Scripture Series: Emmanuel Center Step Card and CAS Everday Occasion Tags---Join our Last Challenge for 2020 with Blog Hop Prizes at Word Art Wednesday! Don't Miss It!

Hi there, Crafty peeps!  First of all,  A BLESSED CHRISTMAS and a GLORIOUS NEW YEAR to everyone.   It's time for another Inspirational/Anything Goes Challenge at Word Art Wednesday (WAW) which will go on for a whole month.  You can find the complete details below.  Anyway, today's Scripture Word Art comes from Matthew 1:23 which says, "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."  I highlighted this verse in my card below to inspire you.  Download this free Scripture Word Art at WAW, use it for your projects (not mandatory) and don't forget to link  them to our Challenge.

Firstly, I would like to share what my Life Application Bible wrote about our highlighted passage.  It says, " The angel declared to Joseph that Mary's child was conceived by the Holy Spirit and would be a Son.  This reveals an important truth about Jesus---he is both God and human. The infinite, unlimited God took on the limitations of humanity so He could live and die for the salvation of all who would believe in Him.  Jesus means "the Lord saves."  Jesus came to earth to save us because we can't save ourselves from Sin and its consequences.  No matter how good we are, we can't eliminate the Sinful Nature present in all of us. Only Jesus can do that.  Jesus didn't come to help people save themselves; He came to be their Savior from the power and penalty of Sin.  Thank Christ for His death on the cross for your sin and then ask Him to take control of your life.  Your new life begins at that moment.  Jesus would fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, for He would be "Emmanuel" ("God with us," see Isaiah 7:14).  Jesus was God in the flesh; thus God was literally among us, "with us." Through the Holy Spirit, Christ is present today in the life of every believer.  Perhaps not even Isaiah understood how far- reaching the meaning of Emmanuel would be."

As a Born-again believer (John 3:3), the birth of Jesus Christ is one of the most important time in human history for He is the promised Messiah---the Only One who can save humanity from the evil that befall us since the Fall of Man (Adam).  Without Him physically taking the form of Man, we are doomed as not one of us is without Sin!  The animal sacrifices of old cannot take away nor wash our sins, it only acts as a temporary covering for people to approach God.  From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible talked about Jesus Christ.  He was foreshadowed and prophesied in the Old Testament.  Then He came and walked the earth in the pages of the New Testament.  He did what He had to do for the salvation of mankind that whosoever places their faith in Him will forever live in His presence, escaping the damnation that would befall the unrepentant, proud and rebellious people who denied and rejected Christ in their lifetime.  His death, burial and resurrection signifies the depth of the Father's love towards mankind, not wanting anyone to perish in a place where nothing good exist and pain and torture is without end. 

So, this Christmas time, it's not really about the decorations, the gifts, the family get-together or the new clothing.   It's not about the Santa, elves, reindeer or even the random acts of kindness.   It's about a heart that is fully in love with the Savior that acknowledges Him above everything---that hears and obeys His voice.  It's a heart that beats love for the perishing souls (like our Father in heaven) and is always ready to tell people of the reason for our hope.  God wants us to reach out to the lost sheep of this world.  He want us to represent Him as we  speak boldly of His Truth and stand bravely in the midst of the storm at whatever cost.  The Lord is with us in all our battles and we need to trust His love and covering even in the presence of utter darkness and hopelessness.  Our time on earth is pretty short so let's do the work He assigned us to do before time runs out.   Don't forget to pray for AMERICA and God's mighty and supernatural intervention in the affairs of our land. DECREE AND DECLARE GOD'S WORD TO OUR NATION!

For this Card I used an image from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps that I watercolored using my Stabilo 68 markers.  The base is white CS, cut and score to make a 5.5 inches center step design.  The DP's are from Paper Studio, the flower is from Prima and the brads are from Recollections.  I used a couple of die-cuts here...First one is the lacy frame using Nestabailities and the leaves using Sizzix.  I also added some glitters from Stickles (Crystal) and ran it through my sewing machine for some regular and fancy stitching.  

EMMANUEL CENTER STEP CARD

 

 

EMMANUEL CENTER STEP CARD LAYERS

 

 

  EMMANUEL CENTER STEP CARD INSIDE

EMMANUEL CENTER STEP CARD

 

SECOND FEATURED PROJECT:  CAS EVERYDAY OCCASION TAGS

 

For this tags, I used a cream CS and stamped images from my collection of Hampton Art Footlong Stamps which I had for ages...I stumbled upon them when I was looking for something and walah, there they were begging me to use them on a project.  I was glad I did.  They're the perfect images for my Stamp Simply Ribbon Store Sentiment Set called "Farmhouse All Occasional Greetings" which happens to be one of our sponsors for this month-long Challenge/Blog Hop.  It was pretty much stamping with several inks  and I was done.  Honestly, the thing that took much of my time in this project was looking for the coordinating ribbons as it's buried in my stash.  Other than that, these were fun to make.

 

EVERYDAY OCCASION TAGS SET

 

 

 

 EVERYDAY OCCASION TAGS SET 1

 

EVERYDAY OCCASION TAGS SET 2

 

 

EVERYDAY OCCASION TAGS SET 3

 

Okay everyone, here's the ORDER OF THE BLOG HOP:

 

Word Art Wednesday

Karen Conner

Holly Lau

JoAnn Atterbury  (this is ME)

Ginny Maxam  (she's NEXT)

Natalie Houston

Stephanie Wright

Karen Letchworth

You can win lots and lots of prizes by joining the Blog Hop where each of the WAW DT's will pick a winner from our personal Blogs that will win a prize from Emma's Paperie (picture shown below). And all you need to do is to leave each DT a comment.  Now just for my Blog, aside from the comment, I also want to know how the Word Art Wednesday Blog helped you  grow in your crafting or in your spiritual life?  (Just honest, straight forward answers) At the end of the Challenge I will have my 15 year old son helped me pick a winner.  Sadly, we can only accept and ship to United States participants at this time.  Be sure to finish the Blog Hop for more chances to win.   This is the prize I'm giving away:

 

 

Time to go, everyone!  Please make sure to visit us at WAW and link up the projects you make out of our free Word Art although not mandatory.  You can link up any inspiring, uplifting, family-friendly projects, up to 5 each week.  Our wonderful sponsors this week are Stamp Simply Clear Stamps (Stamps and/or Die cuts) and Emma's Paperie.  So, head over to WAW and show us your wonderful projects.  Enjoy your week.  Always remember that God loves you and wants you to share the meaning of His birth to everyone who chooses to listen. 

Ready to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Find out how on the sidebar...

CAS Series: Traditional Christmas Card Set---Join our End of the Year Challenge at 613 Avenue Create with Anything Goes!

Hi there, everyone!  We have a brand new Challenge happening this entire month at 613 Avenue Create!  As always, it's Anything Goes with optional theme of  "Vintage."  I want to make sure to wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS in advance.  This is my favorite time of the year because the whole world acknowledges the birth of God's One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

It's hard to think that we're already on the last month of the year and there are so many things that happened the whole year that we'd rather not be reminded of.  So many deaths surrounding the controversial pandemic beginning of the year, calamities, government betrayal perpetrated by our  own citizens (enemies from within). They formed  radical groups that seek to destroy our values, promote cancel culture and division in a never seen before level of extremism aided by the mainstream media that no longer report the truth. Those that hold to Godly principles and values who love God, life and  country are being silenced by the elite who happened to hold power and ownership of many businesses and resources in every spheres of our society.  They no longer hide their Satanic agenda which is to turn this country into a globalists, communist/socialists society where Antichrist and his elite minions can decide the fate of many. 

The question is, why are these radical foul and loud mouths "so-called citizens" want to inflict this despicable harm to America?  Do they hate their children so much that they want to deprive them of the freedom they themselves enjoy when their families arrived here to find greener pasture?  To this day, there are many people around the world who would like the privilege to live in this country.  I haven't seen anyone arrested for trying to leave America to relocate somewhere unless they are criminals.  American citizens enjoy our God-given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  The government is established by the people and for the people.  It's not perfect but ideal for those who love and fear God.  But you see, Satan's minions don't like that.  Anything or anyone that exalts God is hated and attacked.  The devil plants his people in the different spheres of our society and invoke the powers of darkness (give them fame, riches and influence) to disguise themselves as light-bearers to deceive the weak in spirit and the gullible.  And many of them are hiding under their so-called religious affiliation (religion).   Their goal is to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10)!  Can you see these in our society today? Be very careful whom you choose to listen to for motivation, encouragement and direction---Spiritual or Secular teachers.  God's Word said in 2 Peter 2:1-3, "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping."  These leaders (influencers) are after power, fame and riches in this world.  They don't care for the next generation nor do they care where their souls would go for eternity when it comes time.  In their foolishness, they traded/are trading eternal life in Christ with eternal torment with Satan just to satisfy their momentary desires. Let us hold on to the examples that Jesus Christ showed us in His earthly ministry.  Always compare what you hear to God's Word.  Reject everything that does not align with God's Truth.   Never, ever regard anything above God in your life!  Live to serve and not to be served.  Strive for forgiveness and peace but bold and steadfast in what God says is true.  Never live by fear knowing that God is able and is always on our side.  Believe that what seem to be impossible to us are all possible in God through Jesus Christ.  

I urge you brethren to never ever lose hope especially in our battle against the demonic entities that seek to steal the leadership of this country from God's chosen leader---President Donald Trump.  The prophets have spoken clearly and no weapon of the enemy can thwart the plan of God in this nation for His people.  Just like when the Israelites thought they had no way out from the hands of the Egyptians who were bent on killing them, God came in His perfect, mighty and supernatural way by parting the Red Sea to rescue His people and accomplish His plan.  Remember this:  When the road is engulfed with utter darkness, God's light shines the brightest!  And everyone whose faith is in Jesus Christ alone (Born-again, John 3:3) are God's light to this world.  Oh I tell you with excitement, God's justice is here and everyone who lives in darkness and rebellion will be exposed.  Rejoice people of God, rejoice!

For this Card, I used stamps from four sets of Stampendous Stamps that I had for several years now.  I barely used them and so glad to highlight these beautiful images on this project. The sentiments are from Momenta Clear stamps.   I stamped them using Memento Inks. Since the theme of our Challenge is Vintage, I decided that there's nothing more vintage than the true meaning and reason for this season---the birth of Jesus Christ! 

 

 TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CARD SET

 

 TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CARD 1

 

 

TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CARD 2
 

 

TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CARD 3

 

 TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CARD 4

 TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CARD SET WITH ENVELOPES

This is it for now, guys.  Make sure to join us at our neighborhood---613 Avenue Create---for an Anything Goes Challenge with optional theme, "Vintage."  If you want to be challenged more, take on our Optional Twist.  But there's really no reason for you to miss it. Can't wait to see what you create. The Word of God is not just an ordinary book.  Read it and you will find wisdom that even the geniuses of the world will never understand.

Ready to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Find out how on the sidebar...