Summer Plans...

Hello!

Happy Sunday!

How has your summer been going...or winter, spring or autumn depending on where you live and are reading this blog post from!

We've been very busy putting in some camping time at our seasonal site, fishing, and doing some work around the yard at home.  The kids have finished swimming lessons, are preparing to go to Bible camp and before I know it the summer will be over and we'll be preparing to get back into routine!

This week at Mustard Seed Faith Challenges we have a new devotional and theme for you this week!

Our theme is "Summer"!

That leaves so much open for interpretation when it comes to creating!

I can't wait to see where your creative side leads you on this challenge!

Our dear Diane has written today's devotional which you can find on the Mustard Seed Faith Challenge blog.  

The verse she chose is...

"Ants are creature of little strength, 

yet they store up their food in the summer."

Proverbs 30:25

Sounds very much to me like how we as people like to do planning in the summer...vacations, sightseeing, lots of traveling, etc.  That got me thinking about another passage as I reflected on the way ants work.  Ants rely on one another because they are creatures of very little strength...they find food together and bring it back to the colony.  If an ant had to rely only on itself, I'm not sure the large task of storing up food would ever be completed!  That's like us...we can't do everything on our own...we need God's help!  

"I lift my eyes up to the mountains-

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth"

Psalm 121:1-2

This verse was also one of the verses in one of the FaceBook groups I belong to where we were paired up with a Soul Sister...we were to create a Bible Journaling Tip In with the verse and send it off to encourage our Soul Sister!  I thought that concept tied in perfectly with our devotional here at Mustard Seed Faith Challenges.

I decided because my Soul Sister does not journal in her Bible but rather in a journal, I would stray from the typical style tip in.  I decided to go with a large tag that she could use as a book mark in either her Bible or her scripture journal.

Here's how it came together...

I loved this stamp from Unity Stamp Company as it looks like this gal is looking up to the mountains. I thought it tied in with our summer theme as it also looks like she could be sight seeing!

The bright blue sky, the lush green grass with a beautiful sight in the distance...just how we picture a perfect summer day!

The scripture verse I printed out from my computer and cut randomly and adhered it to the tag.  

I've used distress oxide inks to do all of the coloring on this tag, and have then sealed it with a matte medium.  I've also adhered a second tag to the back of this one so my Soul Sister could journal on the back if she decided she did want to use the tag as a tip in.  This way she had a clear slate with no ink smudges on the back and the tag was also a little more stiff! 

It was a quick and simple project, but I like how it turned out!

I'm not usually a tag maker...but perhaps I'll try to do more in the future!

That's all for me today!

Be sure to pop by the challenge blog to read what God layed on Diane's heart to share with you, as well to see the other stunning projects created by the rest of the design team!

Until next time...

Choose Joy...

Welcome and Happy Sunday!

I hope your day has been wonderful and you're ready to start a fresh week!

We're starting a new challenge over at Mustard Seed Faith Challenges today, and I think the theme of the devotional is very fitting to start off a new week!  Our devotional topic is "Choose Joy"!

This week's devotional has been chosen and written by my lovely teammate, Nancy!

The verse that she has chosen for us to focus on is...

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of many kinds" 

James 1:2

Joy and gratitude are so important to our faith!  All too often as Christians we forget to focus on the good when the going gets tough!  Things don't go the way we want and we become saddened, depressed, or think that God is not on our side, when really God has called us to live a life that is filled with joy!  I don't think that means that we are never sad, unhappy, etc. I think what God really calls us to do is to find the good in our situation.  I believe that God's joy is much more than happiness...it's a state of contentment, it's knowing that God is in control, it's reminding ourselves of how much God loves us and how much He sacrificed when He sent his son, it's taking the time to focus on, spend time with, praise and honor our Saviour! All of these things create a joyful heart in any circumstance.  So easily typed here on this screen....and so much harder to live out!

That is my challenge to myself and to you as we start this new week...let's fill our hearts with joy as we fill ourselves with God!

Now, onto our new craft challenge that goes along with our "Choose Joy" theme!

This week we'd like to see your creations based on something that brings you joy!

Something that brightens your day...it can be something in nature, your favorite color, a family picture that you'd love to scrapbook or use on a card...the options are limitless on this one!

Here's the card I created for this challenge...

I love nature...birds, flowers, gardens....they all bring me a sense of feeling close to God as I appreciate His creation...they make me feel content and serve as a terrific reminder to me that God is in control of this crazy world!  I love the colors in creation...the blue sky, the green grass, the warming yellow sunshine...and of course I love sunflowers!  What better way to combine all of these things by creating a card that features a sunflower along with an inky background and a beautiful decorative paper with some beautiful scripted writing....and of course a sentiment proclaiming the positive message that today is going to be awesome!

I've created the blue and brown background using Distress Oxide Inks...I do love my oxide inks!
I've heat set the various colors and then added water droplets over top to get the ink to oxidize.  The beautiful sunflower is by Power Poppy Stamps and I have given it a quick coloring with my Copic markers.  The sentiment is also from the same sunflower stamp set.  The finishing touch is the pretty yellow bakers twine I've looped around the bottom of the card and put through the button in the center of the sunflower.  Doesn't the bright yellow against the darker colors just make your heart happy!

I do hope you've enjoyed today's share...and I hope I've encouraged you to join us in our current challenge over at Mustard Seed Faith Challenges!  I can't wait to see what you create!

Until next time...

Who Holds Your Tomorrow.....

Happy Sunday!

I hope your weekend has been going well!

We've spent the weekend working at our seasonal campsite and we have enjoyed working together as a family and taking in God's beautiful nature!

Have you been following the Mustard Seed Faith Challenge blog?  

If not, I hope I can encourage you to stop by there today!

Not only do you receive a dose of crafty inspiration, but you also get to share in a short devotional...and today it just so happens to be my turn sharing with you what the Lord has put on my heart!

Today's topic covers the topic of "Who Holds Your Tomorrow?"....in other words worry!

I can honestly say it is an area of my life I still struggle with....I can conjure up the worst scenarios with the rest of them....but that is not how we are to live as Christians. 

If you'd like to read my thoughts on this topic, I encourage you to pop by the Mustard Seed Faith Challenge blog.

The short devotional I prepared was actually inspired from the song "Sparrows" by Jason Gray!

It is a song that I loved from the first moment I heard it and acts as a great reminder that worrying does not help me one bit!

Here's a link to the song for your listening pleasure...

For this new challenge we are asking you to use a bird, butterfly or even a nature scene on your creation!

Here's a Bible journaling page I created after reading, praying and listening to this song...

I loved this gorgeous bird stamp by Unity Stamp Co. and thought it would be perfect for use on this page.  I've used some Illustrated Faith letter stickers as well as some of their sentiment stickers along with some gelatos and some Dylusion spray to create the ink blots spots.  (And I even managed to smear some of the dots while they were still wet - but we've not going to worry about that trivial little oops!)  Nothing to complicated! 

I hope you've been encouraged here and your creativity is flowing!
I can't wait to see what you're going to come up with for this challenge!

Until next time...

God is Faithful...

Hello!

Happy Sunday!

Today begins a new challenge over at Mustard Seed Faith Challenges that will run for the next few weeks!
For this challenge we are asking for projects featuring relationships...friendships, weddings, or anniversaries with the inspiration coming from the book of Hosea and the concept of steadfast love.
God is faithful even when we aren't...isn't that so amazing!  He continues to love us even though we reject Him daily or don't take time to prioritize our relationship with Him.  He extends us grace...so different than the world we live in.  How do we tend to react when friendships disappoint us, when people constantly let us down...
In these times, God has given us a beautiful example to follow.  God is always waiting for us, pursuing us to draw closer to Him and does not hold a grudge.  His love is steadfast and something we can count on in a world that often leaves us out in the cold.
I wish I could say that this is an area I have conquered in my life.  Too many times I am not gracious to those I have felt wronged by...too many times I beat myself up for not spending as much time in the Word and working on my relationship with God as I should be and this leads me become filled with guilt.  In the devotional Jeanne wrote this week for the blog (you can read it here), she points out that we are to pattern our lives after the teachings and example of our Saviour and we need to extend the same faithfulness that God shows us to those around us.  Not easily done without the help of our Lord.

Now, would you like to see the friendship card I created for this biweekly challenge?
I did something a little different than my usual style...

Let's take a look..

I used the smooshing technique to create the coloring on the background for the card.  If you're unfamiliar with the technique, there are many many YouTube videos for you to check out if you just type in "smooshing technique".  I've also used a water brush to flick a few droplets onto the background as well.  The floral image has been stamped onto water color paper using a permanent black ink.  This is an image from the Classic Petunia Collection by Heartfelt Creations.  I've stamped and paper pieced the gorgeous lady illustration created by Unity Stamps and paired it with a birthday sentiment...after all, we all love celebrating our friends!

I hope you've found yourself encouraged and inspired here today!
I also hope you take time to join us in our latest challenge!

Until next time...

This card has been submitted to the following challenges...

Brown Sugar Challenges...Use Sequins

Dragons Lair Designs Challenge...Anything Goes with Fashion Action

Just Add Ink...Choose Two - Flowers and Water Color

Lullabies and Tiny Feet...

Happy Sunday!

I hope you are keeping well!

Today starts another new challenge over at Mustard Seed Faith Challenges!

Jeanne has a wonderful devotional up on the Mustard Seed Faith Challenge blog and she got me thinking about the book of Psalms in a way that I had never thought about them before...she mentions that her pastor likened them to lullabies that moms sing to their little ones!  How comforting...lullabies from our Lord!  Just as she mentions going to read the Psalms in times of trouble, times of needing comfort or times of great joy...I find that I do the same.  The Psalms always seem to have a peaceful and comforting feeling despite what you are going through in life.  I've just given you a glimpse into her devotional, so be sure to take some time to read it over on the challenge blog.

This brings us to the theme of the challenges for the next two weeks...we want to see your baby/lullaby themed creations!

For this project I decided to go with a vintage style!

Here's a peek...

This card was super fast and easy to create!
Some pretty decorative paper, washi tape, adorable ephemera and two tiny buttons are the entire list for this project! 

I loved the little sentiment ephemera piece on this card!
It got me thinking that as a Christian mom, that's always the desire for me for my children...that they never forget the way home...they never forget their relationship with God and remember that their home is not really in this world.  Where their tiny feet may travel....what adventures does their Heavenly Father have in store for them...mission work, to be parents with children of their own...only time will tell and the best we can do as parents is to pray for them. 

I do hope you've enjoyed my share today.  I also hope that you've been inspired to play along with us at Mustard Seed Faith Challenges...even if you're not needing a baby card at the moment, it's fantastic to have a few on hand!  I also hope you've been encouraged to look at the Psalms in a way that you never have before...as soothing songs to comfort us, to bring peace to us and to calm us just as a mothers lullaby does for her child. 

Until next time...

He Has Made Everything...

Happy Sunday!

I hope you've been having a wonderful weekend!

As I am scheduling this blog post today, the sun has decided to shine all day!  This week has been extremely cold and we've had snow and rain!  May is just around the corner and our family is looking forward to camping season so we are quite ready to be done with this crazy mix of weather...but it isn't up to us is it?  Nature has a way of reminding us that we're not in charge, doesn't it?  We know that God tells the wind where to blow, the rain where to fall and the sun when to shine.  I find that spending time in the great outdoors often leads me to praising and worshipping God.  To look around and take time to soak in His creation is a humbling experience.  God our creator has created everything....from light to darkness, water and land, animals and humans...to sit and ponder all that He has created makes you realized how big He really is!  And, what creativity!  

You can find the whole story of creation in the Bible in the first few chapters of Genesis.  I'm often amazed that people think that this could have all come together through an explosive bang, or that we evolved from monkeys...all has been planned out perfectly by our Creator.  To look around nature, to hold a new born baby really makes you realize that we are here on this earth for more than to just exist with no purpose.   

 This week on Mustard Seed Faith Challenges we want to meditate on God as our Creator. 

Jeanne came up with this idea through the praise and worship song by Big Daddy Weave called "Overwhelmed"...and that is exactly how I feel when I think of all that God has created and done for me when I wasn't deserving.  

Here's the link to the video of this song...we had a chance to see Big Daddy Weave live last summer at the praise and worship time with them was amazing!

So, take a few minutes to listen to this beautiful song...rest and allow your spirit to soak in the lyrics and reflect on all God has created...

While our theme this week for the challenge is God as Creator and creation, we have made it simple for you to create by including a sketch challenge!

Here's a peek at the sketch...


I've kept my project very simple this week!
I had a few images in my Silhouette library and thought they would be perfect for this challenge.
I love my Silhouette and it's print and cut features...it makes creating very quick and easy!

Here's how my project came out...

I've always loved Precious Moments and I just couldn't resist using one of the print and cut images from the Silhouette Design Store.  I'd owned these files for quite some time and just hadn't had the time to use them.  I printed the coordinating background from the Precious Moments collection as well.  I've popped it up off the card base.  I've adhered the sun and little girls image onto a simple oval die cut and popped the oval up off the card base as well.  Don't they just look like they are admiring God's creation of flowers!  I've stamped the sentiment (which comes from one of my Illustrated Faith stamps) onto white card stock, trimmed it and inked the edges with a light pink and adhered it to the card.  Not exactly as shown in the sketch...but that's the beauty of a sketch challenge...you don't have to follow it exactly!  Some glitter and a few yellow sequins and this little creation came together in about a half hour, including print and cut time with the Silhouette.

I do hope you'll join us in our new challenge!  Following a sketch allows for freedom of interpretation and also helps you out when your creativity has taken a hike!
We'd love to see your favorite project featuring some of your favorite creations God has blessed us with!

Until next time...

Traveling Mercies...

Happy Sunday!

It's a very special Sunday at that...Easter Sunday!!

He Is Risen!!!  He is Risen Indeed!

As you share time with friends and loved ones this Easter weekend, remember to take time to thank our Lord and Saviour for the sacrifice He gave that we could be reconciled to God!

On Good Friday we watched "The Son of God" on Netflix...it's always so powerful to watch the crucifixion story at the movies or on tv as it brings the story to life and we are drawn back to remember how awful it must have been!  And then comes Sunday...He is no longer in the tomb...He has conquered death and now we may have eternal life through Him!  Amen!

Today brings a new challenge at Mustard Seed Faith Challenges!

 Jeanne has a short devotional about traveling mercies up on the blog...and it gets us thinking about where we place our trust!  My husband spends many hours on the road as we own a SnapOn Tools franchise and he's out with the truck all day.  I always ask God to keep him safe, to have His angels surround that truck....just as I do for the bus that takes our children to school and as I cart the kids from activity to activity!  

  Asking and praying though is not a guarantee that something will not happen.  Things do go wrong on the road...my hubby and I learned that very well on the way back from a missions trip so many years ago.  We were in a terrible car crash and were very lucky to have walked away with just minor injuries and our lives.  Trusting in God means that we will trust Him no matter what the situation...believing that His hand is in every situation...trusting that He is in every situation with us even if it turns out differently than we were hoping or expecting.

...this brings us to our new challenge...

For the next two weeks our challenge for you is to include a mode of transportation on your card, scrapbook page or mixed media project!  Easy peasy!  That could be a bike, car, truck, boat, hot air balloon, motorcyle...I could go on and on....but for me and my creation it's a rocket ship!  LOL

I wanted to do something a little out of the ordinary and chose space travel!

Here's a peek at my creation...

I knew in the back of my mind now for weeks that I had been wanting to use this cute stamp and die set for this challenge.  I found the cute background papers in a boys paper pack by DCWV in my stash and paired it up with the stamps and dies.  A quick bit of coloring, some pop dots and some addition of glitter and this card came together super fast...you can see there is nothing complicated about it!  I hope you'll find a little inspiration in it's simplicity!

So the next time you travel, think about the traveling mercies you have been given and often take for granted!  As Jeanne has pointed out in her devotional on the Mustard Seed Faith Challenge blog, our circumstances may not always turn out as we expected and yet we are to pray without ceasing and to be thankful in all situations...that calls us to trust in someone larger than ourselves!

Who are you trusting in the journey of life?

I do hope you have found encouragement here today and I hope that you join us in our travel themed challenge!  I can't wait to see what you create!

I also wanted to let you know that for this challenge we have a wonderful prize up for grabs...

...it's a custom string art piece created in the version of any state of your choice!
Unfortunately due to postage and shipping costs, this prize is only eligible for United States entries.

Until next time...

Easter Greetings...

Welcome Back and Happy Sunday!

I'm so glad that you're here!  

Spring has finally started here in Manitoba, Canada!

The Canadian geese have arrived, there are huge puddles everywhere with no shortage of mud anywhere, and I'm waiting to see the first robin red breast on the yard!

Spring however, also brings with it a very important holiday for Christians...that would be Easter of course!  While Christmas is important to our faith...it would be nothing without Easter!  The sacrifice that our Lord and Saviour made to reconcile us to Himself is nothing short of amazing! 

Amazing Grace!

While the bunny images, spring flowers and little chicks are very cute around this time of year...please, let's not forget the reason we have Easter!  Jesus took our sins upon himself while on the cross that we could experience forgiveness and have a relationship with Him...as well as defeating the enemy!  We know how the story ends and while things may seem mixed up in this world, and it may seem that the evil one has taken over...as Christians we know that God's word stands and one day our Lord and Saviour will return!  We know that if we confess God as our Lord and Saviour, believe on His name, confess our sins and follow His word, He has promised us eternal life with Him in paradise!

"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.  Do you believe this?"

John 11:25-26  

Did you read that?  Jesus is the resurrection and the life!  If we believe in Him, we will live even after we die...that's eternal life with God forever...all He requires of us is to believe in Him!  

We have a new challenge starting today at Mustard Seed Faith Challenge Blog, and the theme of the challenge for the next two weeks if you haven't guessed already is Easter!  

I wanted to portray the real meaning for the holiday in my creation...so I chose to work with the Flowering Dogwood Collection by Heartfelt Creations which has some beautiful imagery of the cross, delicate doves as well as a lovely church...and of course the dogwood flower which has a lovely Easter legend tied to it!  If you've never heard the legend, be sure to google it!

Allow me to share with you my Easter creation...

I've also used the beautiful decorative window die also created by Heartfelt Creations.  

I thought it worked so well with that lovely church image!

So now it's your turn!

I do hope you will share your Easter themed projects with us at Mustard Seed Faith Challenges!

I also hope that during this Easter season you set aside some time to think about the real meaning of the holiday and take time to thank our Heavenly Father for His sacrifice!

Until next time...

Mustard Seed Faith...

Hello and Welcome!

I have a special surprise for you today!

Several months ago I was approached and asked if I would like to be involved in a new faith based challenge blog that was in the works!  It seems like so many moons ago that I used to do any work with challenge blogs, and my favorite by far was the faith based one I was part of early on in my crafting/blogging adventures.  I met the most wonderful ladies through that challenge blog...and I know that this will hold true now as well!

I accepted a design team position with Mustard Seed Faith Challenges, and we are so happy and excited to bring to you our first challenge today!  In a world that is so very mixed up, full of tough choices, and frankly just needing some heavenly sunshine, I am excited to unite card makers and paper crafters and to share the love of Jesus!

This is something that has been on my heart constantly the last year of so...how can God use my crafty talents for His Kingdom?  Many days it felt like I was just pumping out card after card without it having any meaning.  I yearned to connect with other Christians who were crafty, wanted to have my creations bring a blessing to someone and for God to use them to show people around the world His love.

Anyhow...moving along...

Let's explore this week's challenge!

We are focusing on the verse Matthew 17:20...a fitting place to start since the mustard seed theme ties in with the name of the challenge blog.  

"He replied, because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain 'Move from here to there', and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matt. 17:20 NIV

Are you familiar with the size of a mustard seed?  It's tiny...and often that is how my faith feels to me...very tiny!  But look...God promises us that even with our smallest faith, nothing is impossible for us through Him!  Isn't that amazing!  There are times I beat myself up for not thinking my faith will be enough for God to work with...I think perhaps my needs are too small or too large and choose to not even ask anything from Him! I think that we are living in a day where we need to cling onto that promise that faith the size of a mustard seed allows God to do great things through us...we need to become bolder, deeper in our faith and allow our faith to grow larger than that mustard seed day by day, showing God's great love to a world that is lost and falling apart!

What do you think?

Back to the paper crafting challenge at hand...

For this challenge, we are asking that you use any shade of yellow..from bright to golden mustard somewhere on your creation!

Here's the card I created...

It's not often I get to sit and just and make a simple card...and I really like how this one turned out!

I was going to use a different sentiment on this card...I had it on my table...I put it down and could not find it when I needed it to complete the card! Gotta love those clear stamps!

As I started browsing for a new sentiment to use, I came across this one immediately and knew that this was the sentiment I was to use on the card! 

Faith does involve closing one's eyes...coming to God and opening your heart to Him and what He has in store for you!  Faith is knowing that no matter what type of situation we are going through...that God's got us and is in control of that situation!  Faith is knowing that in the long run, no matter how awful the world around us seems...we know how the story ends!

God's got this!

I hope you're leaving here encouraged and ready to join in with us on some inky fun!

You will find all of the "rules" for the challenges on the Mustard Seed Faith Challenges blog!

Link up your creations, perhaps leave a comment and I cannot wait to come pay your blog a visit to see how this challenge inspired you!

Until next time...