Asela 's New Stamps

I was blessed this week by Asela Hopkins (Hop Art Studios). She sent me all of the new tree stamps she drew for CHF (Cornish Heritage Farms)! Oh my, was I tickled! Big hugs are going out to Asela right now. This woman is uber talented and I can hardly believe I've got her new stamps in my hot little hands! I think I inked them up the very day they arrived in the mail:).

I don't know about you, but I think there is something so relaxing and peaceful about trees. Now, I can translate that sense of peacefulness onto the cards I make with Asela's new tree stamps. I think these trees will be perfect for sympathy cards, thinking of you cards, and of course, for masculine cards. Since sympathy cards are always in demand with my customers, I got busy on a simple design using Asela's Bare Oak Tree stamp.

I wanted the card very subdued, which is why I went with the yellows, golds and creams. I stamped the tree with Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Creamy Brown. I used my Nestabilities for the scalloped rectangle as well as for the tree panel. The sentiment is from SU!'s Words of Wisdom set.

The second card I made was using Asela's Date Palm Tree stamp. I don't know anything about palm trees since I live in the tundra (MN), so this card was a little bit of a stretch for me. Palm trees remind me of Mexico, Jamaica, and Florida, which are places of relaxation for most of us. I thought the sentiment "relax" fit perfectly with the palm tree, don't you? I ended up stamping the tree once on a cream panel, and then I stamped the top of the tree again on another piece of cream cardstock. This one though, I cut the top of the tree only out and mounted it on the palm tree I had stamped on the cream panel. This gave the tree a two-dimensional look. The card was looking a little dull with the kraft card base and kraft colored designer paper, so I added the big, bright strip of orange striped designer paper diagonally across the card, underneath the tree. It really added the pop I was looking for! I can't wait to make some more cards using these new stamps. In all, Asela has 6 new tree stamps coming out....Bare Oak Tree, Saguaro Cactus, Date Palm Tree, Weeping Willow (my favorite, since I've got a humungous willow in my backyard), Row of Trees and an Ash Tree. The new stamps will be available next week, so be sure and head over to CHF if you're interested in Asela's new stamps!

Well, be sure to stop by tomorrow when I show you a few cards I made this weekend using the sketch from this weeks SCS sketch challenge. We had to make kickstand cards, and I had a BALLLLLLLLL making a few. I'll share those with you tomorrow, you won't want to miss them.

It's been a few days since I last blogged because I've been having a hard time of it lately. For some reason, the other night I basically lost it and cried, cried, cried. The job search has been rough to say the least, things seem so dismal right now. It seems like he'll never find another job. I've been trying to hold it together for my husband's sake, but I couldn't hold it together any longer the other night. I also don't feel like I'm doing a very good job as a BSF discussion leader, so the two combined together did me in. I shared my feelings with my BSF leader and she really did a great job lifting my spirits. She reminded me I am not doing this alone, God knows what is happening and he will lift me up through my difficulties.

“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there is diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.” - 1 Corinthians 12:4-6

and this one...

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." - Isaiah 40:28-31.

It is hard to maintain a positive attitude and keep my eyes on the Lord every day, but there is no other choice. I know His way is the best way, but tell that to my earthly mind. It keeps focusing on the negative, hopeless things, instead of the promises of God. I'm feeling better today, but there's still that underlying sense of sadness that we are suffering this way. I just want to scream out "tell me what it is you want me to learn Lord, so we can speed up the process of all this pain!", but He just chuckles and says "In time, my child, in time". It is in times of trial we grow, but I sure wish the amount of time we have to struggle would shorten up a bit!

Thank you for hanging in there with me, friends. I need your support more than ever these days. I value each and every comment you leave me. And I look forward to sharing happier times with you once God has steered us through these difficult days.

Hugs,
Amy