Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge 101 . . .de-stashing

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ and this week's hostess the lovely inside-and-out Linda, who selected this verse from Lam 3:22 -23 The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.

Her challenge is to Dig deep into your craft cupboard and use something from your stash that you 'just had to have' cause you would use it everyday....but have forgotten about...and our sponsor this week is Clear Dollar Stamps! They have a great selection of art and sentiments including many scripture verses, one of which I used on my card today.

I'll be interested to read Linda's devotional because I don't know where she is going with this verse and the challenge but I do find it comforting that so many encouraging verses come out of a book called Lamentations. :) This is one of my favorites. The fact that God's mercies are fresh and new every morning, the past is wiped away and we have a new start! His mercies never cease . . . that word 'never' encompasses all of eternity. He is faithful, even when we are faithless. . . that part of the verse I keep in mind in particular when I pray for friends and family who don't yet know Jesus Christ as their personal savior, God is faithful to answer our prayers and to call lovingly to those who don't yet recognize His voice. And then who can read this verse without hearing "Great is Thy Faithfulness" in their heads? God's love for you is new every morning, just grab hold of it and hang on through the storms of life!

This challenge was actually a bit difficult for me . . .the main objects that I 'had to have' and haven't used are all those 3-D alterable items that never seem to get made! And I wasn't going to try my hand at them this week either! But I did use one new product I had to have and I love it! I used a vintage medallion art stencil from Layers of Color, sponging a bit of spun sugar distress ink around the stencil on top of Prima Fairy Flora paper. I buy stamps and then find myself without time to use them . . . and then buy more stamps and let them sit . . . a dangerous pattern so I think I will stop buying stamps for a while! But I liked this verse in Philippians from Clear Dollar Stamps and it seemed to suit the paper and a need I have for some encouraging cards for friends who are having troubles right now. Two products I seldom use are Smooch gold lame--I used a bit on the butterfly body and the wings--and twinkling H20s which I also used to give the butterfly wings a bit of shimmer.

The butterfly I colored using the cup o'markers you see pictured, then overlaid the wings with some twinkling H20s for a bit of shimmer and dotted a bit of smooch on the wings for a touch of gold to match the gold embossed verse. I did a closeup so you could see the gold a bit better, I don't usually do that. The butterfly also is a sneak peek of a new set being introduced this coming week from Mark's Finest Papers, Butterflies and Wisteria.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping, we hope you can play along!