Congratulations to number 37, chosen by Random.org. And the winner is...
Jenny V.
Jenny, please contact me with your mailing address and Denise of Whimsy will get your stamp to you! Congratulations!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Some thoughts I believe...
For the Whimsy Hop, please scroll down to the post below this one!
Hello Dear Readers;
I'd like to share my perspective on the recent happenings in Japan if I may. Reader beware: these are my personal thoughts and beliefs. You are free to have your own. I am simply choosing to share mine with you. Read on if you dare!
First I'd like to say what I do not believe. I do not believe that the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident are God's judgements being poured out on the earth. I do not believe that God wanted, willed or allowed those disasters to happen to those dear people. If God was free to prevent those disasters, He certainly would have.
My dear readers, I believe evil, no matter what form it takes, whether that be in the form of natural disasters or man's inhumanity to man, is the result of the fall of mankind. That is where it began, in the Garden of Eden, when man chose to sin rather than to stay in loving relationship with God. And our continual rebellion and hardness of heart is what perpetuates it. We cannot blame the presence of evil in this world on God. We are the ones who opened the door to it.
God does not send storms, calamities, sickness, earthquakes or any other natural disaster. This fallen created world has been tampered with. When we opened up the door to evil, the paradise man knew for a short time became a place of death, destruction and where the struggle to survive became the norm. This was not God's will for us nor for any of His creatures from the beginning. This natural earth has degraded from the peaceful paradise God meant it to be because mankind, by choosing sin, allowed Satan the destroyer to enter into it.
We cannot say exactly why, spiritually speaking, those disasters are taking place in Japan. And if we try to pin it on them and say "they must be so sinful" we are making a grave mistake. If you make such sweeping judgements, understand those same judgements could very well come back to hurt you. But we can know generally, that it is because of the fall of mankind, when we gave Satan access to what once was paradise.
I believe that through the cross of Jesus, God forbids all evil, and has given us the antidote to all evil, in all its' forms. Potentially now, because of the cross, we can overcome every evil we are confronted with the same way He did when He walked the earth.
I see that on the cross, Jesus took the brunt, full force, of all the evil in the world that was brought about by man's sinful rebellion against God - past present and future - for all time. His death purchased a way for us to live under Psalm 91 protection - where no evil would befall us, nor any plague come near our dwelling. Jesus death not only gave us a way to spend eternity with Him but also gave us back the authority we lost to Satan in the Garden. So that now we can say to the wind and the waves, "Peace be still" and they will obey us. We can say to the sick man, "Be healed" and he will be. Because now, the Life of Jesus can flow through us! This is the potential for every man; if we would just give Him total access to our hearts and let go of our own selfish wills and foolish pride.
I believe God is love. Right now, always and forever, He is doing the highest good that we allow Him to do. It is our trust in Him and our humbly turning to Him that opens the door to Him so that He can protect and deliver us from evil. He is willing and able to do so, but first we must let Him.
God stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. He does not go where He is uninvited. Nor does He use His power to force His will on the earth. It is up to us to want His will, to agree with it and allow it to flow in and through us. I say "it", but really I mean "Him". His will is Love and Love is a Person -and Love's name is Jesus.
Satan roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Jesus said the devil comes only to kill, steal and destroy. When I see death, sickness and destruction, immediately I know who is the author of that. That is Satan's M.O., not God's.
But the Good News is, Jesus has paid the price to set us all free from the evils of this present world! I believe He is at work in Japan, and anywhere evil strikes, doing whatever He can do to overcome the evil with good. He is ever ready to save, to heal, and to renew to life any who call upon Him.
And there's more Good News! There is no condemnation or judgment on us for ever failing to trust Him. He will never judge or condemn us for allowing evil through our sin. For all our sins are now forgiven and paid for - past, present and future. Jesus took them all on the cross! We are now clean and free before God! And His perfect love and righteousness is available to all!
If you think God is judging Japan through these disasters, then don't bother to pray for the suffering men, women and children, and don't help them with donations or any other means. Otherwise, you will be praying and working against what you believe is God's will.
If you think God allowed it, that He stood by and could have stopped it but didn't, that makes Him an accomplice. And by default, that would mean He willed it. If that's the case, then don't bother to pray for them or help them in any way either, as you will also be praying and working against what you believe to be God's will.
I realize those are some tough thoughts. But dear Readers, if you believe these disasters are God's judgments and/or His will, then you need to be honest about what that implies. I seriously hope you will step up and help. I am just trying to stir you to think. And to show you the harsh reality that results from such a stand.
But if you believe God is love, and that these awful events are the result of Satan's work (which is where my heart is) then lets ask God how we can help. Let's find out what He does want now, and see if there is anything He wants us to do.
Just as we opened the door to evil through our sin, we can now open the door for God to come in to our world to spread His love and goodness to all!
He may ask you to pray and if He does, ask Him how to pray. You may feel an inner nudge to donate some money. Or to head up a fund raiser. Just be available, and be willing to do whatever He tells you. Keep your heart open to Him, and believe He will show you. He is already willing and already wanting to save, heal and deliver ALL. Lets set aside our own wants and desires, and freely offer ourselves to Him. Let's be willing to join with Him in what He wants to do. Its about what He wants to do through us. So lets let Him love Japan through us!
I believe God is good! He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. He is Love and far kinder than the kindest Father you could imagine. He only wants to bless, heal, protect, save and deliver. He loves you!
If you have read this through, thank you for taking the time. God bless you and know that I am grateful for you.
Hello Dear Readers;
I'd like to share my perspective on the recent happenings in Japan if I may. Reader beware: these are my personal thoughts and beliefs. You are free to have your own. I am simply choosing to share mine with you. Read on if you dare!
First I'd like to say what I do not believe. I do not believe that the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident are God's judgements being poured out on the earth. I do not believe that God wanted, willed or allowed those disasters to happen to those dear people. If God was free to prevent those disasters, He certainly would have.
My dear readers, I believe evil, no matter what form it takes, whether that be in the form of natural disasters or man's inhumanity to man, is the result of the fall of mankind. That is where it began, in the Garden of Eden, when man chose to sin rather than to stay in loving relationship with God. And our continual rebellion and hardness of heart is what perpetuates it. We cannot blame the presence of evil in this world on God. We are the ones who opened the door to it.
God does not send storms, calamities, sickness, earthquakes or any other natural disaster. This fallen created world has been tampered with. When we opened up the door to evil, the paradise man knew for a short time became a place of death, destruction and where the struggle to survive became the norm. This was not God's will for us nor for any of His creatures from the beginning. This natural earth has degraded from the peaceful paradise God meant it to be because mankind, by choosing sin, allowed Satan the destroyer to enter into it.
We cannot say exactly why, spiritually speaking, those disasters are taking place in Japan. And if we try to pin it on them and say "they must be so sinful" we are making a grave mistake. If you make such sweeping judgements, understand those same judgements could very well come back to hurt you. But we can know generally, that it is because of the fall of mankind, when we gave Satan access to what once was paradise.
I believe that through the cross of Jesus, God forbids all evil, and has given us the antidote to all evil, in all its' forms. Potentially now, because of the cross, we can overcome every evil we are confronted with the same way He did when He walked the earth.
I see that on the cross, Jesus took the brunt, full force, of all the evil in the world that was brought about by man's sinful rebellion against God - past present and future - for all time. His death purchased a way for us to live under Psalm 91 protection - where no evil would befall us, nor any plague come near our dwelling. Jesus death not only gave us a way to spend eternity with Him but also gave us back the authority we lost to Satan in the Garden. So that now we can say to the wind and the waves, "Peace be still" and they will obey us. We can say to the sick man, "Be healed" and he will be. Because now, the Life of Jesus can flow through us! This is the potential for every man; if we would just give Him total access to our hearts and let go of our own selfish wills and foolish pride.
I believe God is love. Right now, always and forever, He is doing the highest good that we allow Him to do. It is our trust in Him and our humbly turning to Him that opens the door to Him so that He can protect and deliver us from evil. He is willing and able to do so, but first we must let Him.
God stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. He does not go where He is uninvited. Nor does He use His power to force His will on the earth. It is up to us to want His will, to agree with it and allow it to flow in and through us. I say "it", but really I mean "Him". His will is Love and Love is a Person -and Love's name is Jesus.
Satan roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Jesus said the devil comes only to kill, steal and destroy. When I see death, sickness and destruction, immediately I know who is the author of that. That is Satan's M.O., not God's.
But the Good News is, Jesus has paid the price to set us all free from the evils of this present world! I believe He is at work in Japan, and anywhere evil strikes, doing whatever He can do to overcome the evil with good. He is ever ready to save, to heal, and to renew to life any who call upon Him.
And there's more Good News! There is no condemnation or judgment on us for ever failing to trust Him. He will never judge or condemn us for allowing evil through our sin. For all our sins are now forgiven and paid for - past, present and future. Jesus took them all on the cross! We are now clean and free before God! And His perfect love and righteousness is available to all!
If you think God is judging Japan through these disasters, then don't bother to pray for the suffering men, women and children, and don't help them with donations or any other means. Otherwise, you will be praying and working against what you believe is God's will.
If you think God allowed it, that He stood by and could have stopped it but didn't, that makes Him an accomplice. And by default, that would mean He willed it. If that's the case, then don't bother to pray for them or help them in any way either, as you will also be praying and working against what you believe to be God's will.
I realize those are some tough thoughts. But dear Readers, if you believe these disasters are God's judgments and/or His will, then you need to be honest about what that implies. I seriously hope you will step up and help. I am just trying to stir you to think. And to show you the harsh reality that results from such a stand.
But if you believe God is love, and that these awful events are the result of Satan's work (which is where my heart is) then lets ask God how we can help. Let's find out what He does want now, and see if there is anything He wants us to do.
Just as we opened the door to evil through our sin, we can now open the door for God to come in to our world to spread His love and goodness to all!
He may ask you to pray and if He does, ask Him how to pray. You may feel an inner nudge to donate some money. Or to head up a fund raiser. Just be available, and be willing to do whatever He tells you. Keep your heart open to Him, and believe He will show you. He is already willing and already wanting to save, heal and deliver ALL. Lets set aside our own wants and desires, and freely offer ourselves to Him. Let's be willing to join with Him in what He wants to do. Its about what He wants to do through us. So lets let Him love Japan through us!
I believe God is good! He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. He is Love and far kinder than the kindest Father you could imagine. He only wants to bless, heal, protect, save and deliver. He loves you!
If you have read this through, thank you for taking the time. God bless you and know that I am grateful for you.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Blog Hop is On! Offering prizes!!
Hello and welcome to the Whimsy Stamps March new rubber release BLOG HOP!
We have 13 fabulous new Whimsy Stamps plus 2 new wonderful dies to show you today! These new goodies are available to buy right now from the Whimsy Stamps store along with all your Whimsy favourites. We also have our wonderful special guests joining us for this hop - Beate Johns, Deb Routledge, Jacque Beddingfield and Elaine Hughes!
The Whimsy Stamps DT have been sneak peeking these fabulous stamps for the past 4 days, so if you missed them be sure to hop on over to the Whimsy Inspirations Blog for some more inspiration!
Here is a full list of the wonderful new rubber stamps and dies being released today:
If you would like to participate in the hop and you didn't arrive here from Marley's blog, please CLICK HERE to return to the beginning of the hop at Crystal’s blog.
The hop starts today (Wednesday March 16th at noon EST) and ends on Wednesday March 23rd at noon EST.
For this hop we have 6 different prize draws! We have not one but TWO grand prize draws, so two lucky hoppers will win a large selection of new release stamps. Grand Prize 1 will be for those who help us advertise the hop, and Grand Prize 2 will be for those who hop along with us. Also, we have 4 mini candy stops throughout the hop where you can enter to win a new release stamp! I'm not going to tell you where they are, so if you haven't found them you'll just have go back to the beginning and start hopping! *wink*
And my blog is one of the places offering a prize! If you add your name in the Inlinkz option at the bottom of this post, you will get a chance to win "Benny and Joon Have Cake" pictured here:
This is a deeply etched high quality red rubber stamp that Whimsy is offering. It comes with that cute saying stamp too that you can trim off and use however you want (or should I say "wish", heh-heh). All Whimsy stamps come already mounted on EZ foam and untrimmed. Be sure to enter your name, and if you don't have a blog, let me know in a comment and you'll be added at the end of the list!
This is a deeply etched high quality red rubber stamp that Whimsy is offering. It comes with that cute saying stamp too that you can trim off and use however you want (or should I say "wish", heh-heh). All Whimsy stamps come already mounted on EZ foam and untrimmed. Be sure to enter your name, and if you don't have a blog, let me know in a comment and you'll be added at the end of the list!
For my blog hop creation I used my own illustration I call, "Celebrate Big!" It is sold in a set along with that cute saying that Ann created to go with it.
I stamped "Celebrate Big!" using Versafine Onyx Black ink (it is water proof) onto 140 lb cold press water colour paper by Canson. I coloured the image using water based ink markers, namely Tombow Pens. Really it is just the same method as painting with water colours. The only difference is that you can colour the ink directly onto the picture and then spread it with the water. And the results are different too; I find the inks to be much brighter and vibrant colours than water colour paint. You don't need Tombow Pens to do this method though; any water based ink markers will do! I have two tutorials on how I colour like this if you are interested. Just click HERE and HERE
or look under my blog banner for the tabs that take you there.
Here is your close-up:
I have entered this card into the following challenges:
So now it's time for you to continue the hop by hopping on over to Donna's blog.
Finally, here is a complete blog hop list in hopping order:
Crissy Armstrong (that's me!)
Thank you so much for hopping with us today and I hope you enjoy the new releases!
God bless each and every one of you!
Crissy
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Sneak Peek at New Rubber
Hello! I have a few new rubber stamp images being released at Whimsy Stamps soon - on Wednesday to be exact. Say hello to "Tippy By The Tail". This card went out to my brother-in-law. It was a "guy" card, so I refrained from adding ribbons, lace, flowers and bling! I hope he likes it!
I painted the image using Twinkling H20's.
Here is your close-up:
There are sneak peeks going on every day from now til Tuesday by the Whimsy DT. Here is a link to take you to the Whimsy Inspirations Blog where all the gal's blogs will be linked up for you. And of course as always, there will be a blog hop to celebrate the new release on Wednesday starting at noon. There will be chances for prizes in the hop so you don't want to miss out on that either!
Hope to see you then!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Birthday Card
I made this for my MIL's birthday. I used one of my new rubber stamp images from a set called, "Fragrant Rose". Now is the time to stock up on Whimsy Rubber because all of it is currently 25% off regular prices - even the custom rubber!
I stamped the rose with Walnut Stain Distress ink onto Copic Xpress It paper. I coloured it with some of the new Copic colours that I got from LSL Diversified, and added some shading with water colour pencils. Here is a list of the Copics used:
RV63, 66, 55 YG61, E87
The newsprint DP was crumpled and distressed with a ruler along the edges to make it look aged. Edges were sponged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
Anything Goes: Distressing
Bearly Mine: Birthday card
A Spoonful of Sugar: Vintage/Shabby
Thanks for coming by for a visit today!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Hello there!
I have had zero crafting time lately, but thought I would share some new images I have over at the Whimsy store. The first four here are in my digital collection. By clicking on the stamp's name you will go right to where it is found in the Whimsy catalogue. And there is a digi hop going on right now, and if you get in on that, you get a chance to win some free digi's! It starts over at the
Whimsy Inspirations Blog, so be sure to check that out! Also there is a new challenge over at my other blog, Sundays With Crissy. This month it's "Stitching, real or faux". My fabulous DT will be bringing you samples all month long, so I hope you pay them a visit too.
And here are my latest rubber images now available at Whimsy Stamps. Whimsy has a sale happening for one week only. Starting Sunday March 6 thru til the 13th, Whimsy is giving you 25% off all rubber stamps from all the Whimsy artists, including the custom rubber!
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