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...