Adore HIM Creations

Praying in Color April 2012

Another month of transformation!   I am finding that keeping my right hand occupied while praying has revolutionized my prayer life.  My prayer time before was more about a dialogue - me talking to God- lifting up  family, friends and issues.  There wasn't a time for HIM to speak to me.  Or I would fall asleep, or think about a thousand other things while I was praying.

This is different.  Prayer is not something that I have been good at. I would tell people that I will pray for you, but found that after I said that it never entered my mind again, until I would see them and then feel guilty that I hadn't prayed for them!   This is a tool to help me keep my word, and actually pray for the person/issue! It is a way to concentrate, to re-frame my life, to have it flow through me to the page.

At our workshop "Living Life as Prayer" with Connie, she talked about the reasons we don't pray:

1.  the distractions of life

2.  the fight of my will

Living a life of Thanksliving ( yes, I didn't spell it wrong) is a new way of living life and complements my prayer life.  My Thanksliving book is set up the left page is my list of my 1000 gifts ( Ann Voskamp) and the right is my praying.   God wants more than 10 minutes a day, He wants me to see the cross and live a life of redemption, to not turn from Him daily through my life interruptions.   To live a life of mental dialogue with God all day and quiet time with him where the Holy spirit is allowed to indwell in me and speak to me through my hand to the page. 

The first picture is what I began with back in January.   The second is how I started with using watercolors to color the leaves at the beginning of April.  Then God gave me this verse

John 17:15,17  "....protect them from the evil one. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."

I decided to print that and add to my page. This month I just wrote names/words and then said that verse over the person.  It was very powerful!

 

I want to encourage you to try new ways of prayer, to allow yourself to be transformed by new tools that can draw you closer to God.  Don't reject my work because you say- "she is a good artist, she is so creative and I AM NOT."   You are creative, God created you and gave you the gift of creativity, use it in your way to come closer to HIM.   He will meet you wherever you are!

May God bless you this week and draw you closer to HIM.

 

Technique Tuesday- how to print on tags

I know it is Wednesday, but so many questions on how to print from your computer onto the tags for the spiral bound journals, decided to post today.

Tags:  #8 size heavy duty

 

May God continue to move through you as you step out in faith to artjournal a bible study, book study or a bible verse!

 

Technique Tuesday

 Thanks to all my internet friends for your support and questions. I love sharing what God is doing in my life and all my techniques.

I have had a couple of questions on my videos, so today's video is answering one of those questions.

Q:  How do you use the ARC system to create tags for spiral bound books?

The ARC system can be ordered online from Staples or in their stores.  At $39.99 is is a good price and good to use to create scrapbooks. The only negative I have is you can't use think cardstock ( like chipboard) in the punch.  But great news it punches so that you can add to already existing spiral bound books.

I use #8 Tags and order them Express Tags #8 heavy duty, with no strings here.  They are a good vendor and ship quickly.

Enjoy!

Next video will be how to print on tags on your computer/printer.

 

Technique Tuesday- Psalms faithart journal & video

So today I am going to demo how I create a faithart bible study.

My bible study that I began, is a project that may take me a long time as there are 150 psalms. I am not holding myself to any time frame when it "must" be done, just enjoying the journey.  I am learning a lot and here are my bible study reference links.

Christ in the Psalms- book

ScriptureStudies- online

I have learned so much about the Psalms.

This is from the intro:

"The Church's full format of prayer includes, among many other components, the weekly recitation of the entire Book of Psalms.  Indeed, "among" is scarcely an adequate preposition in this case because of the very special place psalmody hold in the Christian life of prayer. From the very beginning of her history, when the Church of God turns to Him in love and dovotion, the words of the Psalter form the expressions that spontaneously, as by an impulse of nature, rise from her heart and take shape in her mouth. The psalms find their truest context in the heart and on the lips of the Church. Those whose lips constantly move with the syllables of the Psalter give living expression to the deepest being of the Church."

When we pray the Psalms, we are faced with a particular challenge not usually found in other prayers. This challenge arises from the Psalter's diversity of voices, or faces. 

"Conversation" is especially a trait of the Psalms, where we discover, not only ourselves speaking to God about Christ, but also Christ speaking to His Father about us and so on.  The voices will vary, not only from psalm to psalm but also during the course of a single psalm. "

You will see my book as I have completed faithart journaling  for Psalm 1-3. I hope you enjoy and will love to hear comments or questions. I would love to have any of you join me in this bible study!

 

Psalms study- faithart journaling

I wanted to share my update on my faithart journaling of the Psalms.  I was able to study and complete Psalm 1 and 2. I am using two sources.  One is the book "Christ in the Psalms"  by Patrick Henry Reardon and the other is an online source that is excellent and free .  Scripture Studies- Psalms

Here are some pictures and I will make a video tomorrow for Technique Tuesday and tell you more about my faithart journey!

Enjoy the pictures.  I am loving the study and learning so much. I have loved the Psalms for years, and thought I knew what they were saying, but now realize that first you must identify whose voice is speaking and to whom. 

The tool I used to solve the problem of adding the entire Psalm to each faithart page was to make a tag. Then I had to figure out how to add it.  My daughter was so clever to help me use the tools I have ( and forget to use- but just had to have!).  It is a puncher from Staples -ARC . It is used to create your own wire bound journals.  I bought it thinking I could use it for my faithart journals, but, it doesn't cut through thick pages, so, didn't work the way I thought it would. However, it is perfect for punching the side of a tag to add to a wire bound art journal book!

 

Workshop Schedule 2012

For complete schedule and workshop information, please see the page (found on the right column under features).  New classes and dates have been added.

Technique Tuesday- creating your own stencils

I have  received a few questions about my stencils in my art journal books, so today you get to see how I create them!  Enjoy, and please keep the questions coming. This is my ministry- to teach others how to create their own faithart!

Supplies:

1.  Photo or picture from a magazine-- look for pictures with definition around the entire person, or object ( make a copy on cardstock so that you have the original when the first stencil may get damaged)

2.  Clear Transparent contact paper ( on a roll- get a Wal-mart)

3.  scissors

4.  clear transparent tape

 

 

 

Here area  few finished pages from my art journals where I have used my home made stencils. 

Captivating Book study and art journaling videos

My art journal is finished. Watch my process and the finished book from start to finish. Ever wonder how to do a art journal based on a book?  This will tell you my process and you can see my completed faithart journal.  Took 2 videos. Here is part 1 of 2

 

 

Part 2 of Captivating

 

 

Our Northern VA group has finished meeting, but the rest of the group is still working on their books. I hope to create videos of their books soon.

Thanks Pattie Ann for prompting us on this God Journey!

 

Online class recomendation

I just signed up and I wanted to let you all know about Tim's first online class, Creative Chemistry 101.  It runs March 19th - April 2nd. I'm sure his class is going to be packed full of great techniques and surprises.   By reading the class description (you can find it HERE) I'm super excited to get experimenting with Tim.    The class is only $35 for 2 weeks of great info and lifelong access to the info.  Another class that I enjoyed from OnlineCardClasses.com  this past year was Inspiration Showcase with Jennifer McQuire which I see is still offered but is now an independent study course.  

If you haven't taken any online classes I highly recomend this one!

Technique Tuesday

Thanks to my children, I was able to make a video from start to finish of my faithart canveses!   I think you will really like this one. Step by step from conception to finish!

Here is a photo of the completed piece. It doesn't have the seal coat on it yet, due to the rainy day today.  Hope you are inspired to create your own faith art canvas with your special bible verse!

Supply List:

12 x 12 canvas

Gesso

stencil

Matte Medium

Spray Inks- SEI Tumble dye, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Adirondack Color Wash ( your choice of colors)

Printed Bible verse

Seal Coat- Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze

 

 

Captivating Book study

We had our first local meeting on Sunday and it was wonderful to get to share our personal experiences with Chapter 1 as well as to make art together!

The heart of a Woman (page 7)  I wanted to show that in my heart I have planted Proverbs 4:23  "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.".  "The heart is the source of all our creativity, our courage and our convictions.  It is the fountainhead of or faith, our hope and of course, our love."

So I cut out a heart, wrote the bible verse on it and then added stickles glitter around the edge. I used a stencil for all the swirlies and wrote creativity, courage, convictions, faith, hope and love.  I added the definitions from the dictionary of courage, conviction and creativity. I love the softness of the colors and the feel.

  This next page is actually 3 pages in one. I wanted a way to journal the 3 desires of a woman,  "to be romanced, to have an irreplaceable role in a great adventure and beauty to be unveiled.". 

So, I cut 2 pages and then laid them all together. I used this stencill and sprayed with adirondak color wash sprays and added some glimmer mist on top. When that dried, I stamped on top of the stencil so that the stamp only showed up in the cut out spaces. See my video below on how to do this.

Then on the back of each one, I added some representational stamps and journaled.

I am loving this book and the companionship of my online book study as well as my local group!

 

 

Technique Tuesday

Hey, went to NC Oct 1 and then to Richmond VA for my son's wedding Oct 8, so not a chance to do a new technique video. However, found this one today and it is a great technnique video for art journaling. Enjoy! Art Journaling with Dyan Revealey

 

Technique Tuesday

Art journaling is so much fun and relaxing... normally. When I don't do it for a while it is difficult to start up the creative juices again. Watch this video as I show my page and appropriately entitled it "frustrated".  It  wash hard I kept trying techniques and then didn't like it. I didn't edit the video, decided to show you the reality of journaling. Sometimes it comes together easily and the ideas and creativity just flow, and other times it is a painful process.

Lessons learned: Don't stop, don't through away the page, just be glad that I get back in the grove! So much like what God must feel daily- wondering if I will ever get "it". He doesn't give up, he perseveres with me, loving me, and supporting me.

by the way, there is no sound, trying a new program and couldn't get a song to attach. So it is quiet!

Enjoy! 

Technique Tuesday

Today is a video about creating a collage journal cover.

 

Some technique pointers:

1.  use medium not wet glue ( like Elmers or school glue). The school glues have too much water and it is difficult to dry quickly.

2.  Use up those scraps from any scrapbooking projects. I also like to use my paper towels  from misting, painting, and the paper I use to paint on. Keep the cut out paper from using your Cricut or Silhouette- makes a great statement!

3.  tear most of the edges, and don't worry about lining them up perfetly with the edges. I go over the edges, cut them with scissors and then file it with sandpaper ( or use a course nail file!)

4.  Add color with distress inks. I use a color ( blue, red, etc- whatever complements the collage) first, and then use black soot last around the outside edges.  The color adds a lot to the mix.

5.  Use your favorite stamps to add your personal touch. Print your favorite bible verse and collage that in also!

6.  Coat the final pages with gloss medium ( I do 2 coats).  It seals the project and provides a great sheen and strength.

May God bless you this week!

 

Technique Tuesday

What a great relaxing weekend!  Enjoyed spending time with my family and my grandson. We did lots of art, tried some new techniques and enjoyed the creative process.

As promised here is the video of how to make the clear words from fridays post.

 

4th of July

I hope that you are celebrating our American freedom this long weekend. We had a fun day yesterday just creating!

Enjoy!

Technique Tuesday

My oldest son celebrated his first Father's day and I wanted to make him something special to commemorate this day in his life.  Here is my finished project. You will find the links for the products I used.

  Supplies and Techniques:

I started with the 7 Gypsies4x6 photo tray .   It holds 6 4x6 photos. I wanted to use some of the pictures of him and my grandson, and also to include sentiments that honor his fathering skills. 

I created 4x6 cardstock backgrounds from the DCWV Tattered Time stack It has some great gear cardstock that fit my son's lifestyle. ( My son is a auto body repair technician). I used some sprocket gears from Tim Holtz collection,Tim Holtz ornate plates,   Tim Holtz fragments (clear charms), some jewelry metal word plates, Glossy Accents,  metal wings, Tim Holtz clock face,  Tim Holtz ball chain, metal embelishments.

I created a publisher document with the words, phrases and notes to Daddy and printed it on paper from the Tattered Time stack.  Here is a free pdf of the word phrases for you to use!  Download Fathers day 2011 4x6.

I decided to cut out the backgrounds on the photos I wanted to use so that the mat  papers would show better. 

I am so proud of my son and his new role as a father, daddy, role model and husband. He is a wonderful dad to his son Patrick!

Enjoy!

Technique Tuesday

Sorry for the delay, taught a new class last night to 8 wonderful ladies, and had to create the video today for Technique Tuesday.

Mini Albums are a great way to start scrapbooking and a good gift. They are small, so you can create one quickly. They keep you focused- there is a beginning and an end. Great way to use up left over papers, and photos!

Have you ever made an accordion/exploding scrapbook?  They are such a fun project and a gret gift for someone.

  To learn how to make this accordion exploding scrapbook watch the 2 part video.

HEre is the instruction/supply sheet to download.  Download Accordion Exploding Mini Album

Would love to see your projects!

 

And here is part 2

 

Open Studio Class 6/5/11

On Sunday I had about 10 women and teenagers over for a studio night. It was a fun to see what God put on the hearts of these precious women!  They all did the one little word canvas projects.  Over the past year, I have seen God's hand working in women's lives to give them a word, a thought and a bible verse and then use their hands to create the most beautiful art work to remind them of Him. What do you think?

Watching Wednesday

Natalya:  I am really loving this class. This week was about the heart we show our family. It is amazing how God has been revealing the heart that I have for my family this week.  I am aware of the things that I need to do and think to bring honor to Him.  Instead of doing things for my benefit. 

The heart that I want to show to my family is pure, honest, committed, creative and loving.  Being committed has been really hard for me because I start a lot of things and that they will be easy to do and then the reality is that it is much harder than I thought and I give up. I have to think and I don't like to think before I do!  It is a struggle because I like to promise things to people but my delivery isn't always a match to my promises.   I am also working on my stuttering problem. My mom is helping me with breathing and pausing, which really helps when I do it!  In fact this whole last weekend, I really tried hard to breath and pause and I was successful!  So now I have to keep at it, which is the hardest thing for me.   That is a commitment that I want to make, I ask God for his support so that I can keep doing the right things!

   Vera:  My family heart is something I never thought about before.  It is hard for me to be vulnerable with people and even with my family it is difficult. Because I don't want to be hurt like in my past. So I protect myself, by not sharing my past and not sharing my dreams for my future.  A closer look into my heart, I realized that I put up a wall around my heart by always being helpful, strong, crazy, crafty, anything that doesn't have to  do with expressing my feelings.   I keep myself busy doing things instead of feeling my feelings. 

I am really enjoying this class as I evaluate my heart.  I am learning a lot about myself. This is showing me that I want the fruit of the spirit to be seen by my family.

Exodus:15:2  " The Lord is my strength and song. He has become my salvation."

Next week I will show you my true heart, it is painful to discuss, but it is helpful for me to share and be vulnerable! 

Technique Tuesday

Today I am going to share my love of stencils with you. 

Stencils and masks make great backgrounds and you can use them to create lots of color and layers.  The video shows you how to use paint, ink, gesso, spray inks and your stencils and create beautiful designs, backgrounds and layers!

Enjoy

 

technique tuesday

Hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable Memorial Day. It was a great 3 day weekend for us.

The Faith Blog Hop was lots of fun and thanks to all you stopped by Adore HIM Creations!  I certainly learned a lot about the Proverbs 31 woman.

We were able to craft most of the weekend. The girls and I are taking a class over at Scarlet Lime from Christy Tomlinson. She had 3 Hearts is a wonderful art journaling class, full of technique videos and inspiration. It is a 3 week on-line class, I encourage you to sign up for it. Stay tuned for sharing of my 3 Hearts art journaling pages  over the next 2 weeks!

Here is one page I did that using todays technique. I wanted to remind myself that  our hearts can be deceitful and to be on guard. 

My journaling is from Jeremiah 17:9-10

⁹ “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
      and desperately wicked.
      Who really knows how bad it is?
 ¹⁰ But I, the Lord, search all hearts
      and examine secret motives.
   I give all people their due rewards,
      according to what their actions deserve.”

Today my technique video is how to make collage shapes. This is a fun way to use up your scrap paper and to create more embellishments to use for your art journal pages, scrapbook pages or tags.

Enjoy!

 

 

Faith Blog Hop "Proverbs 31" Woman

Welcome to another special Faith Blog Hop sponsored by Paper Tree House Studio! You should have arrived here from Carolyn http://messmuddleandfun.blogspot.com/ if you are following the hop.  If you just happen to have fallen here go to the beginning of the hop over at paper Tree House Studio. Paper Tree House Studio: www.mypapertreehouse.com

At the end of every month a group of bold women gather to give Glory to God with the talents He has given us in a very loud way... :) Our prayer is that through the projects we have created you Will be able to see Him in all of His Glory! May He touch you today as we look at the theme of the Proverbs 31 woman, and may you find that you are indeed everything He designed you to be.

This is how the hop works:
There are many beautiful and brave women that are ready to show their weaknesses in order that you may see His strength. :) Follow the line-up and please leave some love throughout the way. Allow yourself to cry, laugh, smile, along with any other emotion the Lord may bring your way. You will find that there are many prizes throughout the hop. In order to qualify to receive them you must be a follower of the blog and you must leave a comment. Know that if you are announced as the winner of a prize you are responsible for contacting us in order for us to make the prize go your way.

Here are our sponsors:

Paper Tree House Studio: Scrapbooking Kit (valued at $45)
Tombow: Amazing Adhesive Pack
Scrapbook News and Review: 1 year subscription to their magazine.
Punky Sprouts: Sweetie Album
Sweet Stamper: Stampin' Up Stamp Set

Now let's get the hop started! :)

The woman described in Proverbs 31 seems to be perfect! She works hard for her family, keeps up with the house, makes sure that the entire family is fed, is respected by others and her husband, and the list goes on... It can be very overwhelming to try to attain her status- which leaves many of us feeling as though we do not amount to God's standards. If you are anything like me, you too have felt as though there is always something that is just not right in your womanhood. Maybe you are not sweet enough, or neat enough, or submissive enough, or clean enough... Whatever label you do not amount to it can leave you feeling overwhelmed and discouraged.

God did not put this part of Scripture in the Bible so that we would draw away from Him filled with shame due to our incapacity to do what He expects of us. On the contrary, I have become every day more certain that He inspired these words because He wants to show us His Grace. The truth is: we all fall short of the Glory of God and there is not even one that is good amongst us. He KNEW this when He made us and when He decided to save us- and in this He loved us.

The proverbs 31 woman is meant to be a reminder of how much we need Christ! God desires that we would be women like the one portrayed there, and He knew that these areas would be our weaknesses, so He gave us this map of virtues so that we would not conform to the world but allow Him to transform us. The Bible teaches that in our weaknesses He is strong! My prayer is that you would allow the Lord to show you those areas where you indeed fail so that in turn you would learn to be mesmerized by His great strength. You will be doing things you never imagined when you fully rely on Him. In Him you already are the Proverbs 31 Woman you so desire to be. May He show you that truth today as He heals you from all insecurities.

My project is "a woman who fears the Lord".  I was captured by the 30th verse in Proverbs 31.

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

Fearing the Lord sounds so bad!  What does it actually mean?  I looked up fear in my Bible dictionary.  fear: " a feeling of reverence, awe, and respect or an unpleasant emotion caused by a sense of danger. Fear may be directed toward God or man, and it may be either be healthy or harmful."

I guess that I only understood the harmful fear, not the healthy fear.  So, when I fear the Lord I am offering reverence, respect and awe of Him.   I feel the awe when I raise my hands to Him and offer him my heart. So my tag shows a woman in awe of the God who created her and loves her.

Technique & Supplies:

manilla tag- #8 (3 1/8 x 6 1/8")

Sizzix  embossing plate "Rays"- emboss half the tag

Distress Inks: spiced marmalade, dried marigold, rusty hings, vintage photo

Glimmer mist: sugar maple

Emboss 1/2 of the tag, add script writing beneath the embossing, use a corner stamp in the same color ink.  Using distress ink (rusty hinge) I added the woman with hands lifted in praise as a stencil. ( this is fron a picture I found in a Discipleship journal that I copied and reduced and then cut out).  Direct to paper technique for adding the color to the rays. Edged the tag with vintage photo ink, distressed the edges, type from my computer with the verse. Added lace that I sprayed with glimmer mist to match the color scheme and a string of 1/2 pearls ( from a fabric store).  I added some gold Pearl Ex on top of the orange rays to give it shimmer. You could use glimmer mist on top as well.

Thanks for stopping by on the blog hop. May God bless you and keep you!

 

Your next stop is Karel www.kareljcreations.com . Remember to leave a comment on this post if you want to be considered for one of the Grand Prizes. :)

 

 

Technique Tuesday

Today you will learn how to make beautiful paper flowers!

I saw this over at Outlaw Women's Scrapbook Emporium group.   Great group of crafty women who share their ideas and techniques!

Supplies:  paper, white or colored, spray mist of water, paper piercer, small brad, Glimmer Mist (optional)

 

Have a blessed week!

Technique Tuesday

What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been!  So many art shows, successful studio days and lots of creating going on!

This week my technique video is demonstrating my mixed media technique for a 12 x12 board canvas. The title is " this is the day".  Be inspired to use the word of God to create a beautiful picture of His word.

Supply list:

Ampersand Gesso board 12x2

acrylic paint

medium- to glue the pictures

Ranger Distress inks (Fired Brick, worn lipstick)

stamps of your choice

Sakura Glaze pen (black)

Stencils  Crafter's workshop Doodling Numerals

Stazon Black ink

Music paper

computer generated bible verse  ink jet print

 

May God bless your heart and hands as you create faith art!

 

Technique Tuesday

Today I want to share some links to some awesome artists that I follow their work. These women inspire me, teach me and I feel like they are my friends because I follow their blogs and their work.

1.  Julie Fei-Fan Balzer    Julie is an artist extraordinaire!  She is a fabulous art journaler, works in mixed media, and fabric. Check out her Art Journal Every Day challenge.  This past week she showed how she did a page from start to finish and asked the question when to stop?

2.  Create by Faith   this is a group that focuses on all kinds of art as an expresion of our worship to God . Check us out and join us as we create all kinds of art and inpsire each other! 

3.  If you love Tim Holtz products, join All Things Tim group over at yahoo groups.  I get so much info, inspiration and encouragemet from this yahoo group.  You have to sign up and then you will get an email a day with all the chatter- lots of sharing techniques, shopping tips, pictures and techniques.

4.  Another mixed media group I just joined  Outlaw Women Scrapbook Emporium.

This is a group you join, get great deals, lots of technique inspirations, videos, etc. Again, I get an email a day with the chatter!  

5.  a ning group Art Journaling  has tons of videos and techniques about art journaling.  Not a Christian group, but good for techniques, supplies, etc.

6.  Roben Marie Smith is another inspiration mixed media artist. Love her work, her videos and she is a Christian too!  go to You tube to see some of her technique videos!  You will be inspired.

7.  Faith Sisters  an online group of digital scrapbookers who love Jesus Christ!

 

Hope you have a good day!

 

 

 

 

Technique Tuesday

Easter was a quiet affair this year at my house. We went to Church for the early service at 9:00 am and then came home to a beautiful hot summer day. So we finished potting our summer flowers, and laid another 16 bags of mulch, and then just relaxed in the sunshine.  It reminded me how thankful I am for my life, my home, my children and my relationship with Jesus.

Today's technique is going to highlight some of my favorite products. 

I like to print bible verses from my inkjet printer and use them in my mixed media collage work. However, once I glue the paper down, I usually use some paint over the printing for coloring, and the words become difficult to read. So I tried using these great glaze pens and love the effect.

You can get them at both Michaels ( in the store)   and online at Jo-Ann's.

Here are 2 projects that I recently completed using the pens.    "Be joyful" 12x12 canvas faithart. and upclose

 

Here is the finished tag:

and a close up of the effect of the glaze pen on top of the paint.

 

 

Here are some pictures of the beginning technique and the video shows how to finish the tag.

1.  Gesso a manilla tag. Print and cut out your letters.

2.  Using stencils, spray Adirondak spray color wash (Terri cotta) onto the stencil/tag. I turn the stencil over and use the excess color wash onto a journal page, so not to waste it.

3.  Stamp your desired background images. I used a stampin wheel with music  for the background.  Use Archival Waterproof Ink ( Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black), so that it won't bleed onto you paint.

4.  Use a light background acrylic paint color and cover the entire tag.

 

I can't get the video to embed today. So if you want to see the video, go to my youtube site and watch  Technique Glaze pens on paint. Technique- Glaze Pens on Paint

technique tuesday

Had a wonderful Girls weekend!  Made some tags, some canvas projects and just relaxed with my girlfriends~  Some of my friends did beading, some scrapbooking, painting, card making, and jewelry making. 

 

If you are in the VA area and looking for a wonderful crafting weekend getaway for up to 10 people, check out Girls Night Inn.  It is a wonderful home, great kitchen, and the best is the craft room!  It has tables set up for 10 women, supplied with Cricut, ink pads, paper, etc!  Wonderful~

  Now on to the techniqu for today.

Thought I would show you how to use the marvelous texture/embossing folders. I have all the Tim Holtz embossing folders and love the variety of textures.

Here is the technique video:  At the end I will list some of the products I used.

 

 Distress Inks- Spiced Marlalade and Worn Lipstick.

Jacquard Pearl Ex ready to use  Interference Gold.  Glitter glue: Studio g ( from Michaels $1 bin) 

technique tuesday

Today I thought I would show you my studio. I created  a tour of my studio and explain how I organize my products.  I made this back in January, and I have already made some changes to my stamp wall, and flowers, but overall this will give you a good idea of where and how I work. I am very blessed to have a beautiful space to work in and to share as my ministry!  It is a 2 part video.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

becoming free friday

It has been a fairly calm week- meaning just enough on my plate to keep me busy but not too much to OD me. I want to share two parts to my experience of free, first artistic freedom to experiment and then my spiritual/emotional freedom.

Artistic freedom: I am taking a online class from My Creative Classroom Mixed Media Workshop with Catherine Scanlon. I am trying some new techniques and new substrate.

This week was about image transfering onto a wood panel. I have not used the wooden panels before, so this was a new experience.  I really like them better than stretched canvas. I can stamp on it easily and as I mention next had to strip all my original layers off and it was still usable.  I used a 12x12 with a 3/4 profile.

I used the wrong medium and  did 4 layers and then had to scrape them all off and start over again. I used Liquitex Matte Medium, and it is not a good product.  Didn't really stick the collage items and didn't work very well transferring the image.  Switched to Ranger Claudine Helmuth Multi Matte Medium per the class instructor. I will use it again, loved the consistency and it worked!

Here is my finished project .  I call it the "Garden of Gethsemane" and is built around Mark 14:36  

"Abba, Father, he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup of suffering from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

 

I found a picture of an olive tree in an olive garden, as the garden at Gethsemane was an olive garden where Jesus went to pray for strength to face the trial and suffering ahead and be with God.

 

Here are some pictures of the base and various steps in the collage process.

 

 

Spiritual Freedom:  I have been spending a lot of time in prayer this week. My spiritual mother- my aunt Ruth  is dealing with her husbands lung cancer. They have been my hero's most of my life and it is difficult to comprehend his illness. They have been the most active, healthy people their entire life. They have always exercised, eaten healthy and enjoyed a wonderful faith walk with God. My Aunt was 10 yrs old when I was born, so she is like an older sister to me and the one who led me to Christ 18 years ago. She has been a sister in Christ and role model for me.

It is difficult  to contemplate illness and possible death. Although knowing where I am going , that I will celebrate with Jesus makes it easier to deal with and to recognize a release from this world.

This time in prayer has made me realize that Jesus is my lover and the more I pursue him the more peace, hope and love I have and the more I am able to bring Him glory in my life.

So my spiritual freedom this week is about a recognition of mortality, freeing me to be at peace and have joy no matter what is happening around me.

May God bless you and keep you this week.