When I Fix My Eyes On All That You Are

Check out the lyrics to this song, Strangely Dim, by Francesca Batistelli.  She and God really spoke to me today.  I hope you benefit from seeing the words as she sings.
I've had a rough week trying to get things done.  Just didn't feel like it.

Strangely Dim lyrics:

I've got all these plans piled up sky high

A thousand dreams on hold

And I don't know why,

I got a front row seat

To the longest wait

And I just can't see

Past the things I pray

Today

But when I fix my eyes on all that You are

Then every doubt I feel

Deep in my heart

Grows strangely dim

All my worries fade

And fall to the ground

Cause when I seek Your face

And don't look around

Any place I'm in

Grows strangely dim

Sometimes where I stand

On this narrow road

Is in a raging storm

Or a valley low

But oh

When I fix my eyes on all that You are

Then every doubt I feel

Deep in my heart

Grows strangely dim

All my worries fade

And fall to the ground

Cause when I seek Your face

And don't look around

Any place I'm in

Grows strangely dim

I don't know I don't know

What tomorrow may hold

But I know, but I know

That You're holding it all

So no matter what may come

I'm gonna fix my eyes on all that You are

'Til every doubt I feel

Deep in my heart

Grows strangely dim

Let all my worries fade

And fall to the ground

I'm gonna seek Your face

And not look around

Til place I'm in

Grows strangely dim

Congratulations Jill on being chosen for the Queen For The Day challenge this week! Here's the inspiration from your gallery I used for my card.  

I loved the blue and yellow together.

I made this to show ladies at my next two workshops other things besides cards they can make. This is so neat to make a crimped envelope card. I saw this on Brandy's site found here.

I used a pop top on my card instead of what Brandy used.

Listen to Even If by Kutless.  It's a powerful song.   

Blessing of the Day:I am feeling better and got several things stamped!  Praise God!
Thanks for visiting.
Blessings,

What Do You Do?

What do you do when you don't feel like doing anything, even stamping!?  That's where I've been this week.  I have a workshop Monday and one next Friday and I have cards ready for those but don't feel like doing the challenges on SCS like I usually do.  Not sure what's going on but I'm not liking it.
  I need to get back to stamping so say a prayer that I can get back to it very soon.  Stamping is my therapy and I need some therapy!

Today I went to Emily's house and met her newest granddaughter, Annabel.  Annabel and her parents live in Texas and came to visit Cleveland so her Ohio family could meet her.  Although I'm not family, I'm pretty close! LOL
  Annabel has beautiful black hair and lots of it.  She let her mommy know she was hungry today and she screamed at her!  LOL, I was reminded of those days today.  Emily's other granddaughter, Audrey is 14 months old and just cute as a button.  She went in the wagon and let Grandpa Ron take her for a walk, all the while waving and saying bye-bye.
  Being around babies and small children always brings a smile.  



Here's my card for the sketch challenge from Wednesday and WT427 from today. I was experimenting with the new SU clay and wondered if it would cut with framelit and emboss in an embossing folder. Well, it worked well! I cut it out and left it in the framelit then embossed it. I left it in the folder and put it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to make it stiff. Then I took it out and it popped right out of the folder and the framelit. The swirled lines behind it were embossed and then I used a brayer with brown sugar and coastal cabana inks. My flowers were added using Bordering on Romance in versamark then embossed in clear embossing powder. I used the Adorning Accents edgelits and embossing folder. The edges were sponged with a dauber.

I'll leave you with In Jesus' Name by Darlene Zschech

Blessing of the Day:God's heard my prayers.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope to have cards to post soon.

Blessings,

Playing With Clay

Tonight my dear friend, Val came over to peruse the new catalog.  We've done this for years. She was my upline 8 years ago and we'd always sit down when we got a new catty and oooh and ahhhh through it.  It's not the same when I do it myself.
   Here's a card I made for two challenges on SCS.  I used the new clay from SU.

Here's my card for the sketch challenge from Wednesday and WT427 from today. I was experimenting with the new SU clay and wondered if it would cut with framelit and emboss in an embossing folder. Well, it worked well! I cut it out and left it in the framelit then embossed it. I left it in the folder and put it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to make it stiff. Then I took it out and it popped right out of the folder and the framelit. The swirled lines behind it were embossed and then I used a brayer with brown sugar and coastal cabana inks. My flowers were added using Bordering on Romance in versamark then embossed in clear embossing powder. I used the Adorning Accents edgelits and embossing folder. The edges were sponged with a dauber.

Can't wait to try more with the clay.  It comes out May 31st, in the new catalog.
Blessing of the Day:Visit with Val
Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,

Happy Mothers' Day

We all have so much in common, we were made by God for His purposes, and to take care of the children he has lent to us. Yes, us, he chose us for the children he gave us because he knew we'd be exactly who they needed. Praise God for his gift of children, mercy and love. Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms. 

Take Heart Moms-

Loved reading these Momisms :)

Here's my card to honor Silli, the featured stamper this week. I noticed she is on the design team for Riley stamps so I found a Riley card of hers found here.
I used the campfire stamp and kept the layout and colors similar to hers. I stamped in mememto tuxedo black ink and colored with copic markers. I used scallop square Nesties around the image. I used paper from SU's Festival of Prints from the Holiday Mini catalog. The text is from SU but don't know what set.

I have a cat and loved these on FB this week.  Made me laugh out loud.

This was a photo I came across which reminds me we are specially made by God for His purpose.  We stand out among others.  We're not to compare ourselves to others but to Jesus Christ who made us extraordinary.  Continue to remember that YOU are special and stand out from others because you have Christ in your heart.  Continue to follow His path and love him.  He loves you more than anyone on earth.  Trust Him.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Blessing of the Day: My FIL won't be alone for Mothers Day.  His kids are surrounding him and having a work day, cook out.
Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,

Dizzy, Dizzy, Dizzy Home After A Half Day

What a weird day.  I went to work but felt dizzy and it didn't go away so I left at lunch time.  Tim and Ben came to get the car and me.  I don't know what's going on.  Yesterday a headache and today dizzy......I had to cancel Card Ministry tonight.  It's the first time in 5 1/2 years.

I did make some cards and found some neat things on FB.
The first two cards are for Card Ministry.  We needed a few cards for these anniversaries.

 This card was made for Free For All Friday where you had to make a card for Mother's Day.  I love this retired set Inspired by Nature and after stamping it I ran it through the cuttlebug to give it a texture to make it look more elegant.  What do you think?

 I sure needed to hear this today.  When you're not feeling well, you can begin to lose hope more easily.  I'm glad God brought this to my attention today.  Of course it was perfect timing.

I giggled when I read this on FB.  Thought you might too. :)

 I really liked this saying.  I've always believed that kids should be helping around the house from the time they are two or so.  Mine helped put silverware in the dishwasher, throw things in the garbage, get a diaper for the baby etc.
    Now they can do grocery shopping, laundry, clean and manage their time.(for the most part)
   Ben goes to college in the fall and Sarah will be in her Senior year of high school.  I'm praying that they are ready to face what God has for them.

 I thought this might brighten your day as it brightened mine.

 I guess you can see today was a day of needing this encouragement.  If you are there too, this is for you.

We're not invisible to God.  Isn't that a great comfort!

Blessing of the day:God saw my need and provided lots of encouragement.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings,

Home Sick

I am home sick today with a major headache.  I can't get rid of it with coffee or medication.  So I figured I might as well try to stamp something to keep my mind off of my headache.  I did two cards for the Ways to Use it challenge on SCS.
You were to discover something and use something you haven't done before.
The first card is one that I cut the image out with my Nestability square then embossed glossy cardstock and brayered over it with coastal cabana, a new color from SU.  This is layered with black and another new color from SU called Strawberry slush.  I thought this would be more red, but surprisingly it's pink.

This card was watercolored with my aqua painter and ink in lids of ink pads.  I colored the cardstock behind the image then used my embossing border to do the sides only of the card.  I like how this really frames the card.

This card is for the sketch challenge on SU.  I watercolored the image then used my Fleur de Lis rectangles from Nestabilities and cut the frame.  I added two rectangles behind the image to compliment the poppy color.

 Here's a fun two pictures of Sarah and her good friend, Rachel.  This was on a retreat from church.

 This second picture was from last weekend at Ben's graduation.  Isn't the sky pretty?

This is an image I saw on FB and thought it was just beautiful!

I am sitting outside on our screened in porch and it's just lovely back here.  In spite of my headache, I am enjoying the little fountain with water flowing, the smell of lilacs coming from behind me and the sight of birds feeding in feeders ahead of me.  God is so good to me and you isn't he?  His beauty is all around us.  I wish I stopped to enjoy it more.

This is the kind of day where I could easily fall asleep out here.  It's so peaceful and quiet.  The sun is shining, blue skies, and temps in the low 70's.  I could live where this was year round and love it.  The one thing that is bugging me is the constant flow of pollen.  It covers everything and it doesn't take long for it to reappear once wiped off. AHHHCHOOO!

Tuesday we had our good friends Emily and Ron over for dinner.  We served leftovers from Ben's graduation party.  Yum, nothing like ribs, chicken, fresh veggies and pizza to chow down on. 

Blessing of the Day: I got to sit outside and enjoy the nice day.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings,

Sunday, Ready To Go To Work So I Can Rest!

Phew, we've finally finished getting the house back to normal after Ben's graduation party.  We left things as they were last night as Ben and Sarah were having friends come over again today after church to eat some more of the food we have left over. :)

I got some cleaning done while kids were at Refuge Corp.  Tim worked today so it was just me home alone for a while.
I made a few cards today.  I played around with watercolor paper and a new stamp set that will be a hostess set in the new catalog.  The set is called Simply Sketched.

Here's the third card I made with this new hostess set. It's been fun combining the stamps. I've been using the masking technique on these cards.
I stamped in stazon black then watercolored with my aqua painter and the lids of the ink pads. I sponged the edges with a dauber. The background and designer paper were embossed with finial press embossing folder. I added designer paper called gingham garden to this as well. The ribbon is indigo. 

I spent some time at Wendy Weixler's blog today and found some fabulous cards and layouts!

She's an amazingly talented Stampin' Up Demonstrator! Check out what she inspired this morning! http://wickedlywonderfulcreations.bl...friday-17.html

I stamped with stazon black then colored with my aqua painter. I sponged the edge with a dauber, added a ribbon. The little circle where the ribbon went through is actually one of those reinforcements from school. You know the ones you put on notebook paper when it ripped. I added one of the SU flowers.

Here's my card to honor Gayatri and to play the free for all this week using texture. I took my inspiration from here card found here. http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...&cat=18193 I loved that she had a lot of colorful flowers and cut one out and popped it up. I changed the bright flowers to muted, turned my card and added my dots embossing folder for the background. I'm featuring the new Stampin' Up colors here. I stamped the flowers in versamark then embossed in white embossing powder. Then I colored the a blender pen and ink from the lids and I also tried my aqua painter with very little water. Have a wonderful week Gayatri.

 I stamped in versa mark on vellum and embossed in white embossing powder then added the flowers to pink pirouette. I embossed the bottom edge with one of my favorite SU folders called Delicate Design. Then I added pearls to the center of each flower. 

Here's a song by Matthew West called, You Are Everything

Blessing of the Day:We got the house back to normal and all of the things for the party down and ready to take back to the rental place.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings,