ODBDSLC204 - Shabby Chic Inspiration

This week's challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs, ODBDSLC204, is a picture inspiration challenge to create a Shabby Chic card. Shabby Chic is definitely not something I find easy to make and I can say I was definitely challenged when making this card!
This is what I came up with:

These are the pictures to be inspired by:

They both are lovely pictures however something about the bottom one caught my eye - I loved the brown and cream with touches of purple and my mind just thinks of hints of gold too. I featured a verse on my card this week - Psalm 40:2 from Our Daily Bread Designs' Scripture Collection 12. I have stamped in clear ink then heat embossed with gold EP. The verse is diecut with ODBD Vintage Labels. I then stamped some hints of the morning glory around the edge from the Our Daily Bread Designs Glory set (newly released this month) and coloured them with Copic markers.

For the rest of my card I have diecut some pieces from the ODBD Rustic Beauty Paper Collection using ODBD Vintage Flourish Pattern Dies, ODBD Ornate Hearts Dies and ODBD Fancy Foliage Dies.

For more inspiration for this challenge please visit my talented design team sisters:

Linda Carson ~ Diana Nguyen

Cheryl Scrivens ~ DJ Rants ~ Robin Clendenning

To see all the creations from the designers in one place or to join the challenge, click here. You have until 8 pm Sunday, 1 June EST (or 8 am Monday, 2 June AWST) to join us. For this challenge you may use any stamps but if you have any Our Daily Bread Designs stamps we would love to see you use them! If you participate you have the chance to win a $15 gift certificate toward ODBD stamps at their store or to be "spotlighted" for the Shining the Light Award (the Shining the Light Award is only for those who use ODBD stamps).

We would love to see your creations!!

Psalm 40:2 from ODBD Scripture Collection 12 bordered by ODBD Glory
and diecut with ODBD Vintage Labels Dies

ODBD Ornate Hearts and Fancy Foliage Dies
using the gorgeous new ODBD Rustic Beauty Paper Collection

I am currently studying the book of Psalms during a 6 week night course though Trinity Theological College with Jamie Houghton being the lecturer. It has only just started but I am so excited about it all already. We had a general introduction and overview of Psalms in week 1 and I wanted to share a little bit about what I learnt.

The book of Psalms, according to Martin Luther, is like a "...Little Bible, wherein everything contained in the entire Bible is beautifully and briefly comprehended, and compacted into an enchiridion or Manual"*. We should study the book of Psalms because it is God's word for us and it is about Jesus! 

We are to read the book of Psalms as:

(a) a Christian book (because it is about Jesus and for those who trust in Him);

(b) as one book made up of a collection of 150 psalms;

(c) as a collection of 150 individual songs and prayers that are different yet similar;

(d) as individual poems; and 

(e) as prayers from the heart.

To expand a bit more on points (b) - (e):

There are books within the book of Psalms! There is an introduction (Psalms 1 and 2), Books 1 through 5 (Psalms 3 - 41, 42-72, 73-80, 100-106 and 107-145) and then a conclusion (Psalms 146 - 150). It appears that the book of Psalms is an intentional collection of prayers with a clear purpose and unified message rather than a random collection of haphazard prayers that has just been thrown together. 

The book of Psalms is made up of different kinds of Psalms arising from different kinds of prayer that fall within a pattern of: praising God for His works and character (hymns), requests for help (laments) and thanking God for His help (thanksgiving). (There are some other types which include Messianic/Kingship and Wisdom/Torah/law; and as you delve into each "type" they can be subdivided even further.) There is a pattern through the Psalms of life's ups and downs but it has a progress of "moving forward" which tends to reflect the walk of our Christian life.

It was interesting to hear in the lecture that each Psalm is made up of stanzas and lines in poetic form that is hard to see when translated into English (i.e. one verse in English is not always one "line" in Hebrew poetry). Hebrew poetry is generally succinct - as an example, 7 hebrew words being translated into approximately 19 English words, for one of the verses in Psalms. The core of Hebrew poetry is a two-part structure called parallelism (although sometimes there is only one part, or three or four :-) ). Parallelism is one thought expressed two ways but it can also work where the line might be ' "a", whats more "b" '. Hebrew poetry also uses metaphors and imagery to convey meaning. For example the word "shield" is used to convey the message of God being our refuge or protector in Psalm 3:3. Have a look at the verse I used on my card this week (Psalm 40:2) - what imagery can you see there?

Psalms are also prayers - even Jesus used them (see Psalm 22). Prayer means to request or to ask but more broadly prayer is about talking to God. Psalms give us the words that we need to address God when we want to praise and thank Him and even when we are feeling down/bad. God gives us these words so that we can be honest with Him about how we feel yet they keep us focused on what is truly important - Jesus.

I challenge you this week to pick up your Bible and read some Psalms. Our "homework" this week is to read Psalms 1 - 25 and to look for echoes or conceptual links in them. I am looking forward to delving deeper into this book of the Bible in the coming weeks and hope to share some of it each week with you.

Please note that not all of the words above are mine and some are taken from the lecture notes for the course.

*Martin Luther - from the preface to the Revised Edition of the German Psalter (1531)

I am entering this card in Word Art Wednesday #133 - Anything Goes.


Materials List
Copics:
   Morning Glory -  BV000, BV00, BV01
   Leaves - G43, G46
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Scripture Collection 12 and Glory
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Lulu Lavender, Distress Ink Walnut Stain, Forest Moss and Embossing Ink
Cardstock and DP: X-Press It blending card, Bazzill Textured Bitter Chocolate, ODBD Rustic Beauty Collection
Dies: ODBD Vintage Labels Dies, ODBD Vintage Flourish Pattern Dies, ODBD Ornate Hearts Dies and ODBD Fancy Foliage Dies
Other: Artee gold embossing powder, Frantage Shabby White embossing powder, Websters Pages - Game On trim Classic Natural, Faith Hope Love charm, Creativ gold metallic leaves, Prima Marketing flowers, X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape, X-Press It double sided tape and Helmar 450 quick drying glue.