I'm Not Finished With You Yet

I have loved reading Max Lucado's Hermie: A Common Caterpillar to each of my children throughout the years. As Hermie, a "common" caterpillar with seemingly no noteworthy characteristics, repeatedly asks why God made him so plain, God answers again and again, "Be patient, Hermie, I'm not finished with you yet." By the end of the story, you can guess, Hermie has become a butterfly. Whenever I read Philippians 1:6, I can't help but think of Hermie and his transformation. We're all works in progress, something I would do well to remember every time my perfectionism rears its ugly head!

Philippians 1:6 is the newest Scripture stamp in Verve's Plain Jane collection. I love the font treatment Julee has put together -- it feels so dainty and sweet. I die-cut the sentiment with a Spellbinders Lacey Circle die, sponged the perimeter (with the die in place), and accented with two red mini roses and some foliage (stamped with a leaf image from Bloom & Grow, then die-cut with Verve's Elegant Leaves die). The papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Odd & Ends 6x6 Mini-Deck. I'm just loving the combination of the tiny red flower pattern and the blue polka dot print. The layout is from Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #18 from a couple of weeks ago -- great sketch!

The card as I've shown it above is a slightly re-worked version of a card I made for Verve's most recently release. I wasn't all that happy with the original (it just felt like it was missing something), and in the process of doctoring it up, I was reminded of the "Less Is More/More is More" comparisons the SCS Dirty Girls upload to the Fan Club gallery each month. I thought it might be fun to show both!

Here's the original:

Changes I made:
+ switched to a Kraft card base for a little more contrast
+ added a strip of red double-stitched ribbon behind the twine, again for more contrast and "pop"
+ stitched along the embossed ridge on the Lacey Circle

Sentiment detail, before:

Sentiment detail, after:

And after all that, I'm still not sure I like it any better than the first one! Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it, it's just not my favorite card ever :)

Hope your week is off to a great start! I'm pre-posting, so if all has gone as planned, I'm sitting on a beach in North Carolina soaking up some rays. Doctor's orders, too {*grin} -- my Vitamin D levels are extremely low! That'll surely go on my "you know you're stamping too much when ..." Top 10 list -- teehehe!



Stamps: Philippians 1:6 Plain Jane; Bloom & Grow (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream and Kraft card stock; Cosmo Cricket Odds & Ends dp
Ink: Versafine Onxy Black, Versamagic Wheat and Tea Leaves, Brushed Corduroy Distress
Accessories: Verve Elegant Leaves Die, Recollections mini roses, Spellbinders Lacey Circles Nestabilities and scalloped border die, sewing machine, Papertrey twine, Pizazz Aplenty pearls, Papertrey ribbon, paper piercer/needle/thread
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"