♥ LENT ♥

Yesterday Ash Wednesday marked the beginning of the season of Lent. It is a time of reflection, prayer and sacrifice...it is a time for change. But change comes at a cost and that is what we pay when we try to change our old ways and try to make ourselves better persons. In doing so we are changing the world.

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy

Our life today can be very busy and pressured with all the duties and commitments we have to face daily. This is a time when families and communities can try to make time for each other. By taking a little time out for prayer and communication, we reconnect with God and with God's creation.
Rather than just giving up chocolate, we can use the money saved on candy and sweets to buy a box of chocolates to give to a needy family at Easter. We can put that box, or buy some groceries with that money, to donate to the community hampers that parishes give out during special seasonal celebrations as a sign of solidarity to needy families.

How about thinking of doing one act of generosity or kindness every day? It does not need to be anything that takes up too much of our time or even cost anything. Here are a few ideas...

• Say something nice about someone behind their back.

• Give someone a compliment or word of encouragement/praise when they least expect it.

• Have an early spring clean (one closet, cupboard or drawer at a time) and donate some items to a charity shop, animal shelter, parish bazaar...you might even find something that you borrowed, now is a good time to return it!

• Think or write a list of things you would like to say sorry for and work on a reconciliation...it could be an overdue 'sorry'!

• Give up your place in a queue to someone else.

• Offer to babysit for someone who needs that time for errands or even to go to the hairdresser.

• Visit or call someone who is housebound.

While we are cleaning up, taking stock of our lives, thinking of others, we can also consider this as a period of a personal spiritual 'cleansing' as we prepare for Easter.
If we are a little more creative by putting some more thought into how we are sacrificing and reaching out to others, it can make our Lent more meaningful.

The Greatest Love of all ~ A Valentine from God!

I've been looking for this tag/bookmark in my files all day
and have finally found it. I did not design it myself but it was sent
to me by a friend and I've had it in my files for years.
Enjoy!

Last year I also posted a similar bookmark,
click here to see it.

♥

♥ Happy St.Valentine's Day ♥

Picture from shared files/my Archives

I will not go into the history of how Valentine's Day evolved, I'm sure you can get all the details by doing a search but I will share with you one particular legend which happens to be my favourite.

There was one particular Valentine who was imprisoned and who actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl, possibly the jailor's daughter, who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today.

Although the truth behind the 'Valentine' legends is quite confusing, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and, most importantly, romantic figure. And so we have Valentine's Day, a particular day in which we send cards to our beloved and dear ones.

Unfortunately, the day is too commercialised as are other feasts which causes unnecessary pressure. My motto is to show your loved ones that you love them every day by making every day special, by making every day count, by appreciating each other more.

To end I would also like to share some quotes I found today...

We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another.
Lucretius

A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.
Ingrid Bergman

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.
Charles M. Schulz

Mmmmm, I love the last one ☺

♥♥♥HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!♥♥♥

Making a 3D Decoupage card ~ Part 2

Preparing your card

Prepare your card by cutting out a 26 x 19cm piece of cardstock...choose a colour that will go well with your chosen 3D picture. Fold carefully down the middle of your card and score the fold to create the basic card on which you will build your 3D picture.

Assembling your picture

Once you have all the pieces of your selected design cut out (see Part 1), you can start by gluing the largest (full picture) design to the front of your prepared card.

Now you can build up each layer by taking the next design, seeing where it has to be placed and adding your pre-cut (or cut your own) double sided adhesive foam pads (square or circles), glue dots or silicone glue to stick the layers in place. I get mine from the hardware store or the Lira (Pound) stores.

The double sided tape in the example above refers to double sided foam tape.

Do not place the form pads too close to the edge of the picture. Peel off the paper from each pad and place your next picture carefully in place.

You will notice that each consecutive cut-out has part of the previous picture missing and the more pieces you add, the smaller they are – this is of course how the 3D effect is achieved. Keep layering your design until you have assembled the complete project.

Finishing Touches

You can achieve a more rounded and natural effect, for example when making petals, by curling the edges of the top layer (using a shaping tool, the back of your scissors or your fingers) before assembling your project. Wherever you notice white edges, you can cover these by rubbing the edge with a pencil, this way you will achieve a grey outline effect which will eliminate the harshness of the white edges. You could also varnish the finished project with a matt or glossy decoupage finish (you can buy this from a hobby store). This is ideal if you are framing the design. Some papers already have a glossy finish.

Here is the finished card, I'm afraid I had taken this some time ago and my camera was not what I use now so it is not very clear but it gives you an idea. I also used silver cerne relief (outliner) to outline the picture and create a framed effect.

~ I hope you will enjoy making a 3D card soon ~

Sorry for the font size and mix in fonts, don't know what went wrong but it did not look like this when I got the post ready for posting!!!

Making a 3D decoupage card ~ Part 1

In the coming weeks I will be writing a series of how to make your own 3D Decoupage cards. So are you ready? Let's go...

The tools you will need include:

Scissors, Tweezers, printer paper, sticky foam pads (or silicone adhesive), double sided tape, glue stick, cardstock, craft knife, cutting board.

Tips for choosing your design and cutting

Choose your design from either your favourite 3D site (there are many to choose from on the internet if you type free 3d sheets) or you could even make your own (see 'Making Your Own Designs' later on in this series). You could also buy die-cut (press-out) or 'cut your own' sheets from hobby stores.

Let us assume you have decided to print your own so print out the designs you have chosen (from your search for free decoupage sheets on the internet) on printer paper that is slightly thicker than the normal everyday paper (I use 110g/m2).

I am including this cute "Personal Use only' Bear design by Finteys you could use to practice on...

Cut out each layer carefully using a good pair of scissors you feel comfortable with (I have a set of different scissors, some are pointed, some are curved at the edge and I also have safety scissors which I find are very useful). Do not cut into the paper but rather let the design guide you to move and turn the paper along with the cutting motion of the scissors.

You might also find a craft knife handy for cutting intricate and small designs – always use a good cutting board to cut on. A small pair of tweezers might come in handy when you have very small pieces to assemble.

A good tip here, especially if you have many layers, is to keep each layer separate – I put mine in a plastic folder where you can also identify each design by numbering it in sequence. This way it will be easier to see in which order they are to be assembled. Or, another way to recognize which piece comes next is to work your way from the largest piece to the smallest which will be the last piece you add.

If you are new to this, I suggest a simple design like an angel, a teddy bear like the one I posted or a plain flower with only a few simple layers.

~ ~ ~ Next time we will talk about 'Assembling your 3d Picture"~ ~ ~

Keep sharp scissors and knives safely out of children’s reach.