This is one of my favorite all time cards.  Made with all die cuts from Diamond Press.

• Check out these great little bags from Diamond Press!!  I had so much fun putting these together, I was planning to make one, but couldn't stop!!

 

FUN WITH BIBLE JOURNALING!

KNOCK, KNOCK, SURPRISE!  IT'S M E!!!!!

Hello, knock, knock, it's me.....I know its been a long time, sorry didn't mean to scare you, but yes! I've written a blog after three years!!!  I have really forgotten how and am creating this one as a trial and error to see if I can really do this again.  Maybe not too much has changed.

Well, I'm still a rubber stamper and paper crafter and more into genealogy than ever!

My latest adventure is into Bible Journaling.  The name is a little misleading, at least for me.  It is more Bible illustrating for me.  Using my stamps and similar techniques for making cards, I have made a couple of images to go with Bible passages that have a tender spot in my heart.

It isn't' really about the art so much, as it is about engaging with the scripture passages and meditating on their meaning while you work. The artwork won't be perfect, just as our lives are not without imperfections.  So, it is OK if you make a mistake or it doesn't turn out quite as expected.  Just like every new adventure, it is a learning experience.

So, I started in Genesis. I remember in science class the first time I was shown the periodic table of the elements.  I was fascinated thinking, you mean that is all the ingredients that it took for God to create the earth?  This was just unacceptable, I was sure that here had to be more, but it was still fascinating to think that I was at least looking at a lot of the basic building blocks of earth all spelled out on a chart.  So when I read the Genesis account of creation, that's where my mind goes.  And it was a perfect place to begin my Bible journaling.

I was able to purchase a stamp of the periodic table of the elements.  I included as schematic drawing of a shell as it might have been drawn out and then the end product. Voila!  Creation!  The background is water colors and the elements below are Washi Tape.  The shell is actually a napkin that I decoupaged in.  I colored the opposite side in with some watercolor markers and I'm sorry to say, it bled a little.  Oh, well.  I'm sure the workshop of creation got a little messy too.

Christmas Advent Calendar

I have been meeting with a group of ladies called Stampin Chix for quite a few years now.  At Christmas time we have a secret gift exchange.  We each list 3 Rubber Stamp sets that we would like to have and then exchange names.  When you recieve the list of your partner you choose one or two sets (we set a $30 limit) and then you purchase those sets and make 3 items using the rubber stamp set.  The purpose is to give the giftee some ideas of what can be done with the stamp set.  Last Year I chose the Stampin Up set "Have a Seat" and "Aviary".  I came up with the idea of an advent calendar with the title "Christmas Chair".

 I used the Sizzix matchbook cover die and cut out 25 of them, then stamped the inside and placed them on a cute paper that I found.  I apologize for the blurry pictures, I had not discovered the proper way of focusing with this camera yet and was having a difficult time.  The rest of the pix are kind of fuzzy and maybe not for those of you with a queasy stomach, but maybe you can get the idea.  This project was a lot of fun as I pulled out all of the tiny stamps that I owned and used the largest variety of stamps of any project that I have ever made.  I used the Tim Holtz tiny attacher to staple the inside card to the matchbox cover.   It was challenging to create little vignettes of the tiny chairs and come up with so many different Christmas scenes.  All in all it was a very fun project and I used many stamps that I had not used before.

Love Card

Last month Stampin Chix met and we made some awesome cards. So far, the only pictures I have are of the card that I made. I was trying the new Paper Blossom punches from McGill. These punches are designed to make three dimensional flowers. They were a big hit with me and I expect that you will be seeing many more of them adorning my paper crafts in the near future!  The belly band was made with a Martha Stewart punch.

The word love was cut with a Cricut cartridge.

Quilled Birthday Balloons!

Celebrating birthdays with colorful balloons in the clouds today, completed Cuttlebug Embossing, with Pan Pastels, Provo Craft Stickout quilled balloons, and Nestabilities Labels #6 with pop dots.  Sentiment is Cameo Ovations from Fiskars.

Chasing Dreams

The Pan Pastels blend like a dream.  I've used Memento Inks for the rubber stamping.  One of the really nice effects that you can achieve are the mist of the clouds.  We are always discussing how to accomplish the misting in the Stampscapes groups, I think Pan Pastels are a viable option.

Ready, Set, Fire!

Today's card was created with stamps from Stampscapes and Gray Wolf Graphics.  Dyes are Distress Ink Pads used with Stipple Brushes and Copic Markers.  Distressing with Memory Makers tools. The Stamps are a perfect 4th of July scene, but the secret is that this card was created to celebrate my son's graduation from college.

Wobble Card !

My good friend Lisha gave me some Wobbles to try. Wobbles are little plastic springs that have adhesive to attach to your card and to an embellishment. When they are in place the embellishment wobbles sideways.

Here is my first wobbles card which is a Housemouse colored with Copic markers and Memento inks. I love this stamp as it is perfect for so many celebrations. I purchased it to make a theme card for "Celebrate Freedom!" Our camp theme this year, but I have already made that card and a Father's Day card and a graduation card. It is very versatile.

Today I have been working with some new stamps that are from Clear Dollar Stamps and Our Daily Bread Designs.  The theme for The Great Family Adventure this year is CELEBRATE FREEDOM!  Freedom from sin, Freedom from fear, Freedom from sickness and Freedom from this world.  I think it is going to be a great camp!

The inks are Memento with Copic markers.

Father's Day Card

Here is a card that I created for Father's Day.  Paper is "My Mind's Eye" , Rubber Stamp is Tim Holtz, Sentiment is Stampin Up.

Remembering How Much I Love Embossing

The last Stampin Chix gathering we spent some time watercoloring embossed images.  This was the first time that I had used a watercolor brush....the kind that holds the water in the brush.  Marianne showed us how to use Distress Ink stamped onto a craft mat for our watercolor ink.  The bottom three cards were completed by Marianne.  Thanks for bringing me back to embossing, Marianne! This was SO MUCH FUN!  We discussed how it had been a long time since we had embossed and how it used to be so popular.  This technique is probably responsible more than any other for who started into a card making hobby.  I know that it is what hooked me.  There is something about the first time you see that image raised up before your eyes...and the thought rolling through your head of "I can do that?!"  Above is some of our finished work.  The images that we used to emboss are reverse images.  They are embossed in white.  Then the flowers are water-colored.  Did, I say that we had FUN doing this?  I can't wait to do some more!  The images are Hero Arts Clings, sold at Archivers

More Flower Making with Stampin Chix

This weekend I went to Memories Expo with the Stampin Chix.  We all had a great time and bought lots of goodies.

Saturday I met with some friends and we made a few paper flowers.  I truly enjoy watching these flowers come to life.  These are made using punches from Punch Bunch and McGill.  We used the book Paper Bouquet by Susan Tierney Cockburn as a guide.  Here is our finished work.

These were made using the cupping, pinching, and bending/folding techniques as described in the book.  As a final touch we spritzed with glimmer mist.