Minibook Page-WORK

Continuing my participation in SplitCoast Stampers challenge for monthly Bible verse projects, having joined in April, I had some back-working to do. I chose to put my verses in a minibook, with a page for each verse. I have just completed my January page with one of my favorite verses about doing everything with excellence.

This is my first attempt at a minibook, and it is really fun. It is fairly quick to complete a page. For the theme of this verse, I wanted to use some metallic techniques with a bit of a steampunk theme. I started with a technique posted by May Flaum (learned from Tim Holtz at Ranger U). She did a lot of sanding away of the alcohol ink after applying, but I opted to leave the heavy colors of the alcohol ink.. First, I cut metal foil tape into “puzzle” pieces, stuck them down to completely cover the blank #8 manila tag, and then used various tools to imprint the area of each seam. I then used three alcohol ink colors: Slate, Stream, and Terra Cotta. After drying, I stamped random background images with Archival Ink. Then I dry embossed the whole tag in the steampunk texture fade. I used papers from Graphic 45 and embellished with lots of metal from Tim Holtz.

Here is a close-up of the tag itself:

Color and Beauty

I recently remarked to my husband about an observation I have made about myself. More and more I am loving COLOR. Well, I’ve always loved color, but my preference is leaning more and more toward bright and vibrant colors. I think that is one reason I was so “taken” with the new Distress Ink color “Peacock Feathers.” In fact, I was in that frame of mind (loving color vibrancy) when I happened upon the current challenge at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog. It is a “photo inspiration challenge,” which, as I understand it, means you create a project inspired by a photograph they post. I love that idea. This is the photo:

The first thing I thought of when I saw the beautiful photo is how incredibly beautiful are the colors of God’s creation. How could man ever possibly create something so wonderfully perfect as the natural colors present all around us. So, I was inspired to do a project about just that: the beauty of color.

I am also entering this as my second entry into the Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge at Linda Ledbetter’s Studio L3, as she has extended the tissue paper flower technique challenge for another week. Her challenge is sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique and is based on the technique outlined on page of Tim’s book, Volume II.

To create this tag, I dry embossed a #8 manila tag in my Vagabond, using one of Tim’s texture fades. I inked it with Peacock Feathers and Mustard Seed Distress Inks. The tissue paper flowers were made from Tim Holtz’s Terminology tissue paper, inked several times with Peacock Feathers and Mustard Seed. The box of crayons is a stamp in the abc Primer set from Graphic 45. I used Distress Reinkers and a water brush to water color the stamp after cutting it out of watercolor paper. I inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The seam binding was inked with Peacock Feathers and Vintage Photo. The little ticket is also a stamp from G45 abc Primer. It was watercolored and touched up with Glossy Accents.

I love that the Frilly and Funkie challenge gave me a fresh reason to be inspired by the beauty of color.

Cover for Minibook-Tissue Paper Flower (CofCC2 #10)

This week’s featured technique in Linda Ledbetter’s Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge is Tissue Paper Flowers, details to be found on p 37 of Tim Holtz’s book (CofC Volume II). This week’s challenge is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

Wanting a flower with some color, I used alcohol ink to color the tissue paper. You will never guess the colors I used, because the outcome was totally unpredictable: Butterscotch, Eggplant and Terra Cotta, about the same amount of each, with a bit of Blending Solution along the way. The resulting color made me think of a couple of items in a prize package I had just received—sure enough, the rusted bookplate and rusted skeleton keys were a perfect match for the surprise-color flower. Of course, Vintage Photo Distress Ink was an obvious choice for coloring the seam binding for the ribbon at the top of the tag slipped behind the bookplate.

For the papers, I pulled from Graphic 45 8x8 stacks: Olde Curiosity Shoppe and A Proper Gentleman.

The letters for the title were cut from Tim Holtz’s Once Upon a Time, using the Vagabond and some of the papers I used on the background. I covered each letter with Glossy Accents to add more dimension.

As I have been posting, I am creating my first minibook, each page being a Scripture verse for each month of the year, for 2012. This “page” will be the cover for the book.

Mother Sew Dear

“Mother Sew Dear” is the title of one of the Precious Moments figurines, and I always think of my mother when I see that one. As I’ve mentioned here before, she was quite the seamstress. She still has her Singer sewing machine, though she doesn’t use it now.

Multi-media art is very new to me. I am terribly inexperienced, but I do enjoy my attempts. Recently I decided to “tackle” a canvas—sometimes there are too many elements for a tag! So, I used an 8x10 stretched canvas as the platform for a sewing theme project to take to Mother soon, hoping it will cheer her, in her illness.

First, I covered the canvas with gesso. I painted the edges of the frame with Making Memories Cranberry acrylic paint. Then I covered the canvas with Studio matte medium and laid an actual pattern down, scrunching it up to make wrinkles.

Then I stamped a couple of sewing theme impressions onto pattern material (using Ranger Archival Cobalt), gently tore the edges around the images, and used medium to apply them. I liked the look of the multi-thickness of the pattern pieces, and so then tore strips of pattern and glued them down all over, as a collage. (Thanks to Marjie Kemper for sending me some authentic patterns to work with!) Probably the greatest challenge of the entire project was trimming the excess pattern material from the edges. I’m NOT a good cutter!

For the focal point of the canvas, I used a tag that I had made a few weeks ago, swapping out the flowers from the original tag (I was never happy with them). I added a flower from my stash, and I love the Wendy Vecchi sewing machine element. Thinking of the sewing notions Mother always had on hand, I added some measuring tape, buttons and ric-rac.

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Proverbs 31, and the description of the “virtuous woman” in that reference well describes my mother. So, I pulled a portion of that reference that is relevant to sewing.

 

So, Mother, if you’re reading this, we’ll have to find a place to display this, next time I visit!

Minibook Page-Apothecary Theme

Long before Reader’s Digest included “Laughter is the Best Medicine” as a segment in their publication, the wisdom of this adage could be found within the pages of the Old Testament (the likely source of this age-old “proverb”).

I was recently reminded of this truth. While we are usually sentimental with our cards, my birthday card from my son’s family this year was hilarious. Inside, he wrote, “Laughter sometimes really is the best medicine.”

It was fun to use this theme for one of the pages in my minibook that will eventually be a scripture for each month of 2012. I started with paper from Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe and used some coordinating chipboard pieces and rubber stamps from the same line. The metal knob attached to the medicine cabinet door is also from Graphic 45.

It’s difficult to tell dimension from a photo, but the frame of the medicine cabinet, as well as the medicine bottle, are lifted from the page with foam tape.

The accent color happens to match my current favorite TH Distress Ink (Peacock feathers), so I used that to dye the trim. For the pills in the corked vial, I colored some glass beads with Stream Alcohol Ink. I finished off with some lace and ribbon trim.

My husband thinks a project depicting the last part of the verse might be interesting as well. However, I’m not that much into Halloween-looking projects (LOL)!

The complete verse:

A joyful heart is good medicine,

But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

-Proverbs 17:22 (NASB)

Art Journal Page – Soar

Taking inspiration again from Andrea Walford, I created this spread for my moleskin inspiration journal.

• Masking tape in seam
• Gesso
• Tim Holtz Terminology Tissue Paper over all
• Broken China Distress Stain over all
• Paints: Claudine Hellmuth Studio Classic Teal and Sky Blue
• Dylusions Spray Fresh Lime
• Crafter’s Workshop stencil, used with stencil and with Golden Molding Paste
• Tim Holtz Stamps
• Birds, cut from cereal box, on Cricut, covered with TH tissue tape, gessoed and painted with CH Classic Teal, stamped with TH stamp, sprayed with Perfect Pearls

Art Journal-Pan Pastels with Stencil

I’m starting to zero in on things I do and do not like for my own art journals. After some of my attempts lately, I was actually ready to give up…

I have learned that I do not like the messy, drippy style that others can handle so beautifully. I also have decided I prefer the journals that are bound, and I have started a large moleskine sketchbook for my “real” art journal. I am using the Canson (used here) as a “practice” journal.

Having been really discouraged when trying to use spray inks with stencils, it was encouraging to learn that I could use Pan Pastels with stencils and achieve a soft, clean look that I like (this one is from The Crafter’s Workshop).

Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge – Technique #9: Time

This week’s Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge at Linda’s Studio L3 involves the use of Tim’s pocket watch and the technique he outlines on page 35 of his CofC2 book. This week’s challenge is sponsored by Simon Says Stamp.

I opted not to get terribly creative with this one. I will use it in a project, maybe even a scrapbook page, but will go ahead and post the watch project itself at this point. This project begins with an empty watch case.

This is a subject that has been on my mind a lot lately—with the high school graduation of my two granddaughters and some other life happenings, I’ve just become more acutely aware of the passing of time, and of the accompanying memories.

Minibook Page – Lovely Thoughts

Still working backwards in my Verse of the Month Minibook, here is my page for March. The kraft glassine envelope contains a minitag with a personal journaling note. Since I used kraft and twine on this project, I will participate in the Frilly and Funkie blog challenge. I will also submit it in the SplitCoast Stampers Bible Verse Challenge for 2012.

The kraft glassine is from Tim Holtz. The paper is a stack from My Mind’s Eye, Lost and Found Two: Sunshine. The verse is computer-generated.

This is one of my favorite verses, but for me it represents a challenge—controlling my thoughts to such an extent that there is not room for other than these virtuous thoughts—yep, that’s a challenge for me! But, I’ve no doubt the rewards would be great if I could “think on these things” as much as possible.

Minibook Page-JOY

I am participating in a faith-based challenge at Splitcoast Stampers, submitting a project with a Scripture verse for each month. I am doing a minibook (my first), with a “page” for each month. I got started late, so have submitted April and May so far. This is my June entry. I found this verse yesterday morning, and I love it. The entire passage [emphasis mine]:

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11 (NIV)

12 Tags of 2012 – June: Tinting Old Photo

Though I’m not totally thrilled with my finished product, I do love anything that has to do with old photos. For such projects, I will always opt to use my own pictures. Through the years, I can imagine grandchildren asking, “Who is that?” and I don’t want the answer to be, “I got that picture from the internet—I don’t have a clue.” But then, when I create a project, I almost always am thinking about who will view it in years to come (truth is, no one may ever see it, but it makes me feel better to think that way, anyway)! Besides, I have SO MANY old photos, and I love them all, so why not use them in special projects!

This particular photo is one of my favorites. The twins in the old “wagon” or “stroller” are my mother and her twin sister (now 84). Their older sister, pulling the wagon, was 12 when they were born. The 28 represents the year the picture was taken. They were born in January 1928, and I believe they are less than a year old in this picture, so I’m relatively certain on the date of the photo.

The metal number 2 symbolizes the twins (of course).

I followed many of the suggestions on Tim Holtz’s blog. I used Bundled Sage and Broken China for the main colors for the tag and trimmings.

PS (Note added 6/6): My mother and her twin have enjoyed discussing and remembering this photo. Mother’s twin remembers that it was actually a lawn mower, not a wagon or stroller. She remembers that you could flip over the mower and the blades would not turn.

Compendium of Curiosities 2-Technique #8

This is my entry in the CC2 Challenge at Linda Ledbetter’s blog. This week we are using the technique that Tim teaches in his book, on page 62. It was really fun to “repurpose” the packaging from one of my dies. Now I have to start saving plastic packaging!

I first embossed the tag with one of the book plate texture fades, inked it, and then attached a sentiment that was stamped with Black Archival on natural sticky-back canvas (idea from Tammy Tutterow). I inked the edges of the canvas and the tag with Vintage Photo. Colors used on the tag: Ripe Persimmon and Wild Honey Distress Inks and Sunflower Sparkle and Mandarin Perfect Pearls. The seam binding was colored with Dylusions Spray (Squeezed Orange).

Oldest Granddaughter Graduates

  

What an emotional time of year for our family! My husband, an old softie for sure, wasn’t sure he would make it through TWO granddaughters graduating from high school!

Tory’s parents had a very nice snack buffet for Tory at their home, with lots of her favorite foods, including sushi (me, not so much).

 

At the conclusion of the gift-opening, Tory’s dad had some emotional things to say. So sweet—and so true, the observations he made about her delightful personality and her dedication and desire to follow God!

  Tory’s Aunt Sharida and Cousin Dawson came from southwest Missouri to attend the party!

During the processional, I got a great photo! (How sweet, she remembered to wear her new pearl earrings from Mamo and Grandad!)

Tory’s brother’s choir, A Capella Choir, sang the National Anthem.

After the ceremony, it was beginning to get dark, but family groupings were absolutely necessary.

 

Congratulations, Tory.

We love you and are so proud of you!

Tag for Grandson’s Journal

I found a journal I want to give to my grandson. He is a serious, contemplative and reflective young man, and I think he might enjoy keeping a journal, provided it looks like a “guy-journal.”

This tag will be included with the journal, possibly to serve as a bookmark, or he may choose to put it on his bulletin board. I covered a #8 manila tag with kraft resist card stock (found a page with lots of music notes on it—he loves music, sings and plays guitar and keyboard). I used Wild Honey and Fired Brick Distress Stains, and the coordinating colors in Distress Ink. I used a lot of Vintage Photo around the edges. I printed the verse on natural sticky-back canvas.

The key has the word “life” on it—this particular verse is a key life verse! The verses here are not new ones for my young man—he lives out these verses already. Here, they are just reminders for him. I’ll tuck the little items inside the bag (love how the bag seems made just for him) and give it to him, just because…

…just because I’m his Mamo.

Providence Scrapbook Page

This has been a busy year, and I have already filled a huge Creative Memories 12x12 album with 2012 up to now. This page will start Book Two of 2012. Although it is not a happy page, it is part of our lives right now, so the page belongs in “the book.” It’s a good reminder anyway.

I used a real lace doily I had picked up at JoAnn’s. The tag is inked with Wild Honey and Peacock Feathers and then covered with natural sticky-back canvas inked with Coffee Archival Ink on a Wendy Vecchi stamp. The seam binding is dyed with Peacock Feathers. The little grunge board bird is painted with Espresso Paint Dabber. The background paper is from Graphic 45 Le Romantique.

Second Page for First MiniBook

I can see how it is possible to become obsessed with MiniBooks. For me, they will not replace my regular scrapbook albums, but I can see using this format for special little “extras.” My first attempt at a MiniBook is a Scripture of the Month book. I started with May (see previous post) and will work back to January and then be on track for the rest of the year.

For this album, I am using the Tim Holtz 6x6 grunge board book, with kraft and black for the major colors (with an accent color on each page). For this page, I used the new spring distress ink from TH, Peacock Feathers. I used Broken China stain on resist paper for the tag. I took numerous photos trying to capture the true colors, but was not really successful. All the “teal” colors on the page are the Peacock Feather color, but the different elements picked up the color differently on camera.

This has always been one of my favorite verses, and I will leave this one out on a stand for a month and then swap with the next one. Eventually each page will go into the “book.”

The flower was made from kraft glassine paper and book text and then inked. The verse is a wood stamp from Hobby Lobby.

Happy Memorial Day! I’m always thankful for the folks like my darling hubby who served our country in the military, especially in time of war.

Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge – Technique #7

For this week’s challenge at Studio L3, I had fun using my new Artistic Outpost stamps on the background created by using Tim’s technique, Brushless Watercolor, outlined on page 49 of his Compendium of Curiosities, Vol II. This week’s challenge is sponsored by eclectic Paperie.

I used one of Tim’s background stamps and Dusty Concord Distress Stain and Ink. I colored the AO stamped image with Distress Reinkers and a water brush. The ticket is one I created some time ago (I make those a strip at a time, using Tim’s ticket strip die, and then save them for use on tags as desired).

This one was fun and simple. Actually I often find those two adjectives go together for me. Sometimes I’m guilty of over-kill on my tags, and it is refreshing to make something clean and simple!

Tag for Graduation Scrapbook Page

One of my current projects is scrapbooking the photos from my granddaughter Alyssa’s graduation. Her cap and gown are red, so this is a tag I have created to embellish one of the pages (layout to be posted later). I used the Tim Holtz Texture Fade (damask) and inked it with Black Soot. I covered the Movers and Shapers hearts with symphony tissue tape, painted with acrylic paint and coated with a thick layer of Glossy Accents. The flourish and the bottom trim are also Tim Holtz die cuts. The sentiment is from Wendy Vecchi. I stamped it with Archival black ink and heat embossed it with clear powder. The ribbon is from Papertrey Ink.

Senior coffee, please?

Sometimes God sends me little tiny blessings, just because He is especially fond of me. I try not to “miss it” when He does.

Today I had the unpleasant task of renewing my driver’s license. Not a big deal, but I don’t like it. But the expiration date was today. Afterward, I treated myself to “breakfast” at the McDonald’s drive-through.

“May I take your breakfast order?”

“A sausage biscuit and a senior coffee, please.”

She gave me the total and told me to pull around. At the first window, the lady, older than middle-aged, looked at me and then at the empty seats in my car. She said, “So, do you have an old man tied up in the back?”

I wondered what in the world she meant. I said, “No. Why do you ask?”

“Well, you ordered a senior coffee, and it’s obviously not for YOU.”

“OH, my,” I replied. “You just made my day. Because, as it happens, today is my birthday, and I really needed to hear something encouraging today.”

“How old are you—45?” (obviously kidding)

“I’m 65 today,” I confessed.

“Wow, I only hope….well, let me just say, I wish I looked as good as you, NOW.”

I thanked her again for making my day. A little thing, of course. Call it vanity (you would be right), but it DID help make my birthday a little brighter.

Little blessings…because He is especially fond of ME…

Favorite Dessert: Fresh Blackberry Cobbler

It’s one of the most difficult for me—for some reason, it’s a challenge for me to make homemade pie crusts into rectangles (or squares, or anything other than circles), and cobbler just needs not to be the same shape as a pie! Then there’s the uncertainty of how many blackberries, how much flour and sugar…it’s always a guess for me, but my husband assures me my cobblers are always perfect! Gotta love ‘im.

Our grocery store has fresh blackberries on super sale, and they are simply delicious. Son’s family is having us over for supper, and this will be my contribution. Happy Saturday!

CC2 Challenge - #6 Tissue Wrap Collage

This week’s Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge at Studio L3 is using the Tissue Wrap Collage technique from Tim Holtz’s book, page 38. This one came together fairly easily for me, and I love working with the tissue wrap. The sponsor of this week’s challenge is The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

After deciding to use the Movers and Shapers hearts with the symphony tissue wrap, an old song came to mind (as a young girl I loved that old movie starring Susan Hayward—I know, I’m really old)—“With a Song in My Heart.”

The flower at the top is a Prima flower recently purchased at Hobby Lobby. The book text flower was cut from the Tattered Flowers die and inked with Black Soot. And I must say I am loving the Tiny Attacher!

Granddaughter Graduates

No, it is simply not possible that my granddaughter Alyssa could be graduating from high school. I’m quite sure she was just born. THIS is the picture I should be posting, right?

Seems like it should be, but alas, 18 1/2 years have passed, and last weekend we were the proud grandparents watching her graduate with highest honors.

Alyssa Megan Havens

 

Senior Varsity Singers

  Congratulations, Alyssa!!

We are SO proud of you!

Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge - #5

Continuing my participation in the CC2Challenge over at Studio L3, this week’s technique is showcased in Tim Holtz’s book, page 48. For my “take” on the shattered stain technique, I chose a butterfly (new creation) theme. I used Wild Honey Distress Stain and Peacock Feathers Distress Ink on a background paper from one of Tim’s kraft resist paper stacks. The label behind the computer-generated Scripture reference is cut from grungeboard using the Movers and Shapers Labels die and then inked with Fired Brick Distress Stain. This week’s challenge is sponsored by Simon Says Stamp.

Mama Kitty Returns

This morning I saw her surreptitiously return to feed her babies. Whew! At least I know they are being fed. But she is SO skinny. I put out some scrambled eggs when she wasn’t looking. Later I could see that she had eaten a little bit. Strangely, it is clear that she is Siamese, probably purebred. She has all the markings, including the ears and the blue eyes. I am going to post a “FOUND” poster at a nearby intersection. But she doesn’t have a collar. Surely someone didn’t just “drop off” a pregnant SIAMESE cat….

I spoke gently to her, and she didn’t run away immediately. She kept looking at me. But she isn’t ready to come to me yet. I wish someone would respond to the poster, but if not, I will have a mama cat and two pretty babies to give away.

Two Little Babies

Oh dear. We live in the woods and are used to seeing wildlife—lots of bird nests, baby birds, squirrels, deer, rabbits, etc. But yesterday my husband heard a noise in the flower bed and pushed the flowers aside with the shovel, expecting to find a critter. Imagine his surprise when he found these little ones:

No, we do not own a cat.

We have noticed a cat, apparently a stray, around the area (we live on five acres of woods) occasionally, but certainly not regularly. These kittens look to me to be about 3-4 weeks. Now I’m worried because I haven’t actually seen the mother cat coming or going, so I have to watch carefully now, to see if they are being fed. They look well-fed so far, but what if she is not feeding them?

Oh dear. I wonder if she brought them here from where they were born? I just can’t imagine they could be this old without our having a clue that they were there. They ARE on the side of the house where we don’t frequent. But still.

Now what?

Tim Holtz’s 12 Tags of 2012-May

Inspired by Tim’s May tag, this was a fun tag to make, and I didn’t mind buying a couple of supplies (Seamless Experience stamp set and Sewing Room die), as I can use them again for little projects for my mother to enjoy during her chemo. Since she was the CHAMPION seamstress as she was raising her five children (of whom I am proudly the oldest), I will use this theme more than once. She made almost all my clothes until I got married (as she did for all us four girls). She made my wedding dress and all the bridesmaids gowns for the wedding. For a time, she taught classes for Singer. So, I love this theme.

I will give credit to Shelly Hickox for the idea of using a stamp on sticky-back canvas for the dress form, but I must say that I had already purchased the die at a Hobby Lobby while traveling for our granddaughter’s graduation, to use in lieu of the stamp that Tim used (though I do have the stamp he used). I used my favorite Wendy Vecchi stamp for the pattern on the form, with Coffee Archival Ink. I cut the little dress for the hanger with Cricut Everyday Paper Dolls, using paper from October Afternoon. I stained the seam binding with Fired Brick. I stamped the spool stamp with Barn Door Distress Ink.

I found an old pattern on the internet and printed it on regular white tissue paper. I was hoping Mother had saved some of her old patterns (I remember Butterick and Simplicity and McCalls), but she says they have been gone for twenty years.

The really fun NEW thing for me was using the Melting Pot (recently purchased and used with beeswax already) and UTEE. It was so much fun, I kept trying to think of things I could dip in it! I had trouble finding paper flowers like I’ve seen on others’ projects, and the only thing I could find was some individual fabric flowers on stems in the wedding department at Hobby Lobby. They also had some leaves on wires.

I knew right away I would NOT be using the wooden spool (I don’t do woodworking, nor do I intend to), so I like the little spool that is part of the Sewing Room die set (cut from grunge board covered with natural sticky-back canvas and inked with Frayed Burlap and a bit of Barn Door).

For my part, the next time I do a version of this tag, I will probably use flatter flowers, as I don’t like huge and heavy tags so much. But, I’m pretty much pleased with how this came together, and I’ll certainly be using UTEE again!

My First “Page” of My First MiniBook

When I came across a challenge at Splitcoast Stampers (Divine Design Bible Verse Challenge 2012), I decided that would be the motivation I’ve needed to create a MiniBook. With that format, I can leave the “page” of the book on a stand where I can see it for a month at a time, and then compile the twelve pages into a MiniBook at the end of the year.

So, I will start with this month and then go back and catch up for January-April. This particular verse has always been one of my favorites and has become especially meaningful to me lately. This will not be the first page of the finished book (as May doesn’t come first!).

I am using Tim Holtz’s Grunge Book and some papers and elements I found at Hobby Lobby. For this book, I will use Kraft/Black/Cream for my theme colors, and on each page I will use an “accent” color. For this page’s accent, I used Fired Brick Distress Ink. I cut the flowers from my new Tattered Flowers die (cut from book text and Kraft Glassine) and sponged the book text flowers with Fired Brick. I dyed the seam binding with Fired Brick ink. The little bag was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder, in my Vagabond, and then inked with Walnut Stain.

I’ll put a little journaling tag somewhere on each page so that I can write personal thoughts about each verse.

I need a few more projects, I think. I’m off to my granddaughter’s graduation tomorrow, then I have several family events to scrapbook. I’m also taking an online lettering class and have decided what I want to do with my Art Journals, so I’m feeling focused there.

Beautiful spring day here in Missouri. I think having the windows open all around me is contributing to my creative juices!

Flight Tag

I already confessed to craziness over the Spring Seasonal Distress Inks. At this point, anything not nailed down is getting inked. Seriously, I had some odds and ends of projects around the craft room, and it took me about five minutes to pull them all together into this tag. I had stamped the ATC-sized image (one of Tim’s stamps) a few weeks ago just to see how it looked. I had a background piece from using alcohol ink on glossy card stock (don’t even remember the colors, but I think Bottle and Sailboat were in there). I inked the stamped image just as an excuse to use the spring colors. AFTER I inked it, I happened to notice it blended well with the inked card stock. Then, I was looking for an opportunity to actually use some of the tickets I have been making. Since it was inked with—you guessed it—the ticket also seemed to “work.” Anyway, here it is, a composite of left-overs.

Another Week, Another Concert

I am SO reminded of my own kids’ high school days—always a concert, a sports event, an academic competition, a talent show, a speech event, a play, a musical—something to ATTEND and PHOTOGRAPH! What a blessing!

Last night was grandson Conner’s Pops Concert. He is a sophomore and in the top two choral groups at his high school: Up Tempo (10 students) and A Capella Choir.

      

The talent in my family is something I do not want to take for granted, and so once again, I thank God for His blessings!