When’s the Last Time You Got Published?

Never or it’s been awhile? Now’s the time for you to send in a card or other craft to your favorite crafting magazines. The magazines are always looking for new items and if you don’t send your nifty little creations, you may never get published. I never thought my cards or ideas were good enough to get published, yet they have been almost been continously published since 2007. If I hadn’t been brave and sent in that first idea/card, it wouldn’t have happened. I still get a thrill every time I see my stuff in print! Not to brag or anything, for instance, the June 2011 issue of Scrap & Stamp Arts magazine has a new Reader to Reader column and they have printed two of my questions in it. I have a Letter to the Editor and an Inklings idea also published in there. And I’m among friends who have also been published – Joan Petty from England, Verna Angerhofer, and Lindsay Weinrich (another Frugal Crafter).
Check out your favorite magazines' submission requirements (keywords: Submission requirements/Editorial Calendar) and send in your best. If you have any questions about what I do, just ask away in the comment section below and I can share some tips with you.

Choke-Cherries

"get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger . . forgiving each other. . ." Ephesians 4:31a, 32b

Yesterday, in my late teen's, I took art classes at the local Junior College and made some artsy collages with found materials I had at hand (assemblage). My favorite one had as a foundation, a wooden fruit crate. I wove a yarn blanket across the inside back and hung trinkets here and there. And I had also gotten crafty with a pair of my grandfather's blue farmer overhalls. He died the year before, so when my grandmother gave away his clothing, I requested a pair he wore almost constantly. To make them more feminine, I embroidered flowers across the top and down the sides of the bib. I felt connected and close to my grandpa when I wore them.

One weekend, after a sleep-over at a girlfriend's, I came home to a sterile bedroom. My mother had entered my private sanctum, less than perfectly clean, and hauled all kinds of trash out of there, as she put it. AACK! My favorite collage was gone and my overhalls were too! Man, I hurt! I guess she didn't know how much those cherished treasures meant to me

Since my mother didn't see beauty the same way I did, I have felt since then, nothing I created was worthy. I've nursed hurt instead, allowing a grudge to choke creativity out.

Prayer: Thank you, Father, for showing me the sin I was hiding in my heart. Pluck the anger & blame game out; shine joy on me instead. Confirm my value to you. Grow my creativity forward. In Jesus name, Amen!

Today's Quote:

"The harsh critic within (self-doubt and judgement) are all-too-familiar thieves that keeps creativity stuck in our souls." ~ Annie Lockhart.

Easter Baskets & Cards

I made fifteen of these Easter baskets for the kids in my Sunday School class out of the small nut cans. They are like the banks I made earlier. The only thing I did differently was to add two punched holes on the sides of the can and thread in tinsel pipecleaners for the handles. I found tiny goodies to put inside. On most of the medallions, I hot-glued a stamped duck (Stampin' Up) to the front. The duck's bow was colored to match the scrapbook paper.

With odds and ends of scrapbook paper that I had left over, I made these cards from a pinwheel technique I found on my friend's Annette's blog. Can you find the matching striped paper?

Give Us Our Daily Bread

I made this card for Stampin’ Sisters in Christ’s latest challenge. I’ve had this “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread” stamp (Rubber Stampede) for quite some time and I can count on my one hand how many times I’ve used it. Today seemed like the opportune time to employ it as we celebrate that Jesus is ALIVE!
I was thinking about how Jesus trained his disciples before he sent them out to tell the world the good news by showing his disciples how to pray. The above phrase is in his prayer that we call the Lord’s Prayer. I was also thinking of his last supper as I stamped this card when he broke the bread to share with them also. I thank God for his provision of Grace and our daily bread, especially in these days of rising grocery prices.
The tone on tone background was stamped using a checkerboard stamp (Rubber Stampede) and a Stampamajig. And the lace stamp is Stampin’ Up’s Elegant Embroidery stamp.
The bow is made of Faux Baker’s Twine from Lindsay Weinrich

Nifty News!

I am so proud of my son! He has a new part-time job at Michaels. He worked yesterday for the first time for four hours and they started training him on the register, but mostly he will be stocking shelves. Woo Hoo! He looks so smart in his new uniform - black polo shirt and khaki pants.

Happy Easter!

While it’s nice to support a challenge blog and win a stamp set or some agape love and a blinkie, Grace, I’m actually here for the discipline. When Patti G. stopped by at my blog and said howdy, she was an answer to my prayer, because of her involvement with SSA. Frankly, while I was recooping from my back injury, I wasn’t motivated to do much designing! One day in my prayer time, I was crying out to the Lord for a Christian artists group to join. I wanted to keep designing, learning new skills and techniques that reflect the love I have for the Lord. I’ve collected some inspirational stamps over the years, but have never really put them to use. You at Stampin’ Sisters in Christ are challenging me every week. Thank you.
This week’s challenge was to use different hues of purple and something wooden. While I didn’t have wood paper, I did have a self adhesive faux cork liner paper in a roll by Kittrich (Magic Cover, O4F-18FA01-01) which looked like wood to make my cross in the background. The believe stamp is by Inkadinkado and the banner stamp is by Stamparril.
Hope all my Sisters in Christ have a Blessed Happy Easter!

Medallion Cannister Banks

Like Hector the Collector in Shel Silverstein’s poem, I, too, collect odd bits. Take, for example, I collect empty nut canisters and decided to make two banks as the special additional prize for a full trading card sleeve (see ATC award article) for my kids in Sunday School as soon as I found out how to make these pleated medallions on You-tube. I’m always looking for inexpensive prizes for them and I think they will like these banks.

To begin = each 23 oz canister took almost a whole sheet of 12” x 12” scrapbook paper. I cut it into these pieces = cover (6” tall x 12” long); you’ll have to insert a piece between the two ends of this piece on back of canister since it isn’t quite long enough (6” tall x 2 ½” long); and 2 (1 ½”) strips for the medallion. The ribbon is also cut out at this time and a 1” circle punched out of a piece of cardstock scrap for the back of the medallion. Warm up your glue gun.

I used double face tape to attach the 2 ½” piece to the back of the canister first and then the larger rectangle around the canister, smoothing it down as I went. Then the ribbon around the top, fishtailing the end so it won’t ravel out. I taped the two ends of the longest strips together and scored it at ¼” along the width with my mini-scor-it and accordion folded-it, taped the mountain & valley ends together and pressed down one side to make the medallion. Then I hot-glued it, bunching it in the center with my fingers, to the punched circle along with the fish-tailed ribbon streamers, added a button or pog to the center and hot-glued all to the canister. To finish, I added punched flowers to the girlie ribbon at the top and glitter dots to both. Oh, and before I forget, to make the money slot in the canister lid, I punched two holes with my long arm Crop-a-dile about 1 ½” apart and cut a slit between them, snapped on the lids and wha-la, Banks! Easy peasy!

Christian Acronym ATC’s

You know what's cool? It's inspiring my pastor! I made atc's (artist trading cards) as attendance rewards for my preschool/kindergarten Sunday School kids. If they had 5 out of 10 star stickers each week on their chart,

then they would get to choose an atc to put in their trading card sleeves. When that's full, they would get a special prize along with their trading cards! And then they would start over with a new sleeve.

The first Sunday of the month our children remain in the sanctuary for the whole service instead of going to Jr. Church during the latter half. Our pastor has a children's moment lesson during the service in which he invites the children to come to the front and he coordinates a coloring sheet for quiet bags to go along with his regular sermon. He saw one of the trading cards his son brought home and he used that idea to make the coloring sheet. It also inspired his sermon and a song he taught the children! F.R.O.G.! Fully Rely On God! Which in turn, inspired me to make more atc's using acronyms. God is so good!

Here's two I made, the one Pastor was inspired by and another. Frog, praying hands, and PUSH sentiment are Stampcraft brand stamps. =

F.R.O.G = Fully Rely On God!



P.U.S.H. = Pray Until Something Happens




Here are other acronyms I think are great also and may they inspire you!

A.P.E. = Always Pray Everyday
A.P.P.L.E. = Adorning Papa’s Pupil Loving Eye (Ps. 17:8)
A.W.A.R.D. = Appreciated Winning Attainment. Rewarded Decoration.
B.I.B.L.E. = Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
B.U.G. O.F.F. = Begone Uncertainty GRACE! Oppose fear FAITH!
C.R.O.S.S. = Christ Rose On Salvation Sunday
E.G.G. = Extra Good God
D.O.G. = Depend on God
D.U.C.K. = Down Under Christ's Kindness
F.I.S.H. = Faithful in Serving Him
G.E.M. = God Encourage Me
G.I.R.A.F.F.E. = God Inspires Reverent Affection Forgiveness For Ever
G.R.A.C.E. = God Redeems Adored Christian Enthusiasts
G.U.M. = God Use Me
K.I.N.G. = Kindly Inspired Noble Grace
L.O.V.E. = Love Others Very Eagerly
R.O.C.K. = Resting on Christ's Knees
S.A.L.T. = Seasoned Applied Love Treasure (Col. 4:6)
S.O.A.P. = Scrub Off, Apply Purity (Is. 1:18)
T.E.A. = Thankful Every Afternoon
T.E.D. = Treasure Each Day
T.I.G.E.R. = Trust in God, Everything's Right
W.W.J.D. = What Would Jesus Do?

You Might Be Interested in these Ideas Too!

Veggie Tale ATC's

More ATC Ideas 

Posh-ibilities

"with God, all things are possible. ~ Matthew 19:26"

I read a book from the library: "Where Women Create: Inspiring Work Spaces of Extraordinary Women." By Jo Packham. Sterling, 2005. Dee Gruenig's favorite quote was listed and I just had to find it in the scriptures. To my delight, in the book of Matthew, chapter nineteen, I found Jesus comparing the kingdom of God to needlework: "I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (v.24). Jesus created a word picture for his disciples, many of whom were fishermen and well aquainted with a needle for mending their nets. Now here was something I could identify with too -- needlework craft!

I tried to imagine pushing a camel or old money bags through a needle. Would have to be a mighty big one! And then, I remembered the mechanical puzzles we used to play with – like the one where we had to figure out how to get a small ring off the chains welded between two horseshoes.

Isn't it amazing how God can see the possible solutions to the puzzles in my life, like how to design a card to theme for a magazine, etc.

Prayer: I praise you, Jesus, for your ability to captivate your disciples then and now. Thank you for the solutions to our puzzles. Thank you for the gifting of the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4). I praise your name!

Today's Quote:

"Creativity is a lot like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope. You look at a set of elements, the same ones everyone else sees, but then [you] reassemble those floating bits and pieces into enticing new possibilities." ~ Rosabeth Moss Kanter.