Keep on Keeping on

Matthew 27:51 "The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom."

 That is the scripture that my friend Peggysue picked for this week at Stampin'Sisters in Christ Challenge. I thought about this verse all week. To me the great significance of the veil being torn is the fact that I don't have to go to someone to have them go to God on my behalf, I can pray to him directly. I love the thought of having that direct line to God. Two weeks ago our senior pastor was asking the congregation how many people remember the old southern gospel song "Jesus on the Mainline." Mostly white haired people raised their hands. The exceptions were my kids and me. Not a song that most teenagers know. With all the trials of this life, I am glad my kids know where to turn. If you are unfamiliar with Jesus on the Mainline here it is:

The scripture on my card for this week says...

 "Consider it all JOY when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." James 1:2 (One of our sponsor's images)

This week really has put this to the test. My family and I are in our second week of dealing with the fleas in our home problem, and no air conditioning. We didn't really want to use poison on the fleas, but felt we had to. It was very discouraging that after doing the poison route, they were worse than before. My husband finally decided to call a professional. After talking on the phone with the professional, we went home to bag up any clothing or bedding that we had. Now I'll admit that I'm a hoarder when it comes to clothes. I have the clothes that are too small, but I really liked when I was skinnier and maybe I'll wear again if I loose like 80 pounds. I have the clothes I wear now, and the clothes that I need when I gain the weight. Now take my habits and multiply them by the 5 other members of my family and we have a lot of clothes. We also have a lot of bedding because in Iowa, in the winter, you never know when you might need a lot of blankets. We stood Thursday evening, short tempered because of lack of sleep, in sweltering heat bagging the clothing and bedding. The fleas were biting us even though we had sprayed ourselves with OFF bug spray. . It was a very low moment. I felt very discouraged. I didn't really feel like being JOYFUL. I'ld almost reached the point of saying fine, the fleas win, we'll just move out and leave everything.  My boys and I were getting our cots and air mattress out at work where we have been sleeping. They started to complain about not having our comfortable beds. I realized how my attitude was affecting them. I decided to thank God that he had provided what we needed, even if it wasn't what I wanted. That was a turning point for me. I started having a happier spirit. I praise God that the next day I found out that fleas stayed off of us when we rubbed our legs with vaporub. I also found out that this species of fleas really likes water. So we set bowls of water around a light with a little bit of Dawn dish soap. When we checked the bowls this morning, we had captured quite a few of the little monsters. I also found out that you can use salt  on your carpet. They don't like it and will leave. (Add that use to the list of uses for salt that I shared a couple of weeks ago. )  I still have a daunting task ahead of me. I still have no air conditioning, and when we decided to go to the laundry mat to wash all the clothing and bedding at one time, we found out that the laundry mat is closed indefinitely because the owner was found dead in his home this week. I am able to find some humor in the irony of this situation. If I look at all I have to do I start to feel overwhelmed, but I keep reminding myself that I can't worry about the big picture, I can only look at what I have to do this moment and keep on keeping on. That is where the ENDURANCE comes in. I was especially blessed by our sister blog Word Art Wednesday's post this week. I have read it several times.

Peggysue's challenge this week is: use torn paper technique (just tear paper with your fingers and use it somehow on your card, but it must be torn, not cut)

I might have gotten a little carried away with the tearing, but I really like how it turned out.

Our sponsor this week is Inspired Stamps. Make sure you check them out.


Check out what my Stampin’ Sisters in Christ have created to share with you.
Candace
Diane
Helen
Jerusha
Kris
Linda
Michelle
Miesje
Peggysue
Sandie
Traci

When I thought about the trials of life, I thought of this song. I hope it blesses you as much as it did me.

Summer by the Mississippi River

This morning, my son Joshua and I were driving along the Mississippi river. 

It was hot and muggy. Even though it was early, it was well into the 90's.

I just had to take these photo, because even though it was

hot, it was a beautiful morning.

 

 Mommy and Papa Geese.

 When I went to take this photo,

 all the little babies who had been

 swimming right next to the shore 

quickly swam under the lily  pads.
(Correction... I mistakenly called these water lilies when in fact
they are lotus flowers. I learned that to be a water lily the leaves float
directly on the water, while lotus leaves are on stalks that are
above the surface of the water. I love learning new things. )

 A field of Chicory and Queen Anne's Lace.

Summer on the Mississippi River.

Season for sympathy

Mojo251  and TLC387 were the two challenges that influenced this sympathy card.

SEASONS

A Time for Everything  Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

    a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
    a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
    a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,

    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
   a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
    a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
    a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

There is one thing I know about the seasons of the year, it doesn't stay the same forever.  Right now we are in the hottest days of summer (Today it was 107, still no air-conditioning), but in a matter of weeks, it will be fall and just a few more weeks then the cold days of winter will be upon me.
Life is filled with changes.
 It made me think of the seasons of life. My daughters are starting a season in a couple of weeks called "moving away from home to go to college" and I will be starting the season of  "half empty nest" (Half empty because I will still have my two boys at home.). In the past 2 months, 3 of my friends have started the season of being widows. What season are you going through? The comforting thought that the Holy Spirit gave me tonight, was that God is in control of the seasons.

 Daniel 2:21
He changes times and seasons...

He is always with me no matter what the season. When I was a young mom with crying babies, He was there. When I went through the season of having toddlers, who refused to take naps, He was there. When I had teenaged daughters suffering from pms, and the drama that goes along with that, He was there. He is with me now and as I head into unknown seasons, He has promised never to leave me

.Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. 

Do not be afraid or terrified because of them,

 for the LORD your God goes with you;

 he will never leave you nor forsake you.

I just hope that my friends know that I am thinking of them, and praying for them, and that God is with them.

I have been listening to this song tonight as I made this card.

"God will take care of you"

Hostess this week for Stampin' Sisters in Christ:  Michelle

Scripture:  

 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:30

Michelle's Challenge: To make a CAS (Clean and Simple) card.

This last week has been a struggle for me with dealing with a flea infestation in my home as well as the air conditioner going out with HOT JULY weather. I was also struggling with the fact that I really couldn't afford to deal with either of these problems. I was very sad and having a pity party for myself. I am thankful that I have sisters in Christ who came along side me this week. They prayed for me and encouraged me. My Stampin' Sister in Christ,  Helen reminded me of this...

 
My God shall supply all my needs
According to His riches in glory
He will give His angels charge over me
Jehovah Jireh cares for me, for me, for me
Jehovah Jireh cares for me

 My Stampin' Sister in Christ, Traci, reminded me of the Ten Boom sisters and how God used the fleas to protect them when they were sharing the gospel in the prison camps. 

The hymn "God will take care of you" was going through my head all day Friday. I even broke out singing it, to the frustration of my youngest son. I guess it isn't cool for teenaged boy's moms to just start singing out of nowhere. 

How does this tie into this week's scripture? Well, when I was hot and tired and trying to deal with these problems, I was feeling very weary.  The two verses before this week's scripture say...

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 

and I will give you rest

. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

 for I am gentle and humble in heart, 

and you will find rest for your souls. 

 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

When I turned my burdens to Christ, I felt a peace and a rest in my soul. I still have the fleas and I am going on day 4 with no air conditioner at home, but I am still trusting that God will a provide a way to solve these problems.I don't know how, but that is where FAITH comes in. I hope someday,  to be able to look back on the events of this week, and be able to see how God was moving in my life. Even if it is just to increase my faith.

 

This week's sponsor is A DAY FOR DAISIES. I was blessed to get one of the images. I choose this little girl with the flowers.She has such a sweet little face. I really struggle with CAS, because there is no room to make mistakes. I have to admit that I frequently make mistakes when making my cards, but they can quickly be covered over with another layer or an embellishment. This card is CAS, in that it is very limited in layers. Just the white on top of the blue. I simply colored her in. The phrase "God will take care of you" was printed using my computer. I know that most people wouldn't sew on a card that they considered CAS, but I just couldn't help myself. I just wanted to frame her.

I love this version of the song "God will take care of you" sung by PLUMB. It was a big blessing to me and i know it will touch your heart too. Let the words speak to your soul.




Check out what my Stampin’ Sisters in Christ have created to share with you.
Candace
Diane
Helen
Jerusha
Kris
Linda
Michelle
Miesje
Peggysue
Sandie
Traci

MFP July Blog Hop Day 4 Hot & Spicy

Welcome to Mark's Finest Papers a Heinrich Company's 

    July Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

Asian Delights Featured July 17
Wild & Free Featured July 18
Garden Art Featured July 19
Hot & Spicy Featured July 20

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on July 21, 2012 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday July 20, 2012.

I decided to go with a very CAS card. So not my usual style, but I love how these chili peppers look, and I decided to let them speak for themselves. Only one layer on this card. I stamped the peppers and "HOT" with black stazon ink. I used 5 different shades of red to color the peppers. What is fun with this set is the coloring, and the most fun is seeing how these peppers look where I don't color. The highlights really make the image pop.I then used one of the reds to draw lines around the images. I also used a cuttlebug border to emboss a line between the two. It is kinda hard to see in the photo. I then sprinkled gold embossing powder over the card and heated. I liked the look of the randomness.

There is another reason that I made a CAS card. I wanted to emphasis how much fun simple can be. When I first saw this set, this is what I heard in my head.

 "Not last night but the night before...24 robbers came knocking on my door... I asked them what they wanted... This is what they said.... "H" "O" "T" hot peppers!!"

Do you remember this? I volunteer and work with a lot of youth programs with scouts and our church. I am saddened that so many simple games that I played as a child are being lost on this generation. I have played these games with my own kids, but the kids in the programs have never played, jacks, marbles, hide and seek, hand clapping games or jump rope rhymes. These kids think of a game  as something that has to have a cord or controller and is hooked up to a computer or television.  A very sad statement indeed. If you know any little kids, I challenge you to share one of these older, simple games with them. 

 

This is a card I made the other day using this set.

. It made me think of a giant tortilla chip. I love

Tex-Mex food. I grew up in New Mexico and Arizona.

The midwest is a nice place to live, but they don't really

know what Tex-Mex tastes like. 

What they call hot here in Iowa, I taste and go, that

isn't hot. The hottest food I have ever had, was

in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I had green chili 

enchiladas, that made you feel like your mouth 

and stomach were on fire. I could go for some of that

right now. How about you? 

MFP July Blog Hop, Garden Art

Welcome to Mark's Finest Papers a Heinrich Company's 

    July Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

Asian Delights Featured July 17
Wild & Free Featured July 18
Garden Art Featured July 19
Hot & Spicy Featured July 20



What is it about bugs? Some are scary looking, like centipedes. Some are dangerous, like scorpions. Some are annoying like flies. Some are pests and present a health issue, like mosquitoes. And then some capture my imagination and make me smile, like butterflies. I was thinking about that this morning as my husband and I bombed our house for the third time this month to try to eliminate some stubborn, pesky fleas.As I walked
out the door, I was thinking "DIE, BUGS DIE!!!!!!" Then I looked over at my flower bush and there were two little yellow butterflies dancing in the air over the flowers. Such a contrast. I think it is in part, that butterflies have such wonderful colors and varieties, and I have never had one bite me!!!

When I saw this set, I was intrigued by this butterfly.(If you follow my blog at all, it won't take you long to see that I am a butterfly aficionado.) It is quite different from all my other butterflies. It is a little more stylized than most of the butterflies that I use. I usually try to color my butterflies to mimic realistic butterflies. I'll have to admit, I struggled with this one. You probably wouldn't, but I did, just because it was outside my comfort zone. I must have stamped this butterfly 20 times and I rejected those 20. Finally, I took a scrap of the paper that I brayered for yesterday's card. I just stamped the butterfly with black stazon onto that scrap.  Then with my pink and orange prisma colored pencils, I added just a line of color to the top butterfly. The bottom butterfly I didn't add the color. (It is the same butterfly by the way. I just cut 2 of the right hand side of the butterfly and glued one on top of the other). I used this last Monday's MOJO 250 sketch.. Making this card was a nice distraction from my other bug troubles. I hope you enjoy looking at what the rest of the design team has created using this set.

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on July 21, 2012 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday July 20, 2012.


 

MFP July Blog Hop Day 2 Be Wild and Free

Welcome to Mark's Finest Papers a Heinrich Company's 

    July Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

Asian Delights Featured July 17
Wild & Free Featured July 18
Garden Art Featured July 19
Hot & Spicy Featured July 20

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on July 21, 2012 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday July 20, 2012.

I haven't made a waterfall card in a long time. These small animals
seemed to me to be the perfect size
to place on a waterfall card.
To make the background of my card,
I took my brayer and I wrapped rubber bands
around it. I then rolled the brayer using brown ink.
I randomly rolled the ink. The end result kinda
looked like leather to me. 

I have always used THIS TUTORIAL by Dawn to make my
waterfall cards. She makes it so easy. 

 

 

 

 

 

MFP July Blog Hop Day 1- Asian Delights

Welcome to Mark's Finest Papers a Heinrich Company's 

    July Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

Asian Delights Featured July 17
Wild & Free Featured July 18
Garden Art Featured July 19
Hot & Spicy Featured July 20

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on July 21, 2012 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday July 20, 2012.

 

I stamped the cherry blossoms from the MFP - ASIAN DELIGHTS set on a piece of white cardstock, colored them in, and cut that cardstock into 3 panels. I sewed paper lace over the top. I used paper tole technique on the cherry blossoms cluster. I stamped the symbol and sentiment for peace on a piece of white cardstock and matted it with maroon and black cardstock.  As with any flower cards I make, I just can't help myself. I have to add a butterfly. I used a butterfly from the new MFP set called GARDEN ART, that will be featured on the 19th.

This is a card I made last week using the same set, with special stitching and pearls.

Sparkle

My Stampin' Sister in Christ, Miejse picked the following verse for this week.

Matthew 5: 13 - "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot."  

After reading this scripture this week, I googled uses for salt. I was amazed at how useful salt can be.

 Did you know you can clean your coffee pot with salt and icecubes?

Did you know you can sprinkle salt on spills on the inside of your oven

 and when cooled makes cleaning the spills up easier?

Did you know you can kill the pain from a bee sting by making a paste

 of salt and water and putting it on the sting? 

 I can tell you that I didn't know these things. The sad thing about when salt looses its saltiness it is worthless.

This verse paraphrased is that it isn't good for anything, pour it out on the gound.

This scripture comes from Jesus's teachings from the sermon on the mount. He was using salt and light as an example of how our lives should be witnesses to the world around us. 

 Matthew 5:16 says "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.." 

 I  know that there are some people who believe that their good deeds will "save them" But the bible says that

no matter how many good deeds I do, that won't save me. Only my faith in Jesus will save me. So the question is why do we strive to do the good deeds if it isn't for salvation? If we do good deeds then people will see and give God the glory. I want to live my  life so that when judgement day comes, God will say to me "Well, done good and faithful servant."

You may have noticed a trend with my card making lately. I have a lot of pounded flower cards

I was talking last week with my sister about the smashed flower cards I have been making. I told her

 I would be making her a card so that she could see how it looked. I'll have to admit that I am falling in love with the chicory flowers. I have been learning all I can about them. I have a friend who is a wild edibles expert. So I asked him how you can eat the chicory plant. He told me you can eat the flowers,

 leaves and the root. The root, he told me can be dried and roasted and ground up. It has been added to coffee for many years.I told him how well it pounded, and the best part was that it was 

"FREE FOR THE PICKING" .

I actually started this card on Friday, inspired by the free for all challenge at SCS, to make a pocket card.

I thought I would make a simple pocket card and that would be that, but this card kinda took on a mind

 o

f it's own. The fact that I was going to be sending it to my sister made all the time that I put into it not seem to matter. I would estimate that it took me about 4 hours to make this card. 

Miesje's challenge this week is  to add sparkle to our card. 

I hope the pocket part of my card still counts as part of the card.

This is how the card looks inside the pocket.

.

This is how it looks with the inside card pulled out of the pocket.  The scripture on the card was a preprinted scripture on vellum that I stitched to the front. I love this scripture about there being a time for every purpose. The little charm hanging from the ribbon, was done melting "#6" plastic. I thought that the sentiment 

"Oh , the joy of spending time with friends!"  (even though it is a sentence fragment) goes well with the scripture on the card. It also reflected how I felt about visiting with my sister, even if we can only communicate through texts, phone calls and facebook.

 Close up of the sparkle on the pocket of the card. I added glamour dust to the butterfly's wings and added want2scrap rhinestones for a trail.

Our wonderful sponsor this week is::The Stamps of Life. One winner will receive free stamp set of winner's choice of up to $12.95 value


Check out what my Stampin’ Sisters in Christ have created to share with you.
Candace
Diane
Jerusha
Kris
Linda
Michelle
Miesje
Peggysue
Sandie
Traci

I love this song. It is such an encouragement to me to know that I'm never alone.

Asian Delights - Sneak Peek

I'm sharing a sneak peek at a set that will be released 

this month by Mark's Finest Papers. It is called

ASIAN DELIGHTS

The cherry blossoms and the symbol for love are from

that set. Since I can't really read this symbol, I really 

hope it is correct and doesn't say something bad. I'll have to ask

my brother in law who is Japanese if it really says love or not.

When I see Chinese symbols, I think of the people 

who get tattoos, not knowing for sure what they say or mean.

I made this card to go along with several challenges.

1. Color Combo Challenge  383 @ SCS.

2. Sketch with a twist #2 @ MFP Speedy TV

3. Swirls and Pearls Challenge #14 @ Creative Card Crew

I stamped the cherry blossom and Chinese symbol using "Cabin Fever" Adirondack ink.

I stamped them on white cardstock. The white seemed to stark, so I made myself

a glass of iced tea and took the tea bags and  pounced the bags over the flowers. That is

why it has a mottled look. I love tea bag staining. The long vertical piece was done by wrapping rubber

bands around my brayer. I used the same "Cabin Fever" ink for the rubber band stamping.

I added my swirls by embossing another tea stained piece of cardstock. 

The little pearls were pearl beads that I glued onto the flowers.

The sketch with a twist challenge was to use 3 patterned papers. I used a light pink patterned paper

a raspberry patterned paper and the rubber band "handmade" patterned paper.

I don't usually have brown thread to stitch with on my cards, but I had

brown thread in my sewing machine because a project

that I was doing for a friend.(I was actually using my sewing machine to

sew on fabric.) It has been a long time since I've sewn anything but paper! LOL.

Pop up card for Donna

The technique lovers challenge this week at SCS was to make a pedestal pop up card. I used the same dp on the inside as well as the outside. For the outside of my card I used Mojo Monday sketch # 249. I added three pearls at the bottom right hand corner for the sketch, but also for the pearls and swirls challenge for Creative Card Crew. Challenge #14.

My mom's good friend Donna, who I have known my whole life, is going for a double mastectomy this next week. I was saying prayers for healing as I was making this card for her. 

Banana Bread and Moccasins

I get the pleasure of hostessing the challenge this week at

 Stampin' Sisters in Christ.

I hope you enjoy reading

 what the Lord place on my heart this week.

What do banana bread and moccasins have in common? The Lord used them as illustrations as I was meditating on the following bible verse:

 Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future

BANANA BREAD: How important are plans anyway? In May I was making banana bread for my family. I have used the same recipe for over 20 years. I got in a hurry and wasn’t reading the “plan” very closely and almost forgot to add the sugar. I had the mixture in the pans before I realized it, but fortunately I hadn’t cooked it yet so I could fix it. It made me wonder if sometimes in my familiarity with scriptures, that I “miss” something from God’s plan.

Now back to the banana bread illustration. What would have happened if I hadn’t even looked at the recipe, even though someone had taken the time to write it down? What would have happened if I just tried to put the general ingredients together, in amounts that I determined?  The result would have been a disaster. Who would be to blame for my banana bread turning out badly, me or the person who wrote the recipe?  God used inspired men to write down His plan, the Bible. The world does things on its own, disregarding the Bible, and then blames God for all the disasters.

MOCCASINS: My son Joshua is going to scout camp in a week and needs a pair of moccasins for a ceremony. Most of the boys make their moccasins by buying a premade kit. Problem for Joshua is that he wears a size 16. No kits that size that we could find. No patterns either. I only had a limited amount of vinyl to make his shoes. If I messed up there wouldn’t be enough vinyl to fix my mistakes, so getting it right the first time was really important. I searched the internet for “plans” and I asked my father-in-law for advice because he has made moccasins before.

The first thought that I had about the moccasins was,  that if a small piece of vinyl was so important to  “get it right” that I would invest that time looking for a plan, how much more important it should be for me to search the Bible to “get it right” when it comes to my soul? 

The second thought came to me when I asked my father-in-law to give me advice based on his experience. I was thinking about the importance of learning from older women who have been following God’s plans longer than I have, and the responsibility that I have to teach those younger than I.  

Titus 2:3-5 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

I hope you are encouraged to take time this week to read God’s word and read His “plans”.

Our sponsor this week is Doodle Pantry 


Here is my challenge: make a project
 that follows this PLAN:
 (at least) 1 circle or oval element, 
(at least) 2 different papers,
 and (at least) 1 embellishment





The embellishment that I used
 on my card  was a little plastic charm
that says "Birthday Greetings"


It was made with a piece of  .plastic.


I made a video tutorial on how I made my charm.

I thought I would share this photo of Joshua and his moccasins.

 Not too bad for our first try.

Check out what my Stampin’ Sisters in Christ have created to share with you.
Candace
Diane
Helen
Jerusha
Kris
Linda
Michelle
Miesje
Peggysue
Sandie
Traci

Chickadee on Chickory

The past several mornings as I came into the parking lot at work, I noticed a bright yellow chickadee sitting on the chickory plants between our trucking facility and the foundry next door. Yesterday I sat and watched as it sat and ate the seeds from the chickory plant. Today I was able to get this photo of it. It was taken with my cell phone, so it isn't the best quality. I'm so thankful for simple blessings. Thank you God for allowing me to see this little ray of sunshine and for allowing me to capture it with a photo to share with others.

Something new

Hostess this week for Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge: My talented friend Linda

Her Scripture that she choose is:

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:34-35

I don't know about you but I think that this commandment of Jesus is one of the hardest things to do. Impossible without the Spirit's help.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.1Corinthians 13:4-7

For the most part, I would say that I love the people around me. I love my family and friends and church family. but there was one person this last week that I really struggled with loving. I'll admit got me really angry. He said things that hurt my feelings and I'll admit I could read off the list of this man's wrongs. The last thing I wanted to do was to LOVE this difficult person.We all have those people that are difficult to love.I was convicted that I had not kept this commandment when I sat down to read the scripture that Linda choose. I had to ask God to forgive me and to fill me with love for this person. When I did that my anger subsided and I was able to forgive that man. Is there someone that you are struggling to love? I pray that you let the Holy Spirit love that person through you, because what is impossible to do on your own can be done with God's help.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

Linda's Challenge: Use something NEW on your project

I really struggled with Linda's Challenge because I didn't think that I had anything NEW. But as I contemplated her challenge I found Newish things to do.

I have done the pounded flowers before, so how could that be NEW? Well, I researched the names of the actual weeds that I used and learned something NEW.

The little yellow flowers are called BIRDSFOOT TREFOIL.

The little blue flowers are called CHICORY.

The leaves are from the plant called QUEEN ANNE'S LACE.

This is how they looked before I smashed them.

How the paper looked after they were smashed.

For my card I also used a new Sketch. I found this sketch here: The House that Stamps Built. I am going to enter this card in their sketch challenge. (Repeat Impressions Sketch J2712)

It is hard to see the sketch unless you look at it close up. The diagonal panel of the sketch was done with a strip of paper lace.

The paper lace was the only product that I could think of that was sort of new. My daughter's friend gave it to her in May and I was drooling over it so my daughter Johanna gave it to me in May for my birthday.

It kinda feels the weight and consistency of a dryer fabric softener sheet.

The other NEW thing on my card was inspired by my Stampin' Sister Michelle. She always finishes her cards so nicely. She does the insides as well as the outsides. Something I rarely do, so to do that on this card was NEW to me. I put another sheet of pounded flowers on the inside as well as Philippians 1:3 for the sentiment.

I really liked how the first card turned out that I made a second one.

If you look really closely you can see the scalloped and zig zag stitching. I'm entering these cards in The Card Caravan Challenge : THCCC22 which is a stitching challenge.

The recipient of the second one was my friend Chantel. Chantel has directed the local children's theatre productions that my kids have been in. Every year I have made her a card to thank her for the time she volunteers to give the theatre experience to kids. She has a shelf at her house that she has my cards displayed. I'll admit when someone tells me that they keep my cards, I tend to put a little extra effort, time and care into those cards.

This is a photo of my son Joshua and Chantel after today's performance of BUGSY MALONE JR.
Joshua was stage manager and also helped with set building, lights, and sound. He loves working with Chantel.

Here is a photo of Chantel and my son Kaleb, who had the role of FAT SAM in the play. (Funny because he is very tall and skinny)

Fat Sam and his gang of bad guys.

The whole cast. That is a lot of kids to teach and direct. My friend Chantel did an amazing job with these kids.

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Check out what my Stampin’ Sisters in Christ have created to share with you.
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Helen
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Linda
Michelle
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