Grungy Card 2

Good evening Y'all!     I hope you are enjoying this fine evening.    In my neck of the woods right now it is a very pleasant 71* outside as of 8:39 pm tonight.    I love it!    Up to 100* over the weekend, I'll take the lower temps any day!!    I still have humidity hair, and I guess that's not gonna change any time soon.    I know you know what humidity hair is.  

It's when you spend all morning with every hair appliance known to women to straighten your hair.   You get it straightened just perfectly and add a few perfectly placed little rats to give you that perfect height.   You take that one final look at your perfect masterpiece, just after you have sprayed a little hair spray on to keep in place.    You hit the door for that trip out town, just knowing you have this great looking head of hair.    You make stop after stop, just hoping everyone that you come in contact with notices your finely coiffed head of hair.    You have on your nicest smile, and you quickly smile at everyone you meet, but some of the ones you are smiling at are looking a little strangely at you.    Oh well, they must be having a bad day.    You sure hope their day gets better, you pray.    On you go, errand after errand and you are still stylin' and profilin' that snazzy head of hair.    Upon arriving at home, you walk by a mirror and catch a glimpse of someone.   You wheel around and run back to the mirror for a closer look, only to find that someone has replaced that beautiful head of hair that you was sporting so proudly, with a bad fake wig that looks like Bozo's head of hair!     That my friends, is humidity hair!    Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, don't ya'!    hahahaha

This is Grungy Card # 2.   I mentioned it when I put up # 1 the other day.

So, this is my Iris, from Crafters Companion, that I have shared a few times already.   But, I love this stamp and I never get tired of using it.    I stamped it on a background that I cut out on my Silhouette.    The image was created by Penny Duncan.    You can find her blog on the right side of my blog.    I love her designs.    I am trying to use her backgrounds more in my card making.    I loved the loops on this file and used them to run my 1/8th in grosgrain ribbon thru and I really liked the look.   You can also see that I added flat back pearls in the top and bottom corners.

After I colored the  Iris,  with my Spectrum Noir markers, I used my Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Star pen on the image to add a little bit of blingy goodness.   It's not real flashy, just very subtle.   It looks really nice in the hand.

I just used it more as a highlight than anything else, but it definitely looks nice.

I had it finished, I thought.   Then I took my liquid pearls and put a few dots of it around the loopy border and I think it really set it off.    The grungy part of this card is the edge of the bottom layer of the card.    I grunged up the edge with a shimmery mauve ink pad.    It doesn't show up as much as I wish it did in the pic.   Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this peek at grungy card # 2.    Three is on it's way shortly.

As I leave you this evening, I leave you with this scripture: Matthew 5:44  "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

In the setting here, Jesus had just called Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, to be fishers of men.   And a bit later he called James and John.   Jesus was going throughout Galilee teaching, preaching and healing the sick and diseased among the people.  Word spread all throughout Syria and people started bringing all their sick, hurting, afflicted, hopeless, demon possessed, paralyzed, and seizure ridden people to Jesus and He healed them.   Where ever He went, crowds followed.   So He seen the crowds and went up on a mountainside and sat down.   His disciples came to Him and He began teaching them.    This is where the Beatitudes are.   Jesus taught them many different things.  

Can you imaging being in that class, with the Master Teacher of all time teaching with "authority" of the Kingdom of God!    That is one class I would sign up for in a heart beat!    Of all the things He taught them, He also taught them to "love your enemies."    Can you imagine such a teaching?    Well, that's what He taught them.

Oh, let me tell you, it is so easy for us to love those who love us.   It is easy to pray for those who pray for us.   It is easy, isn't it.   Jesus asked them what was the reward in loving "only" people who love them?    The reward comes from loving those who persecute you and who are your enemies.   Jesus was asking them to not treat them as enemies, but to treat them as people God created, and as "potential" followers of Christ.

Fast forward to today.    He is still asking the same thing of us today.    I have to confess right here, right now, and just be very real with y'all about this.   I have not arrived yet at the place where I can love those who hate me, and pray for those who would persecute me, in the manner that is pleasing to my Lord and Savior.   It is a definite struggle for me.    But...I keep on trying!     I keep asking the Lord to help me with this.    I keep humbling myself in prayer and asking for help.   I struggle every day with this, and you know what, I know I am not the only one with this struggle.    It goes against every thing that we as human beings "feel".   How is it possible to get past the "feelings"?    Well, I won't get past the "feelings" on my own.    As Christians, we are called to live, based on what we know, not based on what we "feel".    Our feelings change, from one minute to another, one day to another.    What we know, never changes.    We know that Jesus Christ gave His life's blood for us to have a right relationship with God.    God never changes!!!    We do!    Our "feelings" change.    In essence, we should treat people based on God's feelings and not ours.    Jesus taught His disciples that all people are created by God, His own special treasure, His own peculiar treasure.    With that knowledge, we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.    Easy?     No!    Possible?    Yes!!!     God never asks us to do anything we can't do.    God never sets us up for failure.    When we fail, it is because we haven't called on God for help.    So, if you are like me, keep on crying out to God for help!     That's where the reward is.    When we are calling on God, we are growing closer to our Creator, becoming more Christlike.    Therein is the reward.    Becoming more Christlike.    All Praises to God!!

I hope y'all have a great night of rest and a wonderful day tomorrow.   Good night y'all!  Till we meet again, take care.

Ladybug, sweetpea loves you with her heart and looks forward to seeing you soon!

God Bless Y'all and remember God loves y'all and so do I.   hugs, Patty

Click Your Heels

That's a catchy title, isn't it?     Just you wait and see what it's all about.   ggg    I hope and pray y'all are having  a great day today.     It's sunny, humid, and hot in my neck of the woods.    The sun is good.    The humid and hot, I could do with a lot less of it.    If I remember correctly, back earlier in the year when we didn't think warm weather would ever get here, I think I remember making a promise that I wouldn't complain about the weather.    So.......I'm pretty sure I just broke that promise, y'all.    I really didn't mean to, but, I just don't do very well in the humidity and heat.    Ugh!!!    One thing for sure, I am so thankful for our air conditioner.  

So, back to the title of my post.    I seen a card that a friend had made, +Tina Van Eick.    I loved her card and she shared where she had gotten the stamp from, and I ran as quickly as I could; without knocking anyone else over; to the web site, Paper Wishes, over in my left hand column, and ordered the stamp.   I love it!!!   My card isn't as beautiful as Tina's was, but I do hope y'all enjoy seeing it.   Thanks Tina!

So, this is my completed boot card.   I love this stamp!!!   This if the first stamp I have that is "steampunk".    But, I thought it was so gorgeous that I had to have it. 

The embossed layer is from an embossing folder I ordered the same time I ordered the boot.   It is called "gun metal".   I can see it quickly becoming a fav.  It is a 6" x 6" embossing folder.    I do think I will enjoy that size.   It does fit in the Cuttlebug nicely.   I get grungy with my ink on the edges of my card stocks.   I love that look.

I used my Spectrum Noir markers on this.   I also used a little generic gold ink pen that came in a card making mag that I picked up at Joann's around Christmas of 2013.   I used that to color the gold sections.

Then I used my perfect pearls on each corner and also on the boot in diff places.

You can see the dark raised spots in this pic, that is perfect pearls.   I love that stuff.

The slight glittery finish that you see over the purple (have I ever told y'all I love purple?) part of the boot is my faux stickles.    I brushed on a very light coat just to give it a little bling.    Hey, I gotta get a little bling in, y'all!    I was soooo happy with the outcome of my "steampunk" boot, I hope y'all are too!

As I leave you this afternoon, I leave you with this scripture:

Isaiah 26:3  "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."

Chapter 26 of Isaiah, in some translations has the title as "A song of Praise".   This song of praise is addressed to God in the form of a prayer, not petitioning God for something, but making a statement to God agreeing with God and proclaiming His work.   The people had honor for God and only God.   Their hope was in God.    Just as our hope is in God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Verse 3 talks of peace.    Perfect peace is a gift from God.    Peace does not come from anyone else or anywhere else.    We can search a lifetime for peace, but we will never find it, till we trust in Him.    When we place our confidence in God, through the Blood of Christ, then we can have peace over the things of this world that tries to steal our joy and contentment.

People are striving for world peace.    You can't mandate peace, you can't legislate peace, you can't make peace a law that has to be followed.    Peace only comes thru that "individual, personal" relationship with God, through Jesus Christ.   Keep your mind on God!   If you don't have a relationship with Christ, you don't have peace.    It's just that simple.    Peace is based on our "steadfast" trust in God.    Do you have enough trust in God to say, "what ever happens, I will trust God"?    That trust produces internal peace, personal peace.    That kind of trust in God, on a personal basis; each individual having peace; CAN bring about peace on a larger scale.    That is the only way this unsettling world will ever know peace.    Individually.   

If you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, thank Him for that and the peace that comes from having a relationship with Him.    If you know people that don't have a relationship with Christ; and we all do; put those people on your prayer list.   We also should pray for peace.    The peace that I pray for people to have is the peace that passes all understanding, and it comes only from God.    May you have peace in your heart today and stay focused of God and all He's doing for you, through the Blood of Christ.

Ladybug, I pray that each new day is better than the one before.   Keep on keeping on.   Sweetpea loves you lots and can't wait to see you, soon.

Have a blessed rest of the day, y'all!    God loves you and so do I!   hugs, Patty

I accepted the Challenge...

Ohhhh, does that sound ominous and foreboding?   Well, I did accept a challenge and I wanted to share it with y'all.

It has been pretty cold in my neck of the woods the last few days, how about where y'all live?   I remember hearing on the news sometime Tuesday,  that every state in the United States of America had temperatures below freezing, 32*,  at some point and time that day!   Folks, that's a cold wave and a half!   I do hope and pray that everyone is making it through this cold spell ok.   Awh, before we know it, we'll be fussin' about how hot it is!   hahaha    Kinda look forward to that, too!

Now back to the "Challenge".    It's not a duel or a fight to the death or anything like that, it's a "fun" challenge.   One of the ladies on one of the groups I belong to posted this challenge for making a card:  It has to open down the front;  it has to have orange on it somewhere;  and it has to have coloring of some type on it somewhere.   Those were the only three criteria that I remember, hopefully I got it right.   Anyway, I had a blast working on this card.   It is picture intensive, but I can't help it, I feel like I grew by leaps and bounds during this challenge.   I think I may be able to leap tall buildings in a single.........well, no, not really, but I may be up for another challenge.   hahaha    And now, for the pics:

I used my Sizzix postage stamp die .  I measured how wide the die is and x that by 2.  Then cut my cardstock at just about 1/16th or so shy of the total width.  Then measured in from the cut sides to half the width of the die and that's how I got the fold.  You want to make sure that you have some hinges left on the sides of your stamp otherwise your doors will fall off. hahaha  Ask me how I know?  No, don't, just take my word on it, you want hinges!   I also used this die to cut the orange that was a requirement for the challenge.

I took another sizzix die and cut some closures, that will come a little later.

This just gives you an idea of the size as compared to a quarter.   I also took my distressing tool and made the card stock really supple then I inked it lightly with my brown ink.

This shows how it will close.

The inside shows where my coloring is.   I used my water color pencils and then a water blending pen to blend the colors.   I took one of the pieces I messed up, hahaha, and trimmed away the outside of the stamp and that is what I stamped my image on.   If you look closely, you can see a border of orange around the stamped image, I inked it up because I wanted it to stand out, so to speak.

I cut the orange in half and used it to cover the front of what I will call the doors of my card.   Then I used bisque colored perfect pearls on each little nub of the stamp.   I took the image I wanted to place on the front and cut it at an angel and the scor-taped it to the front, after I had inked up the edges a little.

 This is a little better pic.  I got the light on it a little better.

 And also this one.

Now, this is where I used the closure.  I made a little band to go around it to hold it shut.   Again, just plain white Georgia Pacific card stock, distressed and inked.  I glued the closure to the band and opened it out flat and used glossy accents on it.  I just put a single coat on it.   That really helped to make it look more like a belt.  I was happy with it.

Then, I used my perfect pearls and made me some little rivets on the closure to give it a finished look.

Just another shot of the closed, finished card.

And this is a close up of my little closure.  I am really happy with the whole thing!   Oh, I forgot to mention that I used different colors of blingy, glittery goodness on my flower on the front of the card.   It doesn't show up really well, but I did take notice of it in this pic, and I didn't want to forget the "bling"!

Well, this is my take on the Challenge.    I so loved doing it.   I am so thrilled with the outcome of it.   I hope that there is something here that you can use on your next project or in the future.

As I leave you this evening, I want to share a fav scripture with you:

Psalm 91:1 "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty".

God is our shelter and refuge.   The writer of this Psalm trusted God to see him through any dangers and fears that may have come in his life.   This is the picture of how we are to trust God and give Him all our fears and exchange fear for faith.   We must dwell in and rest in the shelter and protection of Almighty God.

I hope that you have found shelter and refuge in the shadow of the Almighty!   God loves you and wants to be your safe place to fall!

I hope y'all enjoyed your visit here today.   I pray for y'all to have a blessed and peaceful evening.    I hope you come back soon, because I have soooo much more to show you.

Hugs and be blessed, Y'all!  Patty