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!

Season of Peace and Love

December is my favorite month for many reasons. For one, it is my birth month (and one of my sisters, baby brother and mother). It is also the month we celebrate Mother's Day in my country of birth (December 8th). Finally, it is the month in which we celebrate the birth of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This is the season of love and peace to all on earth. It is a time to celebrate the birth of He who came to this world to die, Jesus Christ, the sacrificial lamb offering who willingly gave his life in exchange for ours. It all started at a time like this, Christmas, when a young virgin gave birth to the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. Christmas is a time for us to get together and celebrate his birth; to give thanks for the gift he became to the world. It is a time for all to gather together and forget our differences and celebrate as one this joyous occasion. It is a time to dig deep into our hearts and find the love that is there waiting to be poured out for humankind.

In the spirit of Christmas, we make or buy Christmas cards, we bake cookies, cakes and other goodies; we clean up and prepare our homes in preparation of those who might be coming over for a meal on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and/or New Years Day, we buy gifts, sometimes forgetting that gift-giving is really not the purpose of the season.  I am reminded of the Advent study book we read just a few weeks ago, titled "Christmas Is Not Your Birthday," by Mike Slaughter.  It is about God's scandalous love for humankind, a love that has no bounds; a love that is generous toward us, and which, according to Slaughter, should be about our lives being transformed to become the ears, eyes, hands, and wallets of Christ, to be obedient to his calling, and to live our lives in service to those who cannot help themselves.

It is my hope that this Christmas finds you surrounded by the love and joy the season brings, but also reminds you that Christmas is not your birthday, but the birthday of the boy Jesus, God's gift to us.

Peace and love!

Pre-printed Christmas cards for clients

Handcrafted Cards cut via MTC with Silhouette Cameo

Full Circle

Good morning all (or good afternoon depending on your location)! What a glorious Saturday we're enjoying here in the South land. Today is a special day in my neck of the woods because the space shuttle Endeavour is making its way to the California Science Center where it will be part of a special exhibit. I've had a very busy morning. First, trying to get to praise and worship this morning ended up being my exercise for the day. I had to do some walking due to street closures. I'm not complaining, because like I said I did my workout for the day. Anyway, folks are lining up at the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard to see this marvelous site.  Above is a photo of Endeavor as it flew over the Los Angeles skyline a few weeks back. This photo was taken by a friend of a friend over at the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, CA.

Anyway, getting back to my writing, today I've come full circle with my card making. What do I mean? Well, last Saturday was World Card Making Day and I had every intention of creating as many cards as I could that day. I signed up at a few sites to take part in their blog hops and challenges. But things didn't go exactly as I planned.  We have a saying in Spanish that goes like this "El hombre propone y Dios dispone." Translated: "Man proposes and God disposes." Well, that's what happened to me. I won't even go into details for the phrase says it all. Suffice is to say that I was only able to make one (1) card all day!  I did the challenge here The tutorial is very easy to follow, so I came up with this card. The one good thing that came from that day was that I was inspired to jump start my holiday card making. Hopefully, you'll be inspired to do the same.