Victorine Originals Challenge #78

Good Morning,  This is my card for the current Victorine Challenge which is to make a one layer card.  This seems to be getting easier and easier for me as I run out of time so much.  You can find the challenge HERE. 

I keep telling myself I need to stop making "snow" cards, but we are having a blizzard of sorts this morning and flowers just would not survive, so here is more snow.

I used some lovely sparkly deep blue cardstock that was donated to my card making group.  Just stamped the snowflakes with Versamark and heat embossed with white which also has sparkles.  The "Let it snow" was an afterthought, but a good one, because what am I going to do about it?  The only thing I could think of this morning was to get out to the road and grab the garbage cans before they were two neighbors down.

Check out the challenge.  There is always a drawing for stamps.

SCRLLC14 #2

 

This is my card for the current Scripture and Lyrics Challenge located  here: 

I was in a hotel room - yes, having a ball making cards this week while Bob was at our ABC Convention downstairs learning all kinds of stuff.  I just plain skipped out.  So I had limited supplies for my cards, but am not sure I would have wanted it any other way. 

The song this time is Undo and the chorus goes like this

Chorus
Turn me around pick me up
Undo what I've become
Bring me back to the place
Of forgiveness and grace
I need You, need Your help
I can't do this myself
You're the only one who can undo
                                                   What I've become

 

I found myself thinking about the times Jesus wants me to come to Him for help and I go somewhere else.  It becomes a habit.  I noticed awhile back that when things got rough at work and I had a project I couldn't see myself handling, I would stop everything and go get a cup of coffee.  A couple sips did me fine and I would get back to work.  Now I can picture Jesus standing there waiting for me to ask HIM to help and I didn't.

When I am tired in the evening, but the day isn't over and I need some extra strength, where do I go?  To the refrigerator or pantry for something sweet - and Jesus stands there waiting for me to come to Him.  Picture your own child doing the same thing, leaving you standing...  

I chose Psalm 96:1 as my verse because I need to sing the New Song to Him and lean on Him and depend on Him for all my needs.



Victorine #77 Gift Card Holder

 Good Morning

The current Victorine Originals Challenge starts today.  You can find it HERE.  This week we are making a gift card or candy holder.  I don't do candy, so mine is a Gift Card Holder.  Mine is a beanie which works well for this cold weather.

 

  I have forgotten where I got this pattern and am so sorry.  This is so easy  that I think you could do it yourself.  It's three pieces - two are exactly the same - the rounded top of the hat and the third is a simple bar and I rounded the corners.  My bar is 5 1/8" long and 1 3/4" high.

The two pictures on the bottom are the BACK of the holder and I put them on so you could get a better idea of how this operates. 

The BACK rounded piece, (tan) which is a bit more than a half circle (longer) is glued on the very bottom to the very bottom of the long panel.  Be careful to not get the glue on more than 1/4" all the way

across.  The second rounded piece is put on about a half inch lower and attached with an eyelet on the left side.  You can see the "gift card" sticking out on the left - just a corner.  I covered the eyelet with a glued on flower.

I am hoping you can tell how to do this from the pictures as I am noticeably terrible at giving directions.  You can decorate the hat with any kind of picture.  My button on top is a purchased one with a sticky back, and the flower is cut out of corrugated cardboard and the red dotted cardstock with a Tim Holtz die.
Check out the Victorine site for more cute "holders".  There is always a drawing and prize for stamps.  Good luck.

SCRLLC14 #1

This is my card for the first Scripture and Lyrics Challenge for 2014 located HERE.

The song is You are the Lord by Jeremy Camp and I chose "If God be for us, who can be against us"  I took mine from the Living Bible.  One of the things that totally inspires me all the time is God's beautiful creation - everything in it.  EVERYTHING.  I know that He made this wonderful earth for our enjoyment because He loves us so much.  He wants our journey here to be a pleasant one that we enjoy every day.  Never more than the Creator Himself, but enjoyable.

My card portrays the wonder of frost on a window pane, the intricacy of a snowflake close up, and the beauty of leaves in fall. A single card would never be big enough to put everything on it.  We have Northern Lights, Sunrise and Sunset, Shooting Stars, beautiful flowers in summer, birds - each with their own call, animals for food, for pets, for helping us work.  All in their own category and all organized by our wonderful Creator.  No wonder His name is Wonderful.

Victorine Originals Challenge-Valentines

Good Morning.

The Victorine Originals current challenge is posted and you can find it HERE.  Check it out.  This early date leaves you plenty of time to make lots of valentines and enter many times to be ahead of the game.  (Ahead of the game) is always where I WISH I could be, so I think I need to take my own advice.

My card has a Victorine  Originals music background which I stamped the rose bouquet right on top of.  The bouquet is colored with copics and I left the bow uncolored.  The heart is punched from a scrap of dp  (yay for scraps) and stamped with one of my favorite sentiments.  It needed some balance, so I added the hug sentiment on the bottom.  So check out the challenge and the cute Victorine stamps, and stay warm.

Recycled Burger Box?

Hello!  I have an entire evening alone - to rest, relax and do whatever I want.  I should be cleaning as Christmas Dinner is HERE, but I'm playing instead.  Wouldn't you?  Who needs a clean house anyway!

My story:  I stopped to get a fast burger one day and discovered the burger box.  Since then I have been very careful to not let any ketchup, lettuce, dressing or anything else on that box because they make the neatest cards.  I just finished this one and am hoping it's my LAST for this year.

My intent is to show you a few steps to get the thing from Burger Box to Card Material

I started with the box.  Clean it up if necessary as no one wants to get a card that smells like food, but if it's bad, you need to pitch that part and just use the good stuff.  You will find all sort of "inside information" on the inside of the box - like the type of burger it is and what should go on each one.  You can ignore that as you will be peeling all that off in a minute.  You can cut the entire box up - cutting on each fold to get your pieces to use.  Your next step will be to find WATER.  I use a spray bottle from whatever I used up last, but running the cardboard under a faucet works too.  You need to be careful to not get it too wet.   If this happens, let it dry some or use a heat tool on it. Just the top layer needs to be wet enough to come off.  Catch an end with a fingernail and gently start to pull.  It should come off easily.

If you get it too wet and the backside comes off too, you will lose the wrinkles and they are the reason you are messing with this in the first place. If you are wetting it under a faucet, just wet it quickly, then pat off the excess and let it soak in. I dried mine this time with a heat tool after the top layer was off, and it worked well.   Once your cardboard is dry, you can use it as you would cardstock, chipboard or other things to make small embellishments for cards or scrapbooks or whatever you like.
I used the framelets from Stampin' Up's Ornament Keepsake set to make my ornaments for the card.  I like the bare cardboard look, but you sure could paint them or sponge them,  always being careful to not press too hard as this cardboard is very soft and I think that's what makes it wonderful.

 

Victorine Originals Challenge #75

Hi Everybody.  This is my card for the current Victorine Originals Blog Challenge.  You can find it  here.

http://www.vostamps.blogspot.com/  The challenge this time is to make a card with three layers.  Mine has the striped layer, the polkadot half layer and the popped up ornament layer.  I LOVE this ornament.  It's so versatile.  Nice and big, so you can use it like this or stamp it on the card front and use it for a sentiment space or stamp an image right on it, or make a decorated ornament by using a border across the center, and you can think of more. 

I fussy cut the ornament and tied a piece of twine on it because I like "simple.

Check out the challenge.  If it's not up yet, it will be soon.  Vicki always has a drawing for stamps, so check it out and make a card this week.

Memory Tree

This year we were very late in getting our Christmas tree.  We usually have it up for a couple weeks by now, but we picked it up this morning, brought it home and then had to wait while it melted off.  Rain and cold together make ice on trees and that's what we have.  The trees were all half price which was great, and once we made it out of the tree lot, we were home free.  Wisconsin has ICE today.  The roads are salted, but the rest is treacherous.  This is a very bad picture of our fir tree already decorated.

I usually have sort of a Memory Tree, but this year decided to do ALL memories.  It was exhausting & I couldn't figure out why.  They are all good memories.

My first memory picture is of my first Christmas here.  I was just married, barely 18 and had a 3 and a half month old baby.  Nothing much else, but I wanted to "make Christmas".  Somewhere I got walnuts, cracked them very carefully, ate the insides and glued them back together with string, thread, and whatever I could find to hang them on the tree.  I sprayed them gold and/or silver and have them to this day.  I believe I strung popcorn too, but that is long gone.

The spool ornament was a gift from my best friend's daughters.  I have two of these spool ornaments.  The daughters were in a girls club and for Christmas they were to choose someone who meant a lot to them and give them the ornament they made.  They both made me one and I cherish them.

The "angel" below is an one of the ornaments from Bob's mom.  I never met her as she had passed before we married, but this and other things she made are special for him and we bring them out at Christmas.  The angel is nestled in a milkweed pod.  It's a piece of satin with a wooden head that she painted, and braid to hold it in.
Last, but not least is the "announcement" we received at Christmas in 1993.  The ornament reads, "From our Whole Family" but as you can see, the top red ornament is blank.  This was their way of telling us that another one was on the way.
That "other one" is 19 already,  home on Christmas break from college and is downstairs with Bob watching a movie right now.
There are many other memories on the tree, such as handmade ornaments from my sister and friends, and pictures of the grandkids when they were young, but these are my favorites.
So make a memory this Christmas and share.  I know I will.

 

HSCRC13 #22 Joy to the World

This is my card for the current Hymn and Scripture Challenge13 - #22 located HERE.  Sometimes I am not familiar with the hymn but I think we all know JOY TO THE WORLD - one of the ones I pretty much have had memorized since I was young.

If you are a musician, you may recognize my rendition of a Repeat Sign as I was concentrating on "Repeat the Sounding Joy".  The JOY promised with the birth of Jesus is worth repeating - not only at Christmas but all year long.  The verse I chose is Psalm 47:1 which I believe says it pretty plainly.

"Clap your hand, all you nations: Shout to God with cries of Joy."  If you have ever had a smidgeon of the joy He gives, you will be thirsty

for more.

HSCRC13 #21 Lord Speak to Me

This is my card for the current Hymn and Scripture Challenge located HERE.  The Hymn is Lord Speak to Me that I May Speak and although I sometimes have a rough time getting over the old English, there is some gold in here.

The part that I posted has the words, "Teach me that I may teach the precious things..."  The whole hymn gives the idea that we must first get the knowledge, the love, the know-how or whatever from God, and then we can be helpful to others.

I agree with that thought and that's the reason I picked the verse from I Samuel 3:10 which ends with "Speak, for your servant is listening.

I don't think we hear too much if we are not listening, and I want my ears to be open.

Victorine #74 Dry Embossing Red & GReen

Good Morning,

It's the start of a new challenge on Victorine Originals Blog located HERE.  This was easy and fun.  I used two A-2 sized pieces of cardstock 5.5x4.25".  I laid one on top of the other and cut down the middle.  This gave me the ability to make TWO cards just alike.  The green piece is dry embossed with Swiss Dots and slightly sanded to make the dots look like snow, and the red piece is left plain, but I popped up three Christmas trees that I had stamped in Ranger Distressed Peeled Paint and cut out.  I may try a darker green on the next one or maybe gold embossing powder or something.   PEACE is cut apart from the Peace Love Joy sentiment.  The trees could be decorated too, but I wanted this one to simulate "peace" so left it quiet.

Now I really need to get  out the Vagabond because I have my wrist in a brace from turning the Cuttlebug handle.  Check out the Victorine Blog.  They always give away stamps to the winner of the draw.  Make a card and enter.

Embossing and Glitter

This is my card for two challenges on Splitcoaststampers.com today.  Find them HERE and HERE.  Technique Lovers Challenge which was to use glitter in with your embossing powder and Clean and Simple Challenge to use Red and White.  We could stamp the image with black and color it in and this saved me from ruin on the CAS, but using glitter IN WITH the embossing powder did me in.  I now have some very nice fine black embossing powder that will give me trouble for the rest of its life as there is glitter mixed in.  It got in there all by itself too.

I DON'T DO GLITTER - not for any reason at all.  I do own a bunch of it that I have collected over the years, but all I ever do is make a mess when forced to use it for some reason.  So I believe I will now attempt to clean up my mess.

Victorine Originals #73 Nontraditional Christmas Colors

Sometimes I love the way a card turns out.  This one is one of them.  It's my card for the current Victorine Originals Challenge located HERE  which is  to make a card with Nontraditional Christmas Colors.  I hope all neutrals count because this is it.  It just fell together with scraps on my table. What a way to clean. 

Last I looked, the challenge wasn't up yet, but it's Thanksgiving week and I'm a bit early as I'm checking things off my list.

The snowflake is a wonderful Spellbinders die and cut out of a shiny off white Cardstock.  Because of it's tone, it went perfectly with the gray texture.  Sentiment is Victorine and you can find it in the online catalog.

Remember, there is always a drawing for stamps, so be sure to check out the Victorine site and make a card.  And everyone please have a great thanksgiving.

HSCRC13 #20 I Need You

This is my card for the Hymn and Scripture Challenge #20 which is making a card depicting the Hymn I Need Thee.  You can find the challenge HERE.

The most fun with this Hymn and Scripture Challenge is that I find the hymn floating around in my mind whenever it wants to and I find it comforting.  Not just this one, but all of them.  I am not musical at all, but I grew up going to church every Sunday and we sang most of these songs, so although the ones my church sings now are very different, a certain button just has to be pushed and they all come back.       My verse is Psalm 142:5 I cry to you, oh Lord. I say, "You are my Refuge".

I had house guests this week which was wonderful, but the time leading up to the visit was hectic and I found myself pushing the button for this song unknowingly all the time.  Our guests left this morning after a great visit, but next week will be hectic again as I have missed work and there will be piles of stuff to catch up on.  Also we are having tornado warnings this morning.    Bob just called from church (I skipped) to say they have everyone in the hallways at church.  Another time to need Him, and it's wonderful to know He is always there when we call. 

 

Victorine #72 CAS with Fall Theme

This is my card for the current Victorine Originals Challenge which is to do a Clean and Simple card with a Fall theme.  I am so in love with this leaf die that I just had to do another card with it.  I have a whole row of different cards made with this leaf on a shelf in my kitchen and they all inspire me to make "just one more".

The Victorine image of the farm is stamped right on the die cut leaf and colored with colored pencils.  Edges of the leave are inked and I added some faux stitching to the dotted designer paper for more of a down home look.

You can find the challenge HERE 
and there is always a drawing for stamps.
Check it out.

Victorine #71 Fall or Thanksgiving

The Victorine Originals Challenge this week is to do a Fall or Thanksgiving card.  I chose Fall and this is my card.  Bob and I recently took a trip up to northern WI and the Fall color was at it's peak.  It was gorgeous, and one of my favorite things to look for along the country roads is the vines growing up the trees.  Never mind that they are probably in the process of killing off a tree.  They turn the most beautiful colors and I love seeing them.

My card is a very simple one.  I chose offwhite cardstock and stamped the vine on after coloring my stamp with inkpads.  (three different colors)  Then I ran the entire piece through the Cuttlebug in the brick wall embossing folder.  The bricks didn't show up too well, so I sponged some ink on until I was happy.

You can find the challenge HERE.  Check it out.  There is always a drawing for a gift certificate for stamps.

The Cider - The System

 Yesterday I said we had a system with our cider making.  Now I'm here to show you the pictures.  You  are not getting real action pictures as I need both hands working on apples and who will hold the camera?  But I think you can tell by the juice on the table and in the bowl that we were in the middle of making it right here.

The first picture is of the grinding contraption that Bob put together.  This is a New in the Box Garbage Disposal that he mounted to this little stand that he built just like you would mount it under your kitchen sink.  The top view is on the right and the hole is what you would put your potato peels etc. down.  Bob is an electrician and built a nice, safe grinder with an "on/off" switch to grind up the apples.

 The bowl under the stand is to set the mesh bag in that will catch the ground up apples when they come out the spout on the disposal.  I guess you could attach the bag, but we just hold it in place as this step goes pretty fast.

Next we transfer the bag in the bowl over to the cider press.  The bowl goes under the spout and the mesh bag goes inside the press and lets the cider drain out.  We have learned to not turn the press too fast as we have broken more bags than I need to mention in our learning process.  The cider drains out the spout and gets poured into a cleaned up milk jug and put in our freezer with  a good bit of head space for freezing and no cap on until it's frozen. This is our 3rd gallon & it sure looks good for Christmas this year.

Apple Time

 It's Apple Time.  We have three trees that outdid themselves this year.  This week is Apple Pie and Cider making week.  Tonight we did some of both.  I think we do it all the hard way, but I will never be sure.

Today while Bob was at work, I washed these three bowls of apples.  We figure this many makes a gallon of cider.  And we have a system.  But I think I have to talk about cider tomorrow as I forgot to take pictures.

After dinner tonight we first made two pies.  This part of our system works well as we can make cider while the pies are in the oven.  This next picture is Bob peeling apples.  He peels and I trim and cut them up.  We have a wonderful apple peeler that makes this part go fast.




Peeling Apples

After Bob gets the apples peeled and cut, I get to put the pies together.

These are 8" pies and I bake them for 50 minutes. 

 

All Peeled and Cut for Pie or Cider

Most of the pies are for the freezer for this winter.  But I keep one out to eat every now and then.

Puffball Mushroom

I guess it's that time of year again.  A friend emailed a picture to Bob last night and said, "Is this a puffball mushroom"?  The picture was small but I assured him that "as near as I could see, it was a puffball".  That alerted me to the fact that it was time to go looking.  I call our woods, our "Fairy Chasm" as it's steep on both sides and has a little water at the bottom that's the overflow from our lake.  I should not have walked into it with sandals on today either, but I did.

This is what I found. It's not a big one - maybe 5" across - but enough to have some fun with.  I had a handful of dried weeds too that I intended to spray and use for decorating, but by the time I got most of the way through the woods, which is small, I decided I might not make it back up the hill if I insisted on carrying the dried weeds, so I ditched them and came out with only the puffball and a bunch of tiny green pickers that stuck all over the front of my shirt.

Our friend made a Mushroom Omelet with some of his this morning and I may try that next.  I usually make Mushroom Soup - which tastes just like Campbell's.  Check out YOUR woods this week.

Victorine #70 Halloween

Halloween and/or Spooky is the challenge at Victorine Originals this week.  Check it out HERE. There is always a drawing for stamps. I don't have any spooky stamps so had to use Tim Holtz die cut houses for help.  I die cut a hole with my Spellbinders Classic Circle in the black cardstock and then cut a yellow circle and glued it in.  I think it's a fabulous moon.  The fairy is stamped in black on the moon.  The houses are cut out of black and then gold.  I left some of the windows black for effect and didn't match the houses perfectly as I wanted the gold reflection of the moon on the roofs.

Go make a Spooky card.  You could win some stamps.

Repurposed or Recycled

Good Morning, Saturday.  We have warm weather and it's not raining and who can think about Christmas?  Card Makers always have to be ahead of the game, don't we?

One of my very favorite things to do is recycle - anything and everything - and especially on greeting cards.  I found a pattern by Connie Babbert HERE and thought it was a grand idea.  She even has links to samples.   It needed two sided paper.  I actually don't have any that works for Christmas, and I found for this project, my double sided cardstock was too thick, so dug out one of my "bought especially for cards" old dictionaries to use as it has print on both sides.  The red cardstock is a leftover that I had punched a deckled rectangle out of.  It's crooked because it was the leftover. (Don't buy that).  The gift image is Hampton Art and could be colored or paper pieced for more interest.  The tree can also be glued down or DECORATED.  I wanted to start with a simple masculine card, so this is it.  Works for me.

HSCRC13 #17 Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

This is my card for the current Hymn and Scripture Challenge which you can find HERE.  The hymn is Tell Me the Stories of Jesus.  I am not familiar with this hymn and kept getting it mixed up with "Tell Me the STORY of Jesus".  The entire Bible is the STORY of Jesus, but the stories are in the gospels, which is where I am reading just now.

One of my favorites is the story of the Prodigal Son - the reason being that I can identify so well.  I found the story in Luke 15 and the verse I chose was Luke 15:17 which starts "When he finally came to his senses..."  Look it up.

Class Reunion?

If you think you will see pictures of my 50th Class Reunion, you can think again.  Bob and I headed "up north" where everyone in WI goes in summer for a two day planning meeting for him (they entertained the spouses too) and then on to my class reunion and a visit with family.  Now about the reunion.  We walked into a room of "elderly people" and I thought I was in the wrong place, but then I saw a familiar face.  Mine in the mirror?  Good thing it wasn't.  We WERE in the right place and lucky for us all, the organizers had made buttons with pictures out of the yearbook.  So I could relax a bit and at least remember the first names.

I thought this reunion was lots better than the last when people seemed to me to be trying to prove something.  This time we concentrated on accomplishments of different people and happy memories of the School Days.  One person walked about 130 miles to the reunion to raise money for the hungry in Haiti.  He was limping a bit, but was able to get up front and say a few words.   There are lots of NICE people in my High School Class.

The Fall color was at its peak in northern WI and we thoroughly enjoyed our ride back home today.  We stopped lots of times to take pictures and I want to share a few of them.

Old Barn

Rolled Snow Fence

Elcho Water Tower

Victorine Challenge #69-Round

I didn't realize how hard a ROUND card could be - or maybe how hard I tried to make it.  At first I tried to use a round image and my flowers all had stems.  Then the card was no longer round.  So I gave up and stopped trying to be such a perfectionist.  I rather like how this turned out.  I have loved that tiny Victorine leaf for a long time.  I left it uncolored because I liked it that way.  It has a personality all its own.

The two big dies are  Tim Holtz and I inked the edges of the one on the right.

 

This is for the current Victorine

 Originals challenge located HERE.  Check it out.  Make a card.  There is always a drawing and a gift certificate for Victorine Originals stamps.

HSCRC13 #16 I Love to Tell the Story

One of my most favorite things to do is to share what God has done for me, and with me for other people.  I am always excited to see what He does.  It makes Him so real, and makes my 'small faith' stronger.  I am always on the lookout for "God Stories" and I love to tell them, so I chose Ephesians 1:6 which says, "All praise to God for His wonderful kindness to us.

I am sitting here this morning looking out my front window.  It's a seemingly gray and dull day - very still with mostly clouds.  As I watch, suddenly but slowly, long rays of sunlight creep across the grass and stay wherever there is not a tree, bush, or rock to block it.

God is like that.  He comes and stays where there is nothing blocking Him.

Victorine All About Birthdays

Good Morning

This is my card for the newest Victorine Originals Challenge found HERE.  This challenge is All About Birthdays and should be easy and fun for everyone.

I used a Victorine image for the lady and one for the sentiment.  She is colored with copics.  Sexy, hey?

The flowers are Tim Holtz Tattered Flower with edges inked and a Prima stuck on top.

The base of the card is a leftover from my stamping group this morning and I ran it through the Cuttlebug.

Check out the site.  There is always a drawing for stamps.

Victorine Challenge #67 Vintage Anything

Hello to Everyone. 

 I hope you are having a wonderful relaxing Labor Day.  I have done nothing but play and sleep today.  Playing includes making cards and this is my card for the Victorine Originals #67 Challenge which is Anything Vintage .  The challenge is located HERE. Each time a winner is chosen and is given a $10 certificate to spend on stamps on the Victorine Originals site.

 I hate to tell you, but I LOVE my card.  I sure had to play with the "smoke bubbles" to get them exactly where I wanted them, but I love how it turned out in the end.  The vintage engine is pretty cool too.  This is a fine lined awesome good quality stamp.  It has a lot of fine details that all show when you stamp it and I am always very impressed. So check out the challenge.

HSCRC13 #15 He Leadeth Me

Hi Everyone, This is my card for the newest Hymn and Scripture Challenge #15 located HERE.  The hymn is He Leadeth Me. I took a little liberty and updated the words to be more modern and more to my liking.  The panel on the left just says, "He Leads Me"  He does and I am so glad for it.  I have to be listening and familiar with His voice to know what He is saying though, and sometimes I am listening to way too many other voices.

When I ask God a question and I get the same answer twice in a very short time, I usually sit up and listen.  For example, I have ben praying for a person for many years.  A couple days ago I was reading a chapter in the morning and really started whining to God as to why my prayers for this person were not answered.  I was reading in Matthew and a note took me to Ephesians 6:12, which says we are fighting against the spiritual forces of evil and our struggle is not really with people.  OK.  I accepted that. The next thing I read is a small devotional book called Jesus Calling.  I read the reading for the day which also referred me to Eph 6:12.  Now I am really listening.  The third thing happened this morning.  We sang a song in church that has a line that says, "the God of angel armies is always by my side".  I can't sing it without crying.  This was all such an encouragement to me to keep praying for the person, and to know that God - who is more powerful than the spiritual forces of evil - is on my side and with Him there, I can't lose.



HSCRC13 #14

This is my card for the Hymn and Scripture Challenge13 #14 located HERE.    I found SO many verses that talked about the Holy Spirit, but finally picked one of the most well known as it's just plain GOOD.

Gal. 5:22 mentions what we would be like if we were constantly filled with the Holy Spirit and not fighting him with our own willfulness.

(love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self control)

The Spirit is the breath of God that breathes Spiritual life into us when we believe.  God breathes the life into all living things and I have represented this with the flower.  I am always very inspired by God's creation in nature.  Flowers are beautiful and anyone whose life is controlled by the Spirit of God is beautiful too.