His Holy Name '09 Righteous

On Sunday, Patter gave us this week's attribute of God for the His Holy Name Challenge HHN09 . The new attribute is Righteous. Patter puts so much thought and work into each study. I really appreciate reading what she has to say. I used BibleGateway to look up scripture verses that contained the word righteous. Many of them had to do with man being righteous, but I was concentrating on God's righteousness towards man. After all, we are only righteous through his forgiveness and mercy. And that forgiveness is so freely given because of his son dying on the cross for our sinfulness.

Again, it was difficult choosing just one verse. Every week I'm amazed at how many beautiful truths are written for us in the Bible. I just love the Psalms. There are so poetic and lovely. So many great images are used. I had three different Psalms that I really liked, but finally chose Psalm 36:5-6. I love the song (I think it's by Third Day) of this passage: "Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast." Isn't that fabulous! God is so mighty!

I found the layout for this 12x12 scrapbook page on another sketch blog (how many are there?!) called Page Plans. Here's the sketch:

I usually don't do "one photo" layouts in scrapbooks, but this challenge is totally different. I can through caution to the wind and waste a whole 12x12 piece of paper for only "one photo". And in this case, no photo! Here's my page based on this layout:

I used my latest favorite DSP Parisian Breeze. It's the best DSP that SU! has come out with. It's thick and textured and fabulous! And I love all the patterns, stripes, polka dots, damask. There's not an ugly piece in the whole pack!

This is page is mostly SU! The only thing that isn't is the "fluer de lis" chipboard. It's from Colorbok. And the title is cut with my Cricut. Everything else is Stampin' Up! The flowers were cut with my Big Shot using the SU! Birds and Blooms Sizzlets. The pearls are from the SU! Pretties Kit. I distressed all the edges of the DSP with Chocolate Chip ink and a sponge. I printed the verses on my computer and then used the new SU! set Friends 24-7 to stamp over top the words. I used Creamy Caramel ink and stamped off once before stamping on my verse. The Chocolate Chip Wide Satin Ribbon is from SU!, but it's retired. I don't know why it's retired,because it is so fabulous! They really need to carry this in the big catty.

The colors are Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel and Whisper White.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping! (and scrapping!)

Weekend Sketch Challenge 68

Yea!! Beate's back doing her Weekend Sketch Challenge WSC68. I've always enjoyed partcipating in her challenges. I know we all need a break every once in awhile, but I'm glad hers is over! I've missed her blog postings. Here's the sketch she had:

I just drew a quick sletch with pencil (sometimes I actually print out the sketch with my printer, but I was trying to save ink!). I wish I would have gone back and looked at the sketch again, I would have overlapped my circles more. Oh well! I'm close. Here's my Stampin' Up! only card:

I haven't used Sweet Stems nearly enough, so I inked it up. Plus, I haven't been able to play with the Raspberry Tart DSP like I've wanted to either. I LOVE this paper pack! The patterns remind me of Vera Bradley. And the colors are fabulous! So bright and cheerful. Helps chase away the winter, foggy blues.

THe base is Cameo Coral with Kiwi Kiss and Whisper White. I embossed the white panel with the new SU! Texturz Plates, but it's kind of hard to see.

The scallop circles were made using the Sizzix Scallop Circle Die and my Big Shot. I pinched out me flower image using the SU! Square Scallop Punch.

I finished it off with some Kiwi Kiss Satin ribbon (LOVE this ribbon!), Rose Red grosgrain, and a SU! Fire Circle Rhinstone brad. The sentiment is from Hugs and wishes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping!

Taylor's Cupcake Challenge 55

Wow! Two posts in one day! I figure I might as well post when I can, because I never know when I'll be able to. This card is for Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge TECC55. Taylor always does a sketch challenge, which is one of my favorite type of challenges. I always need some inspiration in that area! Here's the sketch:

I thought it looked like a great sketch to use a lot of scraps of DSP on. It was fun, but kind of tedious to get the measurements exactly right. Here's the card I came up with:

I used the retired SU! Hawaiian Papaya DSP, which I LOVE. I have a love/hate relationship with SU! DSP. I LOVE all the patterns and colors, and I hate that they retire so soon! I didn't even get to show-off all of the Fall/Winter DSP, so now I'm using 2-3 different DSP's for every class. I decided to use a different pattern of the DSP for each of the panels. I love how it all coordinates. The colors are: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango.

I used a new SU! set called Petal Pizzazz. Very fun to work with! The Tangerine flower was punched out using the SU! Circle Scallop punch. I embellished it with some SU! Chocolate stitched grosgrain, new SU! corduroy buttons (awesome!) and new SU! white brads (awesomex2!). I'm just lovin' all the new embellishments that SU! came out with in this catty! I want them all!

The "for you" sentiment is from the SU! set One of a Kind. I don't get that set out often enough. I really should use it in a class again.

The scallop is from the Sizzix scallop die. I'm really lovin' my Big Shot. Best craft investment I've made in a long time. If you don't have a die cutting system, you should look into to getting one. They are worth every penny!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day! (again!)

Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration 41

I love playing in Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge KWCI41. By day, Kristina is a graphic artist for Stampin' Up!. Once in awhile she has some blog posts about "work". It's so cool to get an inside look of working in the SU! corporate offices. I also love her sense of design. Very clean and fresh. Here's the color inspiration piece Kristina gave us:

These are great colors for my family. As long as my dad has been a truck driver (which has practically been my whole life!) his truck, his brothers trucks and now my brothers trucks have always been "red, black & silver". So we consider this color combo our "company colors"! Here's the card I made for this challenge:





















I made this final (hopefully!) valentine for my 3 yo DS to give to his cousins. The card is SU! only. I used the new Texturz Plates to emboss the black panel. I really like the large polka dots! The hearts are from the Love You Much stamp set, stamped with black ink and punch out with the coordinating punch. The sentiment is from A Happy Heart and punched out with the Word Window punch. I embellished with a couple of silver brads, Gray taffetta ribbon and black gingham ribbon. Super cute and easy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

February BVC09

Well, I finally had time today to upload something to my blog! I've been crafting, but I just don't seem to find enough time to stamp something, take a picture, edit the picture and then post it. I don't know how these gals do it everyday! Today's card is a combination of four different challenges. I know some folks who don't like the mixing of challenges, but I just don't have the time to do them all separately, so I usually combine a few. This is the first time I've combined four challenges. I've done three before, but never four. It started off, because I knew I wanted to do the Divine Design Bible Verse Challenge BVC09 over at SCS. When I looked at the Ways To Use It Challenge WT205, which was to use fabric, I thought sure, I could do that. I also knew I was going to use Wednesday's Sketch Challenge SC215, and Tuesday's Color Challenge CC205. So here there are in ONE 4x4 card!

I love these colors together: Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss and Perfect Plum. Really great Valentine colors. The fabric that I used is the pink fake fur. I used my Big Shot to cut out the flower shape. I've decided that I need to start purchasing more fabric and using it with my Big Shot. It cuts through it so easily! I used my SU! Bigz XL die Baskets and Blooms for this flower. I wanted to add a heart somewhere, because of the words in the verse, so I chose to use a piece of chipboard. I love the glittery look, but I wished I would have thought to use Heat and Stick powder. The Fine Cosmo glitter is falling off all over the place. I just smooshed the chipboard piece into my White Craft ink and sprinkled it with glitter. It's not sticking too well. The Bible verse stamp is from Verve. It's part of their Plain Jane collection. This verse has been a favorite of mine since jr. high school. It really helped me through some tough years of high school and college. I really took this promise to heart. I knew that if I just kept my eyes and heart focused on God, He would take care of the rest. And He still does! What I love about these stamps is the way they incorporate different fonts to highlight certain words. I just love that! What I'm not crazy about is that they are acrylic. I love the see-though capabilities, but I still don't think you get a clear, crisp image like you do with rubber. Sorry! I'm not a fan yet! Everything but the verse and the fake fur is SU!

Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Stmaping!

His Holy Name '09 Protector

This 12x12 scrapbook page is for Patter Cross's year-long challenge His Holy Name. This week we were asked to study the attribute of God as Protector. I had a wonderful time yesterday afternoon looking up verses on BibleGateway. I looked at verses with protection, tower, and refuge. I kept coming back to the same verse... Psalm 5:11-12 "But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield." What a wonderful image of God spreading His protection over us. But the part that intrigues me about this verse is the part that says "let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them sing for joy." Usually, when we are in a situation where we are seeking God's protection, it's because of a bad time in our life... maybe the loss of a job, or difficulty meeting our financial obligations. But this verse calls us to "sing for joy". I love that! We are to seek God's protection with a glad heart. Helps to but it all in perspective doesn't it. Bad things WILL happen, but when we lean on God to protect us, we can find joy in the sorrow. Have a blessed week!