Some play time

Good Monday afternoon, Y'all!!!!     I do hope and pray that this is a great day for all of y'all.     It has been for me so far, and I am believing it will continue to be a great day.     I have a few errands to run in a bit.    Then a few more things that need to be done around the house today, and then I hope to have a few minutes of play time after while. 

Today has been such a beautiful day in my neck of the woods.    Especially after the somewhat dreary and cloudy weekend.    I don't remember any rain, maybe a sprizzle here and there, but just the threat of it almost all weekend.    When it's cloudy outside, I have a tendency to be a bit cloudy on the inside.    So, I love to be able to do fun stuff and keep the clouds away even if it is cloudy outside.    With that in mind, I played off and on Saturday with a new stamp and trying to get my vision to come together.    And I finally did.    The card itself, is not overly ornate with stuff, but....it really made me happy just to look at it.    I already have another idea in mind for it and can't wait to get around to seeing if I can fulfill that vision.

Before I share the pic, I would love to pick up with Psalm 23:4   "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

Remember we are talking about David and the fact the he was a shepherd.    The terrain where David shepherded his sheep was rough and dangerous terrain.   One wrong step, and David could have fallen to his death.    His sheep could find themselves in perilous situations.  There was danger and pitfalls at every turn.   Earlier in this Psalm, we see God at work.    He is still at work even in the "valley of the shadow of death".    There will always be valleys that we will have to trod in life, but God can and will see us through them if we trust Him, and physical death is the end result of this life for each one of us, unless Christ returns before we die.    But with the great Shepherd looking out for us, even facing death should not be a source of fear for the true believer.

David says, "I will fear no evil".     David's confidence was in God!    So much so that he was not going to fear what ever he faced.    David had a history of God working on his behalf.    When you have a history with God, you know how He has worked in your life in the past.    We can draw strength from our past experiences relying on God and knowing that God's grace is sufficient for us in the present.      

"for Thou art with me", this is where David's confidence, joy and hope came from!    David knew no matter what came up, God WAS with him!!!    This is where our confidence comes from also!   A true believer can trust that God will be with him, no matter what he comes up against.   No matter how dark, gloomy and dismal, the Shepherd will be with you, if you are a true believer.

"thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."   The picture here is the shepherds crook.     One end has the crook that was used to rescue a sheep that had maybe gotten in  perilous situation.    It was used to hook the leg of a sheep to keep it from going astray.   The other end, the staff was also used by the shepherd to defend his sheep from wild animals.    So here we see discipline, correction and defense.    The Shepherd is always watching over His sheep!!!    Sometimes that calls for chastisement and correction and sometimes the Shepherd has to go into battle to protect His sheep.   The presence of God in our lives is a great source of comfort and strength.    The rod and staff for the Christian is the written Word of God used for correction, chastisement, comfort and strength.   Just as the shepherd goes before his sheep, so goes God before His children.   I hope and pray that you know the love of the Shepherd in your life, if you don't, it's not too late.    The Shepherd knows the cry of those who are in need of Him!    He heard my cry, when I was in desperation, and He will hear your cry too!!!!!

So......now I want to share my card with y'all!     Like I said earlier, it's nothing fancy, not a lot of layers or anything like that, but a lot of heart and love.   ggg

This is a new stamp from Paper Wishes called baroque cross.    It is just beautiful.    I can't wait to do more cards with this one.    I started with my plain white card base.     I used a fav purple ink pad and inked the outer edge of the card base front.    Then I used my my fav white card stock to stamp my image on and colored it with some Marvy LePlumb water base markers.    I used purple, blue, mustard and cherry colors to color the cross image.   After I got the cross colored I cut a mask of the cross and placed it over the cross and then I used three different inks on the outer edges of the cross.    I used a straw color, a lavender and a darker purple color.    

I really liked the blending of the three colors.   Once that was all dry, I got out my fav fake stickles (glitter glue) and put that on.    I don't know if I ever told y'all this, I do love bling!!!     I think a little bling does a heart good!     (Someone suggested I may need to go to "bling-ers anonymous!     I said I would go if they would anoint me with glitter!     hahahaha)

I got a little gizmo from Paper Wishes that you can stick a marker down in and squeeze the bulb and it will blow ink off the tip of the marker.    It is a really neat little thing.    The higher you have it from your project, the lighter the mist.    The closer to your project, the darker and more spotty it will make you project.   Most of what you are seeing is part of the stamp itself.   But, it really is fun to play with and I can't wait to play with it more.

I love the center of this cross.    I colored it cherry red, but it doesn't show up really well in the pic.    I wish the pic would have captured the sparkle.   One thing that I almost forgot is the deckle edge scissors I used to cut the card layer down with.    I really love the uneven edge of it.    It looks like a torn paper edge, but neater.    I inked the edge after I cut it with a brown ink spot.   Anyway, this is my card and I hope you enjoyed seeing it.

I started this post this morning and am just now getting it wrapped up.    So it is just about bedtime.    I do hope and pray that everyone has a wonderful night of refreshing rest.     I hope tomorrow is a day filled with peace, love and joy!    Every day is a gift from God, each with its own beauty.    I pray that our rest tonight will prepare us to enjoy the gift tomorrow.  

Ladybug, sweet pea loves you!   Hope to see you soon!

Goodnight y'all, God loves y'all, so do I!    hugs, Patty