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!