On the Seventh Day of Christmas Crafting...

 

Another fantastic find at the Amazon Returns store was this white holiday sign for $1. There were three in the package! I added some 3-dimensionaldecoratiob on each. Two got sold at the craft fair, and one went to a new neighbor as a holiday house warming gift.

I know, I didn't do much here, but sometimes a little added touch makes things better. 

New Challenge at Craft Your Passion

As we head into the Christmas season, I tend to notice more generosity in others. There are more smiles and courtesies shared among strangers, and food pantries are at their fullest around this time of year. While many of today's problems cannot be solved by a single act, it's a start.
So let's start with a little peace around the world, by the simple act of praying for it. Every prayer that is whispered, spoken or sung is a step toward peace. If you don't pray, then act. Every tiny act of kindness is a step toward peace.
Whether the peace starts in your own family, in your neighborhood or around the world, you can make a difference, one tiny step at a time. Let's start the New Year right!
My card reflects the mood I'm in. It's my DT card for Craft Your Passion challenge blog, whose sponsor this week, A Day for Daisies, offers this digital image in their Etsy shop. It's called A Child's Prayer.
What are you in the mood to create this week? Whatever it is, link up with us at Craft Your Passion for your chance to win!!

Challenges I am Entering:

A Day for Daisies - Modern Christmas 

Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes w/ a twist of Christmas

Crafting from the Heart - Always Anything Goes

Get Creative challenges - Holidays

Marker POP challenges - Happy New Year!

Be at Peace with Yourself

I have another project today for this month's theme of PEACE over at the Path of Positivity Challenge blog. It is an art journal page with a watercolor background and another beautiful digi image from Sparkle N Sprinkle. The image is called Winter Cardinal.

After my background dried (be kind, I am a beginner in water colors), I colored Winter Cardinal with Copics and sprinkled fine glitter on the pine needles. Then I fussy-cut (one of my fave techniques) the image and popped it onto my background.  The sentiment is from Decosse's Dynamite Digis, and when you play in the Path of Positivity challenges each month, you'll get a free sentiment just for playing!! 

I used olive branch stickers, adhesive-backed jewels and a shaped button to embellish and my page is finished.

Life is way too short to spend another day at war with yourself.  I love this quote, because there aren’t that many people who are at PEACE with themselves.  Whether you feel too fat, too skinny, not smart enough, not enough friends in your life, too loud, too quiet, it is a virtual war zone within your soul.

Society doesn’t help much with magazines telling us how we can “improve” on our looks, our style, our behaviors.  People are quick to criticize but slow to compliment.  No wonder our teens are growing up with low self-esteem and body image problems!

It’s time to “give PEACE a chance” in tiny ways so that they slowly but surely build on each other like a snowball rolling downhill.

Start making PEACE with yourself:

  If your weight bothers you, list all the things you can do with the body you own, right now, without changing a thing!  Are you strong, are you flexible, do your children, grandchildren, husband, love to cuddle with you? Have those you love and love you actually complained to you about your being over or under weight?

  If it’s confidence you lack, list your talents and strengths, without changing a thing! We are our own harshest critics.  Listen to your loved ones; they know your value better than you do yourself.

  If it’s your past, list the good experiences you have had and the lessons you learned from the bad, because you can’t change your past!  You’ll discover that everything you said and did, everyone you met and loved, everywhere you’ve been, has combined to make you the marvelous person that you are today.

Stop declaring war on your body, your looks, your mind, your career, your location!   Make PEACE with what has happened already.  If you’re still not happy, then rejoice that you are still alive.  That means you have time to change if you wish it:

 Work out to become stronger, healthier, beef up, slim down.

 Learn new things, make new friends, experiment and explore, so that who you see is as strong as who others see.

 Sometimes I regret joining the Army right after high school.  However, if I hadn’t, I would never have met my husband of 37 years, had the son and daughter I cherish, met my daughter-in-law and gained 4 more grandchildren to the one I had already fell in love with.  When I think of the many crossroads in my life where I took the wrong turn, I see now that I only lost the battles and that I had won the war. 

So Make PEACE, not war…Starting with yourself, as all good things should begin!

Don't forget to link up your post/project with the Path of Positivity before May 4! We welcome anyone who would like to share their positive or uplifting take on this theme.

Peaceful, Easy Feeling

I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t deal with tension and stress on a daily basis. Between work and school, family and friends, errands and budge, it is a rare moment when we are at peace in our hearts. To live with stress day in and day out can be deadly; at the very least, it can sour your mood all day. So, what do YOU do to bring a sense of peace to yourself and your family?

For myself, I go to my craft room. When I create, my focus is complete and I forget my worries for a “mini” vacation. I also get together with my mom and sisters for a girls’ day out. We eat comfort food, play games and cards and laugh (a lot).

For my daughter, she achieves peace with journal writing. We also get cozy in my king-size bed and watch the movie “Mama Mia.” We’ve seen it so many times that we’re free to talk about our day and anything that’s bugging us.
For my husband, he bowls every other week. I also take him out to his favorite watering hole where we’ll snack on artichoke dip, sip his “dirty” martini (and I take the car keys when we leave), and opens up about all the stresses his work gives him. He also putzes (if he can call my craft room a "crap" room, I can call his hobby putzing) in the garage, making fun little projects with wood.
His hobby inspired me to make a Birthday card using a digi image from Sparkle N Sprinkle. SNS is this month's guest sponsor over at the Path of Positivity Challenge Blog, and the theme for April is...wait for it...
PEACE!
Here is what the original image looks like:

For my artwork, I made a stair step card, which is a 3D card with three layers from front to back. My sentiment adorns the first layers, while some fun buttons embellish the second.  I saved the SNS digi image, called Workbench, for the largest layer. Printing it twice, I colored both with Copics. I fussy-cut both and adhered the bottom layer flat against the card face. I used dimensional tape to adhere the second layer on top of the first.
I added a birthday sentiment, embossing it with glossy black powder.  After adding some "sparkle and sprinkle" with a fine tip glue pen and silver glitter, my card is complete.
Having a hobby is a simple and fun way to bring inner peace into your day.  None of us are running away from our problems. They are still there; but the little opportunities to put them on the back burner and be free of strife give us a much needed “peaceful, easy feeling.”
 So...Let me ask you again - how do YOU bring a sense of PEACE to yourself and your family?
While you reflect on that question, let me tell you about the wonderful prizes that the Path of Positivity Challenge is offering this month:

Three digital images from Sparkle N Sprinkle for the person out of the top seven who receives the most votes during voting week.

 Three digital images from Sparkle N Sprinkle for the post or project that the DT deems most inspiring of the bunch.

 Three digital images from Sparkle N Sprinkle, our Guest Sponsor, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.

 One digital designer paper from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky voter who leaves a comment.

  One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles as well.

Note that Sparkle N Sprinkle is offering prizes in three different categories. That is in celebration of their new offerings of digital images!  Check them out HERE.

Project Details:
Papers-Tim Holtz Idea-ology, K & Co
Ink- Copics
Embellishments- Dress It Up buttons, SU glitter, SU black embossing powder

Challenges entered:
Sparkle N Sprinkle - Anything Goes with glitter, Embossing powder or flocking