WONDERS

God provides us "wonders" to behold every day if we would just open our eyes, ears, hearts and lives to Him.

Today HE sent a beautiful, fresh, clean white blanket of snow to cover our area! HOW ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS it is! I just love it!

Many view "snow" as a horrible substance that they can not deal with and so they live south somewhere or if they can't move, they grumble and murmur a lot. I wonder if they "embrace" their days with the same negative attitude.

Today I was told by a medical professional that I project happiness and joy, that I smile a lot and he asked the reason for my happiness. I told him that I feel happy inside. I shared that I am a Christian and knowing Jesus gives me joy and a security that is found no where else.

I don't claim to have all the answers, or have a perfect life...far from it!. But I know that I KNOW that I KNOW my creator and that HE alone has saved me and has washed me white as snow and forgiven my sins. AND I wouldn't trade what I have with HIM for anything in this world. Thank you Lord for the wonders you provide everyday to enrich our lives and to confirm your presence.

COPICS

I have been hearing about Copic markers for about a year or so. My friend Barbara Hardeman was the first who shared what they were. And as I have added more and more blogs, Copics are just about the "only" marker used by most card makers and they always get rave reviews. I was not even sure where to get them because my local craft stores did not carry them until recently. I have learned that they were considered an "artist medium" and mainly used by animators and sold in "art stores" until they crossed over into crafts. They are pricey for one marker, running $6.50-6.95 each and there are (at this time) 325 colors. Some of those shades are greys (which can have blue undertones, pink undertones, green undertones and so on.) Greys are very important when trying to color an object and create shape on a flat surface. Copic markers are able to do that using the many shades of a color plus the greys for shadows. The image literally jumps off the page because it looks like the real thing, with reflected light.

So being the cautious "informed" shopper that I am (LOL), I took a class called Christmas Copics at my Apple Valley Archivers craft store. They just added the Copics to their shelves. I had a blast as usual and made four cards as usual, with three using the Copics. Copics are alcohol based and so will bleed through on the usual card stock. You need a light "hand" coloring with them and a heavy or different CS. The ink you stamp the image with needs to be of a certain type so that the markers don't run or you can "dry" your inked image using a heat gun, which is what we did. Some gals use Gina K card stock or Cryogen White from Eclectic Papery which doesn't bleed (I am told). Most gals use Momento ink with the Copics.

What I like about them is that they are guaranteed for three years, they have two tips which are replaceable, they can be reinked when needed if you buy the refills, and they color beautifully, and can be blended using the clear blender pen. The alcohol ink stays wet long enough when you put it on the card stock to be able to blend one color with another! One gal at the class said, "They spread like "buttah"!

They are sold in sets of 12, 36, 72 ( and maybe other combinations such as color groups, or seasonal groups, etc.), there are several kinds of Copic styles. I have found them as cheap as $4.89 each when you buy a set or more on line and usually have free shipping then too.

So someday, I hope to add these wonderful art "tools" to my equipment. I am planning how to store them so that they can be used easily. Each marker has a colored end to the cap, showing the shade and a number to identify the color. With so many, that will come in handy. The photos are of the three cards I made in class using the Copics and I hope my Santa makes you laugh! Enjoy

COLOR

What if we lived in a black and white world, devoid of color, and the variations color and light cause? DH said there is a good explanation of color or caloure in Wikipedia and I won't go into all of it. Please read it, as it is amazing how our eyes work and are able to see light frequencies and all of it works together to produce the phenomenon called "COLOR" that enriches every moment of everyday for those who have eyesight.

I am challenged to look around me at what all God has provided me to see daily. The beginning of our personal worship of our creator is having an attitude of "thanksgiving" continually. As I have seen the beauty in the changing leaf colors, it amazes me what a little cold temps can do to change the color of leaves over night almost. Autumn is an amazing time. Thank you Lord for the beauty you provide us to enrich everyday, for our amazing eyesight which does so much for our day and allows us to "see" what you are doing in the physical world. We are blessed beyond measure!

BLOG CANDY

Hey, all you card makers. Here is a wonderful collection of some really nice BLOG Candy found at this address HERE.

UNEXPECTED

I know it is trite, but it IS true...Life is what happens when we are expecting something else.

My pastor and his wife's oldest daughter, her husband and family had an unexpected passing of their 4th child ( 6th grand child). She was a full term still born delivery due to a cord problem. I felt so much sympathy for them as we also experienced a still birth at 5 1/2 months gestation of our first child 39 years ago. There are probably many others who have had similar experiences. We expect a living healthy baby, but God is the potter and we are the clay. Our children are his creation as are we. When things happen like this, we must look for the lesson He may be teaching us, for the change of direction in our life, for the difference we might make in another's life for having gone through such sad times. All things are meant for His Glory.

My sympathy card for them uses bright and cheerful colors. I used a Bazzill CS called Hopi, and then a little check paper from a pad called Itty Bitty Pads backgrounds in primary colors by Provo Craft. (A Michaels purchase a few years back.) The peach loop lace is a generic paper scrap punched with Martha Stewarts new loop punch. I ran a sheer white ribbon down the center if it, but did not put a bow as I thought it would look too "celebratory." The sympathy sentiment is from Paper Inspirations 2005, and is stamped with SU Really Rust on white generic CS, matted with Hopi and Saltillo rust Bazzill scraps. I punched all corners with my Creative Memories scalloped corner punch. I pop dotted the matted sentiment up as well as the little Hampton Art butterfly which I had stamped using the SU Really Rust and Summer Sun. I cut it out and raised the wings with small dimensional dots and added an orange jewel for the butterfly's head and added Glossy Accents to the wings.

I hope my sympathy card inspires you to reach out to someone in your life. There are lots of hurting people all around us if we but open our eyes and hearts. We are called to be ministers of His love and care.

LEAVES

(OOPS! I did this card thinking it was for C4C3 and it is for the C4C4 Challenge using Cindy Haffners layout. So mine will be out of order for a little while but HEY, I am just learning! Maybe my DH can help me figure out how to move it when I get C4C3 finished and posted. We figured it out and it is NOW in the right order. )

For C4C4, I decided to do something with leaves and fall colors. I went to my local JoAnns and Archivers and found two different papers with leaf prints. I picked the brighter one with yellows, reds, and orange.

My base card is white, with chocolate as my first mat. (I have to admit here that I am not a lover of brown...I don't wear it and don't use the color in my art very often. But this is the third card in a row where I have used brown and they all seem to require brown as a mat. So guess who has to go back to the store for more brown CS? : ) I then added a layer of Bazzill Imperial yellow that has a rough woven texture and used my corner rounder on the upper right corner only of the brown and yellow.

I took the leaf paper which was cut to fit over the mats and I tore off the upper right section, using the leaves as my line so that they would look natural and like they had just fallen onto the card. Because I always make two cards using the same design (one to keep and one to give), I realized with the second card the "hole" left when I tore away part of the leaves would be different from card to card. But they both are acceptable and I proceeded. I adhered the brown mat, the yellow mat and leaves to the base and then added a narrow strip of the Bazzill woven CS in a color called Roasted Pepper. (LOL, reading the names of the colors sometimes makes me hungry!) I used my Cropodile to punch a hole through the strip and other layers and added a brad from the new Basic Grey Indian Summer collection. It is a nice deep rust color. I had saved the torn out leaves and you may not see it too well but adhered them in the lower right corner. I took a little artistic liberty instead of making it square like the sketch from Cindy Haffner. With everything adhered to the base, I felt it needed something, and pulled out some fall colored eyelash yarn from Cello called Sensations that I picked up at Wal-Mart when they were cleaning house and discontinuing a bunch of craft items.

The saying is part of a stamp from Hero Arts and stamped in Momento black. I did not use the small leaves that were above and below the words on the stamp as I felt it detracted from the whole. The line near the saying is a stray fiber from the yarn. I didn't see it when I took the photo and I apologize for my camera skills. They are minimal at best. I have included a picture of my second card also so that you can see the subtle difference between. I believe in keeping cards simple, using the "negative space" design element to advantage and letting the paper give "direction" for what goes with it. I was a school teacher and did a lot of bulletin boards and posters in my day, and I feel leading the eye to the message or image is what my cards are trying to accomplish, not cluttering the card up so much that the eye doesn't know where to look first. I guess you can call this my "philosophy" of design.

Come along and see what you can do with this layout. Enjoy!

GOD IS...

SHEESH! I am such a turtle in getting my cards made! I have worked on this one card ALL week. No, I don't work outside the home, and NO I don't have a bunch of progeny to care for all day (unless you consider my three cats and DH as progeny.) I am a 67 yr old ROMP ( retired, old, married, person ) and I just made that up! LOL

My card for C4C3 evolved from the NEW and WONDERFUL Basic Grey Indian Summer CS. I love all the prints and decided to use the Autumn Glaze print. I remembered a background stamp I had purchased a few years ago from SU called Leafy Glade and the leaves in it looked similar to the CS and also a Martha Stewart leaf spray punch I used to punch the brown leaves. I had to go to my local Archivers and find the right shade of golden yellow CS to do the embossing with Zing Copper glitter Ep. For matting and solid CS, I used a Bazill brown, rust (Saltillo), and golden yellow called Peanut Butter (Honest!) I added a length of sheer orange/red ribbon vertically and put the three golden jewels in the upper right corner. I just didn't like them under the sentiment.

The sentiment is from SU called Strength and Refuge. I only stamped the first two words in SU chocolate chip ink on my little home made tag in rust. The rust CS had a woven texture but the "God is..." stamped clearly. I added the brown leaves and the golden yellow paper flowers from Michaels. Inside I finished the sentiment which is a Scripture from Psalms 46:1,2. The card base might have been better if I had used a cream CS. but I softened the edges with Tsukinekos "Wheat' Dew Drop ink.

Thanks Cindy for wonderful layouts for these first four. I will try my best to keep up now that I have caught up (almost!) These four have all included brown in some way and I am stretching my artistic experiences. I almost never use brown, or wear it. So this is a "Good thing", right!

Enjoy!