Challenge Weeks #338-#339 - Anything Goes

Welcome back by again, everyone!  We're so glad you're here and that you've chosen to play along with us.  We have an AWESOME sponsor....the fabulous Lawn Fawn.  We also have some wonderful inspiration from our Design Team.  We thank you for stopping by to fellowship with us, have some fun, and share your amazing creations in our challenge. 

The awesome word art for this challenge is a great verse (Psalm 1:1) for Father's Day, and you're welcome to save this free image to use on your Father's Day cards.  This verse says "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful".  It reminds us of how a good man (woman, child, etc.) is to live their life.  God's word makes it very clear that when we choose to live a separated life and live for Him, we will be blessed.  It also reminds us that when we hang around ungodly people, we begin to listen to them and their unwise advice.  We also tend to sin more when we're surrounding ourselves with other people who aren't walking the Christian walk.  Their bad habits can quickly rub off on us, and it's very important to hang out with people who will encourage us in our Christian walk, set a good example for us, and encourage us to get right with God and live a wholesome life....a BLESSED LIFE that comes only through living for the Lord, Jesus Christ.   Yes, we have to live in the world and engage in the world; but don't have to become LIKE the world.  We are warned that we need to live a separated life (2 Corinthians 2:17), and like many verses from God's precious word, it comes with a promise.....being blessed.  "BLESSED IS THE MAN" - I know that I sure enjoy the #blessedlife - how about you?

As always, you are welcome to save the free scripture/word art file to your computer, but are never required to use it in order to play along in our challenges.   We welcome you share your all your art with us; remembering that Anything Goes as long as it's family-friendly, and uses an encouraging or uplifting sentiment. This includes any type of altered or digital art (not just limited to cards).  You may link up to five (5) projects each week, for a total of ten (10) entries per two-week challenge. The more you enter, the more you increase your odds of winning.  It is our desire that God's Word will be a blessing and encouragement to you as we share it. If you have any questions about the rules, be sure to read the complete list of rules under our page tab for "Challenge Rules".  Because our ultimate goal is to honor God, we have no other choice but to delete any entries that do not adhere to our guidelines.  Please know that this doesn't mean we are judging anyone.  We're simply attempting to honor God and follow His rules.  Let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for your understanding and participation!

Here is this week's word art.  We hope
that it will be a blessing to you.

Here's our AWESOME sponsor for this challenge:

Our friends over at Lawn Fawn

are offering one lucky person a

$25 Gift Certificate

to their AWESOME store.

Be sure to stop by and check out

all the FABULOUSLY ADORABLE
stamps, dies, papers and SO

much more at Lawn Fawn.

AND NOW.......Our Lucky Winners!

The Project Bin is a lovely store
that carries adorable stamp sets
to help you create something fun!
One lucky person has won a
$15 Gift Certificate to
The Project Bin.  Let's
hear it for our lucky winner...
Entry #108 - My Aspirations/Kathy

AND

Our friends at Stix 2 Anything are
offering a FABULOUS prize package
of adhesives and goodies.  This is an
AMAZING store that carries everything
you'll need in the way of adhesives as
well as a bit of EVERYTHING crafty
and fun.  We hope you'll
Check out Stix 2 Anything
The lucky winner of this prize is:
Entry #16 - Hazel Lawson

And Our Top 3 Honors Go To:
Entry #25 - Heather Mills

Entry #118  - Karla Yungwirth
Entry #226 - Cebelica

Please email Karen if you'd like a
Top 3 Badge for your blog.  All winners
must also email Karen per the Rules Page.

May God bless all our AWESOME sponsors.

We appreciate them all SO very much!

AND NOW.....Here's some inspiration to get you started:

Our June Guest Designer, Terri Burson

Dottie Seubert

Natalie Houston

Using these fun Lawn Fawn products:

Stitched Mountain Borders and

Forest Border dies; and Critters in the Arctic

(stamps) and Let's Polka in the Meadow 6x6 Paper Pad 

JoAnn Atterbury

Ginny Maxam

Stephanie Wright

Using Lawn Fawn Product

Woodgrain Backdrops Stamp

Karen Letchworth

An InLinkz Link-up

Anything Goes - Weeks #336-#337

Welcome to Word Art Wednesday!  It's time for another fabulously fun challenge, and we're SO glad you've stopped by to join us.  We have a beautiful (free) digital scripture/word art file for you, a brief devotional, two lucky winners, two more amazing prizes up for grabs, and lots of inspiration.  Sounds like fun, right?  Well, let's get started!

Our word art for this challenge focuses on Psalm 48:14 which says, "For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death".  As you probably know, we live in a temporary world.  All that we possess will one day be gone.  If we purchase 100 acres of land, it's "ours" for a time; perhaps for many generations.  But nonetheless, it will one day be gone and no longer "ours".  Likewise, a king who receives his crown and places it upon his head will one day no longer have his crown.  Even our graves (burial places) are not eternal.  Everything around is temporary.  The one, and only, thing that is eternal is our God and His eternal promises.  Not even death can put an end to His love for us.  In fact, death is just the beginning of an eternal relationship with Him for those who have called upon His name for their salvation.  The word "guide" in this verse literally means that He wants to be our source of instruction to show us the way.  If we were taking a tour or trip in a strange land, we would want a guide to show us the way.  Life is most certainly a journey in a strange land.  God wants to be our guide in every minute of every day of our lives.  But often times, we treat God (and our relationship with Him) far too casually, and we call on Him only when we need something.  God wants to be our guide (our friend, our way) in every situation.  We will benefit greatly by allowing Him to be our guide....every moment, every day of our lives.  But how do we do this?  We must LISTEN to Him (like we would a tour guide) by reading and studying His word, listening to sermons from qualified pastors, talking with Him (remain in a spirit of prayer all day long), and then applying His instruction to our lives.  These things will make our journey in this strange land much easier to handle.  But the real joy in this verse is surely the fact that NOTHING will ever separate us from our God and His love for us.  As this verse tells us, death is not the end of God's promises; it's only the beginning.

As always, you are welcome to save the free scripture/word art file to your computer, but are never required to use it in order to play along in our challenges.   We welcome you share your all your art with us; remembering that Anything Goes as long as it's family-friendly, and uses an encouraging or uplifting sentiment. This includes any type of altered or digital art (not just limited to cards).  You may link up to five (5) projects each week, for a total of ten (10) entries per two-week challenge. The more you enter, the more you increase your odds of winning.  It is our desire that God's Word will be a blessing and encouragement to you as we share it. If you have any questions about the rules, be sure to read the complete list of rules under our page tab for "Challenge Rules".  Because our ultimate goal is to honor God, we have no other choice but to delete any entries that do not adhere to our guidelines.  Please know that this doesn't mean we are judging anyone.  We're simply attempting to honor God and follow His rules.  Let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for your understanding and participation!

Here is this week's word art.  We hope
that it will be a blessing to you.

Here are our AWESOME sponsors for this challenge:

The Project Bin is a lovely store
that carries adorable stamp sets
to help you create something fun!
One lucky person will win a
$15 Gift Certificate to
The Project Bin.

AND

Our friends at Stix 2 Anything are
offering a FABULOUS prize package
of adhesives and goodies.  This is an
AMAZING store that carries everything
you'll need in the way of adhesives as
well as a bit of EVERYTHING crafty
and fun.  We hope you'll
Check out Stix 2 Anything

AND NOW.....Two Lucky Winners:

We wereTHRILLED to have the amazing

Pink & Main as our sponsor for the last

challenge.  We hope you will stop by

to see all the AMAZING stamps, dies,

embellishments and more that this shop

carries.  One lucky person has won a

generous $20 Gift Certificate to this

sweet store.  WOW! That winner is 

Entry #267 - Amy Marshall

Our digital sponsor for this challenge
is the ADORABLE Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.
Please take time to stop by and check out
ALL the lovely images (and more) found at
 the fabulous Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.
The lucky winner of this prize is
Entry #295 - Granmargaret

And Our Top 3 Honors Go To:
Entry #168 - Karen Ladd

Entry #181 - Bonnie Garby
Entry #264 - Crafting With Katherine

Please email Karen if you'd like a
Top 3 Badge for your blog.  All winners
must also email Karen per the Rules Page.

May God bless all our AWESOME sponsors.

We appreciate them all SO very much!

AND NOW.....Here's some inspiration to get you started:

Our May Guest Designer, Anushree Vaish

 

Dottie Seubert

Natalie Houston

Ginny Maxam

Stephanie Wright

Karen Letchworth

An InLinkz Link-up

Anything Goes - Challenge Weeks #334 - #335

Welcome by again for another fun challenge, everyone!  We always enjoy having you visit, and most especially LOVE seeing your amazing art.  The cards and projects you share in our challenges are such a joy to see, and we want you to know that we greatly appreciate every single entry.  I've personally been having some trouble signing in to my Yahoo, Splitcoast Stampers, and Flikr accounts lately.  So if you haven't been getting as many comments, I really do apologize.  Please know that I do look at all the entries even when I'm unable to leave a comment.  Our Design Team tries to get by each blog during the course of each challenge.  If you get missed, please know that your art does not go unnoticed, and we appreciate you SO VERY MUCH.  You're all winners in our book.  Thanks so much for sharing your talents with us.

Our beautiful word art for this challenge allows us a look at Galatians 6:9 which says, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not".  This verse touched my heart this week, as God's precious Word always does.  When we take time to look into His holy word, it blesses us and gives us precisely what we need just when we need it most.  As some of you may know, our oldest daughter is expecting our first grandchild in October.  Our second daughter, however, has been trying to get pregnant for a bit longer than her older sister.  While she knows God's Word and His ways, she's still struggling a bit emotionally because, as humans, we want what we want...when we want it.  But with God, we learn that HIS ways, HIS timing, and HIS will are always perfect.  PRAISE GOD, our kids made the personal choice and commitment to save their purity (their first kiss and first physical experience) for marriage.  They wanted to honor God with their whole life.....not just parts of it.  We always assured them that God would bless them for making these decisions to obey His word in every aspect of their lives.  That doesn't mean that they don't get frustrated when things don't go the way they might have hoped.....just like you and I struggle with different things in our lives that don't go as planned.  But this verse assures all of us that we should never be weary, lose heart or "give up" when we are doing what's right and living for Him.  Because, as this verse promises us, WE SHALL REAP if we "faint not" (don't give up).  Sometimes the outcomes are not what we might have hoped for, but I assure you that it's ALWAYS going to be what's best for us.  God loves us.  He wants us to be happy.  But that doesn't mean we get everything we want right when we want it.  This verse reminds us that as long as we are doing what is right and living a life that honors God, we will reap the benefits that HE ALONE wills for us.  So just remember this, my friends, we may not always get exactly what we want when we want it; but when we live for Jesus Christ and His glory, we will reap beautiful blessings.

As always, you are welcome to save the free scripture/word art file to your computer, but are never required to use it in order to play along in our challenges.   We welcome you share your all your art with us; remembering that Anything Goes as long as it's family-friendly, and uses an encouraging or uplifting sentiment. This includes any type of altered or digital art (not just limited to cards).  You may link up to five (5) projects each week, for a total of ten (10) entries per two-week challenge. The more you enter, the more you increase your odds of winning.  It is our desire that God's Word will be a blessing and encouragement to you as we share it. If you have any questions about the rules, be sure to read the complete list of rules under our page tab for "Challenge Rules".  Because our ultimate goal is to honor God, we have no other choice but to delete any entries that do not adhere to our guidelines.  Please know that this doesn't mean we are judging anyone.  We're simply attempting to honor God and follow His rules.  Let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for your understanding and participation!

Here is this week's word art.  We hope
that it will be a blessing to you.  If you
prefer the all black image, just let me know.

Here's our AWESOME sponsor for this challenge:

We are THRILLED to have the amazing

Pink & Main as our sponsor for this

challenge.  We hope you will stop by

to see all the AMAZING stamps, dies,

embellishments and more that this shop

carries.  One lucky person will win a

generous $20 Gift Certificate to this

sweet store.  WOW!  Special thanks to

ALL our wonderful sponsors.

AND

Our digital sponsor for this challenge
is the ADORABLE Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.
Please take time to stop by and check out
ALL the lovely images (and more) found at
 the fabulous Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.

AND NOW.......Another Lucky Winner:

From our last challenge, our dear friends at
Winnie & Walter offered one very lucky
person a generous $25 Gift Certificate.
If you're not yet familiar with this AWESOME
store, I hope you will stop by to do some
window shopping.  They carry the sweetest
stamps, dies, and more.  Check it out here
at Winnie & Walter
The lucky winner of this fabulous prize is
Entry #317 - Holly L.

And Our Top 3 Honors Go To:
Entry #142 - Sidan

Entry #169 - Marieke
Entry #309 - Amy Marshall

Please email Karen if you'd like a
Top 3 Badge for your blog.  All winners
must also email Karen per the Rules Page.

May God bless all our AWESOME sponsors.

We appreciate them all SO very much!

AND NOW.....Here's some inspiration to get you started:

Our May Guest Designer, Anushree Vaish

Dottie Seubert

Natalie Houston

Terri Trotter-Earley 

Ginny Maxam

JoAnn Atterbury

Stephanie Wright

Using the Digital Stamp Set

Mother's Day Sentiments from

Sponsor, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

Karen Letchworth

An InLinkz Link-up

Challenge Weeks #332-#333 Anything Goes

Welcome back to Word Art Wednesday, everyone.  We're so glad you're here, and we hope that you're having a blessed week.  It's time for a brand new challenge with another awesome sponsor, lots of great inspiration, a beautiful piece of word art with a lovely devotional, and just a whole lot of fun.  Please know that we are very grateful to have you play along with us and share your amazing art.  It's always a treat to see what you've created, and we hope you know how much it means to us that you take the time to link up with us.  We wish we could give everyone a prize, and we really do wish you all the best of luck in the random draw for this week's amazing prize.  Here's a brief devotional for you based on the scripture from our new word art.  We hope it is a blessing to you.

This week we're focusing on a verse from the Old Testament, 2 Chronicles 15:7, "Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hand be weak: for your work shall be rewarded." A little history lesson for this one (you can read it for yourself in 2 Chronicles 14 & 15). Israel's king at this time was Asa. He was a good king that sought the Lord and wanted to please Him. He put away the idols and altars made to false gods. When he was in battle, he prayed to the Lord and asked (and received) His help. A prophet, Azariah, came to Asa and told him that if he would continue to seek the Lord, the Lord would continue to help him. Azariah told King Asa that for a long time the people of Israel had neglected to serve the Lord and that because of this they had suffered adversity. But that when they sought the Lord, they found Him there to help them. He encouraged Asa in verse 7 to be strong and continue to do what was right and that the Lord would reward him. Asa took courage from Azariah's encouragement and continued to remove the altars, idols and other places where false gods were worshiped. He was such a good example to his people that they also worshiped the Lord. As a result, the Lord gave him a long period of rest from battle and blessed him. 

So what does this have to do with us? It's a reminder to us that encouraging others is vitally important. If you see someone trying to serve the Lord, encourage them to keep on being faithful. Your pastor, Sunday School or Bible Study teacher, choir director or other church leader carries burdens you don't see. Encourage them to remain faithful and that the Lord notices what others do not. Encourage fellow Christians to hold the line and remain true to the Lord. As card makers, we have a perfect opportunity to turn our hobby into a ministry of blessing others. How about a note to a shut-in, a mom who has missed church due to sick children, or a missionary that your church supports? Let them know that they are not forgotten. Let's try to be like Azariah and encourage our Christian leaders and fellow Christians. Let's also try to be like King Asa and remain faithful in serving the Lord, and be a good example to our fellow Christians.   - Devotional by Stephanie Wright

As always, you are welcome to save the free scripture/word art file to your computer, but are never required to use it in order to play along in our challenges.   We welcome you share your all your art with us; remembering that Anything Goes as long as it's family-friendly, and uses an encouraging or uplifting sentiment. This includes any type of altered or digital art (not just limited to cards).  You may link up to five (5) projects each week, for a total of ten (10) entries per two-week challenge. The more you enter, the more you increase your odds of winning.  It is our desire that God's Word will be a blessing and encouragement to you as we share it. If you have any questions about the rules, be sure to read the complete list of rules under our page tab for "Challenge Rules".  Because our ultimate goal is to honor God, we have no other choice but to delete any entries that do not adhere to our guidelines.  Please know that this doesn't mean we are judging anyone.  We're simply attempting to honor God and follow His rules.  Let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for your understanding and participation!

Here is this week's word art.  We hope
that it will be a blessing to you.

Here's our AWESOME sponsor for this challenge:

For this challenge, our dear friends at
Winnie & Walter are offering one lucky
person a generous $25 Gift Certificate.
If you're not yet familiar with this AWESOME
store, I hope you will stop by to do some
window shopping.  They carry the sweetest
stamps, dies, and more.  Check it out here
at Winnie & Walter

AND NOW.....Our Very Lucky Winner:

Stamp Simply Clear Stamps was our

generous sponsor for the last challenge.  One

lucky person has won their choice of either

TWO stamp sets, or ONE stamp set and ONE

die-cut set of choice.  How awesome is that?

The lucky winner of this awesome prize

is Entry #249 - Helen Gullett

And Our Top 3 Honors Go To:
Entry #9 - Lil Artsy Woman

Entry #243 - Diane Hover
Entry #245 - DanielalaArt

Please email Karen if you'd like a
Top 3 Badge for your blog.  All winners
must also email us per the Rules Page.

May God bless all our AWESOME sponsors.

We appreciate them all SO very much!

AND NOW.....Here's some inspiration to get you started:

Our April Guest Designer, Esther Asbury

Dottie Seubert 

Natalie Houston

Terri Trotter-Earley 

Ginny Maxam

JoAnn Atterbury

Stephanie Wright

Karen Letchworth

An InLinkz Link-up