The Merchant, the Pearl and the Price

In the midst of preparing remarks that I've been asked to give tomorrow at a Christmas Tea, this thought occurred to me:

How ironic that the Saviour Who was born to a carpenter's family was laid in a wooden crib in a stable on His way to a wooden cross on a hill.


I was asked to speak on the Pearl of Great Price, which is not the usual Christmas verse.  However, after meditating on this parable over the past couple of weeks, I've come to see just how appropriate it is.  The Merchant who gave up all that He had for the Pearl is a beautiful picture of Christ Who sacrificed everything in order to purchase His church.  In fact, it is the reason He came...Christmas!

These bookmarks will be given to each of the ladies who attend as a reminder of how the Lord humbled Himself  in order to raise us up.


NOTE:  If you would like a copy of my talk, just email me.  I'd be happy to email you a copy.

WHERE WAS GOD?

Mike Huckabee answered this question on his program after the terrible tragedy at Newtown, CT.  Please click HERE to listen to his remarks.  I found them to ring so very true.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN...

...YOU THROW YOUR SUPPLIES IN A BASKET! Notice the abundance of yellow and white Stickles in my newly arranged container. Now that I can see what I have, I won't be buying any more of those two colors for awhile!

TIP:  Don't make the same mistake...

DOUBLE DECKER CATS!

Our two cats love to relax in front of the Christmas tree while they snooze or watch TV!

SNOWY SCENE

This card was inspired by a tag published on a blog HERE, and I do hope you'll visit "The Classroom" for some other wonderful ideas.

We'll be doing this one for the next Moms Club, which is now the Advanced Class!  The blue background was done in Distress Inks (Broken China and Tumbled Glass) on a Penny Black background stamp (Crystal Pattern.)  Funny how the names of the inks and the stamp coordinate ;) (not intentional.)

After inking the background, I tore some white cardstock for the snow and attached it to the bottom of the stamped piece using only a small line of snail so that the deer would have room to be inserted beneath. The tree and deer trio dies are from Memory Box and were added to the scene as shown. I used chunky glitter for the snow, but next time I think I'd rather use a softer kind such as SU prisma glitter. Check out the blog link above for further details and photos. Once the scene was finished, I attached it to the cardfront with dimensionals. Enjoy!

FIRST ATTEMPT AT COLORED PENCILS!

 It's probably hard to tell by this picture, but it's been fun learning a new medium.  The colored pencils enable me to do some grown-up coloring!  Since I never did well in arts and crafts classes during my school years, I actually have to laugh!

The brand of pencils I used is "Fantasia" which I purchased on Amazon at half the cost of a set of Prismacolor pencils.  The only comparison I have is with the Crayola pencils I have in the tower, and these are much better indeed. YouTube is indispensable for learning new things, especially artist techniques like this.

The card I made looks a bit washed out here (but not IRL.)  I started with Very Vanilla cardstock for the base and stamped the poinsettia with Versamark as a background.  The red banner was embossed with a Cuttlebug leafy folder.  The flower was stamped twice on drawing paper, colored in, cut and layered.  Yellow glitter was added for the center.

What medium have you always wanted to try?  I took a seniors class in watercoloring two years ago, found out I didn't like working with it, and went on to other things.  I didn't look at that as a failure, but rather as an opportunity to try something new.  You're never too old to learn new things, so give it a try!

 Like I used to say to my kids when they balked at new foods, "What if you never tried ice cream?"

Challenge: Second Chances

A Blog Named Hero (HERE) is challenging us to remake a card that we made before.  The one I chose is the one shown here on the top.  I liked the way it looked, but wanted to incorporate some of the new techniques I've learned since.

To start, I chose Very Vanilla for my card base and clear embossed the Christmas hymn for the background.  Then I sponged Tea Dye and Forest Moss Distress Inks over it.  Then I gave it a sheen with Glimmer Mist spray.

For the poinsettia, I first stamped the music with black ink on a piece of Very Vanilla and heat dried it.  Then I clear embossed the poinsettia over it, doing this twice so that I could layer it.  After sponging Wild Honey and Fired Brick Distress Inks  over them, I cut them out and layered them, slightly offset, with a dimensional and mounted the flower as shown.  Next, I added pearls in the center and several loops of jute twine for embellishment.

The greeting was stamped on a piece of scrap and mounted with glue dots.  I rounded the top right corner for the final touch.  I like this card better than the original!

Merry Snowflake Card

This is one of the cards the Moms Club will do next.

After embossing a piece of dark blue cs with a Cuttlebug snowflake folder, I sanded the cardstock to bring out  the white core.  (Note:  This technique will not work with SU cardstock  due to its solid core; but you could gently rub a white inkpad over the raised snowflakes after sanding for a similar effect.)

Next, I used a Marvy punch for the large snowflake and a Martha Stewart punch for the smaller one.  After attaching a large square of silver paper to the cardfront where the cutout would go, I mounted the snowflake panel over it with SU dimensionals. I mounted the white snowflake in the center with a thicker pop dot so that it would stand above the blue cs beneath.

The blue metallic center is from Hero Arts and is self-stick.  For the silver cord bow in the upper left corner, I adhered it with a glue dot and added the tag with its tiny blue metallic embellishment.  (This card looks more sparkly in real life than it does here.)

Thanksgiving Pumpkin

What is it about an oval window card that works so well?  Just that little bit of detail adds depth to a card that would have seemed plain otherwise.

After cutting the oval with a Nestabilities die, I attached the green panel to the back with thick pop dots so that it would add a deeper shadow to the card front.  I then stamped the greeting on a piece of scrap and embossed it in white.  My square punch was used to create the notches on each end.

The pumpkin was cut with a Provo Craft die and embossed with the matching embossing folder.  I sponged it lightly with brown ink and taped the banner across it.  To attach it to the card, I used a mini glue dot on each end of the banner and added the orange gems.  The last finishing touch was the rounded corner at top right.

Assembling it this way allowed me to use the inside for a larger greeting and a note. 

CASEing the iPad #7

I think my favorite stamp set of all time is the French Foliage set from SU!  Here I used it as the background for the barn scene and Happy Thanksgiving stamps.

First I stamped a variety of leaves on the left panel of a gate card and the left side of the main image.  Then I stamped over them with India Ink black with the barn stamp, coloring in just the pumpkins in the foreground and the windmill blade.  After stamping a separate oak leaf in brown, I cut it out by hand and attached it to the card with a dimensional.  I'm amazed at how realistic that leaf  looks.

Next I covered the right panel of the gate card with autumn leaf dsp.  Then I mounted the front panel on green cs and attached it to the left panel of the card base.

(I apologize for not having the blog address or name of the card-maker who inspired my card.)

Storm Story

Yesterday was Moms Club at our church, which has heat.  It was delightful!  We made this card using an overlay and the Sizzix snowflake die.

When I got home later, I decided to do some stamping in the tower while it was still light enough.  As it started to get dark, I was determined to finish what I was working on and then go downstairs to see what I could make for dinner.

Just as I was getting ready to leave the "tower",  I heard a strange sound.  It took some time before I realized it was the heat gun that I had tried to use several days ago and forgot to turn off.  Then it took a few more seconds to realize that it was on because the power had returned!

In His Providence. the Lord had led me to spend time in the Tower so that I would be in place to prevent the house from burning down!  I can now once again personally testify that His tender mercies are AWESOME!


(Scroll down to previous post for storm photos.)

AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE SANDY

These photos were taken from my car AFTER the roadway was cleared.  This is the lower end or our street.

CLICK TO ENLARGE.

This picture shows a generator hooked up by the phone co. to restore our phone and internet lines.

The rest of the photos speak for themselves and were all taken from my car as I drove down our street.  The blue "sky" is actually the tint on the windshield.  We've had sun for a total of 4 hours since before the storm, making it gloomy and colder.

Last night we got a dusting of snow, which is nothing compared to what they got closer to the coast.  One area got a foot of snow overnight!

Notice the transformer laying in the dirt on the side of the road in the last photo.

Our power returned last night at 5:00, but we don't dare put the storm supplies away yet!

Autumn Hello

Here's a card that couldn't be easier and uses very few supplies.

First, I used this embossing folder on white cs and added some color with chalks--just the pumpkins and one side of the tree trunk.  I used a gray marker for the bush on the left side, but you could also use orange for berries instead.  After rounding the corners, I sponged the edges with Wild Honey Distress Ink.

The "hello" stamp is from a Simon Says Stamp set of greetings in the handwriting of Kristina Werner.  I added the dashes below to bring it closer to the top of the fence.

Finally, I mounted the panel of the kraft card with dimensionals.

Musical Birthday Card

This card involved several steps, although it was quite easy to do for such a dramatic effect.

First I stamped the music notes from a Hero Arts set in black on a piece of  Very Vanilla cs and sponged lightly over it with Distress Inks (Wild Honey and Peeled Paint).  Then I stamped the G clef in Versamark ink and clear embossed it.  Next, I sponged more distress inks over it  to make the clef "pop" and wiped off the excess ink.

For embellishment, I added two white Hero Arts blossoms over a sliver metallic cord bow, placed some pearls in the center and mounted the panel on the card front.  To finish, I sponged the edges of the card and rounded the top right corner.

Stamp set:  Hero Arts "Musical Clef" cling stamps

EEK!

This is one Halloween spider I could do without! After I picked up the grill cover and placed it on the barbecue (in preparation for the coming storm) I noticed this scary Halloween monster! I'm grateful it was not on my clothing, since I hadn't noticed it until after I placed the cover on the grill...and yes, it was alive. Since it wasn't in the house, I brushed it off into the grass below where I hope to never see it again.

MORE RECYCLING!

 This really is fun!  Most of the actual stamping is on the inside, with sayings that are appropriate to the images used.

The top card is on a fancy fold card.  The second one was just cut with my personal trimmer to fit the card front.  The top was hand cut around the circle.  The bottom card was cut with a label die, taped to a piece of red cardstock and then cut by hand to give it a thin border of red.  The "merry" tag was added with a glue dot and embellished with a tiny red gem.

For the final card, I punched out the wreath, added a tag and metallic cord bow over the bow in the image and mounted it to the plaid dsp with dimensionals.

I can't believe how fast if was to reuse all these card fronts!
Why not ask your non-stamping friends for some of their old cards and see what you can do with them.

RECYCLING CAN BE FUN!

 Here's what I've been working on lately.  Ruth gave me a stack of  cards that she had received for Christmas in 2009, so I took them apart and made new ones.  The Moms class did the same with others in the package and just loved recycling them!

Most of them were very easy to do by taking off the card front and discarding the rest.  After cutting them down further, I mounted them on contrasting cardstock and attached them to new card bases.

The angel card now features metallic cardstock and coordinating gems on Very Vanilla cs.  The blue card is a Z-fold card with the image attached to the left side only.  The manger scene was cut down, mounted on green cs and attached to a white card base.
Christmas Joy was cut down from a much larger card and mounted to a piece of red cs for contrast.  After wrapping the red and white bakers twine around it, I mounted it to the white card with dimensionals.

Once I gathered all the materials together that I thought I'd need, these cards went very quickly.  It was just a matter of  cutting them down, matching up the best color cs for the contrast and mounting them to a new card base.  Since most of them were on shiny paper, very few embellishments were needed.

(Click on the images for a closer look.)

Grateful for Leftovers

This leaf was left over from a previous card, so I used it after seeing this card HERE.

The notches at the bottom of the card front were done with my square punch (as were the strips above) and an additional strip of dsp was attached to the inside of the card so it would show through.  Just thought it would add of touch of continuity...

This will make a nice Thanksgiving card for someone who feels as I do that we have many blessings to thank God for!

FOLDED CHRISTMAS TREE

Here's a simple card starting with a solid card base, a dsp oval and a semi-circle of double-sided dsp.

First I attached the oval to the card.  Next, I folded the tree and attached it to the oval with double-stick tape.  Then I cut a piece of brown cs for the tree base, added a glittered star and "merry" tag for embellishments, and that was it--done!

Christmas Deer

I designed this card for my Dad who gave me the evergreen stamp used inside.

After using the die to cut out the deer silhouette, I then cut out an oval on the front of the card.  Then I inked the pine tree with black India Ink, stamped off on scrap paper once and stamped it on the inside left.

Using dark green and chestnut roan inks, I picked up the colors with a watercolor brush and gently painted over the tree image.  The inside is stamped with "Merry Christmas" at the bottom right, leaving just enough room to sign it where it won't show through the opening.  A knotted piece of jute adds the finishing touch.

This masculine Christmas card is just right for my Dad!

Here's the simplified version I came up with for Moms Club this week.  I added a silver star so the deer will look like they're focused on something other than the trees.


Note:  Die set from Memory Box.