Word Art Wednesday:

Time for Word Art Wednesday!  We do hope you will join us for this week's challenge.  We often have well over 100 participants each week, and our sponsors are some of the best.  Our "anything goes" parameter makes it so easy to head to your craftroom and create an encouraging project to share with us.  Visit our blog site for details.   Our scripture challenge (free to use or not), certainly helps us focus on our blessings rather great or small.  Sometimes the smallest blessings become our greatest treasures.

Here we are on the day before Thanksgiving! (Where did November go?)  How many kitchens in this country will be warmed by family conversation and meal preparations for the Thanksgiving feasts.  From humble homes to the rich and luxurious, families will gather and hopefully most will spend time counting their blessings.

 
We've seen so many family changes this year.  Our older son and his wife came to live with us while they pursue ministry opportunities.  Our younger son married, and we became instant grandparents.  We experienced financial changes that have been challenging and are learning to live on less, while believing God is our great Provider and sometimes less is more.

Having served in ministry for so many years, my husband and I have been blessed to know so many families who live with humble means but are rich in "the fear of the Lord."  Some of the warmest blessings we've had were spending time around the table of folks who laid a humble feast before us.  They used the little they had, and God multiplied the blessing of their hospitality to create a wonderful time of sweet fellowship.

There will be many, many meals lovingly prepared today and tomorrow.  We have so much to be thankful for.  I have to admit I view the future of our country with trepidation, and in many places I see God being removed. But I also know there is a strong thread in the fabric of our nation...there is still a love of God and a love of country.  For this I am thankful.

My DT sample uses some of my favorite Daydream Designs sets.  When creating the vintage kitchen set, I had a hard time saying "enough.!"  I kept thinking of one more thing my grandmother or mother used in their kitchens.  I still have some of those.  The old rolling pin from my paternal grandmother has to be nearly 100 years old!!  And I can tell you it made a LOT of Thanksgiving Day pumpkin pies!  I've laid it to rest, and enjoy it's sentimental value.

I used the outline set Made from Scratch, so I could coordinate colors with the Whoo Loves You papers, and the turquoise framed chalkboard in Falling for You owls.  I love taking images from several sets and combining for a whole new grouping.

May I just close by wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving.  Whether you celebrate with little or much, if gratitude to the Father for the blessing you have fills your heart your praise will be a feast.

Sets Used:

 

Made from Scratch

1 composite outline image and 3 sentiments

$2.50

Falling for You Owls

18 pre-colored images / JPEG and PNG/ resizable

 (see also Owl Always Love You ensemble for outline images)

$4.00

Whoo Loves You digi papers

10 sheets / 6 x 6 / 300 ppi/ resizable

$3.00

Visit Daydream Designs for more vintage kitchen sets HERE.  And do join us at Word Art Wednesday for tons of inspiration by our other DT members and participants.  Join the fun by creating your own inspirational project to share with us.  We LOVE having you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a couple FREEBIES!

(available until Dec. 4) 

digis have expired

I'm still experiencing some issues uploading clear outline images to my blog.  Blogger wants me to convert to Google + which has a way of removing it.  But I don't want Google +, so email me if you want the outline image without the slight gray tone.  dianenoble50ATaolDOTcom

 

Word Art Wednesday: Perspective is Everything! (FREE DIGI!)

Really, doesn't proper perspective have a powerful impact on the condition of our hearts?  When life closes in on us, we need to step back and get a new view...a heavenly view.  Our scripture challenge for this week at Word Art Wednesday has blessed my socks off this week.  I needed the instruction it offers.  Don't we all?  I hope you'll take a look at my sample then head to the WAW website for challenge details and the sponsor prizes for the winner. 

I've had a tough week.  If I started describing it, many would merely scoff and say, "Really, you think THAT's tough?  Let me tell you what I'm going through!"  And if they described their circumstances, I would have to retreat into my shell of shame.  Perspective.

When growing up, I attended a few pity parties.  And when my mother would notice me dressing up for one she would often remark, "You don't have to look far to see someone else who has it much worse than you.  Be grateful for what you have."  Perspective. 

When we view our "light and momentary" problems through the lens of perspective our vision is often cleared and we see things as they are.  Most of us can't imagine the death, devastation and decay that so many Filipinos are seeing in the typhoon's aftermath.  My grandsons are there.  I see it differently knowing how close my precious guys were to tragic consequences. I'm grateful they escaped, but so many didn't.  Perspective. 

I saw an immediate connection between the image I used for my DT sample and our verse.  This adorable snowmama tenderly lifts her child's face as if to say, "Look up.  Look at me and know that I love you."  Can't you just hear the voice of our heavenly father beckoning us to do the same?  When your heart is troubled, look up.  Perspective.

I clearly recall the crisp October day my father crossed from this life to heaven's glory.  I intentionally waited until sunset to start my solo journey home.  I prayed for a glorious sunset, and God painted a masterpiece for me that evening.  I imagined my daddy living as he had never lived before just beyond that sunset.  That night before bed, my husband and I stepped outside to look at a star-strewn sky.  The God of the universe was looking down on me, and I was looking up at Him.  Our eyes met.  I could see Him....I could see His glory as the firmament displayed His handiwork. Earth didn't seem so empty when I considered the glory of heaven.  Perspective. 

When life swallows your heart, look up!  Seek His glory and He will show you His amazing handiwork.  Look around.  You don't have to look far to see someone else with a bigger struggle, a deeper hurt, a longer journey or a heavier weight.  Perspective.

Have you ever stepped outside when snow is cascading to the earth in huge, down-feather flakes?  It's dizzying isn't it.  You can get lost in it.  The next time it snows like that, step outside.  Look up.  And imagine the grace of God settling over you, the spirit of God filling you, the love of God covering you...and the eyes of God giving you new perspective.  Go ahead....get lost in Him...in His glory...the the handiwork of His firmament.

Look up.  The heavens have a message for you.  They declare that the Maker of heaven and earth is mindful of you.  He knows your light and momentary troubles and He knows your tragic tribulations.  His perspective is perfect.  He sees you, knows you, and loves you.  But if you want to look Him in the eye to see glimpses of what He sees, you have to look up.  Perspective.

My sample was calming to make.  I enjoyed every minute of it.  The digital image is from an upcoming set.  Part of my light and momentary problems have included dealing with unexpected changes made by my store's host.  As it appears at this time, I will have to add all my products (600 and counting) all over again into a new store format.  What looks like an insurmountable hurdle, is really pretty small from God's perspective.  And that's where I have to shift my view.  Currently, I can't add new product, or I would be releasing this set and the one featured in last week's Word Art Wednesday.  So for now, I will simply joyfully announce this as a sneak peek!

I'll just throw up the set promo photos, and gratefully say, "They are coming soon!"   And I'll have fun in the meantime creating a few more samples to share when I really can release them.  Perspective is everything!

Until these are available in the store, 

you can purchase them right here, 

securely through PayPal,

 and you don't have to have a PayPal account.
Allow 24 hours for emailed files. 

Let It Snow Color Set
 22 precolored images / JPEG and PNG
Use PNG files to layer images and create your own snow scene!
$5.00

Elegant Snowflakes Digi Paper Pack
10 sheets / 12 x 12 / 300 ppi / resizable
$3.00 

 Let It Snow Outline Set

15 images / JPEG and PNG (transparent and white-filled)

300 ppi / resizable

$4.00

Meet the Flakers
1 composite image and 2 sentiments
JPEG and PNG (transparent and white-filled)
$3.00

Snow Fun Sentiments 
 16 sentiments or sentiment stems / JPEG and PNG/ resizable
can be recolored in most photo editing programs
$3.00

This FREE DIGI is available until November  27.  Enjoy!

(Digi has expired)

May the firmaments above you show forth His glory!

Thanks for blessing my day!

Diane

Little Children

Oh I do delight in sharing our Word Art Wednesday challenge each week.  The whole experience just blesses me so much.  The ladies who partner in sharing God's Word there are such talented artists and each loves God with her whole heart.  And our sponsors are WONDERFUL.  Visit our website for full details. Our scripture challenge for this week opens so many fun possibilities for designing. 

Christ's beloved disciple, John, often referred to believers as children.  I suspect that came from several observations; one certainly was that even adult believers could display rather childish behaviors.  But more often, it was a term of endearment.  John loved his Lord's followers deeply, and longed for them to be powerful, victorious ambassadors for Christ. And he knew the glue that would hold them together and make them a formidable force against the schemes of the enemy, Satan, was the love they would have for one another.

Loving one another as Christ loved us doesn't come naturally.  We can only love that deeply as we allow Christ to love through us.  As a public school educator, and pastor's wife, I've encountered many difficult people and those who have been hurt by unkind, unloving people.  Those hurts run deep and cause emotional scars.  Words spoken in anger cut painfully and heal slowly. 

Yet, the love of Christ can permeate our spirit and make us love even those who have wrongfully hurt us.  We are challenged in scripture to love deeply, not just superficially.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth

 so that you have sincere love for each other,

 love one another deeply, from the heart.

 1 Peter 1:22

One of our greatest means to a powerful testimony before a watching world, is the way we love one another.  Our encouragement to others in the body of Christ strengthens our testimony.  We are to encourage one another daily.

Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! 

Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, 

be of one mind, live in peace. 

And the God of love and peace will be with you. 

2 Corinthians 13:11

If our actions speak louder than words, we are certainly to encourage one another through action.  I love sending cards to people, but I can get too comfortable just "sending" my encouragement and not adding real, hands-on ministry.  Our challenge verse pushes us to action...to love not just in word only, but with actions.  We are to step out of our comfort zones and our places of complacency and put hands and feet to the love we feel in our hearts.  

My sample for this week uses some of my favorites from Daydream Designs.  My little Snowbabies will release in the store soon!  I'm in the process of upgrading my store to allow for automatic downloading upon purchase, and I'm still behind the learning curve.  But this set and all the wonderful digis that go with it will release soon!  Once they release, I'll feature all the components.  

I know that my handcrafted cards can encourage others.  I've received so many thank yous from recipients.  But I want to be more intentional this next year with my encouragement....more hands-on!  I want to love more in deed than I do in word.  

Please join our challenge this week.  We absolutely love all the inspirations we get from our many followers and participants.  Won't you join us at Word Art Wednesday?  Be inspired by the others on our design team and by all those who join in the fun.  

Thanks for your encouragement!

Diane

Word Art Wednesday: Fear Not (Free Digi)

Welcome to another Word Art Wednesday challenge!  I've started my Christmas cards! I be sharing a few of my favorite prototypes soon.  I probably have close to 200 handcrafted cards to make, so it's not at all too early to dig in to the task.  With Christmas on my mind, I instinctively looked for Christmas images from our sponsor, Robyn's Fetish, when we were told we could have one of her images for our samples this week.

 

 
I picked out this pretty image before I looked at our beautiful scripture graphic by Karen Murray.

As I looked at the two together, I panicked.  Initially I couldn't see the relationship between a Christmas bell and trusting God.  But I went with a card design, still not knowing how I would connect the two. 

Once my card was finished, inspiration finally hit.  This is the perfect Christmas combination for a lady who recently lost her husband.  She is in her late 80's and I can't even begin to imagine the feeling of lostness, loneliness and even fear after living together for over 60 years.  Christmas will be so difficult for Mary, but I know her faith is strong and I think she will appreciate the encouragement of this card.

I printed two of the bell images, colored one completely (Copics) then cut just the front greenery from the second image and popped it up on the first one.  I tucked in a few die cut greenery springs.

I recolored the scripture graphic to match the greens I was using.

While I made this card, I prayed for Mary.  She was a member of the church my husband pastored a little over a year ago.  She and her husband were such a strong source of support for us while we served there.  Mary's husband was a deacon and accompanied David many times when he made home or hospital visits.  He had a true servant's heart and we treasured their trustworthy friendship.

Now, as Mary faces life alone, I know she will live by this scripture and all of God's Word.  She offered so many testimonies through the years of other life challenges and God's providential watch care over her and her husband.  She herself received a diagnosis of cancer a couple of years ago while he was in and out of the hospital with his own ailments.  Both were rock solid in their faith.  He witnessed to the doctors and nurses and anyone who would listen to the story of his precious Savior.

Mary has been faithful to her Lord, and He will be faithful to her.  He will hold her hand and will whisper to her soul in the dark of her night, "Fear not; I will help thee."  And she will rest in that.  She will trust her God until she takes her last breath.

Fear not, I will help thee.

You can trust in your Father, and the Savior of your soul.  If you are a believer, a regenerated Christian, you will never be alone, never forsaken, never forgotten by your heavenly Father.  He will hold you up and hold you steady through all of life's circumstances.  When the earth around you shatters and falls away, your feet will remain on the Solid Rock.  

Fear not.  Fear not.  

Please visit our home page for Word Art Wednesday.  You will be fed by the spiritual and artful inspirations you find there.  We love having you participate, linking us to your creation of encouragement.  

Thanks for blessing my day with you!

Diane

Better Latte Than Never! (FREE DIGI STAMP)

Many of you who know me, know I love a good cup of coffee and I can't resist a little coffee shop with a great latte.  David (hubby) ran into a little coffee bistro not long ago and was amused at the new gen kids who were gathered around tables, computers, ipads and phones in hand, all sipping on lattes or espressos.  I told him that I could really relate.  That's one place I could feel at home with the newest generation of coffee lovers.  Here I sit at my computer, coffee nearby, with a generous helping of Pumpkin Spice creamer added.

Here's my coffee-in-the-morning chair.  My little routine includes grabbing my own cup of java, my hot pick Asus tablet and I head for my chair.  I sit with God's Word for awhile, pray for family and friends, and then I start on emails and Pinterest.  I can easily spend two hours of my morning right here!

I love all things coffee....the colors, the taste, and coffee images.  When I saw this week's Just Us Girls sketch, it's no surprise my mind went to a coffee-themed creation.  It's a GREAT sketch and I couldn't wait to work with it.  I LOVE joining in on their weekly challenges.  They are always something with which I can work. 

I pulled out some of my newest coffee images and papers and went to work....all the while sipping my spiced up latte.

I used my "Coffee and a Good Book" sheet to make the back ground panels (1" x 4").  I created the vertical strip from the "Mocha Mist" sheet.  (I have the most fun naming my digi paper sheets!) The circle is just a simple doily die backed with solid blue cardstock (SU Marina Mist).

 The Perfect Blend Digi Papers

16 sheets / 12 x 12 / 300 ppi / resizable

$4.00

Here's my worksheet.  I copied/pasted the papers I wanted and resized them.  I pasted the mug image  (PNG transparent) from The Perfect Blend Outline set, setting it on top of the print paper I wanted to use, copied another mug exactly the same size and dropped a colored rectangle on top of that.  It's hard to see the mug on top of the papers in my full worksheet, so here's a close up of that one.

I just cut out the mug, and the band in blue which I adhered on top of the mug.  It's sooooo easy.  There are a couple other ways to paper piece when using digis, but if you are cutting out your image this is a wonderfully fast way to do it.

To get the darker coffee look for inside the cup rim, I just colored right over my digi paper.  The cup is raised on foam dots.  Actually I raised up the doily on foam dots too. 

To get the other elements of the sketch in place, I just used some of my Prima flowes and a couple of feathers.  The sentiment is from my Coffee with Friends set, and I recolored it brown before printing it out with my other images on my worksheet.  (I added it later after working up the picture.)

I love working with digi images in a traditional way.  Blending the traditional and digi worlds offers all the advantage of both.  I have an endless supply of papers, and I can size the images to fit any project I'm designing.  Adding other traditional embellishments enhances that hands-on feel of my creations.

Here's coffee set I used and the other coffee-themed sets available from Daydream Designs.  But see the end of the post for your FREEBIES and a special offer on some of my coffee ensemble.

 

 The Perfect Blend Outline Set

19 images / JPEG and PNG / resizable

Can be paper pieced and digitally colored using the transparent PNG format included. 

$4.00

The Perfect Blend Color Set

13 color images / JPEG and PNG / resizable

$4.00

Java Me Embellies Kit

12 Coffee-themed embellishments including:

brads, coffee mats, and chalkboard art (1 blank frame!)

JPEG and PNG

$3.00

 Coffee with Friends

12 sentiments / JPEG and PNG 

can be resized and recolored

$3.00

DeJa Brew Sentiments

13 sentiments / JPEG and PNG

can be resized and recolored

$3.00

Coffee Break Bingo Cards (Black)

6 bingo cards (JPEG) / can be resized

$2.00

Coffee Break Bingo Card (Color)

6 pre-colored cards / JPEG / can be resized

$2.00

Specials and FREEBIES!

Subscribe to my email (see sidebar) and get the chance to win 

1 FREE DIGI SET from Daydream Designs

Your Choice!!!!

5 WINNERS will be selected!

Drawing on November 30