Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge 137. . . green

Happy Sunday stampers! I still haven't gotten used to the new blogger format so its an adventure each time I post, to see if it will all turn out all right! It is time for a new challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ and this week's hostess is MariLynn who has selected this verse: [Those who trust in the Lord] shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:8 for her challenge which is to "Use our green thumbs... either use green on a card/project or use an image of something planted." Our sponsor this week is DRS Designs which generously gave each team member who requested it a lovely rubber stamp. I used the cattails in the flowing water for my card, it was a lot of fun to color! They are offering a $10 gift card to one randomly selected winner from this week's challenge. I look forward to reading MariLynn's thoughtful words on her chosen verse. You can read her thoughts and see the rest of the creations by the design team on our home page here. And more exciting news, this week we will announce who will be joining our design team as new sistahs! Not that we aren't all sisters in Christ who believe in His saving grace! Wishing you a blessed week!

PTI Blog Hop April 2012

Almost missed the PTI blog hop but got my card done with a squeak of time left. I used the CAS sketch from splitcoast from last week, thought it might highlight the teapot nicely. That's sort of what the inspiration photo made me think of, a nice afternoon with your friends drinking tea. Don't ask me why a pile of fabric made me think that, it just did! Hope you're enjoying hopping. Looking forward to hopping some more tomorrow. Stamps: PTI Giga Guidelines, Tea for Two, Music background Paper: Aqua Mist, white, pink, DP Ink: aqua mist and black Other: Spellbinders petite scalloped circle, MS butterfly punch, scor tape, glitter, rhinestones

Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge 136 . . .pastels

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ, where all of our challenges are based upon scripture. This week's hostess is the Lovely Linda and she has selected this verse from Psalm 119:105 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Her challenge is to create a card/project in soft pastel palette - black or white can be used as a neutral. Our sponsor this week is a company that is new to me that has some cute images and great scripture verses; it is called Inspired Stamps and the owner generously sent out fabulous packages of stamps for the design team members' use. I chose a scripture verse that goes along with Linda's chosen verse for the week. You can see the samples by the other design team members on our home page here and also read up about the prize from Inspired Stamps that one lucky, randomly selected participant from this week, will win. Linda will have her thoughts on her selected verse as well and I am looking forward to reading them. We thank you for playing along and wish you a blessed week! Stamps: Inspired Stamps

CAS sketch challenge

A CAS sketch challenge on Splitcoast helped me break out the stamps today. Cute sketch, #166. I used some old SU sets and prismacolor pencils.

Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Luv Ya Bunches, Unfroggetable, PTI Say it with Style, Everyday Button Bits
Paper: White
Ink: greens, pink, orange, black
Other: prismacolor pencils, scor tape, glitter

Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge 135 . . . transparency

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ. This week's hostess is the blog founder Kris, who selected this verse Colossians 1:27b "...Christ in you, the hope of glory". Her challenge for this week is to use something transparent, acetate, vellum, etc., somewhere on your card. And our sponsor this week is Serendipity, the source of the toadstool and leaves image in my card. Such detailed, lovely stamps, you can find the company web site right here. I had lots of fun coloring this image.

And you can find Kris' thoughts on her chosen verse and see the rest of the creations by our design team right here. We have less than one week left for our design team call, so if you are interested in becoming a member of the Stampin' Sisters in Christ blog team, look for details on our home page.

Christ in you, the hope of glory . . . what does that verse mean exactly? I'm not a bible scholar, but there is a difference to me between heart knowledge and head knowledge. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, do you acknowledge that in an intellectual sense or in a heart sense, meaning do you think about it on Sundays or does it affect your daily walk?

The idea here is not that we ourselves become greater or more important or more . . . of anything really, but that we decrease and Christ increases. Our walk, or the things we do day to day as we study God's word and strive to learn from Jesus' example is supposed to increasingly exhibit Christ to others around us. Never so that they say, 'wow, look at that person' but to point them to Jesus' example.

Years ago as a gift to my mother I had framed some needlework that her mother and grandmother had stitched. These are precious momentos from generations past and to protect the work I had the framer cover the needlework with glass. No one walks up to the needlework pictures and exclaims about the glass in the frame, they are focusing on the picture underneath. To me, that's the idea behind this verse and Kris' challenge . . . we are to become more and more transparent ourselves so that the Word of God and the love of God is what people see. If we accept Jesus as our Lord in an intellectual sense I don't think it ever is deep enough to achieve this transparency, it has to be the movement of our hearts. When we truly have it in our hearts then it becomes what we live and breathe every day, it becomes our daily walk, and that's when the transparency can begin, when people in the world around you can see Christ in and through you.

Wishing you a blessed week.

Stamps: Serendipity
Ink: black memento
Paper: random DP, confetti white, fine linen, vellum
Other: copics, twine, copper EP, spellbinders

Happy Easter!

Good morning to you on this Resurrection Sunday! Hoping that you have enjoyed Easter services somewhere today.

Today's challenge verse at Stampin' Sisters in Christ is from Hebrews 12:2-3 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." My dear friend Traci selected this verse and her challenge is for you to make a joyful card, something celebratory! I chose to use a stamp that shows the sun, to represent God's Son who rose today from the grave!

Our sponsor this week is Paper Pretties and you can find all the other creations by the design team on our home page here. We also have a design team call ongoing for a few more weeks and details for that also are on the blog. Thanks for looking! Have a blessed week!

Stamps: Verve, PTI
Ink: Celery, black
Paper: white, yellow, DP
Other: copics, rhinestones, impressions plate

Stampin' Sisters in Christ . . . He Ran

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ, where all of our challenges are based on scripture. Our sponsor this week is Pizzazz Aplenty, offering a $10 surprise package to one randomly selected, lucky winner. I am the hostess this week and my chosen scripture is from Luke 15:20 "So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."

My challenge is to make a card with motion, or an interactive card; spinner, viewmaster, pop up, slider, gel, etc. I chose this tutorial on SCS to make a side spring card, you'll find many helpful tutorials on that site. I have a close up of one of the bees I cut out of the patterned paper I used, I took a spring from a pen that had run out of ink and cut it into small sections to add some extra 'spring' to my card.

My thoughts on the verse are as follows:

We ordered from our favorite Chinese restaurant last week and of course, everyone loves to read the fortune cookies at the end of the meal. One of them read, “He who hurries can not walk with dignity.”

If there had been fortune cookies in Jesus’ time and this had been tucked inside, everyone would have nodded their head in agreement when it was read aloud. Men in that time, especially men of importance and stature, would not run. It was considered unseemly, undignified.

Yet in Luke chapter 15, the parable of the prodigal son tells the story of a father who acted in a distinctively countercultural manner, prompted by love. When the son finally decided to return home after squandering his inheritance in riotous living, his father ran to embrace him. This son had treated his father with utter contempt. Simply asking for his inheritance was the equivalent of saying he wished his father were dead. Yet when his sin was spent and he finally decided to turn away from it, his father met him more than halfway; and he ran.

We all identify with either the prodigal or the elder brother when we read this story but the one character who remains constant is the father, who extends love to the prodigal and the elder brother both. And he would run to meet either brother, just as He ran or would run to meet you if you choose to turn towards Him.

I had occasion to share my testimony at church a few weeks ago and that was one thing I told the congregation from my personal experience. When you set out to find God, He will meet you more than halfway. His love knows no bounds for you. Yet who is the very essence of majesty, holiness and dignity? If you haven’t already, turn towards God and ask His forgiveness. Then feel His love wash over you.

Thanks for looking and we hope to see your creations in the gallery this week!

Stamps: Flourishes
Other: spellbinders, prismacolor pencils, glitter, springs