SALT Bi-Weekly Challenge - HYMNBOOK

This week it was Lythan's turn to set the challange over at SALT and she chose to have us create something based on our favorite hymn. (You can read her entire blurb on the SALT blog)

This was an easy challenge! I love a whole lot of hymns but my favorite is a no-brainer! :-)

Page 271 in the Trinity Hymnal, which focuses on the church and the amazing grace of Christ. The hymn was written by Isaac Watts in 1707 and the scripture verse noted above the hymn is Luke 14:16, "A certain man made a great supper, and bade many." (This parable, found in Luke, is well worth a thoughtful read...)

The beautiful lyrics to the hymn mentioned are below:

How sweet and awful is the place, with Christ within the doors,

While everlasting love displays the choicest of her stores.

While all our hearts and all our songs, join to admire the feast;

Each of us cry with thankful tongues, "Lord, why was I a guest?"

Why was I made to hear thy voice, and enter while there's room,

When thousands make a wretched choice, and rather starve than come?

'Twas the same love that spread the feast, that sweetly drew us in;

Else we had still refused to taste, and perished in our sin.

Pity the nations, o our God, constrain the earth to come;

Send thy victorious Word abroad, and bring the strangers home.

We long to see they churches full, that all the chosen race

May with one voice and heart and soul, sing they redeeming grace.

Makes me weepy every time I sing it! As soon as I get to "why was I a guest", I'm done... :-)

Now onto my fun little suitcase! I'm thankful to Valerie Stangle, a Splitcoast Stampers regular, for the suitcase idea! She included a link to the template, which you can find here, and that I used to create my suitcase. This is a tiny suitcase, about 3" W x 1.75" H.

Once I cut out the suitcase template from SU!'s River Rock cardstock, I stamped the bottom and top portions of the suitcase and then assembled the pieces. The bottom piece was stamped using SU!'s Print Pattern and Canvas background stamps and the top was created using another SU! set, All Aboard. I then aged my corners..because I can't even help myself! The handle was created using a piece of a SU! retired fancy fibers set, which was thread through two Old Olive eyelets. The last piece of the puzzle was to attach two pieces of ribbon, which wrapped around the entire suitcase, and was held together with two small pieces of Hodgepodge Hardware.

To showcase that good 'ol Hymn 271, I used my copy machine to shrink down the hymn to about 50%. I then torn, crumbled, and aged the edges of my sheet of music. Kind of made me think of someone stumbling upon an old suitcase, perhaps found in a Grandmother's attic, where this beautiful piece of music was found. Like finding old love letters...

We'd love to see what you create based upon this week's challenge. Hop on over to the SALT blog and leave us a comment with a link back to your blog or gallery!

Happy singing!