Journal 52 Week 3 You Make Me Smile

I didn't get around to working on my art journal until late in the week. I wasn't finished when Week 4's prompt came out! Week 3's prompt you can see here.

When I hear the word smile I tend to immediately picture a yellow smiley face so I chose to color my background yellow using a gelato. I decided for this project I would use pictures of what makes me smile. I got the idea that I wanted to use small photos and put them in the form of the letter "S" for "smile" and I wanted to make it look like photo film. I'm not sure if that's what people see when they look at this but that was my intention. I also turned my journal sideways to make this "S". I used my Epson Personal Photo printer to print the pictures in a "mini-wallet" size. I positioned them where I wanted then used modge podge to glue them to the journal. I used my Faber-Castell black big brush pen to go around the photos. I also used the Faber-Castell Big Brush Pens to write my title. I used my Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens for the other writing. I wrote in various places other things that make me smile...like sunsets, rainbows, deer, etc. I also included a couple of scriptures. Then I wrote a little on the second page.

Here is a close up of the first page.

Close up of the second page.

Thank you for taking time to look! Have a good one!

The Roller Coaster Continues

In all the years I've lived in Texas I have experienced the extreme changes in weather that can happen but I do not recall the changes happening every few days like it has this season! This weekend was absolutely gorgeous! Temps Saturday were in the upper 60's and on Sunday we warmed to 75! Then the bottom fell out Monday morning dropping the highs to the upper 30's for two days. Forecast says we will be in the 60's again by Thursday and possibly 70 by Friday AGAIN then back to upper 50's by the weekend. Geez!

Saturday was lovely. It was a little slow to warm up but the sun shown bright and there was no wind. I enjoyed my coffee on the patio and let the dogs play. Vanessa and the kids came over for a bit. After they left I decided to take advantage of the pretty weather to ride. It had been over a month since I rode Diamond because of weather and holidays. I think he was as excited as me to be on the trail.

I don't usually go to the park on the weekend because that is usually their busiest time but I decided it might be nice to meet up with some other riders and went anyway. I was pleasantly surprised that there was only one horse trailer at the trailer head but several cars which meant lots of hikers.

I did see some other riders from a distance but never met up with anyone on horse back. I was a little disappointed that I didn't see any wildlife. I usually see a deer, armadillos and occasionally turkey. But not today. On the last part of the trail on our way back an owl flew in front of us! I was thrilled!

We caught up with the hikers when we were nearly back to the trail head. Diamond is keeping an eye on them!

Then as I was driving across the spillway of the lake I got another treat when I saw some pelicans! I stopped the truck, put my zoom on my camera, opened the door of the truck and stood up to take these pictures.

It was about 5 in the evening and some of them were sleeping.

There is also an eagle that has been spotted at the park but I didn't see it the day I was there. I am hoping for a chance to see and get a picture!









On Sunday the kids came over for lunch after Church. That was almost a disaster. As I was preparing lunch I needed the oven. So I turned it on. In a little bit my mother brought it to my attention that something was smoking. Then I remembered!

A few weeks ago I had a problem with mice in my oven and had set traps. They were so small that they weren't tripping the traditional mouse trap so I purchased some sticky traps. Yep you guessed it. Even after the mice quick appearing I had a sticky trap in the broiler part of my oven and I had forgot about it....that is until I saw the smoke! I quickly turned on the vent-a-hood and turned off the oven but the smoke increased. I hollered at Doyle but he didn't hear me so I sent Kennedy to get him. He comes in there, sees the smoke and a look of alarm is on his face. I said "before you panic, I forgot I had left a sticky trap in the bottom of the oven." Now think about what I just said to my firefighter husband of 28 yrs. Telling him not to panic! He quickly assessed the situation. He opened the broiler drawer and smoke billowed out into the kitchen. There was fire! He tried squirting with water but was forced to use a fire extinguisher to get it out. The smoke alarm went off! What a mess. We opened windows and plugged in fans to get the smoke out of the house. I was very thankful for such a warm day and more thankful it wasn't Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner I was fixing! The smoke cleared enough I could finish up preparing lunch. All of lunch was salvaged but unfortunately my new stove wasn't. After lunch Doyle took it outside and cleaned what he could inside. He said he didn't trust me to use it for preparing food anymore and ordered another that day. That was an expensive lesson learned the hard way!

It was so beautiful outside. I played with the kids while Mom and Vanessa helped clean up the kitchen.

Aren't Kashton's eyes beautiful! He's such a pretty little boy!

 I took the kids for a walk. It was so warm that Kennedy wore shorts and a tank top! She really does lover her brother! Do you like the one sock on...one sock off?!

Kennedy wanted me to take a picture of her by herself.

Then Kennedy wanted to take a picture of Kashton. He prefers to keep moving!



The Arctic front moved through about 3AM Monday morning with very strong winds. When I awoke at 7:30AM the temp was 34. It dropped to 31 before it came back up and topped out at 35. We were in a wind advisory until noon but the winds stayed strong most of the day making it feel much colder than the temperature.  Last night the temp was 15. It warmed to 37 today but still felt very cold. Forecast says it will be in the 60's by Thursday and 70 by Friday then it drops back to the 50's for the weekend. UGH! Please get me off this roller coaster!

Have a good one!

Journal52 Week 2 "Somewhere, a Simple Place"

I've been working on this in bits and pieces all week. This week's prompt for Journal52 is "Somewhere, a Simple Place". Chelle Stein, who is the creator of Journal52 wrote this excerpt from this week's blog.

Allow yourself to feel the wonder, to drink in the beauty and to experience the special time and place where you are. - Ralph Marston

For this week’s prompt, think of places you love. Maybe it is the library, your home, the kitchen, a garden, the place where you create, a travel destination or being surrounded with family or friends. Maybe your place is imaginary. Think of things you enjoy that are related to places and spaces in your life – or maybe a place you wish existed.

So this is what I came up with.

 

I think it's pretty easy to tell what my "Somewhere, a Simple Place" is but just in case I'll explain. I love to be outdoors in nature. Here's a quote from the journaling I did in the "grassy" area on the left page. 

"I love being in God's creation, riding my horse. Feeling the wind on my face, feeling the movement of his rhythmic gait. Feeling as though I don't have a care in the world and in that moment...I don't. It is in that moment I am aware of God's presence. Feel His delight in me that I appreciate the works of His hands."

I began with using my Tim Holtz Distress Inks as water colors to create a base of color upon which to build. Then I used my Faber-Castell Big Brush pens to create the "grass". The girl, horse and sentiment are a Phyllis Harris stamp by Unity called "and for a Moment. I stamped and colored with my Copic markers. I chose to color the horse in the likeness of my new horse Diamond.

A little closer view. I cut out the horse, girl and grass and stuck to the page with dimensional tape and added the sentiment because I liked it so much. It reads "and for a moment all the world just fades away and it's just you and me."

I also love to watch sunsets. I drew the sun and rays with pencil then colored in with Viva Decor 3D stamp paint "gold". It is very shimmery although the picture doesn't show that.

Here is a close up of the left side. In keeping with my plans to make this a "spiritual art journal" I wrote scriptures that talked about dwelling with God on the left page written in the sun rays and on the right page used scriptures that talked about meditating on the works of His hands.

The statement "No Place I'd Rather Be" actually came from a song we sing a church currently. Then a wrote the lyrics of another song I loved from the 90's written by Don Moen called "I Just Want To Be Where You Are".

Using my Faber Castell Big Brush pens I made musical notes in between the sun rays.

Our prompt for the week also came with a couple techniques to use but I chose to do my own thing and just used the theme. I was pleased for the most part. This is still all so foreign to me. I don't have any idea what I'm doing but it's fun all the same.

I also did a little more with my front cover.

Taking my Faber-Castell black brush tip pen I outlined the word "Truth" and then decided to go over the word with Glossy Accents. Using my White Faber-Castell brush tip pen I wrote the year, Journal 52 and the word "believe".

I don't know if I can stick it out for "52" weeks but I'm going to try. Hope you enjoy following my journey with me.

Have a good one!

Cheerleading by Reminisce

I did manage to get a two pages done the last crop I worked at the store which was two weeks ago this Saturday! Life is very full for me right now. I have a lot on my plate and will only get busier as the year moves forward. Not sure how much crafting I will get done.

This is a new line from Reminisce. Since I have a cheerleader, Cathy asked me to make sample pages to hang in the store. This is the left side.

Here is the right side of the layout. This page is the backside of the paper used for the left side. The cool thing about Reminisce is that the tabs that have the barcode have a decorative side. That is the strip of megaphones I used at the bottom of the page. I also used some of the stickers that go with these papers.

This layout actually turned out much better than I thought it would. For a closer look you can check it out at the store.

Have a good one!

Making Cookies

Last Friday I went to Vanessa's to see the girls before Remi had to go home. While I was there the girls received a package from their Aunt Jeri. It was their Christmas gifts.

She had sent them matching monogrammed aprons, cookie mix and cookie cutters! What an awesome gift! They were so excited. We had to make cookies right then!

I've been teaching Kennedy how to crack eggs. She does a pretty good job!

Vanessa keeps her friend's little boy. He is 5 months younger than Kennedy. They are Buds! Kennedy cheered for the football team he played for.

Pressing out the cookie dough so we can use the cookie cutters.

Remi is proud of her cookie she made!



Legend waiting on the cookies to bake. I just loved this picture! So did his mother!

Eating the fruit of their labor while bubba sneaks up behind!





Have a good one!

Art Journaling

I like to create and I like to journal. Now I'm not an artist but this "art journaling" intrigues me. I want to do it so bad but it is so out of my element! I don't like my workspace messy. I don't really even like to be messy and those two things seem to be at the heart of "art journaling"!

Some of my scrapbook buddies are very artistic and have mix media products. I did take a class back in the fall but felt like I was over my head. Anyway, one of these buddies (Shaunery) had posted a link from a blog about a free year long class creating an art journal (Journal52). Each week students will be given a prompt. Our first prompt was "Up, Up and Away". I wanted to make this a "scripture journal" of sorts or at least a "spiritual journal".

 I bought a spiral watercolor book to use. I began on the first page (the right side). I used Tim Holtz Distress inks putting the color on my non-stick craft mat adding water and applying with a paint brush onto the paper. Next I picked my image a Phyllis Harris Stamp by Unity. I stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored with Copic Markers. I then cut out the image and glued to the book. I then free handed with a pencil how I wanted the words on the page then went back over the pencil and filled in letters with my Faber-Castell Markers. I had a stamp with wings so I stamped it then added some stickles for a little sparkle and glued it to the page. The bird is also a stamp by Unity.





 Once I got through it just didn't seem right to not have something on the left side which is the inside cover. Because the inside cover is chipboard and not watercolor paper I used Gesso to cover so I

could paint it. The colors weren't quite the same but close enough for me except for the brown which didn't cover well at all. That's when I got the brilliant idea to try to simulate the beach. I had some Silver Crushed Glass Glitter and Aged Taupe Embossing Enamel to make the sand. I didn't intend for the area to be so big but oh well! I did like the effect!

The little girl is another Phyllis Harris Stamp by Unity that I colored with Copic Markers, cut and pasted to the page. I then took an old tool I bought several years ago from Creative Memories called Titletopia. It was designed as a letter and sticker placement aligner. I used it to make my wavy lines for my journaling. The scriptures I used had words like exalt, lift, soar, cast. I wasn't quite through adding scriptures when I took this picture but you get the idea. I also went back and erased the pencil lines.

I also altered the cover of my book. I used Gesso to prime it to take paint. Then used black acrylic paint to cover the entire front cover. I then added this little piece I had created a couple of months ago. I thought it fit perfectly. I did almost have a major blunder. I thought it would be a good idea to seal the front with Modge Podge. It would have been a good idea if all the colors I used on the words were water proof. However the red on the word "Truth" began to smear! Thankfully I caught it before I ruined my piece! I'm trying to decide if I want to do anymore to it or not. I may leave it as is. I did this much like I did the piece above. Painting the background with Distress ink like watercolor, using Faber-Castell pens for the words and another Phyllis Harris Stamp by Unity for the image.

This is fun but I find myself thinking "I should be scrapbooking"! I hope I can stay hooked up with the group. I am thankful that I have a week to do a page.

Hope you enjoyed my creative process. Hopefully I'll get better at it and learn to use some different products for different effects in the coming weeks.

Have a good one!