He Is Risen

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Today is the day set aside among Christians to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ because in that act, we believe that He accomplished what His Father sent Him to do - to come into the world as Savior and present himself a living sacrifice so that all men who believe on His name would be saved (delivered from their sins) and be able to live eternally with Him. 

So what was so different about Jesus' death?  The fact that He was and is the only perfect sacrifice.  The high priests before Him always offered sacrificial lambs for the sins of the people, but Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because He knew no sin and by Him giving His life, there was no longer a need for anymore animal sacrifices.  It was done, once and for all.

But in addition to the fact that He died, we believe that He rose from death, conquering total victory over death, hell, and the grave.  That is why we call Him a living Savior.  And we know that because He lives, we too can have true life and be resurrected from our own sinful ways.  That gives us hope. 

So this is why this Easter "holiday" is so important.  It's a day of remembrance for what Christ did way back on Calvary and what He continues to do for His people today.  It is one of the fundamental points in the Christian faith.  So, even though different denominations may have varying viewpoints here and there, one thing that connects us is the fundamental truth that Jesus died and rose from the dead so that we can have eternal life with Him.  What a blessing!

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For those who celebrate, Happy Easter!

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How to Create a Blog Button with PicMonkey {Tutorial}

Hi friends!  Today I decided to create a new blog button using PicMonkey.

<div align="center"> <a href="http://artisticexpressionsbyelisabeth.blogspot.com/" title="Artistic Expressions by Elisabeth" target="_blank"><img src="http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t130/kreativedesigner/aeeblogbutton.jpg" alt="Artistic Expressions by Elisabeth" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
You want to know how?

To Create the Basic Part of the Blog Button:

1. Take a picture of yourself or get a friend to do so.  The one I used for this button is from my trusty cell phone.  :-)
2. Open PicMonkey.  
3. Click on "Create a Collage" and click on the "x" on the right side of the collage so that you only have the background divided into two parts.  Then re-size which ever side you want to place your photo image on.
4. Under the "Photos" tab, click on upload images to upload your image of choice.
5. Drag that image to the largest section of your collage.
6. To create a colorful background where your text will appear, click on the "Swatches" tab and select the background of choice, then drag it into the smaller space on the collage.
7. Save the image.

 To Add Text to the Button:

1. Exit out of the collage section of PicMonkey and open up the "Edit Photo" section.
2. Upload your image.
3. To create text, click on the "P" on the left side of the screen.  That will allow you to add text.  Click on the text font you desire and then type your blog title in the text box.  You can rotate it and re-size it according to your specs.
4. The size at this point will be too large for a blog button, so if you click on the "Resize" button underneath the "Basic Edits" tab you can re-size the image to 200 x 200 pixels.
5. Save the image.

To Create the Blog Code:

1. Upload your blog button to a site that will create a url.  I use Photobucket.
2. I use the free website "Grab My Button Code Generator."
3. Once you get to the code generator site, this site tells you the easy peasy steps to perform to create your blog button code.  This works for Blogger or Wordpress based on which button you choose.
4. Once you get the code, copy it and paste it into an HTML gadget in your template or wherever you want your code to appear.
5. My piece of advice:  Save that code in a Word document, email or somewhere so you can access it without creating another code, but creating another code really is simple if anything should go wrong.

Hope this helps!

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Cara Box Reveal {March 2013}

This month I participated in my first Cara Box Exchange.   I really enjoyed getting to know Lindsey (of Life on Countryside) - the one who was sending me my Cara Box and Lauren (of The Crafty Ginger) - the one I was sending a Cara Box to.

For the month of March we were instructed to create a box of items that matched the personality of the person you were sending a box to.  AND, the items had to start with the first letter of their first name.  Lindsey did a fantastic job!

Here's what I received:

... and a very encouraging letter with inspirational quotes from Live Life Happy.

If you want to see what I sent Lauren, you can check it out here.

Happy Crafting.

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