Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge 63 . . . Whatever is Pure

Happy Sunday stampers! Today's hostess for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge is the lovely Linda from down under, with this verse from Php 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

This comes across the bow like a breath of fresh air! The national news is nothing if not depressing and personally the news on the home front reads like a soap opera. It is impossible to ignore when you have sick relatives or friends, your husband comes home to report that it was his turn to be downsized, the bills pile up and new ones appear like magic but not the income . . . and on and on and on.

Are we supposed to ignore those things? No, problems don't just disappear if you hide under a rock. But when you run to the rock and cling to the rock and build your hope, your foundation upon that rock, that's when these news reports take their proper place in the shuffle of your life. And in the midst of planning and doing what you can to help and to solve life's problems, it helps to turn your perspective to the refreshing thoughts that emerge from a verse like the one above.

What is true? God loves me. I know this because the entire bible is his love song to me and to the rest of the world about his great gift of salvation. The truth is He created me and has a purpose for my life even on those dark days when you feel like you're slogging through the mud.

What is honest? God is always honest, He cannot lie, whereas satan is the father of lies. Shoo him away!!! That's the voice inside of you telling you to give up hope. Never listen to that voice, listen instead to the voice that is true and honest and gives you eternal hope.

What is pure, what is lovely? God fits both of those descriptions and if you look around you can find in almost any environment those things that He created that are pure and lovely. Look at a seashell, a snowflake, a determined flower growing through the cracks of an urban sidewalk . . . a sunset glowing with color, the smile on a baby's face in the grocery store checkout line just ahead of you. It helps immensely to take a break, to spend time in prayer contemplating those aspects of God's character that fit that verse and those things that he created that refresh and renew our minds. The verses preceding and just following verse 8 talk about experiencing God's peace. Refreshing our mind in the Lord will help us find that peace in the midst of the turmoil of this world.

So this week's challenge is for you to create an all white or all cream card, a monochrome in pure tones. As you can see I had a bit of difficulty making mine completely pure. I tossed in cream with my white and then added some metallics and pink. A little bit of color is okay {I think, this isn't my turn to be challenge hostess so Linda has the final word on this}.

But I do know that we are greatly looking forward to seeing your lovely creations in our gallery, you can link up your card on the home page. And our sponsor this week is Simon Says Stamp which carries tons of things for papercrafting and a wide variety of the Magnolia Tildas, one of which I used on my card. Thanks for looking and have a great week.

I also am posting this card to the challenge this week at North Ridge Media's Create blog challenge for this week to put ruffles on your creations. I took a piece of pink ribbon for the background, threaded a needle and just made large basting stitches and gathered it all in. Then to emphasize it a bit more I added a ruffly sort of edge punch on swirled vellum on either side of the ribbon.

Shalom . . . for my friends

Some friends of mine have said it would be great to have new ideas for Hanukkah cards. I had a lot of fun sitting down to make these and enjoyed the soothing color palette. I read again the accounts of David collecting gold and jewels from the people so his son Solomon could build the temple and read the first and second book of Maccabees and I have a few other ideas in mind with different color schemes, for another day. They collected a lot of gold along with the silver and other metals and jewels, so there are lots of other colors you could use, but tempus fugit.

I used my copic markers starting with the lightest shade, Boooo moving up to Bo5. In the first card I did a gradient from the first letter to the last, in the second card I made the gradient slowly move its way down from the top of the letters to the bottom.

For the top card I then colored the rhinestones atop the letters with the same coordinating markers, they don't match exactly, but they're close. And I used a great twinkle embossing powder so the star of David, embossed in silver, really shines. In my opinion Outlines Rubber stamps has among the most beautiful stars and menorah stamps I have yet to see. The star I bought was encased in a frame, but I cut the frame away so it could stand in place of a letter, similar to a card I made about a month ago with a little duck.

Anyone who studies the bible knows that God's covenant with Abraham still stands, "I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you." God bless the nation of Israel.

And please pray for me, I have to go in for a repeat of my mammogram on Monday. The radiologist quote 'didn't like what he saw.' . . . . yay, just a second photo session, turned out all right they say, and now they don't need to see me for six months! I am relieved. . . .

I lift my eyes up, up to the heavens, where does my help come from?
My help comes from you, maker of heavens, maker of all the earth.

I have peace in my heart and the joy of the Lord, but prayer is always welcome. Shalom, peace out.

Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge 62 . . . Think Pink!

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ. This week's sponsor is the Lollipop Shop by Lori Boyd. Many of the DT members used her images, you can view them on the home page, very cute! I couldn't get my ornery printer to cooperate and pulled out a different stamp instead.

And our hostess this week is the uber-talented Chris Olsen, who selected this verse from Psalm 73:6 "My health may fail, my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever." You can read her thoughts on the main page.

Her challenge is to use a pink ribbon and primarily pink on your card. I used pink and dusky rose in combination to match some pretty Basic Grey Indian Summer paper. I just wasn't feeling the brights, but more subtle shades of pink this week.

October is breast cancer awareness month. I am going in on Monday for the annual mammogram and doctor visit. If you have not scheduled yours yet this year, DO SO! Please.

My family has been touched more than once by breast cancer. My SIL is currently battling a recurrence of it and it takes many various and nasty forms when it returns. She is not doing well. My grandmother died of breast cancer when I was in high school and she was a dear person.

This verse that Chris selected is a great reminder that regardless of whether someone is battling breast cancer or some other dreadful disease, the Lord is our strength. I just love how the writer of that psalm phrased it, "God remains the strength of my heart." Our body can be sick and weak, but our hearts can hold comfort, strength and peace.

I know my SIL draws a lot of strength in this battle from her faith. One of our design team members, Randi Barrett, is a continual beacon of hope and thanksgiving in the midst of her many health concerns, cancer among them. Her faith never wavers. Although she has discouraging moments and faces a lot of fears she is continually leaning on God and recounting his blessings.

I know there are a lot of other blogs and challenges featuring pink this month, won't you join us as we raise awareness? We look forward to seeing your creations.

One of the fun things I enjoyed making my card is that I used papers and coloring materials from Basic Grey, PTI, SU and my prismacolor pencils yet it was one of those rare occasions when they matched up really easily. Don't you love it when that happens?

The Just Magnolia blogspot is also having a pink challenge this week, you can check it out here.
Stampin' Royalty challenge is to use ribbons .

Stamps: Magnolia Tilda, Mark's Finest Papers sentiment Autumn Fun, Rubber Stamp Tapestry vine images behind Tilda {I stamped them in versamark and used chalk to color them in to match the BG paper}
Ink: black, versamark, Ranger Distress Ink tea rose
Paper: lavender, scarlet, poppy, white, pink, silver, Basic Grey Indian Summer
Other: Martha Stewart edge punch, silver EP, silver gel pen, pink ribbon {light satin and hot pink organdy with stripes}, prismacolor pencils, oval punch, pins, chalks

Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge 61 . . . prayer

Happy Sunday stampers! Time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ! This week's hostess is Lisa, a person I am happy to call friend. She has some great thoughts to share about her chosen verse from Matthew 6: 9-13 "This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'
Her challenge is to make a card/project that features prayer; either someone praying, or a verse about prayer, or a greeting that lets someone know you are praying for them.
Our sponsor this week is Layers of Color. You can visit them here: http://www.layersofcolor.com/blog/ or see on our home page the stamp set that one lucky winner from this week's participants will receive.
Before we get any further in this post I have to apologize for not doing any blog visiting, really, for almost a month. We are selling our home and trying to move to another state. Technically we were supposed to close last Friday but the date keeps floating . . .our buyer is doing an FHA loan and I'm told that's how it goes. It is a fortunate thing, because we in turn had a contract on a home which fell through when the appraisal came in too low. So we had to start the hunt all over again and nothing is finalized. We've been running back and forth between states on weekends, mid-week, and taking care of older relatives between times. I WILL get back to visiting other blogs and seeing all the lovely creations everyone else is making, but right now it just cannot happen between packing and house hunting and the rest of life.

Anyway, I know that I wouldn't be hanging onto my sanity if it were not for the prayers of those around me . . . my grown children, my husband and my Christian friends. I appreciate it, I covet it and I try to return the prayer favor as often as my mind turns to my friends and their needs. I believe God answers prayer. I have seen issues that melt away or problems resolve that never would have untangled on their own without divine intervention.

To me, when I think about prayer, it strikes me as the opposite of the poem Invictus. Basically its a very narcissistic piece written from the perspective of being in complete control of your own life. It ends with the lines "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul."

Raise your hand if you've ever been in a situation that was completely out of your control.

Ever been in a hospital room with a dying relative and the doctors themselves gently shake their heads . . . there is nothing they can do?

Ever been caught in the grocery store with a cart full of groceries and a toddler who decides to cut loose at that moment with a tantrum? Can you control a screaming toddler . . . can you really?

Ever have someone break up with you and walk away . . .nothing you do or say will change their minds?

Then there are the thousand and one little things that occur daily that are completely out of our control . . . the weather . . . the traffic . . . the economy . . . you very next breath.

So what does prayer do? It taps you into the source that does have the ultimate power, the authority as creator over all things. God is in control and when we pray we are handing over all of these concerns big and small, over which we have no control, and saying, Lord, you handle it. I know that your plan is so much bigger than anything I can conceive and I trust you. It doesn't necessarily give you the answer you think will work out best, but it means you place your trust in the Lord and bow your head to His will. Then you can take that next breath and sit back and relax. As it says in Isaiah 3o:15 "This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
"In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,"

You will find through prayer the rest that will quiet your soul.

There is so much more in the Lord's prayer, the verse that Lisa selected and I'm sure the rest of the design team have their own unique thoughts to share, but those are some of mine, just barely scratching the surface of the power and benefit of prayer. Hope to see your creations this week if you have a chance to play along. We hope you do!!!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink Autumn Abundance, Clear Dollar Stamps sentiment
Ink: black and chocolate
Paper: PTI DP and . . . terra cotta I think
Other: copics and buttons {Hawaiian Shores and Orange Zest} and twine

Mark's Finest Papers October Release! ... Snowman Country

Welcome to the MFP October Blog Hop! This month, we’ve added TWO MORE STAMP SETS!!!

We have 6 New Stamp Sets Released today: Seasonal Poinsettias, Time to Chill, A Walk in the Woods, Greetings of the Season, Thankful for You, Snowman Country
For your convenience, all 6 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, (October 16, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning!






















Emily
Karen
Patty
Roxie
Vicki
Liz
Claudine
Dawn
Joanne T
Nicole
Marilynn
Peggysue- http://rosesbymywindow.blogspot.com . . . This is me!
Susan
Judi
Connie
Mark’s Finest Papers

Mark's Finest Papers October Release! ... Thankful for You

Hi! I'm not participating in today's hop, but wanted to show what I made with this set being release this week by Mark's Finest Papers. This is among my favorites from this month. I just think its a highly versatile set and there is a lot you can do with it to make pretty seasonal cards. Thanks for looking!

I chose a cream colored cardstock for my main image and using the wheat stalks, I stamped them along the right side of the paper with Ranger Vintage Photo distress ink. I stamped the sentiment and the corn stalks with gold craft ink and embossed it with fine detail gold embossing powder. I stamped the sentiment in black so it would show up above the wheat stalks. Then I took a variety of autumn colors from the Ranger distress inks and using a sponge, lightly applied them to various parts of the main panel.

If you're searching for the MFP blog hop, here is the first link in that hop for today:

Nancyruth

And here is a link to the store where you can get the stamp sets and alllll sorts of wonderful accessories to help make these projects!

Mark's Finest Papers

Mark's Finest Papers October Release! ... A Walk in the Woods and Greetings of the Season

Welcome to the MFP October Blog Hop! This month, we’ve added TWO MORE STAMP SETS!!!
And…LOOK for a NEW LINK LIST TOMORROW!!!
We have 6 New Stamp Sets Released today: Seasonal Poinsettias, Time to Chill, A Walk in the Woods, Greetings of the Season, Thankful for You, Snowman Country
For your convenience, all 6 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, (October 16, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning!

Here are my contributions for todays hop. Enjoy! The link list is below. Best of luck and happy hopping!


For the sympathy card background, use the wrinkle-free distress technique. I chose three shades of Ranger Distress ink, all available through the MFP store. Take a sheet of wax paper, swipe the edges of the ink pads on the wax paper. Spritz them with a bit of water until the colors beads up. Take your cardstcok and press it on the paper, then lift up, turn the paper a bit and press again on the ink. Its okay if the ink runs. I learned this I think, from notimetostamp's blog.

Dry your sheet of cardstock with a heat gun, then you can stamp over it with a nice thick craft ink and emboss or just use it as a background.

Nancyruth
Lois
Vicky
Jeanne
Anne
Peggysue- http://rosesbymywindow.blogspot.com
Susan
Judi
Connie
Claudine
Dawn
Joanne T
Nicole
Marilynn
Mark’s Finest Papers

Mark's Finest Papers October Release! ... Seasonal Poinsettias & Time to Chill

Welcome to the MFP October Blog Hop! This month, we’ve added TWO MORE STAMP SETS!!!
And…LOOK for a NEW LINK LIST TOMORROW!!!
We have 6 New Stamp Sets Released today: Seasonal Poinsettias, Time to Chill, A Walk in the Woods, Greetings of the Season, Thankful for You, Snowman Country
For your convenience, all 6 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, (October 16, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning!

Here are my contributions to this blog hop, enjoy!



If you hopped here from Anne's blog, you're in the right spot. Here is the complete list to get you where you need to go next!!! Have fun and best of luck.

Nancyruth - http://nancyruthat.blogspot.com
Lois - http://clownmomcreations.blogspot.com
Vicky- http://www.villagestamperramblings.blogspot.com
Jeanne - http://nannysroom.wordpress.com
Anne- http://inkinginred.blogspot.com/
Peggysue- http://rosesbymywindow.blogspot.com
Susan – http://simplicitybylateblossom.blogspot.com
Judi – http://paper-rose-petals.blogspot.com
Connie – http://sodakstamping.blogspot.com
Emily- http://mylittlesliceofbliss.blogspot.com
Karen- http://karenskreativekreations.blogspot.com
Patty- http://winnieswhimsandmycrafts.blogspot.com
Roxie- http://paperscaper.blogspot.com
Vicki- http://allidoisstamp.blogspot.com/
Liz: http://rightbrainmadness.blogspot.com
Mark’s Finest Papers - http://marksfinestpapers.blogspot.com

Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge 60 . . . thankful

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ! This week's hostess is Patti, who selected this verse from 1 Timothy 4:4 "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving." Her challenge is for you to create a thank you card.

This week's sponsor is a new one, Doodle Pantry. They have the cutest images . . . I would have used one but we had a house deal fall through and are scrambling to figure out a new solution. This has consumed much of my time, so stamping is fit in when I can. You can visit her site here to see the images and if you participate in our challenge this week you could win $10 worth of images from her shop.

I am thankful for Patti's verse selection this week because a thankful spirit is something I am working on cultivating. It helps to keep our minds focused on what we have, not what we do not have and that is in terms of everything that encompasses our earthly existence.

Thankful for the relationships and people God has brought into our lives--and that's on both sides of the coin, the people who are easy to love and those that are more difficult. How different would our attitude be if we thanked God even for those difficult relationships as through them we can learn much about exhibiting the right spirit and attitude and grow in our faith?

Thankful for our housing--I am reminded of this constantly this weekend as we search for a new place to live and I find my eyes longingly looking towards homes that are out of our price range but ooooh so attractive! Stop it! Be thankful that we CAN buy a home at all and provide shelter for our family. The National Coalition for the Homeless reports that each year at least 3.5 million Americans experience some form of homelessness and the trend is worse given today's economic climate.

Thankful for our possessions--I'm packing up an entire house, need I say more? I'm astounded at all that we own and thankful for warm flannel bedsheets, clothes, family albums, furniture, rugs . . . have you stopped to be thankful lately for those things?

And the sentiment I chose, Forever Thankful, for not the temporal but the eternal. I am forever thankful for the forever of eternity that I get to experience through the love of Jesus Christ. All of my children will be there too as well as my husband and this thought makes my heart overflow with gratitude and joy.

Lastly, here is a closeup of the mum on my card. When I decided to cut it out in a circul it looked a little plan and I didn't want to use my standard spellbinders petite scallops around it, so I covered the image with crystal effects and while it was still wet, sprinkled a bit of glitter over the entire image. I also was in a hurry as we were going out of town to look at homes, so you can tell my vellum warped a bit when I was embossing the sentiment, I did it too fast.

Thanks for looking, hope you can play along this week!


Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers
Ink: black, white craft
Paper: blues, vellum, white
Other: copics, crystal effects, glitter, velvet ribbon in light blue, fine detail white EP

Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge 59 . . . creation

Happy Sunday stampers! Its time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ! This week's hostess is the lovely and talented Rebekka. She selected this verse from Genesis 1:1 "In The Beginning GOD Created The Heavens and The Earth."

For her challenge you are to create a nature card or project, using anything pertaining to nature,birds, trees, flowers, mountains . . .the sky is the limit. Or in my case I chose the depths of the sea.

As God created all things in nature, I believe that all of nature sings praises to the Lord. There are several songs that celebrate this, find one on youtube and treat yourself to some musical inspiration before you create! One of my favorites is by Mercy Me . . . All of Creation. . .when this song comes on the radio I start dancing around the house when I'm by myself. . . it isn't pretty but it is joyful!

"And all of creation sing with me now, lift up your voice and lay your burden down. All of creation sing with me now . . .fill up the heavens let his glory resound!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-WP_Plg9dM

I was feeling undersea-ish so for my creation exhibiting nature I chose the sea turtle. I tried to take a shot that would show the seaweed too, I stamped that at the bottom in versamark and embossed it with irridescent ice EP or some shimmer that would enhance the paper, not hide it. I had a lot of fun creating this card, hope you find time this week to play along as well.

Our sponsor this week is Nina Brackett, who designs stamps for her own line at Squigglefly and Gina K. You can visit her blog here http://ninabdesigns.blogspot.com/. She is donating this week a set that she designed called Nana's Needlework. I have it in my possession and its going to be a bit difficult to pry it out of my fingers to mail it to the winner! Nina lives in Croatia where she and her husband are serving the Lord.

Stamps: Mark's Finest Paper Flourished Sea Creatures
Ink: black, gray, versamark
Paper: random pieces of blue and green, a piece of Fresh Market DP
Other: copics, irridescent ice EP, ribbon, button, gold gel pen, edge punch, crystal clear