Finding Beauty In The Word

 

After doing the "His Holy Name" challenge on SCS, I decided I might like to do Patter's Scripture challenge as well. I picked "Beauty" (the word for week three) and although the intention was to look at our own beauty as well as the beauty of our heart, I ended up going off the path a bit. I came upon this verse from Hosea 14:6 

"His branches shall spread;

His beauty shall be like an olive tree,

And his fragrance like Lebanon."

(NKJV)

So I went to my other Bible that I use a lot ( life application study Bible, NIV) and looked up that passage, and here is what it said about it:

"When our will is weak, when our thinking is confused, and when our conscience is burdened with a load of guilt, we must remember that God cares for us continually; his compassion never fails. When friends and family desert us, when co-workers don't understand us, and when we are tired of being good, God's compassion never fails. When we can't see the way or seem to hear God's voice, and we lack courage to go on, God's compassion never fails. When our shortcomings and our awareness of our sins overcome us, God's compassion never fails." 

So, although I did not end up reflecting on  "my own beauty",  I certainly found beauty in The Word. I was truly blessed by this study, as I feel God spoke to me the words He wanted me to hear. And that alone, is beautiful!

I hope you may see the beauty in this verse as well, and be blessed by God's word.

Thanks for stopping by!

Items I used for this 6x6 page:

Paper: SU! Always Artichoke: SU! Brushed Gold c/s; designer papers by K&Company; handmade paper by Darice

Accessories: Pearl ribbon strand; brass corner findings; Cross sticker by Jolee's Boutique

Parisian Bluebird

I LOVE the new Parisian Specialty textured paper from Stampin' Up! The colors are so very pretty and the texture and thickness are so great for layering. I also love the Friends 24~7 stamp set. Together, this is what I came up with. I had wanted to make these for the SCS DORK/PSF Spring swap I am doing, but I didn't have enough of the paper :-( I did come up with a similar card using other papers and colors which I will post at swap time.

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what I have been doing. Hopefully there will be more stamping going on in my studio later today!

Items used to make this card:

Stamps: SU! Friends 24~7

Ink: Chocolate Chip; Close To Cocoa; Baja Breeze

Paper: Baja Breeze; Kraft; PTI White c/s; Parisian Breeze specialty papers

Accessories: Marvy circle and scallop circle punches; Baja Breeze double stitched ribbon; paper piercing tool and mat pack; Aqua painter; Watercolor Wonder crayons; Accents & Elements Flower Fusion Too; brads (unknown); Robin's nest dew drops; lots of dimensionals and glue dots!

Righteous

(Click on photo to enlarge for detail.)

As you may know, I spend a great deal of my waking hours on Splitcoaststampers! Well, over the past few weeks I have been lurking on one of the many wonderful threads I have recently come across. This one is called "His Holy Name". It is a challenge thread and it is awesome! You do a study and follow it up with your inspired creation in reflection of that study.

Yesterday I decided to take the plunge and give it a try. The word to study was "Righteous". I started by going to Biblegateway and finding verses with the word "righteous" in them. I love Psalms, so I zeroed in on that area of the Bible. I read many and got out my Bible and did some reading of them there. I eventually chose a verse that particularly spoke to me: Psalm 145:17 "The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works".
Then I spent the evening trying to come up with a page. Well, I guess I am not over my recent square card kick, lol, because the "page" ended up being a square card! Anyway, here it is. I hope you like it. I was so blessed by doing this little "study" and am looking forward to doing more of them.

Items used in my "Righteous" card:
PTI Everyday Blessings 6x6 paper pack; PTI Aqua Mist card stock; SU! Brushed Gold card stock. PTI Aqua Mist twill ribbon; SU! Pretties Kit (for white stemmed flower and pearls); Prima flower embellishments; brass "R" and bird embellishments.

It's Swap Time!

Okay, will somebody please remind me next time I sign up for three swaps in a relatively close period of time that it is not a good idea for me? I always think the dates sound far off at the time, and that there will "only" be so many to make, and that it will be fun. Well, yeah- fun to receive, but in the end the stress is always more than I bargain for. I am not usually real good about deadlines as they often sneak up on me. So... I stress out until I get them done. But this time, I was able to figure out a card that I can at least use for two different swaps, so I am real happy about that. Sure- I am sick of making this card now, but hey- I got two swaps completed! 

The first swap is due next Monday night at my Stampin' Up! local demonstrator's meeting. It's a great group of gals who all got connected through SplitCoastStampers. It has been way too many months since I have seen them and I am really looking forward to getting together with them. Our swap theme this month is "the new catty"! I only got my first order delivered yesterday afternoon, so all I had to work with before then was the Rustic Rooster hostess set I pre-ordered. I just hope they don't mind that I used an old background stamp with it. It just worked so well with the card! 

The next swap is going for my Stampin' Up! workshop club. This group gets together every other month. And to keep everybody stamping in between workshops as well as to get lots of great ideas from each other, we do swap cards. I also accept any extras the ladies make to donate to the Troops. We have a theme each time, and this time we are making "masculine" based cards. It's always a challenge, it seems, to come up with card ideas for the guys! So, this time we chose to do them for anyone of "the male gender"- be it a baby, child or adult. As long as it is for a male. Now, it's not that I couldn't send this card to a woman, but I hope you agree that this qualifies as being a "masculine" card. 

So, now 2 out of 3 swaps are done!

On to my Easter/ Spring cards :-)

Items used for my Rooster Card:

SU! Stamps: Rustic Rooster; Chicken Wire BG

C/S: Black, Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red, So Saffron, Close To Cocoa

Ink: Basic Brown

Accessories: circle punches; black gingham ribbon; paper piercer tool and mat pack; sponge; Glassy Glaze Enamel embossing powder; Versamark

It Never HAILS In California?

Crazy Day! We had rain yesterday and were happy to hear the forecast that the storm would soon be moving out. It was not "supposed" to rain today, but as my husband was leaving for work it started to pour. Then, about 10 minutes later, we heard a noise very rarely heard here: hail! I think this was only the second time I have seen hail here in Southern California in the last 10 years. I called my daughter to quickly come down and look outside, since this was such an unusual sight. She was not sure what to make of it- and actually thought it was snow (she's grown up here- how would she know, lol?!).

This top photo is of the concrete out by our back patio.
This is the black back door mat
Want to sit out back and have an iced tea with me? LOL!
The dog's water dish- with a flower petal that was blown nearby.
Have a seat, haha!

Now the sun returns!
Here's what came out of the rain gutter.
I have never seen this on my windshield in So Cal!

So, today I was planning on posting a card I made for a swap I am in. Actually I may use it for two swaps. I needed to make a card using new SU! catty stamps, and I also need to make a card for a "masculine" theme. This one should work for both. I'll try to post it later today.... after we dry out and I warm up. It's only in the low 50's! I need to crank up the heat!!

Hope you all are having nicer weather than the crazy hail storm we saw here today! :-)

Red Bread

Can you believe this? Have you ever seen anything like this?
Yesterday, St. Valentine's Day, I went in to my favorite bakery to pick up some freshly baked bread. I thought you all would get a kick out of seeing what I came home with.

Our usual favorite- challah, (a braided, Jewish egg bread) was not looking "usual" at all! In honor of Valentine's Day, the bakers used red food coloring to color it red, lol! I know it doesn't change the taste at all, but it is a bit strange. I originally wanted 2 loaves of their delicious "egg colored" bread, but since they only had one loaf left, I took one of the red loaves as well. You should have seen the look on my kid's faces when they saw their favorite bread decked out for the holiday!

Now.... just wait until Easter. What they do with their bread for that day is really over the top! ;-)

4th And Last (I think!)....

Here it is- my final square card in my series of four cards. Every card was basically made from the same layout and all using the Basic Grey "Perhaps" paper pad. I love this paper!
The difference in this one, however, is that I used a new ink that my friend Daisy gave me. It is from Ranger, called Archival Ink in Jet Black. Thank you so much, Daisy- I love it!! It didn't take as long to dry as I had anticipated and I didn't need to heat set it. I love how sharp it looks and so truly black! And another great feature: it cleaned right up off my stamp with no problem using SU! stamp cleaner. This is wonderful ink and I plan on using it a lot! If you want a great place to buy it, you can get it from Daisy's online store, eclecticPaperie. She has lots and lots of great products and her customer service is wonderful. The Basic Grey paper I used on this card, along with the crystal Stickles are also from eP.
So what do you think? Are you tired of my square cards yet? Hehe, I think I am about ready to move on to something a little different now. Hmmmm..... what will it be?

(You can click on the photo of the card to see the details up close.)
Here is a list of what I used to create this card:
Paper: SU! Going Grey and Brushed Silver; PTI white; Basic Grey "Perhaps"
Ink: Archival Ink- Jet Black from Ranger
Accessories: Marvy scalloped oval punches; Pearls from SU! Pretties Kit; Brides silver flowers from Michael's; Swarovsky crystals for centers of flowers; lace ribbon- unknown; silver wheelbarrow embellishment finding- unknown

Friendship Garden

I guess I really am on a square shaped card kick. This is the 3rd card of 4 I have made in my "series".
As you can see, it is much like the last card. Yet, they are so different. Amazing how one can lead to the next.
So here are my 3 cards- each made with paper from the same little paper pack, all the same size and shape, and all using sentiment stamps as the main image. But I am so pleased with their individuality. Soon, I will post the 4th (and possibly last) card if the series.

Items used in the "Friendship Garden" card are:
Paper: SU! Going Gray, Brushed Silver, Pink Pirouette; PTI White; Basic Gray "Perhaps"
Ink: Versamark with SU! silver embossing powder
Ribbon: from Michael's "Sheer Creations"
Accessories: Robin's Nest pearls; Prima green and pink flowers; SU! Pretties kit; scalloped oval punches by Marvy
Stamp: "Our Friendship" by Penny Black

Flowers In February

Look at this little tree. It reminds me of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. No leaves on it, but it is decorated with sweet little flowers all around it. This, is Winter. Not Winter as I used to know it (when I lived in Connecticut), but Winter as I know it now. The only snow we see here is on the mountains. I took these pics yesterday afternoon when it was about 80 degrees. I never believed there would come a time when I would say I loved February. But now, I finally do :-)
This beauties are right around the corner from my house. Aren't they lovely? Nothing like flowers in Winter!!

Workshop/ Shower for Becky

Katie and Becky- my daughter and my "adopted" daughter :-) I am so glad they are friends! Becky is a real sweetheart and we are so excited for her as she awaits the birth of her first child. Isn't she the cutest Mommy-to-be?!
Becky had no idea we were going to surprise her with a little "shower" at our Stampin' Up! club workshop.

If this isn't Becky's style, I don't know what it! Baby Caden is going to look so cute in this!
Katie just stayed for a little while so we could get going with our stampin' time. Thanks for stopping by, Katie!!


We were all excited to have our group workshop this past Monday night. After all, we hadn't been together since November. Plus, there's a new catty out, AND it's Sale-a-bration time!! But that's not all: we have a baby coming! Our sweet newest club member Becky and her husband are expecting their first baby in just a matter of days!
Every time we meet for a club workshop we bring swap cards. The theme (or so Becky thought) was Valentine cards. Hers were adorable! But, no one else brought valentines. We all made baby boy cards :-) This way, Becky had a little card shower. And we threw in some gifts, and a cake and a big beautiful tray of healthy fruit and had a really fun night! It was all a surprise for her, which made it even more fun for us. Becky is such a sweet addition to our group. She is a very special friend of Katie's- they met working together at Disneyland. Becky is a great photographer and did Katie's wedding pictures. She is also a great stamper; I can't believe how quickly she has taken to stamping! And now she's going to be a Mommy, too. I know little baby Caden is going to be a very blessed child, having her for his Mom!