As for me...

Hi friends,

I'm sharing a page with you today that I had marked in my bible a long time ago as a really profound verse that I wanted to meditate on:

Psalm 73:28
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.

I love this simple declaration: as for me, it is good to be near God. Other people might choose to be near many other things or people, but for me, I want to be near God. What a wonderful thought! Being near to God means making Him our refuge in every season of life, allowing Him to be our  shield and protection. As much as it is good to be near family and friends (and even a radiator in this cold British weather!), no one else can ever be as faithful and strong as our God. Let us draw near to Him, make Him our refuge, and declare His deeds to those around us.

I created this page by layering acrylic paints in the background, then creating the verse over the top using alphabet stickers and a combination of Sweet n Sassy stamp sets, including Good Shepherd, God is Good and His Wings. I also added some flowers with Scribble Flowers and coloured them with gelatos. I can't seem to resist adding butterflies so I added this lovely washi tape.

Check out the gorgeous Scribble Flowers set:

Did you know that you have a chance to win this stamp set until this Thursday, 30th of November? Just head over to the @sweetnsassystamps Instagram page or our Facebook page and find out how to enter!

Have a blessed week!

x Amy x

He is Faithful...

Hi friends,

This month I started on an exciting and daunting journey of going back to College (many years after I finished my first degree!) to study Theology, a dream I have had in my heart for a number of years. At our welcome service, the Principal preached on 1 Thessalonians 5:24 - "The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."

This is encouraging in so many ways! One of the things I learnt about this verse is that the word 'calls' is in the present continuous tense in the Greek, which means that God doesn't just call us once, he continues to call us throughout our lives - wow! And it is the one who calls us who will do the work in and through us. We don't need to fret and worry and strive to sort out our lives or families or calling - that's God's job! And he is FAITHFUL. Is anyone else encouraged by this awesome truth? So as I embark on this new chapter of my life that involves learning a bunch of new skills and knowledge while trying to discern my next steps, I can know that it is God who will work all these things out in my life for my good and for his glory. And whatever you are going through, remember that God is the one who is doing the working - and he is faithful to complete it!

I thought the topiary tree from the new Christmas Topiaries set would be perfect for this verse as I thought about how God crafting our lives carefully to produce fruit and beauty is much like the process of cultivating a topiary tree (and remember - it's not the tree that does the work of cultivation!). I created the verse using alphabet stamps and smaller word stamps from a variety of sets: Lynzee Script Alpha, Mini Grunge Type Alpha, Good Shepherd and God is Good. 

Here are some of the main supplies I used on this page:

Have a blessed day and week ahead!

x Amy x

Like a Shepherd

Shepherds, there are a lot of references in the Bible to these people. We are shepherds for the people of God, but God is our shepherd too. Today I want to look at the passage in Isaiah 40; where God will guide his people like a shepherd, He will gather the lambs with his arm, carry them and gently lead them.

And while the grass withers and the flower fades, the word of our God stands forever. This is a part of the same chapter. I think it’s a very soothing thought that God will lead His people and that we can trust Him with that. His word stands forever… forever, so it was true back then but it’s still true now. And while this part is written for the people of Israel, we know He will lead us too. He will carry us and gently lead us.

I really love this image from the shepherd holding the lamb in his arms with so much love.
I used the Good Shepherd stamp set and acrylics to create this page.

 - Lucinde

Be Ewe-nique!

Sometimes it's good to take a break from your usual routine & that's what I did here! It's not often that I make a card, but spend a lot more time doing creative worship or scrapbooking. It felt so good doing something different!! Every time I looked at Krista Hamrick's new Good Shepherd set I pictured all kinds of different sheep in a pasture. This card was born of that idea!

I repeatedly stamped the large sheep and colored one teal. It's hard to capture in a photo, but I also added a touch of glitter with a Wink of Stella glitter brush pen. The tiny sheep shows up in the sentiment, where I embossed "ewe" using our new Classy Script. Simple patterned paper & cardstock layering completes my project. Hope you have a chance to break away from your usual routine and be EWE-nique this week!

XOXOXO
Rebecca

Good Shepherd

Hello Bible Journaling friends!  By now you have probably seen the new Good Shepherd stamp set designed by Krista Hamrick and released in the Creative Worship line of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.  I'm sure that all of you have at one time or another been comforted by the 23rd Psalm.  This Psalm has been a favorite for many down through the ages and no doubt has been committed to memory at a very young age by many of you.  Good Shepherd is perfect for illustrating this Psalm as well as many other scriptures about our good Shepherd.  After seeing an illustrated version of the 23rd Psalm on Pinterest, I was inspired to create my own page.

The page was prepped with two coats of Dina Wakley Clear Gesso and stamped with the images from Good Shepherd.  The rest of the scene was lightly sketched to include the green pastures, still waters, and paths of righteousness.  Kuretake water colors were used to color the page with accents being filled in with KaiserColor Gel Pens and a white Sharpie paint pen.

The whole time I was working on this page, I was able to reflect on the fact that we have such a loving and ever present Savior who promises to walk with us at all times and to carry us as we walk through dark valleys…what a Good Shepherd we have in Jesus!

Here are the stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps that were used to create this page:

I hope this post has been a blessing to you!  If you are walking on the mountaintop, bask in the presence of the Lord, and if you are in the valley, allow the Good Shepherd to carry you.

Thanks so much for stopping by…have a wonderful day, a blessed weekend, and a happy Father's Day!

Hugs,

Cathy

A Parade of Fun!

Good morning, Sweet 'n Sassy friends! It's been a while since I have posted here. I'm sure you are surprised to see me. ;) I am always around, just working behind the scenes while the Creative Team shares their amazing projects with you. Well, today, I actually have something to share, too....and not just the new stamps, either....I stamped, too! :D

First up is this gorgeous new set illustrated by Krista Hamrick. There are so many wonderful possibilities for using this set in your card making and Bible journaling!  The best part---this is just the 1st of many sets in this series of Jesus themed stamps by Krista!  

Good Shepherd

 I love the layout of the images in this set. Because they were created to fit in the margins of your Bible, they also work very nicely for bookmarks so I created this bookmark/tag with a large manilla tag. I stamped the Good Shepherd image first and then created a mask so I could stamp the scene behind him. I colored the whole thing in with my Copic markers (haven't used those in a while!!). I wanted to add some wording, too, so I used the fish tale banner from our Banner Dies and popped the words up with foam tape.

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Next is this wonderful script alpha. It was designed so you can stamp each letter to connect to the next to form complete script words! It is FABULOUS!  It even comes with numbers and extra doodles and icons all for only $15.95! Wow! A great find for card makers, scrapbookers and Bible journalers alike!

Classy Script Alpha

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This set by Rebecca Rios is SO FUN!  The "awesome" mix of lettering styles is very popular right now and no wonder! It's a fun way to get your thoughts across and this set will certainly help you do just that whether you are stamping a card for a friend, scrapbooking pics of your kiddos or journaling in God's Word.

Awesome Thoughts

I decided to create a clean and simple card with this set to show you that it's not just for Bible journaling. I stamped the words and images from Awesome Thoughts with my Spectrum Kaleidacolor ink pad. The thought bubble was cut out (with scissors) and both pieces were popped up with foam tape. I stamped the little circles directly onto the kraft card base and then colored them in with my white Sharpie paint pen. Easy peasy!

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Finally we have a really amazing alpha illustrated also by Rebecca Rios that will coordinate nicely with her other stamps AND many of the stamps you already own. The letters are large so they will stand out in a crowd ;) and you'll enjoy coloring them in to add even more pop to your projects!  Did you see the amazing page Cathy made with this and some other new sets? If not, you can check it out HERE. It is gorgeous!!

 Outline Alpha

Now this is a work in progress....I debated sharing it with you since I haven't added any color yet, but I thought, why not...it's fun to see the process of a project as it comes together.  This is sort of a silly page, but it fits my personality pretty well. I love cats and I love this verse in Philippians (my fave book of the Bible, in fact) so I decided to use my LOL Cats stamp set to illustrate the various needs I have that God supplies. I will be sure to share the finished page once the color is added. :D

In addition to Rebecca's Outline Alpha, this page also uses our new Classy Script Alpha and our Camden Market Alpha.

I hope you enjoyed today's little parade of stamps and samples. Watch for more samples from the Creative Teams throughout the coming weeks! We have lots of great stuff in the works to share with you!

Be sure to check out our website for more great stamps and don't forget about our Sweet 'n Sassy Cash Rewards Program AND our FREE shipping with your $75 US order every day! We will be closed the next ten days for vacation, but take a peek at the special we are having during that time for ANY size order:

Thanks for visiting today!
Have a blessed weekend!
Korin

You are on His Mind!

Hello sweet friends!  Do you realize that you are on the mind of God…that He thinks good thoughts toward you?  It's TRUE!  The verse I'm sharing with you today has special meaning for me.  It was given to me by a very dear friend after receiving a devastating report from the doctor which included a very skeptical prognosis.  That was over sixteen years ago and I am still holding on to this promise.

"I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NKJV)

Did you catch that?  He thinks good thoughts toward us.  Even what appears to be evil…like a disappointing doctor's report...will turn out good and be what is best for us in the end and in God's perfect timing.

I used Dina Wakley's Clear Gesso for the first time to prep my page.  The flowers were hand drawn and I was surprised how easy it was to erase the pencil marks with this gesso.  The rest of the page was done with stamps and stickers and then watercolored with Peerless Watercolors.   Art Anthology Gilded Gold spray was added to give the page a little shimmer.  

Be sure to keep watching the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store because three of the Creative Worship stamp sets used on this page are brand new and will be added to the store in the near future...they are all AWESOME!

The other sets used on my page are Seek Him and God is Good.

Rebecca's Challenge #5 on the Creative Worship Facebook Page is to journal in an un-journaled book of the Bible.  Since this is my first page done in Jeremiah it fits the challenge!  YEA!  (I still have some catching up to do!)  Be sure to check out the challenges…they are a lot of fun…they get you into the word...and we would love to see your journaled pages!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Until next time…

Get into the Word and let the Word get into you!

Hugs,

Cathy