Fun/Humor Series: I Thought Accessorize Humor Card---Join Us for Anything Goes Challenge at 613 Avenue Create!

Hello everyone...I'm here to feature my card for our August Monthly Challenge which is always "Anything Goes" with optional theme, "Magic or Fantasy" at 613 Avenue Create.  With this project, I opted not to follow the theme.  Instead,  I'm highlighting one of my fave images from Art Impressions.  I made the card to give to a wonderful and fabulous elderly friend at our Church along with a crochet sandals that I also made for her.

For some reason, I always love to be friends with the elderly. They bring so much wisdom in their words and genuine sweetness in their actions.  When I was five, I had the privilege of living with my maternal grandparents and my Lola (grandma) took great care of us for a couple of years.  In those days (70's) and living in a remote province in the central region of the Philippines, we lived a very simple life.  Her home was made of wood and elevated from the ground (in stilts).  Our flooring in the kitchen had gaps made from laid out bamboos.  We slept on the floor with our "banig" (made from dried leaves that are sometimes dyed before being cut into strips and woven into a mat) and covered by a "kulambo" (mosquito net).  Our bathroom and toilet were under the house and had to go outside just to get to it.  It's especially scary for me as a kid to wake up in the middle of the night and go to the toilet on my own. There was no light down there and we had to bring a lit candle or flashlight to see.  So if I had to go, I needed to wake my Lola up to accompany me.  There was no television so me and my younger brother played inside the house, learned some crafting from my Lola or once in while played outside with other kids.  Though we didn't have much materially, each day was filled with happiness, love and lots of quality time.  After a couple of years, my parents took us with them to live close to Manila (Philippines' capital city)---hundreds of miles away from my grandparents home.  Though I've seen my grandparents briefly a couple of times during my growing up years, never again did I experience the awesome personal care and love they shared with me and my brother those couple of years.  And even to this day, "I truly missed them."  I also met my fraternal grandparents several times but never similar to the couple of years I spent with my maternal grandparents.  I can say that those were one of the happiest and memorable years of my life.  Now that all my grandparents and parents are gone, I long for this kind of love and interaction with the elderly.  I had the chance to show my love and appreciation to some of them in our Church.  I love them and I felt their love for me.  Each time I get to greet them at Church, they brighten up my day. 

Deep inside each and everyone of us is the need to feel loved and cared for.  Before God, I used to look for it from people and many of them didn't last and I end up disappointed.  But I submit to you that we ought to experience the great love of God for us through Jesus Christ in order to completely feel love and secure.  I firmly believe that "you cannot give what you do not have."  Now, that I know Jesus as my Lord and Savior and the depth of what He had to go through at the Cross to display (once and for all) how valuable I am to Him; that He gave up His life so that I can be free to choose and love Him back; I know now that I have so much love to give!  There's so much of His love in me that I can give love even if its not reciprocated.  The love of God just keeps pouring into me---boundless and endless!  Whether we have similar or different experiences in life, we all remember the time we felt loved by our love ones.  And if you're Born-again (John 3:3), you remember the very day God forgave you and poured His blood at the Cross that you (once bound to sin and rebellion) could be free to follow Him.  God's love is unchanging and His faithfulness abides forever.  When we know the love of Jesus, there's no room for disappointment for even if no one cared for you in this world, He's always there and He always loves.  No matter what your circumstances are (condition), we serve a loving and faithful God that will always see us through.

I would like to share a portion of the article "Why does God love us?" from gotquestions.org  It blessed me and I know it will do the same for you.  It says, "First John 4:8 and 16 tell us that “God is love.” Never was a more important declaration made than this—God is love. This is a profound statement. God doesn’t just love; He is love. His nature and essence are love. Love permeates His very being and infuses all His other attributes, even His wrath and anger. Because God’s very nature is love, He must demonstrate love, just as He must demonstrate all His attributes because doing so glorifies Him. Glorifying God is the highest, the best, and the most noble of all acts, so, naturally, glorifying Himself is what He must do, because He is the highest and the best, and He deserves all glory.  Since it is God's essential nature to love, He demonstrates His love by lavishing it on undeserving people who are in rebellion against Him. God’s love is not a sappy, sentimental, romantic feeling. Rather, it is agape love, the love of self-sacrifice. He demonstrates this sacrificial love by sending His Son to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin (1 John 4:10), by drawing us to Himself (John 6:44), by forgiving us of our rebellion against Him, and by sending His Holy Spirit to dwell within us, thereby enabling us to love as He loves. He did this in spite of the fact that we did not deserve it. "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).  God's love is personal. He knows each of us individually and loves us personally. His is a mighty love that has no beginning and no end. It is this experiencing of God’s love that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. Why does God love us? It is because of who He is: "God is love." 

For this Card, I used an image from Art Impressions called "Dare to be Fabulous" that I colored using my Prismacolor/Touch Five markers.  The base is an A2 size white CS and the DP's are from my scraps. I was in a rush making this card that all the border cuts are done without dies---just good ole-fashion fussy cutting. 

 I THOUGHT ACCESSORIZE HUMOR CARD

 I THOUGHT ACCESSORIZE HUMOR CARD LAYERS

 I THOUGHT ACCESSORIZE HUMOR CARD INSIDE

I THOUGHT ACCESSORIZE HUMOR CARD WITH ENVELOPE

Special thanks to MakeAndDoCrew for the free pattern and tutorial for this crochet slippers.  If you're interested in this pattern, you can find it HERE.  If you want me to make one for you, please let me know in the comment and will discuss the details. BTW, I first learned Crochet and basic stitches from my Lola (Filipino word for "Grandma") back when I was five. She's a seamstress and great with needlework.  Though I never made any project for many years, I realized that the skills she taught me stayed with me all along which helped me tackle some wonderful patterns with less difficulty and fall in love with Crocheting just a couple of years ago.  Really, thanks to my Lola!
 

SUMMERTIDE SLIP-ONS

The Card is entered into the following Challenges:

A2Z---ATG
A Bit More Time---ATG
A Perfect Time---ATG
Artistic Stampers---ATG
Classic DT---ATG
Crafteezee---Summer
Crafts Galore---ATG
Craftyhazelnuts---Patterned Paper
Creatalicious---ATG/FairyTale
Color It---ATG
Daisy Chain---ATG
Digistamps4Joy---ATG/Add Sentiment
Fabrika Fantasy---ATG
Let's Craft and Create---ATG/Lots of Layers
Love to Craft---ATG
 MIUCB---ATG/Acrylic Block Stamping
Morgan's Artworld----ATG
Papercraft Business---ATG/Summer
YSBP---ATG


There you have it, folks!  Don't miss the fun by joining our Anything Goes Challenge at 613 Avenue Create.   Can't wait to see what fabulous projects you're going to highlight this month. Share the love of God to anyone you'll meet these days.