Why are peacock feathers unlucky?

I was playing with backgrounds and textures experimenting by mixing embossing powder with art gel to see if I could come up with something different.   After I had completed the background I started looking for something to collage..  As I was looking through an 1880s ladies home journal I came across this column that was written from women to women.  I thought this particular answer was too funny so I began looking for some vintage Dear Abby type images to complete this zany art card.  I hope you think it is as funny as I do....

the Great Physician

Dear Lord open my eyes from the blindness

                            that keeps me from being all you want me to be...

A continuation in my series titled Art Prayers...

Rapture From On High

 

Music can lift us from our present reality to a place where our hearts can be

raptured into a new reality.

When I hear music from my youth it reminds me of a time when life was more simple. 

When I hear Miami Sound Machine my heart beats with excitement because it was the music that Michelle and I listened to when we were dating.

When I sing praises my present hardships are transformed to a place

 where the peace of God reigns.

Rapture!

   

Filled with Hope

Hope is what is what we need in life. This atc card I created with a photocopy of a ad from the 40's layered over the word hope.  embellished with a flower and a button.  Hope you enjoy.   

Praying for our Armed Forces.

Prayer for all Those Who Serve for our Safety!

I created this card to remind us that all who serve is someones loved one.  Many days we take our freedom for granted that daily they risk their lives for our freedom.  Lets remember to daily lift these men, women and families up in prayer. 

Starbucks Party in Mexico

 

I love Starbucks Mexican Coffee!

  This Atc card reminds me of my two favorite things.  Starbucks and Crazy Birds Rio.  Both make my day go smoothly. I can't start my day without a cup of Starbucks.  Starbucks gets me up and going and Crazy Birds Rio calms me down when I need to take a breath. 

This card will join the other Atc cards that I have created by using pictures from the front of Starbucks coffee bags...    Speaking of Starbucks I could use a cup now....

King of Hearts.

Today's post is short and tweet!

Find something you enjoy

                                          &

                                             Listen your heart today...

City Livin

Enjoying the Journey! 

 As a child I loved to visit large cities.  To be quite honest I still do.  I enjoy looking up at the large buildings and try to imagine who is working in them?   What do they do in there all day?   I wonder if they ever set back in their chair and look out of their window?   I wonder if they  smile and think how lucky they are?  Do they ever just stop and watch what is going on in the city below them? 

There is nothing more beautiful than a big city at night. 

The lights remind us that people are there and life is happening. 

I grew up in rule Indiana were it was so dark and the only lights around were the stars and the automobiles passing by our home. 

I do like the stars. 

But there is something alluring about the lights of a big city. 

I always dreamed that I would work in one of those tall buildings

in the Big City at some point in my life. 

For now I have to be happy with just visiting them every once in a while!

When I do I enjoy the journey....... 

My Work...

This country was built on the backs of hard working people.

There are many who believe that manual labor is beneath them.  But there is something cathartic about working with your hands.  Seeing something creative made with your hands can give you a sense of accomplishment.    

This Lady understands what it means to work with her hands and she seems to be enjoying it. 

With a Heart of Praise...

He Loves Life!

When the stuff of life gets me down

Praise

&

Music

are the keys to unlock my heart

to enjoy the life I have been given!

So when you are down.  Turn on some music and begin to

 Praise God our Creator

and soon His presence

will restore in you a love for life.

Do You Need a Friend?

Hospitality 

Hospitality is something that we take for granite in our society. 

Growing up as a child my home was located near a migrant worker housing facility. 

Every summer migrant workers would move in to pick tomatoes.   

They would stay for the summer  to work. 

Their children would start school then they would leave.   

Every year I got to have new friends!

 They would become my playmates for the summer. 

My parents allowed me to invite them in to play. 

They would give the children cookies and candy.

They always allowed me to invit them to go to Church with us. 

I would ask my parents why don't they ever invite me to their home?

I remember when I was finally ivited in to one of their temporary homes!

 I was astonished at how much I owned and how little they had. 

The place was a 1 bedroom facility and the whole family lived there.   

I learned that the farmer provided dormitory housing and that is where the single adults

 and teenagers would stay.   

In the family dwellings the parents would have a bedroom

and

the children all slept on the floor in the living area. 

I remember being astonished to learn that they all shared a common bathroom facility...

One thing I do recall is when it came time to eat they all set down together

and

 everyone shared what they had.   

The Mexican polka music could be heard all the way to where I lived.   

(which was about a 1/4th of a mile down the road) 

Some times the parties would go until the wee hours of the morning especially on the weekends. 

 I remember lying in my bed with the windows open listening to the lively music. 

 I would hear laughing of the men's voices as they told a joke

or

made fun of something that had happened earlier in the day. 

The women would be chattering of in a language I couldn't understand

as

 they cleaned up the tables and watched the children. 

The children would be running and squealing as they played tag or hid-and-go-seek.

I remember thinking why are they so happy? 

They have so little? 

It could have been the alcohol because they did enjoy drinking.

Was it the music?

How about the dancing?

As I get older and I think about those days.   

Why were they so happy?

I think I have come to the following conclusion.

No one had to pretend to be someone they were not.

They were all on the same journey! 

Traveling from town to town harvesting crops so they could make enough money to live.   

I think they had found something that we are all looking for. 

Happiness... 

Happiness can't found in the stuff that we have or the bottom of an empty aclcohol bottle.

It can only found in the shared life with other people...

Even though life was tough,

I think they were happy just because they were together.  

When Creating this picture "Life together" was what I was trying to capture...

Side note since I am a pastor also:

I think this is something that we miss when we gather together on Sunday Morning to do CHURCH. 

(I don't believe we do church the people are the church) 

It isn't about the songs we sing or the sermon we hear.

It is about the gathering together of a group of people

who have choosen to be on the same journey together. 

To activly be involved int the same mission as Jesus and the Disciples. 

When the week has ended and "Life has been Tough"

there can be real joy and happiness when we gather because we are in this together. 

Bridal Shower...

Taking a break from the Art prayers today.   I have 3 more that I am working on.   I decided to post an atc card I did a few days ago. 

While helping clean out closets at church I found this old "Bridal Shower Fun" notebook of games.  I couldn't resist bringing them home and adding them to the ephemera drawer in my studio.  The picture of the girls I found on the  graphics fairy website some time ago  and I saved them to my ever growing number of digital pictures I keep acquiring.  They looked like they were heading to a party... I couldn't resist using the Bridal Shower fun games questions to  set the tone  of this atc card...  I then embellished it with a couple of scrapbook flowers and walla a fun card that my daughters just loved. 



Hope you enjoy!...

Prayer of Dedication...

There is nothing like the first time

that you experience the presence of

 Christ in your life and

 dedicate your life to Him!

It makes you want to raise your hands and share the good news with everyone. 

Hope you enjoy this continuation of Art Prayers...

My prayer is that you too will experience his presence like you have never experienced it before.