Whatever...

Salt challenge is here again and this week it is Kim's turn 'Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4: 4-9' I've been thinking a lot about our last challenge and obeying God's word. I was discussing this passage with my Mom about how we are to think ... and have been endeavouring to walk and talk and think just like this passage tells me too. Look at the rewards for doing so! And so this week I challenge you to join us in making some art about this passage and also to think about what you are thinking about. Does it line up with whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy? I know my thoughts don't always. But, as I fill my heart with God's word, and look to Jesus my thoughts are turning more and more to this. Thanks, Kimberly

Not having done a card for SALT for a while, I thought I would return to my roots! I used a piece of left over paper that I had lieing on my table, and simply decorated with primas, ink and gold pen, accented with coloured diamantes and ribbon, the knot is a visual reminder to help is rememeber to do what the verse says!

Pillow + Quilt = Quilto

This is my card that I made to say thank you- to whoever the lovely lady was who hand made my gorgeous Quilto. I ordered it from an organisation in Africa called Morning Star, they are a Christian orphange who look after children ssuffering from HIV, one of their many projects "Tshedisanang" a Sotho word meaning 'to comfort and console', is a women's project in the heart of the Free State. It was initiated in September 2001 and falls under the umbrella of Morning Star Children's Centre, Welkom.
The women benefiting from Tshedisanang, all infected/affected by HIV/AIDS themselves, are skilled in hand embroidery and beadwork and produce the most exquisite wall hangings, jewellery, table cloths, clothing, to name a few. Their work is finding ready markets in America, England, Germany, Spain and Australia. 70% of all sales go to the women, with 30% being retained for material supplies, thus ensuring project sustainability.

The Quilto has a gorgeous peacock desin with labour intensive beading and stitching! It can be used as a cushion or opened out into a lanket- where you can even tuck your feet in to keep them warm!!!

Births, Birthdays & Abodes!

Been busy, with making cards for people these last few months! And what wit the summer holidays, I have had little time to blog! So combined a few pictures of cards I have made...

"Trust & Obey"

'Obey' was the theme of this weeks SALT CHALLENGE. I took inspiration from the well known hymn. When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,What a glory He sheds on our way!While we do His good will, He abides with us still,And with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain Trust and obey, for there’s no other wayTo be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,But His smile quickly drives it away;Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,Can abide while we trust and obey. Refrain
Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,But our toil He doth richly repay;Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,But is blessed if we trust and obey. Refrain
But we never can prove the delights of His loveUntil all on the altar we lay;For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,Are for them who will trust and obey. Refrain
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;Never fear, only trust and obey.Refrain

I recently treated myself to the K&Co Wild saffrom kit from QVC, and boy oh boy it is scrummy! Love the fact that (due to being in a rush) I didnt need to add a lot to my layout.

God Is Good

The theme for this weeks SALT challenge ''And God saw that it was good' This is a reflection on Genesis 1, which gives an account of God's marvellous work of Creation and His reflection on it was that He 'saw that it was good'.As we celebrate our first birthday, it seems fitting to reflect upon the beauty of God's Creation.I marvel at the wonders of God's beautiful world - so much for us to enjoy, whether it's a sunset, the petals of a flower, the intricate design of a seashell ... I could go on to name so many examples, including, of course, the wonderful gift of life itself to us as humans.This is such a wide topic - you may wish to reflect on one particular aspect of God's Creation or the general scope of it.'

I wanted to make something bright and cheery, so stamped bright colours using tapestry stamps, then highlighted in black and added my faithful primas. As you can see I took the word Good and diverted slightly from the topic... woops!

Here's some I made earlier

As the title suggests, a few cards not yet shown on my blog that I have done a few weeks ago... working with a 'bright' theme!

My QK cupcake, with sprinkles and a pom pom cherry on the top!

I love this colourful flock paper, it was the inpsiration for the colours on the card

This is the first time I have used the black and white doodling stripes, the background paper really reminds me of a pair of leggings I had in the 90's!!!

Itching to get a bike, so looks like I will be doing some ebay selling! Watch this space...

Challenge Catch Up

After being away over the weekend, and not much access to the computer in the next few days, I thought I would get my head down and try and catch up on a few challenges...

For the Tilda & Co challenge 'to use bugs' on your creation... finally used up this tilda that I had coloured in ages ago along with the green stitched paper, just hadn't found the right use until now...

This card for the Di Hickman sketch. I made the cupcake using different papers, but wasn't originally intended for this card, but worked out well in the end! I love the simplicity of this card. I had to mask off the words in order to stamp it in the direction I wanted it to go! This is for the last couple of 2sketcches4you challenges, was difficult to show the 3d embossed effect on the butterflies!...

Patience is a virtue!

It is my turn this week to set the challenge for SALT. I chose the theme of PATIENCE A continuous life lesson, that I am struggling to learn! There is so much to learn; PATIENCE as a fruit of the Holy Spirit, waiting PATIENTLY in the Lord, how the Lord is PATIENT with us! How we should be PATIENT with others!

My inspiration came from a daily devotional page that my dear friend gave to me, it was very reassuring and talked of resting in God and waiting patiently in him Psalm 37:7, I will quote some of what it says "there are things you cant have today that you'll be able to have in the future. So it doesnt make sense to drive yourself crazy and put your life on hold struggling to accomplish something now that'll be easy when the time is right...." "God allows certain things to take place in our lives to teach us important principles...." "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans12:12 when you spend time in God's waiting room, He's developing qualities in you that simply can't be deceloped any other way.
When He's finished you will come out stronger and wiser..."

2 Cards 4 2 Sketches 4 You

Woops! made a bit of a boo boo... I thought I would give the 2sketches4you design team call a go, and thought we could make a card using there existing sketches, so worked hard on these, and it turns out there are specific sketches to use. Doh! So it was back tot he drawing board for me, will teach me to read things properly next time!

Beside the seaside, beside the sea

My son has being doing a seaside theme at Nursery this term, and as I had made a few seaside theme cards, I thought I would make an extra special one to say thank you to the lovely teachers that do a grand job. Both he and I love the nursery and couldn't have chosen a better one. So thank you teachers! I would love to make something to give to the teachers so any suggestions would be welcome, ideally something they could all share...?