So Many Blessings!

Aren't you thankful we have so many blessings in our lives? I know I am. All too often, much more than I would like to admit, I take them for granted. Ihave been reminded lately of some wonderful things that the Lord has been doing in my life. I am preparing to go visit a couple of dear friends next week and in the process the Lord has been working out some interesting things. I was reminded about them yesterday.

My sweet husband and I went to an area food bank to get food for our small church pantry. We help anywhere from 50 to 100 people each month with food in our small town. I can't tell you what a blessing it is to be able to do that. While we were at the food bank, we found out about some of the food they had available for us free of charge. It was absolutely amazing to us! We left the food bank with 260 pounds of free meat products, meat we would normally not have available for the people who come to our pantry, meat that we would normally not be able to afford. We were almost giddy!! What a joy it was to stop on the way home and drop off small center cut pork loins to some of the elderly and single people we help out. Their lit up faces with such a wonderful piece of meat in their hands was joy enough for us!

My card today may make you wonder what it has to do with what I just told you. It reminded me how much I would like each of you to remember the small blessings that the Lord gives to us each and every day. The big ones are obvious, but we take for granted the simple ones that He lets come into our lives, simple ones like not getting all the stop lights all the way through town, finding super bargain sales to stretch our dollars and to be able to still bless others, getting a good parking space.

I stamped my card with Stazon and then water colored and distressed it. I love the image. Next to yellow roses, sunflowers are my favorite flowers. The lattice work on the side was made from a punch by Martha Stewart. The paper is all from My Mind's Eye and Creative Memories.

So my "Wish" for you is to be aware of those small blessings that come to you each and every day. Don't take them for granted. Thank the Lord for them daily and share them with someone. You never know what a blessing it might be for them to hear about it! Thanks for stopping by!

Cool Cat!!

I don't often do two posts in a day, but I was inspired to create a fun card this afternoon. Hambo Stamps, one of my favorite companies, is having a contest to introduce their new line of digital stamps. The first digital stamp is free. You can find out about it by clicking on this: Cool Cat Contest. The image is as wonderful as all their stamps are, and so easy to download and print. The very neat thing is you can print it any size you want. Can't do that with rubber!!

Here is what I came up with. Hope you like it. I think it turned out kind of fun myself. I'm glad the Lord gave us a sense of humor to enjoy things like this. Well at least most of us He gave a sense of humor to. LOL!!

I colored the image with water color pencils and highlighted a smidge with colored pencils. You may not be able to see it too well, but the cat's sunglasses, the lemonade and the waves all have Accent Glaze on them. And those little fish in the corners, well they are actually little fish skeletons!! They just don't show up very well. But I thought considering the sentiment from Whipper Snapper, skeleton fish were very appropriate!!

Thanks again for stopping by and take some time to find something to laugh about this weekend. It will do your heart some good!!

I Am Never Alone!

There it stands, one lone little yellow tulip, all alone and standing tall. I have no idea how that tulip got to where it did in my garden. I have lived here in this house for over five years. It wasn't there when we got here. I didn't plant it there. How did that one, lonely little tulip get to where it is? It is beautiful, but looks so lonely all by itself.

I am so happy that I can say I am never alone like that little tulip. That is one thing I am never thankful enough for. I can say without a doubt that Christ is always with me. He promised that. Matthew 28:20b says. "lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Hebrews 13:5b says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." I can't think of another person who I know that without a doubt will be able to say that and keep it. We all have good intentions towards our friends and families, but none of us can promise we will be there always. Way too often things happen and get in the way and we let each other down. That is something my Lord will never do. He never has. He never will!

So when I made this card a while back I had no idea what it would mean to me when I pulled it out to use it. There it stood, one lone little yellow tulip on a simple card I intended to use for a birthday. The Lord speaks to us and reminds us of things in some amazing ways, even through our stamping.

The background is done with the Cuttle Bug Swiss Dots embossing folder. I stamped the image with Stazon and water colored it. The pearls on the side are some brads I found in a clearance bin and have been saving to use on just the right projects. I think they worked.

The dear sweet 83 year old lady I gave the card to was thrilled to receive it. I was blessed by her reaction when she opened it. She has shown it around and around. How sweet!!

I am so thankful that I can be reminded of a very basic fact, I am never alone. Never!! I hope you can say that and mean it. Thanks for stopping by.