Whimsical Wednesday Challenge: Inspiring Words

Happy Wednesday, sweet friends! :o)

Guess what today is? It's another Whimsical Wednesday! :o) The Whimsical Wednesday challenge this week is Inspiring Words. The requirements are to create a card or project inspired by one of the words in the following photograph and to include that word somewhere on your creation.

My sentimental heart fell in love with this challenge and I knew I needed something extra special for it. It ended up being my first step card and my first real attempt at using Copics. My inspiration was quickly ignited by the rock designated as FAITH. Equally speedy came the idea for my card. I was compelled to use it as an outlet for a personal battle. Faith: He will deliver. That is the purpose behind my card. The Lord will deliver me from my injuries and I absolutely will dance again. Not only did this one creation stir my belief, but it serves as a declaration to myself and to Him. He will deliver me... and He can deliver you from any tribulation you face.

"You can dance anywhere, if only in your heart."

The main storyline is that if we take a step back and let God take the lead, He will deliver, heal, provide, etc. But we need to entrust ourselves to Him, believing Him to be our faithful protector and provider. There are a few things going on here, so I'm including a closer picture of each section with its individual part of the story. I promise to understand if you don't have time to read through all the details... I'm just thrilled you stopped by to check out the main card image! :o)

Faith... the most important part of this card. I cut out a heart with my Cricut and weaved pristine white ribbon atop it, just as faith needs to be woven into every aspect of our life. With my MS pen, I wrote FAITH across the center because we need to write the Word upon our hearts. Writing on this ribbon was a bit messy due to the ink instantly spreading. There were other options to make it neat, but I chose this route because it reflects how we sometimes finally surrender and entrust everything to Him. We're a complete mess. For the background, I typed up some Scripture from Psalms 31 and 91 and stamped it with a lovely agapanthus design.

Here is our sweet little star... fully trusting, patiently waiting for her prayers to be answered. I confess I am thrilled with how she turned out. As I sat down to color her this past weekend, I panicked a bit, wondering why in the world I was using a Design Team project for my first cute stamp attempt. Then I decided it's rather lovely to share in every part of the creative journey, as I often do on my relatively young blog. I don't really think my initial Copic usage (outside of a failed flower attempt), could have gone much better. I am ecstatic! There are mistakes of course, but I don't even see them anymore... I'm wisely focusing on the positives. :o) I love her! I used every single one of my beginner collection of markers. Hehe.

She's framed in Flower Soft for a pretty textural element, plus it goes so well with the beautiful image. It shows up better if you click on the picture for a closer look.. you'll also better see the Stardust sparkles I used throughout the stamp. For the middle step I made a simple lace flower to coordinate with the ballet costume and centered it with a Tim Holtz button. The front step simply holds the all-important sentiment. Despite being sidelined for far too long, I can still dance in my heart... it's one of my favorite "anonymous" dance quotes.

Finally, the last segment! I used textured cardstock, sheer glitter ribbon, lacy ribbon, and rhinestones to make a romantic-length tutu... a visual reminder of what awaits in my future. Naturally, I couldn't resist lining the ruffle layers with more Stardust. Beneath the tutu is a layer of the same glitter ribbon as the sparkling V-shaped overlay on the bodice, so in person there's a lot of sparkle showing through. It's gorgeous. I don't have any cartridges with dress forms, so I looked up some online and drew elements from the ones found on Nifty Fifties and Forever Young. I'm a huge fan of white-on-white, so I trimmed the bottom of the dress form with liquid pearls. It seemed fitting for such an elegant ballet costume. :o)

Lastly, a side view to show you the levels/dimension that come about when creating a step card. They're such fun! Despite being such a highly personal card, this is also one of the most wonderful for me to give away. It's always special to create a card tailored to someone else's tastes, knowing what makes their hearts tick. But sometimes one of the most lovely gifts to give is a peek deep into the innermost recesses of your own heart. I hope she loves it. :o)

I hope you'll play along with us this week by linking up your creations at the Whimsical Wednesday Weekly Challenge post! I'm eager to see your unique takes on this fantastic challenge. Our sponsor for this week's prize is Barb from BugBites, who is generously donating her new All Year Round stamp set to one lucky winner. :o) Thank you, Barb!

Be sure to dance on over to the rest of the Design Team's blogs to check out their wonderful projects. :o) Thank you for visiting me and I wish you a day bursting with sunshine and sparkles. :o)

Key Recipe Components:
 * Cricut cartridges: Classic Font (for heart), Elegant Edges
 * Cuttlebug embossing folders: Polka Dots, Swiss Dots
 * Paper: Core'dinations, Papertrey Ink, Wausau (a lovely inexpensive option for Copic work, found at Michaels in a jumbo 250 pack... 40% coupon eligible!)
 * Stamps: Agapanthus Long (Stampendous), Sweet Blossom (Wee Stamps)
 * Copic colors: E00, E02, RV13 (skin); YR 12, YR31 (hair); RV10, RV13, RV14, BV0000, BV01 (clothing, flowers, purple butterfly); E31, E37 (furry friend); BG11, BG15 (blue butterfly)
 * Ribbon: Casa Collection Special Occasion (sheer glitter); Essentials (white); Wrights (black lace)
 * Button: Tim Holtz Fanciful Buttons
 * Miscellaneous: Dew Drop Brilliance Ink, Flower Soft (in Fuchsia); iRock, Liquid Pearls, Stickles