Inner workings of an artist's mind

God is so faithful to provide!

2012-01-31T21:22:00.001-06:00

Paints: paynes gray, burnt sienna, permanent violet dark, cadmium yellow medium hue, sap green, iridescent bronze, alizarin crimson!, ultramarine blue, hansa yellow medium, naphthol red light, quinacridone magenta, phthalo blue, phthalo green, yellow ochre, zinc white, titanium white 2oz tubes. 10 Sheets of 12"x12" acrylic paper, 2 Mary Engelbreit journals, 3 ME pens, Hardcover sketchbook, & Liquitex Basic Modeling paste, gloss gel medium, coarse texture gel, & iridescent medium. So excited! I got all of this for $143! It may not look like much but I know I would have spent WAY more than this if I hadn't used coupons & got stuff on sale! God is so good!

Artist's loft Box Table Easel. Gorgeous. $79.99. Hmmmm!

2012-01-31T16:00:00.001-06:00

Artist's loft Box Table Easel. Gorgeous. $79.99. Hmmmm!

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Sack Lunch Felt gift set.

2011-12-19T23:28:00.001-06:00

Sandwich felt gift set. Wanted to do a healthier lunch by adding veggies & fruit but I am running out of time. So after Christmas I guess. I hope Isaiah loves this roast beast sammy with swiss, lettuce & tomato on wheat. Potato chips & oreo cookies.

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2 Hearts.

2011-11-05T22:49:00.001-05:00

My art journal page for the first chapter of Captivating. On the left all the things that I have heard or said about myself that have left me wounded, heartbroken & the enemy has used to keep me in darkness. On the right, the promises of God. The Truth. And the reality I should see everyday. In the center, a woman running white as snow, sins forgiven, free continuing on toward her destiny.

Bowser!

2011-10-26T00:50:00.001-05:00

The poster that I made for one of the games for the party. The kids are going to throw the fireball plushies at this.

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Judy McGann & the St. Louis Arch in the background. On our way to the Aglow con

2011-09-27T15:13:00.001-05:00

Judy McGann & the St. Louis Arch in the background. On our way to the Aglow conference! Houston here we come!

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Owl Painting

2011-05-14T20:07:00.001-05:00

One of the finished paintings I did. Have a bunch others prepared but this is the only one that is done. Just a fun funky owl for my kid's room. I've been playing around with my Golden Acrylic paints, gels, and pastes.

New paintings.

2011-05-14T10:37:00.001-05:00

Playing around with my paints and collaborating with Isaiah.

Portrait #2 - Dad

2011-04-02T23:30:00.001-05:00

Today is my Dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Dad! Since this month I am focusing on portraits, I decided to do one of Dad. I am also amused by the side eye lately, and this portrait and the picture I worked from went well with that theme.

Dan Tyer "Dad"
Family Portraits Series
J.James 040211
Water color pencil, pencil, on Cold Press Watercolor
copyright 2011

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Portrait #1 - Rose

2011-04-02T23:24:00.001-05:00

Betty White - "Rose"
Golden Girls Side Eye Series
ATC
Watercolor pencil & pencil on Cold Press Watercolor Paper
J.James
copyright 2011

ATC Portrait #1 Betty White Side Eye

2011-04-01T22:01:00.001-05:00

My first portrait of the month. It's supposed to be Betty White side eyes...but it doesn't really look like her...It looks more like the lady from Designing Women, and no I don't remember her name the character's name nor the actress's name.

It was kind of weird drawing in pencil after a month of still life drawings in pen. The drawing isn't bad, it just doesn't look like her to me. Still thinking about adding color.

Still Life #19

2011-03-31T23:51:00.001-05:00

Picture for still Life #19. Pedometer

Still Life #32--Bonus Still Life!

2011-03-31T23:36:00.002-05:00

Present Rubber Duckie...also a gift from Isaiah to Gracie for her birthday.
This has been an interesting challenge. I didn't do as well as I wanted to with the discipline of doing them everyday. But I did manage to get them all done. 32 still life drawings in a month is pretty good though.
This one is the bonus drawing, I wanted to have 31 drawings in this journal and since the first still life was done on a loose watercolor journal page...I did another one.
Next month I am going to do portraits. Probably ATC size...so that I can get them done...and it's not too daunting.

Still Life #31

2011-03-31T23:30:00.001-05:00

Birthday cake rubber duckie. Isaiah got these for Gracie for her birthday. They are surprizingly hard to draw.

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Still Life #30

2011-03-31T23:28:00.001-05:00

Isaiah's word builder magnet jet.

Still Life #29

2011-03-31T23:26:00.001-05:00

The handle to the back massager that we have...ended up starting too big..so that's all that would fit on the page. But I do like how it turned out.

Still Life #28

2011-03-28T22:08:00.001-05:00

This is my latest drawing. It is the same car from #27. So now I am caught up. This has been an interesting challenge. But it got a little boring after a while. It is also harder for me to find time to sit down and do a good rendering because I am either taking care of children, or I am trying to get more steps in and get more of a workout in.

Still Life #27

2011-03-28T22:02:00.001-05:00

This is another of Isaiah's hotwheels. I really kind of like drawing hotwheels. They are fun. I would like to draw some of these with colored pencils if I can find some time to sit and do them.

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Still Life #26

2011-03-28T21:56:00.001-05:00

The same car as #25 but a different angle. This time I was able to keep Isaiah from actually picking up the car.

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Still Life #25

2011-03-28T21:53:00.001-05:00

These are the make up drawings for the ones I didn't do for the last couple of days. Not so good on the discipline front.

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Still Life #24

2011-03-28T21:51:00.000-05:00

This is a drawing of the pens that I have been using to do all of these drawings. I did drain one of these completely in the process of doing this month of still life drawings.

Still Life #23

2011-03-28T21:48:00.001-05:00

A quick bad drawing of Micah's phone. I was really tired.

Still Life #22

2011-03-28T21:46:00.001-05:00

Anyone guess what this is? It didn't really translate well in just pen...would be an awesome and very challenging painting or colored pencil drawing. It's a blown glass paper weight that Micah got from his grandfather for Christmas one year. It's really cool. Clear, white, and blue glasses.

Still Life #21

2011-03-28T21:38:00.001-05:00

Gracie's pink elephant chewy toy. She loves this thing. It also has a rattle in it. She will take her pacifier out just to chew on this elephant...now that is love!

Still Life #20

2011-03-28T21:35:00.001-05:00

Ink drawing of the new water bottles we got last week.

Still Life #19

2011-03-28T21:34:00.001-05:00

I am way behind updating the blog. Luckily I am not that far behind on all of the actual drawings.

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Still Life #18

2011-03-18T23:12:00.001-05:00

Here's my drawing for tonight. As you can see I am kind of focusing my life in changing for the better. Hopefully tomorrow we can get some pedometers and some extra things to work out with. Also I would like to go get some more fresh fruits & veggies. Hopefully soon my energy level will be up so I can figure out how to get more done in a day. I have a few still life ideas in my head that I would like to do before the end of this month that would be more involved than the one's I've done so far this month. But they will take time.

Still Life #17

2011-03-18T21:50:00.001-05:00

This is a make up drawing for last night. My husband wanted to have some of my undivided attention so the drawing didn't get done.

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Still Life #16

2011-03-16T23:37:00.002-05:00

Today was the first day of working out on the wii active. I was inspired by a friend of mine who is starting to do P90X. I am not ready for that. So I am going to use what the Good Lord has already blessed me with. And I bet I will see results.

Tonight we had a great meal of gnocchi in a cream sauce with chicken, mushrooms, onions, and red & yellow peppers. Seasoned with thyme, tumeric & sage. And a wedge of iceburg lettuce, tomatoes, & homemade blu cheese dressing.

Micah and I started brainstorming ideas for a Mario board game to play with Isaiah. So that he can play and not just sit and watch Mario video games. I am pretty excited about it. I will had paint the game board on canvas & create all the game pieces & components.

Still Life #15

2011-03-15T23:20:00.001-05:00

Here's a simple drawing. I am tired. I don't really like it as well but that's all I have for tonight

Still Life #14

2011-03-14T23:59:00.000-05:00

This drawing is a bit better. Still kind of off but I am sure if I kept drawing this over and over I would finally get it right.

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Still Life #13

2011-03-14T23:56:00.001-05:00

Happy Pi Day! Here's my first attempt at drawing our pi cookie cutter. This is my make up drawing from last night that I didn't do. And it's not very good at all, the perspective is all off. But that's the problem with drawing with pen is if you don't get it down right, you can't erase it. I am not sure what I will do with all of these once I have them done...probably incorporate them into something later.

Still Life #12

2011-03-14T23:40:00.001-05:00

Here's a drawing of one of the lovely flowers my husband bought me. This one was purple with yellow in the center. I really like how this one turned out.

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Still Life #11

2011-03-14T23:36:00.001-05:00

Sorry I've been behind on my blogging and truthfully I was behind on my drawing. This was the first thing that I grabbed on the computer desk on Friday night after small group training.

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So today was Parent Vacation Day. More so for me than it was for Micah since he

2011-03-10T20:51:00.001-06:00

So today was Parent Vacation Day. More so for me than it was for Micah since he had to go to work. But this morning I woke up at 6:30am and I made us breakfast. I drove Micah to work and went to Dick Blick and got thoroughly spoiled. Then, Micah and I went to lunch and I got a bunch of beautiful flowers. Went home and rearranged the flowers, took a shower, and I picked him up and presented him with a boutonniere with the flowers that I had. We went out for sushi and we opened gifts of new pens that we then used for the rest of our date at the coffee shop. We went to the Java House and had coffee and dessert. We sat in the fabulous chairs that I sketched. They were like a red velvet soft upholstry. I would love to have something like this in my home. Comfortable and extremely beautiful! Micah and I are both sitting here yawning at 8:22 at night. Our oldest probably isn't even in bed yet.
We will probably head home soon. Gone I guess are the days we actually desire to sit here all night

Still life #9

2011-03-09T22:37:00.002-06:00

Tonight my folks came and picked up the kids so that we can attend a small group training this weekend. So we went out for dinner & dessert tonight all by ourselves. Today was also the first day that Gracie ate rice cereal from a spoon & Gracie started saying "dada" on the 7th.

Still life #8

2011-03-08T23:22:00.002-06:00

This is a pen that we got from River of Life Church. It says "Our God is a Big God". It's drawn with a Pilot precise v5 rolling ball fine point black ink pen.

Mario Drawing

2011-03-08T00:10:00.003-06:00

OK. Here's what I came up with, colored pencils. Which the colored pencils I love. The drawing...eh not so much. But I did learn a lot from this drawing. I worked from a little plastic toy that Isaiah has...but my drawing still looks pretty flat. I will probably use this as a still life again. Well when my son is sleeping.

Still Life #7

2011-03-07T20:53:00.002-06:00

You win some and you loose some. Not so thrilled with this drawing. But the best part of having food as your subject matter is that you can eat the still life and no one will know where you messed up. But if my 3 year old son can at least tell it's something you eat, it's worth not throwing away. For those of you who did not eat at my house tonight, Isaiah's left overs are a half eatten slice of supreme pizza. This pizza was one of those that you take and bake from Aldi's. I think I may try my hand at another drawing tonight using some colored pencils...and maybe a ballpoint pin.

Still Life #6

2011-03-06T21:08:00.002-06:00

A rubber stamp that I had laying around the house.

Still life #5

2011-03-05T23:15:00.002-06:00

I thought I would do something of Micah's tonight since I did my brush, cell phone & a toy from each of the children. So far I am loving this drawing everyday. I think I will continue to use this journal for the rest of the drawings so they are all together and the same size. Can't wait to see what they look like when they are all completed.

Still Life #4

2011-03-04T22:35:00.002-06:00

Gracie's doll. Pen & ink.

Still Life #3

2011-03-03T22:39:00.002-06:00

A sketch of Isaiah's hotwheel car that is apparently called an Iridium. Pen & ink so far. I don't know if I like it. It may get color tomorrow. Or it may just stay like this. Things tend to look different in the morning.

Discipline finished page.

2011-03-03T00:22:00.002-06:00

The finished page. I am pretty happy with it.

Still life #2

2011-03-02T23:59:00.000-06:00

A quick pen drawing of my cell phone before bed.

Still Life #1

2011-03-01T23:30:00.000-06:00

A pen sketch of my water brush with colored pencil on watercolor paper.

DISCIPLINE!

2011-03-01T23:00:00.000-06:00

The theme for me for this next season is Discipline. Over the next 10 Months I am going to be focusing on my art & faith and create in myself a disciplined mind, body, and spirit. My goal is to be able to hear and know where the Lord wants me to go, to be in good physical condition that I can get there, and know my craft so well that I can flow with the Holy Spirit without having to stop due to my own criticizims of the art. I want to be able to "play/paint by heart"! Currently for the Month of March I will be focusing on Faith & the power of the tongue, The Book of Hebrews, and still life.

Felt Flower

2011-02-27T09:58:00.001-06:00

Here's two rows in on the felt flower I made. I took some more pictures with the camera and hopefully I will get some time with the computer to upload them. The flower turned out great in my opinion. Hopefully I will get some more supplies and will make more. I have a huge supply of felt at home.

FELT FLOWERS

2011-02-26T00:45:00.001-06:00

Felt flowers. This is what I have so far. Liquid stitches and felt & a heavy books and a cup of beans. But I may end up using a whole tube of liquid stitches.

Self Portrait #1

2011-02-25T09:41:00.001-06:00

Here's a better picture. I think later I will delete the one I took yesterday...I look so sullen and serious. It's weird for me to look at pictures of myself or look at myself really. It's something that for a large part of my life I have avoided doing. Even now when I stand before the mirror I constantly critique my image.

Pounded flower prints.

2011-02-14T11:06:00.001-06:00

Pounded flower prints.

Shaving Cream + Food Coloring + Little Hands + Watercolor Paper = Awesome Paper!

2011-02-11T09:28:00.000-06:00

These are the awesome outcome of shaving cream, food coloring, and watercolor paper. Isaiah and I had a blast making these, even Gracie got in on the action! A word of caution though...food coloring does stain your fingers and probably stains your clothes as well. I love the silky almost crushed suede feel the paper has after it's dried.

So are you inspired? Wanna try yourself? 1) Spray shaving cream all over clean cookie sheet. 2) add drops of desired food coloring. 3) mix the food coloring in with fingers or knife to spread out but not too much. Just make sure shaving cream covers the whole surface. 4) take card and press into shaving cream 5) peel off and lay shaving cream up to dry. 6) once dry, if there is excess dried shaving cream on card. wipe it off with a paper towel.
You can use this techique to make any kind of marbled paper. For ATC's, altered books, greeting cards, art journals, whatever you need pretty paper for.

Go manifest God through creativity! Be blessed!

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Finally I have finished Princess Peach. I think for the blanket I will need to

2011-02-04T17:31:00.001-06:00

Finally I have finished Princess Peach. I think for the blanket I will need to either find a better skin tone or a darker pink to make her sleeve stand out a bit more. I've done a lot of sketches of grids and graphs of different characters. So far I am loving how she's turning out. Now to decide if we will do each character as different blocks and put the patches together.

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Tuinisian Fire Power Flower

2011-02-01T08:22:00.001-06:00

So here's the first test run of the Mario Blanket things. I learned a lot doing this one. First in working a small project such as this one you don't need much yarn. Second, two Tuinisian stitches equals 1 square in my graph. This looks pretty great anyway, even if it's not as wide as I would have planned. These are so cute. I think I may do a mock up little Mario Blanket to design the big one. Do I want to do a larger blanket of individual panels? Or should I do a scene? I wonder how wide of a panel I can fit on my hook? Well it's a 10 inch hook so obviously a 10 inch panel...but how big is that in squares on my graph? How come there is so much math in crafting? lol! Stay tuned to find out more as the Mario blanket unfolds.

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Tuinisian Crochet

2011-01-30T21:51:00.001-06:00

Here's the practice run of me teaching myself how to Tuinisian(sp?) crochet. On my brand new afghan crochet needle. I am thinking about doing Micah & Isaiah's Mario blanket like this. I think it will be totally awesome. Now just to figure out my design. I am so excited! I guess I am going to have to learn hoe to do blocking as well.

Art Lesson

2011-01-11T12:32:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, I was feeling adventurous in teaching Isaiah his colors. So we raided the studio for supplies and found him a great little 4x4 canvas that I got on clearance from Michael's for probably under a $1. It has a preprinted lion on it, and came with a few little little tubes of paint in the back as well as a little tiny brush. But we used some old paint by number paints we got handed down to us by my late Grandma Hites.

Isaiah loved exploring the colors, and making marks on the canvas. He paid little attention to the manufacture picture, and covered it up almost immediately. The brush he was using had a wonderful long handle on it and he did manage to get the wall 3 or 4 times and did get the floor and the toe of my sock. Thank God for a quick swipe of a wash cloth and no one would know it recently had red, yellow, orange, blue & green on it. All that remains is the beautiful painting that Isaiah created. The painting is the perfect size to keep forever in a momento box!

Corruption

2011-01-10T18:38:00.002-06:00

Here's one of the things that I love to do...corrupt other people to embrace their creative side & discover that they too can paint & create beautiful things. This is Melinda and her painting "Surrender All". It's quite prophetic actually of her life and circumstances. I really love the whole design of it, her surrendered with hands in the air and light breaking forth out of the sky, what I call God clouds (as if there was a cloud that God didn't create. lol!). But I particularly like these clouds because they open up and let heaven here to earth! And that is exactly my prayer for Melinda...for heaven's light to breakthru into her life and she fully surrender to it all. That no area of her life be left in the dark from God's light. I also pray that where ever she is, and whatever she is going through that she bloom where she is planted and not strive for what God already has blessed and
promised her and us really. God is good & faithful & worthy to be praised!

All your heart.

2011-01-09T22:04:00.001-06:00

I haven't given this blog much love lately. But I do have a bunch of ideas swirling around my head after reading and drooling over the latest issue of Somerset Studio Magazine...oh how I love it! Anyway, I am participating in a swap for Valentines Day which I've participate in many time before....anway here's a sneak peak of the hand carved stamp I made last night. I rather love the image of the heart & I love all the scriptures & songs about love & hearts. Perhaps I will hang out in this theme for a bit?

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Ipod Nano cozy for sale!

2011-01-04T22:32:00.001-06:00

Here's the ipod cozy that I made for the tiny ipod Nano. I think this will work out just fine. But since I don't actually own an ipod nano it's hard to tell if a button closure would be more beneficial. Anywho, this little darling will be posted to my etsy shop as soon as my good camera arrives and I can reconstruct my light box. Did I tell you? A tissue paper lightbox does not stand up very well to a 3 year old who loves to drum on things. I think the loop on this is just perfect to loop around your thumb for holding your ipod while walking or jogging.

Crocheted Ipod Nano Case #2 for Andi.

2011-01-04T13:04:00.001-06:00

This is the ipod case that I made for my friend Andi. Her favorite color is purple. I have been trying to make her one for a while. The first one I made ended up being a map holder for Zay because it was way too big for an ipod case & Isaiah loves Dora the Explorer but they don't market anything for Dora for boys. I will have to add that picture later of Zay & his maps. In the next mobile post I will show you the other Nano ipod case I made. You may have known this already but I was unaware that the nano comes in two sizes. The smaller one will be available on my etsy shop here shortly.

Indoor Hopscotch a great thing to do on a cold day!

2011-01-04T12:26:00.001-06:00

This is how we spent our afternoon. Learning our numbers and getting a little bit of exercise. It's bitterly cold outside as we discovered this morning for our daily doggie walk. So this was a great way to burn off some energy. It's so hard to not get bored stuck inside all winter long.

Felt project #1

2011-01-03T22:05:00.001-06:00

Made from no pill felt, these adorable little circles can be used for a felt chore chart, routine reminders, or even a memory game if you collect enough of them. I am totally in LOVE with these! They are so cute! And easy for my son to understand & he get a great feeling of accomplishment when he gets a physical display of all that he has achieved for the day. We will also use these circles for learning to count & learning colors! Oh....how I love felt! Now to narrow down all the things I want to make. Should I have the chore felt board be a framed piece? Or a roll up mat that can hang on a ribbon? So many ideas to make with felt!

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Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T21:00:00.000-06:00

Wow! So far it's been quite the year so far....we have lots of changes that are coming our way. Which seems appropriate that these pictures come to me in this time and season. This pot, is something I made in a ceramics class in Champaign at Parkland College, it was one of the last requirements I needed to fill to get into Grad School for Art Therapy....(long story, I will get back to some other day). Anyway, it has on is Proverbs 3:5-6 carved into the walls of the pot. It's a pretty tall pot....one of the best pieces that I completed in ceramics. Anyway, I love this piece. Is it proudly displayed somewhere in my house? Um....no. God had me give this away. I remember distinctly arguing with God about it too. I was walking through the Vineyard Church, and God spoke to me and told me to give the pot to Emily. She was Emily Hoerr, now Pool....she was moving to another town to plant a church. At the time she didn't have a job, and she bought a house in faith that God would show up. And He did! She got a job, she also got engaged in that house I believe. She's now happily married and has a beautiful little boy! She is also the one that took these FABULOUS pictures. Here we are, just having moved from Missouri back to our home state of Iowa. I don't really know what the year is going to turn out like, or what the Lord has in store for us, but I know that He is there guiding our paths...and I am trusting in Him!

Gracie here trying to do the mobile upload of pictures for her loyal fans! More

2010-12-27T20:28:00.001-06:00

Gracie here trying to do the mobile upload of pictures for her loyal fans! More to come if this works!

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FWD:Happy Birthday Grace Isabella James! born at 5:41am 8 lbs 1.5 oz 20.5 inches

2010-10-06T07:02:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Grace Isabella James! born at 5:41am 8 lbs 1.5 oz 20.5 inches! Isn't she beautiful!?!

Iowa City Mini Vacation

2010-09-10T15:22:00.001-05:00

Isaiah & I are having a mini vacation in Iowa City while Micah interviews for a job. Here's a glimpse of our time together...you know you are a Mom more than an artist when you leave Dick Blick with only a LED Sheep flashlight that baaas.

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Camping Gift Set: Marshmallow

2010-09-07T16:27:00.001-05:00

My first attempt at felt marshmallows for Isaiah's camping birthday gift set. I am pretty happy about how they turned out.

Personal Illustrator Day 1

2010-09-07T15:57:00.001-05:00

Here's a picture of my first assignment as a personal illustrator for my boss. I.E.James. My two year old (almost 3) art director. It is a purple black striped cat with lime green eyes, ears, & nose. I hope that u enjoy it as much as My boss did!

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2010-09-05T16:39:00.001-05:00

testing testing testing. i so want to be a mobile blogger.

Awesome Quilted Fabric Art Journal

2010-07-21T18:48:00.000-05:00

My First Quilted Fabric Art Journal - IMG OBESE - PAPER CRAFTS, SCRAPBOOKING & ATCs (ARTIST TRADING CARDS)

I was surfing on Craftster and I came across this journal....it's pretty awesome I think! I should do some combination works of art with my Mom and make some journals to pass down, or even simply to work in. Check it out. It's fully Awesome!

Patience

2010-07-21T16:13:00.000-05:00

A Lesson in Patience

So this is how I spent most of my day yesterday.
Trying to untangle this yarn.

  So yesterday was probably one of the most frustrating days I have had in a long time. I woke up with less sleep than I wanted. I woke up to a mess in the kitchen and a sink full of dirty dishes, but luckily a dishwasher full of clean dishes. However, I didn't see that as a blessing but another log on the fire that I was planning on roasting my husband over later. So let me mention that I am 7 months pregnant with my second child, so hormones may have had something to do with the angry eyes being out of the bag first thing in the morning. My 2 year old was very vocal about wanting to eat as soon as possible....and the only thing that I could make without cleaning the kitchen was oatmeal. I have this thing, probably from working in food service for so long....that the kitchen needs to be clean before I can cook in it. Since I was angry and already spitting fire that morning....I decided that I would medicate with carbs....what better than oatmeal loaded with sugar for me, and syrup for the boy. And we would leave the mess for Daddy to clean up when he got up. This was probably one of my first mistakes....not only did the sugar not make me feel any better...but giving the boy 2 tablespoons worth of syrup in his oatmeal was just asking for trouble. So for the entire morning, I had a little boy with no volume control bouncing off the walls. Dora began to grade on my nerves, but if I turned it off then I had a screaming crying, fit throwing little man. Not to mention that we are currently potty training (the endurance test for anyone's patience!). Have I painted the picture for you to fully understand the frustration, anger, and chaos that was running rampant in my house yesterday?
   So what do I do to relieve some stress? Well, I have been teaching myself to crochet. To some degree of success. So this is what I turn to after, my trusted sugar fix failed me. I was quite happy with my progress on the next blanket I am making for the boy, until I compared it to the one I just finished for the girl. It was off....by quite a bit. It took me a while to figure out what I did wrong. I thought I had the same number in the chain to begin with, used the same hook, same stitch, etc. But I had miss counted. Thus leaving me with a 6 inch less width than the first blanket. So I had to take it all out. UGH! Not what I wanted to do! And as I did this, I managed to get the yarn terribly knotted up in 3 different spots. That's it....I couldn't take it anymore. I sent my husband to the store to find CHOCOLATE! Some to eat immediately, and some to eat in melted form in the middle of freshly baked cookies! So this was delicious, but.....the melted chocolate did not melt the anger ball still aflame in my chest.
   I had been working on my yarn all afternoon, and my grace for the boy had worn out. Spanking more than necessary, snapping at him, using a harsh tone of voice, and punishing him for things that are simply part of being a little boy. Not only that, but I had not set him up for a successful day pumping him full of sugar. My anger quickly turned to self loathing. What do you do when the person you need to get away from the most is yourself? Finally after trying everything in the natural to fix my mood. Rid myself of the anger, frustration, and overall bad disposition.....I did what I should have done all along. I turned off the TV, turned on the worship music, and got out the Bible and prayed.
   And this is what God revealed to me: Living a life of Faith is like a ball of knotted yarn. You know it's all connected, you know it should be a smooth connection from one end to the other. You should be able to pull on it, and have it give you more to create with. But sometimes, your life gets all tangled up, knotted and you pull and pull on it...and it doesn't give. My first initial response to things like this happening is get out the scissors! Cut myself off from everyone, disconnect from God, and try to figure it out on my own. I reason with myself, if I can only get free from the things that I am tied too, I can fix this mess that I am in. If I can see the beginning and the end, I can untie this knot. Right? Isolation is rarely the key to anything..when most people found themselves in the wilderness or dessert it was out of rebellion. So here's what I found:

Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.
Romans 5: 3.

I don't know about you....but this verse doesn't really make me feel all warm and fuzzy. This is one of those verses where I am like....UGH! Okay fine. But rarely do I find the joy and rejoice in suffering that I am going through. So what do I do? I keep looking for scripture that I like more. LOL! I feel this scripture often however, the pressure, the affliction of too many things in my life tangled around each other, making it hard for me to breathe, for me to know that I am still connected to the Source, and without that connection, I can not continue on to create anything in my life. So I keep searching the scriptures...because I know that all of the answers I need are within it's pages. I come across this:

In order that you may not grow disinterested and become [spiritual] sluggards, but imitators, behaving as do those who through faith (by their leaning of the entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) and by practice of patient endurance and waiting are [now] inheriting the promises. Hebrews 6: 12

So when my angry eyes are out, and I am lashing about like a mad woman....I am keenly aware of how unChrist like I am. This verse helps to remind me that days like yesterday are like a chisel in God's hand carving me into His image. The likeness is already in the rock....it just need to be chiseled away to reveal to others what the artist already sees within the stone. Every heart issue, every hard place that we find ourselves through....every victory we win with Jesus, and make it through with prayer, crying and help we uncover more of what God sees in us. We all have an option...to be satisfied with the things that don't really work anyway, to numb our pain....to take a drink, roast our husband over an open fire of our frustration, or take the chisel out of the hand of God and try to create our own image. But it will never reveal the Glory that God created us to reveal.

For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised. Hebrews 10: 36

It will take a lot I am coming to realize, for God's work to be done in my life. He is after all the Greatest Artist! Just like the canvas, all we have to do is be there, to endure the work of the Master. It may hurt at times when things are getting chipped off, sanded down, and reworked....but being able to endure the handiwork of God will ALWAYS result in Glory revealed.

Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.
Hebrews 12: 1

There are also times in your life where it becomes necessary to ask for help from others, and to cut your ties with some people. As with my yarn, which had become so entangled, and there was no place where I could make any progress....I got so frustrated that I gave it over to my husband to work on. Sometimes, we just need a fresh perspective to see the way out of the mess we find ourselves in. New strategies, past experiences and knowledge of what has worked before, etc. This is why we need the body of Christ. To move forward with Christ in faith....to get encouragement and help. And sometimes, through their advise and knowledge and confirmations of God, you have to do the difficult thing of severing the ties. Cutting your losses.....sometimes we get so obsessed with trying to untangle our messes, or helping someone else untangle their mess.....that we forget that our lives are creative thing...to reveal God's glory.....and we can get so bogged down that we stop creating. Sometimes, its better to cut the string, give the mess over to God, and reconnect to the source, and not try to figure out the mess. It's a sin to sit and try to try to figure out all you mess sometimes, when it prevents you from you overall purpose of being a support that reveals the handiwork of God.

Camping Birthday Presents for Zay

2010-06-19T19:36:00.000-05:00

* Personal Bedsheet/Hula Hoop Tent.
* New sleeping bag.
* Campfire Lamp/night light
* Crocheted S'more stuff.
* Crocheted Hot Dogs
* Felt or some soft version of Roasting sticks.
* Owl Pillow Pal
* Backpack.
* Compass
* Map
* Magnetic Fishing Pole & Fish set.
* Flashlight
* Canteen
* Camping Chair

Dish Scrubbies

2010-06-11T20:54:00.002-05:00

How to turn netting into yarn

Hobo Bag for Crochet To Do List

2010-06-11T16:48:00.000-05:00

Hobo inspiration & where to get the handles (etsy shop in comments)
Inspiration

Hobo Pattern:
Pattern

Super Mario Inspiration & Links.

2010-06-08T23:57:00.000-05:00

All things Mario
Amazing gameboard Mario blanket
Crochet Star Plushie
Chain chomp pattern
Mario enemy legos
Crafters Mario Projects
Mario Quilt

4x4 paintings!

2010-03-20T23:09:00.003-05:00

So today, the first day of spring and it's of course sleeting and nasty outside. We actually have a Winter Weather Advisory out....Freezing rain and everything coated in ice...Man I miss yesterday's weather of 60+ degrees and sunshine.

Anyway, since we were hulled up in the house all day, I decided that I would make the best of it and do some paintings. Thus the first one is titled, "Treasures of the Snow"

The next painting, called "Beauty". This lady was there hiding in the painting...all I really had to do is outline her. She was there all along.

This last lady...she just had hope in her eyes. When she was done, she just blossomed into some beautiful hopeful image. Starting off, she was a bit rough, and I was not quite sure I was going to like her. I figured she was going to be a long path of many layers...but when she was done looking back at me....all I could see was hope.

I have 3 more paintings sketched out and not painted yet...but may be painted before I go to bed. If not, I will do them tomorrow.

New Painting 031810

2010-03-19T19:44:00.003-05:00

Heart Journal cont.

2010-03-19T19:06:00.003-05:00

Heart Journal

2010-03-19T18:47:00.003-05:00

Vision Journal 2010 part 3

2010-03-19T18:33:00.003-05:00

Vision Journal 2010 part 2

2010-03-19T18:21:00.003-05:00

Vision Journal 2010

2010-03-19T17:55:00.003-05:00

Goodbye 2009

2009-12-31T11:28:00.002-06:00

I think that I have finally settled into and appreciate my role as a SAHM. I have spent the last couple of days reading through Family Circle & Women's Day magazines while snowed in at my parent's house and the reoccuring theme that I am noticing is how to be happy in the recession, how to get organized, and how to be healthier. All of which, I think appeals to every woman...good targeting magazines. LOL! I am probably the happiest I've ever been, even though we have very little money, and have had to do without, we have taught ourselves a lot of things that I probably would not have learned or looked into had we not been faced with these challenges.

Over the last year, we have learned to cook a lot of meals that we used to go out for, such as Curry, Thai, philadelphia cheese steak, deep dish pizza, egg rolls, and Chinese dumplings and some excellent barbeque. We also went out and picked blackberries at a farm, and taught ourselves how to make blackberry pie filling, three different kinds of jam and we bought a few cases of tomatoes and made three different batches of salsa. It was an excellent summer of trying new things and figuring out what we can do to help lower our food budget. I also learned how to make my own laundry soap...both the liquid and the dry form. And just this week, I made my own dishwasher detergent.

I am thankful for each and every person in my life, and the gifts that God has given in in 2009. So ready to see the blessings of God to unfold in my life in 2010.

Isaiah's Outdoor Adventures

2009-03-19T20:34:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Another Project for 2009

2009-01-13T18:29:00.003-06:00

Tutorial: here

Artist Trading Card

2009-01-13T13:54:00.007-06:00

So yesterday I was surfing the net, looking at the wealth of talented artists out there and I came across: Maria Pace Wynters and I was so impressed. I loved the way she captures everyday moments with her children. I am always a fan of multi-layered, multi-meida art...especially portraits. I was so inspired by the webpages...that I decided to do a little of my own. Here's a little artist trading card of the day after my son was born. I exaggerated the curls a little bit...but I loved his curls when he was itty bitty like that...when his hair was wet it would get all curly...so cute. And his eyes when he was first born were a slate blue color. Kind of like his Grandpa T's eyes. I am quiet in love with this style and this illustration of my son. I may end up making quite a few of these...but I don't know if I will be able to part with them...nor do I know what I will do with everything that I want to make since I will soon run out of storage. I hope you enjoy this card as much as I do.

My Christmas Gifts-Michael's

2009-01-13T11:39:00.002-06:00

Did anyone else notice the logo change for Michael's Craft Store? They have completely redone their floor layout. It seems that they have cut way back on their merchandise, and I was a little disappointed when I went in there to tell you the truth. It looks really nice, and there isn't crap sitting around like there used to be...but it costs more to shop there. It was sad. This is all I could find. Although 20 4x4 canvases for $12 is really awesome!

My Christmas Gifts-HobbyLobby

2009-01-13T11:10:00.004-06:00

Can you believe that I got all of this for $30....it was probably the best trip to Hobby Lobby ever, according to how much we got for the money and the number of potential projects. :D I LOVE LOVE LOVE after Christmas sales well, any sale that has things that I can use or repurpose at 80% off!

My Christmas Gifts-Old Navy

2009-01-13T10:58:00.004-06:00

Okay so you know you're a Mom when....you get a $20 gift card and go, hmmmm...I could get myself a T-Shirt and possibly a thin sweater....or I could get a bunch of things for my son. Now it was a little tricky predicting what size Isaiah is going to be when Christmas rolls around next year. But I figure if it's too big, I can just pad him with extra sweaters to make him fill it out. So this is what I got for my $20 giftcard from my brother Mike. I am going to be saving the majority of it for Isaiah's Christmas or birthday presents for next year. I LOVE after Christmas Shopping.

Illustrated quote: 1/52

2009-01-05T15:25:00.002-06:00

Bookmarks

2009-01-05T14:59:00.003-06:00

Draw something Daily 2/365

2009-01-02T22:14:00.002-06:00

Here's the drawing that I did in the Red Sketchbook. I am not all that happy with these either. I don't feel like I am doing well today as far as art goes...but I am pressing on and pressing in.

Art Journal Page 1/365

2009-01-02T22:06:00.003-06:00

This was one of the most frustrating art journal pages that I've ever done. I am not all that happy with it. But Alas....Persevere!

#69. Rent Movies at Family Video

2009-01-02T21:54:00.003-06:00

I rented the following movies. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory...the original not the Johnny Depp one. Bugs Life, August Rush, Honey We Shrunk Ourselves, Smurfs Season 1. Volume 1.2, and Robots.

293. Pork Chops

2009-01-02T21:09:00.004-06:00

We made Iowa Pork Chops...on the day of the Iowa Hawkeye Football Victory, first one of the year. Unfortunately we did not get to watch this game...due to the fact that we don't get cable...and only have rabbit ears.

Anyway. I got the recipe for the marinade that we put on the Iowa Chops before we stuck them in the freezer from this cook book:

It was a big hit with my husband..and for the price..we are getting about 3 meals out of the package of 6 Iowa Chops.

#194-Draw my dinner

2009-01-02T21:01:00.002-06:00

So I don't know if this counts...you tell me. I didn't draw the pizza because it was all falling apart and no one would have been able to tell it was pizza anyway. I may have to add another picture or entry to this one later. :D

Red Sketchbook Update

2009-01-02T12:06:00.002-06:00

Here's a few sketches from the red sketchbook that I don't think that I've uploaded. They are from way back in November when I didn't have a camera to work with.

Jan 1.

2009-01-02T11:34:00.004-06:00

So I am starting on this adventure of trying to do 29 things daily. I will be posting the visual documentation of this here.

These are the pictures of my son. I figured out how to manipulate my photos to black and white and color...in Gimp. It was quite the achievement for me last night. I had always wondered how other people did that.

The next set of pictures are drawing that I did of items in my purse.

Things that I want to do in Fulton and around in 2009

2008-12-27T11:41:00.003-06:00

This is the beginning of the 2009 things to do in 2009

1. Visit Winston Churchill Memorial & Library
2. Visit Auto World Car Museum
3. Have a Brown cow at Salts Soda Fountain, Downtown Fulton
4. Have Breakfast at Mom’s
5. Have coffee at Bek’s
6. Have dessert at Bek’s
7. Have dinner at Bek’s
8. Go for a walk on the walking trail toward Westminster
9. Go for a walk on the walking trail the other direction
10. Take Family pictures at the Covered Bridge
11. Take pictures of the Wall @ Westminster
12. Take pictures of the Columns @ Westminster
13. Take pictures of the fountain @ Westminster
14. Take pictures of the Math Building @ Westminster
15. Take pictures of Micah’s office at Westminster
16. Get a Westminster Christmas Ornament
17. Get a Westminster Coffee Mug (or something to keep)
18. Go visit the Church of the Saint Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury
19. Pray in the Church of the Saint Mary
20. Go to the antique stores
21. Climb through the Berlin Wall.
22. Dine in a real Post Office
23. Go to Crane’s Museum in Williamsburg, MO 10665 Old Hwy 40, 573-254-3356
24. Go to Hedda Gabler play at William Woods, Feb 20-28, 2009 592-4281
25. Go to the Helen Stephens Olympic Display, Helen Stephens Sports complex, William Woods Campus
26. Visit the Mildred Cox Gallery, Gladys Woods Kemper Center for the Arts at William Woods, 9-4 Monday – Friday, & 1-4 Saturday and Sunday
27. Go to the Live Jazz show at Bek’s featuring “The Scotty Walker Duo” from 6:30-9:30pm
28. Go to a movie at the Movie Theater
29. Go bowling one night
30. Play pool at Westminster.
31. Go to the Little Dixie Lake Conservation area
32. Go to Morningside Lake Park
33. Go play on the playground at the park by Bush School
34. Go swimming at the Westminster Pool
35. Go to the Petting Zoo at Nifong Park, at the corner of Nifong Blvd & Ponderosa Drive, Columbia FREE
36. Walk through the Shelter Gardens, 1817 W. Broadway, Columbia Missouri 445-8441 FREE
37. Go eat at Melinda’s restaurant in Holts Summit.
38. Go to the Museum of Art & Archaeology @ University of Missouri
39. Go to Columbia Botany Greenhouses and Herbarium @ University of Missouri
40. Visit the Westminster College Gymnasium-Historical Landmark
41. Go out for supper with Jimmy, Abby, and James
42. Go out to coffee with Nancy
43. Go out to coffee with Jessica
44. Go to the Bluestem Missouri Crafts-13 S. Ninth St…Columbia
45. Go to the Columbia Art League Gallery-111 S. 9th St, Suite 140, Columbia
46. Go to Davis Art Gallery, Corner of Walnut and Ripley St. Monday-Friday 10am-3pm 876-7175
47. Go to George Caleb Bingham Gallery, A-126 Fine Art Center, UMC, Columbia 882-3555
48. Go to Missouri Art Gallery, 9 N. 10th St, Columbia Monday – Saturday 10-5
49. Go to Orchids and Art, 10 W. Nifong Blvd, Columbia, 875-5989
50. Go to Poppy- Fun Art to Fine Art- 920-922 E. Broadway, Columbia 442-3223
51. Go to PS: Gallery, 812 E. Broadway, Columbia, 442-4831
52. Go to Sid Larson Art Gallery, Brown Hall, Columbia College, Columbia, 875-7517, 8am-5pm
53. Go to The Brady Commons Gallery and Craft Studio, 203 Brady Commons on the MU campus, Columbia, 882-2889, Call to get on mailing list.
54. Go to YouZeum, 6th and Cherry, $8 for Adults…3 and under Free. Monday-Friday 10-5pm, Saturday 10-8pm, Sunday 1pm-5pm
55. Go to Itchy’s Flea Market, 1907 N. Providence, Columbia, 443-8275
56. Go to McAdams’ LTD, 32 S. Providence, Columbia, 442-3151
57. Go on Date with Micah with a day on the town in Fulton
58. Go to Olive Garden
59. Go out to sushi with Jessica and Chris
60. Go to Simma Down
61. Go to Clover’s Market.

BUBBLE WRAP

2008-12-27T11:36:00.000-06:00

I pop bubble wrap at 0.85 bubbles per second!

I popped 196 bubbles in 3 minutes and 50.9 seconds
at www.Virtual-Bubblewrap.com!
Can you beat my score?