Refiner's Fire

Been thinking about quite a bit lately of the process of fire and how they refine silver. It goes through a huge process, to take out impurities. We all have impurities! I know I do! Sometimes we go through trials and things so God can produce our Character, to become who He meant for us to be.
Malachi 3: 2 “ But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the LORD
An offering in righteousness.
4 “ Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
Will be pleasant to the LORD,
As in the days of old,
As in former years.

Have you ever thought of the process it takes to purify silver? It's quite interesting. Here is a story I found on the internet:

Refining Silver

Some time ago, a few ladies met in a certain city to read the scriptures, and make them the subject of conversation. While reading the third chapter of Malachi they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse: "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." One lady's opinion was that is was intended to convey the view of the sanctifying influence of the grace of Christ. Then she proposed to visit a silversmith and report to them what he said on the subject.

She went accordingly and without telling the object of her errand, begged to know the process of refining silver, which he fully described to her. "But Sir" she said, "do you sit while the work of refining is going on?" "Oh, yes, madam," replied the silversmith; "I must sit with my eye steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured."

The lady at once saw the beauty, and comfort too, of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." Christ sees it needful to put His children into a furnace; His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for them. Their trials do not come at random; "the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

As the lady was leaving the shop, the silversmith called her back, and said he had forgotten to mention that the only way that he knows when the process of purifying is complete when he sees his own image reflected in the silver....

--Author Unknown

So, I lay in bed last night, just praying that He can see Himself in me, like a mirror. I want to be the Moon, because it reflects the Sun!
~Niki

Decade: 1910's ATC

Here is my very first ATC card! I'm so proud of it! I have never made these before but always wanted to. An ATC is an Artist Trading Card, of original art that people trade, sell, ect. The card is size 3 1/2 inch by 2 1/2 inch. You are supposed to layer the paper and sign the back. I'm involved with many swaps, and one of them is that everyone is doing decades. My Decade is the 1910's. This card is so pretty.


The card itself is white textured Bazzill paper. The background is a black cardstock. I found a print of a lady from 1910, I liked her hat and her smile. I printed it out on cardstock and tore the edges. Feathers were really big back then, so I accented with some fibers to resemble feathers. The Zipper was invented and became very popular in this decade so the trim on the top/bottom is part of a stamp by Fiskars, which I accented with silver Stickles. I found a newspaper article about the Titanic sinking and printed that out on cardstock and distressed it. The clock stamp I heat embossed using Ranger black fine detail embossing powder. I really love this result. I'm so excited, this card was so neat to make!

My Big Battle

Well, weight loss is a funny thing! I have been trying to lose weight since January, and it goes up and down and up again, then down in a huge way. The weight still wants to cling to you, and I gotta kick it's butt off every single week! It's like a huge battle, and I want to win! I have lost about 21 pounds so far, and it's been quite fun to see the results, smaller pants, smaller shirts, nothing I had will fit anymore, it's quite crazy. I keep thinking, "More of Jesus and Less of ME" Literally. So that is what I really want in my life, More of Jesus! With His help, this weight battle will be won! He really has helped me! So every week that goes by, I have to really catch myself, making sure I eat enough calories, not the wrong things. At least I don't drink soda anymore, and the cravings for it have weakened, whew, what a relief! I usually keep a tally of how much I exercise every week, so now I have placed that tally on here. Anyhow, I just wanted to share what I have been going through. It's a BIG BATTLE and I wanna win it! These are just my random thoughts! :-)

Inchies, Twinchies and Trinchies Set!

Here is a new project I just made. It's for a swap and these, they turned out so cute I'm going to have a hard time parting with them! Inchies are a new craze, they are little pieces of art, that fit on a 1 inche square. But this swap went a bit further, and wanted me to make a matching set of a 2 inch as well as a 3 inch square! Here is what I came up with.
I cut them on my cricut, using Zooballoo cricut cartridge, I cut 3 sizes of grass in 2 colors. Then I played with my cricut Hello Kitty and friends, and cut out the suns, and the Hello Kitty's and the flowers, OHH so cute! I shaded some clouds in the sky, with my catseye ink in white:

CD and Cereal Box Book!

What can you do with old CD's and a cereal box??!!! I'm in this swap, and I'm new to altering things, and one of the things to do in this swap is to make something altered. I kept thinking about it and thinking about it until finally, I thought I would make a small book!
Materials:
Cricut Expression
Cereal Box
2 CD's
Bind It All
4 Sheets of 12x12 paper solid color
1 sheet of Print Paper
1 Brad
2 Flowers
Ribbon
Sponge Paintbrush
Stickles glue
Mod Podge
Cricut-"George" Cartridge using Circles
_______________________________________


I measured the CD's so I can cut paper on the Expression at 4 3/4 inches. I cut out all the circles of solid paper. I took apart the cereal box so the box will lay flat on the sticky mat.

I cut out four circles also at 4 3/4 inches on the expression. I had it set at the highest pressure and it cut out perfectly. I didn't need to change to the deep housing blade.

When I cut everything out, that was when I used my Bind it all to cut all the sides of the paper and CD's and cardboard, so when I glue it, it will come together perfectly.
I glued the cardboard on both sides of both CD's using Mod Podge. I glued the ribbon on the CD at that point so I will be able to tie it together to keep the book shut.

This is the print, I used it for the covers outside and inside, on either side of the cereal box.

I glued with Mod Podge the print onto the cardboard. I kept out the cover and embellished the front with flowers and a brad.

Then I binded it together!

Here it is!!! All done! Just put ribbon on the edge! It was great fun to make!

My First Altered Paintcan "Eeyore's Tail"

Here is the front:


Here is the back:


Here is the lid:

Matching Card:


It was a challenge to make as she likes Eeyore, Red and Purple, I found this paper that was red, and had Eeyore blue on it, so I worked with this one! Since she loves Eeyore, I remembered he lost his tail sometimes, so I have tails all around the can for him to find! The back was made with the cricut cart: Mini Monograms, and the Name: Joyce was made with Storybook Font, Eeyore is with Pooh and friends.

My Short-Term Weight Loss Goal!

I did it, I just found out today I have lost 20 pounds! I started on January 13th, and just dieted and exercised every week. I came up with a goal of working on the Wii fit every week at least 6 hours and eating right with my calories. It's paying off! It was slow going for the past month, I don't know why, but finally it paid off! I had a short-term goal, for motivating myself, to get a Cricut Cartridge! I get Wildcard! YAAA! SO I'm going to break open that cartridge tonight! Also, I'm wearing some capri's that I bought but was always too small for me. YAA! Now I need to figure out a new Short-Term loss goal. Another 20!
Thanks for reading :-)

My Daughter is a TEEN today!!

Okay so today is the BIG day! My Daughter Amanda is 13. I can't believe it. She has grown up so much, she is amazing, beautiful and so talented. She has such a heart and passion for the Lord and also to play her guitar. It's been a joy to watch her grow up, and boy did these years go by very fast!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS! We love you!