It Ain't No Ordinary Love.

It's EXTRAORDINARY love.

Our identity is in Christ and not in men or approval from others.  What we know on Earth as "love" does not even compare to what true love, the love our God has for us.  We try to describe it in ways we can understand, like Agape love, which by it's very definition is unconditional.  His love covers our flaws and sees past our mistakes.  We truly cannot understand His love for us, because we have nothing to compare it to here on Earth.  That kind of love does not exist apart from Him.  

Your identity is in Christ, in God's Agape Love.  There is nothing on Earth you would rather your identity be associated with.  Trust me.  

Merry Christmas!!!

Hi all!!  I just wanted to drop in and wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!

And here's a few Christmas cards too.  :)  You know, you still have time to make a few last minute cards if you need to.  ;)

To find out more about these cards, all using Fancy Pants and Scor-Pal, go here to the special blog hop post on the Fancy Pants blog.

Well, once again, Merry Christmas!!!!!!

On My Playlist

Back with another installment of On My Playlist. :)

We sing this first one at church a lot and I LOVE it!!!!

Inside Out sung by Hillsong United

A thousand times I've failed

Still your mercy remains

And should I stumble again

Still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart and my soul, I give You control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise, become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains

The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart, my soul, Lord I give you control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

My Soul cries out to You

My Soul cries out to You

to You, to You

My heart, my soul, Lord I give you control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

From the inside out, O my soul cries out.

Thoughts and a Layout

Hi everyone!  It's been an emotionally draining week so far, with the recent events and the constant news stories.   It's scary, and so incredibly sad.  I am having a hard time dealing with it all, as we all should be, and I wasn't even affected personally (meaning I wasn't there and didn't know anybody there).   I just don't know how much more of these "events" this world can take.   It's hard not to get consumed by fear.  But I remind myself that a life of fear is not the kind of life I want.  I know that there is more good in this world than bad.  And I am not going to cower to the evil of this world, because that's what we do when we live in fear.

But I am praying for each and every person affected by the shooting in Connecticut.  My heart goes out to you all!  Just think about how many prayers are going up right now, and how many people are stepping up in support...it's a pretty powerful picture.  

So I was able to make a layout for my sketch 228a.  There is still time for you to play along with the challenge for a cool prize.  And there's only two entries so far, so more chance of winning.  ;)

Here's my layout:

I used the fun Blissful Blizzard collection from Fancy Pants.

I really like how this layout turned out.  It's different.  And I love playing with shapes so I had fun with the triangles.  I just cut 4" squares then cut diagonally to create 4 triangles from each square.  I had some left over that I will probably use on a card.  :)

Here are some close up's:

Well I hope you have a fantastic day!  

Please join me in lifting up those affected by the shootings in Connecticut.

Just Be.

So I thought I would pop in and share another canvas I made.  I was working on it the same time as the one I posted yesterday.  But this one I really like.  :)  

The funny thing is, my husband and son don't like it much.  They like the one I posted yesterday way more.  It just proves that art is subjective.  People have different tastes and opinions.  And that is ok!!  :)

Well I will be back on Monday with a new layout.  Yes, a layout.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Choose Love Now

Hi everyone!  I have something new to share with you.  It's a canvas I made.

To be honest, I am not completely happy with this one.  But I am setting it aside and calling it finished. I just want to start something new.  :)

And I am sharing some quick digital art with you too...go ahead and grab it and use as you like.  :)

Click on either of the images to view larger and then right click to save.  :) If that doesn't work, just let me know.  I can always email them to you if you request it.

And I would LOVE to see what you create using these, so please do share!!!  :)

Thanks for stopping in today!!!!

My Story and Testimony

I grew up in the church.  I grew up going to church camp, retreats, bible quizzing and classes.  These things were normal to me.  I learned who God was and what Christ did.  So I can't share that one moment with you when I became a Christian.  I have had many moments though where I encountered God in a way that changed my life.  In fact calling out to God (in panic, defeat, surrender) is sometimes a daily activity around here.

I was a good kid.  Didn't do much wrong.  Until my senior year in high school where I did start to party some.  But even at that time, when it may have seemed to others that I was questioning God, I still knew without a doubt that God was real.  I just knew.  I didn't let Him direct my life, but I always knew He was there, waiting on me.

I can distinctly remember a time in college when I was feeling alone and overwhelmed.  I sat outside in the dark and just cried and prayed.  I asked God for me to feel His presence, and it blew me away--what I felt and experienced.  He was there.  I couldn't deny it.  I still remember it as the day God hugged me.  It may sound silly, but I just felt surrounded by His love.

Those type of encounters happened throughout college.  I lived the typical life.  I got in trouble some.  I messed up often.  I tried.  I failed.  I cried.  I prayed.   I had good Christian friends.  I married a Christian guy.  I kinda think of my college as a typical experience at a Christian college.  Not too much trouble, but there was definitely trouble.

After college, life grew more serious.  We made sure we found a church for us to raise our own family in.  I was walking more of a daily life with God.  I did my best to pray daily, do Bible studies, tithe and be a good Christian.  I started leading Bible studies at my church and I grew more than ever from that.  I felt close to God.  Of course, I was not perfect.  I made a ton of mistakes.  There were times when I was better at "being a Christian" and there were times when I didn't include God in my life as much as I should have.

A couple of years ago, my world was rocked with scandal, disappointment, fear, and failure.  My life literally fell apart.  It was the lowest time of my life.  My one constant was God.  Everything in my life kinda just fell away and seemed less important.  All I could see was the dark world surrounding me.  I know I am not sharing much detail with you about what happened.  I hope to be able to share specifics sometime in the future.  Not that I really want to put it all out there on the internet, but I do know that God can and will use the specifics of my story to reach others.  But right now, I just can't do that.  It is so hard for me to talk about it...to even think about it.  I need to feel safer before I can do that.  Anyways....my point is, that during the last few years, the only thing I could do to survive was to depend on God.  I spent more time in prayer and the Bible, but it wasn't because I was trying to be a good Christian, or because I was marking it off a to-do list.  It was because I NEEDED to.   I am still in that place...of utter dependance on Him.  But as awful as things have been...I feel so incredibly blessed to have this relationship with God.  I feel blessed to have experienced His power and His love.

I am an emotional person and I connect to God in a way I can't do with people.  Sometimes I feel He is all I really have.  I don't want to go back to being a "normal" or "typical" Christian.  I don't even know that I care what the world thinks...it's just me and Him.  And I am taking my family along for the ride...especially my kids.  I want them to know God like I know Him.

Happy Glasses

Hi everyone!!!  Hope you are having a great December so far.  :)  We've been keeping busy, lots to do and lots on the calendar.   But I do love this time of year.  I am one of those people that LOVES Christmas!  I love the music, the movies, the spirit, the gift-buying and the reason we celebrate.  I'm still hoping to make a few more presents too.  I'll share them if I do.

But for now I have a layout to share with you.

Everything is from Fancy Pants, with a focus on the Artist Edition collection.  I really LOVE those Stencil cards.  To read more about my layout and to find out how I created the background, go here to the December Fancy Pants Newsletter.  If you are not already signed up for it...you should do that while you are there!  ;)

Here are the close up's of my layout:

I think he looks so handsome in his glasses...don't you?

Well thanks for stopping in today!

Have a fantastic day!!

Love 101

Today I am sharing a canvas that I made using the new Love Note collection from Fancy Pants Designs.  I think I am going to use it as a gift for Christmas.

This is one of my favorite quotes.  It's simple, yet really an amazing, life-changing concept.  I have it up on my own wall.

I cut a bunch of triangles from patterned paper and adhered them to my canvas.  Then I added white paint and white gesso to dull the papers and create a border and platform for my quote.  I love the messy stacked hearts.  The whole thing is a bit messy, which is quite fitting since love is too.

Here are some close up's of my canvas:

Thanks so much for stopping in today!!!

Have a FANTASTIC day!!

Need Snow, Will Shovel.

Well I am a little behind on sharing some projects so I want to share one with you today.

So it is so dry and warm around here for this time of the year.  It just doesn't feel like December here in Colorado.  But we did get a little bit of snow in October, and I wanted to make a layout using the fun Blissful Blizzard collection from Fancy Pants.  Here it is:

I used the tape stickers for that fun snowman in the background. I simply took scissors and cut a snowman on the sheet.  Then peeled off each piece and laid it on my layout.  And of course, because it's me, I added stitching around it.

Here are some close up's of my layout:

I really had fun with this collection.  I just love that silhouette of the kids on the sled.  :)

Well thanks so much for stopping in today!!!

Have a wonderful day!

Journaling Prompts Tuesday

• Traditions.  This is the time of year for traditions, tell us about yours. (Don't just think Christmas day, for example, we always drive around looking at Christmas lights the week before.)  What traditions have you kept from your own childhood?  What traditions have died out? Or is there a new tradition you want to start?
• What is the meaning of Christmas?  Why do you celebrate?  Don't be afraid to include your faith in your scrapbooks.
• How do you decorate (both inside and outside)?
• When does the Christmas music start?
• When does the tree go up?
• Who has the most Christmas spirit in the family?  Do you have a family grinch?
• How has your celebrations changed over the year?
• Do you enjoy this time of year or is it just too busy and product heavy?
• Who do you celebrate with?
• What's the best part of Christmas?  Answer this yourself or try asking family members and recording it.
• What's the worst part of Christmas?  Answer this yourself or try asking family members and recording it.
• What parties are you going to this year?  Do you host one?
• Do you always visit Santa?  How about comparing Santa pics or letters over the years.
• Do you do the elf on the shelf? Make a collage of pictures of your elf.
• Do you take Christmas pictures every year?  Once again, you could compare them from over the years.
• Do you mail out Christmas cards or letters?
• Create a "signs of Christmas" layout, with pictures around your home or city that indicate it's Christmas time.  
• Who wraps the gifts?  What other roles are played at Christmas time?
• How do you do gifts?  Does everyone get one from each person or do you draw names?
• Do you travel or stay home?
• Handmade Christmas...what have you made yourself?
• If you have multiple celebrations, compare them.  (For example, we celebrate with my in-laws and also with my parents.  One is controlled and "in order": one person opening a gift at a time, clean up after each gift, etc. while the other is just complete exciting chaos.)  
• Do you make a big meal?  Is it always the same or do you change it up?  Try including recipes.
• If you have a busy calendar this December, scrap it to show just how busy you were.  
• How do you keep the focus on what is really important this time of year?
• Don't just stop at taking pictures of people opening gifts...take pictures of the mess afterwards.  :)
• Do you dress up or keep it casual?
• Do you clear out the old to make room for the new?
• How does your city celebrate?  What does it look like?  
• Is there snow on the ground and does it look like what you typically think it should for Christmas or maybe it's a non-traditional beach Christmas.  
• Do you do cookie exchanges?  (Those are some fun photos!)
• After the kids have their Christmas breaks, are they ready to go back to school or dreading it?
• Does this time of year make you miss someone special?
• What's something you need to remind yourself or someone else every year?  (i.e. Keep it simple, focus on what matters, we are blessed, we can't have/do it all, etc.)
• Share some Christmas memories from your childhood.  
• What are the colors of Christmas?  
• What are the smells of Christmas? 
• What are the tastes of Christmas?
• What are the sounds of Christmas?
• What are the feelings of Christmas?
• Create a list of gifts given or received and scrapbook it.
• What happens after the celebrations are over?  Do you crash? Do you return/exchange gifts to the store or maybe shop for what you didn't receive?  
• What Christmas movies do you see every year?  Is it just you or does the whole family watch them?  
• Do your kids believe in Santa?  If not, did you tell them or is it because of something else?
• If money was no object, what would you want to receive or give this year?
• Are you an angel-topper or a star-topper (tree).
• Real or artificial tree.  Why?
• What would make this Christmas the best ever?
• What are your "firsts" this Christmas?  We are great at scrapbooking our firsts for babies, but it stops when they grow up.  But we are still experiencing firsts, did you have any firsts this Christmas?

As always, shout it out if you have more suggestions and I will add them to the list!!!

Thanks for stopping by!  

And have a fabulous day!

Sketch 228 Challenge

Hi everyone!  It's time for another sketch challenge.  I've decided to do only one sketch this month, simply because December is already really busy for most of us.  So you have more time to complete this one.  ;)

If you are new to my sketches, here's how it works:

I essentially create three versions of one sketch each time. There will be one 12x12 scrapbook sketch, one double page sketch (12x24), and one card sketch (A4). This makes it easier for all types of crafters to participate. :)

Of course, there will be prizes.

So for today's sketches, it's all about triangles:

Sketch 228a -- 12x12 layout

Sketch 228b -- Two Page Layout

Sketch 228c -- Card (A4)

And now for the prize up for grabs...

THE RULES:

*  Your project must be newly made for this challenge, and then linked below.

*  You can use the sketches for any type of project, not just scrapbook pages or cards.

*  Please post which sketch you used with your project.

*  Feel free to combine with other challenges.  :)

*  You can enter as many times as you like.  

AND FOR BONUS ENTRIES:

*  Check out my sketchbook here.  Pick a favorite sketch and use it for an additional project.  You can do this as many times as you'd like.  These must be newly made for this challenge too.  

DEADLINE IS MONDAY, DEC 31ST.  

I hope you play along!!  :)  

And who wants to know who won the last challenge?  

The winner is...

Congratulations Beatrice!!!  Send me your address to pamelacy@msn.com and I will get your goodies mailed out to you!  :)

And thanks again to everyone who played along!  

I hope you have a fantastic day!!!

LINK UP HERE!!!

Journaling Prompts Tuesday

• How do you celebrate Thanksgiving?  What are the traditions involved?  Also think of things like football, watching the parade, games, etc, not just food.
• Create a list of what you are thankful for.  
• Have each member of the family write down what they are most thankful for.  
• If you have participated in "Attitude of Gratitude" or "30 Days of Thankfulness" posts on Facebook, make a layout using your posts (see my examples here).  
• Who's house do you hold the festivities at?  If it rotates, make a list of the past several years and where it was held.
• Take a picture of each food dish on the table.  If they were made by different people, make a tag with the name of who made it to go with the picture.  
• Take a picture of the guests.  Is it different every year or the same?
• Take a picture of the decorations. 
• Tasks: who does what?
• Take before and after pictures of the cooking process (thinking of the mess involved).  
• Take pictures of the guests after the big meal?  Are they napping, lounging, cleaning, etc?  Tell us what happens afterwards.  
• Do you have memories of Thanksgivings past?  Share or compare.
• Document times.  What time did you start the cooking?  What time did you eat?  Finish?
• Where did you get ideas for dishes, decor, etc?  If from a magazine or website, print and include in a page about your Thanksgiving inspiration. 
• Do you dress up for Thanksgiving or keep it casual?
• What's the conversation like around the dinner table?  Do you have to stay away from certain topics (like politics) or does anything go?  Or perhaps it's pretty quiet because everyone is chowing down?
• Do you just have one big meal for the day or do you still have 3 meals? 
• How many days of leftovers?  :)
• Scrap those recipes.  Is there any history behind them?
• Did you travel?  Tell of your journey.
• Do you break the wishbone?  Who always wins?  Who "won" this year?  
• Do a "signs of Thanksgiving Day" page.
• What about your own festivities and traditions is different than most people you know?
• If you always go to someone else's house, would you want to host the festivities?  What would it be like at your house?  Or are you grateful you don't have to host?
• If you play games together, what do you play?  Document who wins?  Who is the most competitive?  Who is the silliest?
• Create Thanksgiving trivia with blanks missing and have your kids/family try to fill them out.  It can be a fun (and funny) activity for Thanksgiving, but it also can be great to scrapbook!  :)
• If you have a lot of guests, bring small pieces of paper (think shapes) or fabric (for a fun twist) and have them all sign a piece as they come.  Arrange them on a page.  You could have them expand this and write what they are thankful for and then sign it.
• If you were rating this Thanksgiving what would it get?  Best ever or room for improvement?
• Sometimes the "mistakes" and mishaps of the day are the best memories.  Don't be afraid to include those in your pages.  You can look back later and laugh.  

Shout it out if you have more suggestions and I will add them to the list!!!

Thanks for stopping by!  

And have a fabulous day!

Attitude of Gratitude

For several years now, every November, I have been posting "Attitude of Gratitude" posts every day on Facebook.  Basically I just post something I am thankful for each day.  There are lots of people playing along.  If you haven't started, it's not too late!  ;)

Well for the past three years I have also used my Attitude of Gratitude posts and made a layout with them.  It's fun, and I love looking back at them.  You can see my past Attitude of Gratitude layouts here.  This time I decided to make a 2 page layout to fit it all in better.  The Facebook posts are from last year.

I used the wonderful Hopscotch collection from Fancy Pants.  It is hands down one of my favorites.

Here's my layout:

I really love how it turned out.

Here's how I made it:

1.  I printed off my Facebook posts.  I actually did a screen print and essentially saved a photo of my computer screen for each of my posts and then opened them in Photoshop.  But you could just copy and paste your posts into a document.  Or you could even just print your full Facebook screen and cut the parts out you want.  

2.  I created a base for my layout.

I didn't have enough full sheets, so as you can see from one the picture, I had one sheet that already had a leaf cut out of it and also had to piece together one side of the blue polka dot papers.  No big deal.  :)

3.  I took a craft knife and cut out each of my posts, leaving a tail to make it look like a word bubble.  You can always use scissors or a trimmer and just cut it out normally.  I've said this before, but don'w worry about being perfect!  You can see that mine are not cut out perfectly at all.

4.  I already had an idea in my head oh how I wanted my layout to turn out, so I arranged my Facebook posts and adhered them down.

5.  I cut strips of patterned paper and laid adhered them to my layout.  I made sure to extend them across each page of my layout because I love the way that looks.

6.  Then I added my photo, my title, some leaves and some buttons.  For my title I cut down slightly the negative parts of the numbers and adhered them first.  Then I took the numbers and put them on top, but popped them up.  I really like the cool look it gives the title.

And here are some close up's of my layout:

Well there you have it.  :)

Thanks so much for stopping in today!!!

Have a fantastic day!