JOY to the World ...

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called ... 

...Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

... through the eyes and hearts of children ...

I am incredibly blessed to be grandma to 8 wonderful children ... and one of my favorite things to do leading up to Christmas is seeing them in their Church and/or School Christmas Pageants!

This is just one little sample of what I've been blessed with this past week!

"On the first day of Christmas .... "

 Considering this is the beginning of the proverbial “12 days of Christmas” … this absolutely has to be today's music pick … even if this song annoys you, I challenge you not to enjoy this version by "Straight No Chaser” - an incredibly talented men's a-cappella group.

Gabriel’s Message

This song is absolutely beautiful ... these YouTube versions are obviously not as good as the recorded ... but a wonderful song live with meaningful lyrics:

The Angel Gabriel from heaven came
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flames
"Oh hail" has said he to Holy Maiden Mary
Most highly favored maid … Gloria

Foreknown a blessed mother thou shalt be
For generations loan and honnaly
Thy son shall be Immanuel th'as years forsawt =(forseen)
Most highly favored maid … Gloria

The gentle Mary neatly bowed the head
"To me, be as it pleaseth God" she said
"My soul shall whole and magnify this holy maid"
Most highly favored maid … Gloria

Of her Immanuel, the Christ was crossed
His Bethlehem all honor Christmas ghost
As everyone through out the world will Heaven save
Most highly favored maid … Gloria

Another live performed version is here ...

Songs of the Season!

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the MUSIC!  There are so very many absolutely wonderful songs that celebrate the true meaning of CHRISTmas.  And I think it's pretty amazing that even people who may not consider themselves "Christian" ... or even religious ... join in and sing songs of adoration and praise to the and about the ONE who we celebrate.  


I am going to attempt to ration down my favorites to a special "pick of the day" over the next couple of weeks.  So here - to satisfy the "rocker girl" in me (hahaha) is today's choice:  Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Canon Rock

Star of Wonder

Even after creating 17 pages for the CPA book (see post below :)  I loved these colors and design so much ... AND they helped me get into the Spirit of the Season ... I created 9 ATCs!  

But now I have to clean up my living room - which has been (and is) my craft space ... and get the decorations up!

Glorifying and Praising God!

I am a member of several Paper Arts Groups ... one which is Christian Paper Artists ... I joined their Christmas Story Chunky Book project and created 17 identical pages based on Luke 2:20 ... here is the end result (of my submission!)  Each page is between 3” and 4” in size.   I've mailed it off to the host who will put everyone's pages together into a 17-page coil bound book and mail each one their own book!  Can't wait to have the whole project in my hand to admire and enjoy!

The phrase "glorifying and praising God" stood out for me when I choose Luke 2:20 as my contribution to this project. One of my favorite backgrounds to work on is paint chips - so when I found one with the color "night watch" it was perfect!

I have a beautiful swirly star stamp which I embossed with silver glitter along with a cross and star stamp, added a punch star and 2 small tags: one has ""Yeshuat Tsion" which means both "salvation from Zion" and "salvation to Zion."  The other tag has an image of 4 dancing/worshipping shepherds and on the back says "The Original Praise Team." 

The back of the page shows an old map of the region.