Flower Salad For 3 Challenges

Today's card turned out quite a bit busier than I had hoped. You know when you go to a salad bar and get a little of this and a little of that and before you know it your plate is way too full. That's kind of what happened with this card.

I started by trying to case the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #692. Needing more inspiration, I jumped over to Retro Rubber to play along with their Tic-Tac-Toe Board (#rrcb277) and puling it all together I chose the colors to go along with the Color Dare Challenge #714. 

Since it's so heavy on die cuts, I wanted to use an official "retro rubber" stamp set for this rather than just stamping on any sentiment, so I chose a really fun favorite called "Wonderful Favorites" from 2008. Looking at the photo, the words could be a little darker. But that's one thing that I don't miss about wood block stamps-you can't use them on a Misti to get a darker image unless you peel them off and that seems like a sticky mess. I used Memento Black ink, but it still seems like it could have benefited from a couple more layers of ink.

Anyway, here's my supply list:

• White Card Stock Base
• Bo Bunny Patterned Paper
• Big Box Patterned Paper
• Spellbinders Bold Blooms Dies
• Stampin' Up! Wonderful Favorites Stamp Set (2008)
• Stampin' Up! Flirty Flamingo Card Stock
• SU! Calypso Coral Card Stock
• SU! Pool Party Card Stock
• SU! Pretty Peacock Card Stock
• Black Card Stock
• SU! Brushed Brass Butterfly Dies

Even though I got a crazy card from this, I'm pretty happy with it. Experience is the best teacher! Next time I'll use about half of the flowers that I cut! Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Word Art Wednesday Offering Envelope & Personal Story

Hi there crafty friends! Today there's a new challenge over at Word Art Wednesday, and we have a wonderful sponsor again. Pretty Pink Posh is giving away a $30.00 gift certificate towards anything in their store, and they have some really cute things. I was just over at their site and on May 14 they have some new releases coming out. You'll see the snail if you go there. Oh my, he is so cute! You'll definitely want to go over and check them out!

And as always, our challenge is "anything goes" with the option of using the Bible verse, which is what I did this round. However, instead of making a card I made an envelope-specifically an offering envelope. A while back I used to make all my offering envelopes, usually using scraps that I had on my craft table. I've gotten away from that, but after seeing this scripture, I thought it would be a perfect match.

I'm also playing along with NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) because I just got this Spellbinders Die Set for Mother's Day this past weekend. (I bought it for myself of course!) And I'm also playing along over at Triple B (Birds, Blooms or Butterflies) because of all the blooms on this.

Before I go any further, I'd love to share a personal experience about this scripture in my own life. It's a little hard to talk about, but I think it may help others who may be going through similar experiences.

Back in the 1990's and 2000's things were really good for me and my family. We were making a fairly good salary and things were cheaper. The home where we raised our kids costs twice our annual income. Today that would be impossible. We easily afforded moderate vacations every year. Mostly a drive to Florida to visit the grandparents, but a trip to Disney for several days was not out of the question. Life was really good.

I attributed much of that prosperity to the fact that we gave regularly to our church. This scripture was part of that reasoning. Then troubles came. Nothing devastating. But my husband's company decided that they could make more money if they sent his job to India. He actually flew there for two weeks to train people to take over for him. He was laid off, but thankfully not for long.

A few years later layoffs happened again, only this time he wasn't rehired. He tried for months to find a job locally in Pennsylvania, but to no avail. He broadened his search to anywhere in the United States and continued to apply diligently. Again, nothing. Panic mode was setting in for me, who was homeschooling my kids at the time and didn't have an opportunity land a lucrative job.

We decided to move back to Florida, my home state. My parents were here and I had a job at their small business. I was even able to juggle homeschooling and full time work for a little while. Clark continued to look for work, but boy was it tough. He got a temporary job with a decent salary, but no healthcare for our family of four.

Finally it seemed that God had mercy on us and he landed the job that he has now. He's been with the same amazing company for 12 years, and indeed, we are blessed. Not with money so much. His salary is almost half of what we had up north. But God is faithful. 

So is this scripture true? Indeed I can say yes, but maybe not exactly in the way we think it should be. I created this picture that perfectly illustrates the way I feel about God's will and provision in our lives. I've seen the concept elsewhere but couldn't find it. Thankfully Canva helped me get the point across!

Feel free to share this!

I hope my personal story has been a blessing to you. I tried to keep it short. There are many more details. But the end is, God is indeed faithful. We may hit some bumps along the way, but if we trust Him, we'll make it to the top of that hill!

The supplies for my card are simple:

• Brown Dotted Kraft Scrapbook Paper
• Word Art Wednesday Bible Verse (below)
• Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms Dies
• Stampin' Up! Envelope Board
• Stampin' Up! Black Card Stock
• SU! Shy Shamrock Card Stock
• SU! Daffodil Delight Card Stock
• SU! Calypso Coral Card Stock
• SU! Mango Medley Card Stock
• SU! Soft Suede Card Stock

Please be sure to go on over to Word Art Wednesday. We'd love to have you play along with us! And if you'd like, here's our scripture for this round:

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing in a bit of my life!