Encouragement Cards

 

Today's project is a little different than my usual journaling projects, but every bit as fun and encouraging (see what I did there 😉). Today's project is encouragement cards using watercolor paper, watercolors, and stamps. 

"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice." - Philippians 4:4

Encouragement cards are easy to make and nice to have on hand to brighten someone's day. I simply write a short note or Bible verse on the back and add to a card, or hand out directly to someone who has been on my mind.

I used 9"x12" watercolor paper, which cuts up nicely into six 4.5"x3 cards. First, I created a watercolor background using a couple layers of watercolor paint and some paint splatters. Once the paint was dry, I cut the paper down into six identical size cards, and got out my stamps. I knew I wanted to use the new Faith Phrases stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps for these cards along with the new Texture Tiles 10 stamp set, but wasn't sure how I was going to use them until I made the cards. I then decided to use lighter colors to stamp the Texture Tiles in the background to add just a bit more dimension to the cards. Plus, rainbows, stars, and clouds are perfect for a fun, uplifting background 😉 I used black Versafine ink to stamp the Faith Phrases and extra design elements, then rounded the corners of the cards to give them a more finished look. 

I plan to give these cards out to some of the teenage girls in my son's school. Who do you know who could use a little extra encouragement this week? Take 20 minutes, enjoy a bit of creative time, and whip up a few encouragement cards to bless someone this week. 😊

Stamp Sets Used

 

  

Have a blessed week!

Janelle

@journalingjoy

Trust Me

Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, 

I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10

Hi Friends!

Today we're in Psalm 46 with a well know verse. Be still. Such a simple command, and yet, it can be so hard to do. The NASB translation says "cease striving" instead of "be still." This command comes from the Hiphil stem of the verb rapha in Hebrew meaning to be weak, to let go, to release. So, we are being told to surrender ourselves in order to know that God is in control. And, instead of trusting in ourselves, we can trust in our all-sufficient and sovereign God. There is so much striving in this world. But, as believers, we need not hopelessly fight. Instead, we can surrender ourselves, and trust God. Knowing God is knowing that He is good and He will see us through all things. Yes, and amen!

Page Details:
For this page, I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Trust in the Lord, Sunshine Girl Alpha, Set Apart, In His Image, and Faith Wordfetti.

I made the notebook paper lines with colored pencils. I used distress oxides for the background. Distress oxides are a combination of pigment and dye inks that react when water is added. By spritzing water on the page, I was able to get the neat splatter effect. The pencil was colored with colored pencils.

Trust in Him, my friends! He is completely trustworthy.
Andrea

Watch and Wait Scripture Card

Hiya, friends! Today I'm sharing a project that is all the rage in the Bible Journaling and crafting world, and I've recently jumped on the bandwagon too -- Scripture Cards (or Rolodex or MemoryDex Cards).  A scripture card like this can contain any combination of scripture, decorations, and sentiments.  

I decided to make a card for this project with the verse Micah 7:7:

"But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,

    I wait for God my Savior;

    my God will hear me."

In this passage, the prophet Micah is talking about all the terrible things going on in the world, and how all those around him are untrustworthy.  However, Micah watches, waits, and hopes in the Lord, knowing that God will hear and deliver him.

What a powerful reminder of faithfulness and trust!  As I was studying this passage a few mornings ago, I definitely knew that it was a verse I wanted to commit to memory, and refer to frequently.  That's why I chose to make a scripture card with this particular verse.  

To create this card, I used a Project Life grid card as the base, and then sponged Cracked Pistachio, Faded Jeans, and Dusty Concord Distress Oxides in three layers.  I carefully blended the colors with my blending tool and sponges, and then spritzed it with water for a spotty look.  

Next, I stamped my words on the card with the Set Apart set and the Skinny Minnie Alpha set.  I stamped "watch" onto white cardstock in the three distress oxide colors with the Typewriter Block Alpha, and then cut them out to make my own alpha tiles.  Then, I also stamped the arrow, heart, and star on the cardstock, colored them, and cut them out.  I stamped some background images with stamps from the Set Apart set, such as clouds, doodle and art marks.  I added a tab at the top, adhered my elements, and then tied a slip knot bow at the bottom with some grosgrain ribbon.

I love how this little card turned out, and I especially love how it can visually remind me to just watch and wait on the Lord!

The links (some are affiliate -- thanks!) to the products are above and below.  Thanks for coming to visit today.  Leave a message below if you have any questions or comments.  

Set Apart

Typewriter Blocks Alpha 

Skinny Minnie Alpha

Purer in Heart

Purer in heart, O God, help me to be.

Hi Friends!
I have an old hymnal in which I've been journaling. As I was flipping through it, I came across this hymn- Purer in Heart, O God. It really spoke to me. It's a prayer that God help us be purer in heart- that's the first line and it's repeated in each hymn verse. Here are some of the characteristics this hymnal prayer asks God to help with:

• Whole devotion to God in our lives
• That God watch  and guide our wayward feet
• That God teach us to do His will
• That He be our Friend and Guide
• That we abide with Him
• That He keep us from sin
• That He reign in our souls

Wow! I want all of that. And those characteristics are what being pure in heart is all about. In Matthew 5:8, Jesus tells us, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Do you want to see God? I sure do! Being pure in heart means that we are focused on God and desire to please Him throughout our lives. And the only way we can truly be pure in heart is through Jesus. Only He can cleanse us. Psalm 51:10 tells us, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." God is the one who makes our hearts pure. We can't do it ourselves. And that's what this hymn is all about- asking God to help us day in and day out devote ourselves to Him. O that I may be purer in heart, Lord!

Page Details:

I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets for this page: Set Apart, All Your Heart, Walk Humbly, and Love Your Neighbor. I used watercolor crayons and a white pen as well.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Just be...

Hello everyone! 

Today I am excited to share with you about our creatively growing our faith collab sale going on now thru Monday the 22nd. Enter code (cgofsale) to receive 15% off your purchase and also be sure to check out the other amazing discounts offered! Also there is a party over on our Facebook business page, we recently hit 10,000 likes!! WOOOHOO! So you know what that means...a big ole GIVEAWAY! Yup, so head on over and enter the winner will receive free stamps for a year...winner will be drawn August 1st. 

Now on to my bright fun party page...

Today is a fun new messy experiment that I cannot wait to share! For this fun background I used a little bubble wrap and acrylic paint in a few fun colors. I painted the bubbles and stamped the wrap onto the page creating these fun, imperfect polka dots. Once it dried I added my title using Just be, and Set apart. To finish off this page I added a few tabs, stickers, and puffy hearts.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God." Matthew 5:7-8 

Sometimes my thoughts are not deep, or even profound. Sometimes I use my Bible to remind myself of my true goal in life....to become more and more like my heavenly Father. 

Don't forget to use that code (cgofsale), as well as check out the other amazing shops participating in the creatively growing our faith collaboration sale (see image below). Also remember to hop over and enter our 10,000 like giveaway over on Facebook page.

Love and prayers!

Jenn @Creativegurl85

The Shepherd Lamb...

Hi friends,

One of my favourite images to study in the Bible is that of a shepherd, particularly as a metaphor for leadership (in fact I'm hoping that will be the focus of my post-grad research for the next few years!). So when I received the new stamp set The Shepherd's Voice I knew I would be creating a lot of pages with it!

When I got this set I did a search on Bible Gateway for the word shepherd and made a note of loads of scriptures I could journal. This verse from Revelation 7:17 really caught my attention:

For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Not only is Jesus the good shepherd, he is also the Lamb. He knows what it is like to be one of us, to be governed by bad shepherds, to be vulnerable and mistreated, to be weak. Having experienced what it is like to be one of us, he also laid down his life as the sacrificial Lamb who paid the price of our sin. What an awesome shepherd and leader he is!

This imagery also turns on its head the worldly view of leadership as power and strength... In Jesus we see true leadership modeled as self-sacrifice, compassion and love as a shepherd cares tenderly for his sheep. This encourages me in coming to him in my weakness because I know that he understands. It also challenges me in my leadership of others as I need to remember that leading others in the kingdom of God needs to follow the pattern of Jesus as the sacrificial shepherd. This applies in the home, in the workplace and in the church.

For this page I stamped the lamb and good shepherd/staff images then coloured in pencil. The crown is from another new set from Sweet 'n Sassy called Set Apart. I stamped the verse using a combination of Bitty Minnie Alpha and Happy Alpha. Here are the sets I used:

I'm so grateful to have the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world as the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.

x Amy x

Gracious & Merciful...& Just

The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, "Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected- even children in the third and forth generations." Exodus 34:6-7

Hi Friends!

Did you ever doodle in your notebook in high school? I did, all the time. Today, I'm sharing some "doodles" about God. He is so awesome that sometimes it makes Him hard to understand because He says and does things that may not seem "right" to you and me with our human perception. His ways are certainly not our ways. And that's a very good thing! Let's dive into Exodus 34:6-7.

Exodus 34:6, "The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, 'Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy!' Yep, He sure is- compassionate and merciful! Thank You, Lord!

'I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.' That's great, I'm with ya- slow to anger, check; loving and faithful, check, check.

Exodus 34:7, 'I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.' Yes, You are so generous! Thank you, Jesus!!

'But I do not excuse the guilty.' Yeah, I get it. He's just and righteous and can't ignore sin.

'I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected- even children in the third and forth generations.' Wait...what??!!

It's easy to only think of our God in terms of love and faithfulness, of compassion and mercy, of forgiveness and redemption. And He is ALL of those things. But, He's also righteous and just and holy. And that's where the last part of verse 7 comes into play. And it's hard for us to hear.

But, I'll give you the good news first. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are no longer part of "the guilty." Through Jesus, you have been forgiven and redeemed. The end. Nothing you can do can take you out of His hand. So who are the guilty? Anyone who doesn't accept Jesus as their Savior. He is holy. He can't ignore sin. So, the guilty will be punished.

What did God mean by "I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected- even children in the third and forth generations." There is generational sin. It began with Adam and Eve. We all inherited a sinful nature through them. And if we look at our families, we can probably see sins were passed from generation to generation through genes or sinful habits and environments. Each person, though, is responsible for their own sins as we each have free will. Just because our parents or grandparents sinned in a particular way doesn't mean we have to make the same choice. When God said this to Moses, of course, Jesus had not come yet. If the people were unrepentant, their familial sins grew and grew throughout the generations. That can still happen to the unrepentant today. But you can break that just by accepting Jesus. Just say, "YES!" to Him.

He does love us. He forgives us. He is gracious and merciful, and yes, He is just. In Jesus, we are safe from His wrath. Thank You, Jesus!!

Page details: I used the brand new Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets called Set Apart and Walk by Faith. I also used an oldie, but goodie set called Note This for this doodling inspired page. As soon as I saw Set Apart, I was reminded of my high school notebooks. So, I used colored pencils and a ruler to turn my Bible page into a notebook paper page. The lines are a little hard to see in the photo, but I hope you can make them out. Then I stamped the words first, and then randomly stamped the doodles. I stuck with black ink because I wanted it to look like it was done in pencil or pen. I had so much fun doing this page!

We have an awesome, incomprehensible, good God. Praise Him!
Have a blessed week! Andrea

Pleiades

Glorious inspiration for my page, Pleiades.

Hi guys, it's Deeds!

How are you today?  How's your Tuesday going? 
It's been so nice to have kids home from school.  They're a handful, but what a delightful handful they are, especially because they have grown a whole lot since they began their school year last fall.  So much on their minds!  So much to say!  Such vivid imaginations and input!
I'm enjoying it.  I'm enjoying hearing about their thoughts and concerns and knowing that they are home with me to share!

What about you?

What's your summer looking like? Are you excited about all the upcoming events?  Are you ready for them??

Want another challenge in the midst of your busy schedules and plans? 
It's actually not so bad, and in fact it's really fun.
All you need is the stamp set, "Set Apart," your Bible and an image of a constellation in the stars known as "Pleiades."  That's it! (Affiliate Link below)
QUICK FUN FACT: This star arrangement consists of 9 bright and shining stars each with individual names that are too hard for me to pronounce.  Additionally, it is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky. (thank you, Google)

When I started this page, I was inspired by this simple mention of stars in the book of Job, chapter 38 and verse 31. 

"Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?"

 I decided I needed a constellation in my Bible!!

As God reaches down here, to engage with humanity in this amazingly stunning conversation, we hear of ALL these wonders He's performed; all these feats and demonstrations of WHO HE IS brought to light, to bear witness of His greatness, His justice, His rightness, His bigness. 
"Can you?"  He asks.

"Did you?"  He inquires.

"Where were you?" Further still.

These are great and just questions.

God - Yahweh, self-existent, self-sufficient, Creator - is from the beginning.  He has always been.  He started it.  He created it, set it, established it, put it in motion, and keeps it going. 
Only God can.
Only God did.
Where were we?  We were but a twinkle in His eye, so to speak.  We were a piece of His plan, but a thought in His purpose as He strung collections of stars together, one by one. 
We call these particular constellations names like, "Orion," the "Little Dipper," "Cassiopeia," and so many more. 
God knows each, particular, single, solitary mass of a star by name!  Each one!

When we look up and see a vast gamut of brightness, glory, sizing and color, we draw near to a TINY piece of the glory of God.  We cannot fathom the power that actually exists in those burning orbs, nor can we imagine the mind of the Creator behind them. 
When God questions a sickly Job, His aim is not to ridicule or condemn.  Rather, this human is getting a firsthand lesson in science, and more importantly, a look at real power, real glory, and real mercy.  

We are but humans. 
We are but flesh.
We are finite.

We are fickle.
We are weak.
We are broken.
BUT GOD!  Yes, BUT GOD, reaches into our sad and sickly state to show us He's beyond what we see.  He's beyond what we're experiencing.  He is beyond our world, our galaxy, our universe!  AND, He's close.
God is close.
God is reachable.

God is unbeatable.
God is powerful.
God is merciful.

There's a sweet coupling in scripture - a beautiful duo that brings honor to our God, and hope to our kind:
God does everything for His glory, and
God does everything for our good.

I'm thankful that Job was written as an instructional aid to those of us who call ourselves human.  I'm thankful that I do not understand His power, and more thankful that I CAN understand His mercy. 
I've tasted and seen.  I've met this mercy face-to-face and been overwhelmed.
If ever you wonder if God is real, if God is near, if God loves you, just remember this one word: "Pleiades."

Much love,

Deeds

Sweet N Sassy Stamps Affiliate Link: http://www.sweetnsassystamps.com?aff=7

IG: mercies_journaled
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