Card Techniques

It's been a while since I updated my blog with any of the cards I've made. I sometimes get so busy that I forget to take pictures, but if I do, I forget to post them.

Here are some of the cards I made over the past few months.

The two cards below were made using the napkin technique. I have wanted to try this technique for a while and the opportunity presented itself when I found this pack of napkins at the dollar store. I die cut the phrases from dies in my stash.

I love to create cards for women, especially African American women because we don't see a lot of stamps depicting the culture. Here are a few stamps I purchased from Rubbernecker Stamps.

I used Distress Oxide inks to create this background

I used a stencil from on this one, then used a blender brush to apply the ink to the background. I used Copic markers to color the image.

The technique for this background required me to use bleach. Yes, you read right. I used a stencil then dabbed bleach to change the look of the cardstock. I colored the image with Copic markers.

Here's another beautiful stamp from Rubbernecker. I used the My Monthly Hero February 2019 kit's stencil to create this background using Distress Oxide ink and colored the image with Copic Markers. 

I hope to begin updating my blog with the work I do, whether it is card making, cakes, or artwork.

Thanks for stopping by!

D'Bee

Watercolor and Stamps

This past week I watched a tutorial from Sandy Allnock on painting water and decided to try it. Thankful I had the Hero Arts Killer Messages stamps to play with. Here’s the finished product.

Me, Myself and I

These three words seem harmless but in matters of our faith, they can be dangerous.

When used to brag about our feats and achievements they become a matter of pride. Taking pride in our accomplishments and bragging as though we alone made them happen is self-absorption, self-centeredness; we forget who made it possible for us to succeed, who gave us the ability do well, to create, to be!

When facing crisis or difficulties, we tend to become the center; we utter phrases like “why me?” As if we alone go through trials. In effect we’re self-pitying, looking for others to feel sorry for us and what we are going through.

It is hard when we are confronted with the truth about ourselves. I’ve been guilty of all of the above and as I look back on my pity party celebrations, I’m appalled at my lack of humbleness, my lack of trust in God!! Yes, that is exactly what it is: selfish, self-absorbing, me, myself and I self-centeredness!

God wants us to turn to Him for all our needs. He has promised to take care of us and provide for us over and over again in scripture, but it is as if we don’t hear or believe Him. As I read today’s scripture in my study plan, Jeremiah 45, verse 5 halted me in my tracks. Here’s what it says, “And you, do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh, says the Lord; but I will give you your life as a prize of war in every place to which you may go.”” (NRSV)

I had to re-read it all over again and as I did it struck me: stop focusing on success for yourself, stop focusing on doing things your way; forget your self-pitying absorption and instead lean on God, place your trust in Him, allow Him to guide your footsteps and He will prosper you!

#bestnineart2018

That’s it! That’s what God wants from us, that we surrender and humble ourselves before Him and allow Him to do what He’s always promised He would do: be our Jehovah Jireh, our provider. God’s word in this verse is a promise to us if we move from self-centeredness to Christ-centeredness!

#bestnine2018 (cards)

As we enter into 2019, I pray we will all take a look at our lives and the path we are on and take stock of where we are and where we want to be; that we rewrite the story of our lives to make God the main focus of everything we do and trust Him for our success.

As you center yourself and create plans and goals for the New Year, I invite you to read Hebrews 11:6 and make it your go-to scripture for the year: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (NRSV).

Happy and prosperous 2019!

Come Out and Support Local Artists this Saturday!

If you are in the Los Angeles area, we'd like to invite you to support Nichole Thomas-White (Forty Four Angeles, Deborah Bell and myself (Imago Dei Creative Designs) as well as other local artists/vendors who will be showcasing and selling our art, crafts, designs at Le "Holiday" Pop Up Shoppe, a unique boutique experience, hosted by Stacey Evans Morgan at Pip's On La Brea from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2018.

See the flyer below for further information. We're looking forward to seeing you there!

Bible Journaling

It is amazing the many exciting ways we have that can lead us to spend time in God's Word. There is prayer, praise, worship, soaking, sitting still, journaling, all amazing ways of connecting with God. I love all of these, especially praise and worship, but last year I discovered a new way to interact with God in a way that makes my soul sing: Bible Journaling.

As a cardmaker, I am always on the lookout for inspiration for my cards. Little did I know that there was a way to use the techniques and tools of cardmaking in my private time with God. It was mindblowing! As I researched and followed Bible Journalers on Social Media, I fell in love with this, for me, a new method of spending time connecting with God. It gives me a sense of freedom as I read His Word and His Spirit plants seeds of creativity in my mind and I visualize how He wants me to interpret what I've read.

I have gone so far as to step out of my comfort zone and take part in a challenge. This was amazing because it involved using watercolor to create the journal entries for World Watercolor Month 2018. For thirty (30) days, I journaled based on prompts supplied by the challenge organizer. This challenge opened me up to going outside of my comfort zone and trusting God with my creative masterpieces. I am no expert, by any means, but I keep at it because I get to spend time in His presence and because the work that comes forth from our time together brings glory to His name. 

This is the latest piece I created. I was studying Spiritual Foundations based on Romans 8:1-2 in a Bible Journaling course I participated. This scripture reads, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." What impressed me most about this scripture was the phrase "the Spirit who gives life has set you free" and what immediately came to mind was broken chains. 

Take a look at the finished product below. If you want to see some more of the journaling pages I have done, click here.

The Truth of the Matter

Love is patient and kind...love is not rude (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). These scriptures right here carry so much weight. If we love with the love of God, our words and actions will signify patience and kindness, but never rudeness. People tend to think that speaking truth and being truthful shouldn’t be hurtful because it is the truth. But when we deliver truth harshly, without consideration for those we’re “schooling”, or to make a point, we fail to realize that our words of truth can cause more harm than good. Jesus’ words, “...The truth will set you

free,” (John 8:32) are true words spoken by Jesus, but only if we deliver our “truth” in a loving way and not with the intention to hurt the receivers of that truth; only then will they gain meaning.

The truth of the matter is that truth without love is a weapon of mass destruction. As followers of Jesus, our words should build up, not tear down the body of Christ. We are God’s representatives on earth and as such we ought to represent Him the way Jesus did: with love, kindness, patience, speaking truth in a way the recipient’s eyes will be opened to see his or her mistakes; not closing their ears to shut out what we’re saying because we didn’t take the time to deliver the truth “in love.” Ephesians 4:15-16 states it well: “Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

I pray that when you feel led to speak the truth to someone, you will first consider what motivates you to do so. Check your motives. If you’re doing it driven to make a point, please reconsider. Ask the Lord to show you a better way of delivering the truth, with patience, love and kindness. Then and only then will the truth set someone free.

Read 1 Corinthians 13

Back to Basics

We are the church. Did you know that? The four walls that enclose us on Sunday mornings are just that—walls. When we leave the building we should be taking the church with us. After all, we are witnesses for God, His representatives here on earth. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can take God’s word where the Spirit leads us.

Before David decided he wanted to build a temple for God, He (God) was everywhere the people went; He was not boxed in, He was in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). Even after the temple was built, God could not be contained. When the Israelites went into exile in Babylon, God was with them; when we, modern day Christians became part of the Vine as Gentiles grafted in by God’s grace and mercy into Abraham’s family tree, He didn’t leave us, on the contrary, He molded us and made us part of His family, all without walls! So why do we limit ourselves to the four walls of the church? Why do we continue to do business as usual, holding on to tradition, locking our doors against those who look and speak different than we do, when the God we serve is a God of change, one who doesn’t look on us based on our gender, color or anything that hints at a difference in our make up; a God who looks to do ‘a new thing’ in the lives of His people?  Here’s why: we are afraid of change, so we remain locked in the four walls of the church afraid to wander in the wilderness not trusting in the Holy Spirit to guide us, and what is worse, we keep others out, thus isolating ourselves, which keeps us from being who God created us to be: His church.

We must go back to basics, back to allowing God to lead us by day and night, through His Spirit, to reach others for His kingdom.  To do so, we must tear down the walls that separate us from God’s children and welcome them with open arms.

Read: 2 Samuel 7:1-14

World Watercolor Month 2018

July 1st marked the beginning of World Watercolor Month 2018 hosted by Doodlewash. I follow Sandy Allnock and she created prompts for those who do Bible Journaling and cardmaking to be able to interpret in many ways. I didn't set out to join this challenge, but because I Bible Journal and was seeing some of what other on her Facebook page where creating, I decided to try my hand at it. What I love best about this challenge is not so much following the prompt, but how God directs me to the scriptures to use and how I interpret them, plus the added bonus of practicing a medium that I am not familiar with.

Here are the prompts I have completed so far.

Day 1 - Star

Day 3 - Red

Day 5 - Circle

Day 6 - Young; the stamps is from Unity Stamps

Day 7: Pink

Day 8: Sweet

As you can see, I'm not following the daily prompts. I wait for God to speak to me and inspire me to interpret the prompts.

Here also are some cards I made over the past weeks. I hope to really try posting some of my work more often for you to enjoy.

Have a wonderful day!

D'Bee

This was a special request for a birthday guy. 

I love these stamps from Rubbernecker Stamps!

Here's another one!

and another!

Cast Your Cares on Jesus

Sometimes we face hardships that weigh us down physically and spiritually. We become anxious and worry to such an extent we can’t see the end from the beginning. This needs not be so! God is standing by waiting for us to call on Him, to give it all over to Him because He knows we cannot handle it on our own.

Why don’t we, then? Because we lack faith or we are fearful to muster it up and activate it. The Bible describes having faith as the, “...assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”—Hebrews 11:1. The other side of the coin of faith is fear which can be described as having the assurance or confidence that something bad is going to happen. How do we counter fear? We begin by changing our thoughts and affirming that fear, anxiety, and worry have no power over us because God’s Spirit dwells within us and we have love, power, and self-control; by, “casting all our care upon Him, for He cares for us.”—I Peter 5:7. Once we do this, “Then we will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard our hearts and minds as we live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7.

Here is a card I made using watercolors. I learned this technique from Tiare Smith, a Mixed media artist, and blogger who encouraged me to give my creativity wings. I made the original version in a sketchbook (see below) and decided to try it on a card.

Sketchbook Version

Card

I am also trying to really carve out time to do Bible Journaling more frequently. I spend time on Sunday afternoons watching Sandy Allnock's YouTube Bible Journaling lessons or following Rebekah R. Jones' techniques. Here's some of what I've been inspired to journal so far.

Exodus 15:20-21

Jeremiah 30:1-2

1 Peter 5:8

Psalm 84:11

Matthew 25:35

Standing on God's Promises

It's been a very long while since I posted on my blog. It's not because I didn't want to, but because I have been very busy serving the Lord and taking care of my elderly mother. My being busy has not stopped me from seeking God, however. On the contrary, it's during times of busyness that I run to Him the more, to fortify me, guide me, and lead me to do His will!

Today, He's placed on my heart that we should trust in Him and His promises to us even when things don't go according to plan. He specifically wants us to understand the importance of tithing regardless of our situation.

God says in His word, "Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5). This is God's promise to you and me. So what does this mean? It means that despite whatever you may be going through, He is right there beside you. Whether you face financial trials: can't pay your rent or mortgage, your car is on the blink and you don't have the funds to have it repaired, you've lost your job and struggling to find employment that will allow you to take care of your bills, He is there, right there in the thick of it with you, all you have to do is trust Him to help you deal with your situation, and remember to be faithful to Him as He is to you. What do I mean? Let me explain (I'll apologize right now for the length of this post).

Back in 2004, when I lost my job of 11 1/2 years, I found myself without a cushion. For the first time in my adult life, I was not able to provide for myself or my girls. It did not help things that this all occurred just before the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas). I was desperately searching for full-time employment but I also signed up with temp agencies to try to have a stream of income while searching. I panicked when December rolled around and I still had nothing. The Christmas holidays were fast approaching. my oldest daughter needed me to purchase her ticket to come home from college for the winter break. By the middle of December I was a wreck; wringing my hands in despair because I had no income and there was nothing on the horizon. But even going through this, God was with me; I lacked nothing, at least not the necessities of life: I had food on my table, I had gas in my car to enable me to go to interviews, I was able to pay some if not all of my bills. Oh, remember my daughter? Well, she was able to come home because of the generousness of a family member. When I look back at that season of my life I stand in amazement of how God took care of me, though I couldn't see it at the time (I was not yet a born again Christian). By the time the end of December rolled around, I had secured a temp job that would begin in the New Year, which I hoped would help until I could find something permanent. 

During that time in my life, I began to seek the Lord; I picked up my Bible and would read for hours; I would listen to televangelists all day long. I cried out to God for help and He drew me closer to Him. I had always tried to tithe at church, but I would put bills or other purchases I thought were more important before God. This all changed during this season. When I started the temp job, I had been following the teaching of Paula White on First Fruits offering (click the link to learn more about this). I knew nothing about it before then. As I drew deeper into God's Word, I felt led to offer up a First Fruits offering to God, so I offered my first paycheck from the temp job. Was I crazy to do this knowing it would be the first financial gain I would have? Maybe, but I wasn't thinking about the money or about the fact that I wouldn't be able to pay my bills. I wanted to give it to the Lord because He had provided for me to have that job and it was my way of saying that I trusted Him to take care of me for the rest of the year. You see, First Fruits is like a deposit; seed money. You trust you will receive an ROI (Return on Investment), sort of. Mind you, I don't look at it that way, this is just an example by way of explanation. The first covers the rest. What you sow in January covers the other eleven months. Get it? Let me further explain. Remember Cain and Abel? They both offered sacrifices to God; Cain's was rejected, while Abel's was not (At harvest time, Cain brought a gift to the Lord. He brought some of the food that he grew from the ground, but Abel brought some animals from his flock. He chose some of his best sheep and brought the best parts from them.  The Lord accepted Abel and his gift.  But he did not accept Cain and his offering. Cain was sad because of this, and he became very angry. Genesis 4:4-5

Giving God an offering means giving over and above your tithe; tithing is 10 percent of what you earn. It's not one or the other. So, because you give an offering in terms of supporting a ministry at church or elsewhere, it does not mean you have tithed! Abel gave God his best, his first, Cain gave some. Abel was extravagant in his offering to God, he didn't hesitate to give God all. Scripture states, " The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 ESV.

Standing on God's promises means that I will be faithful to Him even during my time of need. I will not forsake my giving because money isn't flowing, in fact, I'll do the opposite because I trust Him to provide for me even when I'm facing difficulties! I stand on His promises because "He who calls you is faithful and He will do it" (2 Thessalonians 5:24).

Won't you trust Him to be your Jehovah Jireh (your provider), to take care of all your needs today? Won't you stand on His promises? I pray you do!


There's more to this story, but I'll share it with you on my next post. In the meantime, please feel free to browse here to see some of the cards and artwork I have created over the past 7 months, but have not had the time to share. 

Blessings to you!

Color Your Day Lesson 2

Though the live lessons are over for Altenew's Color Your Day classes, I have access to the videos and will continue learning new techniques when I have free time to create. In my last post I made a card that was inspired by color. Lesson #2 was about coloring using a color wheel. Of course I went to one of my favorite color combinations: yellow and orange.

I used Altenew's Peony Bouquet stamp set (the middle layer) and alternated inking with two colors (Altenews' Warm Sunshine, Buttercream and Caramel Toffee combinations). For the green leafs, the colors I used were Evergreen, Frayed Leaf and Forest Glades. I adhered the stamped background to a bright orange card base, die cut the words "just because" three times, once on ink-blended cardstock which I used as the top layer. I adhered the layers to the panel and embellished with gold and orange sequins.

Here is my final product:

A New Chapter

April 30th saw the ending of a chapter in my life. For the past seven years I had a part-time job as Administrative Assistant at one of our local United Methodist churches, but due to lack of funding, I was laid off. May 1st brought about many changes, one of which was becoming accostumed to working at home. Though I had a part-time job, I also have my own business as a Virtual Assistant. I may not be bursting at the seams with clients, but I do have a few partnerships that I have developed over the years and clients who reach out to me for project work or administrative duties. I have also just taken on another endeavor: taking my administrative skills to the next level by becoming a Super VA (a super Virtual Assistant). I'm currently learning new technical skills that will allow me to offer more to my current clients and the new clients I hope to engage in the future.

But truth be told, the one blessing I cherish the most in this transition is having time to spend in prayer, and being creative. The former is very important to me for my creative juices flow from my time of prayer and reflection. It is my hope that I will be blogging and sharing more as I become comfortable with my new status, but more than that, I am looking forward to sharing what the Lord is placing on my heart to share with you. My prayer has been for the Lord to use me to do His will and I'm looking forward to His word flowing through me to you.

As I usually do, here are a few photos of some of my cards and art work I've made since my last posting.

 

 

Framed Art

One of my passions is card making. I love to make handcrafted cards. I also love working with graphics. As I was wondering how I could really combine these into one artistic form, I was inspired to use scripture in creating framed art I could give as gifts. I've blogged about this in the past (see post dated September 13, 2013).

Here is one of those inspirations:

How do these come together? I pick the digital stamp I want to work with from my collection. This digital stamp is from Robert Jackson. Once I've selected the stamp, I research the scripture I want to use.

Now this is where I get my inspiration. Most of the scriptures I use tend to fit the digital stamp I choose (see below). I sometimes print these on watercolor paper (if I'm using different mediums to color). In the case of the photo above, I printed the scripture on regular card stock (I created the file in MS Word) because all I did was use Copic Markers to color in the stamped image. I printed another copy and cut-out the blouse, then attached it to the Cheetah print cardstock from my stash (I did it this way as opposed to printing on the cardstock because of the glitter in the paper) then paper pierced that section and pasted it on the digi stamp.

To finish off embellishing the piece, I used Stickles glitter to add dimension and pop the necklace and earrings. I finished the piece by adding rhinestone ribbon, then attaching it to a mat for framing.

Here is another sample:

and others:

I have a few more surprises in store for you, so sit tight until my next post.

Ciao!

Inspired

Good morning, blog friends!

I hope you are enjoying this Monday morning. In my neck of the woods (Los Angeles) it promises to be a hot sunny day. This is typical for this time of year. Twenty-eight years ago today, I gave birth to my oldest daughter and it was HOT!

After my little vacay  (see previous post) I came back to chaos. I had to get rid of my mattress because I had a bed bug! Don't ask me how it came into my room (according to a pest control friend it could have come through the window - I live on the lower floor of my apartment unit) but it wreaked havoc with my body.  Prior to me leaving on vacation, I had been seeing these bites on different parts of my body (mostly arms and legs). What was different about these bites was, in addition to the extreme itching, my skin would inflame as if I'd been bitten by a bee (I'm allergic).  I brushed it all off thinking that it was some type of gnat bite.  While away, my youngest daughter came home for a spell (she's been living in China, where she works). She texted me to say she thought she was allergic to the food (after a year of eating vegetables and noodles she thought she couldn't eat regular food, lol) because she woke up with bites on her body. I replied back that there must be something in my room. So, she switched rooms and slept in my mother's bed.

When I got back home on July 9th, I immediately called my friend because he said that I might have bed bugs. He came over armed with a flashlight and proceeded to go over my bed frame. I have a queen size Queen Anne bed and it took a bit of looking for him to find the bug. Yep, there was only one (can you believe it) and that one insect caused me a pretty penny.  I had to get rid of my mattress and purchase a new one.

The one good thing that came from this was that I was inspired to change the look of my bedroom.  I decided to DIY my whole room by not only painting it (with the help of my youngest), but I also picked up the carpet and I'm working on putting down flooring.  Here's what the room looks like now without the bed and prior to putting down the floor.

As you can see, I painted the room Purple and Lavender (Lavender is my favorite scent, so it didn't take me long to figure out the colors I would use).  As of today, I'm still working on my flooring.  I should have it done in the next two weeks and will post photos of the finished space for you to see.

Because of the havoc that little insect caused, I was uninspired to make any cards for a while, but in August I had this burst of inspiration and started making, not only cards, but these framed pieces.  I will showcase just a few here for now.

Card
I purchased the image for this shoe from 123rf.com I printed and cut the shoe in MTC and used glue dots to make it 3D. I printed the Scripture in MS Word and cut it out and attached with glue dots. The background Damask paper is from mygrafico.com and the brown paper I printed from MS Word and embossed with Cuttlebug Anna Griffin  5x7 Pirouette embossing folder.

Framed Art

Card
Digi file purchased from Robert Jackson. He made this image file exclusive for me. I used Gimp to add a pattern to the dress and color in the skin, hair and purse. I then print and cut the image and attached it with glue dots. As with the previous card, I printed the sentiment in MS Word and cut and pasted it to the card. The background paper I used from a Kente file I had in my stash and which I created a background for in Word and printed in color to use for this card.

Framed Art