Birds of a Feather - Artistic Outpost

The stamped images on these cards are from Artistic Outpost. They are the most recent stamps just out this month, called Birds of a Feather.



I love this plate of stamps because it helps me use up scraps of paper which I can't always find a destination for. I wondered whether I would be able to use up the rest of the paper I have, so that I can begin on some new ones... which I ordered already..
I don't have hoards of stuff btw! Staying selective, keeps everything in perspective.


Little tip: Keep all the bits of ribbon you cut off the ends after making a bow or tying a knot. The small ribbon loop tucked under the panel on the right side of this card is one of those. The little lace border - same thing!


Put the cage on pop dots.


Used distress inks to color in the girls.



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I thought I would share another piece of very humoristic journaling that Joanna Weaver uses in her book to get her point across. Remember I told you about the book called 'Having a Mary heart in a Martha's world"?

I think you will get the message!!

It is the story in the Bible from Luke 10:38 when Martha and Maria open their home for Jesus and His disciples when they come to visit.

Quote:
When I read the first part of Mary and Martha's story, I must admit I find myself cheering for Martha. I know we tend to sing Mary's praises in Bible studies. But Martha, to be honest, appeals more to my perfectionist tendencies.
What a woman! She opens her home to a band of thirteen hungry men, possibly more. What a hostess! She doesn't whip up an impromptu casserole of Kraft macaroni and cheese and Ballpark franks as I've been known to do on occasion. Not her! She is the original Martha Stewart, the New Testament Proverbs 31 woman, and Israel's answer to Betty Crocker. She's the Queen of the Kitchen - and the rest of the house as well.
And Luke's story starts with Martha in her glory. After all, this is Jesus. She scraps her ordinary everyday menu of soup and bread and pulls out all her cookbooks. This, she decides will be a banquet fit for a messiah. For the Messiah. Martha sends one servant to the field to slaughter a lamb, another to the market to pick up a few of those luscious pomegranates she saw yesterday. Like a military general, she barks commands to her kitchen staff. Soak the lentils! Pound the grain! Knead the dough!
So many things to do and so little time. She must make sure the centerpiece and the napkins match, that the servant pours the wine from the right and not the left. What would be just right for dessert? A little goat cheese with a tray of fresh fruit? Will Jesus and his followers stay overnight? Someone must change the sheets and fold some towels.
"Where's Mary? Has anyone seen Mary?" If Mary could change the sheets, Martha might have time to fashion an ark from the cheese and carve the fruit into little animals marching two by two. Productions of this magnitude require the skill of a master planner. And Martha's an administrator extraordinaire - a whirling dervish of efficiency, with a touch of Tasmanian she-devil thrown in to motivate the servants.
I happen to be the oldest in my family. Perhaps that's why I understand how frustrated Martha must have felt when she finally found Mary. The entire household is in an uproar, busy making ready to entertain the most famous teacher of their day. I can relate to the anger of Martha at the sight of her lazy sibling sitting at the Master's feet in the living room.
It's simply too much. With everything still left to do, there sits little Mary, being quite contrary, crashing a party meant only for men. But worse, she seems oblivious to all of Martha's gesturing from the hall.
Martha tries clearing her throat. She even resorts to her most effective tool: the "evil eye," famous for stopping grown men in their tracks. But nothing she does has any effect on her baby sister. Mary only has eyes for Jesus.
Pushed to the limit, Martha does something unprecedented. She interrupts the boys' club, certain that Jesus will take her side. After all, a woman's place is in the kitchen. Mary, should be helping prepare the meal.
Martha realizes there is a cutting edge to her voice, but Jesus will understand. He, of all people, knows what it's like to carry the weight of the world.
But instead of applauding Martha, Jesus gently rebukes her, telling her "Mary has chosen the better part".
"The better part?" Martha must have echoed incredulously.

"The better part!" I say to God in the midst of my own whirl of activity. You mean there's more? I have to do more?"
No, no, comes the answer to my tired heart. Jesus' words in Luke 10 are incredibly freeing to those of us on the performance treadmill of life.
It isn't "more" he requires of us.
In fact, it maybe less.

Unquote.

I don't know about you, but I certainly got the message!!