Changing Grace...and freebies

Yes, it's me again. As are so many of you, I have been going through some tough changes the past couple of years...the kind that just when you think things are leveling out, the rug is pulled out from under you...over and over and over again. I'm not saying this to illicit sympathy, just to explain my absence for the past few months, for those of you who care, for those of you have followed me since I've started blogging.

As you will quickly see, coping with CHANGE is on my mind, and that's what my word art gift to you reflects. I wrote this highlighted piece of word art just as a reminder to me about keeping my eyes on God through all these struggles. Looking up...so my outlook will be brighter, if you know what I mean. :)




Hope you can use these. For those of you who expressed a continued interest in the Alphabetically Speaking series, I will get back on that series from time to time, so stay tuned. In the meantime, keep the faith!

Blessings to you and yours,
Melanie

download

God's Beautiful World freebie

God's beautiful world,

God's beautiful world;

I love God's beautiful world.

He made it for you.

He made it for me.

I love God's beautiful world.

For those of you who went to Sunday School when you were a child, these lyrics will sound familiar to you, as they are from a chorus frequently sung by young ones. Today's word art was inspired by a layout I was preparing for a scrapbook album Jessie Heuer--a sweet North Carolina friend of mine--is giving as a birthday gift for her father. [Don't tell him...it's a surprise!]

I made the layout above for the album, and used the lyric transparency from today's freebie WA. It's 3x12 inches, but can be adapted for 8.5x11 inch layouts (as shown in my layout above).

download

A Valentine Blessing

Thanks to my friends, Jessie Heuer, for the suggestion for today's word art!

download

Freebie word art for all your Life Challenges

I'm sorry for being absent the last couple of weeks of 2009. Just had many things going on (who didn't?!) and spent a limited amount of time at the computer, except on Christmas-related projects. I hate it that I didn't even have time to work on KimB's color challenge at DSO that I'm always rattling about. I missed that.

In my e-mails the past couple of weeks, Kate Palmer provided me with several more layouts in which she used word art I had made. These are so beautifully done, and I am honored that my word art was used--Kate told me, "it enhances and makes sense of every layout." I'm truly humbled by such a kind, thoughtful comment, Kate.

Take a look, and be inspired!


Today's gift word art is not a new quote; we've all heard it many times. Personally, it's a reminder that God is still in charge of this new year, just as He took care of me and those I love during the past year. Plus, no matter how tough things get, we can find something to smile about when we look at this quotation...especially when we remember who said it first!

Blessings on your day,

Melanie

download freebie

Amazing Grace

I'm so proud of my niece, Amye, today. She had the understanding of God's hand in her life, enough to know to pray for the courage and grace to accept the loss of her unborn child. We are all grieving today as she waits for her body, heart and spirit to heal from this unthinkable sorrow. She had a week to prepare herself, in between sonograms, for the doctor to give her the official word...that her baby had stopped growing four weeks ago. We had all rejoiced in the news of her pregnancy and now mourn with her and her husband as they adjust.

In a message from them yesterday, they acknowledge their sadness and disappointment, but tell us that they will never forget this baby, whose heartbeat they never heard. I'm so very very sad this morning with this loss...this, too, will heal because we all know that God is in control, and with Him, we can get through anything.

Blessings on your day,
Melanie

download link repaired

For Jessie ... freebie

Today's word art is dedicated to a friend of mine in North Carolina. Jessie is struggling with long-term pain for TMJ and is undergoing a new treatment right now that hasn't started working yet. Chronic pain really grinds at you and whittles away your last nerve, but when you also have two little ones in the house...well, it takes a special person to work through it. She's got one of those nasty colds right now, too--and you know how those coughing spells linger! And to make matters worse, she had a major computer crash last week; she's still waiting to see if any of her family photos and important layouts can be restored. Sending big hugs to you, Jessie, my sweet friend!

Her misfortunate computer issues reminded me to do better about backing up my stuff. So, even as I type this, my computer is uploading everything to an online storage space. Hope it works!

Hope you've had a great Scrapbooking weekend with all the bells and whistles and freebies and good buys. I'm so grateful that Divine Digital has been restored...they've got a new collab kit coming out that you won't want to miss.

Blessings on your day,

Melanie

download

and aren't we glad He does!

download

A Balm for Your Spirits ... when your heart is in pain

DOWNLOAD

Hope you can find a way to use this ... I thought it could be somewhat versatile, if you think about it!!!

DOWNLOAD

Take Comfort

DOWNLOAD

Lesson in Giving

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow ... during this season of giving, and all the year through.

May today be full of unexpected blessings, and pleasant surprises.
Melanie
DOWNLOAD

Music, Music, Music

Music has always been a huge part of my life. To such an extreme that when I'm walking down the streets downtown, I feel as if I can hear and feel the beat of my own movie score accompanying my stroll. Sad, huh?!!

I love the universality of music, and hope you do, too. To paraphrase a line from the film, Chariots of Fire, when I'm singing in the choir at church, I "feel God's pleasure." God honors those who honor Him in such ways, and that's a high that's a bigger rush than any drug or drink, I promise you!.

Friday blessings to you all,

Melanie

DOWNLOAD

font credits: Amaze Normal, Amadeus Regular, Paternoster AH, Stake