Grandmama’s Teacups

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“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)

I love collecting pretty teacups.  My china cabinet is full of them.  Many of them I’ve found at thrift stores, or have been given to me as gifts (because others know I like teacups!).  They remind me of my grandmothers.  My mother’s mother also loved and collected teacups.  I remember eyeing and fingering her Blue Willow miniature collection as a child, until she would see and then scold me away.  Now it lovingly sits in my cabinet.  Teacups remind me of my father’s mother and grandmother for other reasons.  My great-grandmother Merle hand-painted china as a hobby when she was a young woman.  One project that she passed on to my grandmother was her tea-and-toast set.  It is a set of eight teacups and saucers, each one with a different flower delicately hand-painted as its design.  A tea-and-toast set is special because the saucer is offset, to allow room for little pastries and goodies (the “toast”) as well as the teacup.  My grandmother gave this special set to me as a wedding present, almost 10 years after my grandmother had passed away.  This was, by far, my most special gift, and I treasure it still.  It comes out for very special occasions, such as for William and Kate’s and Harry and Meghan’s weddings, and other small ladies’ gatherings.  You can see one of the teacups in the background of the below picture.

I chose to honor my grandmothers with this page in Proverbs 31.  I am truly thankful for the influence of godly women in my life.  They, along with my parents (and they were the ones who raised my parents!), became a powerful spiritual network for me, helping to guide me and prayerfully support me as I grew into the woman that I am.

I used several Sweet’n Sassy Stamps for this page.  The newly released Teacup Roses is the centerpiece.  I stamped it on cardstock and watercolored the rose with Shimmerz Inklingz–fittingly the color was called “A Rose by Any Other Name”.  I added some Nuvo Crystal Drops to give a dewdrop effect.  I stamped tiny roses in the band around the teacup using a rose stamp from Girl Power, and then painted the rest of the teacup with watercolors and acrylic paints.  I stamped the teacup and scripted sentiment, as well the music texture stamp from Texture Tiles 1, all around the page, and then sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink to give the page an aged look.  I then added some paper pieces from a vintage hymnal, a doily and splattered the Inklingz around the page.  To top the page off, I stamped the rose again, colored it, and cut it out with my tab punch, then adhered it, along with  a little piece of the doily.  Of course, washi!  Some vintage-looking music-staff washi anchored the page on the top and bottom.  I had a matching bow clip, so I added that.  But something was missing, and I discovered this page wasn’t complete until I added the stamped “grace” from the new Life in Jesus set.  I stamped it directly onyo the torn hymnal page, painted it with the Inklingz, and then affixed it on my page.

To be honest, I put more effort into this page than I often do.  But it was worth it!  The whole time I was remembering my dear grandmamas, and praising God for the love and support they gave me.  This turned out to be one of my all-time favorite pages!  The kind you just look at for a long time after you’re finished with it.  It was truly an act of creative worship for me.

For those of you who still have your grandmothers, thank them for their support and influence in your life.  And for those of you whose grandmothers have passed on, don’t forget to say a prayer of thanks to God for all they added to your lives.

Thanks for stopping by!  I think I’ll go make a cup of tea in one of my pretty teacups…

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Have Faith | Bible Journaling

Check out the process video for this page over at my YouTube Channel or using the link at the bottom of this post.

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2 Kings 4:1-7 tells about a widow in dire straits and desperate for God’s help.  Her husband has died and left her family in debt over their heads, the creditors are threatening to take her sons as slaves if she doesn’t pay the money she owes, and all the capital she has left is one jar of oil.  She needs help, and so she goes to the prophet Elisha.  He tells her to go and borrow as many jars as she can from all of her friends and neighbors.  “Not too few,” he says, having faith that God is going to make a BIG miracle for this woman.  She does exactly what Elisha tells her to do, because she also has faith that God will provide.  In fact, her faith is what took her to Elisha in the first place, and her faith is rewarded.

The widow and her sons go into her home with all the jars, shut the door, just as Elisha tells her to do, and sees God’s providence and goodness unfold.  As she pours the oil from her jar into another jar, it keeps pouring.  It doesn’t stop!  She moves on to the next jar, and the next, and the next.  The oil isn’t running out!  When she has run out of jars, she tells her son to give her another one.  He exclaims there are no more jars to be found.  At that precise moment the oil runs out. She takes the oil and sells it.  With the profits she has enough to pay all the creditors, and then plenty to live comfortably afterwards.  God’s blessings do not stop until they are overflowing!

Despite this story being relatively short–only seven verses–it is powerful and profound!  Faith is what gets us through the tough times.  We may be having money troubles, relationship issues, health concerns, job insecurities, etc.  But we can have faith in the same God who made the widow’s oil overflow.  He will likewise provide for you!  It will likely be in His own unique way, but He will make a way!

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I chose to journal this story using the new Have Faith collection from Echo Park Paper Co.  I cut out a jar with flowers from one of the 12×12 papers, used a few of the stickers, and made a bunting banner out of the “F-A-I-T-H” stickers.  I chose the jar because of the connection to the story.  I added a tag and a circle punch to the top of the page, both cut out from the papers.  This was a super easy page, and I still have SO much of the collection left that I could use for other Bible journaling, cards, and/or scrapbooking projects.

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How do God’s blessings overflow in your life?  Remembering the past instances of His care and provisions can help us to have faith in the future during difficult times.

Supplies:

Screen Shot 2018-06-28 at 2.49.46 PM“Have Faith” Collection Kit by Echo Park
Screen Shot 2018-06-28 at 2.55.47 PMWe ‘R Memory Keeper Tab Punch
Screen Shot 2018-06-28 at 2.51.16 PMPermanent Adhesive
Screen Shot 2018-06-28 at 3.54.46 PM
1-inch Circle Punch
Screen Shot 2018-06-28 at 2.53.48 PMEK Success Powder Tool
Screen Shot 2018-06-29 at 12.08.06 AMCorner Rounder
    Screen Shot 2018-06-28 at 2.52.38 PMTombow Liquid Glue

Handcrafted by God

13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

(Psalm 139:13-16)

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This past weekend I entered a new stage of adulthood.  I became a great-aunt.  Not just once, mind you.  Not even twice.  But three times over!  I became a triple great-aunt in a matter of TWO DAYS!  Two of my nieces had babies within two days of each other.  Needless to say, my sister was over the moon that both of her daughters gave birth to healthy baby girls on opposite sides of the state, and she was able to be there for both of them.  Here’s a picture of twins Leah and London, and baby Aria.  Aren’t they just beautiful?!

 

These precious little bundles of joy had been prayed and longed for by many people, especially their parents.  But long before they had even been conceived and thought of by their own parents, God had lovingly planned them and designed them.  And when it came time for their little bodies to grow inside their mothers’ wombs, He tenderly handcrafted them with love.  Their parents will continue to grow and nurture them with love and care, just as God will continue to watch over and protect them with His love and tenderness.

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I created this Bible journaling page in celebration of their birth.  I love to commemorate events in my Bible much like I would in a scrapbook.  I created a tag with distress oxide inks and then “Handcrafted by God with love”.  I added some splatter color on the page, washi tape, and a tag.  I finished by stamping the babies’ names and journaling my praise.

Praise God for my three new great-nieces.  Praise God for His life-giving love!

 

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Life Handmade Sentiments 2

 

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Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Alphanumeric Thinlits Die