Celebration Goin' On Y'all

Good morning y'all!    What's everyone doin' today?    I hope and pray that everyone is doing well and have a fantastic day planned.    I just checked with Weather Bug, and she says it's supposed to be really mild temps today.    The high is said to be 79*.    That is almost unheard of for the dog days of August, but hey, I'll take it and be happy for it, because I know it will be hot again, sooner than later.

I have a couple of projects to share with y'all today.   I have been really busy working on other stuff that I just can't wait to share with y'all in the near future.   But, for today, I have a couple of small projects to share.   The first one is a card that I sent to a young friend on her birthday.

I love this shoe stamp.   I love the flowers on it and I love the possibilities of all the different colors.   I went with yellow and orange on this one and I do love the way it turned out.   I colored it with my Spectrum Noir alcohol markers.

The card base is craft card stock.    I really like that for a different effect at times.   I put some pale blue flat back gems in the corners.

I stamped the image on a stipple cut card topper that I had roughed the edges up.   I used my trusty clear star gelly roll pen on this card to get that bit of sheen and shine going on.   I love the cute little dragonfly too.

The next project, takes a totally different turn for me.    It was fun though.   So, I hope you like it.

Ok, so I went to my favorite local store, our new Dollar Tree pretty soon after opening back in May and they had thousands of these fedora style hats.   That was what was on the label.   hahaha    I walked right by, and then I turned and thought, "ah, why not", so I tossed it in my buggy.    It was plain.   It had nothing but the band.   So, when I got home, I had a box of flower layers and I picked out what I wanted to make a flower with and used a brad to hold the layers together and then I very carefully worked the arms of the brad through the weave of the hat and put my flower on there.   I really like it for a "bad hair day".    You have heard of some of my bad hair days as of late, so this is a tremendous help.

So, I decided I wanted to jazz my hat up a bit and used this hair clip that I got a the Masquerade Hospital Jewelry sale.   I got it because it was "purple".    That's good enough reason for me to buy just about anything.   But, I really liked the way it classed up my hat. 

So, this one is of some daisies that I had gotten at another on of my favorite places to shop, Mighty Dollar, up in Russellville, Ky.    It was a clear box, full of these flowers to use on projects.    I placed three of them on a piece of acetate and used pop dots to stick it to the band of my hat.   I really like this one a lot.

This is of all three hat toppers, side by side.     Ok, so around the first of the month we had what's called "Fashion Revue" through our FCE groups in the county.    We were to model our favorite, least expensive, great purchase.    So, I figured since I gave only a dollar for the hat and the two small flower pieces came to about 10 to 15 cents a piece and then the purple one was $5.00.    So my hat with three interchangeable hat toppers cost about $6.25.   I modeled my hat for the "accessories" category and  actually won 2nd place.   I did not expect to win anything!   It was fun, though, it kinda got me outta my comfort zone.   So, I hope you enjoyed these projects.

As I leave you this morning, I leave you with this favorite scripture:  Psalm23:1  "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want".

Have you ever thought about those simple words?    How many times have we read it and quoted it, but how many times have we stopped and thought about those simple words.    When David wrote this Psalm, he was writing from his own experiences.   David was a shepherd in his youth.   And he likened his relationship with God to that of a shepherd.    When David said "The Lord is my shepherd", he was speaking of the same trust that sheep have in their shepherd.  A good shepherd will protect and lead and direct his sheep to the most fertile grass and sweetest stream of water all the while standing guard and watch over his flock, to protect them.    Sheep follow their shepherd out of obedience to their shepherd.   Their shepherd would always protect them and provide for them, because the shepherd loved his sheep.   The sheep recognized their shepherds voice and the shepherd recognized the calls of his sheep.

David then says, "I shall not want".    Sheep are totally dependent upon their shepherd for guidance, protection and provision.    A good shepherd will take his herd to the best grassy field and the clearest, coolest, freshest streams of water.   A good shepherd will take care or his sheep to the point that they will have no needs or wants, because all needs are met.

This is the image that David is giving of himself, as the sheep and the Lord as his shepherd.    David knew that God had only his best interests at heart.   David knew that God would protect him and that God would provide for him.

I love looking at this scripture, and I hope that you do too.   I pray that you recognize "The Lord" as your "Shepherd".    I pray that you recognize the voice of God as your Shepherd.    Just know that God always has your best interest at heart.   I pray that if you have heard and felt the call of the Shepherd on your life, that you will listen and follow the Lord as your Shepherd.    Your life will not be pain free, but you will never have to take another breath alone.    The Good Shepherd is waiting to be your Shepherd.     I pray that you will let Him.

The title of my blog post today is "Celebration Goin' On Y'all".    What is the celebration about?     One year ago today, I started my blog at the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit.    Who am I to have a blog?    What do I do or have to say that anyone would be interested in seeing and reading?    I still haven't quite figured that out yet, but I had the assurance that if I keep God first place in all I do, then this venture will be successful.   Y'all have helped this become a success story for me.    As of this morning, I have had over 70 countries and more than 460 thousand visits to my blog and google+, for that, I am most thankful!!!   For many of you, you have that many visits in two or three months and that is wonderful!   For me, I never figured I would ever have a thousand  hits in 10 years.    God is good and faithful!     So, I am thankful for each and every visit that y'all have given me.   There are many places on the web that you could be, but at this moment you are here.    Just know that I appreciate that and I do not take that lightly.    I pray that y'all will continue to visit and tell your friends about this little corner of the web where I share "Fun little pieces of Life", one piece at a time.

I thank you for your visits and I appreciate all the comments that y'all have left for me over the past year.    I pray that you'll continue to check this place out form time to time and that you will take something good away from time to time.

Ladybug, I pray that you are doing well and hope to see you soon.   Sweetpea loves you.

Have a blessed day y'all.   Just know that God loves y'all and so do I.  hugs, Patty