I am blessed to have the opportunity to be the hostess for this week's Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge.
One of the songs that I have been listening to lately is by JJ Heller called HAVE MERCY ON ME. There is a line in the song that says… “I’m tired of being afraid…” It made me think about the topic of fear. Last week my daughters and I experienced FEAR as we tried to get a possum out of our garage. I had just gone to bed when I heard a terrifying scream. I jumped out of bed when I heard the scream and went to see what was wrong. My daughters had been going outside to my oldest daughter’s truck. They had opened the door between the garage and the house and turned on the light. There inches away from their feet was a possum that hissed at them. I armed myself with a broom, while my daughters grabbed a stick and a golf club and we went into the garage to make sure our unwanted guest left. When that was done, the adrenaline was rushing through my body and it was hard to fall back to sleep.
What are you afraid of?
Some fears come from our past experiences. When I was little we lived in an apartment that had tarantula spiders that climbed over the doorways and they would drop on you when you opened the door. When I was in high school I had a black widow spider in my hair. I was also bit by a brown recluse spider. When I see spiders, I know in my mind that I am bigger than they are, I am stronger than they are and I can kill them, but I am still afraid of them. Note to self don’t watch the old movie Arachnaphobia.
What happens when little ordinary fears become so big that they become the focus of our lives? Fear in the extreme we call phobias. I looked on the internet at a list of phobias. The list was too long to even count. Some of them sounded kind of funny to me. Neophobia – fear of something new. Koniophobia – fear of dust (if any of you have this fear don’t visit my house) and the one I thought I might try with my family is Mageirocophobia – the fear of cooking. (I can just see it now… I think we will have to go out to eat I have Mageirocophobia!) I am sure to those who suffer from these phobias it is not a laughing matter.
I did a computer search (King James Version) and the phrase “FEAR NOT” was used 68 times.

This is the verse that I picked to share with you today:

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind

I can’t even find the words to describe what an awesome gift this is. I often say this verse at night when I am struggling with my fears. It seems like the middle of the night is when Satan like to wage battle, using my fears against me.

There are a few more verses that go along with the one I picked.

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends, all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

My challenge to you this week is to try something that you may have been afraid to do before…a new technique, a new color combo, a new sketch, a new style…


Our sponsor this week is Paper Fashions Etc.

For my card I tried a new technique, (inspired by my sister in Christ, Linda) called resist. I also went with a CAS style.

Check out what my Stampin' Sisters in Christ have created:

Kris Linda Miesje Pegggysue Rebekka Teresa Traci

Butterfly garden

I tried my hand at another telescoping card. I made a veritable stamped garden for my butterfly to visit. I used several Mark's Finest Papers sets. I used: Just Dandy, Poppies poppies poppies, Greet the day with Gerber, Butterflies and wisteria, Black Eyed Susans for Encouragement. I love the photo of this little brown and orange butterfly that I took on Sunday. It was the inspiration for the butterfly on this card.

Secret Garden

The Friday Free For All Challenge at SCS was to make a garden card. The first thought that came to my mind was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was one of my favorite books when I was young. My gate to my secret garden was made of cardboard. I wanted to use cardboard so the gate would be sturdy. I used prisma colored pencils to make the wood grain. I added hardware and a brad as a closer for the gate. I sewed the panels to the card base.

A peek inside my secret garden. The flowers are from GREET THE DAY WITH GERBER from Mark's Finest Papers. The butterfly is from a Martha Stewart Butterfly set. I colored the daisies and the butterfly with prisma colored pencils. I used an embossing pen and gold ep to add that little extra to the butterfly. The dp that is the background was a piece of blue marble that was in a bulk buy of paper. It made me think of clouds. I also stamped the wheat stalks from the Mark's Finest Papers set called THANKFUL FOR YOU. I stamped it with green ink and then put blue colored pencils to the stalk to make it look like flowers.

Close up of the Butterfly.

Sympathy butterfly

This is the card that I made for the sketch challenge. It has the sketch, but the flowers to the left might take away from the sketch somewhat. I debated about adding them, but I ended up putting them because I like these daisies. I needed to make a sympathy for a coworker whose mother in law died yesterday. I used 3 Mark's Finest Papers sets. The butterfly is from Just Dandy set. The daisies are from Greet the Day with Gerber, and the sentiment is from A Walk in the Woods.

This photo shows a close up of the butterfly and it shows the dimension of the butterfly.

Here is a really close up view of the butterfly.

Carissa's Card

My sister has a friend who was cooking with oil last week and the oil caught on fire and burned her badly. I wanted to make a special get well card, that would hopefully bring just a little joy to her. This is that card. I made the trellis card for the technique lover's challenge that Joan gave us today at SCS. I had made a lot of butterflies Saturday for Eva's butterfly blog hop. These 2 were ones that hadn't made it onto a card but were sitting on my desk. They just flew onto the card when they saw the handmade quilled roses. I stitched the panels together and added brads in the corners.

Close up of big butterfly.

Close up of little butterfly and roses.

The inside of the card.

The big butterfly was from the Mark's Finest Papers set called DAFFODIL AND ANISE.

The little butterfly was from the Mark's Finest Papers set called BRICK WALL.

The sentiment on the inside was from the Mark's Finest Papers set called GREET THE DAY WITH GERBER.

Bargello cards

I made this daisy bargello card for a dear friend of mine named Sue. She owns a quilt shop in our local mall, and today there was a fire in her shop. I am sickend and sorry about what she has lost due to this fire.

I made this bargello card using the sheet music for an old hymn called Help Somebody Today.

Here are the lyrics for that hymn...

Help Somebody Today

by Carrie E Breck and Charles H. Gabriel 1904

Look all around you, find someone in need, help somebody today! Though it be little, a a neighborly deed, help somebody today! Many are waiting a kind loving word, help somebody today! Thou hast a message oh let it be heard, help somebody today! Many have burdens too heavy to bear, help somebody today! Grief is the portion of some everywhere, help somebody today! Some are discourage and weary in heart, help somebody today! Someone the journey to heaven should start, help somebody today! Help somebody today, somebody along life's way; let sorrow be ended, the friendless befriended, oh help somebody today!!

My top card is for the stampin' sisters in Christ challenge to make a card with green .

Peggy Sue shared this scripture with us.

Exodus 8:9-11 "Moses said to Pharaoh, 'I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.' 'Tomorrow," Pharaoh said. Moses replied, 'It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God, The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.'"

Peggy Sue pointed out how Pharoah wanted to wait until Tomorrow. I was reminded that we are never promised tomorrow, all we have is TODAY. Today to serve the Lord!

More sketch cards

I really liked how easy today's sketch was. I decided to make two more. One using Mark's Finest Papers - Greet the day with Gerber and Daffodil and Anise sets. I used black magic technique. I stitched the panels and added pearls.

This card was made using Layers of Color set called Joyful noise. I stamped the images with black stazon ink. I watercolored the butterfly. I stitched the panels, added black brads and finished it off with a black satin ribbon.

Ways to Use - a Birthday card...

If you are looking for day three of the Mark's Finest Papers Blog Hop please scroll down to the next post.

I wanted to share some cards that I made for the ways to use it challenge at SCS. Today we were challenged to make birthday cards. I know my cards don't have balloons, cake or candles, but they are definitely birthday cards. I made them for 3 special ladies in my life that have February birthdays. The first one if for my niece Laura. The second one is for my mom and the third one is for my mother in law. All three cards have Mark's Finest Papers butterflies. I used the butterfly from the Daffodil and Anise set as well as the butterfly from Take a Peek. The sentiment on the second card is also from the Daffodil and Anise set. For my mother's card I also used the gerbera daisies from the newly released Mark's Finest Papers set called Greet the day with Gerber. I made the card for my mom and for my mother in law pop-up cards.