Thursday, April 28, 2022

Song Birds - Mini Art Journal

Today I have sweet little journal page in the mini journal I made using my memorydex dies.


First, I did some fun but simple background texture with distress oxides, the leaf branch stencil, and Spotted and the "rain" from Puddle Jumpers and then I toned it down a bit with watered down white acrylic paint. I stamped one of the birds from Song Birds on top of this and colored it with my Polychromos colored pencils. They work great - easily coloring over other things! Finally I used Versa Clair Nocturne ink for the sentiment/verse.


I hope you like it and are inspired. Sometime a little canvas is just what you need to keep creative!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Lyn



Sunday, April 24, 2022

Praise God

Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens. Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness. Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre, praise Him with timbrel and dancing, praise Him with strings and pipe, praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Psalm 150:1-6
Hi Friends!
What is our purpose? We often ask ourselves that. Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing? Friends, our purpose is simple. Our purpose is to praise God and glorify Him. No matter what we are doing, what circumstances we may be experiencing, no matter how we feel...our purpose doesn't change. We are to PRAISE HIM. We are to GLORIFY HIM. 

So, I ask myself. Am I fulfilling my purpose? Do I praise Him daily and throughout the day? In those moments where something doesn't go the way I want, am I praising Him anyway? Not always, probably not most of the time, if I'm being honest. Do I glorify Him daily? Do I work in a way that glorifies Him? Does what I do in my free time glorify Him? Dear ones, I'm not pointing fingers. I think we can all agree each of us, especially me!, has room for improvement. And we have an awesome God who meets us where we are. So, let's praise Him. Let's glorify Him. He definitely deserves it!

Page details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: All of Me Alpha, Send Me, Note This, and Grunge Dots Stencil. I applied distress oxides with blender brushes, stamped, and then used the stencil. Easy, peasy! :)

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Saturday, April 23, 2022

Hi friends,


Over the past year or so I've been drawn more and more to the beauty of nature, particularly flowers. Maybe it has been living opposite a park and being surrounded by green, maybe it is because I've discovered a new hobby in making crepe paper flowers, but there's something about the variety and beauty of flowers and nature that I find breathtaking.


The psalmists also noticed the beauty and variety of nature, and recognised that this pointed to the Creator - our Lord God who created the birds and bees, the flowers and trees, in all their spectacular varieties. In Psalm 104, the psalmist exclaims 'O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.' That word manifold is one we don't hear in our modern English very often, but it points to both the quantity and variety of what God has made. And the psalmist recognises that the reason God made all these things is because of his infinite wisdom. 


God knows how each living thing is connected to another in the enormous and wonderfully complex ecosystem he has created. He also knows how much we need to be around nature, to appreciate its beauty and marvel at its Creator. When was the last time you stopped and studied the intricacies of a flower, with its varying shades of colour and petal shapes? When was the last time you looked at an animal and noticed with wonder its extraordinary features? I think the reason we don't do this as often as perhaps we need to is because of busyness. We rush through life from one appointment to the next, checking things off our 'to do' list, and we inadvertently hurry past the opportunities we have to stop and wonder at God's creation. Can I encourage you to take time today, or this coming week, to behold the wisdom of God as manifest in his manifold creation?



I used a bunch of Sweet 'n Sassy stamp sets on this page in my Journaling Psalter (you could say manifold designs!), including the new Song Birds and God is Faithful sets, along with some older favourites. I stamped all the images with black ink and coloured with Inktense pencils and an aquabrush. 

Be blessed... 

x Amy x


Sunday, April 10, 2022

One of a Kind

 There is none like You, O Lord; You are great, and Your name is great in might. Jeremiah 10:6

Hello Friends!
Today I'm in Jeremiah 10; and we're going to talk about how great our God is! Jeremiah 10:6 tells us that there is no one like our God. Do you believe that? It's a question we should ask ourselves. The fact is just that. There is no one and no thing like our God. But do we live in a way that proves we believe that?

No one, nothing, should have our attention, our devotion, our worship, our hearts, except for God Himself. Daily, believers are tempted to put their trust and their allegiance in worldly things. But, friends, the Lord will continually show Himself to be superior. There is none like Him! 

Don't let the world sway you from Him. Don't let the world put Him in a box or wrap Him up like a pretty little package. Don't let the world tell you who He is. Go to the Bible and let God tell you who He is. And let me tell you, He's pretty great!

Page Details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: God is Faithful, Send Me, Faith Wordfetti Too, Let's Do This, and the Grunge Grid stencil. I applied distress oxides to the page with blender brushes for the background. I added texture to the background with the stencil and some back ground stamps. With the Faith Wordfetti Too set, I arranged a few of the phrases on a stamp block and stamped them together for the background words. I colored the earth with colored pencils. 

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Saturday, April 9, 2022

Upright and Faithful...

Hi friends,


The Psalms are a magnificent, marvellous guide to prayer, praise and thanksgiving. One of the themes throughout these songs and prayers is the meditation on and celebration of both God's word and his works. These are the two ways in which we can learn about and know God: listen to what he says, and watch/learn about what he does. And when we spend time watching, listening, reading, and learning, we will notice that God's word and his works are in perfect harmony. They reflect his character.

Psalm 33 is a celebration of God's character seen in his word and his works. We are invited/commanded to shout for joy, to give thanks, and to sing a new song to this amazing God who created the heavens and the earth, who loves righteousness and justice, and who has shown his incredible steadfast, faithful love (hesed) to humanity, despite their fickle and fleeting nature. God is faithful by nature - it's who he is - so that means that ALL his work is done in faithfulness. We can trust both his word and his work because we know that the one who speaks and acts is forever faithful. No wonder the psalmist concludes by committing to wait for the Lord, putting their trust in him as their help and shield. He is completely trustworthy because he is completely faithful.


I created this page in my Journaling Psalter by first applying white acrylic paint with a palette knife all over the pages, then adding pastel acrylics over the top using the palette knife to create a subtle background. I added sunrays using the Rise & Shine stencil and some gold Nuvo Mousses. I stamped the leaves from God is Faithful over the top once it was dry, then watercoloured using different shades of blues and green. The text was stamped using a combination of the stamps from God is Faithful, as well as Women of Praise, Sunshine Girl Alpha, and Happy Alpha. I couldn't resist adding a few butterflies from Spread Your Wings, stamped on watercolour card, coloured and die-cut with the coordinating dies. 

I pray you know God's faithfulness today.

Be blessed...

x Amy x

Monday, April 4, 2022

Great is Your Faithfulness

 "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; 
his mercies never come to an end; 
they are new every morning; 
great is your faithfulness. 
'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 
'therefore I will hope in him.'"
Lamentations 3:22-24


We had a wonderful virtual retreat weekend in our Creative Worship Facebook Group talking about God's faithfulness, and is there any better song to sing about God's faithfulness than the classic hymn by Thomas Chisholm, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness."

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

"Great is Thy faithfulness!" 
"Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided
"Great is Thy faithfulness,"
Lord, unto me!



I've been steadily humming this song for the last several days, dwelling on God's faithfulness to me. 🧡

Page Details

This is probably one of the simplest, yet beautiful pages I've done. It's simply a gelato background and stamps. I blended two gelato colors with my finger, and stamped the flowers and title using the brand new God is Faithful stamp set from my friend Deeds. It coincided perfectly with our virtual retreat! I then used a light coral color ink to stamp the coral sprigs behind the darker black flowers to add some dimension to the page. It only took a few minutes to create and yet, I have been soaking in the scripture and meaning for the last three days. That, my friends, is what Bible Journaling is all about! 


 


I pray you dwell on God's faithfulness this week. 

Love in Christ, 

Janelle