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!