Farewell June and Hello July

Someone pinch me y'all!!!!   June is gone and I have absolutely NO idea of where it went!!!!   I have looked and looked and just can't seem to find it.    Hahaha     Oh well, it couldn't have been half bad, because otherwise I would have remembered where it went.    I'll stick with that anyway.    I think I do remember June being a little rainy in my neck of the woods and really hot too.     One of the reasons I'm having trouble remembering where it went is because it flew by!    Being busy does have a tendency to help make the days pass pretty quickly.    I was crafting in preparation for the Cultural Arts Day with our county FCE ( family community education) clubs and that went really well.   Several turned out for it and that is always good.    I entered several items and walked away with several 1st and 2nd place ribbons.   That was good and the club I'm in garnered a lot of 1st and 2nd place ribbons.    My club is one of the smallest in the county, but also one of the more active groups in the county.   I was also extremely busy making crafts for our Country Festival at church this past Saturday.    It was outside, so with all my allergies I could not be there, but do know that it went very well.   Just the second year we've had it, so we are still in the learning process of seeing what sells and what doesn't.    One of the things that does sell very well is baked goods.    In addition to the crafts I made, I baked six pans of cheddar jalapeno cornbread and 4 pans of chocolate butterfinger brownies.    I love baking the cheddar jalapeno cornbread because it is really hot and really goooood!!!!!   hehehehe    There was all kinds of baked goods and yummies.    My pastors wife bakes the BEST yeast rolls I have ever eaten in my life!!!!   So I got two dozen of her rolls and we have really been enjoying them.   There was cakes, pies, breads, cookies, candies and all kinds of good yummies.  

In the midst of all that, I have been working on a project for several months that I want to share with y'all.    I have blacked out the prayer on it because it is of a very personal nature and I didn't want to disclose personal info in any way.   It is for a friend who may or may not see this post and if any anyone in her circle of friends sees it, I didn't want it to be obvious who it's for.   With that said, I printed it on a piece of legal sized printer paper.   I think it's 8.5"x14".    I then tore the paper leaving a boundary around the prayer.  I put it thru my xyron machine to put sticky evenly on the back.    I had taken a 6.5"x14" flap from a card board box and used that as my canvas and attached the prayer to it.   I then sealed it with a liquitex product.   After that I set in decorating the piece.

The above has the paper on to the cardboard and then I used a product around the edge to look like sand.  I will go into more detail with it at the last pic.   This feels like rock and it should, because that's what it is.

In the above pic you can't see it really well, but I used some twine to look like rope around the edge of this.   I used gloober spots to attach it then went back over it with glue to hold it in place permanently.

In the above pic I had a bunch of shells already, but not all the different kinds I wanted to use, so off to the Dollar Tree and hurried back with exactly what I needed.   I used a thin glue and brushed it on some of the shells and sprinkled a really fine glitter on them and then glued the shells down over the spots where I had glued the twine on.

In the above I used a cross and an anchor that was left over from a previous project and they worked perfectly on this.

The above shows the twine and and the anchor that I used.   Also a pretty good close up of the edging.

Ok, so in the above is the product that I used on the edge.   I have had it for several years and had only used it one time.   When I went to use it for this project, it was dried up, hard as a rock.   It was NOT usable at all.    I put the lid on it and tossed it in the trash and it landed bottom side up and the price tag was on the bottom.    I paid $8.59 for that over 5 years ago!!!    I pulled it back out of the trash and looked at it.   I said to "me" self, ggg, "what do I have to loose?"   I went to the kitchen and put a couple of tablespoons of water in it and set aside.   I set the project aside too.    I went back to the paste a couple of days later and opened it, and it looked completely different.    The water had brought it back to life!!!!!    I stirred it with my pallet knife and it was PERFECT!!!!!!!!    I then commenced to putting this stuff on the edge of my project and was soooooo thrilled to be able to salvage something I had already tossed!!!!     This is what really made the project for me.    It reminds me of sand along the beach and then gave me something to put the shells on.    It really showed me that if there is something that looks like it is dried up and seen it's better days, if you're gonna have to toss it anyway, try to revive it.   You have nothing to loose but the few minutes it takes to put water or something else in it.   Go for it, you will be thrilled you did.    I was really happy that I was able to revive this because I have searched and searched the internet and cannot find it any more.   I really hope they haven't quit making this stuff because it is awesome!!!    It is Viva, exclusively for Creative Imaginations, Ferro Special Effect Paste.

This weekend we in the USA are celebrating our 240th birthday as being the great United States of America.    I hope and pray that none of us take this for granted.    People fought and died for our independence and people are still fighting and dying to this day for this great country.   I thank God for our founding forefathers and the wisdom they had.    I ask God every day that the leaders of this great country would seek out that same wisdom that our founding fathers had.

James 1:5  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and without criticism, and it will be given. 6  But let him ask in faith, without wavering. For he who wavers is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed with the wind. (Modern English Version)

We pray for our leaders to be filled with wisdom and that they would seek to do Father God's will in all things!!!

Back to talking about June again for minute.    June has always been a good month for me and the 16th is the best day for me.   hehehe    Yes, that's right, I turned another year older on that date.   I am not one to celebrate birthdays but I am thankful to have another year under my belt, so to speak.   God has seen fit to give me this many years and I hope and pray that He has many more years lined up for me.   The older you get, the quicker they roll around.   That's what I think anyway.   ggg  It was a great birthday though.   My hubby is always a wonderful source of encouragement!!!   And along with him and his birthday wishes, I heard from my Mom and each one of my 5 big brothers.    That made it a very special day for me and I am so thankful for each and every member of my family.    They are the best!!

What did I get for my birthday, you ask?   I got a dremel tool and tons of attachments.   I hope to be sharing projects in the future where I have used it.  But, before I can use it though, I have to get some safety goggles.   Makes sense to me.   Yes, it does.

Before I leave you today, I would ask you to be in prayer for those that you know are sick and hurting, and for those who lost loved ones, those recovering from illnesses, whatever the situation, you and I know lots of people who need the love God in their lives.   As much as I pray for physical healing, I pray even more for spiritual healing.   The physically sick know they are sick, but the spiritually sick don't know they are and don't know that they need healing.   So, I pray for spiritual eyes to be opened by God and for lives to be eternally changed.

Have a wonderful weekend y'all!!!   Celebrate the birthday of our great country!!!!   Thank God for His watch care and blessings today and every day!!!!   Remember God loves you and so do I.   Until next time, love and hugs, Patty