Challenge #10 Mustard Seed Faith

Good morning and welcome to another challenge from Mustard Seed Faith. Diane Noble has written our devotional for this challenge and her writing is always inspiring and biblically centered. Please go there to read her thoughts on the virtue of planning and what the bible has to say about that.

Her challenge was to create anything to do with summer so I chose a beachy theme and did a layout of swimsuits. I made a background using some of the new distress oxide inks from Ranger and chose yellow and blue which also, when spritzed with water, created a green shade as well. When I was little we had a backyard pool and the main colors I associated with it were the blue of the sky and water, the green grass we would run on to get to the pool and the bright yellow sun in the sky.

I know it took a lot of planning on my parents' part to put up that pool. It was an above ground pool and my dad would have to level the ground first, then put up the pool and each year check for and patch any leaks in the liner. He would have to fill it with water and use chlorine to keep the water clean, skim out bugs and leaves. He put in a lot of planning and a lot of work so we could enjoy our summers.

There are a lot of things we have to plan way in advance to try to ensure life will run smoothly. And there are times those plans fly out the window because God pulls us in a different direction. I recall a summer exactly five years ago, almost to the day, when our plans took a radical turn. My husband was hospitalized and had three stents put in his heart. The summer changed, eventually our residence changed, relationships changed and his habits changed. My husband had always been very focused on trying to discern God's will for his life but after that event it became an even higher priority. He spent a lot of time in prayer before but even more now. Because as Diane says in her devotional, our ultimate goal in all of our planning should be to try to give God the glory. That is our hope with our blog. We would love it if you would stop by and participate in our challenge. Wishing you a blessed week.

Stamps: Papertrey Ink. Ink: Ranger distress oxide inks, archival black; Paper: Neenah solar white, PTI white linen, watercolor; Other: patterned paper scraps, copic markers, glitter, MFT pierced rectangle dies, glossy accents. 

Choose Joy ... New Challenge at Mustard Seed Faith

Good morning! It is time for a new challenge at Mustard Seed Faith and this week's hostess is Nancy, who has selected the theme of Choose Joy for her devotional. The point of her thoughts is that we have a choice, we can take action to choose joy.

That is true, isn't it? We may not be able to control our circumstances, but we can control our response to them. And the response is always or can be guided by the fact that our joy is found in our position as a child of God. There is joy in our salvation, joy in the fact that Jesus Christ paid it all on the cross for our sins. I don't always outwardly express joy, but it is always buried deep in my heart and I can lean on that when circumstances wouldn't warrant happiness. But joy is separate from happiness, because while happiness is circumstantial and fleeting, joy transcends circumstance.

It can for me however, be a challenge to remember that I can choose joy and that I have that assurance of salvation which brings joy. I am thankful for Nancy's devotional as a reminder that I need to make joy my choice.

For our challenge this week we can create anything that brings us joy. I just find great joy in creating or papercrafting so making anything usually provokes happiness or joy. I thought I would go with bright colors, playful images and sequins in a shaker card, to send to someone to bring a bit of joy into their life.

Thanks for looking and please visit our blog so you can play along in our current challenge.

Sstamps: Poppy stamps narwhal set; Ink: PTI snow white, soft stone; Paper: Orange Zest, blue scrap, teal, watercolor; Dies: My Favorite Things square stitched frame, PTI double ended banner; Other: sequins, glitter, prismacolor pencils, acetate, white embossing powder

New Challenge at Mustard Seed Faith...worry much?

Good evening!

I have had a busy week and I am a day late in posting my card for the current challenge at Mustard Seed Faith. Design team member Tracy Fehr has written a beautiful devotional for this challenge, all about worry and how to hand our worries over to the Lord, based on Matthew 6:25-34

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  And why are you anxious about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not be anxious, saying ‘What shall we eat?’, or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear’?  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

I have often joked with my husband that is worrying were an Olympic sport, I'd be a gold medalist, time and time and time again. I seem to spend quite a bit of my life training for this event. The sad thing is, it isn't a joke and it isn't God's desire for us to spend our days worrying. 

The worry is from the one who roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Worry devours our thoughts, our time, can impact our health and consume our days. When I get to the end of my life if someone created a pie chart or graph of how I spent my time, do I really want to see worry leading the pack? 

This devotional was a great reminder that I need to ask God for help to get my worry under control and really take Matthew 6:25-34 to heart. 

The challenge this week is to use a bird, butterfly or peaceful nature scene to illustrate the verse. This is my creation for this week. Thanks for looking and we hope you pop onto the blog at Mustard Seed Faith to read Tracey's devotional here. 

For my card I did an emboss resist stamping black floral and garden images from an old Inkadinkado set. I wanted to add a bit of dimension so I diecut some extra foliage from the Gathered Garden die set from Papertrey Ink and added them to the panel. I really didn't have a sentiment that fit in that corner so I added the diecut tags and I will write a message inside to this card's intended recipient. Have a great day! 

Stamps: Inkadinkado; Ink: Memento black, variety of distress inks; Paper: watercolor paper, Papertrey Ink rustic white, silver; Dies: Papertrey Ink Gathered Garden, Tiny Tags, My Favorite Things pierced rectangles; Other: clear embossing powder, sequins, silver cord, blue ribbon

Mustard Seed Faith Challenge #7... Chesed Love

Good morning!

It is time already for another challenge at Mustard Seed Faith! We have a new devotional posted about Chesed love, or the faithful, steadfast love of God as demonstrated in the book of Hosea. This will be my last devotional for a little while, some of the other design team members are going to step in as hostess and we even have a guest planned for September!

Our challenge this time is to create a card celebrating relationships, so friendship, anniversary or wedding, all will do. We have a great lineup of cards from the design team which you can find here.

I had so much fun watercoloring that I decided to do a little more with the Gathered Garden set from Papertrey Ink. I am a marker junkie but the first set of markers that really has clicked with me is my set of Ranger distress markers. It is different for everyone, I know, and I would like to experiment a bit more with Zigs, but for right now, I'm getting a lot of mileage out of the distress markers.

For the layout I found inspiration in the Mojo Monday challenge #498. Instead of patterned paper I turned to a pretty embossing strip by Cuttlebug that seemed a nice accompaniment to the watercolored flowers, and delicate enough so it wouldn't detract from the main image. I also used ribbon instead of washi tape for the decorate element on the side of the image in the lower right...I do not actually own any washi tape at all and I think the ribbon might work. I had so much fun mixing and matching the markers on the stamps and it was so simple...color, spritz and stamp.

I am enjoying a neat sentiment stamp set that was a birthday gift from a dear friend and it fits with our theme of friendship and relationships for this week!

Thanks for looking and have a great week!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink Gathered Garden, Scripted (sentiment); Paper: PTI soft stone, blueberry, Strathmore watercolor; Ink: Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow; Dies: My Favorite Things stitched circles; Other: Ranger distress ink watercolor markers, Cuttlebug embossing folder, ribbon

Mustard Seed Faith Challenge #6 -- God's Lullabyes

Good morning! It is time for a new challenge at Mustard Seed Faith. This week's challenge is to create a baby card or something based on the theme of lullabye, as we look at the book of Psalms and why that book is like a collection of God's lullabyes to his children. This week's thoughts:

Several weeks ago in church the pastor used an illustration in reference to the psalms that I had never thought about before. He said that just as a mother sings lullabyes to her children at night to help them rest when going to bed, the book of psalms can be likened to God’s lullabyes to His children.

It made me realize how often I turn to the psalms for help with any number of wide-ranging emotions. When I am angry or upset at a certain situation I’ll often turn to Psalm 73. It contains a progressive narrative that moved me from indignation and anger to sorrow, thoughts of humility at the great gift God has given me and thankfulness for the close relationship we can claim with His son, Jesus.

During my years as a single mother when I often felt overwhelmed I clung to verse 1 of Psalm 57 (KJ), “In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.” It made me feel like a little bird, safe under the wings of the One who is always in control, and helped me rest when my mind was whirling late at night with a seemingly impossible list of tasks and responsibilities.

Just the other night when we received some distressing financial news while I prepared dinner I asked my daughter to read to me certain psalms so I could find comfort and focus on the eternal rather than the temporal. I wrote out verse 1 of Psalm 122 (NIV) and pinned it to my refrigerator, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

What psalms or verse of a psalm speaks to your heart in a situation you’re facing right now? Maybe it is illness, or loneliness or sorrow or perhaps joy. The psalms speak to the full range of emotions and help rock us to sleep with the knowledge that whatever it might be, God is in control. And He loves His children.

This week’s challenge is to make a baby card or a project that speaks to the theme of Psalms as lullabyes. We hope you join us and please, leave us your thoughts on how a psalm has worked in your life.   

Now for my card. I received this adorable stamp as a birthday gift from my dear friend, Traci Major. She used the companion stamp for the little boy for her card, you have to visit her blog to see it! 

I used a new piece of designer paper I picked up at a craft fair in Akron a few weeks ago. I colored the image using copic markers and matched it up with a sentiment from a Papertrey Ink set. This is for a special granddaughter of mine who celebrated her first birthday on May 12th; I get to see her next weekend. She is standing and walking and saying words now...last time I saw her she was still like a loaf of bread, all swaddled up and sleeping peacefully. 

Thanks for looking and have a great week, please come play along at the challenge!

Stamps: Lili of the Valley (image), Papertrey Ink (sentiment) Cutaway Tags: Spring Stamp Set; Paper: Authentique patterned paper, Papertrey Ink white linen, Blueberry sky, Neenah solar white, scrap of pink patterned paper; Ink: Archival black, Ranger distress ink Weathered Wood; Other: My Favorite Things stitched circle dies, Fiskars edge punch, sequins, Copic markers, light gold stickles, perfect pearls in silver. 

Mustard Seed Faith Challenges #3...Traveling Mercies

Good morning! The new challenge is posted at Mustard Seed Faith and for the next two weeks our challenge is to make a card, layout or altered art/mixed media piece or bible journaling that have to do with travel. Depict travel somehow in your creation. 

You can find the contributions and thought starters from the design team here along with a devotional about traveling mercies. In the meantime, here is my card for the challenge. Thank you for looking and have a wonderful day!

Stamps: Market Street (camper), Papertrey Ink sentiment from Big Hugs; Paper: Kraft, white, green, assorted patterned papers; Ink: Papertrey Ink Pinefeather, black, Ranger distress ink tumbled glass; Dies: Papertrey Ink heart border, scalloped border (medium), Trendy Trees, Tag Sale: Quilted; My Favorite Things rectangle stitched die; Other: Papertrey Ink button, jute twine

Easter celebration at Mustard Seed Faith Challenges

Good morning! The new challenge is posted at Mustard Seed Faith and for the next two weeks our challenge is to make an Easter card, layout or altered art/mixed media piece or bible journaling...anything to celebrate Easter.

You can find the creations by the design team and some thoughts about Easter on the blog, here. In the meantime, here is my card for the challenge. Thank you for looking and have a wonderful day!

Papertrey Ink Splits: With Love mini stamp set, Inspired: Savior die and stamp set, pink ribbon, Ranger distress inks for watercoloring, neenah solar white, PTI soft stone, My Favorite Things pierced rectangle die.