Welcome July and Two New Cards

Greetings one and all y'all!!!    God Bless every one of y'all as we go into the month of July and as we celebrate "Independence Day".    What does that day mean to you personally?     I hope, where ever you are, and what ever country you happen to live in, that those words, alone, mean something to you.    Here in the great country of the United States of America, those two words mean an awful lot.    There was much blood shed and loss of life to gain our independence from another great country.    We should never forget that our freedom was purchased at a GREAT price!!!!     I pray that as we go into this holiday weekend, that each and every one of us will take the time to pause and thank God for the blessings that He has bestowed upon this great country!

I made a couple of cards recently for some friends that have been recovering from surgery.    I hope the cards will be an encouragement and uplifting for both of them.   

This is a new stamp set that I ordered.     It is Hello Daisy from JustRite Papercraft that I ordered through Blitsy.

I love the boldness of the flower.   As usual, here lately, I'm trying to use my Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers.

The flower itself, doesn't require much coloring, if you choose to go that route.   After I got the image colored, I used my Studio brand glitter glue, or faux stickles, as I call it.    After all, I just gotta add a little bling.   hahaha

I used my standby Spellbinders die and Cuttlebug to cut and then I inked the edge so it would stand out on the card front.   I also inked the card front ever so slightly with a purple, yeah, my fav color.

I was really happy with this image and I'm sure it will become a favorite of mine.

This is the second card I made using the same stamp.   I used the Sizzix Postage Stamp Die to cut this image.    When I got it cut, I used my Martha Stewart Score Board to make the straight lines just inside the scallops indented a little more than they were.   I am trying to find something else that I like as well as I like the Spellbinders Die, just so they all won't look the same.   Anyway...

I oriented the stamp differently on the front of this card.    I inked the edges and also the raised straight lines inside the scalloped edge.    Then I took some of my liquid pearls and went around the scalloped edge.    I really loved that, it makes it look like lace when you are holding it.

In the center of this flower, after I used my faux stickles all over the flower,I used my glossy accents and covered the center of the flower.  I loved that also.

This is just a close up of the swirly effect of the liquid pearls.  

I really liked this card and I know I will use the stamp more and more.   When I was finished with both cards, I went around the images with a pale blue for this one and a pale gray for the other one.   I love to do that to give a bit of dimension to the stamped image.    Any way, I hope you have enjoyed looking at my latest two cards.

As I leave y'all today,  I would love to share another scripture with you.

Isaiah 41:13 says, "For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I am the One who helps you."

Have you ever thought about holding hands with God?    Maybe you don't, but He does.     God wants to hold our hand with His "right" hand.    There is all power, all strength, all favor, all glory in the Father's right hand.    God is the One who helps you!    God is the One who says to you, "Fear not!"

Recently a sister in Christ asked me where God was at in my early life.    All I could say at the time was, "I don't know".     She asked me if I would like to know.     I said, "I really don't know if I want to know."     On the way home from our visit, I asked God where He was.    This is the response I got that evening while in the kitchen, cleaning up a bit, and in the blink of an eye, the answer was,  ""God spoke to me thru the Holy Spirit and said, "When your hands were clenched, as if making a fist, you weren't;  I was with you, holding your hands!!!""

Picture, if you will, someones hands in a closed manner.    Anyone seeing those hands would assume they had made fists, and getting ready to fight.    Ok, now picture those same hands holding hands with God.    There's no fight in those hands at all.    Just the hands of God holding my hands.    To think that God loves me enough to hold my hands is more than my feeble mind can comprehend.    Thank you God, for loving me and being my El Rohi, "the God of Strength who sees me".

God has held my hands my whole life and I praise Him for that!    I'll bet that God has held your hands too.    There's only two people that I want to hold hands with and that is my husband and God.    Just knowing that God has held my hands in the past, it does not matter what the future brings, because I know He'll hold my hands through it.

I hope and pray that you have a right relationship with Father God, through the blood of Jesus Christ.   If not, then maybe this is the time or the weekend  for you to have an "Independence Day" from sin.   Knowing that your "freedom" from sin was bought and paid for with the blood of Christ.   Christ died for one and all, only once.    One death was sufficient saving grace for me, and everyone before me, and everyone after me.   One death paid the penalty for "all" sin.    But, you don't automatically have the ransom just because you belong to the human race.    You have to acknowledge the sin in your life, repent, and ask Jesus Christ to be the Lord and Savior of your life.    He will!    He wants to hold your hand!     Jesus wants to be your, "Fear Not"!    Let Him, you won't be disappointed.    Happy Independence Day!!!!

Ladybug, I hope you are staying cool!    Praying for the days ahead!    I love you bunches and look forward to time with you soon.   Sweetpea loves you!

Where ever you are, what ever country you live in, I pray for all to have a happy and blessed weekend ahead.    God loves y'all and 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