Checking In

Ugh! Cold and flu season. It seems like it's just keeps going around and around, but the good news is that we have been hooked up with Young Living Essential Oils and even though these sicknesses are awful, I feel like the quality of living with the oils is a definite improvement. This won't be a sales pitch don't worry... just sayin'.
      Let's get to it.

• Cold days mean I don't want to go anywhere, so lots of creative time. My Documented Faith has been a lot of journaling, so I haven't shared but here's an overview look from the last two weeks. 

• Malachi got invited to his first birthday party, so I made this cape and mask duo (it's become my go-to gift for boys).

Malachi models it for me

• My girlfriend got an NIV Notetaker's Bible for her birthday and so I had the privilege of making a cover for her. 

• We are not the only "oil-ers" in our circle of friends and family and so, I've been working out a to-go oil carrying case. I've made five and I think I finally have the pattern figured out. My mom and my sister got a couple of my prototypes and in my distracted-ness I only put one row of pockets in it instead of two. In order to remedy the situation, I whipped up little divider pockets that could be slipped in the pouch. I think it'll do in a pinch. I will be sewing up a few more complete pouches this week.

• In other custom jobs, I have a huge project that I will be picking up my fabric order for this week. This will be (in size, my largest project yet). I'm a bit nervous and will pray my way through it. Measure twice, cut once!!!!
• I'm still having a lot of fun with happy snail mail. I have three regular pen pals, plus I sent a birthday package to my sister and I've just chosen someone on the Documented Faith Happy Mail list to send a little package to. I like working on mail scattered throughout my creative times. If I am working on mixed media items, then I make several similar ones so that I can use them in my journal, my Bible and/or in my letters. 

My sister's bday pkg

• Have you heard of "Pocket Letters"? Well, I stumbled across them on Pinterest and my pen pals will be receiving at least one as you know it... I "had" to try!

• I post almost daily on Instagram, so when my blog activity is low, you can still keep in touch with me there. User name: mrsgingras

a lovely package I received last week

• Bible Journaling is going well. I love it more everyday. I post pretty much every single page on Instagram, but here's a little peek. Our church has been going through the Forty Days of Faith and I'm really enjoying it! A lot of my pages have been inspired from the daily readings. 

• Abby has even joined me in Bible Journaling. On the Illustrated Faith website, April shared how impactful this was with her daughter and I knew I needed to invite Abby to do some journaling in my Bible. You should have seen her face when I said she could journal in my Bible. It was priceless!

#kidsintheword

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

"She is Clothed in Strength and Dignity"

Today's Bible Journaling page needs to source some folks, so here's a quick share. Be sure to visit the links and show your support.

I was inspired by Jann Gray Saulsberry. She did a gorgeous page (with a tutorial) in Isaiah with a mixed media lady that I loved! Jann is even hosting a giveaway for the awesome stamp and die set that she used to make it. Not having any funky tools like that I remembered a pin that I saved for later to try. Gabrielle Pollacco generously shares the template for this little lady on her blog along with a tutorial how to do a mixed media art piece with it. The template prints on an 8x11 page and so in order to use it in my Bible, I shrunk it down (I used my Print Shop program, so I don't have a percentage for you). Tiny cutting was involved, but so worth it, as you can see.

I didn't have the colour of papers that I had envisioned for her, so I found the musical score paper on the Far Far Hill blog and the pretty prints on Amy J Delightful's blog. I didn't want to play around with the text too much and so, like Gabrielle's piece, I used the words in her skirt. I used a pigment pen (Staedtler Pigment Liner 0.1) for the details and pink watercolour pencil (Art 101) for the background. I'm pretty happy with it!

Checking In

It was a fun and creative week here last week.

I got to celebrate two friends' 30th birthdays. That was a whole lot of fun by itself, but it also meant that I got to make presents. I whipped up a pencil case for one friend who wants a new Bible (a journaling one for taking notes) I included a few Bible friendly pens to get her started. I made my other friend a little zipper clutch in which I put some raspberry pineapple tea-sers (little single serve baggies of loose tea) with a cute tea ball. Both friends received a set of "insta-magnets" - they turned out really cute. 

On Pinterest I saw fabric bracelets something like this and was inspired to give it a try. I will be making more of these for sure.

Then rainbow bracelets inspired by these. I couldn't stop at just one. I also made a few tiny beaded bracelets - tricky to finish, but I love the results. My crafting "A.D.D" kicked in in full force this week. There just wasn't enough time to delve into any more types of crafts or I might have.

Friends of ours are in their fundraising stage before going out onto the mission field. Lisa painted this great signs and hung them around the room. They're painted on old aviation charts. They were so beautiful, I had to take pictures and share. I think Lisa should paint more and make prints or postcards or something. I'd buy a set!

I had an interesting time in my Journaling Bible. I accidentally tore a page (top middle) I had finished during advent and had to do a repair job, then I did a page that I wasn't really happy with (top right). It's not that's it's all bad, just not how as nice as my original sketch and vision. I was thrilled with my Hebrews 11 page (bottom). This was a lot of fun and it helped me gain some of the lost confidence. In the end I just had to remind myself that my art does not take away or add to the Word of God. It's merely a tool to help me "hide His Word in my heart". If you are interested in following my Bible Journaling experience, I post regularly on Instagram (user name: mrsgingras).

This is a close-up from my DF journal. This was more like what I was going for in my Bible (again, the top right picture above). It's a bit more whimsical, but I'm glad I was able to capture it even a little in my journal.

(The art card on the right hand side with the scripture verse and heart are Stephanie Ackerman's used with permission)

Here's my week five spread. I doodled a lot. I struggled a bit with my anger toward my children and my daily prayer was from James - quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. We started the Forty Days of Faith at church and I love the quote that our pastor shared from Smith Wigglesworth: 

"Great faith is the product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials."

It's going to be a great 40 days!