October 26, 2014 Birthday Wishes

Birthdays are looked forward to when we are young but as we age the allure fades.

Isn't it funny how when we are young we look so much forward to a birthday. The presents, the parties, the fun and all that goes with it to make a birthday special. As we age all that changes. Oh, it is still there through our teens and early 20s. But from there the allure fades as do the parties and celebrations. It would seem life takes over and dulls all of those things. But every so often a spark and a light shines on that special day. For whatever reason, friends get together and celebrate that day that is special to an individual. We tend to forget that without that special day the celebration would not exist. Therefore it should be a very special time.

  This is the day which Yahweh has made, a day for us to rejoice and be glad.

The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Ps 118:24). New York: Doubleday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHIRLEY

 This will be shown at Maria's Rieslingmama for Shirley B's Birthday bash. 

I am not used to creating specialized cards. As a general rule I do not have a lot of supplies that support that. So I had to get a little bit creative with this one. I am pleased with the results. As you can see, at first glance it is not traditional.

The imaged I used is from T AC which is no longer in business. It was colored with copics. That in itself is a shame because they had very nice images. The background paper is from the once upon a time Mat Stack. The ribbon and pin are from my stash. The doily trim is from Basic Gray, LLC and A white doily trim sticker from my stash. 

I could not find a sentiment I liked so I made my own in Word and printed it on a light blue card stock from my stash. I hope this is suitable for a birthday card. I am pleased with the way it turned out. I certainly hope you like it Shirley. 

Remember, always LOVE THE DETAILS.

October 23, 2014 The Gift of Giving

The gift of giving is presentation from the heart, transitioned through the Soul.

In recent months the journey in my life has taken some twists and turns that have brought to light the gift of giving and just how awesome and humbling it is. Truth and sincerity seen through eyes that are pure and devoted reaching out to offer self without any expectancy of return. Knowing that a piece of ones self is given and accepted with humility and thankfulness is awesome and at the same time humbling. It is proven in an act of kindness, a physical gift and especially presence in time of need. It often requires nothing more than that, your presence.

When my mother passed away I was standing at the door greeting those who were coming to pay their respects. A couple came through the door, one in a wheel chair and the other pushing her. I totally came unglued on seeing them. Her health was failing and her husband and family tried to talk her out of coming but she insisted on being there. I greeted her with tears in my eyes and she said I just had to be here and smiled. It wasn't too many months later she herself was called home to our father in heaven. It was a lesson never forgotten. That was almost 14 years ago. It was truly a gift from the heart and soul.     

Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life. I make my home in the house of Yahweh for all time to come.

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The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Ps 23:6). New York: Doubleday.

This post will be a fairly short one. I recently received the package from Maria. It was a very pleasant surprise. There were a lot of oo's and ah's when the package was opened with all the goodies in there. I just had to take some photos and share them with you. Here is a picture of all the things that were in the package.

I must say I was not expecting this. But it certainly came at a time when it is very much appreciated. Thank you Maria.

I'm going to try to post a very special card on Sunday. Until then, remember to LOVE THE DETAILS.

October 13, 2044 What Is In A Name

Inspiration can come from almost anywhere and often comes from surprising places. Since There was ZERO inspiration for this post, I decided to find out what the name James means. Surprising enough, James is a derivative of Jacob and Jacob means Supplant. In short, James does not mean anything on its own. That's a bummer. Being a derivative of Jacob, it means the same as Jacob. Jacob in Hebrew means "to take by the heal or supplant." This means: 

1) to supercede (another) especially by force or treachery.

That doesn't sound so nice does it? It certainly is not me.

2) To take the place of and serve as a substitute for, especially by reason of superior excellence or power.

Now that is more like it. LOL. That still is not me. There is another word that means basically the same thing but sounds much nicer. Successor.This means:


: a person who has a job, position, or title after someone else : someone who succeeds another person

Why all of the hoopla over a name? I couldn't think of anything else to write about. Since I was bored I just thought everyone else should be bored too. LOL. Actually there is a purpose behind this. Here are two biblical excerpts to explain my thoughts.

James 2:55  Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who were poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.

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The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Jas 2:5). New York: Doubleday.

How about that! I have my own book. Who says James has no meaning. LOL. Actually it is one of the books that I like the most. No, not because it has my name, but there are a lot of practical bits of wisdom therein.

Mt 7:7  ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. Everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened.'

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The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Mt 7:7–8). New York: Doubleday.

Now that I have your attention there is a new winners badge from Bibiana's Throwback Thursday challenge blog on my side bar. I was the second winner of her badge and a stencil. Thank you Bibiana. It is a great honor. Bibiana runs this challenge every other Thursday. It runs for two weeks at a time. I think it is great fun and if you would like to try, visit her blog. The challenge rules are halfway down the page.


I was originally going to put some eclipse pictures on here but the pictures are terrible. We had clouds interfering and I couldn't get totality due to trees. Sorry. A typical day for me right now. LOL

I have been working on the painting that I started some weeks ago. Since things had been so crazy around here I've been doing this painting at night. That of course means spending less time than I would like on it, however, I have gotten quite a bit done. Before we get to that, here are the colors used, both on their own and blended to get the extra colors needed. 

This meant spending many hours, evening mostly, to get something done. There are 11 colors here but at least 17 colors were used. Like I said before, This is not your grandfather's paint by numbers. This painting would not be attempted without a magnifier to see the small detail. Now for the painting.

There is a huge amount of small stuff in the landscape. There are decent sized areas to be done in the sky and sea but all else is magnifier work. The light house is close to done. There are still areas that need to be blended in the sky and one or two other areas. (SHH. I need to correct a few small boo boos too. Nothing major though. Nope! Not telling where they are. Just trying to be honest about it.)

The nice thing about the natural world is you do not need to worry about some things being messed up or not being exactly right. Nature, landscapes in particular, is fun to do for that reason. 

I will apologize now for the next few months. I will be very spotty in visiting your blogs to see your work and comment. There will be little time to spare between now and the end of December because of commitments in my life. Living has its ways of creating that kind of detour. I will respond and visit all who take the time to visit and comment. I will also accept any prayer requests and include them in my book of prayer requests. That is an absolute nightly thing for me. It is never skipped or set aside. Prayer requests are never shared unless requested to do so. For that kind of request there is a network of prayer warriors that can be called on. You can contact me for any requests here:

penholder562 at gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by and remember to LOVE THE DETAILS.