Stampin' Sisters in Christ . . . banners

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ. This week's hostess is the uber-talented Kris, who has selected this verse from Psalm 46:10 "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." She challenges you to use flags or banners in your creation.

I am excited to read her thoughts on the verse this week and you will be challenged and inspired by the rest of the design team's creations, which you can find on our home page here.

Our sponsor this week is a grab bag of stamps donated by an anonymous stamper who wants to share her bounty with other stampers. They are individual stamps, a nice little package will make its way through the mail to one randomly selected stamper from our challenge this week.

I chose to use a banner die from My Favorite Things or MFT stamps, along with the telephone die and a stamp from Papertrey Ink. I also used a Waltzingmouse stamp to embellish the spellbinders die underneath the telephone.

I used sketch 145 from the Got Sketch blog found here. I turned it around a bit and have my sentiment running up the side of the card. I used the Hello stamp from the Papertrey Ink set using the telephone, printing one letter at a time on the colored banners. Its a bit difficult to see on the black, but I used a cuttlebug edge embosser and put a little row of flowers next to the Hello banners. The ricrac has black glitter to give the card a little bit of sparkle.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed week!

Stamps: Waltzingmouse (on spellbinders die), Papertrey Ink (sentiment)
Paper: white, black, variety of colors for banner
Ink: black
Other: spellbinders die, telephone  and ricrac die (PTI), cuttlebug embossing folders, silver cording, MFT banner die, button, glitter

Winnie the Pooh

Happy Wednesday! It is so warm here, almost 90 for two days now and we don't get that sort of weather in northern Michigan in June! Just sharing a little card I made for a DT call that wasn't chosen.  I did enjoy my time with Winnie the Pooh and Piglet though!

Its hard to see the bit of woodgrain background in the upper panel, but it is there. Image is colored in copic markers and I used a neat typewriter set on wooden blocks by Nostalgique that I bought years ago for the letters. I do need a 1/2" circle punch, going to have to run to Michael's with a coupon one of these days.

Anyway, a simple, happy little card. Thanks for looking! Have a great day.

Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge 144 . . . God's masterpiece

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ, where all of our challenges are based on scripture. This week's challenge hostess is one of our new design team sisters and I'm so excited to read her first devotional, sweet Jerusha! Her verse is selected from Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." Create something that reflects you - you are God's masterpiece!


I had a hard time deciding what to make, I must have a split personality I guess because I couldn't decide what would represent me! I do like using different techniques, so in this card I did wrinkle free distress on the homemade tag, made some glimmmer mist using spun sugar ranger distress ink and gold powder, and embossed the corners of the paper. I also like mixing up elements from different stamp companies and for this project I used Pretty Peonies from Papertrey Ink, the sentiment and flourish from retired sets by MFP, spellbinders, cuttlebug and a new dragonfly die from Serendipity Stamps. Inks are a combination of ranger distress and Stampin' Up. I packed a lot into this one card. 


There is a lot packed into this one verse as well and I am anxious to read Jerusha's thoughts on this. Even the first segment of the verse, 'we are God's masterpiece,' wow. Who thinks of themselves in that way? I know we're each created by God and if the bible says we are his masterpiece, we need to believe it, but when I look in the mirror I don't feel that way. More than likely, this is because we're not supposed to look in the mirror, examine our bank statement or pull out our resume to determine our self-worth. We're supposed to look at ourselves and all of life through God's perspective. 


For me, when I stop looking at life through the lens of the bible, that's when all my insecurities, all my fears sweep over me like a tidal wave and there are times I flutter in indecision and inactivity, paralyzed by my own dim view of myself and of my world. 


What does the verse go on to say? "We are created anew in Christ Jesus so we can do good things he planned for us long ago." My paralyzing fears and insecurities prevent me from being fully effective in the work God has planned for me on this earth. What have I missed doing, who have I missed talking to, because I was afraid or insecure? Because I didn't have a true picture of my eternal worth through the redemption offered by Christ Jesus? I think this is a good verse for me to copy on an index card this week and keep posted on the bathroom mirror. 


Thanks for looking and wishing you a blessed week. 
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Text Style, Pretty Peonies, MFP for verse and flourish at bottom of tag
Inks: SU Rose, Ranger distress ink in Antique Linen, Spun Sugar and Vintage Photo
Paper: Vintage Cream, Pink Pirouette, kraft, Autumn Rose, patterned paper
Other: rock candy crackle, glitter, spellbinders die, serendipity die (dragonfly), ribbon, lace, corner embosser (fiskars), pearls, gold perfect pearls and spun sugar ink refill

Stampin' Sisters in Christ . . . actions

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ, wehre all of our challenges are based on scripture. This week's hostess is sweet Helen and we welcome a brand new sponsor, The Paper Shelter! Sweet images, check out more details on our home page at Stampin' Sisters in Christ! I had an image all picked out and ready to print and then my printer and I experienced artistic differences. I wanted it to print and it did not, so I reverted to a rubber stamp for this challenge instead.

Helen's chosen verse for this week is from 1 John 3:18 "Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other, let us show the truth by our actions." NLT And her challenge is to use an image showing action, or an image only on the front of you card with no sentiment, or an action card that moves.

There is so much instruction in the bible about how to live our lives; I particularly like Micah and James for this. As it says in James 2:16 "If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does not nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?"

What should compel our actions? Not a belief that any actions on our part can help us 'earn' our way into heaven, salvation comes from Jesus Christ alone! However out of love for Christ, and the great gift He has given us, we should feel compelled to take action in our world to help our neighbors. One of the greatest expressions of our faith is what we do with it.

I personally feel that however much I might wonder sometimes why I live in a particular place or what God's plan is for me there, that He put me there for a reason and I'm supposed to hit the ground running; find a place to plug in to use my gifts or talents to serve those around me. And believe me, I don't always feel like going or serving. But each time I do, I come away with a greater appreciation for what God has given me in my own life, the blessings that I can see each and every day. Faith in action not only helps point people to Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life, but it also blesses the giver.

How many of us have been on the receiving end as well, where someone does something so truly special for us it reminds us once again that we are loved and valued. I know that I've talked a lot about the hard years as a single parent, but after that I have had 13 challenging, but wonderful years married to my best friend, who performs actions of service and helps point me to God's love every single day. His actions help me understand God's love more clearly.

Wishing you a blessed week! Thanks for looking and we look forward to seeing your creations in the gallery.

Other challenges:
Tuesday Morning Sketches number 149 (laid the sketch on its side)
Totally Gorjus sunshine challenge (these mice are clearly rowing on a sunshiny day)
Cute Card Thursday water challenge (paddling their boats!)


Stamps:  Penny Black (mice), PTI (sunflower)
Ink: Stazon black (please note this ink choice was a complete goof considering I changed my mind from watercoloring to copics)
Paper: random DP, orange, blue, yellow, white, green
Other: copics, last scrap of fun ribbon, buttons, gel pen, Martha Stewart punch for flower

Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge 142 . . . lift up your eyes

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ, where all of our challenges are based on scripture. This week's hostess is Diane, who formerly hosted Women to Women Sharing Jesus, so I'm looking forward to reading her thoughts on this scripture she chose from Isaiah 40:26 "Isaiah 40:26— “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”  Her challenge for you is to create a card that depicts any element of heaven—angels, music, clouds, sun, stars, blue, glitter, bling, etc.


Our sponsor this week is Market Street Stamps, a new one for Stampin' Sisters in Christ and we're so pleased to welcome them on board! They are offering a $20 gift card to one lucky, randomly selected stamper who enters our challenge this week, and that person ought to have a lot of fun in their store! 


I loved the little camping set that Market Street carries and bought it a while ago. My camping scene is at 'night' to fit Diane's challenge with my blue sky and stars. That's when we always made s'mores during camping anyhow, you don't make them during the day. 


I love the book of Isaiah, there are so many comforting passages that speak to God's glory and power and creativity. When you were a kid, did you ever lie in a dark field of grass staring up at the night sky and watch the meteor showers or try to identify the constellations? It is amazing to think of how many stars there are and the distance between them and that an almighty God created those stars, the galaxies, and He created me! He doesn't just know each star by name, He knows my name. He knows your name. But if you don't know Him, just ask any of the ladies on the design team how you would get to know God better and any of us would be happy to chat with you. 


Thanks for looking and have a great, creative week!


Stamps: Market Street
Ink: Stazon brown
Paper: SU retired DP, kraft, brown, green, orange and confetti white
Other: copics, die for tag, woodgrain impression plate (PTI), spellbinders nestabilities, twine, ribbon, sizzix die for stars