COF challenge for December

For our December challenge, we wish to "SNOW" you our winter inspired Crafter of Faith cards!

COF sisters: Create a card/project using a snowy-winter theme and "ring in the new year with glitter and bling!" Your winter/snow card creation should reflect the beauty of the gift of the season - snow, winter, snowflakes, etc and include bling and glitter to ring in the joy of what will be

Here are some other Crafter of Faith blogs you can check out:
1. Carolina -Cardolina Scrapolina
2. LizW - Right Brained Madness
3. Mary Rose Mary Rose Cafe
4. Jackie - Kreatewithme2
5. LizD - crafts4thesoul
6. Sharon - ScrappingMum
7. Jeanette CreativePlay
8. Darlene According to Bijou
9. Lorie Thinkinspot
10. Carol Lost in my craft room
11. Kadie InMyMindsEye
12. Tami Blueinksdesign
13. Barb - Inkinintoretirement
14. April - April'sAlley
15. Marsha Stamping Down South
16. Kelly - Sandcastle Stamper

I used the embossing resist technique on my card. On white cardstock, I stamped the snowflake images (from Stampin' Up) with Versamark. I embossed with clear and white embossing powder. I sponged on baja breeze and pacific point ink around the snowflakes. I punched the snowflakes from white and pacific point paper and wrote the 2013 on them. For the glitter and bling, I added rhinestones and glittery ribbon.

WAW60

I finally arrived back at home after a busy week of Christmas holidays at my parents home. It's hard being away from the stamp room, so it was great to get going again on some challenges for the week. This one is for the Word Art Wednesday challenge making use of this wonderful quote from Helen Keller. I did some embossing on this card and then brayed colored ink over the embossed areas. May the Light guide us into this new year, and may our faith stand  firm against the unrighteous and the victory be the Lord's.

WAW58 and CR84FN68

Because it is December and I am short on time especially in my stamp room, I combined the WAW58 challenge with the CR84FN68 challenge. The scripture is the WAW verse this week and the colors are from the CR84FN challenge: burgandy, gray, and ivory. I stamped some flowers in sahara sand over the verse, and I also used platinum ink rubbed over the embossed area of the burgandy background. I added punched gray leaves and burgandy paper roses the edges of the nestabilities shapes.

WAW and WT404 favorites

Using the scripture from the Word Art Wednesday download this week, I also designed this card with some of  my favorite things (for the WT404 challenge--embossing, scripture, punches, and bling. I stamped some brown leaves onto the textured background which gives them a very subtle look. This scripture is one used so often at Stewardship times in churches, but I think it is a great verse that goes from our sense of Thanksgiving into our spirit of sharing our blessings at Christmas. I read the children's book The Quiltmaker's Gift to my 4 years at preschool yesterday. It is a beautiful story of a king who requires his kingdom to bring him a gift twice a year. Everyone did such yet he never seemed happy, even with a castle full of beautiful things. He hears of a quiltmaker who makes beautiful quilts. She had never given the king one, because she only gave her quilts to the poor and needy.She refused to make one for the king. This upset the king and after trying to imprison her without much success, he asked her what must he do for her to make him a quilt. She finally agreed that for every gift he gave to someone else, she would add a square of fabric and when it was complete, she would give him a quilt. At first the king found this a difficult task, but after finding the joy it brought to others, the joy began to spill over to his own sense of joy. After some time he had given everyone in his kingdom a gift, so he then went outside of his kingdom to continue giving gifts to others. He would send a sparrow to the quiltmaker to inform her that he had given another gift away. When he was down to the last gift, the quiltmaker realized this was going to be her last visit from the sparrow, so she finished up the quilt and took it to the king. The king rejoiced and told her that he really was not poor at all but rich from the joy that this had brought to him. Peace and Joy are priceless and are the other side of the blessings when we share instead of hoard.

COF end of month challenge

NOVEMBER CHALLENGE!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Hello, Crafty sisters! Can you believe the holidays are here? I LOVE this time of year! Peppermint Mocha Lattes, twinkling lights, Hallmark Christmas movies...every good and perfect gift pointing to our Savior. My favorite part of the season? Christmas carols. I LOVE Christmas music, and I have so many CDs that I have to start listening to them in October just to fit them all in! LOL I have a few favorites that make it into heavy rotation (Amy Grant, Kathy Mattea, Point of Grace, Sara Groves), and others that are strictly instrumental and fill the house with the ambient sounds of the season (Jim Brickman, Windham Hill's Celtic Christmas, and more). This month's challenge: Make a card based on one of your favorite Christmas songs or carols. (The Bible verse I chose is often associated with Handel's Messiah, another favorite!) Make sure your card has a little twinkle to represent the light of the world. Bonus points to anyone who includes kraft and gingham in their design (just because I LOVE kraft and gingham!)

So there's your challenge! Plug in that Christmas music and get inspired! I'm even learning some Christmas carols to play on my dulcimer.

Peace and Joy to you!
mary rose

My Christmas song is "We Three Kings". The chorus sings of the "star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright...." I used a rhinestoned cross in the center of the star to show how Christ would be the world's salvation. and be the light of the world. As we enter this Advent season, may the true love of Christ dwell in your heart and may you  have many opportunities to show His peace and love to all you encounter in the season.

Enjoy a venture through these delightful blogs to see what was created for perhaps your favorite Christmas song: 1. Carolina -Cardolina Scrapolina
2. LizW - Right Brained Madness
3. Mary Rose Mary Rose Cafe
4. Jackie - Kreatewithme2
5. LizD - crafts4thesoul
6. Sharon - ScrappingMum
7. Jeanette CreativePlay
8. Darlene According to Bijou
9. Lorie Thinkinspot
10. Carol Lost in my craft room
11. Kadie InMyMindsEye
12. Tami Blueinksdesign
13. Barb - Inkinintoretirement
14. April - April'sAlley
15. Marsha Stamping Down South
16. Kelly - Sandcastle Stamper

WAW56 and CBC157

I'm using this card for two challenges: Word Art Wednesday and the Creative Belli Challenge.
I stamped repeatedly with a stamp from Inkadinkado and I used the scripture that Word Art Wednesday shared this week. The cross stamp is from Our Daily Bread Designs. Although they blend with the colors I used on the cross, there were rhinestones added to the cross as well.

ODBDSLC132 Deck the Halls

 I used my Sweet William stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs and then diecut the outside and inside so it would make a wreath. The challenge this week was to use an ornament or something that hangs on your card.  I am also going to use this for the Crazy 4 challenges this week because the challenge was to put a bow on it. And the best part is  that I got another Christmas card made.for my stash to send. The holly leaves are punched from a Martha Stewart punch and I added rhinestones and the ribbon.

ODBDSLC130

This is for this week's ODBDSLChallenge to use gold or silver. This gold chrome paper just doesn't not photograph well, but I really liked the way this turned out. I used ODBD stamps for the cross and the background.

CAS-ual Friday Challenge

The theme for the CAS-ual Friday challenge today was Winter Blue. I saw this scrap of white on my diecut table left over from some white poinsettias I diecut and then I saw this perfect scrap of Stampin' up design paper laying right near it. I thought ....instant card. Quick and easy and the scraps nearly jumped off the table at me.LOL I stamped the sentiment on with baja breeze ink. After adding rhinestones to the center it was a done deal. A 10 minute card!!!! Love those at Christmas time!!!!

WAW54

C4C 162

The challenge this week was to make a Christmas card inspired by a favorite Christmas carol. I thought I would use "We Three Kings".  I stamped the image onto design paper with versamark ink and then put gold embossing powder on it. It did photograph well, but I like the way it turned out. I added a rhinestone star to the star rays. Glad to be getting a few Christmas cards done for my stash to send out. This image is from Stampendous.

JUGS 162

Wow, I loved learning how to do this from the UTube video linked on the Jug Us Girls Challenge website. 
I embossed the white cardstock with a brick pattern for my background. the wreath is made from ribbon as is the bow. I added a few red rhinestones. The gold strip was added with the sentiment stamped on it, although it doesn't show up in the photo.

CAS-ual Friday Challenge 78

It always takes a while for fall to get going here in the south where I live. So even though we don't always get the gorgeous colors of the changes of the leaves around here, I love seeing in pictures and on calendars. The challenge for CAS-ual Friday today was to use town paper. So I tore a piece of Indian Summer Basic Grey paper and some rust. The cardbase is ivory. I stamped some of the trees from one of the tree stamps from Lovely As a Tree from Stampin' Up. I sponged the sun on with a dauber and I dotted some leaves on the trees. The sentiment is from Flourishes.

CCEE1245

Life has settled down a little bit for me, and I am getting back to some of my favorite challenges to do. This is for the CCEE1245 challenge this week to use partial embossing on a card. I really need to start hitting my Christmas card making pretty hard, so here's one I can add to my collection. There was so stamping involved on this one, just embossing and my poinsettia diecut from Spellbinders. I sponged pink ink on the petals and bamboo  and some green ink on the leaves. I also added a strip of ribbon. I wanted to see how glossy white paper would do in the cuttlebug, and it did great. For the center of the poinsettia I added gold half beads.

FTTC194

I love this silhouette from Flourishes. Silhouettes of children are just so precious. I added a little sponging to the background.

Happy Harvest CBC156

The Creative Bellie Challenge is to use some forgotten embellishment and the theme for this week is harvest.
I am using ribbon from my stash. This vegetable stampset is from Flourishes. I love it because it is so colorful when take my copics after it. The basketweave background stamp is also from Flourishes and has always been one of my favorites.

ODBDSLC139

Winter white was the theme of the challenge. I pulled out the first stamp I ever purchased from ODBD. I used versamark ink and gold embossing powder to emboss it onto this oval. I dry embossed the cardbase cardstock. Cut out one of my diecuts 4 times to add behind the oval. Added flowers and leaves and pearls.

WAW53

I love this masking technique, making a strip of stamped collage across the card. Then I stamped this cross from Verve in black over it. I added a turquoise gemstone to the cross. I like the clean and simple look for this card.

MOJO Monday 266

It's Monday and time to get that MOJO going. Here's what jumped out of my scrap box today. I bought a bag of great plastic fall leaves and thought maybe this would be the place to stick one on!!! I am sending this card to a friend who has a difficult visit to the doctor this week. I hope it will ease him of his worries. The stamp is from Verve.

JUGS 161

This week it is a sketch challenge over on Just Us Girls Challenge. I used this sweet vintage image from Graphics 45. They have some really sweet stamps. The sentiment is from Verve.  I colored the image with my copic markers. The punches are Martha Stewart.

Less is More wk 92

This is for the color challenge over on Less is More Challenge site. The color is pink. This rose stamp is from Inkadinkado. I colored the image with copic markers. The blush paper is punched with a Martha Stewart punch.

October Challenge for COF

Wow, the end of the month caught me off guard today, I guess because it was Halloween. Sharon gave us a wonderful challenge for our end of the month challenge with our crafters of faith group. The scripture she selected is from 1 Thes. 5:16-18 -"Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." She challenged us to make a Thanksgiving card or a card of thanks for someone who has been a blessing to me. I have to say my COF friends have been a blessing to me this year. I was the  leader of a spiritual retreat at a Women's prison in September, and these wonderful women prayed for me and the women who were participants and also for my team members. The weather was unusually hot and we endured an un-airconditioned gym for 3 days, but I think these women realized that nothing was going to stand between them and God's love for them. We had 40 women attend and they have been faithfully returning each week to stay connected as a Christian community by attending our prayer and shares and the reunions. Thank you, COF friends, as these prayers were so very special to us all and are the soul of the weekend.

The pumpkins are a multi-layered stamp set from Kitchen Sink stamps, which are so unique and the images so realistic. The sentiment is from Flourishes.

WAW #52

Love this scripture from Hebrews because it reminds me of what we have in Christ Jesus. We can approach the throne of grace because He is the advocate to the Father. I love all white cards. The only color I used on this was the silver paper that one of the crosses was diecut from.

FTTC 193

Today is Tuesday and time to take part in the Flourishes' Timeless Tuesday Challenge, which was to make the image fall off the card. I masked some shells from a Flourishes set that I stamped off the edge of the paper. The sentiment is from Our Daily Bread. I don't usually mix stamps for these challenges but this one just seem to fit with the shells so well. This is a one-layer card.

MOJO 265

Loved this sketch for MOJO Monday today, so I got out my Verve stamps and some Spellbinder diecuts to use for this card. I embossed the black paper with an embossing folder then attached the frames and the stamped panel. I stamped this Verve flower and colored it with  a red copic marker. The leaves are punched from a Martha Stewart punch.

Stampin' Sisters in Christ

This is for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge this week to use a clock or calendar on your card. I had this retired Stampin' Up set from Stampin' Up and also this sentiment from SU as well. I thought both were perfect for this challenge. I love black and white cards so decided to go with that as well.
"To everything there is a season and a purpose under heaven..." One of my favorite scriptures from the Old Testament. And Sandy, I do think of the Birds, "Turn, turn, turn" too. We are of the same generation and 1965 doesn't seem that long ago to me either. I am a big supporter of SSIC and I will miss you. Best wishes in your next projects or ministries you take part in. Blessings!

HHYCCT1227

Just a few days left in October and only a few more cards to go before I mail off my final batch of cards to MD Anderson. I  really enjoy creating cards during October especially those I send to them.                                                                                                                                              

C4C160

This week's challenge for the Crazy 4 Challenges challenge was a sketch challenge. I found some great design papers in my Basic Grey pads and used this stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs. It is a wonderful cross to use for the Thanksgiving season. I can't believe how October has just flown by and November and the Thanksgiving season is soon upon us, and then Advent. Praise God from whom all blessing flow!

ODBDSLC127

The challenge was to use things that start with L E A and F. So, I used lace and leaves for L, embossing for E, Aqua and always artichoke for A, flowers for F. I love this sentiment which is from Our Daily Bread Designs as is the butterfly. The photo does not do justice to the true colors here which are navy, aqua, and always artichoke. I put a little sparkle pen on the butterfly wings although it did not photograph well either.

A 10 minute technique

I visited the Flourishes website yesterday and found Tricia Traxler's 1o minute technique tip there. I stamped my image using an eggplant SU pad, and then used a SU blender pen to spread the color around a bit. This was really easy, and loved the look when it was finished. Slowly, but surely I am trying to get some Christmas cards stamped and set aside. It will be here before we know it!

HYCCT1225B

A  great sentiment stamp from Verve and so perfect for one of my Hope You Can Cling To challenge cards. It's about time for me to send some more cards to MD Anderson. It's been such a joy making cards for them this month.

FTTC192

Flourishes' Timeless Tuesday challenge this week is to make a Birthday card. October seems to be a very busy month for birthdays for my friends and family, so it's always nice to add to the stash.I stamped this image repeatedly on a white panel and then used colors that were in this background sheet of Basic Grey Indian Summer print. I used copic markers to color the images. The border punch is from Martha Stewart and the tag diecut is from Spellbinders. The ribbon is purple although it looks black in the photo.

Word Art Wednesday

One whole room of my house is occupied by all of my papers and stamping supplies. Someone might see this and think this is where my rreasures are, and my heart is often there. I love doing this challenge every week because it is a way that I can create with these treasures and share God's words of truth with the world. It is amazing to me that anyone visits my blog at all, and yet they do. So, I want to bless them for taking the time to check by and hopefully take something with them, like a word of encouragement, an idea, or a glimpse into my part of the world. So, along with sharing some of the loves of my life, I like to share the love the Lord has for us all. I hope you are taking advantage of one of God's many blessings of this day, and give thanks for the fact that He gave you life and breath to enjoy them.

Getting started

Getting started on my Christmas cards, but getting off to a slow start. This card was made with my Stamping Gear from Inkadinkado. I added a free punched pine needles to it and a bow. This made up pretty quickly so if I get in a bind, I can always whip up some more of these!! 

WAW #50

I love the book of James. This is a great verse from it. I used some wonderful design papers from Basic Grey. The little stamps I used around the verse are from Verve. The little punched flowers are from a Creative Memories punch I have had for a long while. I love the size it punches. I used little silver beads for the centers. The edge diecut is from Spellbinders.

MOJO Monday 263

This is for Mojo Monday and done with Verve stamps.

SSIC161 and TLC399

Did a little acrylic block printing for the TLC challenge and added trees for the SSIC challenge this week. The trees are from that SU classic, Lovely As Trees and the sentiment is from Verve.
I just love the colors of fall and the cooler weather (when we get it). 85 seems  to the the norm around here for some reason.

F4A138 and CFC74

I think I remember this little rhyme from my Brownie Scout days:

Make new friends, but keep the old
One is silver and the other - gold.

It was the inspiration for me on this card that was be a CAS card with a heart for the CAS-ual Friday Challenge, and I also used this as a card for the Free for all Challenge to use a negative space. My late night photography is not so grand, but it was the best I could do at the hour.

Now it is time for some shut eye!!! Have a great weekend!!

CASE Study 112

I loved Julia's card that we cased for this challenge. I decided to use a variey of ribbons for my card. This was a fun card to make and would be a great way to use up some scraps of ribbon. The scripture stamp is from Flourishes. The dp is Basic Grey.

WAW49

Finally getting back to one of my favorite challenges of the week, Word Art Wednesday.

FLLCOCT12

I just love making pink cards during the month of October. I used two stamp sets from Flourishes for this and colored the image with my Copic markers. I used a Paper Studio embossing folder on the white background.

Cas-ual Friday Challenge 73

A card to send to encourage women who are fighting the battle of breast cancer. The stamps I used are from Kitchen Sink Stamps. The embossing folder is from Paper Studio.

HYCCT1204

Into day 4 of the Hope You Can Cling To challenges. Today, we were to use strips. So I used 3 strips in the background. I love this butterfly from Layers of Color and the "hope" is from Our Daily Bread Designs. This design paper from My Mind's Eye generated the color scheme for this card.

Five Words of Encouragement

October is here and I am loving it. It is one of my favorite months and I am busy taking part in the daily challenges for the Hope You Can Cling To challenges over on Splitcoaststampers. This card today was to use 5 words on the card. I love this set from Verve and they are one of the sponsors of these challenges so I made use of this stamp set that is from Verve. Thanks, Verve for being one of the sponsors and won't someone be lucky to win a prize from Verve at the end of this month.

Hope You can Cling To

I love the month of October. The air finally gets a little cooler in my part of the world, and a month long campaign goes on over at Splitcoaststampers for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It got started yesterday and this is one of the cards I made for it. After I get a few made, I will mail these to MD Anderson here in Houston for them to share and give to families and patients. Happy Fall, Y'all!

COF September Blog Hop

This scripture came to mind when I think of harvest time from Luke 10:2. These are the words of Jesus,
"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest. " We have started an Evangelism campaign in my church, and it really seems to be the time for Christians to be those workers He is sending out to reap that plentiful harvest of believers and non-believers.

I pre-posted this card because as this blog hop  is going on, I am just finishing up being the leader of a Kairos weekend in a Texas Prison Unit. This is a Christian ministry to takes the love of Christ into the prison units around the world.

I used diecuts and punches for this card. I computer generated the scripture, and the cross is from Stampendous. \

Make sure you visit these blogs:
1. Carolina -Cardolina Scrapolina
2. LizW - Right Brained Madness (that's me)
3. Mary Rose Mary Rose Cafe
4. Jackie - Kreatewithme2
5. LizD - crafts4thesoul
6. Carol - Bills Favorite Stamper
7. Sharon - ScrappingMum
8. Jeanette CreativePlay
9. Darlene According to Bijou
10. Lorie Thinkinspot
11. Carol Lost in my craft room
12. Kadie InMyMindsEye
13. Tami Blueinksdesign
14. Barb - Inkinintoretirement
15. April - April'sAlley
16. Kelly - Sandcastle Stamper

Spending this week serving the Lord at a Women's Prison in Texas. If you stop by, I hope you will say a little prayer for my team and the 42 participants who will be attending our 3 day ministry. My team has written 1681 letters, baked 1500 dozen cookies, and raised money to put this awesome weekend on.
Pray for cool weather as we are in an un -air-conditioned gym, safe travels for the team members who come from all over the state of Texas, protection for our families while we are away. Pray also for these women, who may experience God's love for the first times in their lives.

I will be back next week making cards for Breast cancer awareness month. It's time for the PINK!

Have a blessed week!! And thanks for your prayers.