"I'm Beautiful In My Way, 'Cause God Makes No Mistakes..."

"I'm On The Right Track, Baby I Was Born This Way"

How I wish it could be that simple. Lady GaGa is such an inspiration, not just to me but to millions of fans all over the world (her 'little monsters'). She writes really personal lyrics and like Madonna before her she is blazing a trail so bright it's blinding at times. Her music videos are becoming like mini must-see movies and I have started to collect them all so I can watch them again and again. My personal favourite at the moment is Alejandro, there is imagery in there I am still strying to decrypt but there seems to be a strong Francis Bacon inspiration. She uses a lot of religious imagery (again, a lot like Madonna before her) but unlike Madonna who related her mistrust of the church from her own upbringing, GaGa uses it to reafirm her own faith and to show others to question theirs.

I used to be 'made' to go to church on a Sunday morning, this was my Mother's time to lie-in and lister to The Archers in peace and as with any repeated practice it started to become something I looked forward to, the church became a place of solace for me, somewhere where no-one else could reach me and where I could commune with someone who always listened. Over the years I have attended church less and less but I have always known where my nearest church was and I always know that when the time comes to return to HIM I will be welcomed home and I find that gives me an enormous sense of well-being, safe in the knowledge that there is always someone out there who loves me and who will welcome me home again with no judgement about where I have been or why it has taken me so long to return home. Of course that doesn't mean I don't talk to HIM because I do, quite often really and especially in times of great stress, my belief has always been like a like a warm winter blanket, something I can wrap around myself and that keeps me warm and safe.

Wow, talk about free association! I had no idea I was going to write about my own religious beliefs when I sat down to start this entry, in fact I was just going to put the card up and that was it! I suppose it shows how much Lady GaGa has meant to me since she emerged from nowhere only a few short years ago.

So on to this weeks card for the I ♥ ProMarkers challenge #126. We are originally given the theme of Fireworks or Sparkle but the Fireworks have been dropped due to no-one being able to find a suitable image! Our sponsor this week is my sister who own Digital Downloads and she is offering £10 to spend on her wonderful website where she is offering a whole range of items such as backing papers and templates all available in enough different styles and colours to suit everyone. The card uses an image from my trusty Mimics Creations CD-Rom (available from Create and Craft here) which has a wealth of contemporary images to colour and I love this particular image of GaGa which I coloured using my PM's and then added some orange stickles to her gloves and hoody to make it 'sparkle'. I have used a new nestie with a really intricate cross design on it and one of their lovely 'wind-up' flowers which has also had 'sparkle' added using the same stickles. The sentiment was cut out using a Sizzix alphabet strip (because I have a load of them and I hardly ever use them!!) and finally I finished it off with some brass nail heads and a little hand mirror from my stash. Any questions then please feel free to contact me, your comments/questions are always welcome. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome all the my new followers, thank you for taking the time to make an old man feel very happy!

So there it is, hope you like it and I will be back again soon,

take care of yourself,

Andy

xx

Entered Into: Crazy Amigo Challenge - Anything Goes

Jackson's Digital Expressions Challenge #14 - Anything Goes

Divas By Design Challenge #44 - Anything Goes

Fab 'n Funky Challenges #130 - Make Your Own Flowers

The Paper Shelter Challenge #73 - Anything Goes

The Perfect Sentiment Challenge #41 - Anything Goes