Poinsettia Peace and Joy

We live in a world in desperate need of peace as well as joy. This Christmas card sentiment has a much deeper meaning than a trite or overused expression during the holidays. I saw another school shooting this week that was violent and senseless. When I was in school, one of our teachers taught us The Golden Rule at the beginning of the year and had it posted in front of the room all year: ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you. (NRSV) Luke 6:31. In high school a student would always read a scripture and another would lead in prayer before assemblies. Both schools were public schools.

Teachers and schools can't do that now. Taking the influence of the Bible and prayer out of school may have kept some from being offended, but it also removed the positive influence of Christian values that had been present in our society for generations.  Now we must pray for the Prince of Peace to heal troubled minds and hearts in the parts of our world where violence has destroyed peace and joy.

I made two versions of this Christmas card. Hubby likes the first and I like the second. They were made from DCWV paper, a gold embossed sentiment, gold sequins, and a ribbed gold ribbon.

To make these cards I played with the Power Poppy digital image in Photoshop to change it from a black and gray to an rgb image so I could change the color balance to red and magenta instead of black.

For the inside I changed the hue/saturation of the poinsettias adjusting the light/darkness bar to more light.

Thank you for visiting! May you be blessed as you share the message of Christ's love and peace with a hurting world.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

ABC Christmas - J for Joy and K for Keep it Simple (I chose J)

A Snowflake's Promise Challenge #51 - Christmas anything goes

Christmas at Sweet Stampin' May- Christmas anything goes

Christmas Crafts All Year 'Round - Christmas anything goes

Crimbo Crackers Challenge #158 - Christmas anything goes

Jingle Belles - Holiday ribbon

The 12 Months of Christmas Challlenge #41 - anything goes Christmas

The Holly and the Ivy Challenge #29 - anything Christmas goes

365 Promises - Promise #140: All My blessings will overtake those who obey Me.

Card for Encouragement and Faith

Time Out challenge this week has a beautiful quote that connects to the sentiment that I chose for this card of encouragement.

'Friends are connected heart to heart, distance and time can't break them apart'

I have some friends who are always on my mind and in my prayers. Sometimes we are connected as sisters in Christ, other times by similar interests or needs. Here's the first one I made using  my old Basic Grey "Oh, Baby Girl" papers.

I stamped the flowers using a 2008 CTMH stamp, "With Love." I admit, I don't throw out paper, stamps, or embellishments. (My only hope is that I can use most of them in this lifetime then let my friends take all that they want!) Buttons are another one of my hoarded items. I was happy to add them to the large centers of the flowers thanks to the Southern Girls challenge.

I'm sorry I couldn't get my camera to focus on the words because of so much white space. I used the top strip to focus, but it didn't help the words, which are the important message: "The Lord will see you through this tough time!" Both sentiments are from the Our Daily Bread Designs Stamp set "Faith Card Sentiments." I surrounded it with a circle shape from Cricut Flower Market.

Crafting When We Can Challenge #137 - flowers
Southern Girls Challenge-retro challenge - smash that stash - buttons and/or brads
Time Out Challenge #76 - Inspired by words
Word Art Wednesday #268-269 - anything family friendly

Mojo Monday 438 Brighter Days Card

Yesterday I did a workshop with a friend who had surgery a few weeks ago. Although she's off work and doing physical surgery, she's so tired you can see the exhaustion in her face. She didn't realize surgery would take such a toll on her energy level. The doctor said it would take a year to get her strength back. I made this card today so I could write an encouraging message to her.  I used the Mojo Monday sketch from this week:

I raided a couple of bags of scraps I had at my desk, (thanks to HIMCR) so I'm not sure where all the papers came from although the background seems to be Basic Grey.  The flowers and circle were in my scrap bag left over from a November project. The sentiment is from a Verve set called Brighter Days. The butterfly is from Close To My Heart, colored with Shin Han Twin Touch markers. The colors were too bright at first until I distressed them with gray and brown. The Colonial white circle was distressed with a stippling brush and Flaxen and Glacier inks, but they don't show up in the photo.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Crafting with Friends #16 - anything goes

Crafty Friends Challenge #27 - anything goes

Crazy 4 Challenges #327 - circle or pie

Creative Knockouts #132 - die cuts/punches

Hiding in My Craft Room #242 - use scraps

Let's Color Saturday Linky Party #5 - anything with colored image

Mojo Monday #438 - sketch

Word Art Wednesday #221 - anything uplifting





Mojo Monday 436 Thinking of You Card

I haven't used any of my hoarded Basic Grey paper lately so when I pulled out a piece for my previous post, I pulled out the Euphoria pack, too. I know so many people who could use a card of encouragement that I really should be using this paper up.

The pale pink and green really make me think of spring!  So this card includes two of the stickers, flower and fern, from that pack along with the butterflies I stamped from the CTMH "Your Beautiful Self" set. I used the Mojo Monday sketch #436 and the colors from Color Throwdown #381.

 

If you're like me and get inspired by pastel colors to think of springtime, be encouraged. It's coming soon! Pass it on!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Addicted to Stamps and More #182 - Make your mark ( used Copic Markers)
Aloha Friday Challenge #66 - In the garden
Color Throwdown #381 - pink, green, kraft
Crafting for All Seasons #120 - 3 of a Kind (butterflies, pink sparkles)
Crazy 4 Challenges - Spring
Let's Color Saturday Linky Party #4 - (I used Copic Markers)
Mojo Monday #436 - sketch
Sisterhood of Crafters - Think Spring

Warm Wishes for Travel Card

One February we left the snowy airport of Kansas City at 10 degrees F. and landed in 70 degree Florida with trees and flowers in full bloom. It wasn't a trip for pleasure, but we took pleasure in every warm and colorful moment. I made these cards thinking of others who are tired of snow upon snow. I hope the warm colors and tropical birds are a feast for their eyes.

 The mat on the first card was cut with a Spellbinder's die. The papers are from Graphic45 "Tropical Travelogue" and the travel postmark and "tropical" stamps are very old retired ones from Close To My Heart, "Post Card-Travel Series." The warm wishes sentiment from "Happy Hexagons" is a current hostess reward. I thought large wooden buttons and hemp were perfectly natural for the rainforest theme.

I cut the gold flower with Cricut Art Philosophy.

Thank you for visiting. May God bless you with warm thoughts to share with others who have lost theirs! And if you're one of the lucky ones going somewhere tropical, Warm Wishes!

I'm sharing this card set with the following challenges:

Blogger's Challenge - Travel
CCEE Stampers #1510 - wild animals (mine are tropical birds)
FHL - Throwback Thursday - used a stamp set retired for many years!
Frilly and Funky - It's time for a vacation
Little Red Wagon #279 - Birds of a feather
Opus Gluei #203 - Need a little vacation?

Light in the Soul Asian Card

I love the simplicity of Asian cards. I've also always enjoyed the wisdom of Chinese proverbs. Today I combined the sketch from Mark's Finest Papers Speedy TV Oriental Card Challenge #67 with a CTMH stamp I have about light in the soul which is the beginning of this Chinese proverb:

If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.

If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.

If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation.

If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world. 

 

The paper lanterns paper is from the Graphic45 "Bird Song" collection. The gold glitter paper and retired stamp are from Close To My Heart.

Thank you for visiting! May your light shine for all to see and your world be blessed with peace!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Crafting By Designs March - anything goes
Craft Your Passion #251 - anything goes
Cuttin and Stampin #9 - gold
Inspiration Destination #23 - anything goes
MFP Speedy TV Oriental Sketch Challenge #67
Papertake Weekly - -anything goes
Scrapper's Delights #42 - anything goes
Through the Craft Room Door - anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #173 - anything uplifting

Hugs and Kisses Card

Here in Missouri on Tuesday we had about 10 - 12 inches of snow with 3 foot drifts my hubby had to clear from our long driveway. I'm thankful that we have a tractor in our barn.  He also cleared our neighbor's drive and our country road. The next day he woke up extra early to start the process again since it had snowed most of the night, with blowing and drifting. To his surprise, the neighbor had come over early with his tractor and cleared our drive so my hubby could make it to work. I'm thankful for good neighbors and glad we can give and share the blessings. Our homes aren't close together in the country, but our hearts are. Love takes many forms.

Today it was sunny enough to take photos of cards, with temperatures hovering around 0 F or below. I made quite a few during the storm. Here's one I wanted to share. It uses this week's Mojo Monday sketch. I combined it with the color challenge from Color Throwdown #278. I thought these papers from a Martha Stewart valentines paper pack fit the color challenge perfectly.

 I used a former stamp of the month from CTMH for the sentiment. The kraft cs is embossed with Tiny Hearts from The Paper Studio. Here's the color palette from this week's Color Throwdown and the Mojo Monday sketch:

The hearts are cut out of one of the shiny metallic foil decorated papers in the set. Here's a close-up.

 

Thank you for visiting. I hope you will find wonderful ways to share love with your family, friends, and neighbors. May God bless you with many expressions of love from others!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments #99 - Loving Inspiration

Color Throwdown #278 - colors

Craft Your Passion #199 - Love is in the Air

Kaboodle Doodles #209 - Valentine theme

Little Red Wagon #223 - Love

Mojo Monday #331 - sketch

Nutcrafters #61 - A little bit of love

Shopping Our Stash #137 - Love Me Tender/Valentines (made embellishments-hearts-from older dp)

The Paper Shelter #144 - used 3 dp (red and pink, multicolor floral, hearts cut from foil heart dp)

Beautiful Scripture Gift

When I was in my thirties, life was extremely busy. I was a mother caring for two young children and a minister's wife, which meant being in church every time it was open and visiting with people in my home or theirs. There were meals to prepare for company or pot luck dinners. I was teaching in Christian school and Sunday School or Awanas.

One time when we visited a Christain book store, I found a small red box called a Promise Box. It was filled with small cards containing beautiful promises found in God's Word.  I found it very comforting to focus on one of the verses each day. I would set it in a prominent place to be seen frequently.

So I decided to make some small mini album gifts that are full of beautiful Scriptures that encourage and uplift the reader. Here are photos of a few of the pages:

I used simple pink, light blue, and Slate grey for the colors. The entire design was simple. I folded 6" x 4" to make 3" x 4" pockets. Instead of gluing those, I wrapped each pocket with 2 3/4" x 8 1/2" piece of patterned paper. I stamped a verse from Our Daily Bread Designs or from Verve. I also stamped a simple image to complete the beautiful verse.

Here are just a few of the pages:

The inside cards have a verse stamped with Slate gray ink and Whisper gray ink for the stamped image from Close To My Heart. They were cut smaller than the pockets to allow room for the binder rings. Some of these verses were from Word Art Wednesday and were printed digitally using my printer.

I still find comfort and encouragement from the many verses I've memorized. I was sick earlier this week and had to drive to a doctor's office more than an hour away in heavy rain. I kept focusing on Philippians 4:8:

"Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

God's Word can strengthen us in difficulty so this is my hope for the recipients of these small gifts. May His Word bless you, as well, during difficulty and busy times.

I'm sharing this project with the following challenges:
All Crafts Challenge October/November
Crafting By Designs - Anything Goes
Creative Craft Challenges2 - Anything Goes
Inky Linky #33 - Anything Goes
Inkspirational Challenge #41 - Anything Goes
Lady Anne's Challenge #12 - Anything Goes with Stamping
Shopping Our Stash - Using my oldest ribbon -  CTMH Heavenly blue organdy for my 11-year old grandson's baby album years ago.
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #102 - Anything Goes with Scripture or encouraging/uplifting verse
 

MME Scripture Notecard #3

Introduction for all 10 Cards: After I'd been in the hospital a few days I went through crafting withdrawal. So today I began a project to make a bunch of Scripture notecards for my upcoming craft fairs in local churches. I wanted to keep them fairly flat, clean and simple for anyone who likes to send notes in the mail. I had to resist the temptation to keep adding more elements or embellishments. I'm using the My Mind's Eye "Bright Basics" as the base for each card in the set. FYI for other craft fair enthusiasts, The card bases come in a box of 50, with five each of ten designs for about $6 with a Michael's coupon. So I'm preparing five card boxes with ten cards in each set.

The verse is from Our Daily Bread Designs. The swallowtail butterfly is an oldie from Close To My Heart. Where we live swallowtails are either yellow or dark blut/purplish. I colored mine yellow with a Copic marker Y13. The ribbon is Michael's. I used this sketch from Just Us Girls for this week:

 

 

 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

All Sorts #233 - Butterflies

Catch The Bug September Challenge - Anything Goes

Crafty Bloggers Network September Challenge - Things with Wings

Just Us Girls #205 - sketch

Lady Anne's September Challenge - Wings

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - color blue

Word Art Wednesday #96

 

 

MME Scripture Notecard #1

I want to thank my friends that prayed for me while I was in the hospital. The doctors used terms like cellulitis, ischemia, possible MRSA, to describe what seemed to happen when two of my toes became quickly, badly infected and one turned black. Using words like amputation puts real fear in the heart, enough to take it seriously, submit to all tests and blood letting, and be determined to prevent a repeat performance. The element that alleviated that fear was knowing I had many friends praying for me and that I had an all powerful, merciful God who loved me as His own child and would help me. HE had to because I've always become allergic to antibiotics. Amazingly I was able to tolerate five days of IV antibiotics before I had an allergy to one of them. In some ways, that reaction even had a good side - it helped me get on oral antibiotics and go home a little sooner.

After I'd been in the hospital a few days I went through crafting withdrawal. So todayI began a project to make a bunch of Scripture notecards for my upcoming craft fairs in local churches. I wanted to keep them fairly flat, clean and simple for anyone who likes to send notes in the mail. I had to resist the temptation to keep adding more elements or embellishments. I'm using the My Mind's Eye "Bright Basics" as the base for each card in the set. FYI for other craft fair enthusiasts, The card bases come in a box of 50, with five each of ten designs for about $6 with a Michael's coupon. So I'm preparing five card boxes with ten cards in each set.

Here's the first one:

I used two Spellbinders dies, Classic Scallop Rectangles Nestabilities and Foliage Two. The stamp sets are Our Daily Bread's "Scripture Collection2" and Close to My Heart's "Love Blooms" for the two-step rose stamp.  Three bitty sparkles added the finishing touch to the rose.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Aud Sentiments Challenge #88 - Any Sentiment
Blogger's Challenge - To Die For
DRS Designs #86 - It's So BRIGHT In Here (neon colors)
Inspire Me Fridays #119 - Anything Goes
Quick Quotes Friday Challenge #31 - Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge #22 - Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #96 - Anything goes with Scripture or encouraging verse

Twist of Faith #33 - Birthday Card

This week at Twist of Faith our challenge is:

BIRTHDAYS!

Your creation should also include a scripture,

uplifting verse or positive words/quote

Our sponsor, Beccy's Place, is offering our randomly drawn prize winner their choice of three images from the Beccy's Place collection!

 

I used one of Beccy's images called Daffodils in a Teapot. My yard is full of many varieties of daffodils blooming right now, scattered about in different places. When I was deciding what colors to use, I was looking outside my kitchen window and saw the bright pink and blue hyacinths and couldn't resist using the same palette. I also used a sketch from Viva La Verve for April, Week 2:

 

 

 

 

I used a sentiment from Close To My Heart on the outside and two sentiments from Our Daily Bread Designs "Happy Birthday" set that I like to use on the inside:

 

 

I made the two buttons a little different this time. I chose two that had a recessed center area. I took two tiny yellow flower embellishments form Close To My Heart and adhered them over the holes. 

 

Thank you for visiting. Please consider joining our Birthday Challenge this week. I'd love to see what you create!

 

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps #54 - Birthday card with Birthday Sentiment
Beccy's Place April Challenge - April Showers Bring May Flowers (using her images)

Crafting by Design - Spring Flowers

Digi Darla #58 - Garden/Flowers

Dream Valley #54 - Happy Birthday

Paper Pretties #253 - Buttons

Simon Says Stamp - April showers or Spring Flowers

Victorine Originals #57 - Springtime Flowers or Colors

 

PSC73 - Sympathy or Thinking of You

This week at The PerfectSentiments Challenge #73 we’d like you to create a card with a sentiment of Sympathy or Thinking of You.

Our sponsor this week is Robyn's Fetish who will award 5 free digis to a lucky winner. Many of our design team used digis from Robyn's Fetish in their cards today. Be sure you check them out.

 

Easter Sunday I saw the first daffodil open in my yard. Today I saw more. There is something so soothing and exciting when new life emerges in the spring. I seem to need a lot of sympathy cards for older adults, so I chose to make one with a floral image from Graphic 45's Botanicabella paper pack. I chose my color palette from those blooming bulbs.

 

The background cardstock was embossed with the Cuttlebug folder called "Poppies" which also came with a strip of embossing folder that I used on the Petal cardstock strip. I used three dies made by Spellbinder's Nestabilities. The reddish Tulip cardstock was cut with the Lacey Ovals.  I used a very dark purple Bazzill to cut the Fleur de Lis Rectangle and the Colonial White journaling spot was cut with their Scalloped Oval. The sentiment is from Close To My Heart.

 

The sketch came from Mojo Monday's Contest sketch #287.

 

Thank you for visiting. Now I'd love to see your creations at The Perfect Sentiments Challenge.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Mojo Monday #287 - sketch

City Crafter #153 - anything goes plus special item- mine is from Linda's - embossing folders

LEJ Designs #47 - Your favorite style (vintage)

Lexi's Creations #87 - punches or DIES

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes ( I didn't use optional extra kraft cs)

 

 

Snowy Weather, Snowy Christmas Cards

Yesterday we had a blizzard with 45 to 55 mile an hour winds blowing the 3 or 4 inches of snow that came down. I never would have made a prairie wife in the 1800's. The sound of the wind constantly blowing drives me crazy! Since I live in the country with no other houses nearby, the wind scours the snow of the hills and whips it into deep drifts. I took my mind off of the wind by writing messages in Christmas cards. That's when I realized I needed even more!

Today it's sunny but too cold to go outside. Our roads are either drifted shut or frozen sheets of ice. I decided to play "catch-up" by pulling out odd scraps of designer paper, shapes I'd previously cut or embossed, images I had stamped or printed. It's a quick way to creatively match different ones to make quick cards.  I had stored the scraps in two plastic ziplock bags according to size. Also, I mostly used pre-printed boxed backgrounds. Another quick trick. I made 6 cards before I knew it!

Here's the first card:

I had colored and fussy cut several of these snowmen one night while watching TV. It's from a really old Close To My Heart acrylic stamp. The black shape is from Cricut Art Philosophy when I cut several in different sizes not know which size I'd need. I had also cut extra cream strips that were embossed with snowflakes a couple of weeks ago. The shiny ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon. The word is from a zip strip cut off the edge of a piece of CTMH Pear and Partridge paper. I used my favorite punch for these cards - the Martha Stewart snowflake punch - with a center made from CTMH Silver Glitz Glitter Glue.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Robyn's Fetish #138 - Snowmen
Crafty Sentiments - Glitter
ABC Christmas - Y - Your Favorite Die or Punch (snowflake die in the winter!)
Crafting for All Seasons - Red and Green with glitter/sparkles
Crafts and Me - Winter Wonderland
Paper Pretties Wednesday #237 - Glitter