! LOL She payed attention to every little detail, even right down to this cute little message as I ripped open the envelope!!! CUTENESSS!! Loved it Pam! :)
Then she had the sweetest card and packaged my tags with care! Needless I was about as giddy as giddy goes to slip off that bow and see all that goodness!! Pam went into goodness overload! I feel so special. She mentioned that she got going and just couldn't stop! Wasn't that a blessing for me!!! LOL Pam did three AWESOME tags for me and they were so wonderful that the backs were just as awesome as the fronts! I say hats off to you artists that do "double time" like that!! I try to have something on the back, but Pam does it up right! The first tag I opened was this GORGEOUS tag.."Il est mon amour!" Let me just go ahead and apologize for not being able to show my monthly tag swaps in all their splendor! I use my phone camera and it's a good camera, but NEVER shows my tags with their real beauty! The colors and textures are just amazing and it's truly sad that I am not tech savy enough to be able to display them better! LOL With this tag, it looks like Pam used some awesome sprays coupled with modeling past or the like! The mica's were gorgeous! She added some really cute emphemera as well! The back was just as yummy! Some more yummy sprays incorporating what looks like a doily and just the cutest cupid! LOVE IT!! The goodness went on from there with this lovely tag. Again what looks like some fabulous sprays with yummy mica's and this amazing stamp that she painted! The heart also looks like some crackle paint! Love, love it for sure! Then hey.....let's not forget about the FABULOUS back!!! Again I apologize for the poor quality of the photo. The lighting was obviously skewing the photo, but trust me, the emphemera she used was just all cuteness along with some yummy textures, sorry Pam! :( The excitement continued as I opened, yet another tag that was in true Pam style! I love her whimsy attitude, especially with this tag! The front had the sweetest hearts on it that just breathed "Be My Valentine," and you flip it over and you realize what she really wants is a "funny Valentine!" LOL This chick is rocking some awesome hairdo and fabulous glasses! I absolutely love this Pam! My girls and I were just tickled to no end! :) I can't tell you all ENOUGH how blessed I am to be a part of such an AWESOME group of amazing artists! I am having a ball with this tag swap and am thrilled every month I open that mailbox and find such wonderful projects! Thank you ALL ladies! I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you through your amazing artwork!! Many of you know that we have placed my mother in a nursing home and have lifted up prayers for me and my family! Again, many, many thanks to you all and I think we have her all settled in now! I think she is happy and I know we are with the wonderful facility she is in! The staff are top notch and they have really gone all out to make it her new home....it truly does feel like a home there! Anywho, we did valentines with her on Saturday, and it was a good day! I did a quickie card that I thought turned out pretty good!
Again with the sub par photo taking, but there you have it! I sprayed this tag with Maya Mist Bubblegum Metallic, which I think is discontinued along with their other mist sprays. Honestly I hate that because I really liked those sprays! They had some awesome metallic in them that even had a little texture to it which was a really cool effect. I have been savoring this spray, but it was only a 1 oz. bottle, so you can imagine it won't go too far! I also used some Lindy's Stamp Gang in Autumn Maple Crimson and I think a little Heidi Swapp Color Shine in gold. As I said, I did it in a New York minute!! LOL I then took a Faber Castell Gelato in Boysenberry and rubbed through one of my favorite Rebekah Meier stencils, Love Post. It, of course, turned purple after mixing with the sprays, but I was just fine with that, it turned out good! Then I just stamped with a script stamp in Archival here and there. I then used some of Finnabair's heavy gesso through another stencil here and there and added some faux stitching with a Unity Stamp on the edges. I always keep cardboard around the house, so I cut a little heart and sprayed with the same sprays, added a cute little jewel and some twine and there you have it folks....something in about 10-15 minutes! That's either procrastination or laziness, take your pick! LOL I think my mama like it however! I hope you all had a LOVELY Valentines and got a sweet from your sweet! My sweet hubby took my daughters and I out for a wonderful meal! We don't get to eat out a lot or even together a lot, so it was a real treat! Thank you SO MUCH again Pam and yours are in the mail!!! Have a great day everyone! :) Blessings
Good Thursday my crafty friends! Love is in the air, it would seem! LOL To be honest, the 14th crept up on me, and I haven't made provision #1!!!! Not good huh?? That's what happens when you have too many things on your plate!! LOL So I have one more day to scurry around, pick up some cuteness for my girls and card for my hubby! Boy, nothing like procrastination!! The only good thing about that all is that I am the only one that knows I forgot about Valentines being this weekend.....well, except for you guys, now...LOL, but I KNOW you won't tell! LOL Today I want to share a quick tag for the festivities and a the SWEETEST surprise in my mail.....my very own Valentine! :) My tag today, truly was a quick and easy one, but sometimes those are the ones that I end up really, really liking. This one happens to be one of those! :) I started this tag by spritzing with water and spraying with Dylusions Bubblegum Pink and Crushed Grape and then lifting here and there with a baby wipe. I took a myriad of stamps, mostly from Unity Stamps, and stamped a background with StazOn black ink. I adhered some cute little washi tape and then used the "collect moments" stamp with Versa Mark and heat embossed with black embossing powder. I had some yummy scrapbook papers that I die cut some hearts with, adhered with Aleene's and then shaded with my trusty Faber Castell Big Brush Pen in Nougat. I finished with smudging with Viva Decor's Inka Gold in Gold to give it just a little shiny bling. I added some ribbon and there you go! Easy no? I really liked it! Now for the SWEETEST surprise......a precious Valentine from none other than Shel C over on Google+!! What a fantastic surprise and wonderful Valentine treat! Shel, YOU are just the sweetest! Shel, wrote the most wonderful encouraging words on the back of my Valentine and it made my heart smile and a little tear came to the eye! I can't tell you how your words encouraged and lifted me up Shel, so thank you, thank you so much! Isn't this just about the sweetest Valentine ever?? It looked as though she did some lovely Gelli plate goodness along with some collaging and stamping! Just yumminess and, of course, it is always the thought that counts! ANYTIME someone takes time out of their own day to bless another, it brings a sense of pricelessness to it! I think I will keep that on my tabletop for the month of February as a reminder of the kind of heart we are supposed to have! If you will remember sweet Jackie P, also over on Google+ blessed many of us last month with goodness as well! It's precious ladies like this that makes me KNOW how blessed I am to be a part of such a wonderful online community and makes me proud to call you ladies friends, even if we are afar and have never met!! God's Word in Proverbs 4:23 it says "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life!" And also in Matthew 7:16 it says "You will know them by their fruit!" Both of those scriptures speak of the heart and what is flowing from them, is proof of who they are on the inside! A steady, confident and assuring heart whose wellspring comes from the Father is ONLY going to overflow that goodness and life to others! People gravitate to that kind of goodness and want the Life therein! That's why, as believers, it is important that we take off the old man and put on the NEW so that they will see Christ and Christ ONLY. When we abide in Him and He in us, then we will mirror His very image and our character and ways will prove Him glorious! It's ALWAYS ALL ABOUT JESUS!! Today I want to honor people like Shel and Jackie and ALL my wonderful online friends who have freely given of themselves and their hearts to us ALL and have taken the time to lift others up, encourage others and make us all feel like "best pals!" What a joy it is to haven gotten to know each of your precious hearts! Happy Valentines Day ALL you crafty friends! :)
Good Wednesday all my crafty friends! I hope this day finds you right as rain!!! We FINALLY have a smidgen of sunshine here in the south! I say yay to that! My car is miserably filthy, but I don't dare begin to have thoughts of washing it because the moment I do, it decides to rain again!!! What is that all about???? Now, for an OCD kind of person like me, you can imagine the pain and agony I have been going through!!!!! LOL But I can be blessed even in the rain! As spring nears, we will have needed it! So the moral of the story....I have to STOP complaining and turn a blind eye!!! LOL This week I will be posting "catch up" projects! So today, I will be posting my Week 4 Take Me Deeper Journal page from His Kingdom Come weekly devotional journal prompts. If you are looking for a faith based opportunity to challenge you to go deeper in your relationship with the Lord, then head on over to His Kingdom Come and join in the growing fun!! Week 4 devotional was based on the scripture from God's Word from Hebrews 10:19-23. As January's theme was "Transform," this scripture brought about "Transform Faithfully." When I was doing the study on this scripture the word that really stood out to me was "BOLDLY!" His Word says that we can boldly enter in to Heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus! That is good news my friend!!! No longer are we bound by Old Testament laws that only allowed the high priest to enter in on our behalf. Jesus's (the High Priest) work on the cross tore that veil allowing US TO NOW ENTER IN!!! We, by faith, can enter in and stand on Holy ground with our petitions and praises by the blood supplied on the mercy seat!!! That very blood allows us to be seen by the Father as whole, holy and righteous! No more yearly sacrifices, the FINAL SACRIFICE was on the cross, claiming victory and a FINISHED, complete, work!! With that finished work on the cross, we have now been reconciled back to the Father allowing us to draw near to Him DAILY, with sincere hearts and an assurance and confidence that faith brings!! As we remain close to the Father, we are to hold fast, (the Word says unswervingly - that means not being swayed by any form of circumstance), to our faith through Jesus Christ! Because of His unfailing love for us, we are able to trust in Him completely and faithfully! This journal page was a simple one, which it needed to be because of all that was on my plate, LOL!!! I simply used some cheap acrylic paint on my wonderful Geli plate through some of my favorite Crafter's Workshop stencils. I then distressed the edges with Distress Inks in Peacock Feathers and Vintage Photo. I had a toilet paper roll handy that I dipped in the paint and dotted here and there. I then fussy cut the cross from some gorgeous paper sent to me by Mary Brack over at FoundonBrighton on Etsy. It was really hard to cut that paper because it was so pretty, but I wanted that cross!! You should check her store out if you are interested in altered books and/or beautiful paper packs for journaling! I then mod podged my cross down along with the "Holy, Holy Holy" wording that also came from the paper pack that Mary sent me. I stamped "it is finished" on some card stock, cut it out and edged with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo. I also adhere them with mod podge and then used my favorite Faber Castell Big Brush Pen in Nougat to do some shading around it all. I also stamped with Archival ink the "faith, trust and love" words from a stamp set from Little Yellow Bicycle. Voila! The work of the cross was all about a personal relationship with the Father. Today I encourage you to enter in BOLDLY and Faithfully......you will be blessed! :) Blessings
Well, good Monday to ALLLLLL my crafty friends! I have been sick at heart that I have not been able to get on my blog and post ANYTHING for about a week and a half! My life has been a whirlwind to say the least. Many of you know that my sisters and I have been attending to my mother and have been sending up prayers for us. I can't THANK YOU enough for all the well wishes and prayers! I am a firm believer in the power of prayers and we have had nothing but favor! What a blessing! :) Our journey is not finished but we are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel! :) My job has also been extremely crazy for about a month, first of the year projects, etc.... So as things get ticked off the list, I will be able to get back into the art groove! LOL All that being said I have had some things that needed to be posted that I have been behind on and will probably be playing catch up by bits and pieces for a week or so! I have to put out there my apologies to the lovely ladies who sent me all this wonderful artwork! I have not had the opportunity to post any of your craftiness that was sent my way!! As a part of a tag swap over on Google+, I received my gorgeous January Tag from the sweet Gerda Franks from the Netherlands!!!! January's theme was Magical and she did me up RIGHT!!! Gerda, I absolutely LOVE this tag!! The loveliness started with the envelope and it just had wonderful, brilliant color to it and was also fastened with a cute little heart (that I had to keep from my daughter....heee heee). Then when I opened the envelope there a yummy surprise was inside!!! This was a magical tag indeed!!! I love blue, so that was a given for me, but I don't know how Gerda got the awesome effect on the background of the tag!! It is like when it's really, really, cold outside and you have frost on the windows! I LOVE IT!! She also had some wonderful glittery embellishments that I loved on it! The girl was JUST FABULOUS!! My daughter flipped about her dress Gerda!!! And her wings, just WOW!!! She fastened the top with some lovely ribbon and cord and I loved the flower and the cross!!! Right up my alley! Gerda, you just stinking outdid yourself and I LOVE IT!! Truly magical!! :) The next package I got in the mail was from my awesome friend Becky Wentworth! Becky is just a creative and talented lady! I ALWAYS love what she comes up with and it's always something new and fandangled to me!!! Always something I have to put on my list to try because the effects are so gorgeous! This first tag is no exception...I LOVE IT!!! Becky said she did the background of this tag, which I flipped over, with glass bead gel and iridescent paints. The outcome was awesome! I NEVER present my tag swap partners projects as wonderful as they are because of my poor technology skills, but this tag is yummy!! She used all kinds of craftiness on this tag too that added to it! I really love the sun and moon charms!!! Becky sent me another tag that was totally winter blue magical to me! It had an owl on it, which is so cool because I love owls!!! The background to this tag
had wonderful effects to it as well! Becky spoils me and I am just like a kid in a candy store!!! The wrapping that Becky sent these tags in was also FABULOUS! She ALWAYS makes sure to pay attention to every little detail and I must confess, I covet the paper she wraps in as much as the tags because they are ALWAYS so wonderful! This time was yummy hues of purple, bronze and gold....love it Becky!! She topped everything off with just a lovely note on the back of a print of one of her earlier pieces she did on her blog that is one of my favorite, "Fiece!"
I don't know what I did for God to bless me with such wonderful friends in our art community! You guys are such a wonderful group of ladies that I have enjoyed getting to know and whose creativity continues to encourage and inspire me! I love seeing someone's heart brought forth through art, there is nothing like it! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!! I am still in the thick of things this week, running with deadlines and trying to make sure my dearest mother is being taken care of! I have nothing but praise to give to our Father in Heaven as He has gone before me every step of the way and extended favor! I also again want to thank you ladies who have asked about my mom and sent up prayers..thank you, thank you! Keep us lifted up! I will try to post later today or tomorrow journal pages that I have done for my Take Me Deeper Challenger over on His Kingdom Come, but am behind on posting! Blessings to you ALL my crafty friends! Have to play catch up on all of your fabulous blogs as well and see what you all have been up too! :) Make it a GREAT Monday! :)
