April 29, 2014 Simple Treasures

We rave over the complex but we marvel at the simple.

This is misleading in some ways because nothing in the universe is really simple. There is a complexity that we endeavor to understand. Since we can not hope to reach the end and understand everything we endeavor to create a universal rule for everything. REALLY? It is still going to be a tangled mess. It is still going to have IF, AND and that ever present BUT to mess it all up. For we ordinary folk what really matters is the simplicity in all of that complexity. The simple joy of life lived. For us as crafters it is the joy of sharing, inspiring, caring and, yes, loving as gift to others. As we have been given gifts we must give of what we have. Lk 12:33–34 "Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For wherever your treasure is, that is where your heart will be too." My treasure is with you.  Where is yours.

The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Lk 12:33–34). New York: Doubleday.

Today I have a card I made from an Impression Obsession image. My Dear Wife said it is one she likes the best out of the ones I have colored so far. That automatically makes it the one I will use. It is called "Window Garden Box." 

Copic Colors: BG01, B02, RV14, YR01, RV25, R56, E59, YG05, Y08, V05, R27, YG09, G46, W1, E71, RV00, E08, T0

This image was fun to color. As with most images with gardens, whether box or open ground, it can be a bit difficult to tell what are and aren't flowers until you start coloring. The viola! They just seem to pop out of nowhere. I managed to find them all and identify them...I think...oh well doesn't matter because here is the card.

 As with all of my cards so far everything is done by hand. First off the half doily is actually a stencil from Marianne Design.  It is called anja style stencil. I used some Post-It tape to hold it to the yellow card stock and traced out the stencil. I used a razor knife to fussy cut the image out. Fun. I colored all of those little dots with a gold Crayola pencil I kept from grade school to make them look as though they were punched out. I didn't really keep it from grade school I sneaked it from Jill's pencils when she wasn't looking. Smile. OOPS. I forgot she reads this. Nuts! Caught.

I cut card stock 6"X9" and scored it for top fold card. I cut a piece of grey card stock as a background and adhered it to the card with Scor-Tape.

I adhered the image to the Grey background with 1/4" Scor-Tape. To accomplish this with the stencil cutout I used 1/8" Scor-Tape an cut 1/2" pieces and put them in key areas to assure it would be held securely.
      
 Next I black peel offs on the stencil cutout and to edge the image. I also used holographic peel offs to highlight between the arcs on the outside of the stencil.

To finish the card and separate the image from the stencil I used washi tape as a boarder around the image.

I thought about more embellishments but decided not to. I guess you could say it is an clean but I don't know about simple. This is a bit early but there are things that must be attended to for the next few days so I am not sure how much time will be available to me. 

Just remember to always pay attention to and  LOVE THE DETAILS. Now maybe that should learn to type. NAH! It's more fun when I do typo's and make you laugh.



 

April 23, 2014 Blessings

Blessings are not something we earn. They are freely given just because we are loved.

In place of a quote I want to share how the needle work image in the last post came to be. In the mid 70's I had found this image in Better Homes and Gardens of a needle work kit that I fell in love with. It was titled "The Prophet." I had tried for some time to find this kit but to no avail. I finally gave up because I was told it was not being offered any more. I was really bummed out. I REALLY wanted this kit.

My DW, Jill, and her close friend at the time went to Allentown, Pa to a shop her friend knew about that had all sorts of craft stuff. It was a birthday present to Jill. Jill said when she saw the shop it was wall to wall to ceiling with everything crafty you could imagine. They were greeted at the door by a lady that said, "Welcome! Looking for something special? You name it! We have it!" Jill immediately thought of the kit I wanted and thought "we'll see about that and described it to the lady. She went somewhere in the back and came out with a kit but it wasn't the one she knew I wanted. The Lady then went to an area where clearance items were piled high and dug out another item and handed it to Jill. Jill said it stunned her. In her hands was "The Prophet." The last one, discontinued and on sale for a fraction of the original cost. She purchase it brought it home and gave it to me. To say I was excited would be an understatement. Remember, she did this on HER birthday with some of HER birthday money. I went right to work on it. The gold thread gave me fits and had to purchase more to finish it. We had it framed and it has hung on a wall somewhere in the house since that time. It is a prized gift From God and my dear wife that will always be displayed as long as I am around. Blessings come in small and large portions. What may seem insignificant is not. In fact, ALL blessings are significant. Be thankful for them. They are free. You can't earn them.

A few of you have asked if I still do that sort of thing and I can say yes but not that large a project. I do however pick up the needle and thread once in awhile. Today I have my last cross card for awhile to post. The cross is completely hand done. There is no coloring anywhere on the card.

This was a challenge but fun card to do.  The pattern is from
Craft Creation Magazine, Winter 2008/2009, Issue 52. I pre-punched the holes for the thread and fussy cut the oval to the size I wanted. The cross is done with DMC metallic gold braid and Dritz blue cotton thread. The card edge is done with Martha Stewart String Lace edge and corner punch set. The cross background is Old world Mat Stock Paper and the edge punched with Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace edge and corner punch set. The flowers in the cross are fussy cut from old return address labels and arranged in the cross arms. Sorry ladies no coloring on something this small. Smile. I used a pink brad for the center of the cross. The edge of the card stock is laced with Wright's Creative Classics Metallic Scroll Braid. Everything is held to the card with Scor-Tape of 1/4" and 1/8". I hope you like what I did and leave me a comment. 

The only thing I would do differently with this type of card would be to use the next heavier weight in card stock. It would bend less but would probably be tough to punch. Th stitching would be a bit straighter too. OH well, next time!
That's it for now. Remember to always pay attention to and LOVE THE DETAILS>

April 20, 2014 He is Risen

HE

IS

RISEN

Notice the the nails are there but the cross is empty. He is no longer there but now resides in our hearts. The cross is empty and the promise is now fulfilled. We are saved though we are not worthy. He has washed us clean. Blessed is He for now we can Come In The Name Of  The LORD.

He welcomes any who truly believe in Him, even though they have not seen Him, and He makes a place in heaven for them. 

The cross was made in the 70's and was my creation. The needle craft image above was done in that 70's or 80's by me but I am not sure who the manufacturer was.

Hope everyone who visits this Christian blog and those that have not have been blessed on this Easter day. As always, you have to LOVE THE DETAILS.

April 18, 2014 Crucified

Today there is no quote or comments. I would like to share a bit of poetry I wrote and placed in my personal journal of inspiration. It is in the Library of Congress and copyrighted.

Crucified

"Old man! From Whence do you come?

"I come from 70 times 7000 yesterdays

of happiness and  Sorrow."

"Old man! Where are you going?"

"I go to the memories of tomorrow's

 forever where death has died and life is born."

"Old man how are you called?"

"I am peace in turmoil, hope in the 

hopeless and love in the lost."

"Old man! What do you want?"

I want to go blind and see, deaf and 

hear, mute and speak, die and be born,

cry to laugh, but most of all to find 

love the lost in days past."

"Old man! Have you found what you search for?"

"I have found a beam and a cross beam,

three nails, a hammer, a crown of thorns 

and a lance that await me. When I meet 

them my love will be there."

"Old man! When will this happen?"

"In the measure of a breath already 

forgotten as a memory that has not yet 

happened."

And then the old man was gone. 

 This poem is copyrighted and is in the Library of Congress Of The U.S. It may be copied to share with friends but my permission is required for any other use. This includes publication of any kind in any medium or for any other use or purpose not approve of in writing by me. Thank you for your cooperation.
                                                                        
That is a tribute to our crucified Christ. Now we can get to the post for today. I used the image "Crown of Thorns" from Our Daily Bread. I used the larger single image since I am generating my sentiment in Microsoft Word. Here is the image colored. The images were all processed in PhotoImpact software. 

The image was colored using Copics. The colors are: Skin E11, E41, E31, RV000, Ro1, V20, BV01, BV11, R46 - Hair E57, E59 - Crown E49 - Eyes E57. I fussy cut the round circle with the colored image to 2 7/8" in diameter. I the colored the background halo with Copic Y000. Next I took a photograph of lightening from and unknown origin that I had on my computer. (I know it was free and no copyrights or restrictions or it would not be on my computer. I am anal about that sort of thing.) I cut it to 4" X 4", scanned it and inserted into a word document. I set the word document size to 4 1/8" wide X 5 5/8" high, added the sentiment then printed it on card stock. Now it gets tricky.

 I took the Image and affixed it to the lightening image with Express IT tape being very careful to keep the image aligned vertically. Instead  of Velum I used 3M CG3460 overhead projection transparency film. This film has one side that is textured for ink jet printers. I scanned the partially finished card and flipped the image horizontally in Impact pro. I then imported it into another word word document and sized it to the EXACT measurements of the original. This is the critical step. The film now looks like this. 

If this is done correctly everything will match up. The next thing is to fasten a sheet of card stock to the film with the rough side facing away from the card stock. This is done so the printer can see there is something there to print on and tohelp keep the film from sliding out of position. I printed the image onto the transparency and put it over the image to see if it all matches up. Actually it took 4 tries before it was sized properly. I then cut it to the size of the base image.The  transparency must be flipped horizontally to do this. It now looks like this.

I cut Express IT tape in half and used it to affix the the two halves together VERY carefully. Everything must match up perfectly. Before finishing the last side I put a few small dabs of glue along the dividing line between the picture and sentiment to keep them together and flat. The two pieces must be as one to have the effect desired. To finish the card I took some of the grungiest 3/8" brown ribbon I could find and fastened and trimmed it with  Express IT tape. I also put one strip of the ribbon over the dots of liquid glue to hide them. The result is a card that is brighter and 3D in many ways. The eyes will follow you when you move the card. Cool and eery at the same time. This is the end result.

The borders were meant to look like aged wood. I think they do. I made sure the bruises and precious  blood are part of this because He bore them for us. This image was done with frequent breaks. It is hard to color through tears. There was much hesitation about doing this card. It was a labor of love and an emotional experience as well. I am not sure I could do it again with this image. I hope you like it. It really does not look like it does in person. Thank you for stopping. Have a HAPPY EASTER and LOVE THE DETAILS.


 

April 16, 2014 Strength

I love you, O Lord, My strength.   Psalms 18

 

 Since this is the post before my Easter post I will keep it short. For us as Christians this is a joyous time of the year. The fact that Christ went though a great deal of mental anguish and struggled with his fate should give us strength and courage to face what we must. He did have a choice, as we do, to do God's will and receive the ultimate reward or not. Our trials are the building of our strength and of our resolve to follow Him. His call to us is no different than that which he faced. Our walk is in faith just as His was. His love for us is our strength to go forward and the shield that goes before us to protect and preserve us in all that we must face. What is required? 1 John 4:7-10 "My dear friends, let us love one another, since love is from God and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. Whoever fails to love does not know God, because God is love. This is the revelation of God’s love for us, that God sent his only Son into the world that we might have life through him."
The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (1 Jn 4:7–9). New York: Doubleday.

Had He chosen to do other than the Father's will we would have no hope. 

 That brings us to the card for today's post.

This was the first aperture card for me. The card itself is a 4 1/4" X 5" card. I cut a 1 5/8" hole in the upper left hand corner with Martha Stewart's Circle Cutter. I cut a matching disk from Glitzy Glitter Premium pack paper. I also punched an edging strip 3/4" wide with the Martha Stewart Swirling Lace edge punch that was part of a goody package from Grace at Th-INK-ing of You. I trimmed 1/2" from the right edge then used 1/4" Express IT tape to attach the swirling lace edge to the card. The same tape was used to fasten the disk inside the card and within the circle as shown.

A cross from Memory Big Ideas which has its own foam adhesive backing was place in the center of the disk so that when the card is closed it will look like this.

The ivy was stamped around the window using Rubber Tapestry Stamps to add interest. The image is from Our Daily Bread, "Children of God", and was colored with Copics. The colors used are E57, E59, C2, B16, B18, E11, E41, RV0000, E84, W1, W4 and E77. The image was fussy cut and attached to the card using small foam glue dots. This provided a low profile dimension to the image.

Originally I stamped a sentiment with an Our Daily Bread sentiment but it did not fit the card at all. We have few sentiment stamps of the proper size and configuration. The sentiment is computer generated in Microsoft Word.  It reflects the passage in the comments section of this post. I included an alpha symbol on top and an omega symbol on the bottom to help cover the stamped sentiment underneath. The symbols are also appropriate in that  they represent the beginning and the end.

That is it everybody. Just one card today. Friday I will post my special creation for the Easter weekend. It is done and it was a challenge. It does not look as good in photographs but I is striking. I will see you then....Hold on.... How can I see you when you aren't here? We will talk then? We will share then? Oh well! I will be there. Hope you visit and comment. Until then Do like I do and LOVE THE DETAILS.

April 9, 2014 Prayer

Pray as a child, with purity of heart.

Today there is no pretty picture and saying. But I would like to address prayer and what scripture says about it. Prayer is our personal bridge to Christ and God our Father. The perfect prayer is looking to heaven with a glad heart. No words needed. Silence before Him is most precious to Him. That means not thinking of the days activities, what you are going to pray about but SILENCE mentally, physically and if possible, emotionally. My favorite passage for this is 1 Kings 19:9-13. The whisper of the voice of God is not heard unless you are quiet in your heart and mind. Listening is also part of the perfect prayer. Prayer should not be long and wordy but short and precise. Matthew 6:7-8 Says this explicitly. The Lord's prayer that follows is very precise, not one wasted or confusing word. If you have ever listened to a child pray you will see these things being practiced. It is just one of the reasons these next two images are special to me. Both images are from Our Daily Bread.

I am not completely happy with either card  but the did turn out OK.  I wanted to do something much different but did not have everything needed.
The only paper things not hand cut using an x-acto knife were the die and the tag. I used Tombo Mono Multi glue to fasten the die cut to the dark blue background paper base and used double sided tape to fasten it to the white card stock.
I created the sentiment in a photo editing program. Used narrow double sided tape to attach it to the back of the tag. used the same tape to fasten the tag to the Dark Blue base card.
The stamp (in case you missed it) Praying boy by OUR DAILY BREAD.

Goodie List

Image: "Praying Boy" from Our Daily Bread.

Copic Colors: Hair: E31,E35,E37
                          Skin: R00, Rooo, R0000, RV0000
                          Jammies: B02, C2
                          Ground: E33      Grass: YG17
 Other items are : Holographic peel offs, Chain  peel offs
 Glue: Tombo Mono Multi Use Glue
 The dies used were Spellbinders A2 Filigree Delight and
 Back to basics Tags.

The next image is also from Our Daily Bread. It is titled Praying Girl. I was originally going to use the sentiment "Bless My Mommy and Daddy" but there just wasn't enough room for it.. 

On this card I only cut the center hole for the image with the x-acto knife. The procedure is much the same as the "Praying Boy" card. The glue and tape are the same. The bow and roses were fastened with the Tombo glue. The two corner die cuts were given to us by a friend so I have no idea what die they were made with. They were also fastened with the Tombo glue. The only peel offs are on the left fold edge.

Goodie List

Image: "Praying Girl" from Our Daily Bread

Copic Colors: Hair E31, E35, E37

                          Skin R00, R000, R0000, RV0000

                          Nightie RV21

                          Ground E33

                          Grass YG17

Dies: Spellbinders Decorative Labels 8

Roses: Boutique Fleur

Tombo Mono Multi Glue

Well, that will do it for a few days. I have three more cards to do and one of them will not be easy if I can do it at all (At least the way I want to do it). I may do a post this weekend but that is going to depend on how the next two go. It is now time for the good, the bad and the ugly. POST time. No matter what I will always LOVE THE DETAIL.

April 2, 2014 Wisdom

Wisdom cannot be taught but is a gift of inner sight.
 
 Have you ever heard the phrase "out of the mouth of babes?" I know you have and it is interesting to note that little nugget of wisdom or truth came from somewhere that was, almost always not taught. So where did it come from? Pure innocence and a God given sense of what is or should be. Some wisdom can be gained through life experiences but often it is the result of seeing everything though a loving heart. In the last post knowledge was one of the things Solomon asked God to give him. Without Wisdom that knowledge was useless. Because he asked for both God gave him everything else he could have asked for. Psalms 2:10-15 "When wisdom comes into your heart and knowledge fills your soul with delight, then prudence will be there to watch over you, and understanding will be your guardian to keep you from the way that is evil, from those whose speech is deceitful, from those who leave the paths of honesty to walk the roads of darkness: those who find their joy in doing wrong, and their delight in deceitfulness, whose tracks are twisted, and the paths that they tread crooked."
The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Pr 2:10–15). New York: Doubleday.
One of THE favorite places for me as far as gorgeous images is a place in Finland called Imagine and Do. This is the final time I will share this image on my blog. It is the image that captured my interest and, in a way, my heart. Look into those eyes and you will know why.

 

The eyes in this artist's images just blow me away. There are very soft suggestions where the shadowing should be but not so much that you can't do otherwise. This image could easily be made into a true portrait. I was so taken with the images from this artist that I insisted that I make the card.

 There were extra braids and other embellishments included in the package. I colored and used the braids to frame the image. I am not very versed in the terminology for the items used to do the card but I did make the image large enough for you to see everything. This was one of my very first images on my very first post.

Next we are going to share a Thomas Kinkade image. This one is Fly Fisherman. A rather small but still demanding image. This is from Cornish Heritage Farms. Not sure if this one is still available but the above link is the place to look. The line of stamps is still getting larger.

My DW at Ribbon Challenged is good at doing cards and the card for this image is a nice "guy" card.

Hope you enjoyed your visit and will consider popping by again. Next week and the following week I am going to step out of my comfort zone and attempt to create a few cards. That should be good for a laugh if nothing else. Both weeks I will be featuring Our Daily Bread stamps. Now it gets real interesting, huh? Until then ...... LOVE THE DETAILS.