October is Gone......

and where did it GO!!!!!!    I'm  telling y'all, I DO not know where this month has gone.    I don't even know if my calendar had October in it.    It must not have, that's the only thing that I can think of that would make sense about it being gone so quickly.    When I look for calendars for 2015, I'm gonna make sure there are at least 12 months in it.    I just know I got cheated with the one I got for 2014!!!!!     It must have been a defective calendar!!!!!     Ohhhh that's good, that's what it was, it was defective!!!!   That's what I'm calling it anyway!   hahahahahaha

Well, hubby had vacation last week, and let me tell you, it was a royal stinker!!!!  He got up Saturday morning with a little tickle in his throat that progressed to an out and out "bad" cold.    I stayed as far from him as I could, but not far enough.   My Wednesday started off fairly normal, but by evening time, I was feeling pretty rough and by Thursday it had knocked my socks off.     Here it is more than a week later, and I still feel like I been knocked down by a bowling ball.     Just trying to stay in and away from people, so as not to spread it to others and also, not to pick up something on top of this.     I have sneezed and coughed so much that I am sore from head to toe.    A cough or sneeze quickly becomes a scream, it hurts so bad.   gggg    There is no holding it in either.    As the saying goes, there's more room out than there is in.    So I gladly let it out, I just worry what the neighbors think!!!!     hahahaha     I started thru the kitchen the other day and I felt a sneeze coming on and I stopped and grabbed my side with one hand and my head with the other and then sneezed/screamed and I thought my hubby was gonna get down and roll and then I started laughing too.     I needed about ten arms to hold every where that sore and hurting.    He said he had wondered how I was making that noise and couldn't imagine, I think it had something to do with the way I was trying to not make such a noise, that I was having the opposite effect.    I don't know, just so happy I'm not as sore as I was.  

I haven't had much desire to make anything or do anything either.    I can't concentrate or hold a thought long enough to do anything.    I was fixing lunch yesterday and hubby came through and asked me a question, and I totally forgot what I was doing and what I needed to finish doing for lunch.    I was baking some fish and I forgot to sprinkle the breadcrumbs on it.  Drats!    I can't make a full thought and retain it.    Hopefully that will get better.

I did need a haircut, so, yesterday I got one.    Remember I said I can't hold a full thought or even make a full thought.    Went to the beauty shop.     The next person finished was a man beautician.    I said, ok, this will be interesting.    Nothing wrong with that at all!!!!!    The best haircuts I've ever had was from a man.   Just not thinking well.    He called me back and said what can I do for you?    I commenced to telling him what I wanted.    I don't even remember what I said.    I usually tell them that I don't want the "little boy haircut" that they love to give me.     Understand, I don't remember what I told him!!!!     When I got up from the chair and looked on the floor, I said "where did all that hair come from?"    He said, "your head".    I didn't think I even had that much hair on my head!!!!!    So, now I'm wondering even more about what I told him.     When I got home and went to the bathroom and looked at my hair, I said, "oh (crap), I must have told him I WANTED a little boy haircut!!!!!!!"    I looked it and actually tried to pull some of it to stretch it, that didn't work.    If I had been thinking clearly, I would have known that, but alas, I wasn't.    I finally laughed and said, "oh well, it's hair and it will grow back!"     Well this morning, I shampooed it and blowdryed it, and I actually think it's one of the best haircuts I've had in a while!     I still don't know what I told him, wish I did, so I could remember it the next time and ask for the same cut.    hahahaha     A new day and a new perspective makes all the difference!     And he done a FANTASTIC job on my hair!!!!!      Yay!!!!!

I made a card here back and wanted to share it with y'all.

This was an image that I got with a card of the month kit from Crafters  Companion and the kit contained the Spectrum Noir markers to color the image.   I really love the big sunflower and leaves.    I cut the embossed layer on my Silhouette Cameo and then embossed it on my Cuttlebug.    I have a little die to cut the lady bug out with.   And I covered it with glossy accents to make it firm and shiny.

The little lady bug makes me happy.    It just does.  

I really think the sunflower is a beauty.    I would love to have a stamp of this very image.

I used some very thin ribbon that I got at the Dollar Tree on this card.    I just cut strips and trimmed the edges to a point and folded the pieces in half and taped them down.    Then when I popped on the sunflower it covered up the tape or glue or whatever I put the ribbon down with.

I took a little stamp and used it on the corners of the base card.    I used the same ink to ink the edge of the card front.    I also used it over the embossed area of the card front.    It was a sage green ink.

I was really happy with the over all result of this card.     I really enjoyed coloring the flower and the leaves.    I should have put some bling on it some where.   Oh the shame, just the shame of it all, at not putting any bling on it!!!!!   I will have to give myself a beating with a wet noodle!!!!    hahahahaha    Oh, bling!!!!!

 As I leave you today, I leave you with this scripture:    1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Paul's conclusion in this letter to the Thessalonians was to remain faithful to God during the times they were living in.   He was encouraging them in Chapter 5 to build one another up, to help one another, to respect those who work hard, to live in peace with each other, to be kind to each other and a lot more encouragements like that.   And then Paul says "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."     Oh no, did he really say to "give thanks in all circumstances"?     Well, yes he did.     That is totally opposite the nature of most of us, isn't it?     Am I really supposed to thank God when I loose my job?    Am I really supposed to thank God when when my child gets in trouble?    Am I supposed to thank God when family and friends are being diagnosed with serious health issues?     Am I supposed to thank God when it looks like our country is crumbling down around our ears?    These are just a few of the scenarios that each and every one of us have going on in our lives at any given time.     And there are soooooo many more things that are, have been, or will be taking place in our lives.    Do we thank God, that we get to go through these difficult times?  
Paul isn't telling us to be thankful "for" these painful scenarios.    He is telling us that when bad things happen, and they will, that we can thank God "in" the midst of those things, because we know that God will see us through those times.    We can, at all times, thank God for the clear evidence that He is at work in our lives.    We may not know why we are going through stuff, but we can count on God to be with us through it.

I don't know what any of y'all are going through.     I would suggest that maybe you challenge yourself to look at it differently.    Don't thank God that your are going thru something, but do thank God that He's "in" the trenches with you.    Each day brings it's own set of circumstances and what ever those circumstances are, just know that God is "in" it with you.     Our circumstances change.    God can change our circumstances, but until He does, He will be "in" it with you.

Hi ladybug!!!    It was good talking to you the other evening.    You are an "amazing" ladybug!!!!!  Sweetpea loves you!

Have a great rest of the day y'all!!!    I hope you enjoyed your visit here today.    I pray that you will come back soon.    Share with someone, what you have seen here today.   God loves y'all, and so do I!!!    hugs and love, Patty

October Painting

Hello!!!    It seems as if I'm starting to slack off some with my blog updates.   I'm really not slacking, just a bit busier than usual.     So, as y'all know for yourselves, when you get busy, something has gotta give.    But, I did manage to find my way back here today.   Yay!!!!     We have had a few chilly mornings here, in my neck of the woods, with a heavy frost or two.     The cool, crisp mornings are a welcome change from the heat of the summer.     It won't be long before the cold of winter will settle itself in on us for a "long winter's nap".     I remember my mother saying something like this, "Well, did you see those poor little cold kids, bundled up from head to to toe?"     Now, the saying is more like this, "Well, did you see those poor little cold kids, bundled up from head to knees?"    It doesn't matter how cold it gets here anymore, we can have 0*, and see people out with shorts and sandals, but bundled from head to knees.    Well, if I have a coat on, y'all and something over my head and gloves on, you can bet your bottom dollar, that I will have on britches down to my feet and shoes and socks on!    hahahaha     So, as we head on in to the end of the year at break neck speed, prepare yourself for the up coming winter, make sure you got some long britches and socks and shoes, y'all.    hahaha

Monday was our painting class at the senior citizen center here in town.    So, this is the 4th painting I have done.     It seems as if they get a bit more stressful as I go along.     I try not to put pressure on myself.    The sole purpose of this for me is fun!!!!     Just something to let go and have fun and not have to really think about whats happening.     Just brush to canvas!     So, in the same fashion of the other three, I did take pics along most every step.    It is a winter scene this time.   I really love it although mine isn't great, I at least love the concept.    It was a bit harder to paint.    I don't know why, but it just seemed to be a bit harder to me.     We had three colors on our pallet.    Blue, white and brown and then some liquid white.     So, without any further delays, here's the process, one pic at a time.

This one has the liquid white base on it and then the blue of the sky blended in to the liquid white.    We tried to bring the sky down about a third of the canvas, using our big 1" brush.

Here, we used a smaller rounded brush to lay in our mountains in the background using the blue.     I really do love the colors of this painting.    Since the mountains are off in the distance, there isn't a lot of detail to them, just shape.

In this one, we took more of the blue and brought it down in the front of the mountains trying to create different layers of the landscape between the front of the canvas and the mountains, so it would have depth to it.

In this one, we used our fan brush loaded with blue to draw in the trunk of the tree and then to tap in the branches of the fir tree.  

Then we took our brush and went right at the bottom of the first little tree and pulled down just a bit to create the shadowing and depth for that little tree and we went right in then and drew the trunk for the next tree and then tapped in the branches.

Then we went under this tree and pulled down again, creating the shadowing and layer affect, then we went right in to the last fir tree, spruce, pine, cedar or whatever they ended up looking like is what we called them...ggg

We then done the same thing to this tree that we had done to the other two, by pulling down on the bottom of the tree and smoothing it out to look like a little hill with a tree on it.

Next, we used the brown paint and our palette knife and cut a bead of brown paint on the edge of the blade and then laid in our tree.   I think mine ended up looking like a birch tree.   After we got the trunk of the tree in, we went back and cut a bead of white paint onto the palette knife and just laid that down on the top of the brown, and that's when my birch tree was born.  ggg

Then we took a liner brush and used liquid white and brown and got our brush loaded with that mixture and drew in branches on the tree.   I had a hard time with this, I must say.    Our painting instructor told me to pull out my paints and brushes and practice, practice, practice loading the brush properly and and then making branches and watch how the tip of the brush is touching the canvas and to use the very tip of it to get the very fine lines of the branches.    And also proper technique of holding the brush to have best control over it.    So.... it looks like I have some work ahead of me.   At least she didn't tell me to lay the brushes down and don't ever pick them up again.     hahahaha     That was kinda what I was expecting.    ggg

After I got that tree in, I put the other one in using the same (poor) technique.   Then we took our brushes and pulled down from the bottom of those trees and drug the brown down to make a little brownish shadow under those trees and the appearance of a little mound.    Then we created a little grass stubble at the base of each tree by pulling up on the brush ever so lightly.

The final thing was signing our paintings and putting them in a frame, if we chose to do so, and I did.

This is after I got home with it and laid it in a dining room chair and took the pic.   I wish I would have taken a finished pic before I left, but I was in a hurry and waited till I got home.

I did have a great time painting.    It's always great to do something fun and meet new people and make new friends.     I can't wait till next month.    What ever we do will be fun.    If you get the opportunity to do something like this, jump at it, you won't regret it. 

As I leave you today, I leave you with this scripture for thought:   Matthew 12:15 "Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there.   And many followed Him and He healed them all."

We notice three things about this verse right off the top.  #1 Jesus was aware of something.   #2 Many followed Him and  #3 He healed them all.

#1 What was Jesus aware of?    He had just healed a man with a withered hand.   He restored it to be as good and looked as good as this mans other hand.   Jesus was the real deal!!!    He healed people with His divine love, not seeking fame for Himself, but pointing people to His Father.    Jesus was not seeking to bring attention to Himself in any way.    Jesus had no intentions of greed nor was he promoting the religious establishment of the day!  

When Jesus healed this mans hand, the religious leaders in verse 14 set out to plot, plan, and kill Him!     They knew Jesus was the real deal and they were jealous of His power and the fact that He drew a crowd.    What I don't get is why they were so jealous of Jesus.   The people that were following Jesus were the people that the religious leaders didn't want to have anything to do with.   Most were considered unclean and had no place in society.    So, why bother with trying to get rid of Jesus?     The same reason people are trying to get rid of Jesus today!    Because He is still the Real Deal!!!!!!     Jesus is still stirring peoples hearts to do good, and changing lives, and healing brokenness, and helping us to make a difference in the world in which we live!    Jesus is still calling the hurting, the broken, and those with no place in society!   The gods of the other world religions are dead!!!!!!    Just like the god of baal in the Old Testament.    Followers of the Way are not "religious"!     We are not about religion at all!!!!    We are about a "relationship"!!!!!     Do you have relationships in your life that you value?    Of course you do, and I pray that your relationship with Jesus Christ is the most valuable relationship you have!   

#2 and #3   Many people followed Him and He healed them all.    Who do you follow today?   That is a very important question and the answer to it is a matter of life and death!!!    If you have chosen to follow Christ, you have chosen wisely and chosen life.    Oh, this life that we are living will come to an end at the time that God has designated for you and me, and then, this is where life or death will actually come in to play.    If you have accepted Christ as your Savior you will live in Glory, forever and forever with no end, ever!!!!     If you choose to follow the world and a dead god of a dead religion, then you will not only die in this life but you will wish you could die in the next life!     A life of torment will not be escapable.    Separation from God will be hell enough, but the ever consuming pain of hell will last forever and forever.     It is the choice we make for ourselves.

Make no mistake, Jesus is still healing the broken hearted, He is still binding up the wounds, relieving the oppressed.    He is still giving strength to those who are in the trenches, doing warfare with the enemy.    He is still healing those who cry out in desperation to Him.    I have a picture in mind of someone for each and every one of this scenarios, lots of pictures in my mind as a matter of fact.    One of those images is myself.    Every time I look in the mirror, I see a woman whom God has taken mercy on, thru the blood of Jesus Christ.    He has healed my heart, He has bound up my wounds and He has relieved my oppression.    So, I can speak with some authority on this and you can too, if you have a "relationship" with Jesus Christ.   

Jesus Christ died on the cross for absolutely every person that has ever been, that is now, and that will ever be!     John 3:16 says, "Who so ever".....   Guess what folks, YOU are the WHO SO EVER that Jesus spoke of!!!!     Even when He spoke those words, YOU was on His mind!!!!   No one is left out of that!!!!!!     But, we have free will, we get to choose, we get to pick what side we are on, we get to make that choice.    Don't be fooled either, no choice IS a choice!    None of us can ever blame God for the decisions that we have made.     God is a gentleman, He will never force Himself on anyone.    He sent the Holy Spirit as our Comforter, to prompt us to the make the right decision.     If you haven't made that right decision, seek out someone that you know who is a follower of Christ and talk to them.     I pray that you will today and that you will tell someone about the decision you have made and that you will find a Bible believing, Bible teaching church and get in it and start studying the word.     God is good!!!!    He gives us what we don't deserve, and He doesn't give us what we do deserve!     That, folks, is Mercy and Grace, defined, in a nut shell.

I pray that y'all have a most enjoyable day today.     I challenge y'all to tell someone you see today that they are a "Who so ever" that Jesus spoke of in John 3:16.    I hope you enjoyed your time here today and I pray that you will come back soon and see what I have been up to.    You never know what I will be doing.   ggg

I hope you have a wonderful day today, Ladybug!   Sweetpea loves you!

God bless each and every one of y'all.    Remember that God loves y'all, and so do I.    Hugs and much love, Patty 

New "Hope" Card

Hi Y'all!    How are y'all doing today?    I hope and pray that everyone is doing well.   It has been a really wet few days!!!    I mean "really" wet, y'all!"    It has been raining for about week now, and we are water logged.    We had tornado warnings in our neck of the woods last night.    It was a pretty scary evening to say the least.    As of the moment, it's misting, just really fine, but there is moisture in the air.    I don't have any idea how long this wet spell will last, but I can tell you that the local farmers need our prayers in hopes of getting their crops out.  Some of the crops may already be washed down the river somewhere.    I also pray for those affected by the tornadoes and strong winds.    We just never know how fortunate we are till we start seeing the news and other people having lost everything in the bad weather.

In the Kraafters Kommunity there is what is called "Word of Inspiration Wednesday", and we have a hashtag for it, #WIOW.     Last Wednesday, the word was "Hope".     Each week there is a word of the week and you create a piece of art; a canvas, a card, a drawing, a scrapbook page or what ever your art it.    I  created a card based on that.    Since it is "Pastor Appreciation" month, this is the card I am sending to my Pastor and his wife for the sacrifice they make every day for the Lord and for our church and for our community.

I used a black card base.     Then a card front that I cut on my Silhouette Cameo. It was a base created by Penny Duncan.   (Thanks Penny!!!!  Love you lots!!!) And then I used a stamp set from Our Daily Bread.    I stamped the anchor image and colored that in and the put the sentiment up in the left hand corner.

On the inside, I put a liner of just plain printer paper cut to size and then punched around the edges with a Martha Stewart punch.    It's not perfectly punched, but I say that adds to the overall character of the card.   I then used a Stampendous stamp that I got from Paper Wishes and stamped that in Momento London Fog.    It is a light gray and when I wrote my personal note inside it, some of the writing went over the stamped area and it looked really good.

I usually do a lot of grungy inking and put lots of bling on stuff, but I left this one somewhat plain.    But overall, I am pretty happy with this card of Hope for my pastor and for the #WIOW.

Being a Pastor is hard work.    Everyone has their own ideas of what their pastor is supposed to do for them.    I do "challenge" every one of us to ask ourselves if we have unrealistic expectations placed on these men and women of God.     We have no idea of the sacrifice they make for their congregations and communities.   It really takes someone having the calling of God on their lives for their families to survive the pressures of being on call 25 hours a day, 8 days a week.    You noticed the exaggeration of the hours and days.    Well, to them, it's not an exaggeration.    The thing about it is this, they will keep being on call!  They will keep being there for their congregations and communities.    They will keep making the phone calls, and making home visits, and coming to hospitals at all hours of the day and night.    That's what the really great pastors do.    That's just what they do.    If you have a really great pastor, thank God!     If you have a really great pastor, thank him, the pastor!    If you have a really great pastor, thank his wife!    If you have a really great pastor, thank his children.    Every call that we make, for our pastors to come to our aide, is taking him away from family time.    The older I get, the more I realize that and think about that.     Now, my pastors children are adults now, but I'm sure if I asked them, that they could tell me of all times that they needed their dad, while he was being someones pastor.

The reason I say this is to encourage everyone to send their pastor a card thanking him for his service to you personally, for your church and for your community.    Just thank your pastor.    They are human, they have feelings, they like to feel appreciated.    Yes, they work for the Lord.    Most of their encouragement comes from the Lord!    Every time one of us thanks our pastor, it encourages him all the more.    Your pastor and mine, needs to know that you are appreciative of him for all that he does.    You know how good it makes you feel when someone notices something you have done, don't you.    Well, they need to feel that every once in a while.     So, this is the month set aside, dedicated for pastor appreciation.    Take the "challenge", thank your Pastor!!!!
  
As I leave you, I leave you with a bit more of Psalm 23.    Today we will look at Psalm 23:5   "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.   You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows".

We are looking at God as a Host.    He has prepared a banquet of plenty.    God is meeting the needs of the flock, although there are enemies around that would destroy the flock.   David knew who his provider was!    David pictured God as being the Host at a very sumptuous banquet, set only for him, in the midst of his enemies.    God provided an abundance to meet all the needs of David.    God is still the Host!!!!     God is still meeting our needs today, in the midst of our enemies.     We may not think we have any enemies.     Don't worry, WE DO!!!   If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have enemies!!!     God is meeting our needs in the presence of our enemies!

Anointing the head with oil was a custom of the day.    A gracious host would anoint a welcomed guest with perfumed olive oil as a sign of being an honored guest.    A prophet would anoint someone that had been called out by God, set apart for the service of the Lord; such as David.    As Christians, we are called out and set aside by God for His service and we need the fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit over our lives every day.

My cup overflows.    God not only meets our needs, but He meets our needs with over abundance.    That may seem wasteful for our cups to overflow.    In reality, if our cups are over flowing it means that we can graciously share with those whose cups are almost empty.    Sometimes that may mean sharing material possessions.    But, it may also mean sharing what we know about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ with those who haven't heard about Him or who has never heeded the call of Christ on their lives.     Just know that if your cup runs over, it is simply because God has blessed you!     Tell somebody what God has done for you!!!!

Well, I hope and pray that you seen something here today that you liked , if you did, share it.    Tell someone that God is the Host of a banquet and He is waiting for them too, at the banquet table.    Tell your pastor "thank you" sometime this month.

Ladybug, it was awesome to see you and my cousin on Saturday!  We had a great time together and look forward to another visit, soon!   Sweetpea loves you!

Goodnight Y'all.    I hope and pray y'all enjoy the rest of the evening.    Check back again real soon, you never know what you'll find here.   Remember, God loves y'all and so do I!    Hugs, Patty  

October, ouch!!!

October has just slipped up on me this year, y'all!!!!     That is why I said "Ouch", it just seems to hurt a bit, that this year is 3/4 gone already and it just seems like it was yesterday that I hung up my 2014 calendar.     Time certainly has a way of skipping on by, whether we like it or not.    The only thing I know to do is just skip right on along with it and enjoy the scenery and the changing of seasons.     Just turn the page in our coloring books and crack open that new set of crayons and color and craft away.     How does that sound?      It sounds like a pretty good game plan to me.     Whether we do it or not, time will keep on skipping by, and at least we'll have a coloring book full of gor-juss scenery.

Was it cold in your neck of the woods over the weekend?     It sure was in mine, y'all!!!     Saturday night and Sunday morning it was down to 30*, y'all!!!      I know it was at least that, because I seen it on two different thermometers and that was at 6:15am on Sunday morning.    What I wonder, did it get colder than that, and I just missed seeing it?     I don't know.     The real kicker, y'all, "our heat is NOT working".     Go figure!!!      I got ready and went on to church.     Hubby had to work this weekend, so when he got up, after I left for church, he started the gas fire place and it needed to be vacuumed out before hand, so all the collected dust had to burn out, and it really did stink, y'all!!!!     He turned that off and resorted to the itty bitty heater that we have and he finally got warmed up.     Now, today, we have to call the repair folks and see what the damage to our check book will be. 

It has been a week today since I updated my blog.    Wow, what a difference a week can make.     It has been a sad week for my church family.     One of our Saints went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday morning.     She's walkin' the Streets of Gold today and enjoying the presence of her Savior and Father God!     It truly was a shock for those of us who are still here and maybe questioning why.      But, in reality, God has His plans and we just have to be ready at all times to be in the will of God's plan.     I certainly know that this lady was.     She will be sadly missed because she was loved by all who knew her.     What a grand legacy!      In the midst of the sadness at church yesterday, there was also a boat load of joy and excitement.     Our church membership grew by two yesterday!      So, in the midst of such pain and sadness, God showed up with so much joy and excitement.      God is good all the time!!!!!

While everything was taking place this past week, I crafted a bit, just to keep my mind occupied and in a good place.     What I want to share with y'all today though, is a card I made a week or so ago.     One of my friends on a Google+ community called Kraafters Kommunity had made a card a couple of weeks ago and I really loved it.     It is a fabulous fall card with lots of colors, lots of texture and lots of layers.     What more could anyone want?      (You can find Kraafters Kommunity by going here: http://kraaftshaak.com )  I wanted to make one similar to hers.     And I did.     I used her card, +Angela Conklin, as a starting place for mine, you can find it here:  http://heartedlyhandcrafted.blogspot.com/2014/09/autumn-leaf-greeting-card.html     Now, mine isn't made exactly like hers.    I just used hers as a starting place and then done my own thing.

I used a 12x12 sheet of double sided card stock and cut it in half.   The inside portion of the card had pumpkins on it making it very appropriate for my sentiment.    I scored it on the 3" and 9" marks, that makes a double door closure for the card.    I had a piece of cardstock that looks and feels like the texture of a basketball.     No joke, it really does.     I love the looks of it and had been wanting to use it for a long time, just didn't want to waste it.     So, I used it, and because I didn't want to waste any of it, that's why mine is folded instead of the corners cut off.    I used that card stock as a layer on the front, so what I cut off the bottom layer, fit perfectly on the flap that was folded back.    No waste!    Yay!!     Instead of cutting the corners off, I folded them down and kept them.  I put two eyelets on each side of the folded corners and ran a couple pieces of burlap string thru them and knotted them.

This is what the inside looks like.    I just love all those pumpkins with the oak tree and sentiment.     I took my little Ranger ink daubers and colored the stamped image with three or four colors just daubed on.    The next layer back is just a piece of white Georgia Pacific cut to size and then inked with orange on all the edges about a 1/2" all the way around.     Saves colored cardstock and there's no use in inking any more than necessary.     I then used my Gun Metal embossing folder and Cuttlebug and embossed that layer.    I put down strips of orange sheer poly ribbon, one going east to west with a bit of wrap around and another one going north to south with a bit of wrap around, placing them off center on purpose.     The last layer is a layer of burlap.      Or as I grew up calling it, "grass sack".      Hahaha!!!!      I know some of y'all have heard that term before.      I'm telling y'all, it may be my favorite thing to work into a card now.      I love it, thanks to you, +Angela Conklin.

I then got that layer affixed to the first two layers and wrapped the ribbon around to the back side and used my scrappy tape to put that down on the card base.

I used a couple of the small movers and shapers by Sizzix and cut a couple of leaves and acorns and attached them to the front of the finished card.   I wish I had taken a picture of the envelope I had already made and didn't use.    It was about a 1/4" thick, just perfect for this card.     I have to tell y'all, that cardstock I used on the front of it really helped make this card for me.     I wish I had ton more of it, but I don't, so I will have to be very judicious about how I use it.   ggg

As I leave you today, I want to leave you with the scripture that God has used to deal with "me" as of the last month or so.    James 3:5 "Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.  Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark."  

James is speaking about that little ole' thing, the tongue, and how hard it is to tame it.    He had compared it to a bit in a horses mouth; such a tiny tool used to control such a large animal as a horse.     Also, he gave the image of a tiny rudder on a large ship and steering that ship in the storms at sea with such a tiny piece of equipment.     Then he starts talking about our tongues.     How dare he do that!      Shame on him!      Well, this is where the rubber meets the road for me, y'all!!!     How many times have I spoken with that big ole' little tongue of mine when I should have remained silent?     James then proceeds to tell us about whole forests being burned down by one little spark!!!    We know how truthful that is.     Every year certain parts of the U.S. deals with massive forest fires, started by one little spark.

Have you ever been caught up in the forest fire of speaking when you should have remained silent?     I have!!!     It's not pleasant at all.    The best you can do is apologize after the fact, ask for forgiveness, and seek restoration with Father God.    I have been in that situation more times than I care to admit.    I hope and pray that I can learn from my own mistakes.     As much power as there is in a single spark, there's that much power or more in the tongue.     There is either life affirming words coming from our mouths or there is destructive words coming from our mouths.    That's it folks, just two choices.      We either teach, bless, build up, encourage, praise, speak truth in love, even if it is painful; or we curse, tear down, discourage, bad mouth, speak hurtful harsh words.     We have the power to speak life or death over someone.     Oh, our words will not actually cause someone to die, but they can kill a dream, or discourage someone to the point of never trying, or cause someone to believe the lies of the enemy that he is always spewing out at us.      Or, we can speak life and excitement over someones dreams, we can cause them to dream even bigger dreams.    We can encourage someone to take steps they may have never taken.     We can help someone to see that the lies of the enemy are just that, lies!  

I just hope and pray that God will help me in the future to watch my tongue a little more closely and to speak only when it is purposeful and will be for the edification, or the building up of the one I'm speaking to.    That is a prayer that God is more than ready to help me with and He will help you too.     I hope that this doesn't land at anyone's doorstep, other than mine, but if it does, just know that there is restoration available by apologizing sincerely, asking for forgiveness, and then seeking restoration with Father God.    Those things are not easy to do, been there done that, and folks, it just ain't easy!!!     But.....it is necessary.     We have to be willing to do whatever is necessary to tame our little ole' big tongues!

I pray that y'all have a wonderful rest of the evening.    I hope you enjoyed what you seen here today; if you did share it with someone.     Someone you know needs to know that they, too, may need to work on controlling their tongue.    God will help them, if they so desire.

Ladybug, I hope you had a great weekend and look forward to seeing you sometime soon.    Sweetpea loves you.

Come back again real soon, y'all.   God loves y'all, so do I!!!   hugs, Patty