A Word to Ponder for the New Year

Thought for the Day: I have chosen a word or theme each year to guide my study of the Bible. This past year I focused on Trust. My trust in God and His trustworthiness. This year the word ponder has been popping up in my reading, most notably in reference to Mary in Luke 2:19 - "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." My goal this year is to stop and think...I tend to act impulsively on occasion. I also miss the real moments that I should reflect on while searching for something more. I looked up the definition of ponder and it really sums up my need: to weigh in the mind; to consider carefully. I don't want to miss what God is saying, what He is showing me because I'm not taking the time to ponder, to weigh in my mind and to carefully consider. My desire is to live each moment in God's presence, acknowledging His desire to be present in each moment of my life.

My tag for Tag Tuesday will be my Bible Journal bookmark. I included the definition of ponder and the key verse Luke 2:19 which I computer generated and printed on tan cs. The tag was stamped with Hero Arts cling Dandelion Frame stamped several times in Caramel, White Cloud and Vintage Cream inks to give some depth. The main letters are 7 Gypsys Savannah large Alphabet stamped in Stream ink and overstamped in Vintage Cream. The date is stamped with HA Fanciful Swirl clear design alpha set. I added some tiny flourishes from HA clear set Treasure the Moments, it sounded right since that is my aim this year, to treasure the moments.
Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement, I truly appreciate each one of you! When you leave comments it means so much and gives me the opportunity to pray for you.
May you all be blessed with the gifts that only God can give in the coming New Year!
Love,
Nancy

Tag Tuesday and some catching up....

I can't believe it's been a week since my last post....the busy-ness caught up with me. We had my whole family over for a Christmas celebration on Saturday and we had a lovely time. My son Andy and his wife Kellie are spending Christmas with her family at Hume Lake this year so we moved our gathering earlier. There was lots of preparation necessary but it was definitely worth the effort.
I thought I'd share this photo of my sweet little Bruno, he found a safe place to rest while the pre-gathering prep took place. It looks like I was a bit stingy with the tree ornaments this year....

I'm so glad to be back to creating with the Tag Tuesday Challenge at Kard Krazy. The theme this week is a Shaped tag. I wanted to use my brand new Hero Arts Blooming Heart stamp so I made a heart shaped tag.

I was also inspired by the Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World to use Black and White with Green.

I spritzed some Perfect Pearl mist on the green heart shape as well as the butterfly and the punched flowers for a little bit of shine...the close up shows the pearl mist detail.

 And one last Christmas card to share....

I used the Perfect Pearls mist on this too....I just love how it gives a really rich glow to plain paper.

I'm not sure if I'll be posting again before Christmas so I'll leave you with my sincerest wishes for a meaningful Christmas celebration!
Thought for the day: from Luke 2:10 the angel proclaimed to the shepherds,
"I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people!"
My wish for you is that you would experience the Joy of the Lord in all your holiday activities!
May you have the Merriest, Joy-filled Christmas ever....
Love,
Nancy

Tag Tuesday #30

Have you ever had one of those frustrating days when you just don't like anything you've created?  I had the best of intentions yesterday to make my Christmas cards to get them in the mail today. Everything I tried was just awful. I wound up in the backyard pulling weeds to use up my frustrated energy. Now today there is a peaceful vibe in my little work space, I'm liking what I'm doing and my little heart is happy once more. Go figure!
Thanks to Louise at Kard Krazy who's Tag Tuesday Challenge theme is to use punches on our tags, I found my creative mojo in my paper punch drawer. I still wanted to try the techniques from Tim Holtz Tag Day 1 so I combined that with some punched snowflakes and trees to make my tag.

I even made my own wired ribbon with blue and purple ribbons. Here are some close ups of the tree detail. I punched the trees out of the tag then inked and stamped the backing paper to show through. You can see the crackle detail if you click on the image.

 

 I started my day by assembling a card with random pieces laying around my work area. This one actually didn't turn out too bad.

Thought for the Day: Just a little excerpt from a book I like to read during Advent called "The Glory of Christmas". It's a compilation of writings by Max Lucado, Charles Colson and Charles Swindoll. This little gem is from Max Lucado's book "In the Grip of Grace":

"Where the grace of God is missed, bitterness is born. But where the grace of God is embraced, forgiveness flourishes......

The longer we walk in the garden, the more likely we are to smell like flowers. The more we immerse ourselves in grace, the more likely we are to give grace."

Grace and Peace to you all,

Nancy

Day 6 tag for 12 Tags of Christmas

Well this tag took some time. I loved the tag that Tim made, it has so much charm. I knew I wouldn't be able to make all 12 tags but this one I really wanted to try. The only problem, I didn't have a stamp for a vehicle. I found an itty bitty fuel truck stamp by River City Rubber Works at my LSS. I stamped it, scanned it and then resized it and reworked it into a stake bed truck. I also added the signs on the truck digitally. After I printed it I used an embossing pen to add some clear embossing and black embossing so it wouldn't look so computer generated. The tree is from an old Stampin'Up set. I used a page from Webster's Spelling and Grammar Usage for the background. I love that one of the example sentences reads, "Cheese and pickle is the only sandwich filling available."

I decided not to add snow to the tree because I live in Southern California and snow is just not part of my Christmas tree acquiring experience.

Okay, that's 2 tags done only 10 to go!

Thought for the Day: I want to thank you all for your support and encouragement. You really lifted my spirits. I am so thankful for friends and acquaintances who are so caring and compassionate to someone you've never met. I am also thanking God for how He used my situation to reach others who were experiencing the same anxiety and depression as me. Thank you for your prayers, they are surely being answered. Please know that I pray for you too!

2 Timothy 1:12 "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day!"

Christmas Blessings,

Nancy

Tag Tuesday -Teal, Wine and Blue

When I saw the color combo for Tag #29 at Kard Krazy I was stumped.  I had no idea how to make the colors teal, wine and blue work until I found a sheet of nostalgic St. Nicholas stickers and one of them was wearing a teal colored coat. I was at the post office (located in a neighborhood pharmacy) and the stickers were right as I walked in. I had a "light bulb moment" and the whole design just came together using some  beautiful paper from Jacqueline. I think I really dropped the ball on last week's color combo (I phoned that one in), so I wanted to make a tag this week that I felt better about.

 Thought for the Day: I know it's been awhile since I've posted and I thought I should explain. Try as I might not to, I get depressed every year at Christmas. I usually can keep it under control pretty well with prayer and staying busy but this year I am really struggling.  I've had boxes of Christmas decorations sitting in my living room for over a week and I just can't seem to get the decorating done.

I'm sharing this here because you have all been so supportive and encouraging to me. I want to be honest about my struggles with depression in hopes that if one of you is feeling the same you will know that you are not alone. There are a lot of us who deal with depression at this time of year. It doesn't diminish the fact that I truly celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and God's plan for salvation. For me it just means that the hoopla of the "holidays" is pretty much lost on me.

I know I will feel better in January when everything seems new, but for some I know the struggle with depression continues. If you are dealing with depression, whether seasonal or long term, please know that I care and I sympathize with you. It helps to tell someone, I hope you will share your struggle and allow someone else to help carry your burden.

Thanks for letting me share with you, I appreciate you all!

Love and Christmas Blessings,

Nancy

Another Day, Another Tag

I'm having so much fun making tags. Last year I didn't miss a day of Tim Holtz's 12 Days of Christmas tags. Of course I was working and had no time to play. So when I saw the tags today, with an alcohol inked plaid background, I was so happy to jump right in. I will also use this one for the Hero Arts Holiday tags challenge this week.

Supplies: Adirondack Alcohol inks, Adirondack Dye Ink-Caramel, Memories Black Dye ink, Hero Arts Clear Design Decorate Your Own, Cornish Heritage Farms Christmas Expressions, Metallic Gold thread, Gold cording, gold jump rings.

Thought for the Day: Psalm 116:1-2  "I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my prayers for mercy.  Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath."

Christmas Blessings to you,

Nancy

The Talented Jenn Biederman has Blog Candy!!

Check out the outrageous blog candy collection at Created by JB. Her blog is a fountain of artistic card making inspiration and she really knows how to do a give-away!

And if that doesn't get you running to her blog, you'll want to check out THIS lovely little confection at Created by JB.

Now that I've linked you to some real talent I'll bring you back down to earth with a little tag I made for the Hero Arts challenge this week.

I used an image from The Graphics Fairy and Hero Arts stamps.

Thought for the Day: I found this quote on a friend's Facebook page and thought it was perfectly thought provoking for Christians:
"Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers." Francis Chan

Have a wonderful day!
Nancy

Tag Tuesday #28

Another Tuesday, another tag for the Tag Tuesday Challenge at Kard Krazy. I love this color combo of Purple, Green and Silver. I decided to make the green an accent with purple and silver as the main colors. Just a quick tag today with some embossing and a few brads.

Thought for the Day:  Words of wisdom from Psalm 37

• Trust in the Lord and do good;
• Take delight in the Lord - make Him my heart's desire;
• Commit everything I do to the Lord and trust Him;
• Be still in His presence - wait patiently for Him to act, don't worry or fret!

I'm working on the not worrying part, as the days go by without finding a job it gets harder. But God is in control and when it's His time, I will find a job. I will trust in the Lord!
Blessings to you,
Nancy