Art Impressions Blog: Focus on Faith "My Joy" Hummingbird and Flowers with Sara Furr

Greetings Ai friends,

With all the bitter cold temps we have been having this winter here in the Northeast, I find the only way that I can keep sane during these long, hard winter months on the farm, is by having faith that it will eventually all melt and warm up with the coming spring, and the Earth will renew itself. And so, my mind keeps going to spring flowers and pretty birdies. I created this soft, spring creation using the beautiful stamp set called "My Joy".

To start, I picked out some pretty papers from the "Mother's Day Paper Pack" and used them as inspiration for the colors I used. I cut the largest Scallop Oval die out of Pearlescent White cardstock and stamped the 2 floral images at the top and bottom, and the sentiment, "The Joy of the Lord is my Strength" in the center, with Momento Black Ink, in my Misti Stamping Tool. I then stamped the other 2 florals and the humming bird onto plain white cardstock. I heat set the ink to make sure it was dry before coloring!

I colored all my images with alcohol markers and then added in fine details on the flower petals with a slightly darker purple fine point dye ink marker. I then fussy cut out the 2 florals and humming bird, popped them up with foam dots, and added some sparkle to the wings of the Hummingbird, and to the centers of the flowers.

To the flowers stamped on the oval, I added some iridescent black self adhesive pearls to the centers. Before I added the cut out florals, I cut a length of silver metallic thread, curled it back up, and applied it to the center of the right hand side of the oval and then added the popped up flowers over top. I added the Hummingbird to the left side of the oval.

I then assembled my card, roughing up the edges of the designer paper with a scissors, and added the stripes of dsp, lace, and ribbon. Finally, I popped up the oval on the right hand side with foam tape.

I then worked on the inside. Cutting another large Scallop Oval and stamping a floral arch at the top and bottom. I added this in the center over my pieces of dsp that I again distressed the edges of, and that finishes my card for today.

The Joy of the Lord truly is my strength! This joy is not a fleeting, superficial emotion like happiness, but an abiding, deep-seated confidence in God's character, faithfulness, and ultimate victory. Despite sorrow or struggles, relying on God's unwavering goodness and joy provides inner fortitude and stability.

I chose this verse because it serves as a reminder to rely on divine strength, which can turn sadness into endurance, allowing for a perspective of gratitude in daily, even difficult, circumstances. And the Good Lord knows that I have my fair share of daily difficulties here on the farm! Lol

Blessings to you all,

Sara Furr "The Crafty Farm Chick"