Pastor Appreciation Gift Set

Hello! Thanks for stopping by today. It's time for another challenge at Word Art Wednesday. When I saw our focus verse, I knew that it would be perfect for a Pastor Appreciation gift for my husband. 1 Timothy 1:12 says, "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me in the ministry." After being in various music ministry positions for 13 years, the Lord called my husband, Tim, to be a pastor. That was over 20 years ago. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Tim would say that it is only because the Lord enables him day by day that he is able to care for the people in our church. Not that our people are difficult, they are not. Our church has a wonderful spirit of unity. It's because Tim feels such a great responsibility to lead them correctly and be a good example to them. He is a bi-vocational pastor so he has to do his studying, visiting, etc. outside of his 40 hour work week at a secular job. He sacrifices a lot of himself to spend time studying, praying, visiting, writing cards and notes and checking up on people via texts, emails and phone calls. I believe the Lord rewards Tim's faithfulness by continuing to give him the strength and wisdom to minister to our church family.

Tim is very supportive of my crafting endeavors so I like to do extra special things for him when making a project for him. He likes my notebooks and uses them to write down prayer requests on Wednesday nights and in keeping track of various items at work (separate notebooks). I noticed that his prayer list notebook was looking a little worse for the wear so I made him a new one. This time I tried putting a coordinating patterned paper as a binding around the spine. Along the edge of this I used jute ribbon and twine for decoration. The sentiment panel was inked before being double matted and adhered to the front.

I decorated the edge of the pocket with a strip of the patterned paper. Tim loves to fish so I wanted to use as much of this paper as possible. The interior was looking a little plain so a matted sentiment was also added above the pocket.

Tim sends out LOTS of cards to our church family when they need encouragement. To use more of the patterned paper, I made him a set of four coordinating cards. Two have a "Thinking of You" sentiment and two have a "Thank You" sentiment. I used Sketch #218 from Operation Write Home for my card design.

Here is a picture of the entire gift set.

Notebook Supplies:
Cardstock: Recollections (kraft), Georgia Pacific (white)
Patterned Paper: The Paper Studio
Stamps: WORDart by Karen (1 Timothy 1:12), Rubbernecker Stamps (Smiles & Thinks of You)
Ink: Versafine (Onyx Black), Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
Tools/Embellishments: Our Daily Bread Designs dies (Double Stitched Rectangles), Staedtler Fine Tip Marker (brown), The Ribbon Boutique (Jute Ribbon), Wright's twine

Card Supplies:
Cardstock: Recollections (kraft, cream, green)
Patterned Paper: The Paper Studio
Stamps: Simon Says Stamp clear stamps (Many Thanks, Banner Sayings 3 x 4 set)
Ink: Versafine (Onyx Black)
Tools/Embellishments: Our Daily Bread Designs dies (Double Stitched Pennant Flags), Staedtler Fine Tip Marker (brown),Gina Marie Designs enamel dots, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Herringbone)

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:
Crop Stop Linky Party #33 - Use items/brands found in the Crop Stop store (I used Fiskars, Cuttlebug, Tsukineko, Tim Holtz Distress Ink)
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - Must Use Patterned Paper

Thanks for visiting with me today. I hope you'll come back often. Please be sure to pick up the free digi WORDart at the Word Art Wednesday blog. While you're there, don't forget to see the rest of the Design Team's projects - you are sure to enjoy! Also, if you haven't already done so, why not send your pastor a note of encouragement and appreciation. He will greatly appreciate it!

Thankful for You

Hi! It's time for another Word Art Wednesday challenge. This week we're focusing on 1 Thessalonians 1:3, "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father." Paul is writing to the Apostle Paul and letting them know how much he appreciates them and that their efforts are not going unnoticed. So often in life today, there is so much negative talk. Whether it's on social media, in conversation or wherever, people feel like they can say whatever they want no matter how hateful or unkind. Paul demonstrates for us that we need to commend people when they do good things. We need to show appreciation and thank them for their efforts. Let them know we noticed and that we thank the Lord for them.

October is Pastor Appreciation month here in the US. As most of you know, my husband is my pastor. I see first hand the "behind the scenes" work and effort he puts into caring for the congregation, preparing sermons, visiting, sending cards of encouragement, etc. I thought this card would make a great Pastor Appreciation card for him. Since he's so supportive of my crafty habit, I try to make his cards extra special. I decided to try a Pop Up Book Fold card. You can click the link to see a great tutorial video by Dawn Griffith. I thought the book fold was also appropriate since he uses so many books in his sermon preparations. This week's WORDart was printed on white cardstock and then the edges were distress inked before being mounted on a stitched die cut mat. The "thankful for you" sentiment was heat embossed on a stitched oval die cut and layered over a stitched banner die cut.

To make the patterned paper layer, I cut my patterned paper slightly smaller than the navy cardstock and temporarily adhered it to the navy cardstock while making the long cuts shown in the video. Then I removed the patterned paper. I made two vertical cuts to connect the two long cuts in order to remove the middle section. The edges were inked with Distress ink and then the patterned paper was permanently adhered to the navy cardstock. Then I proceeded to score and fold the cardstock as described in the video. I changed the measurements slightly because my navy cardstock is 5.25 x 8.25 and the patterned paper is 5 x 8.

An encouraging quote by Corrie ten Boom was heat embossed on white cardstock. This week our sponsor is Simon Says Stamp. I used two of their embossing powders on today's card. I really like how their embossing powders show off all the fine details when embossing words and images. The edges of the sentiment panel were distress inked before being adhered to the left panel of the "book." Another piece of white cardstock was also distress inked and adhered to the right page of the "book." I'll write a short message on this panel.

In addition to the WORDart by Karen digi Scripture (available for free on the Word Art Wednesday blog, I used the following supplies:

Recollections Spice Market Cardstock, 8.5" X 11"	Core′dinations-Navy Cardstock	Georgia Pacific White Cardstock	JillibeanSoup-CountryPumpkinChowderCollectionPack	Heidi Swapp Magnolia Jane Clear Stamps Special
Quote Collection 4	Versafine Onyx Black Stamp Pad	VersaMark Watermark Ink Stamp Pad	Tim Holtz Distress Mini ink pad Vintage Photo	Tim Holtz, Mini Ink Blending Tool - 1 inch Round
Double Stitched Pennant Flags Dies	Double Stitched Rectangles Dies	Stitched Ovals Dies	Simon Says Stamp EMBOSSING POWDER WHITE Fine Detail	simon says stamp clear embossing powder

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #338 - RAK (must include die cut)
Always Fun Challenges #27 - Lots of Layers
Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #197 - Fancy Folds
Crop Stop Linky Party #33 - Use brands/Items available in the Crop Stop Online Store (I used Fiskars, Ranger, Tsukineko, Cuttlebug, and Core'dinations)

Thanks for stopping by to visit with me today. I always appreciate you taking time to stop by my blog. I do hope you'll come back soon.