A little Something Special......

Good afternoon Y'all!    It sure is a rainy, stormy day here in my neck of the woods today.   It stormed most of the night.   And kept up all day, so far, and the weather is supposed to be even worse a little later on this evening.  And then we are in for more of the same tomorrow.   I pray for everyone to stay safe.   

I think I may have mentioned to y'all that my Mom got a Kindle here back.   She is really enjoying it.   When my husband and I went up to see her here back, right after she had gotten it, he was looking at it and trying to learn a little bit about it and when he learned something, he would show my Mom.   She's one smart cookie and a quick learner.   If she has an interest it, it doesn't make any difference what it is, she is determined to learn it.  She had taken some pictures with it and I asked her if she had made a video of anything yet.   She said she hadn't figured out how to make a video so my husband was looking at it and she was watching what he was doing.   He finally figured out how to make a video.   

The problem is, I wanted a copy of the video and didn't know how to get it from her Kindle to my lap top.   I had the proper hook up in my purse all along and just didn't realize it.   So, I didn't get the video that day.   We had been up to see her a time or two since then and would forget all about it.   After church yesterday, we ran up to see her for a bit and I got the video.   And with the cords that I have in my purse for my smart phone it worked.   The cord for my phone  fit her Kindle and then it had the basic usb on the other end, with a car adapter.  When hubby got it to my lap top, the whole video was up side down.   How fitting.   When you see it, you'll understand why I said that.  ggg   He worked with it this morning and got it fixed for me.   I hope I can get loaded.

It looks like it's gonna be grainy.   I hope it works.   You want to make sure you have your volume up where you can hear it.   It is hilarious!!!   I call it "The Initiation".   I guess you can call it my 3 seconds of fame.   Who knows what kind of movie future I have, but I really believe I have one!   hahahaha   What do you think?   I hope you enjoy it!   Hey, if you can't have fun, what's the use!   hahaha

As I leave you this evening I leave you with this Holy Scripture:

Psalms 18:2  The lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I love the descriptive words that David uses to praise God, yet once again.   David spent a lifetime of praising God.  We must remember that David was far from perfect, but the scriptures say that, "David was a man after God's own heart".    David was a man who sinned greatly, but he also repented and asked God to forgive him of his sins and to restore him back into Gods favor. How much more could we possibly ever want or expect God to be in our lives.   David recognized easily, that God was his rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, horn of my salvation, and stronghold.   Who is God in your life?

I would love to challenge you, after you read this scripture, to do a little digging and find out a little more about each of the words describing who God is.   I may come back to this scripture in the future and share with you what I have learned about it, but until I do, I would love for you to search it out and then share it with the people in your life that needs to hear about God's great love for them.   If, perhaps someone is reading this, and they haven't known of God's love in their lives before now, I pray that you will accept all that God wants to do for you through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Until we meet again, right here, just know that God loves y'all, and so do I.   Much love and hugs, Patty

Some Pictures, Then and Now

Good afternoon Y'all!    I do pray that this beautiful day finds everyone well and happy and with a heart full of joy.    The "sun" is shining bright outside and the "Son" is shining even brighter inside!!!    Hallelujah, Christ Jesus is alive today!!!    Does that make you excited?    It sure does me.   

I can finally say that I believe I am on the upswing of this round of vertigo, y'all!     I haven't driven yet, but I will try to in a little while.    I need to get my allergy shots today and since that is pretty close to where I live, I will give it a try.    I do hope I can get my wheels back under me.    I feel totally cut off when I can't drive, but I always want to be safe, so, I opt to stay home when I feel it may be best for me to do so.    I still have a bit of congestion, but hopefully that will leave pretty soon.

I mentioned it being beautiful here.    It really is!     I just wish I could get out and enjoy it more than I can.    But, I do sneak out once in a while and take a few pictures.     And I did yesterday morning.     It had sprinkled a bit over night but was clear and dry when I went out.    Back on March 3rd we had a winter ice and snow storm and I took pictures then.    Yesterday, just purely coincidental, I took a picture of something I had taken a picture of on March 3rd.    What a difference less than two months make!    

The above pic was taken on March 3rd., 2014.  Just a sad, cold, snow covered little bush.

Now look at it!!!!   It is beautiful.   It smells heavenly!   It is an absolute work of art.   Oh, what a difference a few days make!   Way less than two months and it is gorgeous.

This one is my favorite shot.   I don't know why it is, but it is.   I can almost smell it when I look at this picture.

As I was enjoying the trip to get my allergy shots, I started thinking about a Sunday School lesson I taught back in February on the creation and how God had a plan and a purpose in mind when He spoke everything in being.    Once God spoke everything in to being, He then started giving form and shape; separating everything to where it was going to be fitting for His greatest creation, man.    God was very methodical and purposeful about everything He created.    Notice, He got planet earth exactly as He wanted it before He formed man from the dust of the earth.    My own personal opinion about being created from dust, is that not one of us can look down our dusty noses at another one of God's people and think more highly of ourselves than we should.   If dust was such a high fashion item, we wouldn't be doing everything humanly possible to get it out of our homes now, would we.    Think about it.    What makes us special is the "breath of God" in the bag of dust that we walk around in.   That same "breath of God" is in each and every one of us.

Genesis 1:11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.

When you go back and examine the creation carefully and see how God worked, you see that things was well thought out and planned.    God didn't create man until He had created the perfect place for man to live.    But on the third day He created all greenery and vegetation of all kinds.    Not only does it sustain human life, but plant life sustains most all life on planet earth in one way or another.   I'm not a scientist or anything like that at all.    I'm just one person that believes that God did have a plan and a purpose for everything He created.    I am so thankful that every season on planet earth has its own beauty about it.   Spring time is the awakening of all that has been sleeping or hibernating throughout the late fall and winter.   Spring time is the time when even the tiny little weeds in our yards offer up their beautiful tiny blossoms as works of art by the hands of the Creator, Father God, Yahweh, Jehovah.  

The beauty that you see when you look out your window, or when you take a drive, or when you walk the green way, God put that there for your viewing pleasure.    Thank God for what you have seen today.    Our back yard was covered with those tiny little wild violets.   They are absolutely lovely!   Thank you God for all the beauty you have allowed me to see today.

May the rest of your day be filled with beauty of all kinds.   Thank God for all the beauty your eyes beheld today.   Praise Him above all names!

Ladybug, I pray that you have a blessed day!   Sweet pea loves you bunches!

Till we meet here again, God loves y'all and so do I.   Hugs and much love, Patty

Wishing everyone a Happy Resurrection Sunday and a Project

Good afternoon Y'all!   I pray that y'all are enjoying this wonderful Saturday, the day before Resurrection Sunday or Easter Sunday, as we commonly call it.   I'm sure that there is a lot of cooking taking place in homes across the world in preparation for the celebration.    I know that some of my family are cooking and getting ready for the get together at my Mother's tomorrow.   I don't know who all will be there, but I do know there will be a lot of fun taking place tomorrow.   My husband and I will not get to be there, because I am not over the vertigo issue I've had this week and my husband has had to work this weekend but he will be off tomorrow.    I am sad that we won't be there, but I know they will have a great day anyway.   More than likely I won't get to go to church tomorrow.   With my husbands work and sleep schedule, he doesn't get up early enough to get to go.   But that's ok, because God knows our hearts and our motives.

We did have our Easter Cantata at church last Sunday, Palm Sunday.   It was an amazing piece of work.   Our choir is made up of about 15-16 people and you would have thought you was listening to a choir of 100.   I was in the presence of the Lord!!!   God certainly can use a small group of people that are willing to serve Him and I know they made a "joyful noise unto the Lord" last Sunday.   It has never been about the number of people who serve the Lord, but it has always been about the motive of the heart and the willingness to serve Him.   They certainly served Him in a mighty way on Palm Sunday.

During this week, I haven't got to do too much creatively but I did manage to get a card put together that I had been waiting to finish.  It took me just about all week to get it done, but I did and got it off in the mail yesterday to my friend up in Ky that gave me the Glenn Robertson prints.   I hope she gets the card and enjoys it.   I also hope I got it put together correctly.  hahaha   I hope you enjoy the pictures.

I used an embossing folder on the purple background.  It stands out a bit and I liked the way it looked.

I used a spellbinder die to cut around my Iris.   The Iris is a stamp from Crafters Companion.   I really like it a lot.

I took a couple of small pieces of cardstock and made the layer and then the stamped image and popped it on with pop dots,

The finishing touch is an easel to set it on.

I colored this Iris with a combination of Spectrum Noir markers and my water color pencils.   It most assuredly is NOT perfect, but I liked the outcome enough that I was willing to give it to a special friend.   I hope you have enjoyed looking at my project.
      
I pray that everyone has a Happy Easter in remembering the cross is empty, the stone is rolled away from the tomb, and our Master is not in the grave.   The grave clothes are lying in the corner and the napkin that was on his face is folded neatly and placed where His head had lain.   The folded napkin represents that the Master is coming back to His place at the table.    And HE did!!!    He was with His friends and followers for 40 days!    More than 500 people were eyewitnesses to the fact that He's Alive!!!  He's Alive!!!  He's Alive!!!   After 40 days, He ascended into Heaven to be with the Father, just waiting for the Father to say, "Go get them Son, bring them Home!"  There isn't an obituary any where for Him!    There's no grave marker!    There's no head stone!    Those things are needed only for the dead and NOT the living!   He's Alive!!!   He's sitting at the right hand of the Father pleading on behalf of each one of us.   When the accuser comes before God and tries to accuse any of God's own children, of something, our Jesus is sitting beside Abba Daddy saying, "I covered that!"  "Look again Father, My blood is covering that!"   "Nope, that's not so Daddy, I took the stripes to cover that!"   To know that we have a friend that would take the stripes that actually had our names on them, is almost beyond comprehension!     The best part of the story, the napkin is still folded and awaiting the Master's return and "He is coming again"!!!!!!!!!!

I am so thankful that the enemy can't accuse me of sin anymore and get away with it, aren't you?   If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the enemy can't accuse you any more either!    Jesus Christ is our risen Lord and Savior!   That has to be the focus of our lives, otherwise the enemy, the accuser will steal our joy.   Lets not let him steal one more second of our joy.   There is a lot of pain and sickness in this life but we don't have to deal with it alone.   We have Jesus Christ that knows all about it and then we have each other.    May we find strength in our Lord and Savior and in our brothers and sisters in Christ!

Happy Easter, Happy Resurrection Morning!!!!   I pray that even if it's raining tomorrow, the "Son" is shining in your heart!

Ladybug, Sweet pea sure loves you and hopes you have a wonderful Easter!

God loves Y'all and so do I!   Happy Easter!   hugs and much love, Patty

New Project

Good afternoon Y'all!   I pray that this update finds each and every one of y'all in a great way!   I hope the weather is pleasant where you are and that Spring is full on.   I know that some are still dealing with snow and ice and all kinds of weird weather, but I still believe God is in control of all of it.   If nothing else, this past Winter and early Spring is proving that God certainly has a sense of humor.   So much for "global warming"!   In a couple of months, we will have forgotten all about the up and down carnival ride we have had with the weather and we will be complaining about how hot it is.   Just you wait and see.   hahaha

The growing and blooming of all things Spring, as beautiful as it is, it has awaken my allergies and I am in a pickle with them.   When I get a little head congestion it seems as if my vertigo kicks in and I'm dizzy and nauseous and not very steady on my feet.   I have had minor symptoms for a couple of weeks but this week it has ramped up and I'm in a bad place with vertigo.   I just get in my nest when my husband leaves for work and that's pretty much where I stay.   I can get up and do around a little, but not very much and I get unsteady on my feet and very nauseous.   I do cherish your prayers as I try to get back on my feet.

I went to a baby shower over the weekend for a dear friend of mine who is gonna be a grandma for the first time.   It was such a lovely shower.   Lots of people and lots of wonderful gifts for the baby.   I never seen as much stuff.   I have been praying that she gets everything she needs for the short term, anyway.   There may be an item or two that she still needs, but hopefully, when all is said and done, she will have enough gift cards and cash to put towards what she still needs.

I made a tag similar to the one I made earlier for a bridal shower.   I am loving this steel rule postage stamp die from Sizzix.   It is wonderful for a tag.  I always make mine three layers thick, so it is beefier, much beefier than a one layer tag.   I use deco cardstock for both sides and a piece of chipboard/cereal box on the inside.   I run both pieces of deco cardstock thru my 510 Xyron machine.   Apply both pieces to the chipboard and then cut out my postage stamp tag.   I am not advising you to do yours like I did.   I am just telling that's how I did mine.   Once I get it cut out, I use a marker closest to the color of deco cardstock and color the edge all around the tag so no white is showing.   I punch a hole in one corner for all the threads and ribbons to loop thru.   I love to use a crackle background stamp and stamp all over one side of it.   Then I use what ever stamps I want to use and put images or sayings on it.   Then I love to make rosettes and put them on my tag.   For this particular one, I made an envelope with my envelope maker, the size of a gift card,  and put it on the back to put my gift in.   I did take a few pics and I hope you enjoy looking.

My baby images did not stand out really well because my background was really dark.   But, I still really liked the finished outcome.   There are some little baby duckies punched out and popped on there.   One of my dear friends gave me that little punch and it was perfect to use to put some on the tag.

The rosette is a six pointed star rosette.   You cut two pieces and join them to make the rosette.   

I used an ink pad over the top of the rosette to add some color to it and then inked up the white spot that I put on the top.   I cut the little length of cardstock to put my punched out "congratulations" from Spellbinders.   My Cuttlebug got a lot of use with this little project. 

This is the little envelope I made to attach to the back of the tag.   I dug around and found a pre-made sticker to seal the envelope with.

I cut several pieces of ribbon and threads and looped thru the hole I punched up in the corner.   It is a quite simple project and I enjoyed making it.   It is one of those "instant gratification" projects that I love to do.   It doesn't take a long time to make, but it kinda makes a statement once you get it made.   I love learning and every time I do a project I learn something.   I definitely learned to be aware of the colors that I use for my backgrounds, otherwise, my images that I stamp may not show up very well, or at least as much as I would love for it to show up.  Anyway, this is what I done and I hope you enjoyed seeing it.

As I leave you this afternoon, I ask you, have you ever been angry, about anything?   Sure you have!   We all have!    Ok, fess up, admit it, you have been angry.   Anger is not necessarily a bad thing.   It is a normal reaction to many different situations.   But, one of the things about anger, is that it is so easy to sin while we are angry.   Most of us have really never learned how to deal with our anger and not sin.   Why is that?   Basically, because it IS NOT EASY!!!   It may be one of the hardest things that we will ever do,  is to be angry and NOT sin.    The only way we will ever have any success at "being angry and not sin" is to have a close relationship with Jesus Christ.   We certainly can not do it on our own.   But, Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus and this is what he said to them;

Ephesians 4:26-27, "26 Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and don’t give the Devil an opportunity."  

A lot of people don't put a whole lot of weight and authority in the teachings of Paul.   I believe that if we believe in Jesus Christ in any way; if we believe that any part of the Holy Scripture is God inspired, then we can't pick and choose what we believe.   We either believe it all or we believe none of it.   I personally believe that every word that Paul wrote was inspired to him personally by Jesus Christ.   Paul was an Apostle of Jesus Christ and he was adamant about correcting the heresy in the early churches.   Praise God for Paul!!!

Most of the time when we are dealing with anger, for any matter, we either suppress or express it.   Neither way is the way for Christians to deal with anger.  Suppressed anger builds up like poison and expressed anger usually involves verbal or physical attacks in some way.   Paul suggests us to recognize anger and to deal with it before the sun goes down on it.   Why in the world would Paul say "before the sun goes down on it"?   Because if you have time to stew and churn over it, it will become an even greater problem tomorrow.   Why?   If we don't deal with it before the sun goes down, then the enemy will get in on the situation and what was a petty issue will become a major situation giving you the opportunity sin.   How many lives have been lost due to unresolved anger?   How much misery exists in the world today because of unresolved anger?  Only God knows.    Every sin starts in the mind.    We have the opportunity to deal with while it is but a thought.   Give that thought to God and let Him deal with it for you.    I don't know who needed this today, besides me, but I pray that if you have an issue with anger, you will give it to the One who can deal with, because I know I can't and I doubt if you can deal with it on your own.   Let go and let God!

I hope y'all have a wonderful rest of the day and a great nights rest for a very special day tomorrow.   God love's y'all and so do I.   Please come back real soon.

I hope and pray that Ladybug is having a great week.  Sweet Pea loves you!

Much love and hugs till next time, Patty

New Project

Good morning folks!   It is an awesome and beautiful morning, here in my neck of the woods!   I pray that it is where where ever y'all are!    If it's not beautiful outside, just hang on, a few days can make a big difference.   Now, for me, with all the beauty on the outside at this particular time, my allergies are kicking up and I'm not enjoying that too much.   I just pray that it doesn't get me completely down.

Anyway, I have been telling y'all that I am behind on getting projects posted, so I thought I would get one up that I done here back.   I think I have mentioned that I want to start a nice collection of alcohol ink markers.   Well, I love Crafters Companion and placed an order a while back for a sample kit.   This kit makes a lovely tag.   In the kit you get two of the new style Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers with dual tips.   If you haven't tried these and you want to, just click on the website in my list on the left hand side and you can look for it in "what's new".    It is only $3.95 with free shipping.   Well worth the price!!!!   So, I got it a month or so ago and got my tag made.   I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the markers!!!  Here are a few pics I took.

The above pic is of everything that came in the kit.  I forgot to take the pic "before" I colored my butterflies.   Oh well, hahaha.

This is the finished tag.   Now, I'm not the greatest at blending yet, and probably won't ever be, but I'm gonna keep trying anyway.   You color one butterfly and leave it flat and then you color the other butterfly and trim it out and then glue the bottom of one body to the top of the other body and let that dry and then bend up the top wings a little to give a little dimension to the butterfly. 

This is just a little close up of the butterfly.  You can't see the dimension in this shot at all.

Now the above shot is of the ribbon.   If you remember in the very top pic, the ribbon was white.   This is where I took the chisel tip of the markers and colored the pieces of ribbon with the markers.   If I do this again, I will color the ribbon from the back side instead of the front side.  The blue done very well.  The darker the color, the less alcohol is in the ink itself, so it went on really nicely.   The yellow went on really well also.   But, being new to alcohol markers, and not having an understanding of them, I colored the ribbon yellow from the front side and with the higher alcohol content in the yellow, due to it being a lighter color , the black dots started streaking.   That is TOTALLY MY fault!!!   I didn't know what I was doing.   DO NOT hear me blaming Spectrum Noir!!!   I have a whole more to learn about these markers and what I have seen so far, I LOVE THEM!! 

This is the two markers that came with the tag.   I am so thrilled with them, that I have decided to purchase a few of the starter six pack markers.   I had four 50% off coupons a couple of weeks ago and went to Joann's and got the first four sets of my collection.   The ones at Joann's are of the older generation, they are four sided instead of eight sided.   But, I still love them.   I hope to be able to develop my blending and shading skills.

As I leave you this morning, I leave you with a favorite passage of mine.  1 Peter 2:24 says "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds (stripes) you have been healed."

We are going into the Easter season.   Our cantata is this coming Sunday morning on Palm Sunday.   When I read the Scripture above, it is a reminder that Jesus Christ has done for me what no other human on the planet could do for me.   He took my sins upon His body.   The stripes of pain that He bore on His body was what healed and cleansed me completely.  Jesus took the punishment for my sins so that I could be in a right relationship with God the Father.   We think about the cross and the tomb a lot of times when we think about what Jesus Christ has done for us.   Look up at the cross!   Jesus is not there!   Look in the tomb!   Jesus is not there!   HE IS RISEN!!!!   HE'S ALIVE!!!!  HE'S ALIVE!!!!   Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, HE"S ALIVE!!!!

I hope and pray that is the song of you heart and soul today!  He's Alive!!!!   I hope and pray that you know the healing and cleansing power of Jesus Christ.   If you don't, there's no time like the present.   Ask Jesus Christ to come into heart and life and to heal, cleanse, forgive you of all the past junk and live from this day forward with Jesus Christ at the front of everything you do.  It isn't easy to be  follower of the Way, but it is very rewarding.  The early Christians were called "Followers of the Way".   Jesus Christ is the "Way", the "Truth" and the "Life"!  And no one comes to the Father, except thru the "WAY!"

Have a wonderful rest of the day Y'all!   I'm happy you came to see me today and I hope you enjoyed your visit.   If you did, tell someone about it.

Ladybug, I hope you have a wonderful day today!  Sweet pea loves you and misses you!

God loves y'all, and so do I.  hugs and much love, Patty

A New Project and Happy Sunday

Good afternoon Y'all!   I hope and pray that where ever you happen to live on God's creation, that it's as beautiful there as it is here, in my neck of the woods, today!    It is a little cool, crisp, but it is absolutely beautiful.   The sun is shining, some of the early flowers are in full bloom, a lot of trees are blooming.  (For me, allergy season!)   Every thing is beginning to wake up from the long winter's nap.   It is refreshing, I must say.    For those of you dealing with snow and the threat of it, hang on, just a little longer, if you can.   It will be worth the wait.

Yesterday, I was fortunate to receive a beautiful cut file from the creator of this file.   It is absolutely breathtaking to look at!   Debbie, at http://paperpulse.blogspot.com/2014/04/sharing-technique-from-patty-used-for.html (she is in my list of blogs that I follow on the right hand side of the screen) has made the most beautiful design, shadow box fashion depicting the Crucifixion of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.    She is generously "giving" this file away to anyone who requests it.   You must e-mail her and ask her for it.   She has a place on her blog to email her.   It is SO very much worth asking for it, let me tell you.   She love's the Lord so much that feels she can't and shouldn't charge for it and doesn't want to see others selling it.   And I don't blame her one bit.

After she sent me the file yesterday morning, I dl-ed it to my computer and opened it up and looked at in my software and read the instruction file that came with it, and by the way, if you get this file, you MUST read the instructions, or at least you "should" read the instructions.    I was really excited about it.   I went to my art sanctuary, or the "executive suite" is what my wonderful hubby refers to it as.  ggg   Anyway, I got it all cut out before lunch.   I stopped and fixed lunch, hubby took a nap before going in to work and after he was gone off to work, I got back to my project.   I read the instructions again and prayed a little about it and started.   It didn't take very long to put it together.   I got to the last part, which is the very back piece and this is what I done differently to what Debbie done on hers.

I am gonna put up the pics and then when we get to the last one, I will tell you and it will be almost self-explanatory.   I hope you enjoy looking at the pics.

 It is really hard to get great shots of this, but I tried.

You will want to try to find a light to sit behind the box so the light shines thru.  My pics all look like b&w pics, but I assure you, they were taken in color mode.

 I love how so very realistic this is!!!  Debbie really hit this design out of the park!!

This one here is a little better in a sense, that you can see everything a little better.   You can see the colorful background in the very back.

Just a hint, if you click on a pic, it will bring them all up in a larger screen and you will see them better.

Now, the above pic shows the background of my shadow box.   Instead of putting another layer of solid white for the back, I took a piece of vellum and cut it to size and got out my little dew drops and used navy blue and eggplant and then used my Tim Holtz blending tool and just sort of smeared them around a little bit.   When I put it on the back of my shadow box, it was exactly as I hoped it would be.   It kinda reminded me of storm clouds and when Jesus Christ was on the Cross, it grew dark and was dark for three hours.   This technique, such as it is, gave me what I was looking for.   When you put  a light behind it, it really shows up as being the darkened sky that we can imagine.

Debbie, I thank you more than you can ever know for such a lovely file.   Such a powerful reminder of exactly what Christ done for me and for you and all of humanity on the Cross!!!

My Pastor touched on this a bit this morning in his sermon.   Not trying to preach his sermon, but this particular part of his message really spoke to me as something I could share here.   Jesus didn't go to the Cross for Himself, there was no reason for Him to go thru it for Himself.   He done it for us.   For us to be able to be in a right relationship with God, The Father, He went to the Cross!   In Mark 8:29 "But what about you?" Jesus asked, "Who do you say I am?"  Peter answered, "You are the Christ, Son of the Living God!!!!."   When Peter recognized Him as Christ, in essence, Peter was saying, "You are the Son of God!   You are not just a good man; not just another prophet; not just a good teacher; not Elijah; but You, YOU are The Son of God!"

When someone asks you about Jesus, who do you say He is?   Think about it.   What do you tell others about Jesus?  Who do you say Jesus is?   That is probably one of the most important questions you'll ever answer.   It will determine how you live in this life and it will determine your eternal destiny.   I haven't always answered that question like Peter, "You are the Christ".   There was a time in my life when Christ was not first place, and it showed.   Now, I'm not sayin' I'm perfect.   If you are waiting for perfection in me, you will have a long wait.   But, what I am sayin', "Christ has covered my imperfections, so much so, that when God looks at me, He sees His Son, Jesus Christ!"    Now, when you look at me, if you're looking for imperfections, oh boy, you will definitely see them.   But if you are looking at me thru the eyes of God, you'll see Jesus.   It all depends on "who you say Jesus is". 

I hope and pray that y'all have a great rest of the day!    I hope and pray that y'all have enjoyed what you have seen and read here today.  If you have, tell a friend.
I hope you come back here real soon to see what else I have been up to.  You can't never tell what you will find here.   gggg

Hey, Ladybug, Sweet Pea loves you!   God loves y'all, and so do I.   hugs, Patty

A couple of cards and a story

Good afternoon, Y'all!   I pray you are having a wonderful Thursday afternoon!   It has been raining here and supposed to have more rain tonight.   We had some bad strong storms last night, but fortunately, there was no damage.  I just hope and pray everyone stays safe and sound if you do have storms.

I wanted to share a story and a couple of projects.  It seems like I am getting more and more behind in posting my projects.  I'm trying though.  ggg

Papaw and His Tobacco

Papaw always chewed tobacco, smoked a pipe or rolled his own little cigar/cigarette type thingies.  He would take a piece of newspaper and tear off a perfect square, about 4inch by 4 inch.  He went through the same ritual every time for making his cigarettes.  He grew his own tobacco. Like most farmers, he sold the majority of his crop to get by till the next season.  But he always kept back for himself, some of the best leaves of tobacco.  With some of those big beautiful brown leaves he would make two or three or more big twists.  I know some of you have seen those and know what I am speaking of.  He really could make a fine twist.  I remember watching him make a twist and just be fascinated that he could do that.  I still really don't know how he done it.  He always told me it was magic.  To me, it really was.

He would save a few leaves for drying till there was NO moisture in them at all and then he would start pulverizing it with his thumb in an old cigar box he had.   That was the tobacco he used to put in his pipe or to roll cigar or cigarette.  If he made a cigar, he would use a brown paper bag and cut out about a 4inch by 5 inch piece.  It was just fascinating to watch him do that.  Now, if he was just gonna enjoy what he called a “chaw” of tobacco, then he would reach way down in his pocket and pull out his knife and then open his tobacco drawer on the desk that he sat by every night.  It had had tobacco in it for so many years that I don't think a stink bug could have had a chance of survival in that drawer.  But he would pull out one of those big beautiful twists and ever so gently, cut off a “plug” about the size of the end of his thumb.

I was sitting at his feet one day when I was six or seven years old, maybe younger, and had never tasted any of that stuff.  I said, “Papaw, what does that stuff taste like?”  He said, “candy.”  Mamaw was sitting in her old fashioned wooden rocking chair.  The back of it had some scroll work in it.  You could tell by looking at it that it was very old, but well cared for.  She was rocking and looked up, and said, “Jerry, cut that out!”  I asked papaw what she meant.  He said, “She's afraid you'll want some of my candy.”  I asked him,“Can I, can I have a piece of your candy?” Mamaw said, “So help me Jerry, I'll take a broom to you!  I've done it before, and you know I'll do it again, if I have too!”  He laughed really big all the while cutting me a little “chaw”.  Before she could stop me, I popped that plug of tobacco in my mouth and started chewing and swallowing because I didn't want her to stick her finger in my mouth and get it.

Papaw was sitting there watching me real closely.  His eyes started to get big and then he started laughing and I think that was about the time I started turning green.  I got so sick, boy did I ever get sick.  Mamaw ranted and raved.  Papaw said, “Now Etta, you know she'll never ask for another “chaw” as long as she lives.”  Mamaw said, “Well, you can deal with her mother!”  Papaw said, “her momma likes me, there won't be anything to deal with.”

Well, yes, my momma did like papaw.  No question about that. But...she did not like the fact that he made me sick, brought me home, and then she had to deal with all the vomiting!!

The next time I was up there papaw asked me if I wanted some more candy.  I got up went outside on the porch and got the broom carried it inside, handed it to mamaw, and said, “here, you do it, you can hit harder than I can!”  They both laughed and laughed and finally I did too.  Not knowing why I was laughing, I just knew I did not want any more of his old “Candy”!!!!!( written by pjg,2013)

Hahahaha!!!   Just another "fun little piece"...

I said earlier I was way behind in posting a lot of projects, but I do have two cards to share with y'all today.  One is a "thank you" card and the other one is a"thinking of you" card.  I enjoyed making these two cards a lot.  I hope you enjoy looking at them.

This is the first card I wanted to show y'all.   The background is a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Chicken Wire.   I love that folder!   When I embossed the background I took  a dry metallic silver ink pad and rubbed it over the embossing and it left just enough color to make the embossing pop.   I had started to toss out that dry pad many times, but hadn't, I am so glad I didn't toss it.

I have been hoping it would come to me where this design file of the "wisteria vine" came from.  I can't remember who had it as a freebie, but I will gladly put their name on here if someone can help jog my memory.  I'm really sorry I don't remember, because I LOVE this cut file!  It is amazing!  ***Update: the freebie wisteria file came from EINNEJ.  She is in the list of blogs that I follow on the right.  Click on the link that goes to her blog. It is on the FREE SVG FILES page in the left hand column.***

The little tag is cut from a Sizzix  die.  It is a square die, but I made a rectangle out of it by cutting the square and then lining the scallops up about two or three scallops up and re-cut it.  So, that made a really neat size to put my sentiment on.

After I got my wisteria vine glued to the background, I used my faux stickles to put a little "bling" on my flowers and a little on the leaves.  It was just enough to really gussie it up.

This is the second card I wanted to you.   This was a cute little stamp and I colored it with my Marvy Uchida LePlume alcohol markers.   As you can see, I am not the greatest with the alcohol markers, yet, but I am having fun and trying, anyway.  Her makeup looks kinda like mine.  hahaha   But, I thought she was a little cutie.

Here is the completed card.  I cut the image with a Spellbinders die.  I used a Cuttlebug folder to emboss the background layer.  I used a fuchsia ink pad to highlight the edges of the cut image and then floated it over the top of the background layer to highlight the embossed image.  Then I popped some little pre-made embellishments on each corner for the bling effect..

I hope you enjoy what you have seen here this afternoon.   If so, tell a friend.

As I leave you this afternoon, I want to ask you a question, "Are you  a missionary?"   The first thing that might pop into your mind is "No, I'm not a missionary."   We sometimes think of the global arena when we think of missionaries.   Or we may even focus on a continent.   We may even think of a country.   But if you are a follower of Christ, you ARE a missionary right where you are.  Don't let that scare you at all.  But, when we are out and about, doing what we do on our usual days, we can be certain that we are on the mission field.  Look around, and look deeper than the smiles on the faces.  Ask God to allow you to see what He sees.  When we look at the world around us, through the filter of what breaks God's heart, we can see a whole heap of hurt around us at all times.  The best thing that you can do is to just start praying for God to use you when ever He see's fit.   2 Timothy 4:2 says:"Proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching."

Proclaiming the message is as simple as saying, "God loves you!"   Keep saying it.   How inconvenient was it for Jesus Christ to face the Cross for my sin and yours.   Think about it.  I'm sure that was one thing that He would rather not have done.  After all, He was fully human.  So, it was with great pain and agony that He faced the cross.  But He did it for me.   He did it for you.  He did if for ALL humanity.  Tell someone you know what Jesus Christ has done for you.  When you  do that, you are proclaiming the "Message"!   Thank God that we can be in a right relationship with Him, all because of the obedience of Jesus Christ!

Have a blessed rest of the day and tell someone Jesus loves them.

Hey, Sweetpea loves Ladybug!

God loves y'all and so do I.  Many hugs and much love, Patty