Sunday Contemplations

Most of the time, my blog will be about stamping, but at times I'd also like to share things that I've learned or read through my walk with My Saviour Jesus Christ. I don't intend to "preach" to anyone, and I do not proclaim to be an authority on the subject by any means, I'm still an "infant Christian" - I have grown a lot over the past two years but have so much more growing to do.

I am just completely amazed at the awesome things that have become so clear to me since I've opened my heart to Jesus and have started trying to become more like Him, and I want to share it with everyone. Whether you choose to read it or not, is up to you. But I will tell you that my life has been incredibly changed for the better since I've become part of the family of Christ and keeps getting better as I give more of my time to Him and try to listen to Him more and let Him guide me.

Like I said, I am not good at putting things into words of my own, but I read alot and will share things that really speak to me or make an impact on my life in some way. I highly recommend the book "A Purpose Driven Life" written by Rick Warren. That book alone truly changed my life, before I even really started reading the Bible. I will share parts from that book at some point, but for now I'm sharing a couple of excerpts from a daily devotional publication called "The Word For You Today", which I receive as a gift from WPFF "Today's Christian Music" radio station in our area.

The first devotion references Romans 1:17 which reads in the NIV Bible: "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "the righteous will live by faith". The devotional quotes it from the NCV Bible as "It begins and ends with faith...those who are right with God...live by faith."

Stop Worrying!

A man who maintained he'd swallowed a horse was referred to a psychiatrist who recommended surgery. The surgeon agreed to bring a horse into the operating room so that when the man woke up he'd know the operation was a success. But after regaining consciousness the man opened his eyes and announced, "That's the wrong horse. It's white. The one I swallowed was black!" Too much anxiety and not enough reality - it's why Christ talks to us so much about worry (which means divided or distracted).

Understand this - Worry:

(a) Wastes your time and energy. Jesus said, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:27 NIV). It's a medically proven fact that worry won't lengthen or enrich your life, but it can shorten it.

(b) Stops you from enjoying what you have. How? By creating burdens God never intended you to carry - because they are His.

(c) Makes you feel less-than. Jesus pointed out that you're worth much more than the birds of the air, and they don't worry or die from hunger; they simply enjoy life. Come on, if God takes care of them, don't you think He'll take care of you too?

(d) Makes you overlook God's promises. "If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line...by sending his...Son, is there anything else he wouldn't...do for us? (Romans 8:32 TM) Note the word "anything." That covers whatever you're going through right now, plus whatever comes up in the future. So stop worrying.

I know, that is much easier said than done, and I still worry way too much, but having faith in God's promises has helped me learn to give it up to Him more and to not worry quite so much, especially with things that are out of my control (which really is just about everything, right?).

The second devotion I'd like to share today references Psalm 25:16 (NIV): Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.

The cure for loneliness

Loneliness can make you do things you wouldn't ordinarily consider. And if you travel for a living you're particularly vulnerable. For example, a motel room far from home can become the breeding ground for affairs, pornography, drugs and alcohol. God said, "It is not good that man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18 NKJV). Being in the wrong place at the wrong time has caused many a man and woman to fall. David prayed "Turn to me and be gracious...for I am lonely."

You can live beyond Satan's reach by:

(1) Staying close to God. When you're lonely, distancing from Him doesn't make sense. Jesus said: "I am the vine...you are the branches...you cannot do anything without me" (John 15:5 CEV). Jesus is your source of strength and wisdom; He's the One who can meet all your needs.

(2) Coming out of hiding. Get involved in some aspect of ministry. Be willing to be more transparent by getting to know others and letting them get to know you. When you spend time around people who care about you, loneliness ceases to be an issue.

(3) Reaching out. Focusing on yourself is a guaranteed way to feel isolated. Winston Churchill siad, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." Instead of throwing a pity-party for yourself, reach out to those in need by giving of yourself, praying for them and loving them unconditionally.

(4) Forgiving those who've hurt you. Feeling sorry for yourself and harboring grudges leads to bitterness. Forgive, turn it over to God, let Him deal with the offender and get on with your life!

I think we all struggle with loneliness at times, some of us more than others. But when you realize that God is always with you, always loves you, that you can always go to Him, cast your cares upon Him,and trust Him to provide for you, even through your loneliness, it won't be as hard to endure those times.

If you have read this long post, thank you and I hope you've enjoyed it or gotten something from it - if you have any questions or would like to discuss any of the points further, please feel free to contact me.

I wish you all blessings and joy!

Look Ma....No Stamps!!!!

So, yeah, believe it or not this card has NO stamping! And you know what? It took even longer to make than a stamped card!! I guess that's mainly because I didn't copy it at all, I started from "scratch", with nothing at all in mind, other than a piece of patterned paper that I've been wanting to use. I really wanted to use the paper without cutting out one of the scallops, but the scale of them just didn't allow for it. As it is, this card had to be made bigger than my usual quarter-fold size, so it's once again a 5.5" X 5.5" square card.

Here is a picture of it on top of the sheet of patterned paper that I cut the scallop out of. I love this paper and love all the colors together. The pictures don't do the color justice at all, in fact on the card the green in the scalloped piece looks alot lighter - in real life the green of that matches the Old Olive card stock used on the scallop border perfectly. I'm really lacking in my camera and scanner skills!!! Sorry.

I probably should have saved this paper for a scrapbook page, in case I ever get back to doing those again, but I had really bought it, a long time ago, with card-making in mind. So I cut out one of the scallop circles, even though that isn't the direction I wanted to go when I started. I knew I wanted to use some white details so thought of my Sale-A-Bration rub-ons. I used a flower border piece from the rub-ons on the right said of the front panel. I cut out the scallop from the patterned paper and then I cut out the brown & green flower from the center. I used foam dots to pop up the scallop on the card, then punched out Chocolate Chip cardstock using SU's scallop circle punch and put that over the "hole" in the middle created when I cut out the little flower. I used foam tape to pop that up from the center a bit. I also pierced holes in each scallop and used a white gel pen to outline them.

I used a cute white brad in the middle of the flower I cut out, the brad was given to me by my stampin' sis Kathy, not sure where she got them but it really was perfect for this card - Thanks, Sis! I used the SU slit punch to punch out a border from Old Olive card stock, cut the bottom of the card front off and applied the scallop border behind the bottom edge. I don't like how there is a small portion of a scallop on each end of the border, but it looked worse to have a portion of one scallop on one end. I also used a rub-on to put the sentiment "thinking of you" on the bottom of the inside panel of the card, which shows below the scalloped border. This looks great, but it doesn't allow for the card to be stood up since one side is shorter. Which also made it difficult to take pictures of it!

I didn't finish off the inside yet, but I would put a white panel in it, and just cut it short so that it won't show at the bottom of the card.

I really like how the card looks, but I don't like how the pictures turned out at all, so here is a scan of it, which shows the colors a little better, but still not great.

Well, I'm in "stepmom mode" here this weekend, got the three kiddos here, and Joe is working today, so I need to go find something for breakfast and spend some time with them. Thanks for looking at my blog and hope you like the "no stamps" card! It's definitely a departure from my normal card,
but was fun to make!

Have a wonderful day!

Ok, Ok......Enough Already!!!!

Enough with the SNOW that is!!! WOW! Our yard has HUGE drifts, more than I've seen in all the time we've lived here! It's insane! I am so ready for Spring. It's getting to the point that I get depressed when I see it start to snow again! I was so glad Joe wasn't working this morning - I know I wouldn't have gotten to work on my own. Even with him driving,we got stuck at the end of our road. Ughhhh!
At this rate we might have Spring in July. I said *might*! That's life in good old Upper Michigan for ya, eh?!?!

Look at this, this is looking out of the back door of our garage, look at that drift! WOW! I still remember having more snow than this when I was a kid, but this is the most we've had in a long long time. As far as I'm concerned, it can stop ANY TIME!!!!

So anyway, I was determined to get a card made tonight that I could post. I did, though I am not all that pleased with it, but darn it, I'm going to put it up anyway. It just amazes me that I can have a clear idea of what I want to stamp when I go down to my stamp room, but end up with something so totally different when I'm done!

It all started when I looked at one of my favorite blogs, kwernerdesign (Kristina Werner) I just love her work, it's very different from mine, very clean and simple - I tend to "overdo" everything. She is a professional designer and makes gorgeous cards. And she does these awesome videos on YouTube where she will make cards and show different tips and techniques. They are so fun to watch. I encourage you to check out her blog. She does a "Make a Card Monday" video every week. I watched today's before I went down to stamp and wanted to "CASE" (Copy and Share/Steal Everything) her card. I thought I would do something with flowers since that was the only thing I had in tiny images like she used.

Then I started looking at my patterned paper and found some really pretty snowflake paper and thought "why not do something with snowflakes", since I knew I was going to be posting our SNOW pictures also tonight. However, the snowflake stamp I wanted to use was too big so I had to make bigger circle "windows", therefore I needed to make a bigger card (5.5" X 5.5"). And then I tried to emboss the snowflakes in white and rub on chalks in colors to match the patterned paper, but the snowflakes just wouldn't show up enough so I had to just stamp them in matching colors. Grrrrrr.

Oh well, this is how it turned out and I do like it, just not totally pleased with it. I wish I had ribbon that matched better. Oh, I do want to mention though that one of the older videos I watched from kwernerdesignblog showed how she ties ribbon around her cards in a pretty knot, and I've tried several times (unsuccessfully) to do it like she showed but I do believe that tonight I finally got it right, or at least *close* to as good as hers! I was thrilled to have that part turn out so well!

I have so much to learn with this blogging thing. Also, my pictures turned out horrible tonight. I am such a bad photographer!! And my camera is old. I tried the trick using the two pieces of white cardboard as a backdrop but it still didn't turn out too well. And I just didn't have time to fuss with it tonight. So I scanned my card as well. I prefer to see cards that are photographed rather than scanned, they just look nicer in my opinion, but at least you can see my card better here than the pics I took tonight, and the colors show up more true to real life.

I also need to learn how to make a word in my text show up as a link that you can click on, I wanted to do that to give you a link to the blog I mentioned tonight, but just can't figure it out, so I will post a link here at the bottom. You should really go check Kristina's blog out though, it's really awesome!

http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/index.html

I want to thank everyone who left comments for me on my very first post! It was so fun to read them all! Thanks for all the nice words!! I hope to get better at this as time goes on, and as my limited "free time" permits. Thanks for your patience with my rambling for now till I get the hang of things. I also have fixed it now so you don't have to set up a Google account in order to comment - I didn't know it was set that way, Sorry!!! I also eventually want to set up a button so you can subscribe and get email updates when I have a new post, but I haven't figured that out yet either. All in due time I guess!

Well, I enjoyed stamping tonight, even though it was a quick one, and now have spent over an hour on this post and it's time for bed! Just not enough hours in the day, is there? Oh well, as long as it doesn't SNOW anymore tonight, I'll be happy!! ;-)

On that note, I'll leave you with one more picture - of our little wishing well (well cover) in our front yard. It's quite tall and is pretty much BURIED now.
Thanks for looking and reading, take care and stay warm!

Well...here goes....

Hello!!

Well, I set up this blog back in December, and have tried to post a couple of times but never quite got it together enough to submit it. I have been wanting to do this for a while now, but am not sure how often I'll be able to post and what all I will be posting about. I have alot of things I'd like to share - my stamping creations, things I'm learning as a new Christian, thoughts about things that happen in my life and in the world. We'll see how it goes. I just ask for patience for now, till I get my feet under me here. I have been putting a lot of thought into what to write about and then finally decided just to dive in and get it started and see where it takes me!

I don't have much time right now even, so for my first posting I'm going to share some of my Valentine's Day creations with you all. I read a lot of stamping blogs and I know that I can not compete with them in any way, but I thought this would be a good way to share my projects with my family and friends (and hopefully some people outside of my little corner of the world as well). Please leave me a comment if you are reading this, if for no other reason than to say "Hi, I read your post!" - because if no one is going to be looking, I won't keep doing this.

I will also not always be able to post things as I make them, since most of what I make, due to very limited amounts of "free time" for stamping, will be to send to somebody that will likely see this blog, and therefore I won't want to post a picture of it till after they have received it. Which is why I didn't share these Valentine's Day creations sooner. But anyway, here they are.....I will be back
soon to share some "contemplations"! :-)


Here is a Valentine's Day card I made using the new SU set "Happy Heart Day". The images from that set are adorable! This is a 5.5" square card. I did a technique called "paper piecing" on the elephant. I embossed it using black embossing powder onto patterned paper (retired SU) and cut it out and then glued it on top of the entire image that I had stamped onto the white card stock. Then I colored in the flowers and grass with my aquapainter and ink. The butterfly is cut out and popped up with a foam dot and "glitterfied". Used the new wide grosgrain SU ribbon in Chocolate Chip. I cut the Regal Rose layer with scalloped edge scissors. Nothing too original here, but I think it turned out pretty cute! Lots of layers to it and it's not one I'd make many of, I only made this one and one for my stampin' sis Kathy.


And here are a couple treat packages I made with the same stamp set. I love the color combo of pink and brown, so had to find some brown candy to use. Here I used Whoppers and in some I also used Milk Duds. I used the mouse image this time and cut out the heart and put Pretty in Pink cardstock behind the cut out and also stamped the words on Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose card stock and cut out each word and attached over the words from the original stamped image. I also cut out that teeny tiny flower from the heart and put a tiny rhinestone in the center. Gotta have some "bling", right? The little bag just has a tag which says "Happy Valentine's Day" from the same set and then used the scallop punch and layered on a circle punch out with the flower from the Happy Heart Day set and tied it with some of the Regal Rose wide grosgrain.



This is another card I did using Real Red and Regal Rose card stock and inks, and then a tiny glass jar I made using the new rub-ons from Stampin' Up! These ones are out of the Sale A Bration brochure and can be received FREE with a $50.00 purchase thru March 17th! I had purchased the little jars at Michaels at Christmas time and never got around to using them. I thought they would be cute to give as a gift with some candy in them and then could later be used to store tiny embellishments or something like that. The scallop circle punch fit perfectly on the top.




I also did this one using the BROWN rub-ons! They are so fun!

I have one more Valentine's project to share but I'll leave that for next time as this post has gotten quite long already and it will need quite a bit of explanation.



I hope you will come back to my blog again, I will not only be posting about stamping, I have a variety of things I'd like to share. I am not sure if I will keep this up or not but want to give it a try. Please bear with me as this is all new to me and I'm having a hard time figuring it all out!

Thanks for visiting and please remember to leave a comment letting me know you were here!