Christmas Cards - Surrounded with Music

I've been considering how to share the many ideas that flooded my mind when I saw the challenge at the Path of Positivity: Surround Yourself with Music. I especially identify with the idea of "surrounding myself" when it comes to music. I've worked on several Christmas cards to express Christmas joy using a music theme because singing carols was always a big part of my life.

As a child we would have a children's choir to sing in church Christmas programs. In Girl Scouts, we sang carols and served cookies to elderly folks in nursing homes. As a teen I sang in school choirs and learned I could sing alto to the familiar carols and popular Christmas songs. My mom would have my friend who lived next door, a soprano, come over so the two of us could serenade her acappella with Christmas songs. Our amazing music teacher taught us so many songs with a Christian message back then. My friend became a music teacher and greatly influenced my music choices. While living there I fell in love with classical music and keep that on in my car to relax me and in my craft room  to inspire my artwork.

In college, a professor convinced me I was a soprano and taught me how to stretch my vocal chords, which helped me in the years I taught in Christian schools. I was the teacher who led the children's singing in Christian programs in two of the schools.
When I was a teacher in public school, we would put classical cd's in our computers to play soft classical Mozart to help the kids calm themselves and focus. It really worked! It does the same for me, now, too!

It's probably no surprise, then, that I keep a separate box of just music related papers and embellishments to use on crafts.  Here are two cards I made celebrating music and Christmas! This first one uses CTMH Beary Christmas paper and an old carol from the back of a Graphic 45 paper I had cut up. Since it was called "The Holly and the Ivy," I embossed the top with a holly embossing folder.

The second one uses papers from long-retired Mistletoe papers and a more recently retired PML card of carolers, all from CTMH.

I hope you, too, find that music uplifts your spirit when you need it and find wonderful ways to enjoy Christmas carols this season as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm sharing this post with the following challenges:
Aud Sentiments #194 - Christmas + A Sentiment (2nd card)
Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Anything goes with a CTMH product
International Art & Soul Challenge #22 - Buttons and Bows (first card)
Moving Along with the Times #59 -  Christmas Animals (2nd card)
Path of Positivity Challenge #53 - Surround yourself with music (optional)

Path of Positivity Challenge #39 - Confidence to Shine

Path of Positivity is focusing on Confidence this month. What a great theme for an Olympics year! The designers have concisely discussed the aspects of developing and using confidence in life. Ideas worth visiting at any age, equally beneficial for parents, grandparents, and teachers who encourage young people.

The first thing that always comes into my mind when I think of confidence is the verse in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Knowing I'm not alone in any challenging situation is a big confidence booster! I began developing dreams and goals by age 12 and wanted to do my best in everything. Playing the flute in band was one of the areas that required confidence. When we started at the end of 4th grade, we had a band instructor who was very negative with the youngest students. He was impatient making us try a section AGAIN to try to get it right. His anger may have been a reason I was so reluctant to practice. By 6th grade several of us were supposed to play up on stage for a parent meeting. I was so nervous, especially when my friend next to me fainted during practice.
By 7th grade I had an amazing band and vocal music instructor, one of the best teachers I ever had. He encouraged us, never got angry over mistakes, showed us the value of repetition and practice. Everyone wanted to please Mr. Bortz and get it right. By that age I prayed a lot for God to help me do my best. I could see that He had given me many talents and didn't want to be big-headed like a few kids I knew, acting like know-it-alls. I also wanted to use those God-given abilities to their fullest extent and that took a confidence in God's help during difficulty as well as in the abilities He had blessed me with.
Mr. Bortz gave me a piccolo to play in concerts and marching band. How surprised I was when he had me stand during a concert when it came time for the piccolo part. I had been perfectly happy to play my flute and be drowned out by trumpets, trombones, and drums. Suddenly it was my time to be heard and to shine. My shy self still felt pretty nervous at the attention, but such experiences were important in developing the confidence I would need as an adult, to know someday that I could do anything because of desire, talent, preparation, and help from God. Confidence is believing in the abilities He's given us to develop and relying on Him to overcome difficulties that unexpectedly or inevitably arise along the way.

With the Olympics entertaining the world this month, I keep remembering the Winter Olympics of 1984. The first events I was really passionate about were all of the ice skating events. As a guest designer this month I have the privilege of using this skater image from Ike's Art.  I also designed my card by using the colors from Pals Paper Arts and rotating this Sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday:

Thank you for visiting! May you let your talents shine and leave a little sparkle on all those around you as you encourage them to shine, too!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge #175: Buttons and Bows
Craft Rocket Challenge #21 - Glitzy Glitter
My Time to Craft #327 - Embossing
Pals Paper Arts #313 - Pink, Taupe, Peach
Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2-95 - Sketch
The Paper Shelter #259 - punches and dies
Word Art Wednesday #242-243 - family friendly - anything goes

6.5" x 5" Card Recipe:
Papers - CTMH White Daisy, Slate, and White and Pink Glitter Cardstocks, pink watercolor background paper from Calypso;  Recollections peach glitter cardstock,
Markers - Copics: RV00, R81, R83; YR02, YR61 (dress and its flowers), E0000, E000, E00 (skin); W-1, W5, N2 (skates and hair);
Embellishments - CTMH white glitter buttons, white organdy ribbon; Tim Holtz Small Talk stickers
Tools - Cuttlebug snow embossing folder; Martha Stewart snowflake punch, Our Daily Bread Designs "Lavish Layers" rectangle die (slate mat); Sakura Gelly Roll gliter pen (dress details); CTMH Thin 3-D Foam Tape

Path of Positivity Challenge #40 - Confidence

This month I'm a guest designer for the Path of Positivity Challenge Blog. They have wonderful challenges that focus on a quality of positive character. The focus this month is Confidence.

School starts this month where we live. I was a teacher for 30 years, usually teaching reading to the youngest students, so this time of year my thoughts still center on school days.  On the first day of school some of the kindergartners would cry as their moms dropped them off. I remembered how shy I was when I first began school. I don't think my family knew that I was so shy I didn't even talk to anyone at recess. I always played by myself. My third grade teacher wisely directed me into a group of girls who played hopscotch or jumped rope on the playground and I learned to make friends.

When I made this card I was thinking about a young lady who used to scrapbook with us for several years. She's the shy type, too. She's moving from small-town Missouri to Manhattan in New York to go to college. I'm praying for her to have the confidence she needs to meet each new experience, each new challenge.

The first sponsor this month is Scribbles Designs. They will award $10 worth of digital stamps from Scribbles Designs for the post or project that seems most inspiring of the bunch.

I chose a fish image from Scribbles Designs.

It was hard to photograph the glittery effect I brushed on the orange areas with a shimmer brush, but maybe you get the idea.

Challenge Details:

PRIZE INFORMATION:

• $10 worth of digital stamps from Scribbles Designs, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that deems most inspiring of the bunch.
• A $15 gift certificate from Ike's Art, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.

There will also be:

• A small selection of digital designer papers from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky person who leaves a comment on posts published during the challenge time frame.
• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge.

Thank you for visiting! I hope you will join us at Path of Positivity with your project about CONFIDENCE!  Come back August 15th to see our projects using Ike's Art!


I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:


All Sorts #374 - A touch of sparkle (used glittery Shimmer Mist)
Broken Fairy Designs Challenge #7 - anything goes/twist-embossing
Cardz 4 Galz #27 - No patterned paper
Julia Spiri Challenge #22 - anything goes/twist-beach or sea
Pattie's Creations Designs Challenge #124 - Make a Splash - include water

Mojo 442 Amazing Grace Encouragement Card

This month at Path of Positivity the focus is on GRACE. This word has many different meanings, but I chose to focus on the Grace of God. I've been reading a book by John McArthur called, At the Throne of Grace. I had found it at the library and enjoyed it so much I ordered my own copy at Amazon. It has scriptures and prayers from 52 of his Sunday services. I like a definition of grace he has on his website: Common grace is a term theologians use to describe the goodness of God to all mankind universally.

When I was young I don't think I understood the far-reaching impact of this concept. Now its something I think about often, that God's loving kindness extends to us even when we don't deserve it;. That's why I chose the Verve sentiment I stamped today: Amazing grace will bring us through. I want this card to encourage someone with the realization that no matter what happens to us in life, God's care and loving kindness will comfort and sustain us.

I was inspired to make this card by several challenges. The sketch from Mojo Monday 442 and the color palette at Color Throwdown #387:

The sentiment phrase "Amazing Grace" made me think about the famous hymn of that name, so I chose the pale yellow paper with a musical theme for the stitched square die cut, although I don't know its source.  The background aqua paper and orange polka dot strip are from  My Mind's Eye "Bloom and Grow," and the red plaid is a Basic Grey "Lauderdale" paper. 

On the inside I added the beautiful truth the Lord told Paul, "'My grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Thank you for visiting. May you grow and flourish in the beauty, knowledge, and comfort of God's grace.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

ABC Challenge - E is for Everything

Color Throwdown #387 - aqua, red, orange, yellow 

Crafting from the Heart #106 - Anything goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper April challenge - anything goes with patterned paper

Mojo Monday #442 - sketch

Path of Positivity #37 - Grace 

Sisters of Craft - anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #224-225 - anything uplifting