New Every Morning

This is Week Two of our Shining the Light "Blessings" Word Challenge. For your recipe, use four letters of the word "blessings.

B - Blossoms/Bow, L - Layers, E - Embossing, S – Scripture, 

S – Sponging, I - Ink, N - Nestabilities, G - Green, S - Shaped Card

I love flowers and doilies, and I managed to use every letter of "blessings" again this week. In my kitchen window is my beautiful African violet that is in full bloom right now, so I was inspired by it. I colored the Violet image twice so I could add a couple of extra flowers that I fussy cut, and then I added some pearls for the centers. I used the Doily dies and stamped my sentiment from Sentiment Collection 3, and then added the doily on top of my embossed and sponged background. Then I popped my flowers, paper pierced around my shaped card, and added a taffeta white bow. Since I continue to try to make more cards that are mailable, I think this one qualifies. 

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end;
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23

This Scripture passage has been one near to my heart recently. My husband had a close call with a possible blood clot in his calf. Praise God it was only a large hematoma that will resolve over time. However, as I waited in the imaging center for several hours, God brought to my mind this wonderful Scripture passage and the song, "Great is Thy faithfulness." I especially remembered, "Thine Own dear presence to cheer and to guide; strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow." What a special blessing it was to speak with some of the staff who were believers and were so kind during this stressful time. I praise God that He is always with us and gives us opportunities to praise Him through the hard times!

To see all the designs in one place or join the challenge, please visit Our Daily Bread Designs Blog. You have until November 30 to join us. You may use any stamps to enter, but if you have any Our Daily Bread Designs stamps, we would love to see you use them. By participating in the challenge, you have an opportunity to win a $15 ODBD gift certificate good towards the purchase of stamps in the "stamps column" on the ODBD website or to be "spotlighted" for the Shining the Light Award. We would love to see your designs!

For more beautiful inspiration ideas for this challenge, please visit my precious design team sisters:

Chris Olsen * Diana Nguyen * DJ Rants
Elizabeth Whisson * Linda Carson * Robin Clendenning

One more thing. ODBD is having a BIG sale through Sunday, and I do mean big. You won't want to miss it.

Thanks so much for "stopping by" and sharing a comment, thought, or prayer request, and I hope you have a wonderful week!

For His glory,

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Violet, Sentiment Collection 3 (ODBD)

Paper: Solar White (Neenah), White (PTI), Blushing Bride (SU)

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Black (Versafine), Blushing Bride (SU)
Tools/Accessories: Copic markers, Doily dies (ODBD), Grand Labels One dies (Spellbinders), Dainty Dots M-Bossabilities reversible embossing folder (Spellbinders), White White taffeta ribbon (SU), pearls (Recollections), piercing tool, 3M dimensional tape
Techniques: Paper-piercing, fussy cutting, sponging
Card Size:  5 1/4"

Christmas Rose

This is Week One of our Shining the Light "Blessings" Word Challenge. For your recipe, use four letters of the word "blessings."

I actually managed to use all the letters in "blessings," probably pushing it a bit (smile)! But it was fun. I colored my Christmas Rose a deep red (even though they really aren't that red and often white or pale rose), and I added the "Merry Christmas" sentiment from Gift of God. I used a shaped die and matching decorative die and paper pieced. Then I added some "sparkle" to my blooms and added gold cord. Once again, this is a very mailable card!

Here is a list of what I used for "blessings." 

B - Blossoms, L - Layered, E - Embossing, S - Sentiment, 

S - Sparkle/Shimmer, I - Ink, N - Nestabilities, 

G - Gold Cord, S - Shaped Card

Interestingly, the Christmas Rose is a well-known European perennial evergreen plant that blooms during the depth of winter and is known for its ability to bloom during the darkest months of the year when everything else is frozen solid. 

Red is a favorite color for me at Christmas, probably because my mom loved it. The day after Thanksgiving she would start to decorate by putting out the first piece, and it was always red. Each day thereafter, she added decorations until the culmination of Christmas Eve, when they had an open house for family and friends. The house was beautiful, warm, and welcoming, and she always had all kinds of delicious cookies that she had baked. Such wonderful memories!

I'm not sure what your favorite tradition is for Christmas, but I hope that will include enjoying time with family and or friends. But the most important thing to remember is the real meaning of Christmas, when Jesus came to live among us.

She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, 

for He will save His people from their sins.

Matthew 1:21

To see all the designs in one place or join the challenge, please visit Our Daily Bread Designs Blog. You have until November 30 to join us. You may use any stamps to enter, but if you have any Our Daily Bread Designs stamps, we would love to see you use them. By participating in the challenge, you have an opportunity to win a $15 ODBD gift certificate good towards the purchase of stamps in the "stamps column" on the ODBD website or to be "spotlighted" for the Shining the Light Award. We would love to see your designs!

For more beautiful inspiration ideas for this challenge, please visit my precious design team sisters:

Chris Olsen * Diana Nguyen * DJ Rants
Elizabeth Whisson * Linda Carson * Robin Clendenning

Thanks so much for "stopping by" and sharing a comment, thought, or prayer request, and I hope you have a wonderful week!

For His glory,

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Christmas Rose, Gift of God (ODBD)

Paper: Solar White (Neenah), Pure Poppy (PTI)

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Black (Versafine)
Tools/Accessories: Copic markers, Labels 8 dies and Decorative Labels 8 dies (Spellbinders), gold cord (May Arts), glitter pens (Spica), white Gelly Roll 08 (Sakura), Diamond Glaze adhesive, piercing tool, Glue n' Seal adhesive (Inkssentials/Ranger), red tape
Techniques: Paper-piercing
Card Size:  4 x 5 1/2"

The Star!

This is Week Two of our Shining the Light Holiday Challenge (Thanksgiving/Christmas).

Once again, I chose to make a Christmas card and used a beautiful sheet from the new Christmas Paper Collection 2014 for my background. I used the sentiment from Come Let Us Adore Him and fussy cut the sentiment using the Elegant Oval dies and also matted it and used the star and added a sequin and a rhinestone. Not having the right paper for matting, I used Copic markers BG72 and BG57 to match the background paper. And I also used these Copic markers to dye my organza ribbon too (what would we do without our Copic markers?). I paper-pierced the background, added a few more sequins to the focal sentiment, and then added my ribbon and popped my sentiment and star, keeping it a fairly simple card.

The wise men (often referred to as magi) were scholarly men who were aware that God would use a special star to announce the Savior's birth to the world. I can only imagine their joy in seeing Jesus as they fell down before Him and worshiped him.

And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose
went before them until it came to rest
over the place where the child [Jesus] was.
When they saw the star, 
they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
And going into the house they saw the child
with Mary his mother,
and they fell down and worshiped Him.
Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts,
gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:9-11

While the wise men presented gifts to the infant Jesus, the real gift that Christmas was God's gift of a Savior to us. Their gifts signified that Jesus was to be worshipped, acknowledged that He was King of Kings, and foretold His suffering and death for our sins.

To see all the designs in one place or join the challenge, please visit Our Daily Bread Designs Blog. You have until November 16 to join us. You may use any stamps to enter, but if you have any Our Daily Bread Designs stamps, we would love to see you use them. By participating in the challenge, you have an opportunity to win a $15 ODBD gift certificate good towards the purchase of stamps in the "stamps column" on the ODBD website or to be "spotlighted" for the Shining the Light Award. We would love to see your designs!

For more beautiful inspiration ideas for this challenge, please visit my precious design team sisters:

Chris Olsen * Diana Nguyen * DJ Rants
Elizabeth Whisson * Linda Carson * Robin Clendenning

Thanks so much for "stopping by" and sharing a comment, thought, or prayer request, and I hope you have a wonderful week!

For His glory,

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Come Let Us Adore Him (ODBD)

Paper: Vintage Cream (PTI), Christmas Paper Collection 2014 (ODBD)

Ink: Black (Versafine)
Tools/Accessories: Copic markers (BG72 and BG57 for matting), Splendorous Stars dies (ODBD), Elegant Oval dies (ODBD), sequins, rhinestone, white organdy ribbon (dyed with BG72 and BG57), Perfect Layers tool, Diamond Glaze adhesive, piercing tool, 3M dimensional tape, red tape
Techniques: Paper-piercing, fussy cutting
Card Size:  5 1/4"

A Savior has been born...

This is Week One of our Shining the Light Holiday Challenge (Christmas/Thanksgiving).

Well, it's November, and Christmas is fast approaching. I can hardly believe it, except even here in South Florida we had our first "cool snap" and woke on Sunday morning to 50 degrees! That's chilly for us! But today it has warmed up again.

I chose to make another Christmas card for this week's card. I used the beautiful Peaceful Poinsettia dies and used three layers, sponged and shaped them a bit, and then added a rhinestone center and some extra "greens" from Fancy Foliage dies. I used a pretty background paper, sponged, matted, and paper-pierced it, and then I arranged the poinsettias around the beautiful Scripture from Luke 2:11. I used both Circle Ornament dies and Matting Circles dies for just the right matting for my Scripture verse.

For unto you in born this day

in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:11 (ESV)

This Scripture verse reminds me of one of the most beautiful musical masterpieces ever written, Messiah, by George Frideric Handel in 1741. It is believed that in 1743, King George II (British monarch) was so moved by Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" that he stood out of respect for the "Lord of Lords," the only authority above his own. Since then, it has been a tradition to stand when this is sung at the end of the Messiah. Having sung in choirs over the years, it continues to be a moving experience for me each time I hear it! 

To see all the designs in one place or join the challenge, please visit Our Daily Bread Designs Blog. You have until November 16 to join us. You may use any stamps to enter, but if you have any Our Daily Bread Designs stamps, we would love to see you use them. By participating in the challenge, you have an opportunity to win a $15 ODBD gift certificate good towards the purchase of stamps in the "stamps column" on the ODBD website or to be "spotlighted" for the Shining the Light Award. We would love to see your designs!

For more beautiful inspiration ideas for this challenge, please visit my precious design team sisters:

Chris Olsen * Diana Nguyen * DJ Rants
Elizabeth Whisson * Linda Carson * Robin Clendenning

Thanks so much for "stopping by" and sharing a comment, thought, or prayer request, and I hope you have a wonderful week!

For His glory,

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Luke 2:11 (ODBD)

Paper: Vintage Cream (PTI), Riding Hood Red, Old Olive (SU), Noel Holly (Bo Bunny/A Gift of Love)

Ink: Black (Versafine), Ruby Red, Old Olive (SU)
Tools/Accessories: Peaceful Poinsettia dies (ODBD), Fancy Foliage dies (ODBD), Circle Ornament dies (ODBD), Matting Circles dies (ODBD), rhinestones (Hero Arts), Perfect Layers tool, piercing tool, Best Glue Ever (ScraPerfect), 3M dimensional tape
Techniques: Paper-piercing, sponging
Card Size:  5 3/4"