Starting the Year Off Right

Happy New Year!!  I hope you are all having a good start to 2015.  This week's Word Art Wednesday Challenge focus verse, Psalm 143:8, "Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee," has some clues on how to get our year off to a great start.  In the first phrase, the Psalmist requests that he hear the Lord's voice in the morning.  That means he's starting his day by spending time with the Lord.  He understands that this is a key to getting his day started off right. The second phrase lets us know that he has put his trust in the right thing, the Lord. In the third phrase, he's requesting the Lord's guidance on where he should go and what he should do.  And in the last phrase, he's putting his life (and soul) in the Lord's control.  This is a man that has his priorities in line.  What a great example for us to follow as we start a new year.  In our world today, this mindset of starting the day with the Lord, trusting Him in all things, allowing Him to guide us and putting our life in His hands, is a very unique and unusual concept.  So many people are all about control and "being in charge."  But when I remember that I'm human and makes many mistakes and that God knows all things and NEVER makes a mistake, it just seems like a no-brainer to let Him be in charge.  Now, this isn't to say that sometimes I don't mess us and try to "help" Him.  But, He is patient with me and I soon realize that truly His way is the best way.

For my card this week, I chose a new to me and rather unique card design.  It's called a cascade card and I followed Dawn's tutorial found in this video.  Not only is this a new card fold for me, but I'm also using some new papers my hubby bought me on our 30th anniversary trip and a new Spellbinders die and some flowers that I received for Christmas.  With all that was going on with the card fold, I wanted to make sure the Scripture remained a major focus.  It is die cut and layered on a Picot Edge circle and then accented with pearls, faux stitching, and paper roses.  Adhering the sentiment panel across the entire front provides some stability to the front of the card.

Another bunch of paper roses embellishes the upper left corner.  This small bouquet is tied with a baker's twine bow.

To add stability to the back and to have a place for writing a personal note, I adhered two cardstock panels across the back.  Some more faux stitching and a patterned paper strip complete the back.

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Georgia Pacific (white), Recollections (Admiral Blue)
Patterned Paper:  Jillibean Soup (Neopolitan Bean Bisque)
Wordart:  Diane Noble
Tools/Embellishments: Staedtler fine tip black marker, Spellbinders dies (Picot Edge Circle, Standard Circle Large), baker's twine (The Twinery), pearls (The Paper Studio), flowers (Mikie's Craft red and white roses)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Scrapbook Blessings Club January Challenge - Cascade Card
Path of Positivity Challenge #22 - Uniqueness (Letting God have control of your life is a unique concept in today's world.  As a symbol of this, I chose a unique card design.)
Sweet Stamps Challenge #203 - Something New (papers, die, flowers, and card fold) 
ABC Challenge  - A is for Anything Goes
Shopping Our Stash Challenge #183 - Use Something New (papers, die, flowers, and card fold)
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #226 - Favorite Embellishment (pearls are my favorite embellishment)
Clear It Out Challenge - Anything Goes
Going Gray with Scrap Creations - New (papers, die, flowers, and card fold) 
V's Sweet Ideas Challenge #30 - Something New (papers, die, flowers, and card fold) 

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you'll be able to come back often.  As always, please remember to stop by the Word Art Wednesday Blog for your free digi and to see the projects from the rest of the Design Team.