a First for me . . .

I have been asked to make some cards on order for someone and of course the pleasure is all mine!  She gave me specifics so I could taylor make the cards for her family members.

The one I am showing you today is for her mother.  This kind of card is not what I am used to because I love clean and simple (CAS) cards.  I loved making this one but it was a challenge getting all the little things to fit in such a limited space!  So here it is . . .

I always have bad lighting because night time is when I get a chance to play ;)

I so hope that this card is not too cluttered!  My friend said that her mother likes flowers and so this is what I came up with.  I think that an older lady might like it.

How:

I stamped this Celebrate in Style image from Gina K. Designs on ivory card and cut it out using Spellbinders oval and my Cuttlebug (then built the layers using the scalloped oval dies).  

The dress skirt is paper pieced (for those who does not know how that is done  http://stamptv.ning.com/video/paper-piecing-with-gkd-patterned-paper ) and cut out by hand. 

I liked the sentiment (also from Celebrate in Style) on this card because it seems to suit an older lady since they are always dressed so well!  And of course I had to add some lace somewhere because, to me, these ladies and lace are synonymous!  This was stamped and then cut out using a tag from Fancy Tags One.

It was finished off with some bold paper flowers in "Vintage" colours and pearls.

My first try at Copic markers

I discovered the wonderful things that can be done with copic markers through the paper craft sites I like to visit.  Copic markers are alcohol based markers that blends and looks like you have painted instead of colouring! There is so much to learn about them and I wish that I had discovered this blog article Choosing copic colors before I started to buy my copics.  Through Theresa's article I was introduced to Marianne Walker, a copic certified artist and this (Natural blending families) post.  I learned so much about how the numbering system for copics work! Please do yourself a favour and visit these sites first!  These two ladies do beautiful things and visiting is so worth while!

Now for my first stamped and coloured image!

The lighting was bad and that is why this image looks pink.  I did not think my first attempt was bad but you can spot the mistakes - the greens on the cake are not blending at all and in her hair you can see some "auburn" spots that did not blend with the other colours either!

My second attempt was better -

See how the pinks on the cake blends better?  This is the extra one I made to start my copic portfolio and that is why I added all the colour names next to the image.  I love this little lady!  So cute!

Hope this helps you in your "copic adventures" ;)

My first two paintings

This was the painting that I started with!  Afterwards the teacher told me that she thought I was being a bit ambitious but she let me do it anyway because that was what I wanted to do.  (I love that about her!  She is very encouraging no matter what I attempt to do!)  I really wanted to do this one because it is the view from our house over the neighbouring farm's canola fields towards the Stellenbosch mountains (the main one being called Simonsberg after Simon van der Stel, one of our first governors).

I loved this second one because I LOVE this colour and it was quick to do (being smaller with a few less details ;) but I do realise that I have much to learn still.

I will not be blogging about painting for quite a while since I only get to paint every second week (maybe) and that means it takes forever to finish something! For now I am enjoying the journey especially since I do not have that much time to paint! I am still trying to decide what my next project should be.  Any ideas?

Lovely lullabies!

http://www.scripture-lullabies.com/films2/

Someone we know,  in the US, shared this wonderful music and testimonies with us and we loved it!
Maybe this is something that you will love and benefit from too!

There is an instrumental version (no vocals) that will be wonderful as background music for any occasion!

Enjoy!

A Rainbow Party . . .

We had Luzaan's party yesterday afternoon and it was such a blessed afternoon!

I loved getting ready for this party because the theme was so easy and fun!  Luzaan was really excited too and talked about it the whole week!  This is what the table looked like: (I think all the colours confused my camera because all the photos of the whole table are blurred ;)

Some of the girls invited has not been exposed to the Gospel and a rainbow party theme can mean so many things today that we wanted to put the focus on God and His character and creation.  We invited a wonderful older lady in our church to come and speak to them for just a few minutes!  She did it marvelously and the little girls literally hung onto every word she said!  She even went as far as writing a little song and having someone put it to music especially for the occasion!  It was such a blessed time! Here she is telling them about her treasure chest ;)  Look at the precious faces and expressions!

This was the first party, EVER, where the cake almost did not make it through the party!  We always had leftovers for weeks before and, being a six layer cake, I thought that it was a sure thing that this time would be not different!  We sang and clapped for her and then she made the first incision with the knife. I took over from there and when I took out the first slice, EVERY little girl and 'big girl' around the table were lining up for a piece ;)  The sweets, drinks, chips, popcorn and rainbow jello was forgotten!  The second favourite of the party was the rainbow jello.  Here's the cake before and after the cutting:

After the cake cutting and eating they all went outside to play and enjoyed it so much!  I was so thankful for the weather because it is always cold and rainy on Luzaan's birthday!  Later I called them inside four at a time to make their own flower pencils to take home with the thank-you-notebooks I had prepared for them!  What a joyous day it was!  Thank you Lord for our Luzaan and for sisters in Christ who can help us make an ordinary birthday another chance of sharing the Gospel!

Wild flowers family day

We decided to drive and see the wild flowers last Saturday.  We only left after 10 am but we so enjoyed the day!

David went to empty our postbox on Saturday morning after we decided to go the the West Coast National Park to see the flowers.  He discovered a pamphlet advertising a wild flower show in Mamre and we changed our route to include this.

We ended up having lunch in Mamre (R40 for a massive plate with salads and braaivleis/barbeque with the meat covering more than half the plate ;), seeing a beautiful exhibit with indigenous wild flowers and a stunning old Moravian church!

After this we took the road through Darling to the West Coast National Park, seeing beautiful flowers along the road!  On arriving at the Park we realised that the coastal regions do not have the same vegetation and therefore no wild flowers!  We were so thankful for the pamphlet and knowing the Lord's provision for us.  We made a u-turn and went back the way we came!  This time, however, we stopped at the orchid show in Darling and what a beautiful blessing that was!  We 'oohed and aahed' about all the flowers and it was such a pretty sight!  Needless to say - we came back with our first ever orchids! (see the two orchid photos)

Our last stop was Malmesbury for some ice cream at KFC.

In hindsight:  I loved everything but the best part about the day was having David all to myself all day and being able to just talk about everything we never get the chance for!  The girls were nodding off in the back of the Kombi and popped their heads up every now and then and got out when we stopped somewhere so it was a partial rest day for them ;)
  

Staying on track in a fallen world . . .

I found myself wondering why we get so caught up in our lives and are so easily distracted!

We so often focus on the wrong things - work problems, other peoples' mistakes and shortcomings, illness, etc.  Why is it that we so often return to what WE need?  We forget why we are really here while thinking: "If I can only get this work project done" OR "I just need to recover from this illness before I ..." OR "If only that person was not so difficult to get along with . . ." OR "I just need to get away for a while!" We are so easily distracted while we think we are still on the right track!  This makes us self-righteous!

I was told a story this morning about someone's life.  I do not agree with everything she says and does and therefore paid little attention to her life story.  I was so busy judging her way of doing things that I totally missed the absolute dedication with which she follows Jesus Christ and seek Him in EVERYTHING.  This inspired me!

This has actually been on my mind a lot lately and this morning's story just confirmed this to me!  Without even noticing, I was so busy committing the sin of judging people for the way they do things, that I did not notice that they are much more on fire for the LORD than I was!  We so often focus on other peoples' bad traits that we justify ourselves that way in stead of comparing ourselves with Christ.  We are so busy looking around that we forget to look to the Word!  We are so busy filling our souls with bad things from the world but say that we do not have the time to get quiet and spend time with God!  How can we reflect Him while we look away from Him all the time?

It is easier to follow the sinful path and sometimes we do not even know that we are on that path until we realise we can not find our way back on our own.  The reason for this is once again that we look to the wrong things!  We look for help from worldly sources for our problems and shortcomings!  We do it in so many ways without even knowing!  How patient and long-suffering our God is!?  If I think of how often I ask my children how many times I must say something before they listen and know that the Lord must feel that way, times 100!  How many times can I make the same wrong choice and yet He still patiently helps me back when I ask for His help!

I am confronted with my failure and just realise again how much I am in need of a Saviour and His perfect blood covering my unclean life!

What are you busy with?  Where are you looking to for help?  What are you trusting in? Friends, money, escapism (entertainment), food, doctors?  Which authority do you submit to?  Have you made the choice yet? You either submit to the worldly ruler or God - there is no in-between!

Lord, Please forgive me my many shortcomings and sins!  Help me to look only to You, to spend every possible moment in your presence so I can rightly reflect You and not my idea of You!  Help me to live this life for the benefit of others around me and not my own benefit!  I desire to live a life pleasing to You so that You may be glorified and not me!  Help me be vigilant so that I do not stray of the right path!  Show me Your ways!