"Always Have Hope" Free Printable for the New Year!

Hi Friends :)
Happy New Year to you.

Can you tell I sound tired?  I am.
In fact, I'm always tired :)

I have five kids, I'm a pastor's wife, I'm in my thirties... I guess those are plenty of reasons to be tired.
But this past December I hit an all time low.  I just don't have the physical strength to keep up with my life!  And I'm talking just the basics! ... kids, hubs, food, and semi-clean house!  I have almost completely had to set aside my other ambitions... I long to be creative!  To decorate my house, make things for no real reason, try new recipes, draw, craft with my kids, and DESIGN!!

Why am I telling you this?

Well...  It's because I've become so desperate that I'm actually going to do the one thing that I never wanted to do.  {big dramatic pause}  Get healthy.
There I said it.  And you know it's the reverse implication that's the hard part to admit. I've been unhealthy.  oy.

So I'm ditching the Diet Coke... goodbye friend of 16+ years.
I'm ditching the candy and sweets...
And I'm actually going to eat things that work towards giving me energy instead of zapping it.

Yeah, yeah, I know.  It's nothing mind-blowing.  It's kind of a no brainer, but you have no idea how much I've depending on DC and sugar to get me through life!  ...kinda sad.

I've also started researching how to battle chronic fatigue, thyroid issues, and anxiety with nutrition and supplements.  I've got a lot to learn, but I feel that I'm on the right track.

You see... I've got a job to do.  I'm here to be the best wife possible to my man.  I'm here to raise these 5 kiddos in the knowledge and truth of Christ.  I'm here to testify to anyone within ear-shot of the Grace I've received from my Savior and spur others on in their relationship with him.  And I'm struggling to do my job these days.  So with His help, I've got to get this body of mine back in strong working order!!

So what are you tackling this New Year?
Do you have hope for the days ahead?
I feel like I do.

Well,  here on this poor neglected blog I always share a New Years printable.  I didn't have time or energy to make one :) HA!
So I'm pulling one from my Etsy store...  It will only be available for the month of January here on the blog.

I will always have hope.... for each new day, to tackle the daily mountains and find victory in Christ.
I will always have hope.... for this life.  God has a plan for me and wants to work all things together for the good of those who love him.
I will always have hope.... for what comes after this life.  My hope is ultimately eternal.  Nothing that happens in this world can ever separate me from the love of Christ and what he has in store for those who seek him.

Oh, God help me to cling to the hope I find in you.  Give me the strength to seek you daily.  Give me peace as I cling to you... no matter what happens today or in the year to come....  And help me to boldly proclaim the hope that is only found in your son, Jesus.  I give this year to you....

* simply click on the image and right click to save the image to your computer!  It is a high-resolution 8x10.png  ready to print.  As always this print is for personal use or to give as a gift.  File may not be distributed or used for profit of any kind. 

Blessings and Happy New Year!

A little on the personal side...

My kiddos are growing.  duh.  I know... but isn't it weird how it just hits you one day. 
Today it hit me when I looked down at my son's footie p.j.s. 

 

Lucy's getting big too.

um... she's pulling up on things.  what?!  Clue me in here, didn't I just give birth to her??

Yeah, and she has 4 teeth and has a will of her own already.  Where did those baby-baby days go?

 

She pretty much looks just like my hubs...  Can't you see the mischief in her eyes!?

Oh, yeah... and I wanted to tell you...
I finished my Christmas clip-art sets!  Go take a look... you need to get busy with your Christmas
projects! 

Blessings to y'all!

Amy J Illustrations and Clip Art are Ready!

I want to share some recent work with you!
But first let me tell you, very quickly, how I got to this point:

So I've been doing graphic design for the past 11 years... but not really.  You see I studied graphic design in college because it sounded like fun :)  I knew I wanted to get married and be a stay at home mom, so I figured graphic design might lend itself to that.  Great plan, huh?  Well, God really does work all things together for the good of those who love him... and he took my not so well thought out plans and blessed them.  Almost four years ago, when my husband and I felt called into full-time ministry I decided to take a stab at Etsy and freelance designing.  Up until this point, I had done a few things here and there... but I had not pushed myself or really developed my design skills.  So I dove into Etsy, creating paper goods... note cards, stickers, labels, and art prints.

Since then, God has used my Etsy store to bring clients to me, requesting custom services.  And through this God developed my skills further... clients would ask for specific things and I would have to figure out how to make them!  It was challenging, but so fun.  It has been through these amazing clients, that I fell in love with illustrating.  I used to draw all the time in high school, but had forgotten how enjoyable it could be!  Through conversations with my hubs and a bloggy bff of mine, I decided that perhaps switching my Etsy store over to largely clip art would be more fitting for me.  So I began drawing... and drawing... and drawing.

So today I want to share some of the resulting illustrations with you!  I took out all the scripture prints from my store... but don't worry, many will be returning in a digital downloadable format.  I just haven't had time to switch them over yet.  But for now, take a look at my clip art.  I'm so in love with them all! ... and there are many more illustrations to come, including a few more Christmas sets in the next week or so!

For those of  you who are unfamiliar with modern clip art here's the low down.  Basically my illustrations have been converted to individual images with transparent backgrounds.  They can be inserted into almost any program and used to embellish or create pretty much anything you can imagine!  ...note cards, tags, invitations, announcements, brochures, logos, business cards... not to mentions being used for digital scrapbooking, blog and web graphics.   They are addicting to use!  Basically you can create the same things I do, without all the work! HA!

So next is updating my portfolio... I have tab/page here on my blog for examples of my design work, but it hasn't been updated in forever.  Hopefully sometime soon, I can show you some of my recent freelance work as well.

Here are a couple of my favorite clip art sets... but be sure to go see the rest in my store!

Blessings,

The God of All Comfort

5 years ago I lost a tiny little baby.  She was my sweet Sadie's twin...  Her death rocked my world and changed me.  You can read the whole story here.   In addition to our little Sophie, we have two other babies in heaven....

Many of you have lost babies, too... or know women who have felt the stabbing pain of loss. 

So I hear that October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month. We are fortunate to live in a time where we can connect with other women who have been through similar struggles.

So as one of those women I just want to say, "hi."
I want you to know you're not alone.
I want you to know that the pain does lessen
...and God can heal.

My good friend Malinda is posting about this today.  She says it better than me :)
She's hosting a Giveaway for a print in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month.
I designed it.
It's sweet.
But more importantly than that, it offers real comfort.
Comfort that can only come from our Heavenly Father, found in his Word....

So go on over to her blog and sign up to win one... for  yourself or for a friend. 

Blessings,
Amy J.

Free Cupcake Clip Art

hey friends!
So they say it's my birthday....

so have a cupcake!
You can save this high-resolution birthday cupcake and use it for whatever your creative mind can imagine!...  tags, cards, banners, etc...  fun, fun :)

Speaking of clip art... I also wanted to tell you that I'm making some changes in my Etsy store.   My goal is that by Thanksgiving I will have switched over my store to all digital downloads!  And this will include LOTS and LOTS of CLIP ART like my little cupcake here.  eep!

But this does mean that my art prints will no longer be available for purchasing in their printed form.  So if you've ever considered purchasing one of them... you'd best do it before Thanksgiving!  I will still be offering many of them as digital downloads though... so no tears, please. 

Any who....
Enjoy your cupcake!

 

* Simply click on picture and save to your computer...

*Clip art for personal and small business use only.  File cannot be sold or redistributed. Please give credit where credit is due when using. 

Blessings,

Amy J.

 

My big girl... and my baby girl....

When did this happen?
When did I become the mamma of a 9 year old?  I don't think I'm old enough to have a "tween"!
eek. 
And when did my newborn baby become a loud slobbering rolly thing with teeth?
dunno. 
But it's happening.  My babies are growing up.  And this will be my anthem... for many years to come, I'm sure:  "When did this happen?!"

So bittersweet.
So surreal.
So blessed.

As the days pass,
this is my comfort...
This is my encouragement:

"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.  She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.  She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.  Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.^' Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

Proverbs 31:25-30 

 

 

Printable Jar Labels... for you :)

Hi there :)
I had a friend ask if I'd ever considered making printable jar labels... no.  I hadn't.  Because, you see, I don't have a garden.  I don't can things.  I don't even know when canning season is... surely there are things worth canning in the fall?? (don't laugh at me.)  If not, save them for next summer :)

enough said.

So to save these labels just click on the individual images and save.... they are high-resolution .pngs that can be re-sized to whatever size you need for your jars.  Print on round stickers or sticker paper... whatever! 
*Please do remember... these are for personal use only.  These images/files can not be re-distributed, sold, or used for profit of any kind.  Feel free to pin them, though!


Blessings,