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

New Project

Good afternoon Y'all!   I pray that this update finds each and every one of y'all in a great way!   I hope the weather is pleasant where you are and that Spring is full on.   I know that some are still dealing with snow and ice and all kinds of weird weather, but I still believe God is in control of all of it.   If nothing else, this past Winter and early Spring is proving that God certainly has a sense of humor.   So much for "global warming"!   In a couple of months, we will have forgotten all about the up and down carnival ride we have had with the weather and we will be complaining about how hot it is.   Just you wait and see.   hahaha

The growing and blooming of all things Spring, as beautiful as it is, it has awaken my allergies and I am in a pickle with them.   When I get a little head congestion it seems as if my vertigo kicks in and I'm dizzy and nauseous and not very steady on my feet.   I have had minor symptoms for a couple of weeks but this week it has ramped up and I'm in a bad place with vertigo.   I just get in my nest when my husband leaves for work and that's pretty much where I stay.   I can get up and do around a little, but not very much and I get unsteady on my feet and very nauseous.   I do cherish your prayers as I try to get back on my feet.

I went to a baby shower over the weekend for a dear friend of mine who is gonna be a grandma for the first time.   It was such a lovely shower.   Lots of people and lots of wonderful gifts for the baby.   I never seen as much stuff.   I have been praying that she gets everything she needs for the short term, anyway.   There may be an item or two that she still needs, but hopefully, when all is said and done, she will have enough gift cards and cash to put towards what she still needs.

I made a tag similar to the one I made earlier for a bridal shower.   I am loving this steel rule postage stamp die from Sizzix.   It is wonderful for a tag.  I always make mine three layers thick, so it is beefier, much beefier than a one layer tag.   I use deco cardstock for both sides and a piece of chipboard/cereal box on the inside.   I run both pieces of deco cardstock thru my 510 Xyron machine.   Apply both pieces to the chipboard and then cut out my postage stamp tag.   I am not advising you to do yours like I did.   I am just telling that's how I did mine.   Once I get it cut out, I use a marker closest to the color of deco cardstock and color the edge all around the tag so no white is showing.   I punch a hole in one corner for all the threads and ribbons to loop thru.   I love to use a crackle background stamp and stamp all over one side of it.   Then I use what ever stamps I want to use and put images or sayings on it.   Then I love to make rosettes and put them on my tag.   For this particular one, I made an envelope with my envelope maker, the size of a gift card,  and put it on the back to put my gift in.   I did take a few pics and I hope you enjoy looking.

My baby images did not stand out really well because my background was really dark.   But, I still really liked the finished outcome.   There are some little baby duckies punched out and popped on there.   One of my dear friends gave me that little punch and it was perfect to use to put some on the tag.

The rosette is a six pointed star rosette.   You cut two pieces and join them to make the rosette.   

I used an ink pad over the top of the rosette to add some color to it and then inked up the white spot that I put on the top.   I cut the little length of cardstock to put my punched out "congratulations" from Spellbinders.   My Cuttlebug got a lot of use with this little project. 

This is the little envelope I made to attach to the back of the tag.   I dug around and found a pre-made sticker to seal the envelope with.

I cut several pieces of ribbon and threads and looped thru the hole I punched up in the corner.   It is a quite simple project and I enjoyed making it.   It is one of those "instant gratification" projects that I love to do.   It doesn't take a long time to make, but it kinda makes a statement once you get it made.   I love learning and every time I do a project I learn something.   I definitely learned to be aware of the colors that I use for my backgrounds, otherwise, my images that I stamp may not show up very well, or at least as much as I would love for it to show up.  Anyway, this is what I done and I hope you enjoyed seeing it.

As I leave you this afternoon, I ask you, have you ever been angry, about anything?   Sure you have!   We all have!    Ok, fess up, admit it, you have been angry.   Anger is not necessarily a bad thing.   It is a normal reaction to many different situations.   But, one of the things about anger, is that it is so easy to sin while we are angry.   Most of us have really never learned how to deal with our anger and not sin.   Why is that?   Basically, because it IS NOT EASY!!!   It may be one of the hardest things that we will ever do,  is to be angry and NOT sin.    The only way we will ever have any success at "being angry and not sin" is to have a close relationship with Jesus Christ.   We certainly can not do it on our own.   But, Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus and this is what he said to them;

Ephesians 4:26-27, "26 Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and don’t give the Devil an opportunity."  

A lot of people don't put a whole lot of weight and authority in the teachings of Paul.   I believe that if we believe in Jesus Christ in any way; if we believe that any part of the Holy Scripture is God inspired, then we can't pick and choose what we believe.   We either believe it all or we believe none of it.   I personally believe that every word that Paul wrote was inspired to him personally by Jesus Christ.   Paul was an Apostle of Jesus Christ and he was adamant about correcting the heresy in the early churches.   Praise God for Paul!!!

Most of the time when we are dealing with anger, for any matter, we either suppress or express it.   Neither way is the way for Christians to deal with anger.  Suppressed anger builds up like poison and expressed anger usually involves verbal or physical attacks in some way.   Paul suggests us to recognize anger and to deal with it before the sun goes down on it.   Why in the world would Paul say "before the sun goes down on it"?   Because if you have time to stew and churn over it, it will become an even greater problem tomorrow.   Why?   If we don't deal with it before the sun goes down, then the enemy will get in on the situation and what was a petty issue will become a major situation giving you the opportunity sin.   How many lives have been lost due to unresolved anger?   How much misery exists in the world today because of unresolved anger?  Only God knows.    Every sin starts in the mind.    We have the opportunity to deal with while it is but a thought.   Give that thought to God and let Him deal with it for you.    I don't know who needed this today, besides me, but I pray that if you have an issue with anger, you will give it to the One who can deal with, because I know I can't and I doubt if you can deal with it on your own.   Let go and let God!

I hope y'all have a wonderful rest of the day and a great nights rest for a very special day tomorrow.   God love's y'all and so do I.   Please come back real soon.

I hope and pray that Ladybug is having a great week.  Sweet Pea loves you!

Much love and hugs till next time, Patty

A couple of cards and a story

Good afternoon, Y'all!   I pray you are having a wonderful Thursday afternoon!   It has been raining here and supposed to have more rain tonight.   We had some bad strong storms last night, but fortunately, there was no damage.  I just hope and pray everyone stays safe and sound if you do have storms.

I wanted to share a story and a couple of projects.  It seems like I am getting more and more behind in posting my projects.  I'm trying though.  ggg

Papaw and His Tobacco

Papaw always chewed tobacco, smoked a pipe or rolled his own little cigar/cigarette type thingies.  He would take a piece of newspaper and tear off a perfect square, about 4inch by 4 inch.  He went through the same ritual every time for making his cigarettes.  He grew his own tobacco. Like most farmers, he sold the majority of his crop to get by till the next season.  But he always kept back for himself, some of the best leaves of tobacco.  With some of those big beautiful brown leaves he would make two or three or more big twists.  I know some of you have seen those and know what I am speaking of.  He really could make a fine twist.  I remember watching him make a twist and just be fascinated that he could do that.  I still really don't know how he done it.  He always told me it was magic.  To me, it really was.

He would save a few leaves for drying till there was NO moisture in them at all and then he would start pulverizing it with his thumb in an old cigar box he had.   That was the tobacco he used to put in his pipe or to roll cigar or cigarette.  If he made a cigar, he would use a brown paper bag and cut out about a 4inch by 5 inch piece.  It was just fascinating to watch him do that.  Now, if he was just gonna enjoy what he called a “chaw” of tobacco, then he would reach way down in his pocket and pull out his knife and then open his tobacco drawer on the desk that he sat by every night.  It had had tobacco in it for so many years that I don't think a stink bug could have had a chance of survival in that drawer.  But he would pull out one of those big beautiful twists and ever so gently, cut off a “plug” about the size of the end of his thumb.

I was sitting at his feet one day when I was six or seven years old, maybe younger, and had never tasted any of that stuff.  I said, “Papaw, what does that stuff taste like?”  He said, “candy.”  Mamaw was sitting in her old fashioned wooden rocking chair.  The back of it had some scroll work in it.  You could tell by looking at it that it was very old, but well cared for.  She was rocking and looked up, and said, “Jerry, cut that out!”  I asked papaw what she meant.  He said, “She's afraid you'll want some of my candy.”  I asked him,“Can I, can I have a piece of your candy?” Mamaw said, “So help me Jerry, I'll take a broom to you!  I've done it before, and you know I'll do it again, if I have too!”  He laughed really big all the while cutting me a little “chaw”.  Before she could stop me, I popped that plug of tobacco in my mouth and started chewing and swallowing because I didn't want her to stick her finger in my mouth and get it.

Papaw was sitting there watching me real closely.  His eyes started to get big and then he started laughing and I think that was about the time I started turning green.  I got so sick, boy did I ever get sick.  Mamaw ranted and raved.  Papaw said, “Now Etta, you know she'll never ask for another “chaw” as long as she lives.”  Mamaw said, “Well, you can deal with her mother!”  Papaw said, “her momma likes me, there won't be anything to deal with.”

Well, yes, my momma did like papaw.  No question about that. But...she did not like the fact that he made me sick, brought me home, and then she had to deal with all the vomiting!!

The next time I was up there papaw asked me if I wanted some more candy.  I got up went outside on the porch and got the broom carried it inside, handed it to mamaw, and said, “here, you do it, you can hit harder than I can!”  They both laughed and laughed and finally I did too.  Not knowing why I was laughing, I just knew I did not want any more of his old “Candy”!!!!!( written by pjg,2013)

Hahahaha!!!   Just another "fun little piece"...

I said earlier I was way behind in posting a lot of projects, but I do have two cards to share with y'all today.  One is a "thank you" card and the other one is a"thinking of you" card.  I enjoyed making these two cards a lot.  I hope you enjoy looking at them.

This is the first card I wanted to show y'all.   The background is a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Chicken Wire.   I love that folder!   When I embossed the background I took  a dry metallic silver ink pad and rubbed it over the embossing and it left just enough color to make the embossing pop.   I had started to toss out that dry pad many times, but hadn't, I am so glad I didn't toss it.

I have been hoping it would come to me where this design file of the "wisteria vine" came from.  I can't remember who had it as a freebie, but I will gladly put their name on here if someone can help jog my memory.  I'm really sorry I don't remember, because I LOVE this cut file!  It is amazing!  ***Update: the freebie wisteria file came from EINNEJ.  She is in the list of blogs that I follow on the right.  Click on the link that goes to her blog. It is on the FREE SVG FILES page in the left hand column.***

The little tag is cut from a Sizzix  die.  It is a square die, but I made a rectangle out of it by cutting the square and then lining the scallops up about two or three scallops up and re-cut it.  So, that made a really neat size to put my sentiment on.

After I got my wisteria vine glued to the background, I used my faux stickles to put a little "bling" on my flowers and a little on the leaves.  It was just enough to really gussie it up.

This is the second card I wanted to you.   This was a cute little stamp and I colored it with my Marvy Uchida LePlume alcohol markers.   As you can see, I am not the greatest with the alcohol markers, yet, but I am having fun and trying, anyway.  Her makeup looks kinda like mine.  hahaha   But, I thought she was a little cutie.

Here is the completed card.  I cut the image with a Spellbinders die.  I used a Cuttlebug folder to emboss the background layer.  I used a fuchsia ink pad to highlight the edges of the cut image and then floated it over the top of the background layer to highlight the embossed image.  Then I popped some little pre-made embellishments on each corner for the bling effect..

I hope you enjoy what you have seen here this afternoon.   If so, tell a friend.

As I leave you this afternoon, I want to ask you a question, "Are you  a missionary?"   The first thing that might pop into your mind is "No, I'm not a missionary."   We sometimes think of the global arena when we think of missionaries.   Or we may even focus on a continent.   We may even think of a country.   But if you are a follower of Christ, you ARE a missionary right where you are.  Don't let that scare you at all.  But, when we are out and about, doing what we do on our usual days, we can be certain that we are on the mission field.  Look around, and look deeper than the smiles on the faces.  Ask God to allow you to see what He sees.  When we look at the world around us, through the filter of what breaks God's heart, we can see a whole heap of hurt around us at all times.  The best thing that you can do is to just start praying for God to use you when ever He see's fit.   2 Timothy 4:2 says:"Proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching."

Proclaiming the message is as simple as saying, "God loves you!"   Keep saying it.   How inconvenient was it for Jesus Christ to face the Cross for my sin and yours.   Think about it.  I'm sure that was one thing that He would rather not have done.  After all, He was fully human.  So, it was with great pain and agony that He faced the cross.  But He did it for me.   He did it for you.  He did if for ALL humanity.  Tell someone you know what Jesus Christ has done for you.  When you  do that, you are proclaiming the "Message"!   Thank God that we can be in a right relationship with Him, all because of the obedience of Jesus Christ!

Have a blessed rest of the day and tell someone Jesus loves them.

Hey, Sweetpea loves Ladybug!

God loves y'all and so do I.  Many hugs and much love, Patty

March projects

Good evening y'all.   Has everyone adjusted to the time change?   Is everyone ready for spring?    We just have to roll with it, don't we.    Glancing over at the outside temp, it doesn't feel much like spring, but I do feel rest assured that it will start feeling more like it every day.   It won't be long till all the beauty of the awakening spring will be all around us and we will, once again, put winter in the back of our minds for the next few months.   I can't wait till the wild flowers start blooming.   Even some of the little flowering weeds are just beautiful and I can't wait.

There is a lot of sickness going around and I do pray for all these folks to feel much better soon.    Friends having surgery, some have already had surgery and recouping.   Friends having lost loved ones and dealing with the pain of that, I pray for them.   Many prayers on behalf of these folks.

I have been working on a few projects this month and I have a few pics to share with y'all.   I hope you enjoy what I have been up to.   I have gotten behind on so many little projects to be posted, but it's all good.    It's good to keep busy, even if I don't show y'all when I want to, I will get around to sharing sooner or later. 

The above two pics is of my "Bits and Bobs" card and envelope.   The bits and bobs are pieces laying around on my craft area, left over from other projects.  I had cut cards with a honeycomb background and the little hex pieces are from that.   I used a butterfly stamp and then I found the glittery, blingy, purple (all of my favorites, yay) butterfly that sat perfectly over the stamped butterfly and then the flourish at the bottom of the stamped butterfly.  I used a tiny butterfly stamp and stamped a few on the little hex pieces and then colored them a bit.   I carried the tiny stamped butterfly image on to the envelope to tie them together.   Then I used some taupe colored half pearls in the corners of the card.    I really enjoyed making this card.

My atc (Artist Trading Card) is simple, to say the least, but they made me smile.   I loved all the little St. Patrick's Day images I had.   I put a layer of cardstock on each side of a piece of cereal box, then cut them out with my sizzix atc die.   I used a square check background on the diagonal and stamped it in green.   I inked the edges of the atc with a brown ink pad after I used a brown marker on the edges of the atc to color the white edges.  I inked the little image lightly with a brown ink pad to make it look a little aged.  I then pulled out some liquid bling (hahaha) and put a little glitter on this little girl talking to her best friend.   (She is actually me and one of my friends, hahaha)   She makes me happy, as they all did.   I made 6 of these.

This was my tag.   It is called "black magic".   I'm not really fond of the name, but I love the technique!   As usual, I always do my "own" thing with these techniques.   It is supposed to be white stamped on black.   I stamped my image in white on a navy blue tag.   I then inked the sides of the tag with a silver metallic ink.  After you stamp the white image on your dark cardstock, once the white has dried, you take color pencils and color the image.  I then used my white souffle pen to enhance the white stamped image and made a series of dots white dots all over the image, randomly.   I then used several pieces of threads and ribbons and looped them thru the hole in the tag.   I love all the threads and ribbons.   I really loved this technique.  I will be doing more samples of this.

This is my ornament with a church and a girl dancing with an Easter Bunny on the other side.   I am so loving these ornaments.   At the end of the year, my friend and I will have a year of collectible ornaments.   I am making them with glitter cardstock on both sides with a piece of cereal box in between so they are beefy feeling.   Then I use various sizzix dies to cut them out and punch a hole in the top for a seam-binding hanger with the year printed on a tag and stuck to the seam binding.

That's it for this go-around.   I'll be back soon with some more good stuff, so stay tuned, ok.   I hope you enjoyed what you seen here and I hope and pray that you make plans to join me back here again.   I'll be looking for ya'!

As I leave you tonight, I ask y'all, "To "whom" do you show gratitude, and for "what" do you show gratitude?    Kind of a funny question, huh?    Well, we show gratitude to friends when we know they care about us.   We show gratitude to someone who has done something for us when we needed help.   We show gratitude when we know that people have been praying for us.   We show gratitude to a lot of different people for many different reasons.

Psalm 138:1 says: "I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing Your praise before the heavenly beings."

Notice that David praised God with all his heart.   Gratitude for God's blessings upon David's life consumed him and he couldn't contain it!    He praised God continuously, regardless of his situation.   God wants us to love Him, obey Him, serve Him and worship Him with all our heart.    Who else do we credit with all the blessings in our lives?    I know for myself, that unless God allows it, my heart won't beat!    I know for myself, that unless God allows it, my lungs will not fill with air and release on a regular basis!    I know for myself, that unless God wills it, my eyes won't blink!    Absolutely everything my body does to sustain life is done because God allows it.   For that, Father God, I will praise You with all my heart, all the days of my life.   I praise You, Father God for providing a way to have a right relationship with you thru Jesus Christ!   I will sing praises to You!

Good night y'all, may you have pleasant dreams and a rest filled night!   God love's y'all and so do I!     Hugs, Patty

Poly Shrink - first attempt

Good evening y'all.    How's the weather where you are?     I do hope and pray that everyone's weather is getting better.     The highest it got here today was 37* and the ice and snow did do a little melting.     If the forecast holds true, it should be up to about 53* tomorrow.      Yay!!!!      I will be doing a louder Yay if the temp does actually reach the anticipated 53*.       If you hear someone yelling tomorrow, it may be me, yelling with joy as the ice and snow melts.     When it gets a little warmer, we will have the cleanup to do of the pine tree limbs in front of the garage.      While they are still weighted down with ice and snow, we are kinda leery of getting beneath the trees to move the limbs.    Could cause some more branches to shed off the trees and onto us.     Not something we want to do.

Here back I had ordered some "10 mil Polyshrink artist's grade shrink plastic" made by Lucky Squirrel.     I have never played with any shrink plastic, ever.     So, I didn't know what to expect.    I didn't know how the end results should look.      I knew nothing what so ever about it.      Basically, a big shot in the dark for me.     I did say it was "10 mil".    Realistically, that means nothing to me.     I know it has to do with the thickness.     When most people are speaking of shrink plastic, it is usually in the terms of 0.07 or 0.05 thicknesses, I think, but this was "10 mil".     I ordered black and clear.    I have only experimented with the black.  I did remember to try to take pics along the way as I played with it.

So, without further ado, I will show the pics and tell you a little of what I done in each step.     It was fun, but I still don't know if it turned out right or not.

I just wanted to show you what the pkg actually said about the thickness.   

Here, I had used my cuttlebug and Tim Holtz sizzix tattered floral bigz die to cut my pieces and also a sizzix mover and shaper die of a bow.    I used a piece of sandpaper on the pieces before I colored them, per instructions.    I used three colors of my Inka gold metallic rub, gold silver and purple.    I love that stuff.    It actually has bees wax in it and it blends and rubs on so wonderfully.     I colored each piece and also took some of the scrap and cut it into small bits with my scissors and placed it all on a piece of cardboard, as the instructions says to do.

The above pic shows the shrunken pieces on the card board.    I don't know if you can tell how thick they became, but they are about the thickness of the quarter that I used just to show scale.    The instructions says it shrinks down to about  45% of it original size.      So, it actually shrinks 55%.     More than half it's original size.

This is an up close shot of one of the flowers and a piece of scrap in the back.

Another flower, up close.   Notice how the coloring became scaly.

This is the smallest of the flowers on the die.     It actually cuts out about the size of a quarter, but it shrank down to smaller than a dime.     And a couple of other scraps.

This is the shrunk pieces laying on top of the box that the die came in showing the full size cut of the three largest flowers.      The flower at the bottom of the pic became very distorted and it wasn't even salvageable, so I tossed it.

So, the above pic is just after I put a coating of glossy accents on it to preserve the flaky coloring.

This one is after the glossy accents had dried.

I think they look pretty cool, but I haven't figured out how to use them yet.    Maybe on a 3d box or something like that.     

I will be trying it some more with other dies and seeing what else I can come up with.      These shrank so much, that I don't know how one could use it in jewelry, since you have to make a hole in before you put it in the oven.     It would have to be one honkin' big hole to keep it from just disappearing when placed in the oven.      So, I just don't know.     As I said, this is my first experience what so ever with plastic shrink.      I may have to get a diff brand to try just to see if it does anything diff or more of the same.      I can't say whether I like it or dislike it.    The flowers are cool, though.

That's it for this go around.   I hope you may find this useful in some way.    If not useful, maybe a little entertaining.    hahaha     I hope you have a wonderful rest of the evening and a great night.

Before I leave you, I want to leave you with a fav scripture of mine.

Matthew 7:7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Who are you dependent on; what are you yearning for; and how persistent are you?     Are your prayers based on the fulfillment of God's purposes in you life?    We should never give up seeking God.    We should ask God for more knowledge, love, wisdom, patience, understanding.    When we ask God for what He desires to give us, then He will answer those prayers.    When we keep on asking and keep on seeking and keep on knocking, then we show our faith, our focus and our follow-through.    So, as a follower of Christ, I keep asking, seeking and knocking on a daily basis.    I want to be open to God for His guidance and instructions for my life.    I hope you do to.

God bless y'all and hope to see you right back here real soon.   Hugs and much love, Patty

Update, Acorn Box, finally!

Good afternoon y'all!    I do hope and pray you have been having a wonderful day so far.    I am hoping that Spring will be here soon for all of us!    I know many of my long distant friends are still dealing with serious winter weather.   I keep them all in my prayers.    So, lets keep warm thoughts going for everyone still in the deep freeze!   I have been busy for the last few days and have not had time to get updated here.    It's good to be back with y'all for a few minutes.

I have a project to share with y'all.    One of my favorite things to do is 3-d projects, like boxes.    I love making boxes of all kinds.    This particular box is from the Silhouette Online Store.    I enlarged it as much as I could to get the bottom cut out of one sheet of 12x12 card stock.     So, this is a pic of my Acorn Box.    I love acorns and pine cones, so this is a part of what I made.

The above pic is of the base of the Acorn, all in one piece and simple folding and using scor tape, and in just a few minutes, the bottom part is made.

The above pic is of the top part, or the cap of the acorn, with the excess pulled away, and the main pieces still on the mat.

The above pic is both pieces made and finished with all decorative pieces on them to finish it up.   I cut several small acorns with my Sizzix Movers and Shapers acorn and leaves.    I also have a tiny die to cut the pine cone and greenery you see on the base.   The pine cones on the box is about the size of my thumb nail.

 I inked the base of the acorn with a brown ink on all of the folds.  On the cap of the acorn, I inked the all of the folds and edges of the dark brown card stock with a light gray ink.

The above pic shows the size as compared to a large bottle of glossy accents.   The acorn box is a full 7 inches tall.   It is a good size to put a lot of things in.

The above pic is a sneak peek of what I actually put in my box.    That's all I'm gonna say about that for now.   ggg    That way, you'll want to come back and see what else I have done.  

I have been busy here lately doing several different things that I can't wait to share with y'all.   I have been trying to learn new techniques and have been enjoying that.     It is really hard to get me out of my comfort zone, so when I finally do get out there, I love to take advantage of it!

As I leave you this afternoon, I leave you with a simple, but beautiful passage from the Word of God:  

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

A beautiful picture of mercy and grace!    I don't mind telling you, I am not perfect, and I don't know of anyone that is, other than Jesus Christ and the crowd of the day killed Him.   I can say that God knows every motive and intention of my heart.   For me, that's what matters.   

I pray that y'all have a wonderful rest of the day.    I hope that y'all find time to come back again real soon.

God Bless y'all!    hugs and much love, Patty

Special Birthday Card

Good evening Y'all!    I hope and pray that this post finds all of you doing well, warm, and nestled in for the evening.   I have had a lot of creative things going on for the last few days or so, and I wanted to share another project with y'all before I hit the hay.   I had a special birthday card to make for someone special to me, my Mom.    I had participated in a swap that was for a shaped card.    So, while making that shaped card, I thought this would be a great card for my Mom.    So, I set out to make one for her while I was making the other card for the swap.    She was so very pleased with her card. 

The butterfly on the front was cut with a mover and shaper die from Sizzix.   I had made some ornaments from glitter cardstock and had just enough left to cut the butterfly from a scrap and it worked perfectly on the front of the card.    I also use perfect pearls in a lavender color. 

This is a close up of the butterfly.   It was purple glitter stock on both sides with a thin layer of chip board in the middle.   So after I cut it out I used my purple Sharpies marker to color the edge to keep white from showing.    Have I ever said I love purple?    Have I ever said I love glitter?    Best of both worlds!   ggg

The card was oversized so I needed to make an oversized envelope.   

This shows how I embossed the flap of the envelope with my heart embossing folder.    I was tickled purple with how it turned out.   I love doing a little something extra on the envelope and the embossed flap was perfect.    Something else I usually do is pick out an appropriate smallish stamp and stamp the front of the envelope, maybe down in the lower left hand corner.    The little things make it more special for the special person you've made the card for.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this.   I have several more projects to get posted in the near future.   So, I do hope you will keep checking back to see what I have in store y'all.

As I leave you tonight, I leave you with this verse.    A particular favorite of mine.    Psalm 46:10 says "Be still and know that I am God".    Do you ever need to just be still and know that He is whom He says He is?   Do you ever look back at how God has worked previously in you life?    That is where you will find the confidence in God for what He will do in the future.    Sometimes life gets tumultuous and we can't think clearly, and even more than that, we can't hear the prompting of the Spirit in our lives.    When life gets hectic and loud, we need to "Be still and know that He is God".    This was in particular reference to how God is in control of nature and how He brought about desolation to those warring against Him.   God IS in control!    So, when you feel as though life is nothing but a war; and it is, because we are at war against the enemy and enemies of God; we can know that God IS in ultimate control.   He WILL be exalted by nations, He WILL be exalted by individuals, He WILL be exalted by nature.    God IS in control, no matter how out of control the world is around us, remember, to "Be still and know that I am God".    Do you trust God with your everything?    "Be still and know that I am God".

Good night, Y'all!    God loves you and so do I!    God bless y'all.    hugs, Patty

Tag for a Shower

Good evening y'all!   I do hope that you are enjoying a fabulous Saturday with the one you love.   I know I am.   I hope you are having some sunshine today.  The weather, now that is a subject and a half, isn't it?    We got up this morning with an inch or so of snow and when the sun came out it really blasted the snow away.    But, it still feels really cold.    I keep having warm, spring thoughts and that brings on hot flashes, (hahahaha) so I just believe I will quit thinking about the weather and play in my craft room.   How's that?   Sounds like a plan to me.

So, play in my craft room, I did!   We are having a Bridal Shower for one of our young ladies at church tomorrow after morning services.   I had gotten her gift and started to just go ahead and buy the usual small note card to go on it with some kind of bow.   I thought, naaa, don't want to do that.   I'll see what I can come up with, and then if necessary, I'll buy something.   So I took out my Cuttlebug and some dies and a couple of hours later, here's what I had. 

This is what I came up with.   Yes, it is very non-conventional, but you know what, so am I.   I took 2 sheets of 4x6, lite purple cardstock and ran one sheet of it thru my Xyron machine and then stuck the two pieces together to beef up the weight of it.   I used my Sizzix postage stamp die and cut it.   The cross is Spellbinders d-lite die.    The heart is a Nellie Snellen die.   The round rosette on top of the heart is a small Sizzix rosette. 

I punched a hole in the upper right hand corner of the stamp tag and pulled a loop of all the yarns through the hole and the pulled the ends through the loop and snugged them down on the corner.   You can't see the yarns very well, but you will in another pic.

I laid the tag on top of the gift and taped it on with tape across the threads of yarn at the top of the tag and then popped the heart on with dimensional foam.   She should be able to take both off and be able to save them if she so desires.

I was thrilled with the way the heart came out.   I took one of my little ink pads and inked the top  and the edges of the rosette after I had put them together.   If I had it to do over again, I would ink all the edges as soon as I took them from the cuttlebug.   Then I would have inked them again, after I was done with it.   But, I am still happy with the overall affect.   Then I put a piece of bling on the very top of the rosette.   Hey, you know me, gotta have a little bling! ggg

I love this cross from Spellbinders.   I punched that out of just plain old Georgia Pacific cardstock.   Why?   That's what I had.   I took my Viva Decor Inka Gold in violet and rubbed that on, then I took the silver, same product, and buffed that over the violet.   I absolutely love that stuff!   Then I put a small half pearl in each corner of the cross.

On the background of the cardstock itself, I took a stamp called "crackled background" by Delta and inked it up in red and stamped all over the stamp after I cut it out.   I also used a Dew Drop satiny silver on the edges.  I really like the way it turned out.   The red on the lite purple looks really neat.  

I used my new fiskars stamp helper thingy, I forgot what it's called, and stamped the "congratulations" on first.  Then I had another unmounted stamp.   It is red rubber on a thin gray foam pad with no reverse image, so, I got it off kilter some.   Believe it or not, I never even noticed it, until I seen the pics.   I was ready to smack myself silly.  Then I remembered, nothing about me is perfect, why should I expect everything I do to be perfect.   I ain't, it ain't!   So, there you go.

I thought this scripture is perfect for any bride and most surely for this precious young lady.

This is the last pic and I took the tag threads and brought them to the top so you could see them a little better.   I was really pleased with the overall finish of my project today.    It did not start out to be a blog post, but hey, what can I say?   I was so stinkin' excited I had to share it with y'all!   As always, I appreciate your looking at my project and I hope you can use it as inspiration or ideas.

As I leave you this evening, I desire to remind you of this, "The only safe place to build your life is on God's Word."   That goes along with our Sunday School Lesson for tomorrow.   As a matter of fact, it is the point of the lesson.   We live in a world that believes in no "absolute" standards of right and wrong, but, God IS the standard!   The way we live our lives, is based totally on our belief system. If God is first place in your life, it will show, if He isn't, that will show also.   I challenge you to read God's Word for five minutes a day.   I challenge you to start with the book of John.    John talks about the deity of Jesus Christ.   I love the book of John for that reason.   I challenge you to read it deliberately and slowly, letting what you read sink in to your soul.    That's the best way to build your life on God's Word and it's also a great place to be, in God's Word.    Ok, y'all, who's up for a challenge?   Call it the "Love Challenge".   Let's take this challenge, y'all!    You are loved!    Jesus Christ is our One, True Love! 

Hugs Y'all, and much love, Patty