On the 8th tag of Christmas...

my inspiration tag

a close-up of the ribbon,wire wrapped holly

Santa Claus!!!

A close up of my snowflakes and clock pieces

First of all, let me thank each one of you who might happen across my blog and stop in for a visit. I blog hop and sometimes leave comments or begin to follow but many times I just read and enjoy and move on. So if you are like me, thanks for stopping by and I do hope your time was well spent. On today's tag...Tim's tag was a little out of my comfort zone - actually a lot out of my comfort zone. It's funny how we gravitate to what is comfortable, fitting, goes with our sense of style, even in the world of art, especially in the world of art. Yet, I loved Tim's tag and at the same time, it challenged me to go beyond what I normally do. In fact for today's tag, I had very little if any of the things he used. I did have the inks, paper, grungeboard -but that was it! Still wanting to use his tag as an inspiration - I needed to reach way out...the finished tag still is as "Steampunk" as his but it does have some of the elements. Clock pieces, staples, a little more of an industrial feel than that of sentiments with flowers and fluff. So it was very fun and I loved it! My comfort zone just got a wee bit bigger. So here are a few switches...

*For the gears and watch pieces, I used a sizzix BIGZ die of a snowflake and then some smaller snowflake dies along with a silver and rhinestone brad (ok, so not so industrial, but I tried)

* For the stamp of the men, I most definitely did not have that stamp so of course I used dear old St. Nick with a little rhinestone on his cap and a little bit of snow cap paint around the outline.

*My 25 was used in place of his word element and I did add holly and some crystal chandelier prisms with the ribbon.

*For the ribbon, I swiped the distress inks that I used for the back ground and then misted with water, scrunched and heat set..and voila, custom colored ribbon.

This tag was a reminder to me that I can't always stay where I am comfortable, sure and at times even rest on my laurels. There are times in life that stretch us, make us grow and show us that we really can do more than we believe to be possible. Times such as births, family transitions, new jobs, new places, new people are some of those stretch times. My hands can turn the pages of the Bible and find people who were comfortable and then God took hold of their lives and stretched them to be more, do more and believe more. Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, Jeremiah, Paul, Peter, Mary, Martha are just a few of those comfortable people. These people and many others, from scripture and even those in your midst are here to show us that God can accomplish the impossible- He has power that is limitless and righteous filled with love. He wishes to make us more than we think we can be- He chooses to take us beyond the comfort of what we have always done but to create what he knows we can do. Perhaps it as simple as speaking a good word to a stranger, giving of our time when time is precious. No matter what it is there is one thing that is certain, when God chooses to move in us it will be something we have never done and it will be quite comforting in the end as we know God is with us each step of the way...that is true comfort!