perfectly purple tilda......

i got my first REAL tilda this week!! oh, it was so hard to choose one after the stock arrived at the shop!!! but, i knew that i could only have ONE. so, Fairy Dust Tilda won! you guys, she is gorgeous! the purple rubber stamp stamps as i thought it would - perfectly! i stamped her on 300gsm watercolour paper ( i used the backside because it was smoother) and coloured her with my Lyra watercolor pencils and used my 990 Tombow for her skin. i layered the paper according to the sketch and used my only set of nestabilities to cut her out - sorry if you are tired of that shape - it is all i have!!! i added stickles to the polka dots on the polka dot paper and to the "fairy dust" on the image. i only had cream lace, so i used my own "mist" - distress reinker and mini-mister, to dye the lace. added a button and some alcohol ink colored little Kaisercraft pearls and purple stickles to the stamped images left bottom and stamped top right. i am entering her into the following challenges:

Friday Sketchers - i used the sketch
just magnolia - using pleated lace
magnolia down under - polka dots

Please leave a comment if you like her!!1

on to serious stuff............the past two weeks have been very challenging for me. i have been confronted with a few issues and my own behaviour and beliefs have been under attack. although i am fully aware of the devil always being in disguise and that anything that is not according to Scripture is not from God, it still is hard to distinguish when the attacks come and you have to figure out how to react and what to do. sometimes i react too quickly, and then i make things worse. when i act too quicly, i normally just ACT out of my own accord, and don't ask the Lord for guidance. when i wait upon Him, things normally turn out ok. then i also have to remember to think the following in every difficult situation - "how would Jesus have reacted?". that is sometimes the hardest. because i am a very strong willed person and used to doing everything my own way, it really is very hard for me to ask someone else's opinion, never mind think how someone else would have acted!! i struggle with it alot. but, like anything, it takes practice. and sometimes i am a well trained "athlete", and other times i try to take "steroids" LOL!!! i don't know if that makes sense! when i was feeling a bit low, a very good friend said to me that i should do something good for someone else, and it will make me feel better. i did that. and i felt like a million bucks! of course the devil did not like the fact that i was feeling better, and he sent temptation on friday and i fell flat on my face because my "independence" was back. i was fine until my sense of "self" had decided the ego was now too bruised, and i retaliated. whether or not it was JUSTIFIED, is irrelevant. i knew the moment the words were out of my mouth that i was wrong. yuk. it spoilt my whole day. i was really upset with myself - for being suckered into the situation, for not asking God's guidance and just waiting, and for letting my ego get in the way. thank goodness the Lord is faithful! He knew i just needed to be alone with Him this weekend to recharge, spend time with His word and learning more about His Son, Jesus Christ. you know, someone said today - you can do whatever you want. you can try and reason around Him. He has influenced EVERYTHING in a more profound way than ANYONE else in the last 2000 years. no one can explain Him. you can hate Him, you can choose not to believe in Him, you can do whatever you want to - but you can't ignore Him. everyone knows His name. the people in the movies use His name when they swear. His name is on the lips of the atheists, the Muslims and all other religions. more than 2 billion people acknowledge and believe in Him. the rest who choose not to - that is their own decision. and like all decisions, they will have to love with the consequences. Christ is alive and He is alive so that you and i can LIVE and not die. we cannot atone for our sins. some of us fool people and pretend that we are "good" people. we might not be killers, thieves and hijackers. but we tell white lies about where we are when people phone us on our cellphones. we talk about other people when they are not there and we don't always say nice things. we blame other people for things we know we should take the blame for - but hey, ever since Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the snake, that has been the norm, we desire what other have - whether it is their skin, hair, house, car, HUSBAND - we do not want them to have it - we want it. we are impatient and intolerant. we walk around with smiles on our faces, but our hearts are dark and dreary and we keep secrets that we think no one knows. God knows and He loves you. He sent His only Son to be crucified so that you and i can have GRACE - Grace that we cannot earn and certainly don't deserve. there is nothing we can do but ask for it - and it will be ours. i am amazed every day at God's grace. it is a continual process and i fall flat most days, but by the Grace of God i get up again, and i tackle the next day. a new day - a new opportunity to experience AND give, GRACE. if you are unsure and need some more information, please email me and i will try and help. God loves you and He is waiting for you to come to Him to receive His Son as your Saviour. it is never too late, and nothing you ever did is so bad that God cannot forgive you. He wants you JUST AS YOU ARE. if you were perfect, His Grace would not be necessary. may you both experience and dish out some Grace this week! xxxxxxx