MY WORD FOR 2015

ACTION

 

I was inspired to choose 'ACTION' as my OneWord365 for 2015.  I decided to do an art journal page for it and before I got started on it I found this site called Art to the 5th Academy.  They have a challenge called The Documented Life Project.  I decided that this would be perfect for my 'ACTION' page.  The challenge was to use book pages in your creation.  I have a book I had picked up at the thrift store that I have been using for pages in my journal art and it was ironic that as I went to tear out some pages the headings on the chapters jumped out at me as being perfect for my page.

 

Here is how my page started -

 

 

Next I trimmed everything off neatly to the size of the page.

 

 

I then colored over the background pages using Distress Stains.  I used Distress Inks over each of the individual thoughts I wanted to add and collaged them on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then coated the whole page with a layer of Mod Podge to seal it. 

 

 

Now to add my 'word'.  I went to my collection of letters and chose a nice sized font that would fit on top without covering any of the important parts. 

 

 

Then, I covered them with black Enamel Accents. 

 

 

Finally, when I woke up this morning they were dry and I added them to complete the piece!

 



 



I hope you have enjoyed the steps of my creation and I hope that I will do well taking 'ACTION' on all of these thoughts this year!

 



 





SOME NEW CREATIONS

On the day of my last post we received a message that my ex-husband, father of my children had died in Uganda while doing missions work.  I spent most of the week on Facebook and telephone notifying people we had known for the last 30 years. What a difficult time.  I was finally able to do a bit of creating to share.

The first is an art journal page.  I had done the background but didn't know what was going on it until I received an email from Kristal Norton at Beginner's Art Journaling that contained this wonderful quote...

I am also going to enter this in the Anything Goes challenge #147 at Word Art Wednesday.

Next I did this layout to begin my photos from my visit last year to Mt Cuba in Delaware.  It is for the challenges at Soul Scrappers UUS8 to use at least 3 different rub-ons (which I have but hate to use!  LOL)  and the sketch challenge at Sketches4all for anything summer.  

The Sketch:

view of the rub-ons-

Thank you for stopping by my page.  I hope to have more creations during the week.

A BIT OF ART JOURNALING, QUOTES AND A TRIBUTE TO THE LATE GREAT ROBIN WILLIAMS

Over the last few weeks I have created a few art journal pages.  2 of them I had done the backgrounds and wasn't sure what I was going to do with them but now they are completed and ready to share...

The first uses this great diecut eye that was an advertisement I picked up at a museum I went to last summer. The background was started with coloring my page randomly with acrylic paints which I dripped on, spread with a credit card and smeared with my fingers.  I added some Glitter Mists which gave it some nice sparkle. I then took my favorite choice for molding paste - DryDex spackle and a few different templates and went around the page randomly with those.  It worked out great as some of it remained white and some picked up some of the color from the inks.  Then for more added texture I added dry wall tape.  

I added the diecut and then a thought with chipboard letters which I traced around with my favorite black Pitt pen to really have them jump off the page.

My next page was done with several Adirondack Spray Color Washes.  I also sprayed with water and lifted the journal upright and upside down to get some interesting drips.  The other day I finally found a quote I wanted to add to it which I did with my favorite black Pitt Pen.

And finally, the last one I am sharing was done with a variety of acrylic paints spread around with a credit card.  Then I splattered two other colors randomly on top.  I really liked the color combo and didn't know what I was going to do with it. This week the world was rocked with the news of Robin Williams suicide.  He was such an amazing performer - he could do comedy, he could do drama, he could do it all.  I don't think I saw anything with him in it, from the television series Mork and Mindy, to the films Mrs. Doubtfire, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society and of course Hook (which I saw almost daily for several months when my youngest son was really young) that I didn't love.  I also suffer from Major Depressive Disorder and have often had suicidal ideation.  It is a very hard place to be.  Even when you realize how much you have to live for - your loving family, children, friends, and in this case a large public following and lots of fans that demon called depression is a powerful one. The pain is devastating, often far greater than physical pain as it hits you mentally and spiritually and then it adds physical dimensions of fatigue, migraines and more. Often you see no way out. Or worse - you see death as the only way out.  I found a quote on humor by Langston Hughes and added this to my page in memory of a man that made me laugh and made me cry on several occasions who shared that demon of depression that I too suffer with.  I pray for his family who are certainly the most gravely affected by this.  He will surely be missed for a long long time and will live on through his films, tapes of his stand up comedy, quotes and more.  This demon stole a great man from this world.  If you or anyone you know begins to exhibit any of the signs of depression please do something to try and get them help. Whether they will admit they are depressed or not, when it's someone you are close too you will surely recognize those subtle signs if you truly listen...and that is what we need to do for our loved ones...REALLY listen.  

I am submitting these pages for Anything Goes challenge #145 at Word Art Wednesday, Outlaw Women Artists Art Journaling, 4 Crafty Chicks challenge #207 Pink, Turquoise and Lime and Flying Unicorn Mid Month Mixed Media challenge.

Thank you for stopping by.  Let me know you stopped by and leave a short comment.  All comments are greatly appreciated.

LET IT GO!

Todays theme for the Scraps to Treasures Team is to use a song to create something with our scraps. The song Robin chose is called 'Let It Go' from the Disney movie "Frozen".

After reviewing the lyrics I decided that I would be making a mixed media art journal page.

The Lyrics:
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight,
not a footprint to be seen.

A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I'm the queen.
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside.
Couldn't keep it in, Heaven knows I tried.
Don't let them in, don't let them see.
Be the good girl you always have to be.
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know.
Well, now they know!

Let it go, let it go!
Can't hold it back any more.
Let it go, let it go!
Turn away and slam the door.
I don't care what they're going to say.
Let the storm rage on.
The cold never bothered me anyway.

It's funny how some distance,
makes everything seem small.
And the fears that once controlled me, can't get to me at all
It's time to see what I can do,
to test the limits and break through.
No right, no wrong, no rules for me.
I'm free!

Let it go, let it go.
I am one with the wind and sky.
Let it go, let it go.
You'll never see me cry.
Here I'll stand, and here I'll stay.
Let the storm rage on.

My power flurries through the air into the ground.
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I'm never going back; the past is in the past!

Let it go, let it go.
And I'll rise like the break of dawn.
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone
Here I stand, in the light of day.

Let the storm rage on!

The cold never bothered me anyway...

I gessoed my page and then used several shades of blue spray inks and paints for my background.  I decided to use the title, 'Let It Go', and the line 'the past is in the past' .  I selected white and silver sticker letters to add that to the lower part of my page.

I selected a pile of red scraps-

and I got out my Sizzix Ransom Alphabars.

From the scraps I cut letters for feelings that belonged in the past.

anger

pain

hate

fear

rage

terror

I used both the letters and the negatives to form the words which I adhered randomly to the top portion of the page.

I covered the whole page with Matte ModPodge.

And here it is-

Be sure to go over to the Scraps to Treasure team page and see what the rest of the team has created from this musical inspiration.

CAN YOU RESIST THIS?

Today I had some fun doing white glue resist on an art journal page.  I shared the full instructions over at Scrapping Everyday Miracles.  Here's a quick run through of the steps and a photo of the final results.

Cover page with a thick layer of gesso.
Add a design with cheap white school glue.
Let air dry for at least 24 hours.
Add spray inks.
Blot with paper towels.
Drip on acrylic paint.
Rub on another color acrylic paint.
Print a scripture out in lines and cut apart.
Distress and ink the edges and the scripture.
Adhere to the page and you get this - 

Hope you have enjoyed this peek of my creation.  For full detailed instructions be sure to check out my Design Team post at Scrapping Everyday Miracles on March 10, 2014.

I am also entering this over at Word Art Wednesday for challenge #123 Anything Goes.

I AM FINALLY...

NOT MARKED

Yesterday was the launch date of the latest Mary DeMuth book 'Not Marked'. This book is probably the most important book (other than of course The Bible) I have ever read.  

Mary has openly shared her story - all of it  - from the early childhood rapes and sexual abuse to her healing through the almighty power of Jesus Christ.  

I posted this journal page of my experiences on my blog in May 2013.

(taken from my May 2013 blog post)

To me it spoke a lot of the conflicts that are tearing me apart.  It is symbolic of the struggles I am going through emotionally, physically and spiritually in my life and how it feels to be torn apart. Inside this broken heart is the little girl who was the first one to encounter the abuses of this life.  I know that I am not the only person to have had a dysfunctional childhood, bad teens and abusive twenties (in fact, I know many personally who have had it much much worse) and I am fortunate to have found the love and grace of God to help me through the years ahead and to live with and deal with the memories of the past.  But...this does not negate the painful feelings that exist and continue through the behaviors created in defense to try to prevent these things from reoccurring.  They are old and inappropriate but hard to eliminate.  They often cause me to seek approval in all the wrong places and by doing all the wrong things.  This is always followed up with guilt, depression and unforgiveness both to myself and often by others in my life.  The one good thing that has happened for me recently is that I have finally started to realize the enormity of the love and forgiveness of God.  No matter what stupid mistake I make He is forgiving in ways that humans simply are not.  That is helping me to forgive myself although not as quickly or totally as I need to in order to escape the pain of the depression and anxiety.  I realized that I need to forgive myself because these past, present and future sins and mistakes were all taken and nailed to the cross of our Savior Jesus Christ.  If He did this for me what right do I have to hang on to the unforgiveness of others or for not forgiving myself.

Mary's book took me through the pain of 3 rapes and other childhood sexual abuse, through the flashbacks, the tears, the denials and left me with the most comforting healing image at the book's end.  

For anyone that has been abused, and for anyone who has ever loved someone that has been abused you simply MUST read this book.  

Get your copy of the paperback here.

or the Kindle edition here.

FAITH HOPE LOVE

The other day I did an art journal page using scripture 1st Corinthians 13:13

So these three things continue forever

FAITH

     HOPE

          LOVE

And the greatest of these is 

     LOVE

I started the page in my usual way - I put a layer of gesso.  Next I took my new Heidi Swap stencil and used Dry Dex Spackle for some texture.  

Now to add some color.  I started by using some Distress Inks.  

Then a layer of acrylic paint -

I added some water color crayons and spritzed the page with water and moved the colors around a bit.

It was rather 'in your face' loud so I decided to soften it with a thin layer of watered down gesso.

I added some Ranger Embossing Dabber through the stencil and then some Silver Embossing Powder and some Red Embossing Foil.  I heated them up.  

My finishing touches were to add the scripture.  I used stickers for the words Faith, Hop and Love and Grungeboard for the last word Love.  Everything else was done with Pitt pen.  I was having trouble getting the stickers to stay on the glittery embossing powders so I topped it with a layer of Matte Mod Podge.  A lot of the dimension seemed lost so I outlined a lot of the hearts with my black Pitt pen too!

Here it is:

I am submitting this to Word Art Wednesday for their Anything Goes #115 challenge, and putting it in my gallery at Outlaw Women Scrapbook Emporium.

Hope that you have enjoyed this step by step of this meaningful art journal page.  Time to get ready for bed!  Sweet dreams and thanks for stopping by.

KRAFTIE KRE8ATIONS DESIGN TEAM BLOG HOP

Welcome to the Kraftie Kre8ations Design Team Blog Hop! KK8 is a wonderful new and very active group and I am proud to be one of it's first designers.They have a Facebook page at

https://www.facebook.com/groups/kraftiekre8ations/ 

and a blog at http://kraftiekre8ations.blogspot.com/


Kraftie Kre8ations is proud to have this opportunity to introduce our "new design team" members. We have a talented group of ladies starting this month. Here is their opportunity to introduce themselves and for us to allow them to truly shine. Just wait until you see what they have to show you on this hop!


Our sponsor for this hop is Stampin' Up: http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/scrappinvon/

Let me tell you how this hop is going to work! After the hop, we will select the lucky winner from those who commented along the way and became a new follower of the Kraftie Kre8ations's Blog, which is the last stop on on the blog trail. We hope that you enjoy our welcoming blog hop!

And now for my bio and project - My first project is an ATC showing you who I am. I have never done an ATC before or worked on anything SO small. It was certainly a challenge. I hope you like it:

front

back

Basically, this is telling you I am very laid back, independent and unique, that I love the beach, collecting shells and flowers. The umbrella is because I was born in April and I'm sure you know April showers bring May flowers. The cross is because I am a Christian. The medical symbol is because I was in the hospital in March and April and have spent much of the following months seeing various specialists to try and get a host of physical ailments under control. I love butterflies. The paint and brushes are because I am an artist and the rest is bling!

My Interview:

What is your scrapbook "kryptonite"? (What style/color/etc. will people never see on your creations because you cannot deal with it???)

There really is very little I won't try or won't use. In fact I can't think of anything that I have tried and won't do again other than using a Cricut which I tried in a store and found very complicated compared to Sizzix. 

What do you listen to or watch while your scrap and WHY?

If I am listening to music it usually will be Contemporary Christian, Classic Rock or 80's. If I have the TV on it will usually be Law and Order SVU or NCIS. Often it is just peace and quiet.
How do you jump start your creativity when you find that it is missing?
That is a tough one. I guess it would probably be to go through all the open challenges I can find on various online sites and see if there is anything that strikes my fancy or calls for specific pictures that I am in the mood to work on. If that doesn't do it I will usually pull out my art journal and some different media like molding paste and various types of paints and my Crafters Workshop Templates and just play and then add an inspiring quote to it when I am done. 

Here is a page from my art journal:

At what time of day are you most creative, or do you prefer to create?

Occasionally I will create during the day, but I would probably say from after dinner until bedtime is my norm.

What is your favorite technique(s) to use right now and why? What are some tried and true techniques you love to use?

I would have to say that my favorite technique would be to use my favorite product - patterned paper - lots of it and a tried and true technique would be inking. And...I love using my embossing folders.

Show us a new project of your choice:This is my most recent layout. I really enjoyed creating it as I have not done too much steampunk style and I loved embossing the tag and using various inks on it as well as the diecuts which were colored with Distress Stains and various colors of Perfect Pearls. The photos were from my recent trip to Hagley Museum in Wilmington, DE which is where the duPont Story began. 

Hagley Museum and Library, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, collects, preserves, and interprets the unfolding history of American enterprise. Hagley Museum has been accredited by the American Association of Museums since 1972. Located on 235 acres along the banks of the Brandywine River in Wilmington, Delaware, Hagley is the site of the gunpowder works founded by E. I. du Pont in 1802.
Find out more at: www.hagley.org

Show us your old favorites and why:This layout is not all that old but it is one of my current favorites as it was selected as a winner in the Carta Bella Paper Company Giddy Up Boy Contest. The photo is of me and my younger son at Wild West City in Netcong, NJ. They have been there for over 50 years. I went there as a child and have taken my sons for years.

Here are a few layouts I did back in 2010 of favorite photos of my Mom. I really enjoyed working with the vintage photos.

And now it's time for you to move on to the next blog on the hop - 

• Here is the "hopping" order:
  
  
  Shavon Borders:http://scrappingvon.blogspot.com/ START HERE
  Meka Matthews:http://mmdesi9ns.blogspot.com/
  La-Vie Borde-Perry:http://cestla-viedesigns.blogspot.com/
  Lyne Schnable-Blodgett:http://lynnseverydayideas.blogspot.com/
  Carolyn Smith:http://www.grandmacarol46580.blogspot.com/
  Paula Jennings:http://preciouspagesbypaula.blogspot.com 
  Alicia O'Bryant:http://goldengoddessdesigns.blogspot.com/
  Charmagne Welch:http://sanurascraps.blogspot.com/
  Kisha Taylor:http://www.iamartserae.blogspot.com/
  Kraftie Kre8ations:http://kraftiekre8ations.blogspot.com/
  
  
  Good luck and happy hopping!