Painted {Fabric}

So, after creating my new "to-do" book, I wanted a bookmark to match. If you missed my new painted book, click here. To get a matching bookmark, that meant that I needed to paint some canvas. So, I cut a piece from my bolt, and went to work. I painted away, and then I watched our favorite team play football yesterday and competed the doodles. I love it so much that now I don't know if I can cut it up into bookmarks. Maybe I should just make one bookmark, and then sew the rest into a pencil case. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

I used the same Stencil Girl stencil and products that I used for the "to-do" book. I just added one more paint color--the light lavender which is Apple Barrel Wisteria.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you like today's creation. Enjoy your week! I'm off to paint another book and more fabric! :)

Painted {Book} Cover & Update

Has it really been since June since I posted last? Wow! I do have good reason, and I have not created since then. I have been diagnosed with spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis, and disc degenerative disease. I have been in horrific pain since the very last week of May (the week before turning 54). I was finally diagnosed in July and have been trying various treatments since that time. I still suffer with pain daily but thankfully it is no longer in the 7-9 range. Praise God! Learning to deal with chronic pain has been hard, and I am still asking "Lord, what are you teaching me through this?" But yesterday I created for the first time in a very long time. It brought me such incredible joy that I have to try to make myself do it each week. It is healing to be able to just get my hands messy in paint and create.

So, what did I create? I painted a book cover. Oh my goodness, I am in love. This is a book I have had, the pages are empty, and I have decided that it is going to be my new "to do" book for home and for work. Yes, I am now working part-time at our church, and that also has been a great joy and blessing.

To create this book, I used the Deconstructed Floral Bouquet stencil from Stencil Girl. I then grabbed a few paint colors and began finger painting. Yes, I used my fingers. I started with a makeup sponge but I can't blend the paints as well so I dove in and finger painted. I actually prefer that. Here is what it looked like as I started:

Then I added more leaves and let it dry overnight. After it was dry, I used my Posca pen to add all of the white doodling. Once I did that I finished with my favorite paint splatters. I must always finish with that. :)

The leaves were created from a Sizzix die cut called "Leaves." I just die cut the leaves using an old folder. It was then very easy to use it as a stencil. I will use that technique again for sure. I really had a great time doing this. I hope it inspires you in some way! Have a blessed week!

My {New} Journal and a Page

I am taking another class by Roben-Marie Smith called "Salvaged: A Layered Pieces Journal." Click here to see that class. I have made books before, and I love working in them but I also wanted to see how Roben-Marie creates her books. I was not disappointed. I always love taking her classes. Anyway, here is a look at my book after I made it:

To cover the spine, I used my inky fabric that I always have on hand. And the book itself is filled with yummy recycled papers all ready for paint!

So, here is a look at a painted page spread. Originally, the left side was an old security envelope, and the right side was book paper. I used collage, paint, doodling, and art marks on this page.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you will join me tomorrow when I will share another page in this book that I created for the Glory {Art} Rewind study! See you then!

Art {Journaling} A Journal Giveaway!

Last week I received an e-mail from Interweave. They have art resources, craft products, etc. They were advertising a class by Rae Missigman called Journals with Texture. Rae happens to be another one of my favorite artists. Anyway, the class was just $3.99 so I tried it out. And here is the journal I made very quickly on Saturday:

A few things I did differently was that I used sari ribbon instead of wool. I also put paper on the inside and back covers to make the journal a little heavier. And I used sari ribbon to tie the journal closed instead of the closure Rae made. The journal has 18 various sized pages inside as you can see from the picture above. It's just one signature so it will be easy to carry with you. All-in-all, it was a fun and quick little journal to make.

And because I have had 1,400,000+ hits on my blog over the years, I have decided to give this journal away to one blog reader. All you need to do to win this journal is to tell me how you would use this journal. I would love for it to be put to good use—not to sit and collect dust. Leave your comment below by Friday, April 8th, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern, and I will announce the winner sometime that weekend.

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for following me all of these years. Have a blessed week!

Art {Journaling} Art-Full Attaché Workshop

Currently I am in the middle of taking another class with Roben-Marie Smith. It's called the Art-Full Attaché Workshop. Click here to find out more about the class. Anyway, I finished my cover the other day, and I wanted to go ahead and share it with you. I love how it turned out, and I have already scanned it to create Project Life cards, stickers, etc., so that I get the most use out of my art. And now here is the cover:

Papers: misc. book and hymn paper 
Stamps: Paper Bag Studios Natural Elements 
Paints: Plain Jane Baseboard Matte Mist vine, Dylusions paint fresh lime and lemon zest, Folk Art wicker white, Martha Stewart date night pink, Golden Open Acrylic teal, Golden Fluid Acrylic paynes gray 
Tools: Rae Missigman stencil M070, M071 and M080, misc. stencil, Crafter's Workshop Circle Explosion stencil TCW278s, Stabilo All pencil, mechanical pencil

I really think this group of colors are truly my favorite to use. So bright and cheerful! I also created two tags very similar to this cover. I created them at the same time I created the cover so it was very easy to paint on the cover then the tags at the same time. I will share those in another post soon. Thanks for stopping by today! Have a blessed day!

Product List (click product tags for more information)

View blog post for supplies

Grateful Heart Journal

Today I am featured on the Canvas Corp Brands blog with a journal I made for my daughter. I thought she could journal her fears, concerns, etc., before her open heart surgery.

Papers: Canvas Corp Black and White Damask Reverse 

Stamps: 7Gypsies Distressed Words 
Stamp Ink: Tim Holtz bundled sage and black soot 
Blue Fern Studios chipboard: Grid pieces 
Embellishments: Glimmer Mists Pearl, Pink Taffy, Tattered Rose, Timeless Lilac, Lemon Zest, and Key Lime Pie, cheesecloth, Petaloo Wild Blossoms and Mini Blossoms fuschia, Petaloo Petites teastained greens, sewing machine

To see the step-by-step instructions on how to make this journal, please see the Canvas Corp Brands post here. Thanks for stopping by!

Product List (click product tags for more information)

View blog post for supplies

Painted Journal and Bookmark

Well, for those of you that know me, you know I have been in Bible Study Fellowship since 1997. You also know that I make a new notebook each year for my study notes. I have an amazing bookshelf full of wonderful notes from all of these classes since 1997. Since classes start this week, I wanted to share my 2014-2015 notebook with you along with a matching bookmark.

This year, I am using a Moleskine Soft Cover Squared Notebook. These have become my favorite notebooks. You can find them here on amazon. I decided to paint the notebook along with a piece of canvas to make the matching bookmark. If you haven't seen my canvas bookmarks before, click here. And here is how my everything turned out.

Front

Back

Matching Bookmark

I hope you have enjoyed today's creations. And as I said above, BSF classes start this week. We are studying the Life of Moses. And next year (2015-16) will be a new study on the Book of Revelation. If you are interested in finding a class near you, please click here. We have over 1,000 classes around the world for men, women, and children. There are also evening and day classes so that makes it even more convenient for the working or stay-at-home moms. I hope you will join us. Blessings,

Another {To Do} Book

Before one of our daughters left for college, she asked me to make her a 'to do' book like I made myself and for our pastor. If you missed those two other books, click here and here. Anyway, here is how my daughter's book turned out.

The card behind the bird is a scan of one of my art journaling pages. I printed it out on Neenah Bright White cardstock and trimmed it for this small book. My daughter actually picked the art journaling page that she wanted on this book along with the pretty blue paint. The book I use is the Moleskine Cahier Squared journal. Our daughter is in her second week of her sophomore year, and she says this book is working great for her. Now if I could just get daughter #2 to use one. LOL!

And here are close-ups of the other two books I have done. Be sure to click the links at the beginning of this post to see each of these books in their entirety.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your Thursday! 

{Guest Designer} for Something Tattered

Today I am guest designing for Something Tattered, and I wanted to share what I made with their gorgeous stamps! My sweet friend is one of the pastor’s at our church. She is of course super busy, and I thought a small little ‘to-do’ book might be just what she needs. I used a thin journal and decorated the front. I did not add any dimensional elements because I want her to be able to stack this on her desk without lumpy embellishments getting stuck on something. So, the Something Tattered stamps were perfect for adding a bit of design fun to this book.

I first painted white gesso on the book. Then I used some matte lime acrylic paint along with the Something Tattered Den Wallpaper Background stamp to randomly add a bit of stamped color to the background. I then layered some Blue Fern Studios Ombre Dreams patterned paper and added the stamped Swirls Stamp set for the title. I fussy cut the image after stamping it. And lastly I used the Brooch Bling stamp set to add a few more design elements.

Journal: Moleskine Cahier Squared 
Papers: Blue Fern Studios Ombre Dreams Ginger's Dream and Shannon's Dream 
Something Tattered Stamps: Den Wallpaper Background Stamp, Swirls Stamp Set, Brooch Bling Stamp Set 
Stamp Ink: Archival sepia, Adirondack willow 
Paints: Ayeeda Paint matte lime and matte apricot, Liquitex white gesso 
Embellishments: My Little Shoebox brownie alpha stickers, misc. hymnal paper, sewing machine

Thanks so much to Something Tattered for allowing me to guest design for them. Their stamps are truly unique and beautiful. Click here to see all of their yummy goodies! Thanks for stopping by!

A {Little} 'To Do' Book

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a tutorial on how to make a mixed media bird journal. You may have also seen it on Pinterest. Click here to see the tutorial. Well, I noticed it used a stamp set I have had and love. It also uses a Moleskine journal, and I love to use Moleskine journals for everything. This particular tutorial used the Cahier Moleskine which I had never seen but I loved the Kraft cover. They come in a pack of three at amazon.com for $11.66. I purchased the squared journal which means it's graph paper inside. I believe it also comes in a lined version. I prefer the graph paper. So, I decided to buy this Moleskine journal and make a 'to do' book. 

This little book can be made in less than an hour and would make a great gift. It is super fast to do, fun, and turns out cute. Here is how mine turned out:

Journal: Moleskine Cahier Squared 

Papers: Canson Mixed Media paper, Art Journaling Card by Patter Cross 

Stamp: Dina Wakley Scribbly Birds 

Stamp Ink: Archival jet black 

Paints: Ayeeda Paint matte pink and matte turquoise, Golden black gesso, Liquitex white gesso 

Embellishements: misc. washi tape, Dymo labeler

A few things I did differently is that I did not use Gelatos as suggested. I used some acrylic paint to make circles on my background, and I also used bubble wrap and black gesso to add some black circles. The background journaling card is one of my own that I made. It is a copy of my own art journaling work that I print out onto cardstock and cut down to a 3"x4" card. Click here to see my tutorial on making these cards.

I hope you have enjoyed my little book today. I have already gotten great use out of it this week. Now I am trying to encourage my college girls that they need one for school. LOL! Have a blessed Friday!