Experiment Gone Good

Hahahaha, what ever could I be talking about?    Well, you'll find out in a bit.    But, for now I wanted to say that I hope and pray all y'all had a wonderful weekend.   Here in the United States of America, it was "Independence Day" weekend.    When we say "4th of July", it lacks the enthusiasm that "Independence Day" has.     4th of July is more generic.    Independence Day automatically has what the day is all about in it's name.    We need to always remember that Freedom comes at a very high cost, it isn't free.    Most of us in the US, knows someone or knew someone who has fought for or died for this great country.    Most of us have had relatives down thru the years that have fought in or died in all of the battles and wars that this great country has had part in since July 4th, 1776.    I don't know about you, but I am thankful for the freedom that I have.    Thank you to all those who have fought, spilled blood, and died for this great country!!!!!    God Bless our military service men and women who are still in war torn areas of the globe today.    May you all come home safely, and soon.

Experiment gone good, you ask?    Well, Saturday evening I had a bit of "Hyde and Jekyll" going on in my laboratory, er, craft room.    I had no expectations of making something that was worth keeping, I was just experimenting.   I was just playing with some stuff and trying to make good use of all my crafting supplies that I have been blessed to have, but haven't made good use of them yet.    I bet some of y'all can relate.    Oh, shoot, I know you can!   hahaha

So, I took a shape that I had cut on my Cameo, a card front shape.    By the way, thanks, Penny Duncan, for all the wonderful shapes you have made.    I forget from time to time that I have access to many wonderful shapes that Penny has created over the years.     So, anyway, I took one of those shapes and a couple of stamps, Versamark, pewter embossing powder, LePlume markers, color mists, and liquid pearls and set out on my experiment. 

So, I started of with a solid white shape and stamped it with versamark and then used my pewter color embossing powder and heat gun.   What I learned is, next time, I will use silver embossing powder.    I do love the pewter, but it doesn't catch the light as well as silver would.

I stamped my parrot right in the middle.    The next time, I will see if I can put her on a branch instead of just hanging out in mid air.   hahaha

Then I had some flowers that went with the parrot and I just stamped them on the edge all around.   Next time, I will stamp more of the flower.

Then I used my LePlume markers and just filled in the flowers and the parrot with the island colors that are popular.    I love how the embossing gives a stained glass effect.

I had taken one of the markers and went along the cut edge to cover the stark white.    I took out my color misters with a bit of shimmer to them and misted with all four colors, Purple, Green, Yellow and Red.    I really love the effect that it gave to the card topper.

The next to the last thing I done was buffed the whole front of the card with my finger and it helped the pewter to shine a bit more than it was.   Then I put down a piece of pink Bazilla card stock on my card front and then attached the parrot to that.    The final thing I done was use my turquoise liquid pearls and put a few dots of that around.

When I started off, I had no intentions what so ever in using this as a real card front.    It was totally an experiment!      But.....when I got thru with everything and looked at it, I thought, "this just might work!"    And I think it did.    I was really pleased with my "Experiment Gone Good".    Hope y'all are too.     Hey, there is no such thing a a bad experiment in the craft room/laboratory.    Most is very usable.

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

Philippians 4:11  "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content."

Paul was writing to his Christian brothers and sisters in Philippi and he had been thanking them for helping him.    But Paul had some very valuable lessons that he passed on to this congregation and he is still passing this on to congregations today.    He had learned to make do with he had.    Whether a little or a lot, what ever the situation, he had learned to be content.

Have we learned to be content?     Some people think contentment is a bad thing.   For me, I think contentment is one of the best things that can happen in  a persons life circumstances.   Some times, contentment can refer to the financial side of life.    If you happen to know how to stretch a little food to make a lot of food, you can have more contentment.    If you happen to know how to repair a rip in a piece of clothing or sew a button back on, there is more contentment.    If you can do home repairs yourself, there is more contentment.     If on the other side of that, you are always trying to keep up with your neighbors and all that they do, you may never experience contentment.

Are we content in our relationship with the Lord?    One of the things that I have always tried to apply to my life is this; "I do as I know to do, when I learn to do better, I do better."    I want the Lord to be my teacher.   I want the Lord to teach me to do better.    I do not want, ever, to be chasing after the next great idea or to be chasing after something that God isn't telling me to go for.   Some say, do you want to be satisfied with mediocre?    I say, if God has me at mediocre, then I know He knows what He's doing.   I know He is at work in me getting me ready for better than mediocre.    But, I don't want anything that He hasn't already planned for me.    I really feel that sometimes in our search, we are searching after stuff that He hasn't commissioned us to search for, therefore we have even more discontentment in our lives.

Sometimes we need to stop and take a breath and look at our circumstances and ask God what He has in store for us, but until He takes us to the next level, we really should ask Him to help us be content with where we are.    Whether we have a little or a lot, be content and keep on doing the work that God has before you and praise Him through it.   I am not saying we should ever stop trying to achieve what God has put before us.    My life won't look like yours and yours won't look like mine.    But discontentment will make both our lives look miserable thru the eyes of the onlooker.    God will bless us right where we are, in every situation, if we ask Him to do so.

Philippians 4:13 says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Those don't sound like words from a discontented Paul.    Whether he had meals fit for a king or bread and water, whether he was behind bars or a free man, he was content.    His contentment came from Christ!    Yours can too.    I pray that if you don't have that contentment in your life that you will ask God for it.    Contentment will only come during the hardships of life.    Contentment comes through the struggle.    When we have come to the end of who we are, and realize we can't do it on our own, Christ is ready to strengthen you.    When Christ is your strength, when Christ is your everything, then Christ is all you need.    With Christ comes contentment.

I hope and pray you have a contented day today!    I hope you have enjoyed what you have seen and read here.   If so, I would love to read your comments.

Ladybug, I hope you have a wonderful day today.    Sweetpea loves you and will be with you in a couple of days.   See ya soon.

Have a blessed day!   God loves y'all and so do I!   hugs, 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