Certainly Serenity

I can't tell you how thrilled I was when Julee told the Verve Visual design team that one of Verve's February releases was a set called Serenity.

The origin of the Serenity Prayer is shrouded in some mystery as to who the original author is. Regardless, the prayer later was adopted by a popular 12-step recovery program many people are familiar with called Alcoholics Annonymous.

The good news is that the Serenity Prayer is a wonderful prayer that can help all of us get through our day, and help put into perspective that which we control and that which we cannot control. Actually, we can't control anything. I know, we valiantly try, every minute of every day. But ultimately, God's at the wheel, whether you like it or not. Sometimes it's just best to relinquish the chokehold and give it up to Him.

I knew that I wanted to make something special for my father-in-law using this new set. He has seen some dark days since his wife of 52 years died this past summer. They were so in love, and he is lonely without her. Not only that, but I wanted to honor him and the comittment he made in AA 29 years ago to quit drinking. I wanted to make him something that he could put on his desk and read every day, reminding himself that the only thing he can control is himself and how he responds to any given situation.

Can you believe the finished frame actually started out looking like THIS?

This is a frame that I found in the Target $1 section! I love a bargain!

Anyways, it took me a while to get the finished product. I had a few mess-ups in the process. I first tried covering the front of the frame with white cardstock and then stamping the bible verse that's included in the Serenity Set on the white cardstock. For some reason, I screwed that up (yes, even design team members screw things up!). So my next thought was to cover the frame with some Ranger Crackle Paint. This product is so cool! It's a one step paint, slap it on and it dries and crackles in minutes (with a little help from the heat gun). After my paint had dried, I rubbed some Ranger Distress Ink in Walnut Stain over it. Then I took the prayer sentiment out and stamped it directly on top of the crackle paint all the way around the front of the frame. The finished frame looks like it's 100 years old!!!

Here's a close-up of the frame....

For the inside, I stamped the Serenity Prayer onto some Very Vanilla cardstock with Versamark, and embossed it with gold embossing powder. The green leaf, also part of the Serenity set, is actually embossed with Ranger Distress Powder in Lettuce. When this product is heated, it doesn't turn shiny and puffy like normal embossing powder. You wait for it to cool after heating, and then rub over it to release some of the embossing particles (so it looks distressed). It feels like sand paper!

To complete the frame, I added some ribbon alongside of the Serenity Prayer and embellished it with a bronze metal oval medallion.

Well, there you have it. The very first sneak peek at Verve's newest February set, Serenity. Please check back Saturday on the Verve Visual Blog for another sneak peek from Verve Design Team member Laurie Schmidlin. There are a total of four new sets in February, so you'll have to come back tomorrow to see which one Laurie is going to give you a sneak peek of....it could be Serenity again, or it could be one of the other new ones. You'll just have to wait and see!!! Just an FYI...all four new sets will be released on February 10th!! And there will be sneak peeks on the Verve blog each day from today through launch! Woo-hoo!