God's Artistry

Hi, all!

Hope this finds you well. Glad you stopped by!

Just wanted to share a couple of pictures of the trees out our back deck. We just moved to this house a few months ago, and are blessed to be on the edge of one of the most beautiful municipal parks. Over 40 acres of trees, a quite pond, several trails, wildlife, and loads of trees! I'm told that deer run by our house occasionally, but I haven't seen them yet. I coordinated and oversaw the planting of a community garden in the beautiful meadows area of this park last year (fed 80 families with over 350 pounds of veggies from that garden and another I oversaw at one of the area schools!), so this park is especially dear to my heart. We are blessed with these beautiful views each day - God is good!



Aren't these colors gorgeous?!  The next picture I've titled "Cathedral" because that's what it reminds me of.  There is a path to the park next to our neighbor's house for the public to use.  Lots of people take their dogs for walks in this park, and many take this route.  When they return, the dogs seem so happy for their experience.  Or, maybe it's a secret garden for wood nymphs and sprites - seems that way, particularly when the leaves move with the wind that sweeps through that valley.  Who knows......?  It could happen......!  LOL

Thanks so much for sharing a few minutes with me.  Hope you enjoyed the pictures!  I'll be back to share a few cards I've made recently.

Have a happy day!

Kris

You Are Worth the Time

Hi, all!  Happy Sunday!

I just came across this beautiful video that I wanted to share with all of you.

You know, whatever creative endeavor you choose to enjoy, it is YOUR art, the gift of song and expression that God placed in your heart before you were born. Whether it be writing, poetry, music in all its forms, painting, rubber stamping, baking, camera or film work - all is an expression of the gifts God so graciously provided. To deny them because "it's not good enough (for whom?)" or "no one will buy what I make" or others have derided your efforts, is to say that you're not worth it. What sour thinking that is, and it's definitely not what God planned for you.

Reading the headlines today I realized how fearful this world can be if we allow it to enter deeply into our mind and soul. It is so difficult to fathom the evil, pain, and hurt that pervades the news, TV, web, and discussions. Our art takes us on a journey away from all of that, if even for a short time, into a world of vision, creativity, imagination, peace and prayer. Art can be serious, but often it is cathartic, calming, playful and joyful - and God wants us to enjoy the gifts He's given us. In so doing, we become better in ourselves, better for others, better in our outreach, better for Him, and better for the world.

To all of you who express your art, God bless you! I salute and honor you and give you this beautiful video to enjoy. Have a wonderful, blessed week!

Sympathy for a Friend

Hi, all!  Hope your day is going well!

I needed to make a sympathy card for a friend who recently lost her father.  I wanted something soothing, and felt that this dp and the stamps fit the bill.

          

         The gorgeous dp is a piece I purchased at one of my lss.  It is mounted on a base of SU Very Vanilla cs.  The beautiful deep brown velvet ribbon is from Hobby Lobby.  The sentiment (from F Stamps Designs - purchased at another lss) is stamped in Versamark on SU Very Vanilla, cut with Spellbinders Labels 8, and covered with a brown ep.  It is sponged in SU Creamy Caramel, and is popped up on the ribbon for dimension.  The lovely sparrow is stamped in Versamark and covered with a personal mix of SU verdigris and copper ep and popped up.  You can see two more on the inside of the card below, as well.  (I had a skip of the stamp, so used one of them to cover that "blurp!"  After all, I've always used the old adage, "There's never a stamping mistake; only a change to embellish!" )  I used an EK Success punch for the dp on the inside (it really isn't that crooked IRL!).  It is never an easy thing to design a sympathy card, but I hope this brings a bit of comfort to my friend.

Since it is World Card Making Day, the first of the month, and there are SOOOO many challenges, I thought I would submit this to Our Daily Bread Designs' "wing it" challenge - ODBDSLC31.  I only have a few ODBD stamps, but I hope to remedy that soon!  Thanks to Kelly for sharing her faith and beautiful artwork with all of us!

Well, thanks so much for taking some time out of your day to spend it with me!  Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!