Sympathy card

It seems especially sad to know people who have to go through the sorrow of the death of a loved one when everyone is already saddened over all that is happening with the COVID-19, so I wanted to make a really nice card for our friend whose father died this past week.  One nice effect of having to be "distanced" during these days is having time to make and send cards to encourage others.  Keeps my mind off my own situation and focused on others.

I got this idea when I saw the Retro Rubber Blog challenge of making something using squares in some way.  This is the card I made:

I used a stamp set I got back in 2016 to stamp the corners on each of three card stock squares and added tiny dark blue Jewel Dazzles to the end swirls on the corners, then backed them all in a row on blue-grey metallic card stock, and then on dark blue card stock.  I mounted the three square banner with foam tape on top of a strip of navy blue ribbon.  The sympathy stamp is from that same 2016 set.

I think it made a very sedate but warm card in the end. 

I am also entering this card in the Double Dare challenge #54, in which Thing 1 is  titled "It's Hip to be Square" and Thing 2 is to use an old stamp set.  I've followed this blog for some time but never entered it before.

Advantages

This time of self-isolation and self-distancing can be a challenge for many, but for me, a retired introvert, it has been somewhat invigorating.  Not having my usual schedule of things-that-must-get- done-by [you name the day] has given me a freedom that I had not felt in quite a while.  At first I thought it might make me lazier than usual, but instead I have found new energy to do some projects that have been waiting for a long time, things like cleaning my kitchen cabinet doors.

I have spent a little extra time in card-making as well. and a couple of cards that I am particularly pleased with are these that I made using a new pad of small paper.  This is the inside of one of the cards.  I "fussy cut" the vase of flowers that was on one of the sheets in the pad and I attached it to the daisy background paper with foam tape.  It looks really nice in real life!

 The other card is from a couple of other sheets from the same pad of paper.  I cut the saying from a sheet of the pad and backed it with red and tan paper.  I also used one of my edger cutters to cut the scalloped edge and put it between the patterned paper and the plain red paper before adding the quote.  I think it turned out very nice.

Do not exaggerate

Deuteronomy 1:28 Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we.  The cities are great and fortified up to heaven …”

The Israelites did the same thing I see myself doing at times, turning a big thing into an even bigger one.  Exaggerating a situation in my mind to the point of it becoming a problem that is bigger than it actually is, particularly discounting what I know from my own experiences that God can help me deal with.  The Israelites did not reflect on how God had helped them in their escape from slavery in Egypt.  In addition, they created problems by exaggerating the report of the spies who had gone into the Promised Land to check it out.  The spies reported “strong inhabitants” (Numbers 13:28) but now the people say the inhabitants are “greater and taller then we.”  The spies reported on cities “fortified and very large” but now the people say those cities are “fortified up to heaven.”  Remembering God’s faithful protection and enabling can be the key to my successful facing of my current situation every time!

G is for GET WELL

I almost never have a card that is suitable for a get well card for a man so I decided to make at least one to have on hand for those occasions when we want to send a card to one of our friends but don't want a flowery card.  Here is what I came up with:

I die cut the word "hello" from black card stock three times and glued them together on top of each other then attached it to the front of the card using foam tape, which accounts for the shadow you can see.  The inside of the card just says "get well soon" and I stamped a faint brown leaf outline to look like the leaves are coming out of the words.  Simple, but by using the blue and green striped paper as the background on the front of this card, I think I accomplished my goal of making it pretty masculine!

The Best of the best

Numbers 18:12 All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the Lord, I give to you.

The priests, as those whose job was to lead the people in worship, were to receive the best of the best of the offerings the people brought.  It was a sign of how special the calling to ministry was in God's sight.  They were representing the people before God.  It was no small responsibility they carried, and to receive the best of the people’s tithe certainly indicates that.  But even the priests were to give a tithe of what they received back to God – a tithe of the tithe (see 18:26 that says "When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord's offering") – so God still received the best of the best!  God deserves my very best – my best of my best.

Nothing is wasted

As I was looking at my Bible reading journal this morning and noticing how few pages are left to be written on, I realized that I have been very negligent to record my thoughts here on my blog when it comes to my Bible reading.  In January I started over once again on reading through the Bible for the "umpteenth" time, and have felt amazed at how much I am still learning after all these years!  The Bible truly is a living book.  No matter how many times I read through it, I keep learning new things, noticing new lessons to be learned from the examples of people and events in Scripture.

This was true as I read through Exodus and Leviticus in recent weeks.  For example:

Exodus 28:12, 18, 36, 38 … the ephod … for remembrance … the breastpiece of judgment … the robe.  And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers … the turban … that they may be accepted before the Lord.

I had never noticed the specific meanings of the pieces of the high priest’s garments before.  The ephod on his shoulders had stones engraved with the names of the tribes and the passage says that was for remembrance.  It reminded the high priest (helped him remember) that he was Israel's representative before God.  The breastpiece, according to v. 28, was the breastpiece of judgment, reminding him again that he represented the entire nation.  Then there was the robe the high priest wore.  Whenever he ministered in the Holy Place he was to wear it.  It represented his responsibility before God.  He wore a turban also when ministering.  It was the sign of the acceptance of the people by God.  Nothing of these items was accidental or incidental – every piece had meaning to enhance the act of worship.  What a great example for us to follow in our worship.  Don’t waste any act of worship.  Let it all be meaningful and meaning-filled.

F is for FRIENDSHIP

I got a new stamp set last week that includes some word strips that are negative, that is, the words are white on a black background.  I felt a little nervous trying them out for fear the words would not actually stand out, but that nervousness was unnecessary, as you can see on this card I made!

This is going to be a busy week but if I have time, I am definitely going to try out some of the other word strips in the set.


I use a lot of friendship cards so this card will get put to good use.