Happy Sunday and CONTEST

I was inspired by Joy's Hope to start a Happy Sunday Post. I will be posting a scripture on Sunday's feel free to take to image for your own personal use. When you click on the image it will enlarge the image and can be used for desktop wallpaper. Please let me know what your favorite scripture is for a chance to win a personalized desktop wallpaper. Contest entries will close on Monday, November 1 at 12:00 noon est.

A Birthday Party

My daughter's 10th birthday party was last Friday night. It was a night of art and food and I think that I had as much fun as they did when I made the decorations and planned the party. It was a very small party which was just what she asked for and we had a very enjoyable time.

Station 1: Self Portrait

Station 2: ATCs, & Friendship bracelets

Station 3: Upcycled Pencil Holders

Coffee Filter Flower Centerpiece
Melt-a-beads from Ikea as vase filler.

The Cake
Ikea cups, plates, & bowls

Tissue Paper Flowers on Lights

Close-up of Tissue paper flowers

My New Studio Space

I know that I have just showed off my studio and now it has been moved to the other side of my living room. I gave up the space in front to the window so that I could use a shelving wall unit above my worktable to have more storage. I also have another cabinet that has 2 large drawers that I am able to use becase of the move. So let me know what you think of the new space. These are from right after the move so it is in a clean state and not how I use it on a daily basis. I need to take pictures of my other storage areas that are under the worktable.

Here it is before I really started working in the space.

My paint and adhesive section. With markers and colored pencils in the mix.

This is the space in use.

I use this picture tree as my inspiration place.

List it Tuesday

I am participating in List it Tuesday over at Artsyville.
Here is my List:
31 things that defined my 31st year (I turned 32 on October, 21)

1. My faith is stronger
2. I have a wider focus
3. Enjoying life more
4. Went to a concert
5. Made New Friends (2)
6. Started blogging (again)
7. Shared My Faith
8. Late Night Road Trip
9. Tried Real Sushi and Liked it
10. Visited a Museum
11. Spent a week with my Mom
12. Reconnected with mt BFF
13. Created Art
14. Taught
15. Cared More
16. Became a HQ Art Teacher
17. Decorated my House
18. Bought a New sofa (first NEW piece of furniture since we have been married
19. Cooked more Meals at home
20. Booth at the Yellow River Jam
21. Made a Candyland Cake
22. Started an Art Journal
23. Made more family time
24. Painted on Canvas
25. Sould My Art
26. Read More
27. Fit in, in a group
28. Attended the Shine Conference
29. My first Real Art Show
30. Family Day Trips
31. Went Horseback riding with my daughter.

Thanksgiving Crafts

The last of the season, Gerber Dasiy

I love Thanksgiving. It is such a wonderful time of the year, we get to focus on our families and what we are thankfull for (even though we should do this year-round and not just one day a year). Here is a few crafty ideas that would be great for Thanksgiving.

• "Thanks" Board
•  Painted Pumpkins
• Paper Pumpkins
• Magazine Bunting This can be altered to fit any holiday.
• Painted Acorns
• Pumpkin Patch
• Thankful Garland

My Paper Chained House

For Anastasia's 10th birthday she wanted to have a spend the night party with her friends. We made paper chains for the outside as well as the inside of the house so that it would be festive. I cut strips from 12 x 12 scrapbook paper so these are very large chains, I love how they turned out. The only rule I used when making these was that no color was right next to the same color. I will be posting more pictures of the party and the cake that was inspired by One Charming Party, (link coming soon) I have to find it again. I love this site for great party ideas.

My New Site Button

A Southern Lady's Ramblings

Code for button:

<a href="http://asouthernladysramblings.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="A Southern Lady's Ramblings" border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/rgChv.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://asouthernladysramblings.blogspot.com/%22%3EA Southern Lady's Ramblings</a>

The Yellow River Jam

This Weekend I partcipated in the Yellow River Jam. I have a great time meeting people and being able to talk about my art and to paint in public. It is very interesting how people respong to my art when they are able to see how I create it. We are out on Fall Break this week and this is the main reason for the slack in posting. This was a very interesting show. It is very small and in  the town where I grew up. I love that this has been started here. It was the 4th annual, it is to bring attention to clean up efforts for the Yellow River. (the color is more like red Georgia clay than yellow). I brought a good supply of yarn and this seemed to be a big hit. I think that I might be able to participate a few Christmas events later in the year with gift items being on the list of things to create for sale. I wish I had taken more pictures of the items that I had created for the event. I made sure that since this was a smaller show my price points were a good fit for the customers that would visit my booth.

The Face painter did not show up and I was asked if I would be able to do this also. I was glad to do it and I was able to make a considerble more than I would have had I not been offering this.

Journal Lettering

These pages show how I come up with the various lettering styles that I use on my paintings. I like to try out a lettering style in my journal first before I ever put onto a finished canvas painting. I like that I can play with the way the letters are formed and also be able to decided on the relative size of each letter. This page also incorporates an envelope that I upcycled from a thank you card that I recieved.
I glued it into the journal and then decorated it with simple line art and tried out a saying with the lettering from the opposite page. By this you can see that I do not work in order in my journal, I sometimes will skip around and add here and there and will go back and revisit pages that I have not added any text to and add it at a later date.

Getting Ready



A Storm Rolling in, in Virgina



I woke up this morning very early for a Saturday morning, but I new I had to get ready for the day. I will be participating im my first art festival in a very long time and I know that I have take way more product than I could every sale in a day but I am trusting that God will bless this endevor today.

I have been praying about what I should do with my art and how I can use it for the glory of God, and I have felt his hand leading me to keep creating and using the gift that I have been given. I struggled for a long time with my faith and I what I should do with my life. I have hit that part of life where I am no longer a child, a teen nor a  young adult.

I feel I have hit the age where you really take a look at the life that you have been living and decided that you really want to do more. I am not talking about taking on more things and being so busy that I can't take a breath, but more for God. I feel so small when I look at the big picture but I know that God will use me in the way he sees best for me, I just have to let him and let go of everything that I think is important, because I know that what I think is important really isnt in the big picture we call life. We are here for a reason and are where we are to do something not just to coast through. We have to let our light shine in a way that is unique to us but that they see Jesus through our lives.

We have to show compassion that God has shown to us. I have been in situations this week where what I have spoken was not words of my own, what I mean is that I have no clue why I opened up to these people about the struggles that I have face, but I did and I shared how God brought me through them and how I am better for each and every storm that I have been through.

When we think about the storms that come through our lives we need to thank about how the rains cleans the air and the storms in our lives need to come because there is something in our heart that needs to be cleansed.

Everything has a purpose and just remember that we have to get ready for what God has in store for us.

This post did not end up being what I had planned when I sat down to write it but I know that God has a reason for everything, I hope that you will go through today and see your life through new eyes and when you see the clouds start to form don't be afraid of the storm that you might be coming, just let the rain clean your heart.

My Life 2

Here is another journal page that I used to record something meaningful that happened in my life. On the opposite page is a recycled envelope that I glued onto the page and then painted to added a little bit of color to the page. I use envelopes in my journal to have a place to store things that I might want to remove and use in another place. Sometime it will be a image that I like or it could be a book page that inspires me to create something, but I like having them in my journal because it is a safe place to keep things until I can get them to a better storage spot. I hope that you are enjoying these posts on the pages of my life.

Journal Pages

I have been following the articles in Cloth Paper Scissors about Pages in Stages and here are a few of my new pages that I am doing using these techniques. As you can see some of them are just painted and the last one is finished completely. I used an old gift card to lay down the paint on these pages.

My Life 1

This journal page is a page that I created to remember our day at the Booth Western Art Museum. It also show where we went to dinner. It is a combination of a blank page a few pieces of memorabilia, and pocket envelope and the small sketches that I made that Gday. I really enjoy making these types of pages because I feel it helps me to be able to look back and really "go" back to that day. I think that if you do this type of page at least once a month or even once per week it really adds to your over all journal experience.

Blessings

Blessings. When we hear this word we often think about the things we have. We should think about the untangelble things not just what we can hold or have a price, but the people that we are blessed to have in our lives. Our family and the friends that God has blessed us with are some of the most important blessings that we have. My blessings are too many to count. I am richly blessed to have them, and I hope that they never have a reason to think that I take any of them for granted. I am truly blessed to have them in my life every day. We need to take the time to tell the people that we love, that we love them. Take the time to show them that what they mean to us, and do something to brighten their day as they have brighten ours.

Paulette Insall Giveaway

http://www.pauletteinsall.com/blog/2010/10/giveaway-new-video-workshop-available

Go over and check out her giveaway, for a free download of her new workshop.

It's Not About Me

I saw this on  Paulette Insall's Blog and had to repost. This song is what I have been feeling so much lately and he just put my feelings into words so much better than I can. There is so much more that just Me.

Upcycled Address Box

I like creating things with what I have on hand, and this is a great example of making something out of nothing.  I have always loved this box that I saw on Whip Up a few years and I thought I would share how I made my version of it. I used what I had on hand and I did find enough magazine order cards to make the address cards.

The supplies you need are simple.

• Small box (tea, band-aid, drink mix)
• 2 sheets of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper
• ABC stickers (or you can hand draw them if you don't have any)
• 26 index cards
• Magazine Order Cards ( I saved them up and I also asked my friends to save some for me, I am still saving them so that I can make another one of these.)

  I used index cards for the dividers and left over scrapbook letters for the alphabet. The bottom of the box is half of a band-aid box and I used the other half for the top. It took a little time to cut the cards and dividers but once I started it was very enjoyable ans good quite work. (A great time to listen to youe favorite music)

The size is 2" x 3.5"

The Solid pink one is cut from a magazine page and does not have any lines.

Here is the processFirst I cut a template based on a standard business card for the address cards.  Here are the address cards after they have been cut. This was the fun part, I enjoyed deciding where the placement of the color and the design of the cards. If you really start looking you should be able to find a good many. Most magazines have about 5 -6 in each issue. I just went through all of my back issues that were in the recycle bin.

The measurments on the dividers is 4"x 3" to the top if the tab. You can use the lines on the card as a guide. If you really want to recycle some more you can use other small cardboard boxes for this as well. they will be a little thicker, and it will take a slightly larger box to hold all 26 letters of the alphabet.

I hope that this helps anyone out there who is like me and would like to recycle their own version. I know that in no way is this as good as the original, but it will work for me on my desk. I hope to be able to keep track of my swap addresses and help me when I want to send a thank you to someone who has helped me out in the blog world.

More Journal Pages

Doodle Page (Micron Pens, & Sharpies)



Test Page, I wanted to try out a few new supplies
(Watercolor pencils, Micron Pens, Sharpie Pens)



This page was created with a CD for the main element.
I then freehanded the rest of the page
Pentel Pen in Aqua

Doodle Page in Progress (Micron Pens, Sharpie Pens)

Here are a few more journal pages. Please let me know what you think.

New Wreaths

I am making a few of these for my next show. I like to have more than just one type of my art for sale when I do an event. I like to show the different things that I can do and that I like to make. Please let me know what you think about this one. It only took me about 20 min from start to finish including cutting all the fabric strips and the shapes for the flower.

Supplies:

• 1 1/2 inch wide Fabric Strips
• Hot Glue Gun
• Buttons
• Various freeform leaves and petal shapes

My Workspace

I decided to organize my workspace and now everything has a place and I can't seem to find my ideas. I know that probably sounds a little crazy. I should be able to work in a clean and neat space but I really like having everything out to see so that I feel I can just pick up something instead of having to look in a drawer or container for the papers, markers, paints or anything else I might need. My husband thinks this is the perfect way to work and says that it looks wonderful but after the 2nd day straight that I can't think of a thing to paint, I think I need to mess it up a little.

My table is a drafting table that my aunt Jean gave me years ago when she and my uncle Guy were moving to Israel to begin mission work. I love using it because when I was little I always wanted a "Artist Table" like Aunt Jean's. I would have never thought that one day I would end up with it in my own house, but here it is. I have my old pencil sharpener that I found one day at out local Goodwill, it was only $3.89 and it has been better than any that I could have bought new, it is made of metal and not plastic like most new ones are today. I have an odd assortment of colored pencils and markers, My favorite being the Faber-Castle brush pens. I use them for most of my line work.

 On the top of my table I have a lot of drawings, by me and other artist, and I protect them with a clear Plexiglas sheet. I can see through it but I don't have to worry about them getting messed up.

I found a old box lid from a decorative box that has long been gone and I use it for my paints, backgrounds and other things that I seem to use often. I like that it has a pretty pattern on it and it adds a little bit more color to the table. My pens, markers and pencils that I use the most are stored in a wodden box that I think orginally packaged candles, or maybe it was tea, who knows. I have a large 7 drawer storage unit with a smaller 3 drawer unit on top. That is where my pencial sharpener has landed for the time being. I also have a couple of pieces of pattery that my daughters painted for me a few years ago and I love that I have something they created for the to see when I am working. They love to work with me when they have finished their homework. Magnets are their new favorite things to make. We use crayon boxes and advertisement magnets and they glue pattern paper to the printed side and cut shapes out and then draw or paint on them before putting a magnet on the back.

I am participating in the Cloth Paper Scissors Virtual Blog Tour October 15-17

Here is a link to my newly updated studio post.

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Free Art Supplies

Cardboard taken apart with a hot water bath and now each layer is a separate art piece.

Have you ever just looked around your home and thought about what you might be able to use in your art. Well I did and I found some interesting things. Here is a list of the things that I will be using over the next few weeks and showcasing how they turn out.

• Cardboard boxes
• Alluminum foil
• Magazines/Catalogs and Packing tape
• Paper Towels
• Paper Bags
• Plastic Bags
• Bottles and Jars



Cardboard taken apart with a hot water bath and now each layer is a separate art piece.



I will be featuring each of these with projects that I have made and I will also link to various tutorials around the web. I hope you enjoy this series and please let me know what you think. These pictures are of a few what I have started with the Cardboard Boxes. I have started painting them and have worked a few in to a project in progress.

Cardboard taken apart with a hot water bath and now each layer is a separate art piece.

Friday Art Day

I decided that the girls needed to have a fun day outside, because the weather was so nice. We spent the afternoon outside painting, with me working on backgrounds and the girls just having fun painting things.