Glory Art no 6 - Follower

The theme this time for the Glory Art scripture challenge was 'Follower'.   Jesus calls us to be His disciples, or followers.   He wants us to put Him at the centre of our lives, to have a living relationship with Him and live our lives in the way that He calls us to live them.  How do we do this?  By spending time with Jesus in prayer, going to church and doing the things He calls us to do.  When we do this we carry His very life within us and that means we have His love for those around us and just as Jesus loves us and died to save us we too love those around us and try and serve and help where needed.  We don't live our way any more, but His Way.

I made some more scripture cards:

 I sponged the backrounds with distress inks and misted with water:

 Then I stamped the white spots:

Added a little more stamping.  I remembered I had this footprints stamp which was a freebie with Craft Stamper magazine.  Footprints seemed very appropriate for the Follower theme!

I just had to use my sweet sheep stamp on the last card :)

I love my sheep stamp, they look carefree and like they are all going in the right direction!  I think my sheep really illustrate the blessing and joy there is in following Jesus :)

I'm linking up at
Triple the Scraps - Glory Art scripture challenge
Create With Joy Friendship Friday
Creative Every Day

Glory Art no 5 - Not Alone

When I'm going through a difficult time I find I need to read my bible even more.  When I read it I find God speaking straight into my heart through it.  The bible is rich with God's word, full of wonderful promises and it brings me hope and reassurance.  In it God says He will never leave us or forsake us so whatever situation we are in He is with us every step of the way.  He guards us, comforts us, strengthens us and gives us the wisdom we need.  So we find solace knowing that we are not alone because our wonderful God is with us.

This is the theme in the current Glory Art Scripture Challenge at Triple the Scraps.   Making these scripture cards is so much fun and they are going to look so good in the devotional book I'm going to make with them.

I stamped a friend definition stamp randomly all over the cards and painted over them:

I used the same colours but painted different patterns:

Then I stamped fireworks, using a different one on each card:

I added my home made texture paste through a stencil, again altering the position on each card.  Finally I added the journaling.

If you are going through a rough patch pick up a bible and read, derive comfort from knowing that you are not alone - God is with you and will help you through this time.

I'm linking up at:
Triple the Scraps
Mixed Media World
Create With Joy Friendship Friday

Leaves on a card

Today I'm going to show the birthday card I made my totally wonderful husband, Dominic!  He loves spring, not just because the weather gets warmer and the countryside wakes up, but because he can go fishing again!  Yay!  I usually make him some kind of fishing card but this year I surprised him with something different.

I started off with a brayered backround using different greens, definitely spring colours.

I added stencilling and stamping for some interest:

I used a funky leaf stencil by Ronda Palazzari called Abstract Leaves and added my home made texture paste through it.  I love how it came out on the backround.

Finally I wrote in a chain and added the buttons. 

He loved it!

I'm linking up at:

A Sprinkle of Imagination
Country View Challanges 

Fret Not and Trust

Its so easy to let difficult situations get the better of us so that we end up all anxious, worried, burdened and full of cares!  This is what happened to me recently when  a difficult family situation to do with a distant relative flared up again.  I've been praying for a solution to this problem for years, nearly eight years to be exact and most of the time I cope with it and trust that God will answer in His own perfect time.  However, occasionally when the situation flares up again I start to look at the issue instead of my God and then worry overtakes me.  Fortunately I've learnt what to do:  I give myself a talking to and start praying!  When I started praying this time and stopped looking at the problem but instead turned my eyes to the Lord I felt peace return and God led me to Psalm 37 and the words, "Fret not".  So I stopped fretting and started trusting again.  God has given me a quiet assurance in my heart that things will be all right.  He didn't say when so I've just got to wait, but I know that He is working.

Here is my art journal page:

Since its spring I chose green and a little yellow and brushed it on diagonally.  I added my home made texture paste through a flower stencil:

Next I stamped various things like hexagons, spots, swirls

I stamped butterflies because they just seemed to go with the flowers but also to represent the feeling of freedom from anxiety.  Then I journaled in a white pen:

and added the title in open letters so the backround can still be seen through them:

I'm definitely not fretting any more!!

I'm linking up at:
That's Crafty - Wings n Things Challenge
Art Journal Journey - Things with Wings
Art Journal Every Day
Anything But A Card - green challenge
Create With Joy - Inspire Me Monday 

Triptych - Quietness, Stillness, Strength

In the midst of the hurly-burly of life with its problems and busyness it's really important to stop and be still.  When we make the time to be quiet and pray we come close to God and find an inner stillness or peace which only comes from knowing Him.  The hurly-burly melts away as in Him we find peace and strength to get done the things we need to do.

I wanted to make my daughter something for her birthday incorporating three words - Quietness, Stillness and Strength - and scriptures.  I was inspired by the challenges at Craft Stamper Take a Stamp and PaperArtsy Deconstruction challenges to make a triptych which seemed the perfect way to include them.

For the deconstruction challenge we had to use something in a way it was totally not designed for and I took some cardboard packaging and made it into my triptych:

I painted the backround and then stamped a Friend definition stamp all over it.  I used the PaperArtsy Jofy 12 stamp set and stamped the grid in the backround and stencilled polka dots in white.  Finally I stamped and painted the flowers and leaves.  Here are the three sections:

This was so much fun to do and I love the scriptures so I may just have to make another one and keep it!

May you find quietness, stillness and strength too. 

Circle Journal - Dawn's journal on Peace

Peace, perfect peace.  Sometimes we don't know we've had it till we've lost it !!  However, as a Christian I believe its possible to have that peace, perfect peace, whatever state we are in.  As long as we keep our eyes on our Lord Jesus and trust in Him, its possible to keep that peace no matter what is happening in our lives.  Some of my favourite scriptures are to do with peace so when Dawn's circle journal popped through my door I was thrilled to see it was on PEACE.  Dawn encouraged us to create however we were moved to do so and to create several pages if we were inspired.  So I did!

This was a big change from the first circle journal where I was paralysed with fear at creating in someone else's journal!  However, I learnt from that experience that the thing to do is not try and create a masterpiece which always ends in disaster but to just go for it and have fun in the usual way.  And so I did and ended up so inspired I did a page, a spread and a tag:)

Here is the tag which is my favourite:

The backround was brayered with Cosmic Shimmer paints.  I loved it so much I didn't want to cover too much of it so only stamped a crackle all over before adding the heart and the writing.  The crackle represents the broken things of the world which cause so much turmoil and the smooth textured heart shows its possible to have peace despite those difficulties.  I love the crackle effect:

Here is the spread with one of my very favourite scriptures which has helped and held me through hard times:

I used Cosmic Shimmer paints again, simply sponged, and then added some stamping:

I wanted the journaling flowing across both pages:

I added the texture paste through the stencil and painted over it with pearl Cosmic Shimmer.

Finally, I found this beautiful blessing in the bible which I hadn't noticed before and its perfect for a page on peace:

I'd like to pray a blessing over all of you reading this too:

PEACE be to you,

and PEACE be your house,

and PEACE be to all that you have.

1 Sam 25: 6

I'm  linking up at:

Art Journal Journey 
 Country View Challenges - 2nd blogaversary :)
Create With Joy Friendship Friday 
Art Journal Every Day 

Glory Art no 4 - Wisdom

How many times do we find ourselves in difficult situations, needing to make tricky decisions or advise a loved one and not really knowing what is the best thing to do?  All too often.  At times like these what I do is pray to God for wisdom.  The bible says that if we want wisdom all we need to do is ask God who gives generously to all.  Wisdom is an awesome thing - the ability to have insight and know what is right and and true and best.  I've always wanted it and prayed for it and God has given it to me when I needed it.  Sometimes I wasn't even aware at the time but I looked back and thought that was the right thing to say, how did I know to say that?  That kind of wisdom only comes from God.

So I really enjoyed Glory Art no 4 which was on wisdom.   I made scripture cards again which I'll made into a devotional book:

The backrounds were sponged with yellow and green acrylics:

I added stamping:

I had to include owls (because owls symbolise wisdom in case any of you didn't know) :)

Lastly I added texture paste through a flower stencil:

I'm linking up at:
Triple the Scraps Glory Art Scripture Challenge
Country View Challenges
Word Art Wednesday
Create With Joy - Inspire Me Monday
Anything But a Card  - thanks for inviting me to link up here, Ruth :)