Sunday, March 6, 2011

Weeds or Master Designed Flowers?


STAMPIN' SISTERS IN CHRIST CHALLENGE DESIGN TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT.


I am so excited to be joining the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Design Team. Sixteen months ago, I was blessed by finding this group of Christian sisters, who love creating cards like I do, but who also use their love of creating as a way to share Christ with the world around them. I have been blessed by the scriptures that they share, as well as inspired by their beautiful creations.

This week's scripture is:

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. Isaiah 40:7

The challenge is to make a card with a stamped flower. When my daughter saw my card, she said WEED not FLOWER. That was the inspiration of a story that I want to share with my card as well.

The King's Birthday.
There once was a king who had magnificent gardens. Everyone who knew him knew about his passion for flowers. Every year on the king's birthday, his subjects would bring him flowers as their gifts to him. The king looked out at the line of his subjects. They were bringing roses, tulips, lilies, daffodils, and zinnias just to name a few. What caught the king's attention was a small boy near the end of the line. The people around him were laughing and jeering at the flowers he had brought. "WEEDS" said one, "The king will not be pleased." said another. A tear rolled down the small boy's face. The king rose from his throne and approached the boy. After the crowd's teasing, the boy was ashamed and hid his flowers behind his back. The king bent down and asked the boy "What kind of flowers did you bring? What did you think was a gift for your king?" The small boy slowly brought the flowers forward. In his small hands were dandelions. "These are God's favorite flowers" he said to the king. "God plants them everywhere. If I go into the meadows or if I go into the hills,these little yellow flowers are there. My friends and I pick bouquets of them for our moms." The king smiled. The boy continued..."Did you know that you can eat the leaves too? Wasn't that neat that God did that? I don't think you could eat the leaves of the flowers everyone else is bringing." And almost as an afterthought he added "The most fun thing about these flowers is when they turn to puff balls. You close your eyes, make a wish and blow." The small boy handed the dandelion to the king and a hush came over the crowd. They watched as the king closed his eyes and blew on the dandelion. Hundreds of small seeds blew into the air and floated away on the breeze. The king hugged the child and thanked him for his gift.



The flowers on my card are from a set that will be released this week by Mark's Finest Papers. It is called "JUST DANDY" Make sure you check out the blog hop that starts on Tuesday. I love this set. I can see using it to make masculine as well as feminine cards.













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10 comments:

  1. So glad you have joined us MariLynn.
    Your card is beautiful.

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  2. Welcome Marilynn!! I am so glad you are joining us!! Your story is so beautiful and your card is gorgeous. I just love the added sparkle, the green and the use of raffia. Beautifully done. Have a blessed Sunday and week.
    hugs,
    Chris

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  3. What a fabulous story! I am so glad that you shared that! fantastic! Love the card - every aspect of it! So glad that you are part of our team!

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  4. Hi MariLynn! Welcome to the team!!! We're so glad to have you join us! Love your card and that gret story! This is a wonderful new set! I too have always thought dandelions were beautiful! Have a wonderful day MariLynn!
    hugs,
    Grace

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  5. Marilynn what a beautiful card!! I absolutely love that butterfly you've added! Thanks for sharing and have a blessed week! Hugs, Sabrina

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  6. "Through the eyes of a child"... if only all adults could be as innocent children huh?! Your card is amazing Marilynn! I didn't think "weed" at all, I thought, "OH wow, that looks so pretty all glitz up, kinda like a sparkler but prettier!" =) Love the addition of the butterfly too, that was perfect! Great to have you on the sisters team!

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  7. What a great story MariLynn! And what a lovely card. I like the way you made the "puff balls" sparkle. :)

    Have a blessed day,
    Lisa

    P.S. I sure enjoy the music on your blog... I listened to it all evening last night as I did the posts, etc.

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  8. Beautiful MariLynn - both the art and the story. Love the sparkle on your dandelions :-)

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  9. Hello MariLynn - what a blessing it is to have you as part of the SSIC DT!! I love this fard - your images are divine - the texture is perfect! Gorgeous colouring and dimension! Love it! Thanks for sharing MariLynn! {{{hugs}}}

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  10. Very pretty. Your stitching is great and the soft soothing colors are very calming.

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