Getting Down to the Wire

It’s time to get my Christmas cards finished.  Such a procrastinator I am.  I got two in the mail today, another ready to mail tomorrow.  These 3 are the ones that travel the farthest.

Now for a look at cards I’ve recently finished up:

The first two were for a challenge to use 3 flowers that was not part of a patterned paper, bonus if the flowers were poinsettias.  I heat embossed the left ones with gold powder onto glossy magazine page and cut out.  The next was stamped and die cut with added embellishments on the wreath.  The center was “Winter Motivation” –  lots of snow.  It’s a simple card made more fun with a wobble I made for the critter.  The bottom 3 were made with the same image in different styles.  I love using Nuvo Drops.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope these cards will motivate you crafty card makers to get any more card made that you may need.

Hope your preparation for the coming of the Christ Child is beautiful for you!

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Busy Bee Scrapbook Layout

Our little man is always on the go.  He is working at something all the time.  See how blurry his tiny feet are?  He is always moving – unless he is hungry then he runs and finds Mommy for more fuel.

This layout represents the Lasting Memories challenge #423 where we are challenged to use two forms of mixed media.  On my orange piece I used acrylic paint over a stencil.  I used a rubber stamp to edge the square with some Memento Rich Cocoa ink that looks like some zig zag stitching.  I wrapped some layers of twine and made a bow under the photos for added texture.  With a Sakura Gelly Roll pen I ran two outlines around the bottom layer of the page, which is from the PhotoPlay Paprika pack.

In addition, this sketch is from Sketches in Thyme #350 which is perfect for my two little shots of this busy baby boy.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you like my simple page.

Show Gratitude

How do I show my gratitude?  It’s rare at best, I’m sad to say.

For a while I have been feeling that the people of the world are a mess.  The debate in my head is whether our human race can get any worse.  I can’t help but believe there is a great deterioration in humankind.

It never fails to amaze me, even after all these years, how answers come to me at church.  It was a double for me today.  The first wasn’t really a current question or concern, just an ongoing sense of dread and sadness for the state of the human condition.  Amazingly, this lack of gratitude has been around for a long, long time.

Check this passage from Luke 17:11-19.  (I have copied it over from this website: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112218-thanksgivingday.cfm)

[As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”]

Ninety percent showed no gratitude what so ever!  They got what they asked for and kept on walking.  Wow.  Two centuries ago.  And I wonder if we will ever change.

This year my “One Little Word” is TURN.  I have been focusing on tuning back, mostly.

There is a list of “Turn back to” ideas.

To the Bible – be more faithful in my studies and daily readings.  Our priest started a challenging and in-depth study of the Book of John this September which has been so rich and informative.

To my faith – really understanding what my relationship with God is and learning how to enrich my understanding and grow a stronger faith.  I have started a Faith Journal where I can explore certain areas as I wish.  It has been fun to add some art to it as well.

To prayer – not just saying a quick recite of a prayer and moving on, but truly talking with God often during the day.  I have found a couple of rich books on praying and it has opened my eyes to the true meaning of our praying. “Pray without seizing” I Thess 5:17.  Our memorized prayers are a beautiful help, a starting point from which we continue with our prayer to God.  I still have to remind myself to share my gratitude with God as well and bringing requests for help.

I still struggle to not criticize or judge when I come across people doing what I believe to be in error.  My daughter reminds me “they are not my weed” and so I must move on and pray they will come to know and accept the love God has for them, while I work on my task to ‘love my neighbor’.

If you are still following along with my wandering train of thought, you may have noted that I indicated there was another question on my brain this morning.  Last night I had trouble sleeping, and when that happens lots of thoughts, mostly unwelcomed ones, popped into my head.

When you love someone, especially a brand new baby, you might worry about their well-being.  My newest great grand is about 2 and a half months old.  With the news yesterday of a condition going on with her mother that the doctors don’t seem to understand, my thoughts drifted to this helpless baby.  What is something is wrong with her?  She is too little to express much more than pain or discomfort with her cries.  It seems so many babies have debilitating issues these days.  What is she is one of them?  The Priest spoke something about this; I’m sure it was for my benefit.  So, bottom line is that she is child of God, she is loved, she is and always will be a blessing to my life and that of all her family.

Next year I believe I will choose the word Gratitude.

The Best Place to Be

Here are pics of Jovy on his grandmother’s shoulder. Perfectly content. Grandma is content also, to hold her new baby boy.

This is another page for an album I am working on for him.  I’m using photos of him, but trying to do the earlier ones for him to flip through in his own 8 x 8 album.

For the stamping challenge at “Lasting Memories” layout challenge blog I chose to stamp a tiny Polaroid stamp randomly on the base, with a few embossed with white powder.  The camera is stamped on white, cut out and popped up on the red tag that I lined with gel pens and stapled a ribbon onto.

A Cherry on Top site has a challenge to use a Polaroid on a layout.  There are always such inspiring challenges over there – please check out their community.

The patterned paper is from Crate Paper.  The little rubber stamp is from Hampton Arts.  The red Polaroid die is from Stampin’ Up!.   The strip of washi tape is from Park Lane.  The small letters are stickers from Lilybee Designs. The clear hearts are from Queen & Co., and blue heart is from Fun Stampers Journey.

All supplies are quite old stash.  So old, in fact, this is the last year (2018) that I will be able to date my pages.  I will have use for it as there are still lots of older photos for me yet to scrap.

Thanks for popping in, hope your day is blessed with love and happy moments to cherish.

See Goodness in Others

Watercolor backgrounds are so amazing to me.  I have always admired the true scrapbook artists who make such stunning pages.  I’m not there yet, but I sure had fun.

I feel like I couldn’t get it, so I kept adding.   After each session of play I let it dry, then packed it under some 12 x 12 pads and weight to flatten.  Then, tried something else.  I actually gave myself a bruise on my index finger banging a brush of watercolor over the page to make spatters.  Finally used something else to bang on and it worked great and wasn’t painful.  I used a few stencils but they didn’t give the watercolor effect I wanted, however using some Inka Gold over a stencil was okay.  I still need work on that technique, my placement isn’t very artistic.

So, this is for the challenge at Lasting Memories #421.

My title work was done with my Cricut Explore Air.  What got me to do this title and find this photo of my dear son was a prompt challenge at A Cherry On Top.  Their challenges are fun and have gotten me motivated to scrap more.  Do visit!

Thanks for stopping by, and keep making those precious memories!

Train a Jaguar

This layout features stitching for the challenge at “Lasting Memories”.

I frequent our local zoo and one of my favorites is the jaguar.  It was quite a treat to visit during a training session.

For this page I started with patterns from my pack of “Paprika” by PhotoPlay.  On to building this page.  After cutting the title with my Cricut Explore Air and using a glue pen to adhere them, I took this white panel to my sewing machine and stitched several rows across the words.  The back side of this green has some beautiful mandalas.   (I salvaged a strip from the center of the base – gotta be frugal with this beautiful paper!)  Following the triangle design I made a row over the white card stock.  More stitching – the ribbon is stitched and I liked the color of it with these papers.  Then, for the journaling I printed on the same shade of card stock and cut into strips.  Using a bottle of Nuvo Crystal Drops I added the dots to the strips for a finishing touch.

Hope you enjoyed your visit.  Be inspired to use some form of stitching on your next layout, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

You Go Girl – Lasting Memories Challenge

Our challenge is to use the technique of tearing paper for a layout.

I completely remember the first time this idea of tearing was introduced to me, probably 10 or so years ago.  I was appalled at the idea of tearing into perfectly good scrapbook paper.  We all know attitudes change, and in our art of creating memory pages with our scrapbooking supplies that is part of the fun.

This layout starts with a base sheet of Graphic 45 from the Botanical Tea collection.  Additional papers are from Heartfelt Creations, from which I fussy cut the flower accent in the bottom corner.  The torn edges are distressed with Ranger Oxide Frayed Burlap ink.  I wanted this to be a girly page, because that is who she is – my little great granddaughter.  So, I layered it up and added more flowers, butteries, buttons and some sweet vine die cuts.  The title was cut on the Cricut.

Please visit the blog for all the details – LM #419 – Techniques – Paper Tearing

It’s That Time

That time of year quickly approaches where relatively sane people put on crazy costumes and go out into public.

Last year my dear daughter was fortunate enough to spend a couple of weeks with the kids around Halloween time.  She loves to dress up, it’s the kid in her that never grew up – lol

This layout of the photo is of her and the boy grand having fun in the yard.

I followed a sketch from Sketches in Thyme, #346:

Except for the base sheet, all patterned papers are from our Halloween scrap bin, and the embellishments.  The sequins are from my usual box of sequins that I use frequently, not just at Halloween.  I suppose the number stickers and the black doily were from their own special place and not in the Halloween bin either.

Thanks for popping in, hope you have a fun holiday doing whatever safe activity you choose during this Halloween craziness.

The Word Made Flesh -WORD

Fr. Jeremiah has started a class on the Gospel of John – The Word Made Flesh, a Study of the Book of John.

It is starting out to be an in-depth and enriching study.  Father Jeremiah is a beautiful teacher and is rich in knowledge and understanding of the languages from which the texts came from that produced this beautiful book of the Holy Word of God.  Our lessons will unfold throughout the rest of this school year.

I will not write about the lessons, but hope to share more Bible Art Journaling as I am inspired to create.  Not only will this be an eye-opening study for me but I hope to explore my desire to both write, perhaps essays, and do some art to expand my creativity.

The opening of this book is so touching and beautiful!  I encourage you to explore the deeper meaning of what John tells us by his prologue – “In the beginning was the Word”. 

I Love Sketches and the Zoo

What could be more fun?!  A friend invited us to spend some time at the zoo with his visiting family.  Finally I got to meet his daughter and grand kids in person after seeing photos on his iPhone.

Then came a new sketch at Sketches in Thyme, just perfect for the one prize photo of Mark and the kids.  I jumped on this opportunity and here it is.

I stamped with some Fun Stampers Journey rubber stamps to make the background, branch and leaves.   The inks I used are Ranger Oxides: Frayed Burlap, Pealed Paint.  Also used Memento Rich Cocoa and Stampin’ Up! Gumball Green.  The papers are from my scraps of pattern papers.  I had just reorganized the bin, separated by color family, made it easier to pull out greens.  The green doily I made, it was waiting for the right layout.

Thanks for stopping by and looking!  Hope you day is a blessing to others, then it will surly be a blessing to you,