Bible Journaling

Have you heard of Bible Journaling? #journalingbible #illustratedfaith (hashtags for you to check out) I hadn't until a week ago. I was on Pinterest, again (don't judge ;) ) looking for snail mail and/or art journal ideas and stumbled across an art piece drawn directly on a page in a Bible. I wasn't too sure how I felt about it at first. Wasn't that a little disrespectful, drawing in a Bible?  I mean, the artist drew right over the text. I decided to click through to the link and found myself on a blog entry about Bible journaling. What?! I can tell you, it took me all of five minutes to change my mind and fall in love with this idea. The blog included a link to another blog link ~ "Create by Shanna Noel. The post was honest and engaging and spoke to my heart. Why not use the creativity that God put in me to enhance my study times and frankly make the Word 'stick'. I watched her webinar on Bible Journaling basics and knew I wanted to try it.

In some small ways I had already begun to recognize that when I wrote out scripture and embellished it with word art, it made a deeper impression on me. Even if I could only focus on one verse at a time, I was soaking in the Word.

Journal entries from my quiet times

In other ways I had already begun the Bible journaling process by highlighting texts that I wanted to remember or focus on and writing in the empty spaces. It was never fancy, just 'functional'.  Seriously though, I like fancy! If I can choose between something plain and something decorated, you don't have to try to hard to guess which one I would choose.

I don't have a wide margin Bible or a journaling Bible, yet. I do plan on getting one, but I also wanted to be sure that it wasn't just a crafting fad or my craft "ADD" kicking in. I decided that I would try a few pages in my regular Bible. They were simple and certainly nothing to "write home about", but I got a taste for what I could do.

Then I decided to try my hand at fancier lettering in my journal and worked on a text from Isaiah. I am not great at it, but again, I was getting the words from the page into my mind and heart.

I then went to paper. I wanted to scribble and practise without abandon. I came across a Youtube video that showed how to do the name Jacob really cool and I thought I could use similar techniques to do the name of Jesus. I thought I should try to make it small so that it would fit in the Bible margin as most of what I had worked on hadn't required boundaries. I estimated a size and went for it. This verse is my favourite piece of art to date. I worked on it with pencil and eraser first. I was typically too impatient to do that before. I realized after I was done that I still have to edit down to a smaller size if I want to keep my art to the margins. I think I do, but there are many options for adding larger art without covering the text too much (my personal preference).

I cut this out and will either do a turn out page or use it as a bookmark or something. 

My final two pieces (up to date) are scaled down. I don't know if I will re-do them when I get my Journaling Bible or if I will just insert them in, but it's already been such a great and refreshing experience.

I still snail mail, I still crochet (did you see my new wool?)...

Details on my Instagram feed (user name: mrsgingras)

...I still sew - when I can, I still love throwing a good party (two birthday boys are having a good one, soon) and I still enjoy trying many other crafts. I think, though, that my daily devotional time has become a new favourite. Hiding His Word in my heart!!!

Baby Crafting

I didn't do much sewing during my pregnancy with Hannah, but I like to make something for my babies. Hannah spits up a lot and most of her bibs are hand me downs or they are super big on her yet, so I made some ridiculously cute bibs. Tutorial and pattern here.

 The tutorial had no measurements for the pleating and I'm not super happy with the spacing, but if I didn't say anything, I'd be one of the few to notice.

I like to no fuss option of using lace instead of the pleating, cute and quick.

 Of course, it's super easy and fast to do no embellishments.

A little reverse appliqué is cute, too.

Before Christmas I wanted to crochet myself a hat. I found a pattern I liked and when I didn't have the proper size hook or yarn to make the gauge requirements, I decided I would practise using what I had and I figured it might fit Abby or Hannah. Sure enough it looks awfully cute on my Hannah. I ended trying one for me later and it was a big fail. Oh well.

TaDa!

I have finally declared my first crochet afghan FINISHED!

I began last winter and I wasn't 100% sure that I would even have it in me to finish a large crochet project, but I did it! I was inspired by this afghan when I saw it on Pinterest I thought to myself "I want to try one like that. By changing stitches often I won't likely get bored with it." Not having $80 to invest in yarn all at once, I grabbed a skein of red that I had already and decided that I would use it up and when I ran out I would go buy another colour.

Teal came next, then hunter green dark purple, grey, fuchsia and orange. This is where I really began to like my work and became a little bit picky. The orange I bought I didn't really like how bright it was in comparison to the rest of the colours. I left it after only one row, though I do enjoy the contrast right there.

I also didn't like the first section of red I did. The colour was nice, but it was a different texture than the rest of the yarn I had used and it was bugging me. On a whim I ripped it out. This almost wrecked my afghan! I was freaked out for several hours as I tried to salvage what I had done. I managed to save the blanket and replaced the red with chocolate brown. The seam between the two colours is horrendous, but my "fix" turned out kinda pretty as I crocheted a thin row of lilac right over top.

Chocolate brown then red (in the same brand and texture of yarn), cornflower blue and lilac finished the bottom. After the orange came navy and light green to finish the top. I then did a single row of kelly green to begin a border and finished with the dark purple. The process of this blanket was fun for me. I loved making it up as I went. Somewhere in the new red section, I got a book, Crochet Stitch Dictionary and my rows became even more thought out and fancy. Up to that point I surfed Pinterest and YouTube to decide my next stitch and often learned new stitches for a change. My favourite section (for detail, not necessarily for colour) is the cornflower blue. I love how it turned out. I added a little heart to the corner and eep!

I've come a long way in skill since I first began and you can visually see the difference in the skill level throughout the blanket. It's also quite a bit wider at one end than the other, though blocking did help some. I am so proud of the project, though and won't change another bit of it. The lighting wasn't great for these pictures and so, the flash kinda skews the colours, but I couldn't wait to show you, so these will have to do. Just for one, I've added one with my newest model, Hannah...

I turned off the flash so I wouldn't blind her, so it looks really dark here.

Catching Up

I was looking through some pictures on my computer and realized that I hadn't shared a few things, so we'll call this a catch up post and then I'll share some of my latest news in another post.

• I showed you a project in progress awhile back, but never showed you the finished project. Malachi turned three in November and received a super hero doll with a matching cape, super hero cuffs and mask. He was super thrilled and the cape continues to be one of his favourites. I designed my own pattern for the doll with tips I'd found online. My Micah might get one for his birthday in June...we'll see.

•  I went to a Christmas party at the beginning of December and we had a gift exchange. I brought our home made vanilla coffee syrup. I bottled it in a Jones soda bottle and used some shrink wine toppers that David had left over from his wine making days. We were to bring two gifts, so I brought two and was happy to see that they were a desired gift and were "stolen" several times. I whipped up a label (re-worked last year's Christmas gift labels).

• I also whipped up a small jar of sugar scrub for each lady. The peppermint smell in my kitchen was lovely.

• I am so close to finishing a really big project...

I think I caught up the missed things, stay tuned for the latest ones.

Crafting Continues In the Rush of Life

I've made some choices in order to maintain sanity in our house. Mostly right now that means I lay down on the couch for 1-1.5 hours a day to rest during family quiet time and that means that my poor neglected blog has been left alone for some time. I am 7 weeks away from baby number 4 and I am tired. This doesn't mean that I have been idle in all areas of my life. David and I have begun and even finished some of our Christmas crafting, and I've been crocheting up a storm (well, for me anyway). My David has had a nice long weekend and been so generous with our family time, so today, I got a morning nap and get to spend quiet time here with you. Here's a little update on what we've been busy making. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you may have seen a few sneak peeks.

It started with some painting. Abby will be getting a thrifted jewelry box, painted and filled with handmade jewelry. I used this jewelry box for a while, but most of my necklaces are too long for it to work all that well. It will be a great size for Abby. I should mention that my David did most of the painting. I've had so much fun crafting with my husband!

Then we painted dowels for the all three littles' dance ribbon wands. They love dancing and our church has some nice ribbon wands, but we thought custom ones would be nice for our littles. We made two identical ones for each little, one for home and one for church. I will make drawstring bags for storage and transport. We used this tutorial here.

I also whipped up two scarves. My David and I love iconic Canadiana things, but the budget doesn't always allow that kind of indulgences. For example I love the Hudson's Bay Co. signature five point blanket stripes. The blankets themselves are super expensive, but to our dismay and surprise so were their scarves. We're talking $55 for a scarf!!!! Well, after a long visit at Michael's Arts & Crafts in their yarn department, we found the colours we were happy with and I got to work. David's scarf needed to be warm and functional, not just fashionable. He's not really an accessory kind of guy, so I settled on a tighter crochet stitch (HDC) with a small hook. This meant it took quite awhile and the middle section was quite long and boring. In the end, it turned out nice and cozy. Blocking made all the difference to the final project and just in case you were on the other side of the you-can't-block-acrylic-yarn fence, I am here to tell you that you can and it makes a huge difference. I looked it up on YouTube and I'm super happy with the results. I then made a quick (read loose stitch with large hook) infinity scarf for myself. I have plenty of warm scarves and was interested in another accessory more than a-keep-me-warm-on-the-coldest-days kind of scarf. It turns out to be quite warm anyway and it's cute.

I've also picked up my afghan that I started last fall and have made some progress. No promises as to when I'll finish, but I'm enjoying where it's going and I have hope that it will finish nicer than I expected due to my new found blocking knowledge.

I am now working on Malachi's birthday present which will be a super hero doll inspired by these, but re-worked with my own pattern. He will also get a matching cape, mask and wrist cuffs. His favourite thing to do these days is to dress up as Superman. He doesn't even really know who Superman is, but it's so cute! If you want to see him in action, here's a link to a cute video.

I have other handmade Christmas presents in mind. We'll visit those another day. In the meantime, it's been nice to stop in and say "hello". I've missed this space.

Checking In

We're still buried in snow, but the sun is shining and there is hope of spring. That also means that spring break is coming! Although, that makes a financial dent in our lives, I'm sooooo thankful that we get to have my David home for a whole week! We hope to take a little day trip to go scope out some property for some of my family, I have my (hopefully last) road test booked and we plan to spend some great family adventure times together. Let's get to what's been going on:

• Micah is 9 months! I can hardly believe it. He's cruising (slowly) around my furniture these days and he's so proud of himself when he pulls himself up that he gives a little giggle. So cute.

• Remember when I told you that one of my favourite teas had been discontinued? Well, apparently it isn't in the states, so a friend of mine recently brought me home two boxes! *sigh* It's been lovely!

Honey Vanilla White Chai Tea - Celestial Seasonings

• I won another blog giveaway! Thanks, Heather for providing the pattern and thanks Make IT Snappy for hosting the giveaway. I am looking forward to giving it a try. Interested in your own? You can find the pattern here.

• We filed our income tax on Monday and we'll be getting a decent refund. Some of our plans include to replace our printer (it will be here tomorrow - yippee!), build a triple bunk bed for the littles, cover financial baby step one and begin our snowball! It's pretty exciting!
• My blanket is on pause. I purchased yarn on sale (BOGO), but I don't like the colours with the ones I've already used. No yarn budget right now, so it might be awhile. It thrilled me to bits, though, when my Malachi "demanded" a snuggle with the blanket. He was so cute, playing with his toes in the holes and saying things like "hey, green! Hey, purple!" etc.

• I have 9 small all in one diapers that I didn't need. Two were finished, but seven have two more steps to be finished. I've decided to finish them up and sell them. I'm just waiting for my supplies to come in. It would be nice to make a little cash and to actually have them used instead of sitting with my fabric (taking up valuable real estate). 

• I have another mei tai on my sewing desk, no, not to replace my lost one, but for a new baby.
• Abby goes downstairs most weekdays after lunch to play. My friend and neighbour looks after two boys after kindergarten for a couple of hours and invited Abigail to join them. Every time she hears a sound from downstairs she blurts out "Is that the boys?" Abby has grown to really look forward to her times with "the boys". Here they all are sitting on their snowmen.

• Abby picked out a card for me last time she ran errands with her Papa. It had to be a musical card! It was so sweet of her, she insisted on the card for the song and didn't realize that she got me a baby congratulations card. Abby, by the way, wants another brother and a sister. No comment.

Checkin' In

January is gone. It was a looooong month and yet, I find myself surprised that it's over. Funny how that works. The weather and a broken car kept us housebound for most of the month, I usually love winter, but am feeling a longing for spring. Let's get to it.

• We celebrated our Abigail's fourth birthday this month. We kept it simple and as a matter of fact most of our Winnipeg "family" couldn't make it this year. We had a simple family celebration on her actual birthday, then we had a tobogganing party (it miraculously warmed up last weekend) followed by cocoa and cupcakes a week later. We had a good time.

I asked her what she loved and this is what she said.

• I made an e-reader cover for a friend who was going on vacation... unfortunately, we both forgot to make sure she got it before she left and is away on vacation without it. I didn't use any one tutorial, but the features of several. I researched on Pinterest and went from there.

• A Christmas present I haven't shown you yet, was for Micah. He was our only little without a hooded towel and since I found a different tutorial than the one I used for the other ones, I thought I'd give it a try. I like the hidden seams, but it does make the hood smaller and it won't fit him this well for long.

• After having rainbow cupcakes for her third birthday, Abigail requested to have them again. This time David made them and his colours were so vibrant and beautiful. He did a great job!

• I have an iPad mini case under construction for a friend's birthday. I was far too tired to touch it today (the littles were up way too much last night), hopefully I'll get to it tomorrow.
• I forced Micah to like his soother again. Thankfully it's working.
• Still working on my crochet sampler afghan. I'm loving it, though I am also dreaming of crocheting some Hudson's Bay stripes onto a pair of scarves for me and my David. He thought of it and now I can't stop thinking of it. I'm itching to give it a go. Finding the right colours for the stripes may be tricky, but I'll love having the iconic stripes in my wardrobe. I've also pinned quilt and knit versions of the point blankets in hopes of re-creating my own version someday. Unless I can score a second hand one, as new point blankets cost BIG bucks!!!

• I failed my road test. I have my next one booked for the 6th. I want a party when this is all done. Phew! What a crazy experience it's been. Maybe I'll blog about it sometime. UPDATE: I re-booked for the 13th - the logistics worked better that way.

• We have an awesome second hand children's store here. I recently picked up a pile of clothes for Abigail and a pair of shoes for Malachi. The total would have been $32, but I only paid $2.95 after selling a few clothes and using up a gift card that I had. I love the thrill of a good deal.
• I recently confessed something to my friends here and I was so blessed by their gracious and loving responses. I am beyond grateful for the beautiful community we have here. Ladies, you are so precious to me! Thank you for forgiving me and loving me through all my "stuff".
• We are all feeling tired of the cold. My poor littles are about bursting with cabin fever, not to mention this Mama! We went to the mall and let the littles run in the play area for quite awhile last night. It was cute, Abby learned that in order to play tag, you eventually have to do some of the chasing, too. We all needed the change of scenery. I am, however, still loving the snow scene outside my living room window. We live in such a pretty city.