Can you feel the magic of the Christmas season approaching? It’s here! While I know that sometimes Christmas is hard, it’s that time of the year when we want to infuse joy, warmth, and a sprinkle of creativity into some unforgettable memories. As we kick off December, we are thrilled to introduce our latest tool for creating your own Christmas wonderland – the Pastel Gingerbread Clipart Collection, now available in my shop!
🎨 Unveiling the Delightful Pastel Palette
Our Pastel Gingerbread Clipart Collection is not your traditional festive fare. We’ve added a touch of whimsy with a pastel palette that brings a fresh and modern spin to the classic gingerbread charm. Imagine soft mint greens and dreamy pinks adorning your Christmas projects. Whether you’re designing greeting cards, invitations, or DIY decor, these whimsical gingerbread illustrations are sure to add a dash of sweetness and sophistication.
More Than Just Clipart: Unleashing Your Creativity 💡
But wait, I want to do more than just introduce our new clipart collection. We want to help you on your creative journey. With this in mind, here are some bonus tips to elevate your holiday designs and make the most of our Pastel Gingerbread Clipart:
1. Mix and Match Textures: Combine our clipart with various textures like watercolor backgrounds, glitter overlays, or even rustic paper for a multidimensional effect.
2. Create Cozy Holiday Scenes: Build heartwarming holiday scenes by pairing our gingerbread characters with complementary elements like snowflakes, hot cocoa mugs, and twinkling lights.
3. Personalize Your Projects: Infuse your unique style by customizing the clipart with personalized touches, such as adding names, dates, or even turning them into adorable holiday avatars.
4. DIY Gift Tags and Labels: Elevate your gift-giving game by incorporating our clipart into DIY gift tags and labels. It’s a thoughtful touch that makes presents even more special.
5. Share the Joy: Spread the festive cheer by using the clipart to create digital wallpapers, social media posts, or e-cards to share with friends and family.
Where to Find Our Pastel Gingerbread Clipart 🎁
Ready to embark on a journey of festive creativity? Visit my Etsy shop to explore the Pastel Gingerbread Clipart Collection and unlock a world of artistic possibilities.
Though Christmas is supposed to be the “season of joy”, we don’t always feel it, do we? Or is it just me? Today I have for you 24 beautiful Words from Scripture to encourage you this Christmas season.
Some causes of discouragement
So many things can discourage us at Christmas time. For some it is simply that life goes on. Maybe this has been a hard year. Loss of a job or a loved one carries into December. A child gone astray or anxiety pull at your heart. It could be as simple as being in the middle of child training and Mommy-ing… and there is never a day off. Just because Thanksgiving has come and gone doesn’t make these things magically disappear. Life can be hard, and that makes Christmas all the harder because it’s supposed to be joyful, isn’t it? That’s what our culture tells us anyway.
I remember one particularly difficult Christmas season in my own life. My 6th baby had been born in September and I had 5 other children 9 and under. I was so overwhelmed that joy was hard to find. To top it off, I felt the lack of “Christmas joy” and it only compounded my struggle. I’ve been there! I’ve felt it and I certainly could have used some encouragement that year!
What to do when it’s not
God’s Word tells to be still and know that He is God. (Psalm 46:10)
That He keeps those in perfect peace whose mind is focused on Him. (Isaiah 26:3)
To let the Word of God “dwell in you richly”. (Colossians 3:16)
These are the Sunday school answers, right? Who has time for this? With young ones running around getting into everything, how can we be still? Wish so many of us mamas struggling to focus on our daily tasks, how can we stay focused on God? And when are we supposed to find time to be spending time in God’s Word?
First, let me remind you that this is a season… whatever season this is for you. Mamas to young ones? This is a season. They will eventually get older (I speak from experience.) Are you suffering from loss or hopelessness? Time (and God) can help heal your wounds. Whatever chaos or hardship you find yourself in, it won’t last forever.
But what about now?
“Great! It’s just a season”, you may be thinking to yourself, “but what am I supposed to do right now? How do I get through this Christmas season?”
This year, maybe it would be easier to start with little bits! I have here 24 quick and easy thoughts from Scripture to give you a little daily truth to remember, to think about through your day. If you have more time than that, spend some time meditating on the verses. Use them as a devotional time or journal prompt. Just one each day.
24 Christmas Reminders to Help You Through the Season
Abide in Him John 15:4 ~ “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
God gave you Jesus for Christmas John 3:16 ~ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
In God’s presence there is complete joy Psalm 16:11 ~ “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Christ in alive in you Galatians 2:20 ~ “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
He is the Good News of great joy Luke 2:10 ~ “And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.'”
God’s love will never end Lamentations 3:22 ~ “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.”
Salvation is God’s gift to you Ephesians 2:8-9 ~ “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Jesus bring peace for anxiety John 16:33 ~ “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
God will supply all you need Philippians 4:19 ~ “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
God is enough 2 Corinthians 12:9 ~ “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'”
Jesus came to seek and to save Luke 19:10 ~ “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
God’s timing is perfect Galatians 4:4 ~ “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.”
Do not be anxious Philippians 4:6-7 ~ “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Peace comes when we focus on Him Isaiah 26:3 ~ “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
Nothing is impossible with God Luke 1:37 ~ “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
God’s got this Isaiah 41:10 ~ “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.”
God is always faithful 2 Timothy 2:13 ~ “If we are faithless, he remains faithful-for he cannot deny himself.”
Every good and perfect gift is from above. James 1:17 ~ “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
God’s gifts are free Romans 6:23 ~ “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Jesus will give you rest Matthew 11:28 ~ “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Thank God for His amazing gifts 2 Corinthians 9:15 ~ “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
God’s way is perfect Psalm 18:30 ~ “This God – his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”
Be still and know that He is God Psalm 46:10 ~ “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
God will provide the way 1 Corinthians 10:13 ~ “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
The take away
Life is hard and too often the Christmas season simply highlights that instead of bringing the joy it promises. Use these little reminders to help you walk through the Christmas season with purpose. Read one each day, meditate on them, use them as devotions, Bible studies, or journal prompts. I hope they are a blessing.
Something extra
I’ve taken each of these little reminders, these encouraging words, and created little advent cards with them (examples are throughout the post) that you can use to walk through December. Read one a day, let them inspire Bible study or devotions, use them as a journal prompt, memorize them or just tuck them away to think about throughout the day. I made 24 so that you could count down to Christmas, but use them any way you like. You can find them in my Etsy shop.
Is this a particularly difficult Christmas season for you? Can you remember one in particular that was hard? Please share it in the comments if you are comfortable. I would love to pray for you! Not only might it encourage another reader, sharing your pain can be a powerful step in healing!
Do you know someone who could use the encouragement this Christmas? Please share this post.
Things have been busy here these last few weeks. I’m half through three family birthdays and our church’s women’s retreat. One birthday and the retreat left to plan, prep and set up for in the next couple weeks. Please don’t think that’s all I’ve been up to though. I’ve also been working on something new for the shop (hint: it’s there now, more details coming in another post) and Husband surprised me with something crazy (uh, scary???) a week or so ago. Oh, and I was sick all last week. But back to the scary part.
It probably won’t sound so scary to you, but here it is… Husband purchased a mamasbrush domain name and hosting for my blog! I came down from getting the kids in bed (not for the faint of heart with 6 kids !) and he’d done it already. So sweet! And so scary!
The trick is that it isn’t so easy to switch from a free wordpress blog to a self hosted one. We are still figuring out if we can do it without loosing all my Pinterest links and you my precious followers! That’s the scary part. A good percentage of you all come from Pinterest every day and we don’t yet know how to do a seemless redirect. If we did, we would have already transfered everything. It’s already there…. sitting ready to use. I’ve delayed posting here recently (not that I’ve had the time) because I’ll now have to move this post manually to keep it over there.
In light of eternity, this is not a big deal, but as one who has been slowly trying to build up my blog over the years and work hard to use Pinterest, I’d hate to have to start over.
Also, I don’t know how my subscriber list is going to work. I’m researching this still. I know that all of you who have followed me via WordPress Reader will not be transferred, so if you are interested in coming along, please sign up to receive posts via email and I’ll see what I can do.
I’ll keep you posted as to the move so you can come along if you so desire! 🙂
Thanks for your support and encouragement over the years… can’t wait to see what’s around the corner!
This project has been a long time coming, and a lot of original artwork was created to make these extra special! I’ve been wanting to create these Egg Counting Sheets for a few years (ever since I made one for for the month of April a few years back), and the drawing tablet I got for my birthday last fall was just the push I needed! I’ve been working on them for several months and I’m super excited to have them done and ready for your farm or homestead needs!
UPDATE 2023: You can also find these egg counting sheets in my Whole Coop Chicken Mega Bundle with my other chicken products. Click here to find that.
Each page has chicken themed artwork that matches the season. You may recognize the chickens from a fabric design I shared lately (available for sale here.) The chickens from that fabric were originally from these egg counting sheets.
You can keep track of how many eggs you collect each day, any expenses from the month and your gross and net sales (if you sell your eggs.) There is also a section for writing any notes about your chickens or things you need to do or buy.
This past week I participated, again, in the Spoonflower Design Challenge. I love these challenges because they put my art in front of a lot of people, push me to try new things artistically, and they force me to learn more about Adobe Illustrator.
This design is part of a larger project I’ve been working on, my first collection. (It is mostly done and I hope to share it in the near future.)
In the mean time, I changed the color palette to match the theme for this past week’s challenge: Very Peri.
You can find my design on Spoonflower here. And see it on products here.
Do you like my design? Please take a moment to pin this image and/or share it on social media! (Thanks!)
Hello there! I feel like I need to introduce myself. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted. While many of you may have found yourself with extra time this spring and summer during the quarentine, my homeschooling life didn’t change much. While many people blogged about spending their extra time learning new skills or being crafty, I was wrapping up one school year and starting another (why we homeschool year round), and this time, I’m homeschooling all six kids! Yes, six kids, 9th grade down to kindergarten. And only one of them works independently! That’s another story for another blog… someday.
At any rate, I did warn you that blogging is something I do in my spare time… and there hasn’t been much of late. Or I filled it with something else. 🙂 I have been saving things to share though, whenever I do have time.
Today I wanted to take a few minutes to share a few pictures of the Christmas Market the kids and I participate in at our church. It was a great year, maybe the best we’ve had. 47 vendors and more than 600 people came out this year… it was a moment for them to get out and enjoy some Christmas cheer!
I was happier with the set up this year than I thought I was going to be. We were supposed to have 2 tables, but I just wasn’t happy with it, so we moved the shelves onto a piano bench and put it behind the table. I also propped up my chalkboard behind the table so I could lean the signs on it. This opened up a lot of room on the table and everything came together nicely!
We had so many new things this year too! I got a Cricut Explore Air 2 for Christmas last year and finally got to play with it a bunch this fall in preparation for the market. Many of our new items were done with vinyl. Most of those were done with my own designs. It was so much fun!
This is one of my favorite new products. Sorry the pic isn’t great. And yes, that is my 12 year old weeding vinyl (for those of you who are savy in Cricut speak) in the background. This idea was born from my own groanings and prayers earlier this year. I was struggling with being content with our unfinished home. It happens sometimes. My husband has a lot of demands on his time and progress is sometimes slower than I like (since I was unrealistically hoping to be doe a couple years ago.) At any rate, while I was praying, God placed this idea in my head and heart… that our home is like our hearts, a work in progress.
Mugs were one of the things I was really excited about. I had two designs: “Let’s meet over coffee. -God” and “You are not enough – I AM”. Sadly, I don’t have any close up pics of the other one, but you can see them a little in the pic of the table.
I was really excited about the wood bead garlands. I’ve been dreaming of my own for a long time now, gushing all over Pinterest looking at everyone else’s. I wasn’t sure if I’d sell any, but I wanted them for me anyway, so I bought a big bag of beads and made 5 or 6 garlands. I figured if I sold a couple, I could buy a new bag of beads to make more for other seasons. Well, I get to. Several sold, I gifted one to my sister for her birthday and I have these two for me. 🙂
I used the extra beads to make these cute wood slice ornaments!
Speaking of ornaments, my girls (12 and 8) made these yoyo ornaments with my mom over the summer to sell at market. I think they did a great job! They were our most popular item!
I’ve also been wanting to make these reverse canvases. The coffee one I designed for my mom’s birthday this summer. I’ve seen similar things online, but they said “fresh brewed and served daily”, and that wasn’t going to do. Mom doesn’t care if it’s fresh, she just wants to drink it all the time. I had to make my own. Hers is applied right onto her coffee pot, but I love the way they turned out on the canvas as well! The other canvas was something I’ve been working on over the last couple years. I like how it turned out.
I haven’t been watching for this, but the other day I stumbled on the fact that I had posted 99 posts so far. That makes this one #100. I thought maybe I’d do something special to celebrate (because I’m all about celebrating small things to keep life interesting), but, like Valentine’s this year (Happy Valentine’s Day by the way!), sometimes life dictates that we keep things simple. Instead of some big plan, this year we are putting heart sprinkles on cinnamon rolls out of a tube and eating heart shaped bacon for breakfast… done. Valentine’s Day celebrated.
Likewise, keeping “100 posts” simple… Thanks for joining me for 100 posts!! There. We celebrated! (I don’t know how to find my top posts anyway.)
On an artsy note, I wanted to share this weeks February prompts. I’m still using the February Prompts from Awesome Alice. I’ll admit, this week was harder for me. And I wasn’t as happy with them as last week. Some more than others. But God rarely uses the perfect things in this world.
Prompt: One of a Kind
Prompt: Love letters
Prompt: Candy
This is a great example of things not going according to plan. I had already filled in several of the hearts when I got pulled away. When I returned and started back at the lettering, I had the black pen in my hand instead of the red. Oops. I had a few choices… tear out the page and start over, give up the whole thing, or leave it as a demonstration that I’m not perfect and that we can press on even when things don’t go our way.
I picked that one. 🙂 I’m not perfect, but Jesus redeemed me. Hopefully He will still use my artwork… even when it’s not perfect (because it rarely is.)
Prompt: You and Me
Prompt: Hopelessly in Love
Prompt: Hugs and Kisses
Prompt: Happy Valentine’s Day
Like I said, these aren’t perfect. I was tempted to get frustrated and embarrassed, and even to keep them to myself. But in the end, I knew I wanted to share them with you. Because God loves to use the imperfect to bring Himself glory. And I hope He is glorified in these!
It’s true for you too, you can be used by God, no matter how flawed you are, if you surrender yourself to Him! 🙂
Thanks to all of you who popped over to vote for me in the last Spoonflower Design Challenge. I didn’t win, but I wasn’t really expecting to either. There were so many amazing designs! I just love how the challenges push me to get better.
I skipped the last challenge (total lack of inspiration for me), but instead took the time to work on this weeks challenge. Spoonflower challenged us to come up with a tea towel design that used a play on words. They wanted it to be punny. I love puns and it just so happened that I had a super rough sketch of this little girl making herself a friend. I made a bunch of changes and polished it up a bit and have entered it in this weeks Designer Challenge. Head over to vote if you want to.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here. Summer is a super busy season for my family, but I have managed to do some hand lettering and painting. I just haven’t managed to post any of it. I am hoping to get caught up in the next few weeks though and to post some of my early things with a fall theme.
I hope you will all enjoy. I am honored that there are 20 of you now following my little blog!!! Thank you!
Have you heard of Spoonflower? It’s a design your own fabric/wallpaper company online. And they have a weekly design challenge I’ve tried to participate in several times this year, but until now, I’ve not quite finished my design by the deadline.
Each week there is a theme, and if you noticed that I said until now, I’ve missed the deadline, you may have figured out that I finally made it with an entry. This weeks theme is calendar tea towel, so I decided to design something using my coffee cups. It’s designed as a fat quarter (if you are familiar with fabric measurements at all), but turned into a tea towel on their website.
You can vote here if you would like… no pressure to vote for me. You may vote as many times as you want… just vote your favorites!
But either way, let me know what you think. I’d love to know!
This was a super fun piece to work on. I made it for my dad for Father’s Day last year. Veggies were on my list of things to try to illustrate and I was really pleased with how it turned out. I’d like to try it again, or even tweak it some. My mom has been hinting, if you can call it that, that she’s love some food illustrations to hang in her kitchen. My project queue is getting long. I have a Cafe themed Women’s retreat I am illustrating and decorating for, and a couple adoption parties and twins to be born in the church. But maybe I’ll get to work with more food and veggies sometime. 🙂
I think the cilantro is my favorite part. And maybe the onion… and the pepper…
Which one of these veggies is your favorite???
Original illustration done on 140 lb. cold pressed paper with watercolor and ink.
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