A {Little} ATC Teaser

Some of the Canvas Corp Brand designers got together for a little ATC swap. It has been fun creating them, and now the real fun begins when they start to arrive in everyone's mailboxes. Here is a sneak of the 12 that went out in the mail yesterday. They are going to places like Australia, Luxembourg, Norway, Canada, and the US.

And here is a sneak of one of the cards. I will reveal the entire card once the swap is complete, and they are posted on the Canvas Corp Brands blog.

Papers: 7Gypsies Ordre Du Jour, misc. book paper 

Stamps: 7Gypsies Distressed Words and Bold Chevron, Stampin' Up, Schoolbook alphabet lowercase, Paperbag Studios Mixed Media Essentials #1 
Stamp Ink: Hero Arts Hues India ink 
Paints: Tattered Angels Glimmer Glare Palo Verde, Tattered Angels High Impact paint (olive, light blue, lime green, tan, and aqua) 
Embellishments: TCW Basic Circles 12x12 template, Pigma micron 0.3mm pen, sari ribbon, Teresa Collins Stationary Noted sticky notes, correction pen, sewing machine

Thanks for joining me today, and have a blessed day!

Glory {Art} Scripture Challenge #17, Discouraged?

The Study

If you remember, I was unable to post the last Glory {Art} Challenge due to one of my daughter's taking her fourth ambulance ride this year to the ER. She ended up being in the hospital for 10 days this time. At one point they thought she needed heart surgery. Yes, this is the daughter that just had her 4th back surgery earlier this year. During this hospital stay, she was on complete bedrest, she was in tears, and she was discouraged. She wanted to go home, and so did I. She also wanted to go back to school. She is tired of hospitals and problems. Have you ever felt that way? Are you discouraged? Maybe you too have health problems or a family member does. Maybe you are having trouble paying the bills or you are discouraged in your job or lack of finding one. Maybe you are discouraged because you have tried to get the weight off over and over again, and it just doesn't happen. There are so many reasons we become discouraged.

If we focus on the problem, we will be discouraged. But God doesn't want us to be discouraged. He wants us to focus on Him and encourage us! In Exodus 5:22, we see that Moses took his doubt and discouragement to the Lord. 

Exodus 5:22 "Moses returned to the Lord and said, 'Why, Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Is this why You sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not rescued Your people at all.'"

Moses did the right thing. He turned to God, and God responded with encouragement and tells Moses how He will rescue His people.

Exodus 6:1 "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of My mighty hand he will let them go; because of My mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.'"

God sees past our troubles. He has a bigger picture for us. God gave Moses encouragement and hope, and He gives us encouragement and hope also. He is the God of comfort in our troubles. Even when we are discouraged, we need to praise Him. He is faithful. His grace and love are abounding.

Deuteronomy 32:4 "He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He."

Psalm 86:15 "But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness."

So what do you do for someone that is discouraged? Or what do you do for yourself? I will tell you what I did for my daughter. First, she denied everything I suggested to distract her. So I quietly sat next to her bedside, and I turned to His Word by reading scriptures aloud to her. She said nothing and had her back turned to me as she lay in the bed. Then I started playing her new favorite album by 7eventh Time Down. After listening to scriptures and this song, she began to weep which made me weep along with her. The scriptures and the music did us both good and brought us encouragement. One of the songs we listened to was "Unbelievable." You can listen to it by clicking here. Some of the words in the song are:

"Lord You could've given up 

And walked away 

From someone so unworthy 

But You stayed 

Your faithfulness surrounds me 

Your grace is all abounding 

Your mercy overwhelms me 

You call me Your own 

I know You'll never let go 

Your love’s unbelievable 

On and on it goes 

Your love’s unbelievable 

On and on it goes 

Your love’s unbelievable"

So when we are discouraged, read His word. There is a living, eternal, super-natural power in God's Word. God speaks encouragement and hope to His children through His word. Do you take your focus off of God when you are discouraged? I pray instead that in faith you would turn to Him in your discouragement and troubles. Let Him encourage you!

Romans 1:17 "For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'"

"Fight back! Discouragement is a choice. If you feel discouraged, it's because you've chosen to feel that way. No one is forcing you to feel bad. Hang on! Do what's right in spite of your feelings. No feeling lasts forever."—Rick Warren

The Art
For today's Scripture Art Cards, I used Strathmore Artist Trading Cards. I use the Canvas Paper in the ATC size. No need to cut, gesso, or prepare these in any way; just start painting. They are even white on one side and off-white on the back so you can choose which side to use. I should have started using these from the beginning of the year but I guess now is better than later. The canvas texture is also nice. To purchase, see the supply list below.

For my cards today, I needed something quick as we have only been home from the hospital a week today. She didn't need heart surgery yet, praise God, but she was diagnosed with a new health condition unfortunately. Anyway, because I needed something quick, I used this video by Marta Lapkowska for inspiration. I like how these turned out but may do another full-sized art journal page using this same technique. It was fun.

Because the ATCs were so much smaller and moved around, I used adhesive to stick all four cards onto a sheet of newsprint paper. That way I could paint all four at once, and they did not move around. Sorry for the bad lighting. It was rainy and dark when I started these.

And here is how they turned out with scriptures and the quote from the study:

Feel free to join us on the Facebook page where some people will be sharing their creations. We also have some discussions that will be going on there too about the study. If you don't use Facebook and want to share your creation here, do so below by using Inlinkz! To see all of the information regarding this challenge and the previous studies and art tips, please see this post here. And today instead of being discouraged, I pray you will be encouraged by this beautiful prayer.

Ephesians 3:14-21 "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

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{Glory Art} Scripture Challenge #6, Follower

Note: Please click here to see today's Glory Art {Tip}.

The Study

A month or so ago, I had the privilege of listening to some of the youth in our congregation speak about their weekend retreat. They were each sharing what they learned about being a fan versus a follower of Jesus Christ. Here is how they defined each:

Fan: I like You when things are good.

Follower: I am with You through thick and thin.

So which are you? A fan of Jesus Christ or a follower of Jesus Christ? You can't be in the middle. Either you are all for God or you are not. If we are willing to follow Jesus in the joyful times, we must be willing to follow Him in times of suffering because that will bring us closer to Him who suffered the ultimate for us by dying on the Cross. Jesus calls us take up our cross daily and follow Him. He doesn't call us to be His fan. He doesn't call us to just 'like' Him. He calls us to have a daily relationship with Him. We are to be His follower.

Luke 9:23 "Then He said to them all: 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.'"

Look how Simon Peter and Andrew respond to Jesus:

Matthew 4:19-20 "'Come, follow Me,' Jesus said, 'and I will send you out to fish for people.' At once they left their nets and followed Him."

And look how James and John respond to Jesus:

Matthew 4:21a-22 "Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him."

'At once' Peter and Andrew left and followed Him. And 'immediately' James and John followed Him. They didn't make up excuses or tell Jesus they would think about it and get back to Him. They immediately followed. Has your life been changed by being a fan of Christ? If you are honest with yourself, your life probably has not been changed as a fan of Christ. You are not experiencing that daily relationship with Him through thick and thin. So instead of just hanging out and being a fan of Christ, will you you immediately say 'yes Lord' and begin following Him daily as your Lord and Savior? And for those of you that are a follower of Christ, what changes can you make today to deepen your relationship with Him? Do you need to recommit to daily Bible study? Do you need to stop some habits that God has prompted you to let go? Will you leave behind whatever He is asking you to leave and commit today and everyday to Him? The Life Application Bible says this:

"For us, following Jesus means more than just acknowledging Him as Savior. We must leave our past behind and commit our future to Him." And I would add that we need to commit each day to Him. Will you do that as His follower? Will you follow Jesus and His plan no matter what it looks like? 

I want to leave you with this song by Jeremy Camp called "I Will Follow," Click here to listen the song and read the lyrics. Here is the chorus to this song. Can you say that you will be a follower wherever He leads?

Chorus
"I will follow, follow You wherever You go
And I will listen to the very promises I know
You are with me, always with me, keeper of my soul
I will follow, follow You wherever You go"

The Art

Today I decided to create four more Scripture Art cards. I just love making these. I also used hearts again instead of flowers because I follow Christ out of my deep love for Him. I used the wonderful new Blue Fern Studios Love Story Amazing Heart paper along with the Blue Fern Studios Grid Pieces chipboard. To see what I did with the paper, please click here to see today's Glory Art {Tip}.

Feel free to join us on the Facebook page where some people will be sharing their creations. We also have some discussions that will be going on there too about the study. If you don't use Facebook and want to share your creation here, do so below by using Inlinkz! To see all of the information regarding this challenge and the previous studies and art tips, please see this post here. I pray that you will commit to following Christ today and everyday!

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Glory Art {Tips} Collage Paper

When creating a background for your art journaling page, Scripture Art Cards, etc., why not use some collage paper? You can certainly collage a background yourself with various book papers, tissue paper, etc., but collaged paper does the job for you and makes the process a bit faster.

For today's cards, I used the new Blue Fern Studios Love Story Amazing Heart paper. Here you can see Side A (black paper side) and Side B (the collage paper side). I used Side B for today's cards.

You can see how beautifully collaged Side B is. Today I used this paper to create four Scripture Art cards. Here you can see the four cards cut out with this paper.

Next I used an old iTunes card to put a bit of gesso on the paper to tone down the color a bit. After that, I ran my brayer over the wet gesso to give it more texture. Here you can see the two cards on the left have had gesso applied and the brayer used on top. The two on the right have not been touched yet. I wanted you to be able to see how the gesso mutes the paper just enough for creating my cards.

After that, I layered a bit of paint and black gesso circles. When you use collage paper, you don't need to add many layers if you do not want to. Collage paper makes your creation look more layered than it is. Here is how my cards turned out. To see more photos, please see my post here.

Thanks for stopping by, and grab some collage paper for your next creation! Blessings,

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{Glory Art} Scripture Challenge #5, Not Alone

Welcome to our fifth {Glory Art} Scripture Challenge. Before I share today's study, I encourage you to listen to this amazing song by Kari Jobe. Click here to listen to it. Also, here are the lyrics to this amazing song:

I Am Not Alone

by Kari Jobe

"When I walk through deep waters
I know that You will be with me
When I'm standing in the fire
I will not be overcome
Through the valley of the shadow
I will not fear

I am not alone
I am not alone
You will go before me
You will never leave me

In the midst of deep sorrow
I see Your light is breaking through
The dark of night will not overtake me
I am pressing into You
Lord, You fight my every battle
And I will not fear

You amaze me
Redeem me 
You call me as Your own 

You're my strength 
You're my defender 
You're my refuge in the storm 
Through these trials 
You've always been faithful 
You bring healing to my soul"

The Study

Last Friday, February 27th, my daughter had a second spinal surgery. As we arrived and parked in the parking lot, this song played on the radio. It is one of my daughter's favorite songs, and it played at the perfect moment. God was reminding us that He is with us, and that He would not leave her. How comforting it was sending her into surgery with that wonderful reminder. Well, the surgery went well but she went into respiratory distress.  She had to be re-intubated and was taken to ICU. She was extubated later in the evening but remained in ICU until late Saturday. When she was finally discharged, we made the 1+ hour drive home with our precious patient. As we were pulling into our garage, this same song played again. Was this a coincidence? Absolutely not. There are no coincidences only God-ordained situations! God was reminding us that He told us prior to her surgery that He would never leave us. He then allowed that song to play again to say "Look, I was there and I am still here. I told you I would not leave you." I cried and cried as we pulled into the garage. How many times do I leave Him yet He is always there never once leaving me? God is good, and all of the glory belongs to Him. He was with us in our difficult time last weekend, and He is with us now. We will not be overcome. He went before us, and He never left us. He was our strength and refuge in the storm.

Isaiah 25:4a "You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat."

He is with us always, and we can find refuge in Him. He is all we need, and He gives us the ultimate peace and satisfaction. His presence is enough!

Where do you turn in times of trouble? Where do you go for strength and encouragement? Do you feel alone? Are you weary from a long battle? God wants you to turn to Him in all things. He never leaves you. God knows and cares about the details of your life. He wants you to immerse yourself in His word, in prayer, and in fellowship with other believers who will build you up and encourage you. He will never abandon those that are His. This doesn't mean that we won't face difficult things in our lives. But it does mean He is with us no matter what we face! What a comfort!

Deuteronomy 31:8 "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Psalm 9:10 "Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You."

Psalm 23:4 "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

Psalm 37:28a "For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake His faithful ones."

God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He did not leave the Israelites in the desert, and He will not leave you either.

Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

Nehemiah 9:19 "Because of your great compassion You did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take."

And I leave you today with this quote by Dr. Henrietta Mears "Forsaking all, I take Him!"

The Art

Today I created four Scripture Art Cards using Psalm 37:28a, the quote from above, part of the lyrics, and then of course today's keywords. I chose to use a heart on my cards to symbolize God's great love for me. I usually like to use flowers but I felt the heart was much more appropriate.

Feel free to join us on the Facebook page where some people will be sharing their creations. We also have some discussions that will be going on there too about the study. If you don't use Facebook and want to share your creation here, do so below by using Inlinkz! To see all of the information regarding this challenge and the previous studies and art tips, please see this post here. May you be surrounded with peace and comfort this week knowing that He will never leave you!

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{Glory Art} Scripture Challenge #4, Wisdom

Note: Please click here to see today's Glory Art {Tip}.

The Study

On January 14, 2015, one of my daughter's went in for an epidural spinal injection. She also had spinal surgery back in October. As we arrived at the neurosurgeon's office, we met with the doctor, and then they took her back for the injection. About 15 minutes later, the doctor calls me back, took me to a room and said "We have had to call the squad. She has had an anaphylactic reaction to one of the medications." The ambulance arrived, rushed us to the trauma center, and we almost lost our precious girl. Amazingly, seven hours later she was released, and we were able to make the one hour and 15 minute ride home. We were told to keep an eye on her because she could have another reaction in the middle of the night. Needless to say, I did not sleep. During the time I was awake, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. We knew that she had had a strange reaction to the general anesthesia during her spinal surgery but the staff felt it was normal. God revealed to me that it was not normal and that what happened on January 14th is exactly what happened after her surgery in October but the reaction wasn't quite as severe the first time. The hospital staff never picked up on it, and now we clearly see the connection. God's wisdom and prompting led me to search out the connection between the two incidences, and now we know that she can never have a certain class of drugs ever again. Without God's insight, we would not have linked these two occurrences. Praise God for His amazing wisdom!

As Christians, the Holy Spirit guides us in wisdom and truth. He gives us wisdom through His word, circumstances, mature Christians, the prompting of the Holy Spirit, etc. Sometimes the Holy Spirit guides us by a gentle whisper like He did to me. I could have ignored it but that certainly would not have been a wise thing to do. I woke up even more determined to fight for my daughter and her healthcare. And look at these scriptures on wisdom. The scripture in Exodus is where God chose Bezale and filled him with wisdom and understanding to do the job God had for him. 

Exodus 35:30-32 "Then Moses said to the Israelites, See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze."

God prepares us and gives us wisdom for any work or service that He has for us. So if you have been called to do something but are scared that you are not equipped, leave that to God. He wants you to rely on Him. If you already knew how to do the job then you wouldn't need Him, would you? Then who would get the glory, honor, and praise—you or God? What He gives us is for His glory not ours. His glory should be our desire. He will give you the wisdom you need, just ask.

James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."

1 Kings 4:29 "God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore."

Wow, wisdom and insight as measureless as the sand on the seashore! Ask and He gives generously! He gives in abundance. Wow! He enables us and gives us insight. He gave me the wisdom to look further into what happened to my daughter. He will give you wisdom too. Be listening, and seek Him in everything, everyday!

Proverbs 2:6 "For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding."

Proverbs 3:13 "Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding."

The Art

For my art today, I chose to create four Scripture Art Cards. The verses I used were all listed above: 1 Kings 4:29, James 1:5, and Proverbs 2:6. I loved the 1 Kings verse and chose my colors as I thought of the ocean and seashore. I still am in awe that He gives us wisdom and insight as measureless as the sand on the seashore. What an awesome, gracious, and loving God we serve!

Feel free to join us on the Facebook page where some people will be sharing their creations. We also have some discussions that will be going on there too about the study. If you don't use Facebook and want to share your creation here, do so below by using Inlinkz! To see all of the information regarding this challenge and the previous studies and art tips, please see this post here. Blessings to you as you study and seek Him for wisdom in all things!

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{Glory Art} Scripture Challenge #1, Trust

Note: Please scroll down after reading this post to see the second post for today. The post below is one you will want to bookmark since it will contain all of our challenge links for this year.

Welcome to the first {Glory Art} Scripture Challenge for 2015. I am so excited to have each of you studying and creating with me! If you have not seen the introduction to this study, please see that post by clicking here. Also please note that all scripture references are taken from the NIV unless otherwise noted. Now let's see what God has for us today. 

The Study

Have you ever participated in one of those trust building exercises called a 'trust fall'? It is where you deliberately fall backwards trusting that your teammates will catch you before you hit the ground. I personally have never done it but I have seen it done countless times. Why haven't I done it? First, I have never been part of a group that has done that kind of exercise. Second, if I did, would I do it? I don't know. I am scared to fall. Would I trust the group of people with me enough to catch me? Depends on the group! I know some people I truly would trust and others I would not. I imagine some of you can agree with me on that. Even though there are people I may not trust, there is One in whom I can always trust—Jesus!

Psalm 118:8 "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans."

One hymn that I love is called "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus." To listen to this hymn, click here. It is a gorgeous version of this hymn. The first verse and refrain say this:

"'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
and to take Him at His word;
just to rest upon His promise,
and to know, "Thus saith the Lord."

Refrain: Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!"

Hymnary.org says this about this hymn, "In 1880, the husband of Louisa Stead, author of "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus" drowned. Two years later, this hymn was published. It is widely believed that she wrote this hymn in response to the peace she found in trusting Jesus despite her sorrow. Mrs. Stead went on to serve for many years as a missionary in Africa."

So what is trust? The Layman's Bible Encyclopedia says "The assured resting of the mind of one person on the integrity, honor, justice, love, truth, or any other sound principle in another. The trust which the Christian has in God is an exemplification of his faith; the greater the trust the greater the degree of faith. The Bible urges complete trust in God and shows us the blessings of it."

The greatest glory we can give to God is to love, obey, and trust Him at all times even when it’s difficult. It wasn’t easy for Jesus to go the cross yet He completely trusted His Father and did it out of obedience and love. We glorify God by faithfully doing what He calls us to do and putting our trust completely in Him.

What do you do when you are troubled? Do you sit and pout? Do you become that grouchy Christian to all of those around you? There is no need to be troubled or to turn into that grouchy Christian. God is in control. He says right here to “Trust in Him.”

Psalm 112:7 "They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord."

John 14:1 (NLT) "Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me."

As we go through this year, there are going to be times that we fall. But we can always trust that God will be there to catch us. So, will you trust in Jesus this year even when you feel like you are falling? Will you study His word so that it will be in your heart for those times that you feel lost, alone, troubled, etc.?

Proverbs 30:5 "Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him."

Matthew 28:20 "and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Christian living and trusting in Him depends on our Christian learning. If we are lacking in knowledge, we are lacking in power. Will you make a commitment to daily study His word this year? Use these challenges to help you. Dive into the scriptures listed. Contemplate it. Grow in it, and be transformed by His word. You won't be disappointed that you have learned to trust in Jesus!

Isaiah 12:2 "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation."

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

The Art

For my creation today, I decided to create four Scripture Art Cards. For the base of the cards, I used the four cards I started the other day with book paper. I posted about these cards in our first "Glory Arts {Tips}" post. If you missed that post, click here. 

I used several chipboard pieces from Blue Fern Studios. The sets I used are called "Ornate Crosses," "Blue Fern Bits," "Broken Rings," and "Heart Set." I am giving away an Ornate Crosses set. To see how to enter to win, see this post here. I also used several verses from above along with the hymn title. So, the above pre-made cards turned into these:

Feel free to join us on the Facebook page where some people will be sharing their creations. We also have some discussions that will be going on there too about the study. If you don't use Facebook and want to share your creation here, do so below by using Inlinkz! To see all of the information regarding this challenge, please see this post here. And finally, I leave you with this verse today. Blessings to you as you study!

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

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Glory Art {Tips} Crayola Twistables and Newsprint Paper

If you noticed in my {Glory Art} Challenge announcement, I will be sharing art tips with some of our studies this year. If you have not seen the {Glory Art} announcement, please click here. I would love for you to join us. 

Anyway, I have decided to break the art tips "out" from the actually study post so that the tips do not get lost. I will probably end up doing two posts on challenge Sundays—one with tips and one with the challenge. That way the challenge and the tips should be easier to find in searches or by using the labels. I hope that makes sense. With that said and with the growing excitement for next Sunday's study, I have decided to share my first tip post with you today. Let's look at a couple of things I want to share with you today.

Crayola Twistables

Friday I went to Wal-Mart, and I always take a quick run through the office department while I am there because office supplies make great art supplies. Well, I came across the Crayola Twistable Colored Pencils. I knew they had twistable Crayons but not colored pencils. The package of 30 pencils was only $6.97 so I grabbed them to try them out.

To begin, I wanted to figure out how I would store these and then make an index of the colors because the color of each pencil does not accurately show the pencil color. For storage, I decided to use an old Crystal Light plastic container I had. All 30 pencils fit perfectly in this plastic container but they are about an 1/8 inch too tall. So, to solve the lid problem, I just turned the lid upside down and used a large rubber band to keep it all in place.

I then made an index of the colors that slips down into the plastic container very nicely. I used my labeler to label each pencil with its corresponding number. It's now very easy to find which pencil I want to use.

I tried coloring with these pencil by using this free printable from Karla Dornacher. You can get this printable by clicking here. Thank you Karla for the fun printable. These particular colored pencils do not color very smoothly like my expensive colored pencils. It was even hard to get them to color in the large areas completely. You can probably see that in my sample. They do color in smaller areas nicely though. So, no shading and certainly not smooth but they will be great for highlighting Bible verses, and they will not bleed through. They are also very easy to take on the road.

So, if you are looking for something inexpensive to use in your Bible that you can easily take with you, these might be what you are looking for.

Newsprint Paper

Many of you have seen that I use Strathmore Newsprint Paper a lot. I use it for many things. One way I use it is as underpaper when I am creating. I use this paper to stamp off ink, clean stencils, test colors, try out paint, etc. It not only keeps my work surface clean but I also end up with fun papers to use. Here is one I am ready to recycle and use on my creations.

I also use old books in the same way. The disadvantage to old books is that the pages are not very big so they do not cover much of your work surface but you end up with some great paper to reuse because of the text. Once my newsprint paper or book paper is filled, I use them on my creations as a base paper. Here you can see I have sized eight ATC cards from the book paper and the newsprint paper to turn into Scripture Art Cards. You may even remember me using some underpaper in my last Journaling Bible page. If not, click here to see that page.

So, go ahead and start saving some underpaper to use on your creations. You may even want to have some ready to use for the challenge next Sunday.

I hope these tips have been helpful. Feel free to ask questions here in the comment section or on the {Glory Art} Facebook page here. Thanks for stopping by, and have a blessed Sunday!

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{SCRLLC14} Scripture Lesson #21, Mary Did You Know

Today's song is called "Mary Did You Know?" by Mark Lowry. Most of you have probably heard this song as it has been around for years and has been performed by countless people. I thought this would be a great choice for today's study as we think about the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I have chosen this YouTube video of Jeremy Camp singing this song to share with you. If you want to hear other performances, just search on the song title, and many artists will come up. Now, I want to look at each verse and share the scripture that goes along with these song verses.

Verse 1

"Mary did you know that your baby boy will some day walk on water?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you."

Matthew 14:25-27 "Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were terrified. 'It’s a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: 'Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.'"

Acts 4:12 "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."

John 1:12-13 "Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God."

Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile."

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

God is all powerful, and there is no other name in which we can be saved. His blood was shed to cover your sins and mine. When we depart this earth and stand in the presence of God, He will not see my sins because they are covered in the precious blood of Christ. Are your sins also covered by the blood of Christ? Have you been made new? If not, will you ask Him to make you new today? And if you are a believer in Christ, how do your actions show that you are a new creation of the King? You will probably be surrounded by various friends and family this Christmas season, will they see you as His new creation?

Verse 2

"Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God."

Matthew 12:22 "Then they brought Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see."

Matthew 8:23-26 "Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!' He replied, 'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?' Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm."

1 John 5:20 "We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true by being in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."

Jesus' actions always cause a response. The winds and the waves even respond to Him. And not only can He calm the storm but He can calm our hearts and the storms in our life and give us His peace. He existed before this earth, and He humbled himself to come to this earth as man to suffer, to know what it is to be tempted, and to be able to truly identify with us. When you think no one understands your situation, remember that God does. He is there for you! He loves you and has lavished His love on you.

1 John 3:1a "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"

Verse 3

"Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation? 

Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations? 

Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb? 

This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am"

John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made."

Psalm 22:28 "For dominion belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations."

John 1:29 "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'"

Exodus 3:14 "God said to Moses, 'I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I Am has sent me to you.'"

In the John 1:1-3 verse above, the word "was" shows us the eternal status of Jesus. Because Jesus is God, man can intimately know God. Billy Graham writes "The virgin-born baby was God in human form. He humbled Himself, He took the form of a servant, He was made in your likeness and mine, He identified Himself with the problems of the human race. And thus it was that the apostle John wrote, The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, as of the only begotten of the Father.) John 1:14"

During this Christmas season, will you focus on Jesus Christ who came as a baby to save you? Will you share this true meaning of Christmas not only with your words but with your actions? Share with someone who may not know of His great love for them. Let them see Jesus in you! And if you are looking for a great book to read and keep you focused, I highly recommend "The Cross, the Cradle, and the Crown" by Billy Graham. It is only $1.99 for the Kindle edition, and $2.99 for the paperback on amazon.com.

For my creation today, I again chose to make Scripture Art Cards. I really love that I can use several verses, and they just look so pretty in my book. :) I kept the colors of these cards a little darker and added burgundy and green for the Christmas season. The scriptures I chose were 2 Corinthians 5:17, John 1:1-2, and Acts 4:12. I really wanted to use the 1 John 3:1 verse because I love how He has lavished His love on us. But I am going to do a separate art journaling page just for that verse because it is one of my favorites. :)

I love to create these cards, and they are so easy to do. In our Glory Art 2015 study, I will share tips on how I create these and other tips throughout the year. If you have not signed up or joined our Facebook page, please see complete details in my post by clicking here.

Remember to use Keyword SCRLLC14 when posting your creations in any online galleries. Also, please leave a link to your creation here using Inlinkz! To see all of the information regarding this challenge and the previous studies, please see this post here. Thanks for joining me, and may you have a blessed and joyous Christmas!

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