Fear

Aaron Paquette painting: Ready For Ceremony aaronpaquette.net
Blog: http://www.aaronpaquette.net/?page_id=440
After researching and finding the image to be a painting for sale it has been removed to keep from copyright and intellectual rights infringements. I have included the page where the painting, Compassion Warrior, can be found so you can appreciate the artist and his work.

Quote from the above mentioned painting:

"I won't fight You,

But I will get educated

Honour the old ways

And walk the good path

I won't fight you, but I WILL

overcome your fear with deep

compassion.

I AM A WARRIOR

The native Americans are very spiritual. The words on the painting mentioned above are appropriate for many reasons. It is usually caused by the unknown but sometimes by the known. Being a Christian does not alleviate fear but at the very least should temper our resolve to stand up to it. We are believers of the the unseen and the mysteries of our God.  Jesus said to him: "You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." (The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Jn 20:29). New York: Doubleday.) These words have imprinted themselves on my very being. Many of those around us have questioned and even turned their face away from the God that created us for no more than the inability to touch some material object or the inability to physically hear a voice talking to them. I for one would find it frightening to hear a voice booming from apparently nowhere. What makes our God so amazing and real is His ability to talk to us through His spirit to our spirit. It is often mistaken for our own thoughts or conscience when it is the soft voice of the spirit guiding our way along the path we travel in life. Why a warrior? The fact that voice is heard and recognized at all creates the willingness to respond to it and face the unknown. To do that without compassion would be impossible for most, including me. Deep compassion will overcome any fear even unto death. A warrior does not hesitate to give all. This blog exists because of that small voice. Talking about God openly is scary when you are basically shy and retiring. It has also lead to a prayer ministry. Commitment? Very definitely. Worth it? Only God can ultimately answer that but personally YES. Are you a warrior? If you believe in Jesus and God then you are a warrior in some capacity.  If you are insulted for bearing Christ’s name, blessed are you, for on you rests the Spirit of God,   the Spirit of glory. (The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (1 Pe 4:14). New York: Doubleday.) There is nothing special about me other than a willingness to step out and declare the word and to pray for every soul no matter their belief. I am a WARRIOR. 

It is time now for getting out the spotlight and shining some light on some very special people. All of YOU. You may not be following me but that does not mean I am not following you to some extent. I do apologize for not commenting much of late. Several things have taken up most of my time preparing for scheduled things coming up. There is still much to do but they are coming to the point where I can visit more often. I will visit anyone who comments no matter what the schedule here might be and comment on your blog.

Judy (aka Princess Judy). Yep, you read that right. Says so on her blog name so it is right. Judy is a very talented and funny blogger who loves cats. Her Kitties even moderate for her when she is busy. Quite entertaining. If you visit and are not smiling when you leave it's your fault not hers. Be sure to drop a comment before you leave.

Dawn. I follow Dawn on ODBD and love her designs and the way she uses them in card making. Her choice of colors is often striking. Her coloring is beautiful as you will see. Love her cards. Leave a comment before you leave. She appreciates it.

Charlene. (Char) Char does some pretty and unique cards that I enjoy visiting to see. Visit often and maybe follow her if you like what you see. She has a 1 year old granddaughter that is her pride and joy. I am sure you will see a few of the pictures from time to time. Char loves when you leave comments.

I had a birthday recently and would like to share two cards I received. The first one is from my dear wife Jill. These cards are always special.

I am just a bit biased because it is from Jill but can you blame me? Thank you sweetheart. Love the card.

The next card is from a special friend, Em from Creative EM. Love the scene she chose to do the card with. Excellent coloring too.

Thank you so very much Em. The card is beautiful.

That is it for today. I will try to visit whomever I can in the near future. Thanks for visiting and remember to always LOVE THE DETAILS.


   

Just a Quick Post

Today was a solemn memorial to the tragedy of 9-11. It was a day of tribute to the brave as well as a day of remembrance of the innocent victims. For this reason this will be a very short post with little rhetoric, no shout outs, just a card and the images used. 

The stencil I used is a new and unused 12" X 12" size. After tracing it I reduced it to card size, slightly over 4" X 5". 

The image was trimmed and mounted on a piece of paper from my stash that was left over. Those were mounted on a piece of burgandy card stock, also from my stash. Six gems from Crystal Stickers were added, three in the upper left and three in the lower right corners. This is the result. 

Copic Colors

Eyes: E44, E13, T7

Hair: W7, W5, W3, W1, Black 0.05 Multiliner

Skin & Lips: E000, E00, E01, E21, E53, RV00

Feathers: 100, BG57, BG02, Lt Gray 0.05 Multiliner 

Leather: E35, E39

Flowers: V09, V15, BV02, E42, Y17, G17, G03, G05

Head Band: R46, E04

The inside of the card is a Native American Prayer. I am not sure where the feather is from but this particular one may have been from a happy package. Sorry I put things like this in a general baggie since my storage space is very limited.

I also created a negative image of the tracing that I think is really cool. I would like to enter this in Darnell's Challenge. (There is a typo in the sentiment that I will correct later.Word should be world.)

NBUS Challenge

That is it. Hope you like the results. Remember..to..Love The Details.

Living Life

Living life is a journey extraordinaire through time and eternity. - A quote from my book

The journey through life takes untold twists and turns. In some ways it is good we cannot plot a path that is without any trials or pit falls, broken promises, disappointments or any other downside to the journey. Without them there would be no way to recognize the joys and pleasures we encounter. Surprises would not be known if all were smooth and even. Our joy would not be great if our sorrows were not deep. All things have a price that requires us to experience the opposites of everything in life, to know the depth of their experience. Sometimes we tell ourselves we can avoid those hard times. Often it is only avoiding what will inevitably be. Sometimes we dive into something because it is what we want and not what would be. What our lives are can only be controlled in part but we can live each day and be thankful we have it at all. Life not savored for the moment is not lived fully. Living for dreams we do not have, in fact may never have, is folly. The most wonderful times are the moments lived as they occur. They are precious. They will not come again in exactly the same way ever again.

Before we can begin the journey we must recognize that Jesus knocked first and invited you to join him and share your journey with him. If you accept, all you need to do is knock and he will answer, ask and you will receive. (New International Version. (1984). (Mt 7:7–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.) It is not a guarantee of no hard knocks but a promise of life to its fullest.

It is time for a few of the people I follow. I have been lax in visiting of late but I want to recognize a few of those that I do visit when I can. Please leave a little love with a comment if you visit.

Annette is from Sweden and quite an excellent card creator. Her coloring is exceptional and her cards are very artistic and well done. Be sure to look at her previous cards to get some idea of how talented she is. Her skills are considerable.

Valerie is an artist in every sense of the word. Many of her pieces are her own work, not just stamps or stencils. To top that off she is also a very good photographer. I enjoy seeing all of her work and sharing. I think you will as well.

Janis is a cat lover from the western U.S. She has a good sense of humor and is a great card creator. She is out where all of the fires are right now and I am sure she will appreciate a visit and a whole bunch of encouragement. You will like seeing her cards and her photography.

All I can say at this time is Hooraaay. The painting is DONE.  I gave up trying to keep track of the hours this thing took. NO I will not be promising to finish another one of these. The detail in this is not readily apparent in the finished work but most of it was done through a magnifying glass. Here it is in all of its weary completeness.

            
Here are a few close up views of the detail work. The fine work is not as visible as I would like since some of the colors were so close to matching they gave me fits.

             

The canvas is 20" X 16". That makes some of the detail on it VERY small. Straight lines at my age are very difficult so there aren't many to be found. LOL. Was it worth it? You decide.

One more thing to share. Jill and I passed our 52nd wedding anniversary the end of last month. This is what I gave her as a rememberance.

This is the saying:

The tree has a carving in it. Here it is.

I hope you enjoyed your visit. My days are full and so is my heart. Your are all ever in my heart and in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you so much for your visit and my God bless you all.

Remember to always Love The Details.