Words to Ponder

Philippians 4:4-9 (New International Version)

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

These are some of my most favorite verses of the Bible. This was part of my devotional that I had today and I just felt they would be great Words to ponder on.

Thank you to ALL who arae so graciously praying for my hubby and I.

More to come next week!

GOD Bless!
Lorena

HERE Comes the BRIDAL Shower *Sweet BRIDE* Gift

I wanted to spread the word today about a dear friend of mine, Katie of Katies Rose Breeze Boutique. She makes the most darling favors in the shape of my Favorites...ROSES out of....TEA BAGS!!!! YES, that's right!!! And then has all these sweet ideas of ways to sell them.

So...the reason for my post...she made me the most BEAUTIFUL Bride (check at bottom of post for pix) for a Wedding Shower I have been planning. And I wanted to BRAG her stuff up to the Blogging Community. Be sure to click and see her blog and ebay selling sights!

This is part of her line of Bridesmaids...are't they something?
Here she shows the brides and the bridesmaids all together! I just think she is so clever!!!
This is the box I painted in my friends wedding colors. She is doing PINK/Orange Gerbera Daisy's so I added my roses to the box in those colors. Then Katie's Bride was finished off by me with the silk florals that in the front bouquet and back of her head. I am showing you a front and back of the Bride so get the idea. Don't you think she is Beautiful?! I then will fill my box and this is my gift!
Thanks for letting me share with you my dear Friends goodies!
Blessings..Lorena

PRAYER's Please

Well, it has been awhile since I last updated you all on whats been going on in our lives in regards to my hubby's job. My beloved and I, after much prayer are taking possibly this BIGGEST steps of our 23 marrieds years.
After 10 Looooong months of continuous looking for a job, searching the internet High and Low, to no avail. No doors have opened up, no serious interviews, much agnozing and questioning God as to HIS purpose in all of this has gone on.
Prayerfully together we began going down another path. We began with a Franchise finder. We have found something that may be a good fit for us. Mind you, I am NOT looking for a full time job. God knows my frailities and this opportunity would let us work out of our home.
We leave THIS Saturday for a quick 2 day trip to Austin, Texas to visit the Home Office of the Franchise we are thinking of doing. IF, this is where GOD is leading...we urgently could use your prayers. We want complete PEACE from GOD and HIS blessing in moving forward.
I would so much appreciate those who of you who are such GREAT Prayer Warriors and those who have so sweetly continued to keep our family in your prayers to Pray really hard. We need to make a decision by June 30th.

Prayfully Trusting in HIM,
Lorena

ROSES, Who wants to make ROSES?

WARNING: LOTS OF PICTURES IN THE POST!!!

As promised, I did get myself together today and got at least what I hope will be a way for those interested, to begin on their journey of make clay roses.

Before I begin though, I thought I'd be a little shameless here and show you just what I am talking about. What you are about to see is REAL...YES, and I made them all by myself (standing like a sweet 5 year old w/my hands behind my back, smiling up sweetly)... Inside these vintage Quilted Hankie/Glove boxes are Millions...well maybe a few hunderd roses and leaves that I have been making. I have a tendency to never doing anything small..but overdo things.

I do offer my roses for sale in my etsy shop. NOW I just decided to make a special offer for those viewing my sight today. If you wish to purchase any of my roses..let me know in your comments, for $10 I will send you 20 roses in differing sizes and the color of your choice w/leaves, of course.










Oh, I just couldn't resist...this is My sweet Chloe..who has made it her favorite spot to sit on my table top during the day. When I walk in the room she purrrrrs...and comes over for LOVE! Sweet aint' she?

Down to business now:

Making of Clay ROSES:

Supplies: Fimo or Sculpy Clay, I prefer Sculpy

(found at JoAnn's, Michael's or Hobby Lobby)
Sharp edge knife
Wax paper
Plate or tray you can put in oven, I use an old Correll Serving Tray

BAKING OF CLAY: 275 for 15-20 minutes

For the pink that I love, I use HOT Pink with white. Now to get the actual pink I use 3/4 white to 1/4 hot pink.
As you see, I have a paler pink you could use already in this paler shade and you don't have to mix it...its called Ballet Pink...
Once I have blended the 2 colors together, make approximately 7 pieces, which are about 1/2 inch in diameter. Take the first piece and flatten it, this will be your center.
Continue to work the piece and stretching it into a rectangular piece as I have done below.
Being to curl...
Keep going, (sorry bout the blurry pix..hard to take up close, ugh)

Awe....complete..now you have your center!
Okay, now you will flatten each piece for your outter petals. Keep a couple of things in mind... Work in odd numbers for petals, they should get a little bigger as you work on your rose. Also, I do try and flatten the edges by lightly pinching them to make a more delicate edge.
Your first petal sets how the rose will look. Gently wrap the first petal around, trying to keep the top edge of this petal at about even with the center piece. PETALS must slightly overlap as you layer to get the best affect.



As you add your petals, you may be able to pinch the edges and slight curl them. Keep in mind that roses out in nature are not perfect and move and show movement.
Keep flattening and then layering/overlaping them as you go.

See how I have continued to add, layer and gently bend the outter edges of the petal? It helps create a more realistic rose...dontcha think?

So now you have added all of the 6 other petals to your roses!
There should be a big piece underneath that you have been holding on to...so what to do with it?
This is where your straight edge knife comes into play...carefully cut around into, so you create a flat edge for your rose to lay flat on the surface.

This is how much I had left after I cut off the bottom. My rose lays flat.
Then place in a bakeable piece of glass. Bake at 275 for 15-20 minutes. Carefully pull out, let cool and gently take off...
Keep in mind I have made roses for over 20years. I have worked for the last year and become very inspired by another amazing rose artist that I have befriended. I am always tweeking and trying to make them more and more realistic. So if you are just starting, it make take more or less time to begin creating your own style of roses.

MAKING LEAVES:
I often use one color but may mix part with white, to create a lighter version of that same color. I enjoy using the 2 tones of color in my creations to give more depth.
So above you can see the GREEN LEAF in its original tones and then about 1/2 white and 1/2 green...see how much it lightens it?
Using the same pebble of about 1/2 inche...I begin to flatten it.
Then when its about flatten, it try to keep the shape more of an oval...then pink the top edge.
I then may place my leaf on my baking sheet, further press it into the shape of a leaf.
Then take your knife and begin by scoring (not going all the way through) down the center, and then angling downard till it looks life a leaf.

Again, I am so sorry about the burriness of my pictures. I have problems with close ups. But I am hoping you get at least the gist of it.
Did this help? Will you leave me comments and keep me posted if you try this? I'd love to know if I have inspired others to...CREATE!!!!
Blessings...Lorena