Sorry, Not Sorry???

Hello!  ¡Hola!  It's been quiet around my house this weekend, as my wife went upstate to visit her father.  He lost his wife recently, so we know he gets lonely.  I miss my wife, but glad she was able to go.

During my wife's absence, I decided to use a Spellbinders Fergus Cutting Dies set, which I recently bought on sale.  Inspired by The Lord Of The Rings, the epic fantasy masterwork written by English scholar and author J. R. R. Tolkien, I turned Fergus into Gandalf.  He is the wizard in the series, who represents wisdom, hope, and a humble guide, inspiring others to fight evil.  (The movie and soundtrack are epic too!)  For my felt doll design, I chose grays and black for his robe, with off white, gray, and black hand-stitching.  Then, I made him a staff with a twig, beads, and a tassel; a traveling bag with a bead button and twine strap; and a wizard's hat with quail feathers and beads.  He is filled with fiberfill, along with crushed glass for weight.  I am submitting this to Creative Artiste's #130th Challenge - Anything Mixed Media Goes, A Cut Above - September Challenge 2026, and A Place To Start Challenge 202609 - Relates to a Song.

In my collage art journal, I did a page inspired by the Autumn season, the colors, and Holy Scripture.  I used Copic multi-liner pens and an Arteza calligraphy marker to do the hand lettering and line drawing.  For interest, texture, and pattern, I glued fabric flowers.  I am submitting this page to Colorful Options September 2026 - Rusty Brown, Art Journal Journey - Hello Autumn by Sharon, and Inspiration Station Challenge September 2026 - Inspiration Photo #89.

Next, I made an ATC Coin.  I was inspired by Just Add Ink #793 - Colour & Inspiration, Try It On Tuesday - Emboss It! (Thank you for choosing me as a Top 5 Make It Colourful!), and ATC Around The World Challenge - #141 Mushrooms.  For my design, I used a Kscraft ATC die set; the Sizzix Pete Hughes' Infinite Doodles #1 and #2 sets; and Tim Holtz Bricked embossing folder.  I used pastels and markers to color the mushrooms and grass shapes, as well as an ink pad to distress everything.  I finished it off with an old phrase sticker.

For my portraiture exercise this week, I decided to do a study in pencil of an ethnic face.  I was inspired by the book, Draw Amazing Faces, by Pypah Santos.  I am linking this art journal page to What's On your Workdesk? Wednesday, Art For Fun Friday, and Friday Face Off 09/11/2026.

😍 T Stands for Tuesday 09/08/2026

😂 Saturday's Critters

😎 My Sunday Best & Mosaic Monday

               

For this week's photographic mosaic, I have these 3 pictures.  The 1st picture is of a "Papa" mug, that my mother-in-law got for me after the birth of my first grandson.  It makes me happy when I use it to have my coffee in the mornings.😍  The 2nd picture is of my cat Sammy, sitting on a stool in my art studio/home office.  She's my little art and sermons critique.😂  The 3rd picture is of a Scarlet Muskflower that I found during a walk to the park.  Native to the southern half of Texas, they love the caliche soils along roadsides and in fields.😎

In closing, I want to leave you with a summary of my sermon for Matthew 18:15-20:

"Sorry, not sorry" is a popular phrase these days, used by a person that has no regrets/remorse regarding a bad choice he/she made, or by a person showing defiance to haters.  Truth is that people don't like conflict, so they avoid it or become aggressive, instead of positively addressing the issue.  In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus gives the disciples specific instructions on how to deal with someone who has wronged, offended, or sinned against them.  First of all, Jesus says the person that was wronged, is the one that is to take the initiative for forgiveness and reconciliation.  Secondly, Jesus says that if the issue is not resolved between them, others in the church are to become involved to bring about reconciliation.  This doesn't mean that the person that wronged them will necessarily feel remorse or change his/her ways.  However, they are to do this, because that's what God does for each and every one of us as sinners.

Thanks for visiting!  ¡Gracias por visitarme!  Please leave a comment, and I'll be glad to reciprocate, so that we can get to know each other.

Shalom,

Arnoldo+