Our Daily Bread Designs {Challenge 39}

Can you believe December is this coming week? Oh my! Do you have any snow yet? We see snow very rarely but I will enjoy watching the snow everyone else gets. :) Our fun ODBD challenge for today is centered around snow! Your challenge is to add snowflakes to your creation (this can be on the patterned paper, punches, the image, your ribbon, etc.).

For my card, I decided to use the ODBD snowflake stamp from the Peace & Joy set. I also used the ODBD snowflake die, and a Tim Holtz snowflake border die. The sentiment also comes from the Peace & Joy set. Isn't it perfect as we think about God's beautiful creation falling from above? Love it!
Papers: Bazzill cs (for snowflake), Webster's Pages Holiday Collection combo pack , Paper Trey Ink cs (for card base)
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Peace & Joy
Stamp Ink: VersaMark, Ranger bridal embossing tinsel, Tim Holtz Distress Ink vintage photo
Embellishments: Our Daily Bread Designs Snowflake die, Tim Holtz Alterations snow flurries border die, sewing machine, Zva Creative brad, lace from Ellen Hutson

If you would like to see more challenge creations, please be sure to check out the other ODBD Challenge Team creations here:

Chris Olsen
Chris Dickinson
Francie Gumprecht
Sabrina Jackson

To see all of the challenge and prize details, please see the ODBD blog post here. Yes, there are prizes, so you don't want to miss the details! Also please don't forget to upload your creations to Mister Linky in the same post by Thursday, December 2nd, at 8 p.m. EST to be eligible! Remember to use Keyword ODBDSLC39 when posting to online galleries. Thanks for stopping by, and blessings to each of you!

Organizational {Friday} It's a Stampin' Things Give-Away

Happy Friday everyone! I pray you had an amazing Thanksgiving! Today I have something VERY special for my blog readers. I am giving away a storage unit from Stampin' Things. Oooh, this is going to be so exciting! Let's look at the details!

Sample Units
If you haven't seen these units before, you can refer to all of my posts on them by visiting this link. Just keep scrolling through, and you will see how I have used the Elite, the Topper, the RAK, and the Die Cuts & More units in my craft room. Sue has many other units available too (not just these 4). You will want to look around the site to see all of the other units she has! Here are some sample pictures of the 4 units I have (Pic #1, the Topper; Pic #2 & #3, the Elite; Pic #4, the RAK):
What do You Have to Do to Enter
Please read the entry details carefully. I would hate to eliminate someone because they missed the details! :)

1. Visit this link (Stampinthings.com).
2. Look around, and pick your favorite organizer.
3. Come back to this post!
4. Share in the comment section of this post 'why' it's your favorite organizer. How would you use this unit?
5. ONE winner will be chosen from all of the entries.
6. The winner will be given their favorite unit for FREE!

***The Fine Print***
• Post your comments between Friday, Nov. 26th, and Monday, Dec. 6th, at 11:59 p.m. CST.
• Winner will be announced: Friday, Dec 10th, right here on my blog.
• Sue of Stampin' Things will ship the winner's organizer to them on or before Dec. 31, 2010.
• Due to weight and shipping costs, this contest is limited to the 48 continental United States.
• No purchase necessary to enter.

Now, there are actually two chances to win--please don't confuse this give-away with the one Sue is running on her site. You can certainly enter BOTH contests. That would be awesome! But to win the unit of your choice here on my blog, you must follow the above instructions. The second chance to win can be found on the main Stampin' Things page.

Good luck to all of you! I can't wait to see which unit is your favorite. I have too many favorites so it would be a hard choice for me. LOL! Have a blessed weekend,

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

Well, I am officially taking today off. But before I begin, I wanted to wish each of you a blessed and joyous Thanksgiving. May God bless you each with a day of rest and joy with family and friends.

Colossians 3:15-16 "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts."

And be sure to stop by tomorrow and spread the word too! I have a HUGE give-away that will begin. I don't think you will want to miss this one! This is my way of saying I am thankful for each of you! Happy Thanksgiving to all! Blessings,

Tuesday's {Tip} 2011 Calendar using ODBD Stamps!

Well, today my calendar project is being featured on the Our Daily Bread Designs blog. I thought I would share it here with my readers also. The instructions are in the paragraph below followed by lots of images and a complete supply list with links!

One thing I love about Our Daily Bread Designs stamps is that there are images for every single month of the year! Since that's the case, I thought I would make a 2011 calendar for fun.

To make my calendar, first I cut twelve 4 ¼” x 3 ½” pieces of white cardstock. These pieces will mat each month. I then printed out a 2011 calendar on the same white cardstock. You can find many 2011 calendars in my post here. :) Next, I trimmed each month to 1 7/8” square. Then I had to decide on papers to use. I decided to use Webster's Pages papers because I had papers for each season, and they also had designs that worked well with each month. Then the fun began! I decorated each month using various papers, embellishments, and stamps. I created a mat for each month using the same Spellbinders lacey squares die. Here is how January through June turned out:And here you can see July through December:
I used a 3x3 Vertical Frame that I got from How Do You Glue. And here are some close-up images. (Note: You can see the entire frame in the October photo below.) 3x3 Vertical Stand: How Do You Glue
Papers: Paper Trey Ink white cs (for base pages); Webster's Pages pp; Memory Box thistle, dill, wassail, lavender, and mocha cs
Our Daily Bread Designs Stamps: Peace & Joy, Bless this Home, Love One Another, Brocade Borders, The Lord Has Risen, The Cross of Christ, Mother’s Day, Father's Day, Happy Birthday, Fishers of Men, Fleur de Lis Borders, Harvest Blessings, Randi's Song, The Living Bread, Blessed Christmas
Tim Holtz Distress Inks: old paper, aged mahogany, peeled paint, tattered rose, dusty concord, vintage photo, faded jeans, pumice stone, forest moss, scattered straw, wild honey, and barn door
Stamp Inks (other): Adirondack espresso
Embellishments: Paper Trey Ink rustic twine and buttons; Spellbinders lacey squares die; Chatterbox wooden brad; Bazzill parakeet and white tulle; Stickles diamond, cotton candy, Christmas red, baby blue, and lavender; Distress Stickles scattered straw; Hero Arts pearls and flowers; misc. baker's twine

The stamp sets I used for each month were (click on the set name to look at the set in the ODBD store):

January: ODBD Peace & Joy and Bless this Home
February: ODBD Love One Another
March: ODBD Brocade Borders
April: ODBD The Lord Has Risen and the Cross of Christ
May: ODBD Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Birthday
June: ODBD Happy Father’s Day and Fisher’s of Men
July: ODBD Fleur de Lis Borders
August: ODBD Happy Birthday
September: ODBD Harvest Blessings
October: ODBD Randi's Song and Bless this Home
November: ODBD Randi's Song and The Living Bread
December: ODBD Blessed Christmas

I hope you will give this calendar a try. It was a lot of fun, and it was wonderful to use so many of my ODBD stamp sets for one project!

And if you have made it throught the post this far, then you will be excited to know that Kelley at ODBD will be running a Free Shipping Special for Thanksgiving weekend as a thank you to her customers. This will run Thursday through Sunday of this week! This is the perfect time to pick up those ODBD sets you have been wanting or those sets you need to add to your collection to make a 2011 calendar!
She will also have blog candy of a free Bread Basket Bundle so you will want to be sure to check the ODBD blog during the holiday this week!!!! Thanks for allowing me to share, and have a blessed and joyous Thanksgiving!

{Scripture Challenge 2} Challenge Word #24, Help

Challenge Word #24: Help

Friday of this week, I learned I have a big task before me that will happen just after Thanksgiving. My first thoughts were—oh my, I am so swamped. We didn’t have Christmas decorations last year because my husband was so ill. Now I won’t be able to put up the decorations Thanksgiving weekend. I have Christmas cards to do, presents to wrap, design work to do, etc., etc., etc. All selfish thoughts. Then God woke me up at 3 a.m. Saturday with a song by Casting Crowns—“Praise You in This Storm” which is actually from Psalm 121:1-2 “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

God knew this was coming. He has prepared it for me. When He prepares something for us, He enables and helps us through it. As believers, we have the Holy Spirit living in us that gives us the power to do things He brings our way. He is our help. John 14:15-17 says “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.”

How amazing is that! The power of the Holy Spirit lives in me and in all believers. We can rely on that power. He is our help in all things. And when God calls us to a task, He will enable us to do it—not by our own strength but in His. Are you relying on “self” for help and failing, or are you relying on the Holy Spirit within you to complete the task He has given you?

Now the “task” may be a difficult road but we can trust that He is our help through it! Now this doesn’t mean we can run around and do as we please. If we are just running without an intent purpose in following His will, we can lose that closeness to the Lord because we are running and not listening to or following Him. He is there to help but we must be in His will too.

What difficulty or task are you facing right now? Is it a medical situation? Family issues? The craziness of the holiday season? Where are you turning for help? Do you turn to complaining thoughts like I did? Do you turn to friends to voice your frustration? Do you turn to the internet to get other’s advice? Or do you turn to our precious Lord and ask for His help? He is our Creator. He is always watching over us, and He is all-powerful. We certainly should not turn to anyone or anything else for help. Give it all to Him and turn your eyes to Him. We can depend on Him for our help. Psalm 54:4 says “Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.”

For my page today I used two of the scriptures listed above—Psalm 54:4 and Psalm 121:1-2. I also used Psalm 124:8 from the Our Daily Bread Designs Scripture Collection 3 stamp collection. I also loved this pink paper from Webster's Pages. This soft pink is my absolute favorite color, and I need to remember to stay in the background just as this pink paper is behind the scripture. I need to allow Him to lead me and help me. I am not in control; He is! And praise God for that!
Papers: Webster's Pages Postcards from Paris
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Scripture Collection 3
Stamp Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink aged mahogany
Embellishments: Tim Holtz journaling tickets and type charms, Hero Arts flowers, Paper Trey Ink buttons, sewing machine, misc. twine and lace

When sharing your page for this challenge be sure to use Keyword SCRC210 when posting in galleries. Also, please leave a link to your creation here using Inlinkz! To see all of our previous lessons, please visit this post here. I will be back with another study on December 5th. Have a blessed and joyous Thanksgiving week ahead!

Our Daily Bread Designs {Challenge 38}

So, do you still have some holiday cards to create? Well, today's ODBD Challenge will help you get those last cards finished!!! Your challenge for this week is to create any holiday card (Thanksgiving, Christmas or etc.).

For my card, I decided to use blue for a Christmas card. First I stamped the snowflake from the ODBD stamp set Peace & Joy and cut it out using the matching ODBD Snowflake Die set. Unfortunately you cannot see the amazing sparkle on the snowflake or the sentiment. I used the Ranger bridal embossing tinsel sold in the ODBD store. Wow, is this stuff amazing! I then made a ribbon frame using some tulle I bought at Hobby Lobby. This was fun to make and a little different using the polka dots and navy. :)Papers: Bazzill navy cs, Pink Paislee Father Christmas, Paper Trey Ink cs (for card base)
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Peace & Joy
Stamp Ink: VersaMark, Ranger bridal embossing tinsel
Embellishments: Our Daily Bread Designs Snowflake die, Memory Box snowflake jewel, KaiserCraft pearls, navy tulle from Hobby Lobby, Cuttlebug snowflakes embossing folder, Quickutz tag die

If you would like to see more challenge creations, please be sure to check out the other ODBD Challenge Team creations here:

Chris Olsen
Chris Dickinson
Francie Gumprecht
Sabrina Jackson

To see all of the challenge and prize details, please see the ODBD blog post here. Yes, there are prizes, so you don't want to miss the details! Also please don't forget to upload your creations to Mister Linky in the same post by Thursday, November 25th, at 8 p.m. EST to be eligible! Remember to use Keyword ODBDSLC38 when posting to online galleries. Thanks for stopping by, and have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Organizational {Friday} Stampin' Things "The RAK"

Sorry for posting this a little late today. One of my daughter's had surgery on Tuesday, and I am a bit behind in getting things done. Hmmm, but then again, when am I not behind? LOL! Anyway, I am SO excited to share this new storage unit with you today! Many of you know that I have three products that are my absolute favorite in my room--my Scrap 'n Cube desk pieces, my antique pieces my parents found for me, and my Stampin' Things pieces. These products are all amazing and purchases I have NEVER regretted!

Well, I am super excited to show you Sue's newest piece from Stampin' Things. This unit is called "The RAK." The RAK stamping organizer was specifically designed for those crafters who use Ranger products such as the 3" x 3" distress inks and reinkers, Adirondack ink pads, and more. Most of you know I have had a growing passion for distress inks. If you missed my post on how to keep your sponges with your ink pads, look here. Because of that growing passion, this new storage unit is perfect for all of my Ranger goodies. And yes, that's a new antique piece on top of the unit. I love when my parents go "antiquing." :)
So, how do I store my inks in this amazing new unit? First, I put my inks in color order. Usually I store all papers, inks, Stickles, paints, etc., in this order: white, ecru, taupe, brown, yellow, gold, orange, pink, red, green, blue, purple, gray, and black. When I stick with that system, it's easier to find all things "color related." So, sticking with that system, that is how I placed my Tim Holtz Distress Inks in the RAK. Then the re-inkers I put in the slot right next to the ink. That way I know which reinkers I have and which I do not. I do not have a lot of reinkers yet but there is a home for them when I do get more. :) It is definitely going to be much easier to find the reinkers when it's right next to the labeled ink pad.

Then for my Mini Misters, if I make a spray ink out of the reinkers, I put that in the center section next to the stamp pad also. Then it's super easy to pull a pre-mixed spray ink! Right now I don't have many of those either but I will put two Mini Misters in one slot. The left Mister will go with the inks on the left, and the Mister on the right will go with its matching ink on the right. Make sense? The center section holds two Mini Misters beautifully together. So, here you can see reinkers with the matching ink pad and the matching Mini Mister full of spray ink. Perfect!
This unit will hold:
48 3" X 3" Ranger Distress Ink Pads
48 Distress reinkers
48 Mini Misters
PLUS 24 more spaces for pads such as Adirondack, Staz On, Versamark, etc.

The Adirondack inks and other stamp pads fit beautifully down the side of the unit! You can see a side full of Adirondack inks here:
And if that wasn't enough, this unit also holds the Adirondack Paint Dabbers! Here you can see my paints on the back side of the unit:
They fit in the space "top first" so you see the bottom of the bottle with the color. Very nice and easy to find what you want!

There are 4 sides to this unit so it will hold a lot of inks. And of course this unit swivels so smoothly just like the other Stampin' Things units, and it is stackable. I can literally stack this on top of my Elite unit or my Topper unit or stack them 3 high! Because I am only 5 feet "tall," stacking 3 high is a bit much for me though. LOL!

Well, I hope you like this new unit. If you are looking for something for your inks, reinkers, Stickles (yes, it fits Stickles too), Mini Misters, etc., the new Stampin' Things RAK unit is perfect for it all. Hmm, maybe you want to put this on your Christmas wish list. You won't be disappointed. Remember, I have 4 units now from Sue, and ALL are my favorite!!! Have a blessed Friday!

{Faith Journaling} Challenge #52

Wow, has it been a year since we started this journaling challenge? I thought today it would be fun to:

**Look back through some of your journaling entries. How has your relationship with the Lord grown over this past year?

2 Corinthians 3:18 "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Thank you for joining me whether from the beginning or only a few weeks. I will continue these journaling questions each Thursday until I feel I have run out of questions. LOL! If you are new, please feel free to join in anytime. Reference this link to see all 52 questions thus far! Have a blessed Thursday!

Tuesday's {Tip} Baby Food Jars

Okay, for those of you with small children, grandchildren, or parrots like me, you may have an over abundance of baby food jars! I save them because I use them for embellishment storage.
Well, I ran across this thread on Splitcoaststampers asking what to do with baby food jars, and goodness do these ladies have some great ideas. And with Christmas approaching, I thought y'all might like to use some of these ideas. I really encourage you to check it out! Be sure to post here if you make any of these amazing pieces! Have fun, and Happy Tuesday!

Our Daily Bread Designs {Challenge 37}

Oh my do we have a fun, fun challenge for you this week. At least I hope you think it's fun. I know I had a blast with my creation!!!! So, what is all the excitement about? Well, your challenge this week is to create anything BUT a card. It need not be 3D. It can be a bookmark, tag, etc.

Well, when I first got this challenge assignment, I didn't know what I would do because I always will turn to a layout or altered notebook. Then my order from How Do You Glue arrived last Friday, and I immediately knew this is what I would alter for this challenge! I grabbed some fun Basic Grey Lemonade paper and this great verse stamp from the ODBD Happy Mother's Day set and got started. Here is how it turned out:
Dress Form: How Do You Glue
Papers: Basic Grey Lemonade
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Happy Mother's Day
Stamp Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink vintage photo, Ranger clear ep
Paints: Making Memories manila, Ranger Distress Crackle Paint tea dye
Embellishments: brown lace from Ellen Hutson, Tim Holtz journaling ticket, DMC 225, 3/4" wood spool from Hobby Lobby, Zva Creative pink roses, misc. tulle, Prima pink flower center, KaiserCraft pearls, misc. ruler twill, misc. scissors charm, Mod Podge

I really enjoyed creating something I have never tackled before. I hope you will think out of the box and have fun with something new too! If you would like to see more challenge creations, please be sure to check out the other ODBD Challenge Team creations here:

Chris Olsen
Chris Dickinson
Francie Gumprecht
Sabrina Jackson

To see all of the challenge and prize details, please see the ODBD blog post here. Yes, there are prizes, so you don't want to miss the details! Also please don't forget to upload your creations to Mister Linky in the same post by Thursday, November 18th, at 8 p.m. EST to be eligible! Remember to use Keyword ODBDSLC37 when posting to online galleries. Thanks for stopping by, and have a blessed weekend!

{Faith Journaling} Challenge #51 & RAK Winner

Thanks to those of you that commented last week on the journaling challenge! I couldn't believe there were only 9 comments though. Wow! People must be out and about and busy. But the 9 comments that were left were wonderful. I appreciate you! And I encourage everyone to hop over and read the 9 comments. You can find them in this post here. And now for our winner of the Vera Bradley journal:

"Thanks for the journaling questions--I began answering them in my morning journal (where I record prayer requests, verses to learn, daily Bible readings, and other devotional thoughts) and marking them FJQ for Faith Journaling Questions. I'm on #42, and slowly catching up; I started months after you began with them, so have been enjoying the process. Thank you very much for your wisdom and generosity!
Jennifer in Ohio"

Congratulations Jennifer! Please e-mail me your address, and I will get your journal off to you! Now for today's topic. Most of us easily run to God when things are hard but:

**How do you "enjoy" God each day when things are going well in your life?

Job 23:11-12 "My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread."

Now I know Job had it rough!!! But this verse is just amazing that in all things (not some things or just the rough things) He followed God without turning aside. Awesome! To see all of the journaling questions thus far, please see my post here. Feel free to join in anytime, and have a blessed Thursday!

{Scripture Challenge} Free Books & 2011

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today's post is in lieu of a "Tuesday's {Tip}" post since this does contain a tip but not of the papercrafting nature. LOL!

Anyway, I have to share what happened late yesterday afternoon. I think most of you saw the Scripture Challenge post on "assurance" on Sunday. If you missed the post, please see it here. Well, I struggled with posting it; however, it was truly what God wanted me to post this week, and I am so thankful I followed His leading. Then yesterday I got a notice for a free Kindle book titled "Can I Be Sure I am Saved" by R. C. Sproul. Unfortunately I noticed it is not free this morning. Sometimes these free books are only free for a few hours so grab them when you see them. But it was such a confirmation from God to me that I shared what He truly wanted me to share. I was just full of such joy yesterday as I saw that!! I did grab the book while it was free ysterday but certainly haven't had time to read it yet! LOL!
And I encourage you to check the free book site because there are some great free Christian books offered (both fiction and non-fiction). There are actually several free books and discounted books today that you may enjoy. You do not have to have a Kindle to get the free books. You just have to have an amazon.com account. You can download the Kindle app to your computer, iPhone, Blackberry, iPad, and Android. Be sure to scroll through the entire blog and even to the next page (older posts) because sometimes they are still free, and it doesn't hurt to check them out! I have almost 50 books now that I have gotten for free!! But please be forwarned that some of the free books are books I would never read, and I don't even like looking at the covers. This free site lets you know about free books of all genres not just Christian books!

Scripture Challenge 2011
Next I wanted to address the Scripture Challenge for 2011. I have not felt God leading me yet on what to do for 2011 or even if I should continue. I am praying about it. I know there are many of you that read but don't create pages, and that is awesome! It's about learning to live for Him each day and growing more like Him not creating pages. The pages are just fun and will leave a faith legacy for my children and grandchildren. So, what are your desires for 2011? What would you like to see? What would you partcipate in most? I would love to hear any and all ideas. You never know how God may use you to speak to me. And I truly thank those of you that have participated this year and done so each and every week! You are a blessing, and I pray God blesses you for the time you study His Word.

Well, I would love to hear from you today. Let me know your thoughts. Have a joyous Tuesday, and thanks for stopping by!

{Scripture Challenge 2} Challenge #23, Assurance

Challenge Word #23: Assurance

This week I saw a thread online asking how we know that one religion is right and the others are wrong. How do we know that believing in Christ is the only way to eternal life? The thread broke my heart as I read the many different responses but it also made me think that we need to look at this issue. How do we have the assurance that we belong to God? How do we know that He is the only way to have eternal life? This is not a popular subject, and I hesitated even writing about this today. I even tried to work on another word and failed. God keeps bringing me back to this topic so I will obey, and we will see where He takes me.

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Do you know in your heart that you belong to Him? Do you question whether or not you truly are His? Do you have that assurance? What is assurance? Dictionary.com says that assurance is “full confidence; freedom from doubt; certainty.” Are you confident that you belong to God forever?

First, you must believe that the Bible is God’s true word and that it is without error. If you do not believe the Bible is true, how do you pick what is true and what is not? What if you pick and choose what you want to believe, and I pick and choose what I want believe out of God’s Word? Who gives us the authority to do that? No one! And if you believe one part is false, doesn’t that make the entire Bible false? Our assurance is based on the authority of His Word. God Himself has given us the Bible through human writers. It is truthful and authoritative. His Word alone has the power to save. If we don’t believe His entire Word or the power of God, it will lead us to faulty thinking and wrong behavior. John 5:24 says “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” In your heart, do you know His Word is absolute truth?

Second, we must understand that our salvation is not dependent upon works. God’s grace is a gift to us—the utterly undeserving. We don’t deserve to be saved. There is nothing in us that causes us to deserve anything from God. He sent His Son to die for our sins as a gift to us because He loves us not because of anything we have done. Ephesians 2:8-9 says “. . . it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." And Romans 11:6 says “and if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” God as our Creator has the right to say how we come to Him. He has authority over all of His creation—not just some but all! He has an absolute claim on us. Are you trying to assure your way into Heaven through works or do you know with full confidence that His grace is sufficient? 2 Corinthians 12:9a says “My grace is sufficient for you.”

We must also understand the truth about sin. Jesus paid the price for my sin and your sin. He has forgiven our sins. The sin debt has been paid through Jesus. This certainly does not mean we don’t continue to sin, and we should strive not to but we all mess up daily. As we sin, we must confess it because we cannot approach a Holy God with unconfessed sin in our lives. I loved this quote from our BSF Teaching Leader “Believers aren’t perfect but are placed in the Perfect One.” Isn’t that wonderful? So do you look different and obey God, or do you look like the world and people cannot see Christ in you because you look like everyone else? Are you picking and choosing what constitutes sin and what does not? Only God’s true Word can tell us how to live, and what is right and what is wrong.

So, if you believe God’s Word is true, you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, and you know that your salvation is through grace alone, then why might you be feeling like you do not belong to Him? Do you know that Jesus is yours? Maybe Satan is giving you doubts. Ask God to give you that assurance that you are His! He would love to whisper to you “child you are mine”!!!!! You may not know the date of your salvation but that’s okay. Some of us, like me, don’t have that life changing moment that we remember but as we grow in Him our assurance should be evidenced by—

**Obedience to Him—we can’t help but to try to obey Him because we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
**Having a joy for reading His Word and knowing with your whole heart that His Word is true.
**Having a great love and passion for Him.
**Having a great love for others—even when you don’t like someone, the Holy Spirit give us His love for others.
**Feeling the indwelling Holy Spirit guiding you each day.
**Grieving your sin, and asking for forgiveness.

Oh there is so much more that could be shared but this has already gotten so lengthy. Nothing in life is assured but we can be sure of our salvation in Christ! For my page today, I chose this verse:

Hebrews 10:22-23 “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful."

I designed my page first by writing out my scripture. Since I knew it was a long one, I needed to write it out, and then design around it. I used lots of distress inks, Basic Grey papers, and the beautiful corner stamp is from Our Daily Bread Designs--the "Let Us Begin" set.
Papers: Basic Grey Oliver, Paper Trey Ink kraft cs
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Let Us Begin
Stamp Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink old paper, peeled paint, and pumice stone, Ranger clear ep
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Journaling tickets, Deluxe Designs chipboard, hand-dyed seam binding, Stickles patina, Hero Arts flowers, Prima flowers, sewing machine

I pray that if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, that you are assured of your salvation and that you belong to Him. If you have not accepted Him, will you make that choice today? Feel free to e-mail me if you have questions. When sharing your page for this challenge be sure to use Keyword SCRC210 when posting in galleries. Also, please leave a link to your creation here using Inlinkz! To see all of our previous lessons, please visit this post here. I will be back with another study on November 21th. Have a blessed week ahead!

Our Daily Bread Designs {Challenge 36}

Well, we had our first Winter Weather Advisory last night. We almost never get that in Texas until February/March! WOW! And an advisory for us just means it's going to get cold. LOL! So, now that it's cold here, it's a great time to stay inside and create! So, how about joining in on today's ODBD challenge? Your challenge today is to use gold or silver cording, craft hemp or string. Easy and fun! Let's look at what I created.

I decided to use twine on my card by wrapping it around a popsicle stick and tying it through the button. I also used the new ODBD Snowflake Background stamp that was just released this week. I stamped it in Tim Holtz Old Paper distress ink directly onto my card base. I then used one of the sentiments from the ODBD set called Peace & Joy.
Papers: Paper Trey Ink kraft cs, Basic Grey Jovial
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Snowflake Background, Our Daily Bread Designs Peace & Joy
Stamp Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink old paper; SU sage shadow, VersaMark, Ranger clear ep
Embellishments: hand-dyed seam binding, Basic Grey button, sewing machine, popsicle stick, Paper Trey Ink rustic twine

And my card matches the card from last week's challenge so that I can make a set of Christmas cards. Here are the two cards together:
So, maybe y'all can use each week's challenge to make a set of cards. How fun! If you would like to see more challenge creations, please be sure to check out the other ODBD Challenge Team creations here:

Chris Olsen
Chris Dickinson
Francie Gumprecht
Sabrina Jackson

And to see all of the challenge and prize details, please see the ODBD blog post here. Yes, there are prizes, so you don't want to miss the details! Also please don't forget to upload your creations to Mister Linky in the same post by Thursday, November 11th, at 8 p.m. EST to be eligible! Remember to use Keyword ODBDSLC36 when posting to online galleries. Thanks for stopping by, and have a blessed weekend!

Organizational {Friday} Hand-Dyed Seam Binding & a Ribbon Update

Most of you probably remember my Tuesday's {Tip} post about dying seam binding. If you missed that post, please see it here. If you remember it, well, I must tell you that I have not used the "soaking in a glass of water" method since that post. It takes WAY too long, the color is not rich enough, and the seam binding doesn't crinkle as well. I only mist my seam binding now! I mist with a variety of things--Glimmer Mist, my own ink mix, Maya Road Mist, and Smooch Spritz.

Sometimes I really enjoy just quickly making 1 yards' worth of seam binding to match a particular project such as this card I shared last Saturday:
It took the full yard on this card so I didn't have any left to store. The seam binding on this card was made using a mixture of Maya Road Mist Latte and Smooch Spritz Cherry Ice. I really liked that color combo and may make it again! And yes, we will talk about keeping track of favorite color combos in a minute. :) When I first spritzed on the Smooch Spritz Cherry Ice, I thought it would be awful because it was almost pink and not red at all. But once I added the latte color--WOW! It was exactly what I wanted. Don't ever be afraid to just start spritzing other colors if you don't like what you have! You never know what fun color blend you will end up with!

When I make just one yard for a particular project, I don't have to worry about storage. But when I make a batch, I need to store it somewhere. The great thing about hand-dyed seam binding is that it looks better the more crinkled it is. So, guess what? We can store this "messy." We don't have to worry about neatness! Love that! You could stuff it in a drawer or a box and be done! Inexpensive and easy! Here is what my current stash of seam binding looks like in a drawer of my antique spice unit:
Now, what I don't like about this storage for me personally is that I don't know what color combo I used, and I have to rummage through the drawer a bit. Really no big deal but just something for you to think about when you decide how you might want to store your seam binding.

Storage Boxes
Most of you know that I keep all of my ribbon in the Cropper Hopper embellishment boxes. I have done this for years and years, and I still love it to this day. It's one of the organizational ideas I haven't "upgraded" or changed. :) Anyway, Cropper Hopper used to make 3 different sizes of the boxes but now they have discontinued 2 of the 3 leaving only the smallest box size. These boxes are great but will only allow you to keep ribbon up to 1/2 inch wide. While I don't need anymore boxes, I know some of you may have been on a hunt so I want to show you what I have found, and it's also the same boxes I will keep my hand-dyed seam binding in! They are these clear boxes from The Box Depot. The box closest to the Cropper Hopper box size is PLB103. It cost $28 for 100 of these boxes! I think that's an awesome price! I have not ordered from the yet but they sent me these samples. I wanted to see the sizing in person before I purchased them. The sizing for these boxes are:

PLB103: 1.5"x1.5"x1.5"
PLB104: 2"x2"x2"

Here is what they look like with the seam binding stuff inside:
I love it because it keeps the seam binding crinkled. I also can store them in the same drawer with my other ribbons. Here you can see it in my drawer with the pink ribbons:Now, as I said, these boxes will also work for your regular ribbons. Here you can see that same box with a roll of 7/8" wide satin ribbon. This could certainly hold a wider ribbon also (up to 1 1/2").
The tag in the box is just a slip of paper where I write the name of the ribbon manufacturer. That way when I need more ribbon or I need it for a supply list, it's easy to find! I will use this same "slip of paper" technique for keeping my seam binding color combos handy. I will just write down the color combo, and stuff it inside the storage box with the seam binding.

Keeping Track of Favorite Color Combos
Well, I bet you can guess how I keep track of my favorite hand-dyed color combos. Yes, my famous color swatch book! Now even though I keep the slip of paper with the color combo in the storage box, remember sometimes I only make enough for one project. In that case, I certainly wouldn't remember my favorite color combination. So, what I do is snip off a small sample of the seam binding, attach it to my color swatch sheet, and write down the color combination. Easy, and then a cinch to recreate if I want more. I hope you have found today's post helpful. Enjoy, and happy organizing!