bible journaling

joel 2:32

like most days, i leave it  to synchronicty to just open my bible to a page and begin to read.  i trust that god will lead me to what is appropriate for me to think about for the day.

so it was that when i opened my bible i began to read in joel and i came across this verse that really seemed to called out to me immediately as i read it:  "and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the lord shall be saved".

how exciting is that?!  not to mention so very easy.  i made the call.  have you?

weekly planner - week 14

week 14 - give yourself permission to do something you would like to accomplish this year

here we are, three months plus into the new year.  i'm still doing my weekly prompts and keeping my date pages.  i enjoy the process of it.   the prompt this week is from a sticker i had stumbled across when cleaning up my art room.  it said, "dear fear, you've overstayed your welcome".

already this year it seems although i have visited the fear topic once or twice, but  i am doing my best to conquer the fear.  i've been doing a lot of new things for myself and sticking with it, which surprises even me.  this is proof that ALL things are possible with god.

the roc nicholas rubber stamp design team post

today the roc nicholas rubber stamp design team post is being brought to you by cathy parmelee.  cathy has a wonderful sense of color and whimsy when she creates art.  i love how easily my rubber stamps can be incorporated into mixed media art work.  cathy shows us a terrific example of that.

cathy used the bird princess stamp and her soul danced to create this bright and cheerful art.  to see these stamps, as well as all my other stamps sold through stampotique.com please click here.

journaling in my bible

psalm 22:10

i was thinking about my relationship with god.  i can't remember a time that god wasn't in my life.  from the time i was little my mom always took me to sunday school and church.  each year we got pins if we had perfect attendance, which i did.  i think i was in my mid to late twenties until a job where i had to work weekends prevented me from going to worship every sunday.

over the years my relationship with god has changed, as have my views on how to worship.  every person requires something different.  i pass no judgements on that whole topic.  we can find god in every moment no matter where we are.

psalm 22:10 sums it up for me: "...and from my mother's womb you have been my god".  there is such reassurance in that passage.  i was born a child of god and i shall die a child of god.  he made me special and i stand in awe before him.

making my journaling bible a cover

front of journaling bible book cover

if you had a chance to see my article in cloth paper scissors on making a kind of material sheet out of scraps of paper and contact paper then you will recognize this book cover i made for my journaling bible.

back of journaling bible book cover

i used scraps of paper, some of moy own home made digital print outs as well as some other free printables i found on pinterest.

if you need a cover for your bible i hope you try this technique.  it's very forgiving and easy, as well as a great way to protect your bible.

tumble fish studio has a new kit being released

vagabond adventures digital kit by tumble fish studio at mischief circus

today a new kit called, vagabond adventures, is being released by the super creative and talented marsha of tumble fish studios over at deviant scrap.   all my imagery is from that kit, whether it is actual images in their entirety or pieces cut from imagery from that kit.  the doodles are mine.
to add this kit to your cart and create your own adventure please click here.

and the winner of their very own postcard is.......

CarlaMarch 18, 2015 at 5:25 PM

I never have seen such a postcard,but would love to have one to get inspiration.

congratulations carla.  please email me with your address.  i will start work on your very own postcard!  

thanks to all who stopped by to play.  i'll be having another give away soon. watch for it! 

....

bible journaling

i had a chance to journal in my bible today.  it's always a pleasure to contemplate a verse in the bible when i write it out.  time to be nearer to god is good for my soul.

psalm 23 has always been one of my most favorite verses.  there is such reassurance in it for me.  my life is very blessed and i owe it all to the glory to god.

i hope your life is filled with good news like mine.

weekly prompt - week 13

week 13 - using the letters in your name describe yourself with words

this prompt originated from something that happened to me a few years ago.  i was journaling and wanted to describe myself in three words.  i was having a bit of trouble settling on just three so i thought i'd ask my husband what three words he would use to describe me.  after he told me his three words, which none of them actually was the word "funny", i said to him, "don't you think i'm funny"?  he said "no. you're fun to be with".  to this day that sticks in my memory.  i like to think i'm funny.  i guess it is true we don't always see ourselves as others see us.

i decided to use my name and use each letter to pick words that help to identify my personality.  darn it anyway, i don't have an "f" in my name, and since there weren't any words i could think of to describe funny with an r, an o or a c, looks like i can't describe myself as funny either!

the roc nicholas design team post

today's roc nicholas design team post is brought to you by karen hayselden.  couldn't you just flip of this tag?!?!!!  this is a classic example of how my rubber stamps are meant to be used!  easy to cut apart and reassemble with other images from my line to make something totally new! 

look at how she made her tag so three dimentionsal, too!  to see more of karen's creation please tippy toe over to her blog by clicking here.

to see the stamps she used, stand tall and daisy head, and to see all of my rubber stamp line sold through stampotique.com please click here.

making background paper

the other week i headed off to a friend's house for an art day.  she was going to show me how to make background paper from old national geographic magazines and using citrosolv.  it was interesting how the paper turned out.  apparently the citrosolv reacts with the ink and makes it move to create patterns on the pages.

i don't know what i did wrong but i needed to push the ink around in order for the imagery and words to blur.  i didn't get any real brightly colored pages but i did love the smooth and shiny texture the dried page had.

i decided to take some of that background paper and make a brighter page that i could use in my art.  here are some stages in that progress.

this is the begining stage.  this is what the page looked like at the start.  this is what one of the national geographic page with the citrosolv looked like when dried.

i then painted it with brighter acrylic paints.

next i added strips of scrap paper i had laying around.

i stamped on it, not only tone on tone, but i also used black stazon ink.  i added some more acrylic paint.  doing this helped to push some of the scraps into the background.

i kept adding paper, watercolor paint, acrylic paint and doodles until i felt it was completed.  here is the end result.

i'm having a give away

i'm doing a pacakaging tape postcard give away again.  it's not this particular make and model, however, as this one is a RAK destined for el paso, texas.  but i will love making a special one just for you!  all you have to do is leave me a comment and i'll pick a random winner sometime soon.  please make sure i have an email address to contact you should you be the lucky winner!

i've been published

i've been published in the somerset apprentice magazine.  my fried renee stien is in this issue, too, which always makes it doubly nice to be in print.  i hope you will pick up a copy and check out my article, as well as seeing all the other lovely artists' work.

the roc nicholas design team post

today the roc nicholas design team post is from samantha read.  i love everything about this!  she has used so many of my rubber stamps in her design:  daisyhead, heart vine, and her soul danced.  to see more about this piece of wonderful art, or see more of sam's work, please click here.

to see my rubber stamps she used to create this, or just to all of my rubber stamp designs sold through stampotique.com please click here.

what i've been doing

i've been busy making bracelets the past couple of days.  i needed a break from packaging up art supplies for the big yard sale at violette's on sunday.  if you live in the area, come see me.  i'm sure i'll have something you need.  i digress.  any way...back to the making of the bracelets.

i saw a dyi bracelet made from zip ties and i wanted to experiment and see what i could come up with.  here are my results. i think they'd made great stackable bracelets.  i'm going to make more plain ones so that the ones with embellishments can stand out more. 

if you are interested in any and would like to purchase one, or have one made, send me an email for more details.

weekly planner - week 12

week 12 - if you could call anyone for 5 minutes, who would it be?

this week my prompt was, if i could call anyone for 5 minutes, who would it be?  i had a few people that would be on my list that i would like to talk to.  one of those amazing people would surely be my gram.  i miss her so much.  if you have seen my articles in the art journaling magazines over the years, you know i have talked about her a lot in my stories and have read the amazing influence she has had on my life to this very day.

when i really sat and thought about for a while i finally chose god to be the one i would call.  i spend a great deal of time thinking and praying about my divine destiny.  i often wonder, am i doing what god wants me to do?  am i getting there the way that is best for me and others around me?  what should i be doing differently?  how can i be a blessing to others?  how can i fine tune that inner voice that connects to god?

having the kind of mind that never shuts off and wonders about everything, it would be great to actually hear god's voice on the other end laying it all out for me in black and white.  there wouldn't be any second guesses.  but also knowing how i am, once god told me what he wanted me to do and how to do it, i'm pretty sure you'd be hearing me say,  "god...you want me to do what"?

a new kit released by tumble fish studio

all images from nitty gritty 5 digitial kit by tumble fish studio at mischief circus

marsha, of tumble fish studio, has a new kit coming out at mischief circus today.  i hope you see a few images that i used to create this journal page that you want to add to your collection.  if so, head on over to place your order by clicking here!

the roc nicholas design team post

today the roc nicholas design team post is done by claudine criner.  isn't this piece of art amazing?!  i love how she has used the heads of my scooter girl rubber stamp and my bird princess stamp.  please scoot on over to claudines blog to see more about this piece of art and to see all of my stamps she has used (heart vine, her soul danced, bird princess, scooter girl), as well as all of my stamps in my line through stampotique.com you can click here.

weekly planner - week 11

week 11 - what is something you want this year?

this week's prompt is, "what is something you want this year"?   at times i struggle with my fears.  i don't know where they come from or why they present themselves when and where they do.  there are times and areas of my life where i am fiercly confident, but there are spaces inbetween that are anxiety producing.  thank heavens, none of them really prohibit me from living my life as i truly want to, because i would venture to do anything i really felt compelled to do.

but for example, i dislike driving to areas i'm not familiar with.  i'm not an adventurer by nature.  i'm more of the stay-in-my-rut-where-everything-is-comfortable kind of girl.  so you won't find me out seeking new and excotic places by my lonesome.  even if my husband is in the car and i'm driving and we get lost, i get filled with anxiety.  where does that fear come from?  i have no idea,  but it's there nonetheless, and frustrates me to feel that way because i don't want to feel those feelings.

so this year, i want to be bigger than fears.  i want to boldly go where i've never gone before.  will i see you there?

the roc nicholas design team post

today the roc nicholas design team post is brought to you by corrie herriman.  i love everything about this journal spread she did.  her colors are magnificant!  she used my bird princess stamp, the flower is from my daisy head rubber stamp and she also used my unleash yourself stamp.  if you'd like to see more of corrie's work please hop over to her blog by clicking here.  if you would like to see these stamps, as well as my full line of rubber stamps sold through stampotique.com please click here.