Word Art Wednesday #25

It's Word Art Wednesday!!  This week's word art comes from Hebrews 13.

As I read this scripture, "sacrifice of praise" really stood out to me.    When we sacrifice, we give up something that we really like or enjoy for something else.  We do it willingly.  Praise comes out of our gratefulness to God for who He is and what He's done in our lives.  I have never really looked at praise as a sacrifice before, but when you think about it, true heartfelt praise to God is a sacrifice.... we sacrifice ourselves. It takes energy and effort to turn the focus off ourselves and turn it totally on God. We sacrifice our thoughts and our efforts for total praise and thanksgiving to God. I will never look at praise the same again.  We must make sure that our praise is a sacrifice and not just lip service.

For my layout I used a photo of my husband, a true man of God, who loves to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.  It was taken several years ago, in June 2007,  during our church's Men's Day program.

Supplies:
Bo Bunny Patterned Paper, Brads and Stickers
Bazzill Cardstock
Prima Say it in Studs
Spellbinders Labels 18

I hope you join the Word Art Wednesday challenge this week. Check out the Word Art Wednesday Challenge Blog to see what the other design team members created with this week's art. Be sure to check out the challenge guidelines to find out how you can be eligible for the weekly prize drawing from this week's sponsor Fred She Said.

A Conversation With God

Me: God, can I ask You a question?

God: Sure

Me: Promise You won’t get mad?

God: ...I promise

Me: Why did You let so much stuff happen to me today?

God: What do you mean?

Me: Well, I woke up late

God: Yes

Me: My car took forever to start

God: Okay

Me: At lunch they made my sandwich wrong & I had to wait

God: Huummm

Me: On the way home, my phone went DEAD, just as I picked up a call

God: All right

Me: And on top of it all off, when I got home ~I just wanted to soak my feet in my new foot massager & relax, but it wouldn’t work!!! Nothing went right today! Why did You do that?

God: Let me see, the death angel was at your bed this morning & I had to send one of My Angels to battle him for your life. I let you sleep through that

Me: (humbled) Oh

God: I didn’t let your car start because there was a drunk driver on your route that would have hit you if you were on the road.

Me: (ashamed) Oh

God: The first person who made your sandwich today was sick & I didn’t want you to catch what they have, I knew you couldn’t afford to miss work.

Me: (embarrassed) Okay

God: Your phone went dead because the person that was calling was going to give false witness about what you said on that call, I didn’t even let you talk to them so you would be covered.

Me: (softly) I see God

God: Oh and that foot massager, it had a shortage that was going to throw out all of the power in your house tonight. I didn’t think you wanted to be in the dark.

Me: I’m sorry God

God: Don’t be sorry, just learn to trust Me…. in ALL things , the good & the bad.

Me: I will trust You.

God: And don’t doubt that My plan for your day is always better than your plan.

Me: I won’t God. And let me just tell you God, thank you for everything today.

God: You’re welcome child. It was just another day being your God and I love looking after my children…

 

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 your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:4-7

 

Just some food for thought.......Have a blessed day!

 

 

Word Art Wednesday #24

Hello Everyone!!!  It's Wednesday, time for some new word art.  This week's word art comes from Habakkuk 3.

The book of Habakkuk contains a dialogue between Habakkuk and God,  where Habakkuk questions God because he sees lots wickedness going on around him and it appears to him that God is doing nothing about it.  When God tells Habakkuk how He plans to deal with it,  Habakkuk can't understand why God chooses to handle it the way He does. In the end, Habakkuk learns to trust in God regardless of the circumstances.  This is a great lesson of faith.  Even if God isn't moving in the way WE feel He should be moving, we must fully trust in Him and rejoice in the Lord always!

For my layout today,  I used a photo of myself at Sandy Cove, Maryland in November 2011.  I spent a wonderful weekend there, rejoicing in the Lord with  my sisters in Christ.

Supplies:
Sei Patterned Paper
Prima Flowers
Queen & Co. Pearls
Lace from Jo-Ann Fabrics
Lifestyle Crafts Die

I hope you join the Word Art Wednesday challenge this week. Check out the Word Art Wednesday Challenge Blog to see what the other design team members created with this week's art. Be sure to check out the challenge guidelines to find out how you can be eligible for the weekly prize drawing from this week's sponsor Whimsy Stamps.

Thanks for stopping by today. Blessings to you.

Word Art Wednesday # 23

It's Word Art Wednesday!!!  Time for some new word art.  Once again our word art comes from the Book of Psalms.  This time it's Psalm 28.

Don't you just love the Book of Psalms!!  Today David is speaking on how the Lord uses His strength on his behalf,  and protects (shields) him from dangers both seen and unseen.  The Lord is our strength and shield as well.  All we have to do is trust in Him with all our heart and have faith. Isn't that good news!!!!  We serve an awesome God and we should rejoice and give Him praise always. And what better way to rejoice and praise than through song. 

For my layout I used a photo of my church's youth choir.  They are small in number, but mighty in the Lord.  My heart greatly rejoices whenever I hear them sing their praises to the King.

Supplies:
Bazzill Cardstock
Our Daily Bread Designs Amazing Grace Hymn Stamp
Spellbinders Labels 10
Spellbinders Crosses 2
Washi Tape
K & Co Metal Studs
Brads
VersaFine, Memento & Tim Holtz Distress Inks

I hope you join the Word Art Wednesday challenge this week. Check out the Word Art Wednesday Challenge Blog to see what the other design team members created with this week's art. Be sure to check out the challenge guidelines to find out how you can be eligible for the weekly prize drawing from this week's sponsor Roben Marie Workshop.

Thanks for stopping by today. Blessings to you.

April Gems of Inspiration

Happy Friday!!! It's the first Friday in April and time for a new Gems of Inspiration scrapbook challenge at the Our Daily Bread Designs Forum.

This month's challenge is all about Holy Week and Easter… Your challenge is to create a layout about an activity that you participate in during this most holy week.   It can be a layout about Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter, coloring eggs, egg hunts, family gatherings or any other activity you participate in during Holy Week.

For my layout, I used a photo of me and my friends after Easter Sunday service last year. I used the ODBD I am the Way stamp set to embellish my photo mat and for the tag beneath the photo. I created a 3-D element with one of the flowers in the set.

Supplies:

We R Memory Keepers Patterned Paper

Bazzill & AC Cardstock

ODBD I Am the Way Stamp Set

Spellbinders Labels 22

Pebbles Chalk

Gems, Lace, Stickles

VersaFine Ink

I hope you get a chance to play along this month. I’d love to see what you create.

If you are using Our Daily Bread Designs stamps, you are encouraged to upload your page to the Scrapbook Pages Category in the ODBD Gallery using keyword ODBDGI05. If you aren't yet registered there, sign up only takes a couple of minutes. If you do not use ODBD stamps, you can post to your blog or another publicly viewable online gallery. Be sure and to come back here and share the link so we can see your beautiful work!

Looking for more scrapbook challenges??? Check out the monthly Let Your Light Shine Scrapbook Challenge on the ODBD Blog!


It's Friday...but Sundays' coming!! Happy Easter to you all!!!!

Word Art Wednesday #22

Hi Everyone!!  It's Wednesday, time for some new word art.  This week's word comes from the Book of Psalms.

In this Psalm of David,  David expresses his love for the Lord and some of the things that the Lord is to him.  These attributes of God are not just for David,  they are for all of His children.  I think we as Christians know that God is all these things for us,  but do we really live our lives as if we do?  In times of trouble, do we fully rely on the Lord,  our rock, fortress and deliverer, or do we look for deliverence of our own strength or in wordly things.  Do we put all of our trust in God?

For my layout I used a photo of my brother and me, taken at the Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs, CO in 1972.  If you click on the layout to enlarge it, you just might be able to see us.  We look like ants standing in front of one of the giant red rock formations.

Supplies:
Close to My Heart Patterned paper
Coredinations Cardstock
Jillibean Soup Journaling tag
Basic Grey Ribbon & Buttons
Queen & Co. Pearls
Spellbinders Labels 25
Die Versions Font Dies
Fiskars Corner Punch
Tim Holtz Staples
Tim Holtz Distress & VersaFine Inks

I hope you join the Word Art Wednesday challenge this week. Check out the Word Art Wednesday Challenge Blog to see what the other design team members created with this week's art. Be sure to check out the challenge guidelines to find out how you can be eligible for the weekly prize drawing from this week's sponsor Isabella's Sketchbook.

Thanks for stopping by today. Be blessed.

ODBD April Scrapbook Challenge

Hi Everyone!!  It's time for the April Our Daily Bread Designs Scrapbook Challenge.  Spring is here and in April we celebrate “Lawn and Garden” month. So using the "Lawn and Garden" theme, your challenge for April is to use 3 of the following items from the April “lawn and garden recipe” below on any size scrapbook page along with ODBD stamps:

*Green
*Brown
*Grass
*Flowers
*Dirt
*Butterflies
*Leaves
*Wood

You can use these recipe items in your photos, color scheme, as part of your embellishments, etc. Have fun with it! You certainly do not have to do a garden layout just use 3 items from the recipe along with ODBD stamps in any theme you wish--think Easter, Spring, etc.! Enjoy!

For my layout, I decided to go with the lawn and garden theme and used some photos of early spring trees and flowers in my neighborhood.  After I finished my layout, I realized that every item from the recipe appeared somewhere on my page. :)

I used the butterflies from the ODBD Faith  set to create my own 3-D embellishments. I stamped them on cardstock and cut out the image with the coordinating Butterfly Branch die.  After coloring the image with Prismacolor pencils, I added some stickles and a little bling and adhered the image to the page with foam tape.  Two verses from Ecclesiastes 3, found in Scripture Collection 1 ,  stamped on diecut tags completed the layout. Here's a close up of my embellishments....

Supplies:
Sei Patterned Paper
ODBD Faith Stamp Set & Butterfly Branch Die
ODBD Scripture Collection 1
Making Memories Alphabet Stickers
Sei Die Cut Tags
Prismacolor Pencils
Stickles, Gems, Brads
VersaFine Ink

To see all the challenge guidelines and how you can win a $15 gift certificate to the Our Daily Bread Designs store click here. Also be sure to check out Patter Cross' inspiration for this challenge in her blog post here. The challenge runs through Monday April 30th, 6:00 PM EDT.

I hope you decide to join in this challenge. I can't wait to see what you create.

Our Daily Bread Designs April Blog Hop

Welcome to the Our Daily Bread Designs April 1 Release Blog Hop! I am honored to be representing the Scrapbook Team on the hop this month.  If you got here from Silke's  Blog, you are in the right place! If you just happened here, you might want to hop on over to the ODBD Blog and start from there so you don’t miss a chance to win any of the four great prizes this month, and receive lots of inspiration along the way!  To qualify to win one of these prizes, hop to each designers blog and leave a comment. After you have completed the hop, return to the Our Daily Bread Designs blog and leave a comment telling us that you have completed the hop, making note if there were any designers blogs that you couldn't comment on. In your comment include the answer to the question that appears on the ODBD blog. You have until Monday April 2, 8 PM EDT to complete the hop and the winners will be announced on the Our Daily Bread Designs blog on April 3.

I do have one announcement that I want to be sure you get!

ODBD is extending the Customer Favorites Contest! You now have until April 7th to add your submission to the Customer Favorites Contest for a chance to win a free ODBD stamp set and the chance to be a guest designer for the release of “your” set! So leave us your ONE choice of your favorite short Scripture, spiritual quote or spiritual sentiment, and YOUR submission might be in the next ODBD Customer Favorites Sets! Read all the details and leave your submission HERE!  ***PLEASE take time to see the Scriptures already in sets list here  so you don’t waste your one submission on one that’s already in a set!

Now… on to my creation:

For my layout today,  I used the Prayer of St. Francis stamp.  I stamped the prayer on white cardstock and cut it out with the Spellbinders Large Labels die. After distressing it a bit with Tim Holtz ink, I embellished it with twine, buttons and brads and used foam tape to adhere it to my page.

Supplies:
Recollections Patterned Paper
Bazzill & Coredinations Cardstock
ODBD Prayer of St. Francis Stamp
Jenni Bowlin Label Sticker
Spellbinders Large Labels Die
Spellbinders Crosses Two
Lifestyle Crafts Font Dies
EK Success Border Punch
Buttons, Brads, Charm
Tim Holtz Distress & VersaFine Inks
Ribbon, Twine

Thanks so much for stopping by, I'm your last stop on the Hop! Remember, to be entered into the drawing you need to leave comments on each designers blog, then return to the ODBD Blog  and leave a comment.