Sing Unto the Lord O Ye Saints

 Sing unto the Lord O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. Psalm 30:4

A Little Note ~ Inside

Fun and usually with a bit of a twist--an unexpected embellishment, a catchy phrase, a pop of color or an interesting angle--describes the crafting style of this week's Wednesday CASE Artist at Christian Paper Crafts, MisimcGOa, or in real life, Cheryl! Cheryl is also quite gifted musically. She loves her dogs, Hunter and Sammy, and getting away with her husband to the cabin!

In case you’re wondering, her user name is a combination of her nickname, Missy (given by her dad) and McGuire, her paternal grandmother’s family name. Cheryl knows this because another of her hobbies is genealogy, though her family considers it more an obsession, than a hobby!

Cheryl’s been doing genealogy research for several years, ever since her grandmother asked her to do a family tree for her for a reunion she was attending. Grandma was looking for a chart of her descendents, but what she got was a family tree back nine generations! Cheryl says, “Gramma used to laugh and tell me I got carried away.” Because of her interest in family history, Cheryl was given the honor of being the keeper of her great grandfather McGuire's violin dating back to the early 1900s. When her grandmother was dying, Cheryl was able to bring that violin to the hospital. She says, “The smile on her face when I laid that instrument in her lap was worth more than 100 old violins.” It is a cherished memory, and she is thankful to the Lord for the opportunity to have been able to be a blessing to her grandmother.

When I say, that Cheryl is gifted musically, it’s not just what she does as a hobby, but it is her profession as well. She is a music educator and gets to play “pretty much all of the woodwinds, brass, strings, and percussion instruments as well as piano and guitar.” Cheryl’s major instrument is the clarinet, both the B-flat clarinet (the one we all are used to seeing) and also the E-flat sopranino (it's about 3/4 the size of the B-flat, according to Cheryl). Cheryl plays with a local community band and in the pit orchestra for the community theater, as well at church on occasion. And she loves to sing, and as you have gathered, comes from a very musical family who still get together during family gatherings to play and sing songs.

Cheryl started scrapbooking about 10 years ago, though lately has been more interested in paper crafting and card making. This is your invitation to join me in honoring MisimcGOa and to be inspired by her lovely gallery. So take a look through the gallery of MisimcGOa and create a card or project inspired by what you see there. Be sure not to copy exactly: make it your own! When uploading your card or project to the Christian Paper Crafts gallery, please use the keyword WCA112 (no spaces or commas). When posting anywhere else online, please use the keyword CPC-WCA112. Have a blessed day!

CARD DETAILS
Stamps: Lizzie Ann Designs House, A Harvest of Memories, Sweet and Sassy Stamps Sing to the Lord
Card Stock: Bazzil, SU Cranberry Crisp, Sage Shadow, Whisper White
Designer Paper: Cosmo Cricket Upcycle
Ink: Cranberry Crisp, Ranger Distress Antique Linen
Accessories: Spellbinders Large Reverse Scallop Square Dies, assorted markers, Penny Black Sticker, craft wire
Technique: Stamping, Coloring, Die Cutting, Wire bending
Special Notes: Based on Sweet and Sassy Stamps Sketch #SS115
Challenges:

Free Indeed!

If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." John 8:36

 Christian Paper Crafts WCA111 {7/6/2011} CASER'S CHOICE 
 In celebration of Independence Day in the United States (July 4), this week for our Wednesday CASE Artist Challenge at Christian Paper Crafts, you are free to choose ANYTHING from the entire gallery to CASE. Although this particular holiday is celebrated only in the United States, the freedom represented by this week’s sample is the freedom from slavery and bondage to sin; the freedom to please and obey God; the freedom that is available to people of every tribe, tongue and nation; and that is the freedom available to all who will repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! 

CHALLENGE SPECIFICS
This is your invitation to join in our free for all/Caser’s Choice and to be inspired by anything you find in the gallery at Christian Paper Crafts. So take a look and create a card, scrapbook page or project inspired by what you see. Be sure not to copy exactly: make it your own!  When uploading your card or project to the Christian Paper Crafts gallery, please use the keyword WCA111 (no spaces or commas).  When posting anywhere else online, please use the keyword CPC-WCA111. Have a blessed day!

 CARD DETAILS
The sample, and clones, were crafted (after casing the CPC gallery using the search term "July") to serve double duty: as new table signs to accompany church decorations, and then to be sent to our boys who are serving in the military. The card was created in Stampin' UP's My Digital Studio. Swatches of the Designer Paper were printed, trimmed, edged, inked and adhered to a basic black cardstock. The scripture was done the same way. This card was created in My Digital Studio originally. I then printed out swatches of the Designer Paper, trimmed, edged, inked and adhered to a basic black cardstock.

Font: CK Becky
Paper: Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red
Card Stock & Designer Paper: Toucan Scraps Worn Well, SU Blueberry Crisp, Distressed Crumb Cake, Red Riding Hood Striped, Basic Black Dotted Stripe.
Ink: HP Printer, Ranger Distress Antique Linen, Versa Fine Onyx
Accessories: Twine, Star buttons, star brads, Pinking wheel
Challenges:  

•  Christian Paper Crafts Wednesday CASE Artist 111
• Sugar Creek Hollow : Celebrate With Your Country's Colors
• Our Creative Corner Last Minute Holiday Project

Have a blessed week!

Joy of the Lord

"The joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:40

Prepare yourself for plenty of pink and some lovely vintage images because that’s what you’re going to find in the gallery of this week’s Christian Paper Crafts Wednesday CASE Artist Christine. Christine is from Sweden and her love of pink comes from the signature color of the beauty products she uses for her artistic work on the canvas of the female face. .

Christine started scrapping late in 2007 and quickly made the transition to card making. Though she now thinks of herself as a card maker, Christine has recently resumed scrapbook layouts. She also loves coloring images and using vintage images, and doesn’t limit her crafting to cards and scrapbook layouts, but ventures into the world of altered art as well.

Christine is a stay-at-home mom with three children: two young adults and one still in her early teens. She did work, but retired after two car accidents. Christine says, “After struggling 10 years, I finally accepted that I have forever lost my active life. Nowadays I do what I can do and am happy about it. The good thing is that I’ve learned to trust that no matter what happens, God is the one who will never give me up. I’ve learned that instead of stirring at what I can't, what I don't have and what I can't get, to be grateful for all I do have!”

Christine also has a reminder for all of us, “Please give praise to God for the wonders He does every day, every second in our lives. Pray that the Holy Spirit would guide us and help us to see all those small wonders that happen in our daily life and in our surroundings. Pray that our focus not be on our failures but on all the good things and gifts God have given and planned in our lives.”

Christine has a strong faith, which she says, “is not because of me, but because of Him. I find strength in Him, who is my Savior.”

CHALLENGE SPECIFICS
This is your invitation to join me in honoring Christine and to be inspired by her lovely gallery. So take a look through the gallery of Christine and create a card, scrapbook page or project inspired by what you see there. Be sure not to copy exactly: make it your own! When uploading your card or project to the Christian Paper Crafts gallery, please use the keyword WCA110 (no spaces or commas and no commas, only spaces between keywords!). When posting anywhere else online, please use the keyword CPC-WCA110. Have a blessed day!

He is Able

He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25

It only makes sense to quote a passage from Hebrews as the introduction to this week’s Christian Paper Crafts Wednesday Case Artist Traci S. Traci was raised Jewish, taught in the Jewish schools and at one point even wanted to be a Rabbi. The Lord had other plans, however; and opened Traci’s eyes to the see the glory of His Son and that indeed; Jesus is the promised seed, the Messiah, the son of David, the Deliver, and the Chosen One. And now her hope of heaven and the life to come rests solely in Him.

Though raised in a home where art abounded and an avid scrap booker for some 20 years, Traci has only been stamping about a year. She loves the color purple as it reflects royalty and majesty:  she is a daughter of the King, after all! She also loves butterflies as they symbolize the new creature, freed from the bondage of sin and raised to newness of life. Traci has a blog and has just celebrated her one year blog-a-versary, the name of her blog also corresponds to the Scripture: He is Able.

Traci and her husband have a blended family with four children and four grand-children. As part of her heritage, her dogs have all had Jewish holidays as part of their names because that is when they were rescued and came home to live with Traci.

Traci struggles with severe migraines that impair her vision and she has physical limitations as a result of debilitating injuries, nonetheless, she is joyful, enthusiastic and continues to craft cards to encourage others, serving the Lord with the gifts and talents He has given.

Or, as Traci says, “I have found my JOY in the Lord!  And, it fills me more than anything else could! Hallelujah!”

Challenge Specifics

This is your invitation to join me in honoring Traci S.. and to be inspired by her lovely gallery. So take a look through the gallery of Traci S. and create a card or project inspired by what you see there. Be sure not to copy exactly: make it your own!  When uploading your card or project to the Christian Paper Crafts gallery, please use the keyword WCA108 (no spaces or commas).  When posting anywhere else online, please use the keyword CPC-WCA108. Have a blessed day!

DETAILS

Birds, flowers and joy were what stood out when I looked through the gallery of this week's Christian Paper Crafts Wednesday CASE Artist, Traci S. This card was crafted with birds, flowers and a digital image from Sweet 'n Sassy to convey the joy of the Lord!

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Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Sing Unto the Lord digital

Card Stock: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, White

Designer Paper: None

 Ink: Computer, Bashful Blue, Old Olive

Accessories: Prismacolor markers, Zva Creative Pearls, Tattered Angels Rose Glimmer Mist, Pink Seam Binding, MS Ribbon, Sizzix Flowers embossing folder, Spellbinders Scallop Rectangles

Technique: Digi Image, Coloring, Embossing

Special Notes: The card base is embossed and the image panel in Old Olive is debossed ( I flipped it over) to give added dimension

Challenges:

• Christian Paper Crafts WCA108 {6-15-11} Traci S. 
• Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps Digi SNSCD7 All About Summer 

God is Our Refuge

Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8

Christian Paper Crafts WCA107 {06-08-11} Maxine D

This scripture seemed so fitting for this week’s Christian Paper Crafts Wednesday CASE Artist Maxine D, she knows that God is her refuge and the only One who can hear and answer prayer. The love of Christ is apparent in the way she reaches out to her friends, neighbors and acquaintances that are enduring trials, and in the way she intercedes in prayer. In fact, Maxine D is a relentless prayer warrior, and does not hesitate to enlist the aid of her sisters in petitioning our heavenly Father that He might hear and answer according to His perfect will.

She lives in New Zealand, has been married nearly 40 years to her wonderful husband. She is a full-time homemaker and helpmeet. Her adult children are happily married and have blessed Maxine D with two beautiful grandbabies (and you can know with certainty that they have plenty of sweaters and even a new pair of dungarees, thanks to her ability to sew and knit.)

She loves card making, embroidery, lacemaking and gardening. She also loves using different techniques on her cards and the more intricate the better, like paper quilling and stitching. Maxine says, “I am first and foremost a child of God. My whole life and testimony can be summed up in three words: God is Faithful!”

CHALLENGE SPECIFICS
This is your invitation to join me in honoring Maxine D, and to be inspired by her lovely gallery. So take a look through the gallery of Maxine D and create a card or project inspired by what you see there. Be sure not to copy exactly: make it your own! When uploading your card or project to the Christian Paper Crafts gallery, please use the keyword WCA107 (no spaces or commas). When posting anywhere else online, please use the keyword CPC-WCA107. Have a blessed day!

WCA 107 Gallery (http://www.cpcmag.com/gallery/search.php?keywords=WCA107)

SAMPLE DESCRIPTION
I'm always cheered up after looking through the gallery of this week's Christian Paper Crafts Wednesday CASE Artist. . .it's so full of encouraging projects, lots of flowers and very detailed techniques. I didn't use any detailed technique. . .but made a bright and cheery card based on what I saw in Maxine's gallery.

Pour Out Your Heart Before Him
Pour Out Your Heart Before Him CU

DETAILS
Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy God is Our Refuge, Stamp Cabana Music 12
Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Naturals Ivory
Designer Paper: The Paper Company Color Connect Strip, SU Botanical Gazette
Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft, Ranger Distress Antique Linen
Accessories: MS Sunflowers, Spellbinders Nestabilities Scallop Ovals, Michael $1 Embellishments, Twine Technique: Stamping, Die Cutting
Challenges:

• Christian Paper Crafts Wednesday Case Artist 107 WCA107 CPC-WCA107
• Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge #92 Use Something New (flowers, metallic embellishments, striped paper)

Secured by God's Promises

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as our does for you.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12

Christian Paper Crafts Wednesday Case Artist {05-18-11} Gloriadee 

It’s time to turn on the lights, open up the curtain and see who is at center stage for this week’s Christian Paper Crafts Wednesday CASE Artist Challenge!  Why it’s our very own Gloriadee, sketch artist extraordinaire and much, much more. . .did I say, much, much more? Correction: make that much, much, MUCH more!

Gloria Stengel is one busy lady, but does her work as unto the Lord, as you’ll see when you look through her outstanding gallery. Although she’s on the design team for a two major manufacturers, Spellbinders Paper Arts, Graphic 45 Paper and designs samples for Hampton Art, she still serves on the design team at Christian Paper Crafts. She is our Spellbinders specialist, and since December of 2009 has designed the Tuesday Sketch Challenge which she also hosted up until this month. She also teaches classes and prepares samples for a couple of paper crafting supply stores in the general area of her southern California home.

And, if that doesn’t have you exhausted. . .Gloria homeschools two of her three children. The third has graduated and is attending college fulltime. She and her husband have been married for 23 years. And, she keeps us laughing over at Christian Paper Crafts with her very wry sense of humor.

As for Gloria’s style, she says, “I seem to be the queen of mixing product lines and mediums into my projects, and I guess my style is quite eclectic, as I love everything from collage art to simple, graphic page layouts. I used to fuss that I did not have a ‘signature style’ but I now realize that I’d be bored with doing the same type of work day in and day out. I enjoy the creative process, the discovery, and the ‘happy accidents’ that sometimes arise during crafting time.”

And when it comes to her motivation, Gloria says, “Well, I'll never get rich, and may not even break even! I may not become famous, but do I want to be? Not really. I will touch a lot of ordinary folks, I will share my faith, I will befriend the friendless, I will bring some joy and happiness to folks who need it. So, it's worth it. Plus, I get to PLAY with my TOYS every single day!"

So, as Gloria ministers in the places where the Lord has directed her steps, our prayer is that the Lord would make her love increase and overflow and that the light of Christ would continue to shine brightly through all she does!

CHALLENGE SPECIFICS
Your challenge, if you choose to accept, is to take a look through Gloriadee’s amazing gallery and create a card or project inspired by what you see there. Be sure not to copy exactly: make it your own! When uploading your card or project to the Christian Paper Crafts gallery, please use the keyword WCA104 (no spaces or commas). When posting anywhere else online, please use the keyword CPC-WCA104. Have a blessed day!

MY SAMPLE
Eccentric was the word that stood out to me as Gloria described her style, so that’s the direction I went using one of her fab sketches, along with Graphic Arts and Spellbinders products (she's hit the big time, don't you know!). I also used a technique I learned while viewing videos on the Spellbinders site to combine the background papers before die cutting and embossing (thanks for the tip about those great videos, Gloria!)

And with all of the scurrying here and there, I thought a couple of safety pins might come in handy to help hold things together (yeah, they are rather small, aren't they?) That's okay because Gloria is trusting in the Lord and His promises are far more secure than any device of man (or woman!)

Card Inside

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Scripture Collection 6

Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black

Designer Paper: Graphic Arts Domestic Goddess, Botanicals Collection Eden's Symphony

Ink: VersaFine Onyx, Ranger Distress Antique Linen, Aged Photo

Accessories: SU Vintage Trinkets, Bias Tape, Zva Creative Pearls, Spellbinders Labels 17 Nestabilities, piece of corrugated box, Fiskars pinking blade

Technique: Stamping, Sponging, Die Cutting

For Loretta

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 

 
In all her interactions at Christian Paper Crafts, this week’s Wednesday CASE artist demonstrates a gentle, peaceful spirit and a heart filled with love for the Lord, anchored firmly by faith in the solid rock: our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. From her love of ballet to the soothing colors in her paper crafting works of art, the evidence of the grace in her life abounds. Take a look through the gallery of Lorettagrace and you will see just what I mean.

Loreta Grace O’Neill also has a playful streak! She says her kids start laughing when she digs out her old LPs and does her dusting to a 1980’s dance beat! Though a relative newcomer to the world of blogs, boards, forums and galleries, she’s made her way around quite well to the delight and surprise of her tech savvy offspring!

Loretta has “one son, one daughter, one husband and one Savior.” She says, “When I am not gluing bits of paper together, I enjoy cross-stitch, rose gardening and taking care of my home and family. I also like ballet.” Her parents and their families are Polish and were taken as Prisoners of War (POWs) in Europe during World War II. Loretta grew up in the United States hearing them reminisce about the homes they would never again see. She is thankful to the Lord for His mercies in bringing them all to the United States.

CHALLENGE SPECIFICS
Join with us in celebrating the Lord's gift of Lorettagrace to Christian Paper Crafts. Take a look through the her gallery and create a card or project inspired by what you see there. Be sure not to copy exactly: make it your own! When uploading your card or project to the Christian Paper Crafts gallery, please use the keyword WCA103 (no spaces or commas). When posting anywhere else online, please use the keyword CPC-WCA103. Have a blessed day!

SAMPLE DESCRIPTION
Created for the Wednesday, May 11 Christian Paper Crafts Case Artist Challenge featuring Lorettagrace. I just loved Loretta's soft, soothing style so wanted to be sure and capture that in the colors and feel of the card I crafted. Thought not as bright, it uses the same basic colors Jennipher selected for this week's CPC Color Monday Challenge 107 and is based on Gloria's CPC Sketch Tuesday 103 layout.
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Scripture Collection 7
Card Stock: Buckaroo Blue, Whisper White
Designer Paper: SU Bella Birds
Ink: Buckaroo Blue, Color Spot Dusty Blue
Accessories: Embossing Powder, Sizzlit Scallop Oval Die, Spellbinders Nestability and Borderabilities, Paper Rose, Ribon, Smooch Spray, Memory Mates embelishment, SU Tulip Frames EF
Technique: Stamping, Embossing, Die Cutting, Sponging
Other Challenges: Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #88