My Baby Grandson Has Turned One!

I made this birthday card for my precious little grandson who has just turned one.

I have used the "Animal Outing" stamp set and coloured the images with Balmy Blue and Pool Party Blends Markers. The stamp pad ink colours are Balmy Blue, Pool Party and Coastal Cabana.

I have embossed some Whisper White card stock with the "Brick and Mortar" embossing folder and added some gauze in between. I have used Gesso all over the surface before adding my inks.
I randomly sprinkled on some Shimmer White Embossing Powder and heat set. I mixed Balmy Blue ink in some White Embossing Paste and spread through a Pattern Party Decorative Mask. The letters and numbers have been dipped in the new Ice Stampin' Glitter. To finish I sprinkled on some Snowflake Sequins.

 I also decided to decorate the envelope.

I really love how soft and magical this card turned out. Perfect for my little angel!

A Book Within a Book

I created a book for my second eldest daughter's birthday. I designed the book to have a hidden book inside.

On the surface the book looks vintage because my daughter loves things old and mysterious. However she also loves pretty things bold and bright and so this became the hidden surprise within.

The ink colours I have used are Stampin'Up's Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry and Soft Suede. I have coloured the pearl charms using our Stampin' Blends Alcohol Markers.

I created ridges on the spine to give it a more vintage feel.

The gauze is dyed with the dye inks.

My daughter also loves Disney and fairy tales so I decided to write a story about her life in a story format. I used lots of Disney images I printed from my computer.

I dyed some embroidery floss using the dye inks and hand stitched some feather stitch and seed beads throughout the book.

The seam binding is also dyed using the dye inks.

I added an envelope for some extra interest.

The tags all have Scripture printed on them.

My real challenge with this half of the book was to take essentially bright bold colours and make them vintage. The Soft Suede ink helped me to achieve an old look.

When my daughter finished reading the book she flipped the book over to the back cover where she was invited to open the spine.

And so her story continued but in bright bold colours this time.

The images were all water coloured using the dye inks.

An appropriate ending to a beautiful story, don't you think!

I decided to create a box to present her book in and to keep dust off it.

You can't really see it in the photo but the tag actually says Happy Birthday. It is from the "Happy Wishes" stamp set. I stamped Brooke's name using one of our new stamp sets called "Make a Difference".

I love how this gift embodies both the vintage and colourful aspects of my daughter's nature.

A Few of Her Favourite Things

Recently I made a "Favourite Things" Wallet for my eldest daughter.

Inside the wallet I created various pockets and a belly band to house ephemera and embellishments representing some of my daughters favourite things. I love all of them because they all speak of her beautiful character and the awesome young woman she is.

The seam binding ribbon was dyed with the inks.

The pearls on the charm were coloured using our Stampin' Blends Alcohol Markers.

Here are some of the background papers I created for the wallet. They definitely have a bohemian feel to them. The colours I chose are Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay, Elegant Eggplant and Rich Razzleberry.

The Scripture in the background of this background paper was printed from my computer first before adding colour. The stamp is from the "Playful Backgrounds" stamp set.

This is my cover paper. I added texture to my page before colouring by adhering torn used dryer sheets. I added some gold embossing for a touch of richness.

I loved creating this project for my daughter because of the time I spent thinking about her. It caused me to appreciate her even more than I did before. I am so very blessed by my family. It became a very personal gift unique to her and she loved receiving it as much as I loved creating it.

The Healing Love of God Journal - "Why are you cast down. O my soul?"

I have never been a fan of negative emotion. Being a generally positive person I tend to push down negative feelings or ignore them perceiving them as a bad thing. However lately I have been learning about the importance and validity of negative emotion and seeing it as a friend. Now I'm not talking about being a bit miffed because someone took my favourite parking spot . In that case I just need to let it go. Rather I'm talking about strong emotions such as depression, anxiety and fear that are hard to fight.

David acknowledged his pain.

"Why are you cast down, O my soul?"

Psalm 43:5a

By asking the question "why", he didn't focus on his pain but on the reason for it. There is always a root cause to our emotion and as the emotion rises so does the root. The cure always works best on the cause rather than the symptom.

David was not ruled by his emotion but rather he allowed his emotion to serve him.

By acknowledging my emotion I too have identified the root cause of it. Like David

"I shall yet praise Him, the help (cure) of my countenance and my God."

Psalm 43:5b

I was led to create this art to acknowledge and give expression to my feelings.

My ink colour palette was Elegant Eggplant and Rich Razzleberry. I also used Powder Pink and Blushing Bride for the skintone.

The background stamps were from the "Background Bits" and "Beautiful Peacock" stamp sets.

I printed the Scripture verse from my computer.

I have also used colour pencils for some definition.

I used gold foil flakes on the heart.

I applied Glossy Accents to the tears to create dimension and shine.

I have added some embossing paste to the background.

Completed journal page.

The journey continues as I seek God on how to practically apply His love to my wound.

The Healing Love of God Journal - He loved me FIRST.

I have been struggling with some crazy emotions. At times I have intense feelings of sadness for no apparent reason, sometimes I am angry and at other times I feel anxious. I was just brushing them off as part of Peri-Menopause and simply endured them, waiting for them to pass. Of course there are physical symptoms also but once again I put it down to this strange time of life and just accepted it.

Recently during a bout of extreme sadness, the Spirit led me to stop, be still and listen. The Spirit began to challenge the way I was thinking. What if these negative feelings are actually your friends and are serving you by trying to communicate a problem that lies within? The problem being wounds of pain from the past ignored and left to grow and become toxic. What if my feelings were alerting me and bringing that pain forward to be healed instead of being ignored? What is the cure? The only cure for a broken heart is God's perfect love.

I decided they were all really good questions that needed exploring. So I decided to create a journal to seek God in a creative way. Healing flows from focussed creativity.

I wanted to share a sample of one of the pages with you today. This isn't the first page it is simply what the Spirit wanted to teach me today.

The ink colours I have used are Wisteria Wonder and So Saffron. I used a script stamp from the "Background Bits" stamp set.

The sketch is my own.

The flowers were first painted with gesso and once dry I applied ink with a brush.

I printed the sentiment from my computer.

I used a colour pencil to add some shading.

I began with the art work. In the process the Spirit gave me the title which became the subject of my learning today.

I then sat at my computer and journaled what I had learned as I was led by the Spirit.

I inked the page with So Saffron before adhering my art work on the opposite side of the journaling.

I am so excited and expectant about this journey of healing I am embarking on. I will be sharing more pages with you as I progress. I hope you will join me.

Our Daughter is Engaged!

We are so happy and excited to announce the engagement of our eldest daughter to the love of her life. So of course I had to create a card. As we wanted to give them a monetary gift I decided to create a card that had a pocket to hold it.

The ink colours I used were Tempting Turquoise and Smoky Slate.

I printed the sentiment from my computer.

I used a script stamp in the background from the "Background Bits" stamp set.

I created my patterned paper first. Here I have added some Silver embossing paste through a mask.

I dyed some gauze in Tempting Turquoise for the background.

I also used the Shimmery White embossing paste to hold some seed beads in place.

I used silver embossing powder to edge my paper.

I also created a charm using glass pearls and crystals.

The card has a silver ribbon closure.

On the inside of the card I have created a side pocket to hold some money.

The Bible verse and sentiment were printed from my computer before adding background colour.

The art work is a hand drawn image.

I have coloured it using inks as watercolour and colour pencils for shading.

I am pleased to say our daughter and future son in law loved the card as much as I did in creating it.

No Greater Love

Happy Valentines Day.

What a great day to celebrate love and most especially God's love for us.

The creation of this card was truly led by the Spirit. I had an idea of where I was going but it changed and evolved into a true demonstration of God's love.

He allowed His very heart to be nailed to the cross that we might live.

The ink colours I used are Always Artichoke and Cherry Cobbler. 

The cross has been die cut from the "Cross of Hope" Framelits Die Set. I embossed it using gold embossing powder.

The quote was printed from my computer.

I want to recreate this card into a larger canvas that I can see all the time to remind me of how dearly loved I am.

Let Your Light Shine - Tag Card

I wanted to experiment with Mat Gel Medium and my inks, so I decided to add texture with some tissue paper.

I have used Crushed Curry and Marina Mist inks and the "Beautiful Peacock" stamp set.

I have typed the sentiment on my computer.

After inking the background I applied wrinkled tissue paper over the top using Mat Gel Medium. I added more ink over the top of the Medium.

I used gold embossing powder on the background and along the edges.

The tag is removable.

I used silk ribbon and gold thread to embellish the tail of the peacock.

The Bible verse was printed from my computer.

I love the texture the Mat Gel Medium allowed me to achieve on this card.

It's All Perspective

A bunch of various hardware items may be seen by some as serving a practical use, by some as tools of their trade, by some as completely insignificant..

...but by some of us - creative potential...

As I was pondering the creative potential of hardware, I couldn't help but..

"Consider God's perspective..who looked at the dust and saw a human being."

I used the hinge to create a door. Inside the door...

"Gold is always found underneath the surface"

I was also challenged during the creation of this piece to broaden my perspective of people.

I have used Plasterboard Jointing Tape, Masking Tape and coarse sandpaper in the background.

The substrate is a piece of 12" x 12" box board cut in half and joined together.

The colour was achieved using Stampin'Up! inks.

I have used bolt cutters to cut the ends off the screws and glued them in place. I used the ends in the metal collage.

 I have added some gold embossing powder to the quote and antique gold charms.

I am looking forward to recreating this project on a smaller scale for a card.