Word Art Wednesday: Heaven and Nature Sing! (Free Digi Stamps)

Christmas is approaching at breakneck speed!  I thought I was so far ahead, and I'm already struggling to catch up.  Every year I promise myself to start earlier....and I do.  But it takes me longer to get ready each year!  I just hope I can get all my handmade Christmas card completed this week and out by the following week.  I usually made about 150-200.  Getting there! 

We have a beautiful challenge scripture for you this week for Word Art Wednesday.  Our own lovely Karen Murray of Papercraft Memories, has designed another fabulous scripture graphic for us to use.  I do hope you'll take it, and create a project to share with us using it.  We always get so excited when someone actually plans their project around our verse.  But, as always, our challenge is "anything goes" so you have the option to keep the verse and use it another time.

For my sample I actually used a full "sheet" of designer digi paper from Deck the Halls paper pack.  The beauty of digi paper is that it can be sized for a 12 x 12 scrapbook page, or as I've done here, sized for a 5-1/4" square card.  I used the digi sheet as the first layer and sized it to 5 square inches. The "default" digi sheets measures 6 inches.

I positioned the scripture art in between the star and manger from Little Bits of Christmas.  I did copy the star, cut one out and layered for dimension.  Otherwise I wanted to keep the card pretty simple.

One of my favorite Christmas carols is Joy to the World. The lyrics certainly point to the doctrinal truth regarding the significance of Christ's birth.  But the power of the first stanza may be easily overlooked.  Heaven and nature declare the glory of the newborn son of God through SONG.  Can you imagine what that night might have been like if all of heaven and earth actually broke out in song? 

Joy to the world! The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

Several scriptures refer to nature or elements of both heaven and earth existing to declare the glory and majesty of God.  

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; 

where morning dawns, where evening fades, 

you call forth songs of joy.

Psalm 65:8

Let heaven and earth praise him, 
the seas and all that move in them

Psalm 69:34

Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, 

for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. 

He will judge the world in righteousness 

and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Psalm 96:13

Let the rivers clap their hands, 

let the mountains sing together for joy;

Psalm 98:8

All heaven and nature does sing the song of Jesus!  Even if all believers were banned from ever speaking of our Savior, creation itself would attest to the power and presence of God. The vast expanse of the heavens draw us to the Creator, and His Spirit convicts us of who we are in light of His great salvation...sinners drawn to the Sovereign of the universe. 

As we enter the Advent season, may we all anticipate a Christmas that is filled with the glory of God, the miracle of Christ's birth and the eagerness for His return!

For a limited time, please accept these FREE digi stamps from our Little Bits of Christmas set.

Word Art Wednesday: Every Good and Perfect Gift (Free Digi Stamps)

Welcome to Word Art Wednesday!  Every Wednesday I post our invitation to join our challenge blog and link up your own creative and encouraging project.  We almost always have about 200+ participants and we are grateful for every one of them (you).  We have so many loyal fans who continually submit their beautiful creations.  Even if you don't participate it's  wonderful site for tons of inspiration.  And whether or not you participate our free scripture art is yours!

 

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas pumpkin pie is a big hit.  I just wonder how many cans of pumpkin pie filling is sold in the stores then!  I'm sure it sells by the wagon full...thus one of my newest little images from the set Just Being Grateful.  For my card I used one of the delightful journal mats created by our composite artist, Helen Phelps.  She is so skillful and taking our images and papers, pulling several sets together to make her fantastic journal and photo mat kits.  But the beauty of them also lies in their versatility. They make wonderful card starts.

I simply recolored the scripture verse and copied it right onto one of her mats from the Just Being Grateful Journal and Photo Mat Kit.

 Just Being Grateful Journal and Photo Mat Kit

These coordinate with the Daydream Designs set Just Being Grateful and our Fall Digi Paper Pack.

Just Being Grateful and the coordinating Just Being Grateful Sentiment Set

Fall Digi Papers

(one of our most popular!)

During this season of thanks, I have more to be grateful for than I can count.  Family and friends are certainly at the top of list, but even more I'm grateful to the Father of Lights who bestows more blessings, good and perfect gifts, upon me than I could ever deserve.  We can never win the favor of our God.  He bestows grace and mercy, unmerited favor on His children.  I'm grateful to live in this country, though it is becoming a shadow of what it used to be.  I pray that our country will turn back to God before He removes His hand from us.  I shudder to think what we could become if we continue the direction we are going.  Still, God uses adversity to refine us.  So in all things, all circumstances we can be grateful.  

God does not change, and there is no shadow of turning in Him. He is faithful...and He is good.  We can trust Him with every challenge, with all that the days ahead hold.  For that I am most grateful.  

We do hope you'll join us at Word Art Wednesday, for another week of amazing sponsors and a fun challenge.  

Welcome to Word Art Wednesday again.  We have a wonderful challenge for you this week.  As always, it's anything goes, but you are also welcomed to use our FREE digi scripture on your creation and link it to our challenge blog.

This is a beautiful artistic rendering of Psalm 100:4 is perfect for this Thanksgiving season.  It would make a lovely framed art piece too.  I'd love to try it with vinyl using my Silhouette.  I've always wanted to do one, and this one just seems like the perfect fonts for final.  But in the meantime, I'll share a little card I did.

We have so many things to be thankful for.  I think as we see more and more of our rights and freedoms being eroded in our country we are becoming more grateful for what we do enjoy.  I'm so grateful for our service men and women who sacrifice so much to hang on to all we love about the US. 

I created a little spray of paper flowers by fussy cutting scraps of the paper I used. 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Please head over to our Word Art Wednesday challenge blog for all the details for a chance to win prizes from our wonderful sponsors. 

Word Art Wednesday: Give Thanks (FREE SCRIPTURE AND DIGI STAMPS)

Welcome to Word Art Wednesday.  I'm excited to be sponsoring this week's challenge and offering the free scripture verse to all participants.  We hope you will use it for your project to link to our challenge blog...not requried, but we hope you will!

The black version is offered free on our challenge blog, and as a bonus I'm offering the pre-colored version here on my blog.  Go to our Word Art Wednesday blog and see what Daydream Designs is giving away to one of our winner!

My sample:

The scripture verse and something from one of Daydream Designs newest sets created the perfect match for this week's sample.  One mark of a true believer is that we can be thankful in all circumstances.  There is an attitude of gratitude regardless of our circumstances because of what God has given us through Christ.  It is God's will for our lives to be thankful.

I had the honor of writing the week's devotion for this scripture challenge.  When I wrote it, I had no idea that my family would receive devastating news later that same week.  It has absolutely knocked us to our knees...and there in humble devotion to our great God we find many reasons to still be thankful.  It's so hard because we are heart broken by the circumstances, but we know God is all wise, and so loving and we simply have to trust that He is working in plan for our lives.

Bad things happen to good people and in our world we often see evil prevailing for a time.  But this life isn't the final story, and we don't see the outcome of our lives yet.  We can thank God that our future is secure and He will never leave or forsake us.  His provision is certain, and His tender love always embraces us, even when we have to walk through a devastating storm in this life.

God's training ground is not easy.  Sometimes it resembles boot camp where life is screaming in your face and your days are filled with one obstacle after another.  But through the training and testing, we become refined, stronger and ultimately closer to the God of the universe who loves us.  And THAT is something for which to be very thankful.  God is good, and He will not take His children through anything that will not ultimately result in something good for them.  God gives and He takes away, but we can bless His name anyway because of His marvelous provision through Christ.

Sets used for this card:

 Check out our Daydream Designs blog post showcasing other samples 

using this scripture/sentiment set.

Give Thanks to the Lord

10 images (color/black) / JPEG and PNG / 300 dpi / resizable

$3.00

 

 Just Being Grateful

10 precolored images and 6 outline images included

JPEG and PNG / resizable

$4.00

 Fall Digi Papers

10 sheets / 6 x 6 / 300 dpi / resizable

$3.00

A little gift for you...for a limited time.

Freebies have expired!  Revisit us for more freebies!

I'm so grateful for each of you who visit my blog and leave such encouraging comments.  I wasn't sure that anyone would ever find my new blog, so I'm grateful you are here.  Help yourself to the free digis above, for your personal use and not to be shared.  Thank you!