Where Have I Been?

A new school year started and work has been crazy.  I have been so exhausted and haven't felt like doing anything at all.

Today I'm spending time in the Command Center and hope to add lots of posts and photos soon.

I received the Holiday catalog for Stampin' Up! in the mail along with some die cut ornaments and a beautiful card from my friend Carole.

Don't you love receiving handmade cards in the mail?  I just LOVE it!

More crafty goodness to follow...

Happy Fifth Birthday LeAnna!

Upcycled ribbon spools and scraps!

More Cosmos

I was never a digi stamp fan, but the more I play with these flowers of the month digi stamps by Lila Grey Stamps, the more I love them!  Boy, you can pretty much do whatever you want with digi stamps.

Here's my latest:
Supplies:
Wild Washabi Reinker (SU!)
Daffodil Delight Reinker (SU!)
Soft Sky Ink Pad (SU)
Plum and Blue Watercolor Paint
White Acrylic Paint
Granite Gray Acrylic Paint
Black ink Reinker
Handmade White paint spray
White Wax Crayon
Black BIC Fine Point Pen
Script Stamp
Lattice Stamp (Unity)
Lila Grey Digital Stamp (Flower of the Month; October)

Using a wax based product was the mixability challenge on SCS, so I rubbed the wax crayon on the background of the page.  I then used the soft sky ink and a water paint brush and spread all over.  Once dried, I rubbed more crayon and then painted some blue watercolor paint.  I then used gray acrylic paint and a Unity lattice stamp to add some texture on the right side.  Colored the flower/stems/leaves by putting a few drops and water on my craft mat and painting them with a paint brush.  I stamped some script with black ink; white circles; and plum watercolor drops around the page.  I thought I'd finish the page by drawing a frame around the page with the BIC pen.  

I kept looking at it and it just didn't feel finished, but I didn't know what it needed.  So I waited.  Then I watered down some black ink, dipped a toothbrush in it and flicked little droplets all over.  Perfect!

Horse Goodie Bag Tags and Cricut Video

Hey, I did another video!  This is a quick instructional video on using layers on the Cricut.

I'm making little horse tags for goodie bags for LeAnna's 5th birthday party.  This video explains cutting layers with the Cricut.  I am also working on a centerpiece for this party.  It's coming along nicely and I will definitely post a photo once it's done.

Materials:
Scrap papers
Clear Glitter Wink of Stella
Create a Critter Cricut Cartridge
Sizzix Texture Boutique and the small and large dots embossing folders

Music:  St. Paul and The Broken Bones

Do Not Lose Heart

My first Bible Journaling...I don't have the journaling bible with 2" margins to do all this great art, what I have is my large print King James bible and my NIV Mom's Devotional bible.  I don't feel I need to purchase one to highlight verses and create art in my bible.

I've read the bible completely two times, but I really enjoy bible study lessons and better yet, I love when I pray before opening the bible and then just open it and read.  God always provides the verse(s)   I need.  This morning, I prayed specifically for my friend and coworker who is battling cancer.  She went through chemo last year and was given a clean bill of health, but unfortunately at her follow up appointment this week, they found two more spots.  She is a woman of faith and when I opened my bible, these words stood out "Do Not Lose Heart".

So I emphasized those words in this little corner of free space on this page.  On the edge, I wrapped some washi tape and plan on doing that on each page I add a little something.  If I ever need to go back and look for these specific pieces, they will be easy to find.

I have been internet surfing and pinterest seeking for hints and ideas.  I think the best thing for me is using coloring pencils and a BIC pen.  I may try to experiment with some transparent paint at one point, but we'll see.

My hope is that instead of just underlining verses or jotting down notes here and there, I'll do a little colorful entry of inspiring words of faith.  I know it'll be fun to find these treasures later.  By the way, I have a photo of my daughter and an old friend of hers when they were five years old tucked in my bible.  I keep it in there because it makes me smile.

Watercolor Pencils are from CTMH
BIC Fine Point Black Pen

September Flower of the Month

Another Lila Grey Flower of the Month Digi Stamp (September)
Melon Mambo Re-inker (flowers)
Old Olive Re-inker (leaves/stems)
Admiral Blue Acrylic Paint (with doily stencil)
Sahara Sand Ink Pad and French Script Background stamp (SU!)
Sahara Sand Marker for flower shading
Encore Metallic Champagne Ink Pad and Bubble Wrap
Black Ink and Straw
BIC Black Pen for random doodles

• Homemade Yellow and White Spritz for background colors

Added a couple of drops of the reinkers and water on my craft sheet.  Used a paint brush to "paint" the flowers and stems/leaves, used post-its to mask the flower and stamped a French script background stamp with Sahara Sand ink all over the page.  Stenciled a doily using the blue paint on left side, lower right corner and just a blue smudge on top right corner.  I then used a straw and scrap cardstock with black ink to add marks around the page.  I planned on having splatters (dots) of yellow paint spray, but it came out with full force so I smudged it a little to take some of it away and randomly dabbed over the piece to create some sort of balance.  Then splattered some white and watered down melon ink all over.  The champagne metallic ink and bubble wrap was a last minute decision.  I wanted to add some metallic and was going to go for a gold, but grabbed this instead.  The tiny piece of newspaper print washi tape was sitting on my desk so I added that.  A little blue ink shadowing the flowers and my Sahara Sand marker for more shadow to finish...Oh, and don't forget about the black pen doodles.  

After each little addition, I started loving it more and more.  The key is layers, layers, and more layers and most importantly knowing when to stop.  I think I stopped at the right time.  I hope you agree!