pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks

Sometimes when I am challenged to give thanks, I start with I have a roof over my head, the birds are singing, the sky is not smoky, Some days it is hard to look for thankfulness. Especially these days when the pandemic deaths are going up up up and the president is saying it's just about over, we are rounding the corner. It adds a sense of unreality to everything, because part of me really really wants to believe him, but the fact is, a friend is in the hospital right now with this virus, and she is not expected to live. 

I wish this was the first time this was happening, but it is not.

BUT.... we can still pray, we can give thanks. And ask the Lord for peace and mercy.

This is a paper napkin decoupaged to these pages. (in my little 3x5 notebook) Then I doodled on them with black and white posca pens. This verse has been going through my head the last two days because of S. in the hospital, she is now on hospice, so they are not treating the disease any more, but just keeping her comfortable. And so the family waits, and waits. And wonders. And agonizes.

We have not turned the corner. 

But we still hang in there, one day at a time. 

I did some cards with packing peanuts before, but I think it was ink. It's fun to print with them, just smudges really, but something different to print with than you might have thought of before. Using my imagination is thanks to Traci Bunkers. She was my introduction to the style that really resonated with me, instead of deciding what to paint and trying to paint it--I am not good at that-- but just grabbing the paint and letting your painting or whatever you want to call it just do itself. Lots of times I wish I would have taken more classes, but oh well. Maybe after this you know what has run its course. This was inspired by that "Let your imagination wander" which was in a magazine, and then I saw the word "smidgen" and it came together from there. I couldn't find "what" so I made it myself, with a stamp set. I didn't get the t straight, but oh well. Still the teensy 3x5 notebook.

how did this get started, anyway?

Sometimes I go into the craft room, and somehow, end up making something. I got these teensy spray things, and have been really disappointed at how they work (or don't work) so I put some ink into a different sprayer, grabbed a piece of card stock, and sprayed. Well, I couldn't stop there, so grabbed some stencils and added some stuff, then had to add some white spatters. I have a mess to clean up now. But there's another art journal page. Just longing for some childhood, simple, wonderful, nonsense.  

a number of things....

Right now, I have a number of things going. I'm doing "Be your own Inspiration", "30 days of Art Journaling"and "Coloring Made Meaningful" With Allyson Bright's "Determined to Shine." program.
Because of that, I enrolled in Tangie Baxter's Art Journal Emporium, and plan on being there for maybe three months tops... her art is not exactly my style, but I'm learning. I got several art journaling books, and am planning to go through them one at a time. The first is The Confident Creative by Cat Bennett. It isn't exactly a journaling book, it's a Creativity book. Drawing in particular. I've always wanted to draw but never felt "good enough" but I just might be breaking through somehow. I guess it's about time.
The second book is 101 Mixed Media Techniques by Walter Foster publishing-- there are several authors. I haven't started this one yet.  The third one is something called Journal Spilling by Diana Trout. It looks like it will have tons of practical information.
The last one is The Art of Whimsical Lettering by Joanne Sharp. Lots of ideas for different fonts based on MY handwriting (or YOURS if you are going through it)

I'm also still working in my gratitude journal. I try to do a page every day or so, but I haven't been strict with myself. I am loving it.

I am also doing a challenge with my daughter, a Christmas 31 day scripture writing plan. Every day there are about 10 minutes of writing, so it's pretty do-able. I'm using it to practice lettering and good readable handwriting. I've also been doing some illustrations and/or stickers on some of the pages. I think it will be a great one to keep with my Christmas stuff and go through another time.

So is that all? I have also collected some coloring books. I love that they are doing this at the moment. The fad won't last forever, but that's okay, I probably have a few years' supply by now. Many from the Dollar Tree lately, because of Christmas.

So there you are.

Fluttering Flitting Flying

I've been struggling with depression in a major way. So. I came across Determined to Shine, which was started by Allyson Bright a few years after the death of her husband by suicide. Read and hear  her story here. Determined to Shine

I'm not young anymore, on the outside. But I am on the inside. I have a LOT to learn. Allyson is about the age of my daughter! But she's gained a lot of wisdom along the way.

I don't want to say a lot about the classes, read about them on her website (link above) There are several classes so far, Be Your Own Inspiration, 30 days of Journal Prompts, and the brand-new Coloring Made Meaningful.

One of the things in the main class was making a gratitude journal. I scrambled some of her ideas and some of my own. I had purchased a Happy Planner (another story!!!) and ordered the small disks by mistake. So I made a little gratitude journal with 6 x 6 paper.  I am LOVING it and have plans for more for the rest of the year.

the cover. There is always, always, always something to be thankful for

One day I just couldn't think about ANYTHING to be thankful for. Then it dawned on me how much I appreciate having seasons.

My fourth child's birthday was last week. I am VERY thankful for him!

I found this quote online. It says it all. Even on those days when all I see is dark depression, I sure have stuff to be thankful for.


















And there's always Winnie the Pooh. ❤

So I have some more 6x6 paper on order.I see that I'll fill up winter before winter is over, since we've not exactly really begun. I just decided to start Christmas early this year. I need all the encouragement I can get. 

Another thing I found for journal prompts was "The Ungame" at the thrift store. I'm getting a good collection of stuff. And used some already. 

AND... while shopping for a coloring book, I found this. I've colored several so far and included one in a birthday card already. 

I am now rich in supplies for creating. Several new coloring books, gel pens, and markers. I've made a few background pages, and hope to get out my gelli plate one of these days too. I also found a journal that needs some decoupage on the cover. So there are no excuses to stop being creative. 

Google app fun

Today I discovered a Google App called SketchPad. I have been spending a lot of time sorting things and my table is full. So.... lazy me decided to try SketchPad instead of actually painting. It was fun.

And then, I opened it in Paint, and inverted the colors.

one more. I just did rainbow triangle on top of rainbow triangle on top of rainbow triangle.....Kind of wild, huh. But fun.

Stuff overload....

Part of my creativeness is squashed because of all the STUFF around me at the moment. Last year my mother in law died and a lot of stuff came in here since neither my hubby nor I could deal with it. Then my dad was sick, so things piled up because I wasn't home. Add two new grandchildren to the mix. (that's TEN and counting!!) Then my dad died. Two more weeks away from home. Then my sis in law fell and had to move out of her house. More here. Umm... didn't I have enough here? LOL {{shaking my head}}

Found a stack of music I haven't played in forever, it's getting old and yellowed. Put it in the garbage can. BUT!! Think about it. Decoupage. Multimedia. Journal page. LOL but what do I DO with it? Where do I PUT it?

Then I wonder why I can't create, it's all screaming at me. Sigh.

So I'm going to go dance for awhile, see if I can find a spot in the file cabinet for that music...

p.s. I wrote about stuff on my Other Blog. It is a good reminder to read it again.

more washcloths.... and flossing!

Today I spent some time watching a video about drawing faces. I ordered a Stabilo All pencil because it is recommended by the video lady. I also spent some time in a facebook group called Art Journal Junkies. Oh I am inspired. Now I want some Inktense blocks, too. I also need to figure out some color sprays. and then there's hot glue stencils to try. Oh my. I have a lot of stencils already, but this will add some originality instead of always having to use manufactured stencils.

I also finished a set of washcloths. These are diagonally knitted.
Not sure what I am going to do with them. Maybe donate to the Rag Quilters. I need to get involved with SOMETHING in the community. I know it's a good cause. If we have a garage sale, I could sell some there... we will see.

The other thing I am excited about is my embroidery floss holder. In cleaning out L's house, I inherited a bunch of embroidery floss and such. I wanted to add to the stash, but have a way to actually access the stuff when I wanted a specific color and not have to paw around in a box or bag. I found a zipper notebook at the thrift store, put those card collection pages in it, and put scraps of floss by color in the pages. It doesn't hold it all yet, I need more pages. But it is a good start. I am excited to get back to doing a bit of counted cross stitch. As if I need a new hobby. Not exactly new, but I haven't done any in a long time.

The more orderly my craft things get the more excited I am about being able to spend some more time crafting. I have been spending a lot of time knitting and crocheting. I just downloaded a karate uniform and a denim jacket for American Girls... I have to watch it, I will just plan and plan and never Do. I don't really think I need to worry about it.

Tomorrow, my cousin J and I are going to help my mom plan a display about my father. It will be a bittersweet day.

Enough rambling.

sudsy....

Creativity is sometimes quite odd. My big plan for tonight was to do a journal page. Didn't exactly work out that way. I went into the bathroom and it splashed. I stepped in a puddle. I then looked at the sink and it was overflowing. Not pouring. Just a trickle. But it had obviously been trickling for a very long time. Turns out dear hubby had let the cat have a trickle from the faucet, and because we are in a Drought, plugged the sink, thinking he would come back in a bit and turn the water off. That didn't exactly work out. So my Creative Genius turned out to be How To Empty a Drawer That Is Full Of Water without dumping it all over the floor. Turns out, you can't quite get it out without dumping some of the water. At least this drawer. You have to pull it all the way out and tip it down, which is exactly what you do to Empty a Drawer That Is Full Of Water while dumping it all over the floor. So out came the Towels Fresh from the dryer. At least it was in the bathroom where there are lots of towels. The rugs had already soaked everything up they could. Pulling out already soaked towels made me giggle, as did the Slightly Damp Toilet Paper. and the ten boxes of soap? There were only three that were wet enough to make a slimy mess. I also found some soap I had forgotten about. Pomegranate. Pomegranate? I don't even remember anything about it. Must have been On Sale somewhere, or someone gave it to me?

Oh well.

At least I got the bathroom cabinets deep cleaned.

So what does this have to do with anything? Not a thing. But I have a Creative Excuse for Not Getting an Art Journal page done. But I wasn't planning on procrastinating, at least on that. LOL.

Tomorrow's another day.

frustration to thankfulness...

When I saw this video on Sharpie Ghosting I just knew I had to try it. Today started out really frustrating, because I am still not feeling well. I jumped up to get moving and nearly fell over with dizziness. I went to the bank anyway but it was sort of bad... by the time I got home the couch looked really good.

I always want Instant Sickness Finished. when I went to the drug store last night I was fine. But my ear started hurting in the night.

Anyway, my Sharpie writing was full of frustration and why can't I whining. Of course I had to cover the page in three directions so by the time I got to the last layer it was pretty gone so I started writing what I was thankful for.

I put two layers of gesso on the top. While the top layer was wet, I scribbled with Slick Stix. then I had fun fingerpainting swirls and blending the yellow and blue. I let that dry and when putting away the gesso saw some glow in the dark paint... so I swirled some on the top. When I saw the dry swirly page I could hear angels singing... a celestial symphony. I remembered that music stamp and the notes, and the flowers at the bottom to keep me grounded here on earth while I'm listening. If you look closely you can see the ghosting... it is more in person.

Anyway it sure felt good. My attitude turned around and oh if I wasn't hooked on art journaling before I sure am now. I'm going to do a bit of journaling around on the page but kind of think it will be private. :)

And can't wait until tonight to see how it looks in the dark!

keeping up with myself...

It is hard to keep up with myself. I can't get enough of painting/stamping/carving lately. Originally I wanted to order gelatos, but the price stopped me, and I kept thinking, why do I keep wanting all this STUFF when what I need to do is figure out how to do it with something else?? So Michael's came up with this video about Slick Stix, which are made for kids. About $4 for a pack of 5 of them. Has kind of the texture of lipstick... I spritzed the stamp lightly with water and colored right on it. With some experimenting I'll come up with what I like.

I also used a couple stamps from GinaK's "botanicals" set and I love the look. So maybe tomorrow I will take some time and make a few cards.

Hard to compare with gelato results because 1) not the same stamp and 2)never used gelatos. LOL

SUNday

I started this page just painting it yellow, having no idea of what I would do. Then I thought of the sun, but since the page was already yellow, I couldn't very well make the SUN yellow, could I? So orange it became. I used a henna stencil on the top of the orange with yellow for interest... I was going to just journal on the bottom but then started between the sun's rays.

My husband doesn't want to grow anything. I do. I didn't realize that it was bothering me so much... but it is. I have to grow... he will have to understand that, it is a part of me I can't just ignore any more. I haven't had much garden here, and I miss it intensely. I'm looking forward to gardening at his mom's place, I'm just going to DO IT....

dreaming...

well this carved eraser was inspired by a card.... but sure isn't anything like it. I am excited to have carved it though.

We used to live way out in the country. I mean WAY out.

Our "driveway" was a mile of dirt and gravel. There were three neighbors on the road and one was my cousin! The neighbors at one house had peacocks and James and I often drove by in the evening when they were the most active. They are LOUD... we could hear them all the way to the top of the hill where our house was. We always enjoyed "talking" to them and their answering screeches.

I sure miss the hills. Wonder if I'll ever get to move back there?

Now that I am in the city, actually a smaller town really... there are advantages to both. It isn't 45 minutes to everywhere. I am still amazed that when I get down to the orange bar on the gas gauge that I better get gas "one of these days" instead of panicking that I won't get to the station.

But the nights looking at the stars that one can actually SEE... and hearing coyotes calling... and the silence... I miss my dreamland.

Linoleum print #1 of 2011

First lino print in twenty years or so. I did sort of a zentangle. I have no idea what I will do with it, maybe a card. Have to get lino ink. I tried all sorts of ink pads and nothing really worked... this was the best, and it was DISTRESS INK!! I wasn't going to try it, but since I couldn't leave it alone there you go.

If nothing else it was good practice cutting. I really like both the lino and the tool. But I guess I am going to have to get more linoleum ink. I never hate to go to the craft store. ;)

Maybe tomorrow it will show up on an art journal page.

Hopefully I will have some sewing to report, I am going to take some sewing over to Grandma's, and hope to get some done.

It's raining...

Wow we had a monstrosity of a rain storm come through here Thursday.

I stamped the "waves" with acrylic paint and a piece of that purple crown thingy that I showed in the last post. The pictures I just printed on paper and glued in. The silver drops are done with a Sharpie poster paint marker. And of course distress inks on gesso background.

And did I mention that my son and brother were DRIVING through this storm?? He came in to Sacramento on a plane; fortunately they got to land and it wasn't raining too hard because they let them out right out there on the tarmac; tiny plane. By the time they got to Placerville it was SNOWING!! Wild stuff. This is MARCH.... snow in Placerville in March is rare.

There's a space on the left page for an ark. I put my new stamps in a SAFE PLACE..... the dreaded safe place. If I don't find them soon I am going to print a picture for there. Ah the joys of being creatively ADHD.

be who you need to be...

well.... I've been thinking about this a lot lately. To look to God for my identity instead of everyone else. This was inspired by someone at Milliande who did a page with the same quote.

I am kind of on a run of art journaling. Today I am off to play with grandkids. Hoping for sewing tomorrow.

the sun is shining for a minute...

Today's journal page... a tribute to spring, even though the rain forecast and low snow levels are teasing us. This is from a page of butterfly stencils I got at WalMart. I painted the whole page blue first with acrylic paint, then stenciled the butterflies. The purple one I didn't like the way it turned out the first time so filled it in, then re-stenciled with darker purple.

The stamped letters are Cheapskate again. Gotta get another alphabet.

how to...

"How to Paint ..How to Draw .. How to be Creative..these are questions many beginner artists ask themselves ..yet there is no hard and fast rule ..
here I share my process the way I taught myself how to paint.. the way I learned how to draw ..the way I play art .. I don't believe there are mistakes in art making it simply is how I express myself at the time I pick up a tube of paint..swing a pencil or carve a stamp ... no validity is necessary for me.."- Milliande

And so with sewing, or the other myriad things I do or try to do... the process is what it is about. I saw this art journal prompt at Millande Art Community for Women (I am a new member there) It's for January, and that is long past, but I was intrigued. There are examples and videos, but I wanted to just DO something so I didn't have any preconceived notions about what to do.

THEN I watched a video. My painting is drying now, then I will journal on it, then post it. So far I LOVE my zebra, I can almost feel its personality.... now wouldn't that make a great lino cut? LOL..........we will see.

On the right, before journaling.... below, after.

NOT the wrong color

Started slapping on golden yellow paint on a page, had no idea what I was going to do. Then the green jumped out and demanded equal time. The slapping turned into mountains. Then brown pleaded to be included. When it was all dry it just looked sad. Oh my, I said, this is a strange landscape. At first I thought it was Pluto or something but then it started snowing. It occurred to me that I am the creator of this ummm... painting. So I can do what I want. It can be anywhere... maybe it isn't snow?

And it doesn't seem to matter how it turns out. The process is calming and lovely. So do i like it?? wellllll... yes. It was what my fingers did today.

Now to find my sewing machine cord.... and do something a bit more... traditional?

troubled

My heart was indeed troubled this morning. As the caregiver for my mother in law, it is increasingly obvious that we are going to have to have more help. I came home troubled by that. Then my hubby had the news on about Libya. Then of course the reminders about Japan. And a friend of mine recently headed to Chile for relief efforts there.

All of it gets me "all bunched up" as my dad says. So I started this page stamping WARS.. then that scripture verse about "wars and rumors of wars" came to mind. So I doodled about what is the most bothersome... earthquakes, war... famine, pestilence... as it talks about in Matthew... and I found this article. A good reminder that it is not a warning about the end of the world, but these things will be around us, and in spite of them, God asks something of us... "See that you are not troubled" (Matthew 24).

So how crazy is that??? I say... in the middle of all this, don't get all bunched up.... my dad's right. Guess I better get better at this. I'm certainly getting lots of practice lately.

handing...

Decided to experiment with different paints for stenciling the Mehndi hand. I bought a kid's airbrush system for $7 at Michael's... the "Sprayza". LOL I don't want to invest in an expensive system I won't use a lot; but I will get one if I think I will do a lot. With the "Sprayza" you use your own breath... and I was almost hyperventilating, LOL...

Things that I learned or remembered...

• biocolor is not the best for clear stenciling (the red) it blobs. So use it if I want blobs. :)
• acrylic paint works well with a stenciling brush and is pretty good for detail (the black)
• Distress ink with a foam applicator (the blue) is great for a dreamy look but you can't get into the nooks and crannies but I like the shadowy effect;
• The airbrush is good for fine detail (the green). And of course a better system would produce even better results.

The yellow around the edges I airbrushed. Then I didn't like it quite so bright so toned it down with distress ink (walnut) on a round foam applicator.

I was also reminded of Mother Teresa and her humanitarian work, and that God is always in the reach of every hand...

A great start to the day! Good morning!!