life trials... (D)

Without going into too much detail, this week has been one of those weeks where you realize that you are really not in control of life. I fussed and fretted over something that was not mine to fuss and fret over. Now that I’m on the other side of it…I am thankful for the many things this situation reminded me of.

First…that I had the wisdom to have many prayer warriors pray over the situation and even pray me through the event. Second…I am thankful that in God’s Word I find comfort and peace… Third…I am not God and this is a GOOD THING…but mostly, I am thankful for a God who cares, understands and advises if you but quiet the fussing and fretting in your head for a moment and listen.

I created this heart box  based on this weeks inspiration challenge over at Melissa Phillips blog Lilybean Paperie.  I love the pleated ribbon...I seem to have a thing right now for clusters of vintage buttons and of course tea stained lace and ribbon.

The beautiful bird image is from Crafty Secrets...

I just had to share the amazing way that God “spoke” to me the last two mornings. Wednesday morning (the day of this life trial) he showed me Psalm 35, the whole Psalm is beautiful but what especially spoke to me were these verses…

"Oh Lord, oppose those who oppose me.  Fight those who fight against me.  Put on your armor, take up your shield.  Prepare for battle, and come to my aid.(vs 1-2)...Malicious witnesses testify against me.  They accuse me of crimes I know nothing about.  They repay me evil for good.  I am sick with despair.(vs 11-12)...Oh Lord, you know all about this.  Do not stay silent.  Do not abandon me now, Oh Lord.  Wake up! Rise to my defense!  Take up my case, my God and my Lord. (vs.22-23)"

That got me through the actual event and then this morning (the day after) he gave me Psalm 103:1-6.

"Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart I will praise his holy name.  Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.  He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.  He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.  He fills my life with good things.  My youth is renewed like the eagle's!  The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly.""

Isn’t His Word amazing?

Thank you isn’t enough to those who prayed for me...God has truly blessed me with all of you.

Glad not to be in control,

Patty

kiss...

Like a lot of you, masculine cards are not easy for me, I am definitely into girly, vintage embellishments.   With that said...Valentines Day is the holiday of love and I do love my hubby and I want to give him a card that I've made since it's what I love to do.  When I saw the challenge sketch for CPS 153 this week I had no idea what direction it would take me but I think as it turned out, this is the perfect card for my husband...

The paper is Bo Bunny Love Bandit (how perfect is that, since he stole my heart), the buttons are from PTI 's Vintage button Holiday Collection mix, the ribbon is PTI Berry Sorbet, the hearts are Martha Stewart and yes mom, I meant to sew crooked like that...

Are you ready for Valentines Day?

XXOO's

Patty

for the birds...

I wish you could hear the rain right now.  Most of the time I would rather have sunshine but today inside it's quiet and peaceful except for the sound of the rain.  I can see some small hills from my craftroom window and they are so lush and green against the backdrop of the gray clouds. 

Last month I had the good fortune of meeting Vicki Chrisman.  She is an amazing woman and a beautiful artist.  She was kind enough to give me a couple of these wonderful shadow box templates that she designed, to play with.  It's always intimidating for me to look at a blank slate and know where to get started but once I got going I had so much fun with this.

I know that Vicki likes birds so I used that as my theme.  I don't know if you can tell from this picture but the center box is three dimensional.

I used Martha Stewart clear microbeads for the bird...it was my first time using them, they add a nice shimmer in real life...I can't wait to use them again.

The little bird image is from Crafty Secrets...the key, stamp, clip and crown are from Making Memories...the red and white bakers twine is from Martha Stewart.

This bird image is also from Crafty Secrets, the white flowers are from Prima...the little red ones are from a 99 cent bush from Michaels.  The moss and ribbon are from my stash.

Vicki has the information on her templates available on her blogsite,  This Art Makes Me Happy along with a helpful video on assembly.  I am already planning out my next one as an Easter decoration.  I would love to see what you come up with for yours.

Enjoying the day,

Patty

FWF- sweet fragance...

Welcome again to Friends with Flair Friday...

I am having so much fun flipping through my pages of Unity stamps getting ready for Fridays.  Usually I have an idea of what I'm looking for based on a color combo or paperline I want to use.  This week I knew I wanted to do something with multiple flowers to showcase this BoBunny paper.  I stopped looking when I came across these flowers in the December 2009 KOM.

 

As I was cutting out the large flower for this card, my grandson insisted on getting in my lap to "smell" it.  It was so adorable that I let him keep it and stamped and cut another...which of course he had to smell, also.  So I stamped and cut another and yeah...he grabbed that one, too.  By the time he lost interest in our game the flowers were pretty mangled and kind of soggy, but they curled in the most wonderful way and it dawned on me that if I inked the top and underneath edges I could layer them into the most amazing, dimensional flower.  I've seen flowers like these before but this is the first time I've tried one.

The flower stamps are from Unity's December KOM...the paper is from Bo Bunny's Kitchen Spice line.

The "Sweet" in the sentiment is from Unity's May KOM...the "Fragrance" is computer generated.

The sentiment came to me as I was smelling my grandson's sweet little head.  It made me think of the portion of scripture that says we are to be a sweet fragrance to God.  The inside of the card has a portion of 2 Corinthians 2:15 typed in..."Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God."  There isn't a designer perfume in the world that can touch that.

Blessings,

Patty

hello sweetie...

Boy, what a week it's been...but I've finally had a good nights sleep and God's faithfulness is more evident in my thoughts today.  I have been trying to orchestrate a solution to a major issue without Him.  I have played out every conversation...doing the dialogue for both parties...in my head.  Do you ever do that?  Thankfully, this morning in my quiet time with Him,  I was gently reminded not to force what I want, but to ask Him what is right.  Hmmmm...such a sweet peace is over me right now.  Thank you, Jesus.

This adorable little guy was made for the Crafty Secret challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers.  Our challenge was to make a masculine card...well, this is as masculine as I could muster.

Isn't he adorable?  Both the cute little image and the sweet sentiment are from Crafty Secrets.  The paper is Basic Grey Marrakech, the buttons and brad are from my stash.

Looks like we're in for a couple more days of rain...but oh, what a beautiful, green Spring is promised.  That's the thing about rainy days, they make the sunny ones even more special.

His peace and blessings on all of you,

Patty