Kelly's Art Journaling

Journal Tip-Ins Now Available

2012-01-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

This past week I was going through some magazines and found some wonderful pictures to use as silouhettes for my journal tip-in pages. I have decided to sell them on Etsy. I have had such a blast creating them and I will probably be making a lot more of them.

I am totally in love with this pose as it is "cheeky", like she is saying "Whatsa' matter with you?"

I love these two heads because when you put them together they look like a vase or heads depending on your view of things just like that well known picture of heads/vase.

This was so much fun because the actual advertisement was of a model hugging a bottle of Chanel perfume ~ I turned her into a fairy and voila ~ awesome journal page don't you think?

I added the circles to this little lady to add more space for journaling.

All these lovely doodled journal tip-ins are available in my Etsy shop @

www.kellysartjournaling.etsy.com

I hope you are all having a wonderful beginning to a brand new week ~ just think of all the possibilities this week can hold for you!

Hugs and many blessings to you all.

Hurting For The Lost

2012-01-25T08:00:00.001-07:00

If anyone asked me what my GIFTINGS are I would have to say one of them is definitely COMPASSION. I usually take peoples pain into myself and hurt deeply for them. God sends people into my life that need comfort, compassion, encouragement and I am THERE for the task. I do everything I can for them... but honestly... it HURTS so much! To see them hurting, to see them making wrong choices, to see them not turning to GOD ~ WOW! I know that God has His reasons for sending these people to me, I guess I wish that I could believe in the strength HE obviously believes that I have. I LOVE these individuals as if they were born of my own womb, they become apart of me and when they HURT, I HURT, when they CRY, I CRY. The most difficult thing for me is after I have done all I can do to help them through what they are going through and they no longer listen to me... then I MUST walk away and allow them to go down the path they are going to go. Although I am praying all through this journey, it's at the end of the journey for my part that I pray to be able to let them go and leave them at the foot of the CROSS. To TRUST in Jesus to take it from where I NEED to leave off. When I do this it feels like I have lost a limb... I mourn for the loss of their presence in my life as I have come to love them so deeply. However, GOD comes and fills that loss with HIS love and with HIS peace and I know that in a little while I will be okay. I trust the Lord to take care of them now.

For all the people God has placed in my life... each and everyone of them has an honorary place in my heart and I am forever changed from having them in my life. I thank God for using me in some way to hopefully touch their lives so in the future when they think of me, maybe they will see Jesus. THIS is my prayer. I know it's not for NOTHING! AMEN!

Be blessed my Dear Friends, be very blessed indeed.

The Depths Of HIS Love

2012-01-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

This painting was done on a 16"x20" canvas with COPIC inks. My first experiment with

using the inks instead of the pens. The inks are very sticky and goopy when they are

drying which worked really well for this piece as the top looks like blood, which I was

actually trying to achieve. The Depths of HIS Love, portraying the blood shed for

our sins.

I pray you are all having a very blessed Sunday.

Hugs and blessings to you all.

Totally Out of My Comfort Zone

2012-01-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

I'm taking the "Doodles Unleashed" free course from Strathmore Artist Studio, taught by Traci Batista and it started out good...

... And then I added the green... and completely lost myself falling out of my comfort zone.

After days and days of going over the painting again and again with Gesso I finally decided to put a face onto the page... even then I was just not feeling right. I do not know what it is about the process of working with a chaotic doodle design and forming it into some masterpiece that has me so uncomfortable? I can't get my brain around it!

I should have just left the pink and not added the green... maybe I could have worked with it?

Anyway, I simply added the layer of circles and filled in the flower pattern on the top right hand side and texturized different places on the page... I think I'm done but I still am not completely happy with it!

I think I do not work well with creative chaos! What do you think?

Well, I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. Many hugs and blessings to you.

Deep Thinker Friday but Post For Monday

2012-01-09T07:00:00.001-07:00

Friday was a most unusual day for me... I woke up and walked on my treadmill for twenty minutes while listening to my new tunes on my ipod. Huge step for me considering I am trying to do this a couple times per week even if I am hurting. Listening to my music was so peaceful and fun I continued to do it for the majority of my day.

After my walk I put the ipod on the charger and listened through the speakers to my new tracks "Music Inspired By The Story" and "WOW Worship 2012" as well as the new "Kelly Clarkson" track. My son Ben taught me how to add a cd to my itunes... wow do I feel old! (seriously!) It is strange to have the memory of myself in my bedroom at around the same age as my son's, listening to my stereo blasting away ~ it seems like just yesterday... and now my children are at the age of listening to their own music but it is done so differently these days.

I really listened to the words of each song and allowed the music to flow inside of me... then I went into the 'manic' zone of creating not knowing what I was really doing but had so many ideas coming into my head and swirling up with color.

I started with a good layer of white gesso, then watercolor crayon (which mucked up a bit but not allowing this to stop me... continued). I could not get the texture the way I was feeling until I finally set the brush aside and worked it with my fingers. For some reason I was in a dark color mood trying to capture a storm with my hands, this is why the top of the page is so dark.

I immediately cut out hearts using the text of magazine pages and went to my Twinkling H20's for shimmery colors. My thoughts were focused on the CROSS as I brushed the rich poppy red pigments followed by spiced pumpkin. I still was not certain as to the direction of the page until I saw the drops of blood on the bottom. Then I knew it was going to contain the Life and Death of Jesus (symbolically).

The piece took on a life of its own after that. I sat working on these pages completely content as I listened to my music ~ this was a good day, a very good day! Yes I over did it, and YES it was worth it!!! Some days you just have to say YES and get out of bed and DO IT!

Have a very blessed day everyone! Many hugs and blessings to you.

Thinking In The New Year

2012-01-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am really loving the new editing format for blogger that I just installed last week... things are so much less frustrating than they were before!

Anyway...

So far in the year of 2012... this is my first page of the New Year and I put a lot of thought into it. I finally used my adhesive faux flock border that I purchased from Walmart a couple months ago ~ do not you just LOVE the look of it? I discovered, however, that there is only enough border for one page so that's almost $4.00 spent on one page (not including the paint...) but it's so darn pretty so I feel it is worth the splurge every now and then.

I do not want to do your 'typical' New Years Resolutions that everyone and their dog does every year... to be honest I started out this page in just such a fashion... eat better, be less of a perfectionist, lose weight... blah, blah, blah. It felt very false to me.

Then Milliande (over at Milliande Art Community) began this new project called Seeds... she did this page called "Be The Seed" and it really got me thinking about being the seed of life in the world, the seed of love, joy, peace, patience, light... all those good things. I love the concept of a new beginning, the seed bringing new life ~ doesn't that concept just burst forth a visionary feast? On my journal page I used Milliande's idea of BE with the seed on it in two places. Her image captured my heart and I knew that I needed to draw the same image (this lady is amazingly talented and full of beautiful ideas and has a HUGE heart, I highly recommend checking out this community for inspiration!

I was not liking this page after I wrote on it in my own handwriting... it wasn't flowing nicely, so I went crazy with letter stamps and stamped out my main message which was God (first and foremost), Love (which I want to exude) and Time (which I want to use to the utmost). Then I added a few vines to join all the words in a fashion, making it flow together more freely.

To stay with my effervescent word of the year I added just a touch of shimmer mist, which I will be adding to every page I produce this year!!!! "SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE HAVING FUN" right?

I hope your first week of 2012 has been a wonderful, joyous filled one.

Hugs and many blessings

The Year of 2011 and Word For 2012

2011-12-31T12:23:00.001-07:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

The last day of 2011... wow this year flew by. Here's a recap of my year...

January had me experimenting in my journal with things I was thinking about...

Things that were really on my mind...

Then I had an Emergency Appendectomy which kept me in bed for a few weeks.

February had me take part in a Community Art Project over at Phoenix Peacocks Blog...

March had me....

April had me in Phoenix for 10 days with my family...

as well as working on an idea for a book through my All Kinds of Artists Bloghop... (I only received about 10 submissions so needless to say this project fell through:(

May kept me in the Texturizing mode as I worked on a few pieces in this medium...

June kept me busy as I worked on a number of different journal spreads...

And worked on setting goals at the Chronic Pain clinic.

Also, June was the month I was diagnosed with Hypermobility of My Joints, Degenerative Discs in my neck and an appointment was set up for an MRI for April of 2012.

July had me making paper dolls (through Julie Nutting's book) with neighborhood girls...

as well as learning to make Duct tape wallets with my son Benjamin.

August had me working on my FIRST piece for friends of ours for their daughter Madelyn's room... this project was so much fun - I soaked in every moment of being engulfed in this girlie procedure!!!!

September had me taking an online class through Doll Dreams on Eyes and I was able to create this "Sisters" piece (which sold out during my art fair in November).

October kept me busy as I worked on piece after piece for my upcoming Art fairs in November. I also wrote my first "booklet" called "The Art of Zen Doodling".

November was the "BIG MONTH" for art fairs having FOUR in a row, weekend after weekend! It was an eye opener for me as I have never sold my art work before. I also learned that I will NEVER again plan to do four in a row :)

December was a relaxing month for me after the busy past few months... I worked on a few more mood charts, a few joural pages but mostly I just chilled out with my family.

Every winter I get the "Fever" for a winter project (which is usually knitting or crocheting some blanket I never finish)... This year I chose to do a cross stitch but only with strict conditions laid out by my son Josh... I must finish this project to completion within 8 months! He likes to bug me about all the projects I don't finish.

AND FINALLY, THE BIG REVEAL... my word for 2012 is...

My Hubbub chose this word for me. My process for choosing my word this year was to google "positive words"... it came up with a list of over 300 words. I worked my way through this list and circled the ones that jumped out at me. There were a number of them. Then I drew lines from one word to the next of the words that related to each other (sort of like word webbing)... my logic was pretty solid (or so I thought)... I then attempted to show my hubbub my process...

um... ya...

why oh why do I do this to myself??????

Within seconds he see's the word 'EFFERVESCENT' and say's... "That should be your word for the year!"

I just stare at him and say with sad looking eyes, "But I haven't shown you my process yet!"

He says, "Nope, your word is Effervescent! That's how I think you should be this year, bubbly, high-spirited, full of life, sparkly... it's perfect! DONE! Your word is EFFERVESCENT.

I looked from his face to the page, back and forth, back and forth... it took me a few minutes to 'let go' of my entire process and see things his way!

Then I settled into my new word of the year... EFFERVESCENT... hmmmm... yes... I could work with this word. Yes... I want to be high-spirited and bubbly this year! Yes, it will work just fine!

How does my HUBBUB know me so well???

It took me a few weeks to finish this page dedicated to EFFERVESCENT. I did it completely with my Twinkling H20's (watercolors that SHINE). I thought it suited my word of the year perfectly. What do you think???

Wishing you all a wonderfully Happy New Year - may you all be richly blessed with goodness, love, joy, peace, prosperity and anything else in these categories!

Big New Years Hugs!!!!

Wishing You All A Merry Christmas

2011-12-21T10:30:00.003-07:00

Hello everyone. Are you ready for Christmas? We have a light dusting of snow on the ground and nothing in the forecast for coming snow until after Christmas:( It is strange for me to pout about that fact, but Christmas just isn't Christmas without snow ~ for me anyway. I love snow in December but HATE it other months! To say that I am NOT a snow bunny would be an understatement:) If the cold didn't hurt my bones so darn much I think I would love it!

So far this year we have watched some of our favorite Christmas movies...
First and foremost is definitely White Christmas. Then we watched A Christmas Carol (Jim Carey), Fred Claus, Elf, the Holiday and Miracle on 34th Street. Oh yes, I also had my Christmas blubbering session by watching "The Christmas Shoes" for what I believe was the first time, however my son told me I have seen it before! That's the great thing about having a memory like mine... everything seems like seeing, or reading it for the first time! It's Christmas everyday:)

What are your favorite Christmas movies?

We still have yet to watch Home Alone (My son's favorite), It's a Wonderful Life (hubby and my favorite), Deck the Halls (again my son's like this one), 12 Days of Christmas Eve (a cute no-brainer), The Grinch (Jim Carey edition), The Nativity Story (my favorite)... and I am thinking that's the best of them...

This year for Christmas music I purchased the music of Michael Buble's Christmas - it is an awesome track. I don't really know what to call it as it isn't his CD when you purchase it on Itunes right? Now, instead of buying cd's we buy Itunes giftcards? What a strange world we live in! If you wanted you wouldn't really have to leave your house now would you? I don't think I would like that very much.

Well, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I am not certain if I will get to posting my Word of the Year before the New Year. We have a lot of Super Scrabble matches to play this holiday! Which by the way is my favorite game!

May God bless you this Christmas and in the New Year.

Hugs and blessings.

Mandala Supreme

2011-12-16T15:39:00.005-07:00

Hello everyone! I am so sorry I have been 10 days neglectful of my blog! Shame on me!!!
Here is my latest piece of doodles called "Mandala Supreme" inspired by my dear friend Terri over at Comfort Cottage. I just finished it today, although I was inspired by Terri's work a few weeks back.

I began drawing circles upon circles...

Then brought out my Prismacolor pencil crayons...

Adding a hint of color here and there...

...and voila! It is finished! I had fun working within the circles and patterns and color.

I pray you are all enjoying a lovely December... in the hustle and bustle this month brings take time to be bless and be blessed.

Merry Christmas everyone!

All Kinds Of Artists Check IN

2011-12-06T11:44:00.007-07:00

I have been a horrible moderator of this blog hop lately... too busy with getting things ready for four fairs that I was involved in. However, I checked in on it this morning and wow! it's up to 813 artists plugged in to give and receive an enormous amount of inspiration!!!

For Example:
#799 - L'Art-en-Ciel (Flo)
Created this amazing painting, you can check out her blog by clicking on her highlighted name of her blog! Beautiful! The above painting is one of Flo's!!!

Crystal Cook is our #813 Artist with this beautiful painting of the horse named "Troy". I wasn't kidding when I said their is some awesome inspiration in these artists! Wow!

Denice #806 over at InkStitch has a great post about the color black! Tune it to see the entire post at her blog. Doesn't the above picture peek your interest to discover what it's all about. Go over and take a look, you will not be disappointed!!!!

#801 The Slumbering Herd is such a cute little blog filled with... well take a look for yourself with the picture below...

Does not this image exuberate 'the-bees-knees' all over it??? I love it! Such an amazing imagination this lady has and from what I've seen she does most of her work with my favorite medium COPIC MARKERS! You must, must, must go take a look at all of her wonderful critters and fantasy land images.

So just something little to make your mouth water for inspiration (at least mine is watering)!!!! Please let me know what you think of these talented gals!

Hugs and blessings and I hope you are all staying warm. Here in Calgary it is supposed to dip to -17 by Thursday YIKES-A-DOODLE! That says "Stay-under-the-covers-comfy-cozy-with-a-good-book" kind of day!!!! Don't you think????

Mood Calendar #6 - Fantasy Fun

2011-11-28T17:18:00.004-07:00

I had a little fun with this one drawing and coloring the fairies. The squares covered up a lot of the picture, but it will work.

Hope you are all having a beautiful week. Getting into Christmas music for the first time this year!

Hugs and blessings

Mandala Time

2011-11-25T13:15:00.003-07:00

After seeing Terri's Mandala over at Comfort Cottage (my dear friend), I knew I had caught the bug and needed to make my own Mandala.
If you go check out her site she has created an amazingly very geometrically correct and detailed piece ~ it is exquisite!

My mandala is much simpler and I decided to give it some color. Ben (my youngest son) wanted me to color it in colors that I don't normally use like purple and orange and yellow and red (all together in the same piece!!!!) I am not comfortable with that yet! Does that make me a bad Mama??? It actually makes me cringe just thinking about using those colors together:( "Shake it off! Shake it off!" Okay... much better now.
I hope you enjoy sneaking a peek into the lovely Terri's site - she is an amazingly talented artist!

Hugs and many blessing to you all - Happy American Thanksgiving/Black Friday to you all!

Mermaid Mood Chart

2011-11-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hello again lovelies! This week is a tremendous blessing to me because I am able to accomplish things that I haven't been able to in awhile! Yahooey:) I have been an experimental guinea pig for the past few months trying to find the right medication for me that will help with my Fibromyalgia/hypermobility of my joints and Celebrex is the winner! I have been on it before but stopped it because of misinformation in regards to using it long-term. I seriously do not care about being on this medication long-term, IT WORKS! I haven't felt this good in a long time and I am sticking with it! No more experimenting for me!

So, back to the Mood Charts. The above chart was so fun to create. I did it while watching Pirates of The Caribbean (The one with the mermaids ~ so you can see my influence here:) She's a good mermaid though, without fangs and cannibal tendencies! I love drawing mermaids!

How many of you lovelies have ever kept track of your moods? I could have used these charts a number of years ago when I went through my depression; so many people are effected by this disease. Now I use them to monitor my moods as well as how certain medication is working for me. Being on medication means that you will go through side effects, at least that's how it is with me. I find them helpful in monitoring the side effects such as irritability, nausea, dizziness, mood swings... the list could go on and on. That's why I like to refer back to my charts to see how I was feeling. I also use it to monitor my pain levels with Fibromyalgia. I don't want to use them like a journal and write down every emotion I was feeling on a particular day, no... that's what a journal is for; that is why I have only made the space for each day relatively small.

From some comments I am receiving about these mood charts I am guessing they could be used for any number of things, even an affirmation chart to give yourself a positive word, or quote for each day.

What do you think? Would you use a mood chart? What would you use it for? I would love to hear your opinion.

Happy day to you, many hugs and blessings.

No one Can Make You Feel Inferior

2011-11-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Back from another busy, busy weekend. Phew! I'm glad this one is over! The fair that I was in on Saturday was one of the worst I've been to (not complaining ~ it just had a horrible vibe written all over it from beginning to end). It is the first one that I have been to where I found the people coming to the fair weren't friendly. It was very bizarre. Oh well, onto bigger and better things right?

I thought I would steer away from the charts for a day and show you the drawing I did on Saturday during the fair.

I really love the above saying... It is so true and many times we do not realize it, it is in our hands how 'inferior' we feel because of other people in our lives! So many times I have been at the mercy of this feeling... thank God that I have grown up, matured and learned from my life, from the lessons God has taught me, brought me through. I pray you all have been through this so that you no longer feel inferior to other people.

And here is the full drawing! Do you love the purple hair and matching purple eyes?

I have NEVER attempted to draw purple hair or purple eyes but I have to tell ya, I kind a like it!!! It was so fun to draw and... the best part was the hair was a tool to get out my frustration from the yucky fair:) Venting in color!!! LOVE IT!

Well raise your glass and make a toast to no longer feeling inferior in this world!!!! Hugs and many blessings to all you lovelies out there! Have a wonderful week!

Mood Chart #4

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

I hope you are enjoying my mood charts this week. It seems to be the theme of November here:) I had a fun time with this chart using the shape of masks for the days of the month! I adore this pink color (Blush copic marker).

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Hugs and many many blessings to you all!

Mood Chart #3

2011-11-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Here's number 3. I have numbered each heart and space in my other charts for each day of the month. So far I have 4 pages of 31 days in the month. 3 more 31 day months to go.

Sorry for the short posts this week, I am prepping for two more art/craft fairs.

Happy middle of the week everyone!
Hugs and blessings!

Mood Chart #2

2011-11-15T18:02:00.003-07:00

Working on getting a full 12 Mood Chart Pages done... here's number 2.
Hope and pray you are all having a wonderful, fabulous week.

Hugs and blessings

First Art Fair Done!

2011-11-13T11:50:00.007-07:00

Well... yesterday was the first Art/Craft Fair of the season and it went off splendidly. My wonderful Hubby made me two stands to showcase my art prints and they worked fantastic (except whenever the table got bumped:) He tied the stands to the table and ya... oh well, we know for next time right? I still think my Hubby is pretty amazing for making these for me:)))

I sold 4 of my "The Art Of Zen Doodling" 'how-to' booklets. This is where I had a great time discussing my process with the ladies who came by and I met so many wonderful gals. I LOVE meeting new people and this was a great day for it!

The fair got me into the Christmas mood early and I felt like putting up my Christmas tree and getting all snuggled in with a blanket, a mandarin orange, a hot eggnog steamer and a Chrismas movie... but I resisted. Not until December! I have to keep reminding myself this as I have two more Christmas Sales to attend in Novemeber.

Across from my table a wonderful lady filled her table with all of her beautiful crochet and knitting work. I can appreciate how much work goes into all the work she does as I have tried both and know it is a lot of work. This lady does all the intricate work and I was amazed at some of her Barbie Dresses that she made. I purchased two of them for my nieces for Christmas (SSSHHHHHH - don't tell!) I told said lady that she was selling them for two little as she only charged $6.00 per dress! She explained that people will not pay more for them ~ this made me sad. I hope she does well at the next Christmas Fairs she is in this year.

Right beside me was a young man who was mentally/physically handicapped who made beaded ornaments and jewellery for Christmas. His Mother told me that he has a group he goes to everyday where they show them how to make beaded crafts. He fell in love with the process and makes them all year long just for the one craft sale in Novemeber. I purchased a beautiful silver necklace from him.

This next picture is one of my favorite purchases this year. It is a Photograph of a retired Hollywood bear who now lives at an animal preserve in Oregon. Every now and then if you go to the preserve he will be sitting on the side of the road, if you wave to him he will wave back to you. I have had a fear of bears since I was a young girl when my Dad thought it would be really funny to get me to walk into this room at their friends house where a huge Grizzly Bear rug with Big head and Sharp teeth and all lay on a bed. Ya... my Dad loved to scare us girls!

Now however, I am drawn to bears in art work, photography or on different items like pajamas (I can't explain it ~ maybe it is my way of overcoming my fear by allowing myself to think of them as cute and cuddly animals!)

I also purchased two magic bags from a lady who was selling them. She had made hundreds of different covers for them in all different shapes and sizes. She made teddy bears for the little guys and then long, short, wide, thin... and even tiny little magic bags to heat up for over top of your eyes! How genius is this? I purchased two of them! She even brought her microwave oven to heat them up for her customers!!! Now that's extremely good salesmanship! :) Her magic bag got me through a very long day!

Anyway, overall the day was fabulous. I exchanged numbers with a few ladies and we are going to get together for art dates every now and then. How fun!!!

Hope your weekend was a very blessed one. Now, to get ready for next weekends Fair! OY VAY! (Remind me again why I signed up for three Fairs in a row???) It's all good!

Hugs and blessings everyone.

Preach It Sister!

2011-11-08T09:00:00.001-07:00

Last week I gave my testimony publicly for the first time EVER at a Woman's Recovery Centre and I discovered two things... First, is that my testimony is very long-winded and I really should have shortened it up;

and Second, some people can be mean in a subtle way, you don't even realize when they are dissing you until you think about it afterwards!

When I was giving my testimony, the supervisor of the ladies group said, "Preach It Sister" as I was reading a poem that I had written during my depression. After giving my testimony she said in front of everyone that my testimony was very God-based and that she has read the Bible cover to cover and that was precisely why she did NOT believe... okay... that was strange of her to say that to me...

then I thought about it...

When she said "Preach it Sister" while I read my very personal poem I thought 'wow, cool, she's touched by my poem'... then after her stating she was not a believer the thought crossed my mind...

wow, okay... she was actually dissing me and my beliefs instead of being touched by my poem.

That was really mean.

It bothered me for days after and I didn't really know why... maybe because I wasn't expecting that from the supervisor, from the ladies who were in a really tough spot in life sure, but the supervisor?

I guess I should be thankful because my testimony made her put her guard up and lash out at me, that must mean that Jesus is working through my testimony... why else would a complete stranger persecute me, right?

So now I am thinking about it in a positive way and thanking Jesus that I am worthy to be persecuted for His Name. It still hurts though.

I really hate how mean some people can be and I try to pray for those who are because they must be hurting if they feel the need to hurt others. Can't we all just get along? :)

Well, I pray that you are all having a wonderful week. Many hugs and blessings.

The Ups And Downs

2011-11-06T16:32:00.004-07:00

Prepping for teaching at a Woman's Recovery Centre in December. I thought I would start off with making Mood Chart Calendars for the ladies to track their emotions. I found it very helpful when I was going through a difficult time in my life when I tracked my mood swings. Hopefully the ladies will enjoy making them as much as I did.

Did you all remember to change your clocks this weekend? It was the longest day EVER for my hubby and I! We both woke up at 4:30am and couldn't get back to sleep! I hate it when that happens!

Well, have a wonderful week everyone. Many hugs and blessings to you all.

Add a little Pink Whimsy...

2011-10-30T12:07:00.002-06:00

Having fun doodling this weekend and was able to do this whimsical drawing "Pink Whimsy". Now that I have an Etsy store I am having to copyright all my drawings with watermarks... so thus is the reason for the copyright overtop.

Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend.

Hugs and blessings

New Notecard Series

2011-10-27T13:32:00.007-06:00

These are my new notecard series called "Comfort Series"
I was planning on making them into t-shirts to do fundraising but that fell through, so I am making them into notecards to sell at the three fairs in November and on my Etsy, which I made my very first sale the other day(Thank you so much Krista!)

Can you help me decide which one to print of the last one?

Or this one without the texture? It just seems so plain without texture on it.

What do you think, would you print it with or without the texture???

I hope you are all having a fabulous day. Many hugs and blessings to you sweet friends.

Finally I'm On...

2011-10-23T17:55:00.003-06:00

It has taken me a long time but I finally have my own Etsy Shop! How exciting!
To go there please go to www.kellysartjournaling.etsy.com

Hope you enjoy looking through my shop, browsing the aisles, taking in all the eye candy:)

Hugs and blessings Everyone

On The Wings of Inspiration Blog Party!

2011-10-20T15:58:00.005-06:00

This is my first participation in a blog party. Over at Inspiration Avenue they are having a blog party called "On The Wings Of Inspiration" and will be giving away prizes and everything.

You are invited to join in the celebrations of On the Wings of Inspiration Blog Party hosted by Inspiration Avenue. The blog party will start on Monday 16 October and will be happening the entire week with the cherry on the cake served on Monday 23 October 2011! But the fun starts already today: every few days we will be revealing one of the many giveaways set out on our party table and there are many digital freebies available on Inspiration Avenue right now. Read below how to accept our invitation and join in to make this an inspirational celebration.

So go to their blog party by clicking on the Wings of Inspiration in my side bar and join in on the fun!

Here is my entry.

Have a blessed Day!

The Art of Zendoodling - By Kelly Watts

2011-10-18T18:07:00.004-06:00

For the upcoming Craft/Art Fairs in November I have put together a little booklet on how to make 'zen-doodles', at least how 'I' do my zen-doodles anyway. I thought since much of my art work incorporates doodles in some way I would put a booklet together and see if there was any interest. It is twenty pages long and has everything from texture-pattern sheets, to namedoodles, to using the alphabet fonts in your word processing program to create doodles in the letters. I have also included some of my ladies that I have doodled over their faces. I am putting the booklet in a presentation binder/duotang and am charging $20.00. I do not know how to price these things. Do you think that is a reasonable price?

This is a doodle page I have been working on for a couple months, not that it takes that long to complete but is one of those projects that you do a little bit at a time until completion. I just finished it today! It's not a very good picture as it looks a lot darker in the picture. It was a fun project nonetheless.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week. Sorry I am not posting as regularily as I usually do... still prepping for the fairs.

Many hugs and blessings to you all.

Prepping For The Fair

2011-10-13T15:27:00.005-06:00

In prepping for the 3 upcoming Fairs I am attending in November I was going through some of my previous art from a few years back and rediscovered these shoedoodles and handbag doodle. I had hidden them far away in the back of my closet and upon finding them a renewed love for them came to the surface. These particular doodles are from 2009, I had not yet discovered my usual technique of darkening in my doodles with beautiful black edges as I am prone to nowadays, so... I went over them again with my black zig marker and created the dark edges. I love them even more now!

I don't know what prompted me to draw these shoes and handbag in the first place but I am so glad I did them. It reminds me how much I love looking at beautiful shoes, even though I cannot myself wear them, I can adore them just the same!

I have a great deal of things to do before November - oy vay! All good things though.

I hope and pray you are all having a fabulous week. I cannot believe how fast October is going - whew! Just flying by for me.

Hugs and many blessings to you all.

Fashionista!

2011-10-07T09:08:00.004-06:00

No offense to anyone ~ honestly okay... but I seriously cannot fathom spending money on a matching purse, jacket and shoes! I can't do it! I am a simpleton and I am just fine with being a simpleton. I have a few black pairs of shoes, one black purse and a few necessary jackets each relating to the season at hand. I would much rather save my money up for a vacation than pour it into my wardrobe! That being said however, I absolutely LOVE the look of it!

I cannot wear high heels anymore but I gotta tell you, when I walk past a shoe store and see a deliciously colored pair of high heel shoes my mouth waters (actually my mouth is watering just thinking about it!) I think I can totally understand why some women will spend their entire paycheck on their fashion! Maybe if I had money I would be one of them?... hmmmm... I don't know. I think I will always love fashion from a far and appreciate the designs, textures and gorgeous colors that come out every season... oops drooling again:) Maybe I am a closet fashionista ~ one who observes fashion, loves fashion, but will never wear the current fashions that cost an arm and a leg!

Besides... my boys have braces (which is like a car payment), they are both getting their learners licence for driving (which may one day be another car payment) and then in just a few short years (4 at the most) they will be in College/University which is like another house payment! Yep, so I guess you could say I won't be a fashionista anytime soon:) I am okay with that though. God has blessed me with so much I would never trade it all in for a pair of shoes, gorgeous as they may be...

This is a work in progress drawing... it needs more, and I don't like the way the hair turned out. Do you think I should doodle in the background? I'm thinking I might journal the background(?) I would love any suggestions.

Hugs and many blessings to you, I pray you have a wonderful weekend. For us here in Calgary it is Thankgsgiving on Monday and bonus it is also my Anniversary with my wonderful amazing hubbub of 18 years! Happy Thanksgiving to all you Canadians out there, and Happy Weekend to everyone else.

How I've Been Feeling Lately

2011-10-06T08:00:00.001-06:00

My Hubbub and youngest son say that this drawing shows a lady with arrogance...

I say it shows a lady who is tired, frustrated and just 'DONE', standing or leaning up against a wall with 'nothing' left to give.

That kind of describes how I have been feeling lately. I have no energy, I am so tired, I have been riddled with pain from my toes to the tip of my head with not much relief and I am just plain DONE! I am not complaining, really... or I am trying not to complain. I have been blessed with an amazing Husband, two awesome sons, a house to live in, shelter, food, clothing, clean water, a car to drive... so many blessings. So I really have nothing to complain about. God who created me is my Father who loves me, who cares for me and who is right here with me helping me through the pain. I am never alone, so... no, I'm not complaining but basking in His love and worshipping my Creator who deeply loves me.

Many hugs and blessings my Dear Friends, I am so thankful for you.

What I've Been Up To

2011-10-05T11:45:00.007-06:00

I know I have not posted every day and I am so sorry, however, it has not meant that my brain has been idle and I have not been creating! I am working on my 'Inspiration Binder' trying to fill it up with tips, techniques and all sorts of tid-bits to have on hand for my three Art/Craft Fairs coming up in November. I want to be able to show something of what I can teach for Art Journaling as I will be handing out brochures and business cards as well as selling prints of my art (FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!)

The above pages are from my Inspiration Binder with fun borders and alphabets that I can teach.

Filling up those texture pages for some eye candy to look at...

Creating different images and shapes to fill with texture...

Adding some flare to new alphabets to reveal the 'juicyness' of creating your own letters and lettering techniques!

I am looking forward to meeting some wonderful women that will be interested in learning some art journaling and having fun with me in these three Fairs.

I am a little nervous selling my art for the first time, thinking to myself 'What if no-one likes it?' etc., I psych myself out all the time... but I am going to be strong this time, pray that I will sell some of my work and book some teaching classes, and most of all... enjoy myself because that's what it's all about!

Hugs and blessings everyone!

Starving for Love

2011-09-30T13:11:00.003-06:00

Having fun with my copics on Watercolor paper, but yes... watercolor paper uses up alot of the ink in my copic markers! The one thing I noticed though is that the colors blend so nicely on watercolor paper whereas not-so-much on sketch paper.

This little lady is full of attitude having her heart broken one too many times. You know what they say about a woman scorned... actually I forget the saying but it's not good:)

Happy weekend to all of you, I wish you many blessings and joy for this fall weekend.

Hugs and blessings

Window To The Soul

2011-09-28T08:00:00.001-06:00

Wouldn't it be absolutely amazing to have a window to your soul, an opening that you could view your soul ~ that concept sounds so good to me right now. It's always good to know yourself.

This is a larger Windswept piece called, "Window To The Soul" ~ it is how I would like to see myself in my soul, free of worries, carefree and surrounded by nature, God's creations. This piece was done on 11x15 Watercolor paper using copic markers and zig marker for lining, and my trusty white gel marker for outlining.

I love the details on this piece, the butterflies and the texture.

And here's the full piece "Window To The Soul" (Double click on the picture to show the fine details up close.

I hope and pray that you are all having a fabulous week.
Hugs and blessings everyone.

Sharing Poem From 2009 - If You Need A Boost Read On...

2011-09-27T14:06:00.002-06:00

I forget writing things sometimes... it is really very much of a strange occurance. The only way I know that I have written it is that it is in my own handwriting with my name on the bottom. Our brains are complicated, there's no doubt about that! I have over four years of almost complete memory loss when I was sick from 1997 to 2000 and from those years have come much of my poetry located in binders at the bottom of my closet or on my computer.

This poem is one of those that I cannot remember writing but finding it today on an old post from 2009 has been a blessing. This Thursday I have a meeting with a lady at a Woman's Recovery Centre and I think that I am supposed to share this poem with her and the other ladies at the centre. I also may create a drawing or painting to go with it as it has sparked my imagination and I have a beautiful vision that would go perfectly.

Don't you just love it when things fall into place like this?

REDEEMED

She lays on the vile ground dead in spirit... earth fallen free of life, wanting desperately to be free... longing for a way out!
Torn... broken into pieces... shattered even to the point that she feels she will never be made whole again.
A presence approaches...
Laying still, silent but for the pounding of her heart... too numb to be afraid or care that she is not alone. Her head aching from the ground beneath... eyes glazed over and blurred with tears. She watches two feet stop in front of her.
So tired... so weak... 'it must be one more person coming to judge her', she thinks.
'Like they can judge me more than I already judges myself!'.
These feet do not move... just standing there in the same place before her... they do not look firm and ready to judge but soft... so soft... they are beautiful and glowing like the sun. She is confused by them. 'Why does this person of obvious great beauty stand before her?' Her... a lost soul broken... damaged...
She waits for words accusing...
Nothing!
Not a sound escapes into the gentle wind this presence has brought with it.
Momentarily forgetting who she is a small hope rises inside of her. A mysterious knowledge wakens her senses building up determination from a place long forgotten.
If only she can gather up enough strength to lift her arm... if only to touch the feet that have emanated sudden warmth from darkness hovering!
She breathes a strained heavy sigh... lungs refusing to fill with air... all strength failing. In desperation she mouths the words, 'please help me' not knowing if this presence can even see her lips.
A light much like a tiny star falls down upon her skin, she watches as it sinks through her skin feeling it flowing like rushing water to her limbs... lifting them? The upward motion of her arms is unmistakable... they are definitely lifting... reaching without effort from her failing fallen body!
The moment the tips of her fingers graze the surface of these angelic feet her body is jolted! Electric currents of living water race through her!
A love unlike any she has ever experienced or received fills her. Tears, long run dry, flow freely as they wash over her skin cleaning the grime away, thick layers becoming smooth. Strength renewed in newness unabashed by anything in the world, now more than restored, race through her as mountains of adrenaline released have made new.
Joy... indescribable joy has conquered the darkness, the bareness of her heart!
She remains still though her spirit soars within her. Eyes flooding with tears again shed heavy scales falling to the ground with lightening, thunderous movement and sound.
Quiet...
No...
Silence...
The Earth is completely silent!
Even her breathing and pounding heart... all is still as she lays waiting... waiting.
With one flicker of movement at a time her eyelids open... a brightness never seen fills her vision. She is in awe!
Lifting her head now with ease she turns to look at the beautiful angel that has saved her... revived her from death... it is gone leaving only a fading glow in its place.
She stands and looks over her body for any sign of brokenness that just minutes ago enveloped her like a dark cloud following closely... nothing! Not even the scars remain to remind her!
Her skin glitters like precious jewels. She remains in awe as a foreign movement lifts her face... something that has not occurred in decades...
...
...
she smiles!

By Kelly Watts

Butterfly Kisses

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

What can be sweeter than butterfly kisses? There was a song called Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle a few years back and I used to love hearing it all the time. This picture reminded me of that song although it really has nothing to do with the contents of the song. (lyrics are at the bottom of this post~ a must read)
I thought about how I would draw butterfly kisses and this is what came out, I know that the kisses themselves are actually done with eyelashes but for some reason I put a butterfly coming out of her mouth (where kisses usually come from) to represent a butterfly kiss. Sometimes my crazy brain works this way!

This drawing I did for my son Ben who continues to tell me that I only draw women, so I drew a man in the page too! First thing out of his mouth was, "Mom, I hate to tell you this but that looks more like a woman than a man!" Great! My dude looks like a woman!!!! LOL! Wow, that would make a catchy song! (hee-hee)

I have the hardest time drawing men, what is that all about? Does anyone else relate? I know there are many gorgeous men out there in the world but when I look at them I do not feel inspired to draw them, they are just men who look good in an Armani suits (of coarse I am talking about actors or models). Women are so much more, what is the word I am looking for... beautiful to draw I guess. Most men do not have long flowing hair, mens fashion is pretty basic with literally no frills to capture your romantic spirit. I need to feed that spirit in my art it seems ~ it inspires me to create beautiful, whimsical drawings.

Here are the lyrics to Butterfly Kisses By Bob Carlisle.

There's two things I know for sure:
She was sent here from heaven and she's
daddy's little girl.
As I drop to my knees by her bed at night
She talks to Jesus and I close my eyes and
I thank god for all the joy in my life
Oh, but most of all
For butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer;
sticking little white flowers all up in her
hair; "Walk beside the pony, Daddy, it's my first ride."
"I know the cake looks funny, Daddy, but I sure tried."
In all that I've done wrong I know I must
have done something right to deserve a hug
every morning and butterfly kisses at night.

Sweet 16 today
She's looking like her mama a little more everyday
One part woman, the other part girl.
To perfume and make-up from ribbons and curls
Trying her wings out in a great big world.

But I remember
Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer; sticking
little white flowers all up in her hair.
"You know how much I love you, Daddy, But if you
don't mind I'm only gonna kiss you on the cheek this time."
With all that I've done wrong I must have done
something right to deserve her love every morning
and butterfly kisses at night.

All the precious time
Like the wind, the years go by.
Precious butterfly.
Spread your wings and fly.

She'll change her name today.
She'll make a promise and I'll give her away.
Standing in the bride-room just staring at her.
She asked me what I'm thinking and I said "I'm not
sure-I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl."
She leaned over...gave me butterfly kisses with her mama there,
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair
"Walk my down the aisle, Daddy-it's just about time."
"Does my wedding gown look pretty, Daddy? Daddy, don't cry!"

Oh, with all that I've done wrong I must have
done something right.
To deserve your love every morning and butterfly
kisses-I couldn't ask God for more, man this is what love is.

I know I gotta let her go, but I'll always remember
every hug in the morning and butterfly kisses.

Enjoy your Manic Monday. Hugs and blessings Everyone ~ with butterfly kisses to all!

Windswept Calendar ~ February

2011-09-23T18:33:00.000-06:00

Aaaahhhh, to be in love mon'cheri(?)... I love LOVE, everything about it makes me all mushy and gushy inside, however, I HATE HATE HATE the commercialism of Valentines Day! Commercialism sucks the life out of any holiday don't you think? I can't stand walking in the mall and seeing items already displayed for a holiday three months down the road! Yuck!

So why have I given into the idea of romance for February? Well, that is a good question Kelly ~ wow, you are so darn smart! :)

I am in love with having a day dedicated to LOVE and it just so happens that that particular day is in February (I will not call it V-day, just LOVE day, how's that?) I do not want to be one of those individuals (insert names here, here and here) who gives into commercialism. Hmmm... now I've just confused myself:p

I feel like the very idea that I have associated romance with February has made me a hypocrite in mine own eyes! Do I love it, do I hate it? Oy vay! I wish I would make up my own mind for darn sakes!:)

So... to make it perfectly clear... I love ROMANCE and LOVE and everything to do with a day dedicated to love but I DO NOT love commercialism? Make sense? Good.

Okay... moving on.

Here is my February portion of my mood calendar (completely unassociated with commercialism in any way shape or form!)

Hugs and many blessings

Windswept Ladies Mood Calendar ~ January

2011-09-22T18:20:00.002-06:00

I decided to get ahead this year (because last year I didn't even get to one) and make my mood calendar for 2012. I think I did one in 2010 but I never got to filling it out completely. So... I am making one for next year and am calling it "Windswept Ladies Mood Calendar 2012". I so enjoyed making my last few pieces of art with the flowing hair that this idea of a calendar floated to the surface and voila! ~ I'm putting my idea into action! Tomorrow I will post the month of February as I am already finished two months ~ only 10 more months to go!

I plan to use this calendar for all the ladies at the centre to use in tracking their moods, a fun way to motivate them I'm thinking!

So, until tomorrow where the romantic month of February shall be posted!

Hugs and many blessings

Gone With The Wind

2011-09-16T16:34:00.002-06:00

I had this image in my sketchbook for a long time now and I finally decided to do another one of her as I really love the side view. The purples and greens go so nicely together which is unusual for me to use purple in any of my work as I am not really a purple gal. She's 'Gone With the Wind' as she looks like the wind is carrying her off to another land.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. Hugs and many blessings.

Windswept Lady 1

2011-09-16T08:00:00.001-06:00

I don't know what it is about me always drawing the hair of the ladies I draw blowing to the side, it's just so romantical(?). Plus I enjoy placing words in or just above the hair. I used my 'studio g' mini alphabet stamps for the saying, "Time To Fly". I don't normally use stamps in my art work as I find them limiting to my creativity but for sayings or verses or just one word even, they work absolutely perfect.

Have a lovely weekend everyone, with many blessings.

Inspiration to See Others In A New Way

2011-09-15T11:40:00.000-06:00

Melody from Brave Girls Club shared this very personal story on her blog and I encourage you to read it as it will deeply touch your heart and change your perspective on how you view the people around you.

I pray that are blessed by it as I was.

Hugs and blessings to you all

In My Fathers House

2011-09-15T10:59:00.000-06:00

This piece is called 'In My Father's House', it is the image that I got thinking of the verse John 14:2 "In my Father's House are many mansions". (Jesus)

This day, Sunday, September 11,2011 cannot go by without mentioning the 10th anniversary of 9/11/2001. That day is lodged in my mind forever and it will never be forgotten. If anything it reminds me of the world we live in, John 16:33 "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world! (Jesus)

In this world we will have terrorism, war, famine, floods, death, murder, rape, earthquakes and tsunamis, hurricanes and pain... but "In my Father's house there are many mansions". A reminder that one day there will be a place of no suffering, no pain and no tears. I look forward to that day. Come Lord Jesus, come!

Have a very blessed week everyone!
Hugs and many sweet blessings to you all.

Who Am I Journal Page

2011-09-07T20:46:00.003-06:00

One thing I continue to go back to and reinforce in my life is 'Who Am I?" and I do this so that my soul knows without a doubt that I am a child of GOD. Casting Crowns sings the song called 'Who Am I?' and the words are so beautiful, they touch my soul everytime.

Who Am I? By Casting Crowns

Who am I,
that the Lord of all the earth
would care to know my name
would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I,
that the bright and morning star
would choose to light the way
for my every wondering heart?

Not because of who I am
But because of what YOU'VE done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who YOU are

I am a flower quickly fading
here today and gone tomorrow
a wave tossed in the ocean
a vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when I'm calling
LORD YOU catch me when I'm falling
And YOU told me who I am
I am YOURS, I am YOURS

Who am I,
that the eyes that see our sin
would look on me with love
and watch me rise again?
Who am I,
that the voice that calmed the sea
would call out through the rain
and calm the storm in me?

Not because of who I am
But because of what YOU'VE done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who YOU are...

Are not those words just so beautiful it makes you want to cry? I think about how small I am in comparison to this great big'ol world, but inside I know I'm something pretty special to my God, and so are you!

Hugs and many blessings to you.

Motherhood Bliss

2011-09-05T11:25:00.003-06:00

I have another painting that I finished I think in 2010 called "Bliss", it was done in watercolor H'20's which are metallic watercolors. When I went to print said painting I discovered that it did not scan very well because of the reflection off of the metallic paints. So, today I was able to create a new piece very similar to the first one but done with Copic Markers. When I began this piece I was not liking the way it started out ~ it was very dull looking and I was about to scrap the whole page when my youngest son told me I should continue on so that I could work on my 'perfectionistic' habits! He is trying to help me be happy with my art that isn't 'perfect' to my standards (out of the mouth of babes:) )
In the end it turned out much better than I ever thought and I'm thinking it is one of my favorites now! Thank you Ben for being my encourager and helping me with my bad habits!

Be blessed everyone and enjoy the day!

Sisters ~ From The Online Class Doll Dreams Basics

2011-09-03T18:27:00.004-06:00

I've been having a lot of fun lately creating Dreamy Dolls in the online class I'm taking. These 'Sisters' are from the class, although they look a lot different than Ady's 'Sisters' but I figured I needed to make them 'my own'.

If you want to see Ady's dolls go to her site here.

Happy long weekend to you all and many blessings.

What I've Been Doing The Past Few Days

2011-09-02T13:03:00.003-06:00

Well I'm taking my Dreamy Dolls practice sheets and learning to paint them in the 'Dreamy Doll' style by adding thick beautiful lashes with a little highlights.

Here's a closer look at them. I added the white specks to the lashes just like Ady does on her Dolls. Doll Dreams

I've been really sore this week so I have propped myself up in bed with my watercolors and have gone to work on coloring them. As Ady talks about in her videos the painting process is definitely about layers ~ lots and lots of layers. She uses acrylics but I have used watercolors which also takes layers to get the shading down correctly.

Well I hope you all have an awesome long weekend. Hugs and many blessings to you all.

Dreamy Girls Eyes

2011-08-31T08:00:00.000-06:00

I am taking an online class over at Doll Dreams and this is my practice sheet of eyes. I think I am getting the hang of things. I really am loving the slope of these eyes and watching her video tutorials are rather helpful, especially when she starts to paint her dreamy dolls. I really love the lashes she creates on her gals too.

Have a wonderful day and blessings to you.

Emotion Series

2011-08-30T09:01:00.000-06:00

"Fear"

"Take Captive My Thoughts"

"Who Am I"

"Depression"

"Fearfully and Wonderfully"

"Worry"

This summer pages have been coming out of me one after another after another and they are all regarding emotions. As you read in my last post I am creating pages with images that go with emotions that go with scripture that describe what I was feeling with each one either with image or word. They will all go into one book eventually.

I hope it is nice where you are, I understand Hurricane Irene has come and gone but I do not know the damage that has been done. I pray that it is minimal and that everyone is okay. Hugs and many blessings to you all for your day.

Why Worry?

2011-08-28T20:43:00.004-06:00

I am a self-taught artist and I am teaching myself how to use watercolors at the moment. I am also taking an online class of how to draw these 'dreamy dolls' (just at the beginning stage of that one so more to come later).
I think I am self-taught mainly because I am stubborn and impatient and fear I will lose my creativity if someone teaches me how to do something the 'right' way. Do any of you feel that way? But on the other hand I lack the basic knowledge of certain things like how to mix colors and what to use with what to make such and such flow nicely. I easily get frustrated and much of it is of my own making.
I have the desire to learn more but the lack of time right now I guess. I have heard that when you are 65 you can go to University for free ~ maybe I will go then:)

No, just kidding. I will learn and take classes when the opportunity presents itself.

I really enjoy some of the online classes because I can use what I am comfortable with and skip what I know I will not use (for example, if something is not my style)or go back to certain things and view the video tutorials over and over again until I get them right! They are wonderful tools and in this instance I am thankful for current technology that makes things like this available ~ as for the rest I will not admit anything further:)

Today's piece of art is called "Why worry?" I am trying to teach myself how to draw different emotions for the sake of expressing the emotions I went through in my depression and placing them with the scripture that I turned to during that time. Emotions are difficult to capture actually, I tend to make everything look really sad whenever I try to capture a particular emotion. I will research it further.
This was done on watercolor paper with watercolor crayons.

I Pray that your brand new week will be a very blessed one! See the sunshine for what it is, God's light shining over you!

Hugs and blessings Dear Friends.

Hmmm... I have a problem

2011-08-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

My very troubling problem is that I do not like this piece of art!

It was supposed to look more like my first one...

The problem is that a friend of mine was moving away and I wanted to give her something of mine ~ so I gave her my first circle mosaic. (FIRST PROBLEM)What I didn't do was check with my hubby first~ um...ya... little-did-I-know that this was my hubby's favorite piece of my art work! Why didn't he say so before now? I guess he didn't think I would ever give it away!

Anyway, to make a long story short I decided I would make him another one! (SECOND PROBLEM) I soon discovered that a lot of work went into said first piece and I did not have enough stamina to create an exact replica, nor did I have the same color of papers. Sooooooo... instead I grabbed a whole new set of colors and went to work... which leaves me with the (BIGGEST PROBLEM), both hubbub and I do not like the finished product! Yikes-a-doodle! Now what am I going to do? I didn't choose the correct coloring of papers for this mosaic, it just doesn't sit well with me. I am thinking I need to start over and work at it a little bit at a time? What do you think???? Back to the drawing board I'm thinkin!

Hugs and blessings to you - HAPPY FRIDAY!

By the way... here's the piece for Madelyn all framed-up!

I Have To Share A Beautiful Site With You

2011-08-24T16:54:00.003-06:00

Copyright Valerie Sjodin 2011

I have just come across a beautiful blog called Visual Blessings by Valerie Sjodin
and I had to share it because it spoke so deeply to my heart. She is one gifted lady and you will be very blessed by her work.

Here is her blog entry for this piece:

Set Free is the second piece in the current series I'm working on. The first was posted on April 25, 2011, I Want to be a Visionary (image shown below). The inspiration for this series is taken from my journal and journey, and are for me a type of symbolic visual devotional. So I'll include here some of the Scripture that inspired the painting and my writing.
The symbolism in this painting is more straightforward. When working on the bird I read an article telling about how finches were taken from the wild because of their red plumage and captured to be sold as domestic birds. Eventually, it was found out and they were set free. So I chose red for the color of the bird wings, symbolizing us as humans who are also made to be free. The cerulean blue of the word freedom and outlining of images is to reflect the freedom and open space of the blue sky.

Psalm 124:6-8 NIV
"Praise be to the LORD…
We have escaped like a bird out of a fowler's snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
the maker of heaven and earth."

"Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." - 2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free…." - Galatians 5:1 NIV

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of the life set me free
from the law of sin and death."
Romans 8:1-2 NIV

The Spirit of truth will set you free.
from John 8:32

So go check out the rest of her beautiful work if you have time and be blessed.

Valerie Sjodin

Hugs and blessings everyone.

Madelyn ~ Take 2 - Finale

2011-08-22T19:32:00.005-06:00

A few additions here and there. The first was the inside of the lower left flower. Madelyn's Mama told me the meaning of her name... Faithful Follower of Christ (Girl of God) and Wellspring of Life, so I finished the flower with these words over and over again in the circle.

The second thing I added is a third bird. Angie from AZ's comment was that the top left hand corner looked a little bare and I fully agreed. She suggested adding a third bird so I drew it out and right away saw the space fill in perfectly. I was having a hard time with the white space in the picture as I do not usually have white space but fill in every little space of white! So this was new to me in a lot of ways.

And this is the final page complete with extra bird. I really enjoyed creating this extra girlie page for baby Madelyn, she is just over 18months old I think. I think she will like the Princesses dresses and the blue birds the best!

Thank you to all of you who left me such wonderful, helpful and fun comments ~ I appreciate them so much and I am truly greatful to have such wonderful women in my life to help my creativity and inspiration - YOU ARE AWESOME!

I pray for many blessings for the rest of your week.

Hugs

For Madelyn ~ Need Feedback Please

2011-08-21T17:25:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone. I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend.

I have a little request... would anyone like to give me a little feedback?

I am creating a picture for my friends daughter Madelyn, her bedroom is pink/brown and white. I created the picture with those colors in mind. What I am wondering is... do you think it's finished or is there still something needed in the background. I didn't want to make it too busy~busy, but not too bare either. Do you have any suggestions for me?

I would so much appreciate any feedback. Thanks so much all you lovely blogger friends of mine. Blessings to you for your brand new week!

Mystery Revealed

2011-08-16T09:00:00.000-06:00

I was reading through Colossians this week and I came to the verse 1:26 "... the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations but is now disclosed to his saints."

I pondered this for awhile and suddenly this beautiful vision came into my mind of the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. I thought about the three as one, separate but overlapping each other... I thought about them as a tree (as I often do) branching out over the world, the symbol of "Fishers of Men" holding them together, or binding them together because God sent His Son to the world to save the world. The heart around the world showing His great love for us. This page came together so quickly and I received such peace from meditating on this scripture.

The most beautiful thing in this world is the fact of how great, how deep, how wide and how long is the Father's love for us.

I pray that you are all having a very blessed week.

Much love and blessings to you all.

Fearfully and Wonderfully

2011-08-14T16:23:00.002-06:00

I hope you are all having as wonderful of summer as we are here in Calgary, Alberta. It has been beautiful, sunny and hot with the occasional thunder/rainstorm now and again. We spent all Saturday at a lake not too far away as my boys experienced Banana Boating (basically a banana-shaped inflatable device towed behind a boat) and Chariot racing (which is basically the same thing but the kids kneel and hold on for dear life!) It was an awesome experience for them and for us as we were able to spend time with the youth group and some parents.

Today I am having a very quiet day and was able to get out some watercolor crayons and watercolor pencil crayons for this piece I call "Fearfully and Wonderfully".

Here's to a good night sleep and fabulous new week to everyone in blogland.
Hugs and many blessings.

Look Inside

2011-08-11T08:59:00.004-06:00

My mind has been consumed with healing art journaling and the journey I took to healing from depression and many other things. Many memories are coming forward allowing me to process them and get them out onto the page. This page came forward when I began to think about the emptiness, desperation and loneliness of depression. I felt like I was invisible, someone without meaning or purpose. I felt lost and useless. My friends saw who I was on the outside not realizing that the real me was trapped inside unable to get out.
This has given me a whole new perspective on depression and the people who suffer with and through it. So much desperation and pain... so very sad.

I am so thankful that God healed me of my depression and continues to heal me as I work through some of the remnant of lost emotions that went with that period of my life.

Many hugs and many blessings to all of you.

Introducing Debbie Horton from the AKOA Blog Hop

2011-08-10T13:54:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone. I hope you are all having an amazing summer. I thought I would share with you one of the artists from the AKOA blog hop, I haven't done this in awhile. As I was browsing through I was at #527 Debbie Horton of Cherry Hill Studios and found the above Art Journal Page. Isn't it gorgeous? If you go to her blog you can read all about it! She says this is her FIRST art journal page ~ WOW! I can only imagine how beautiful her next ones will be!

So just a short little post to say - "Hey, I hope you are having a wonderful Summer!"

Many Hugs and many blessings to all of you lovelies!

PS... just a note regarding the AKOA blog hop ~ I am cleaning house on some of the blogs that are no longer available so your number may be changing - HUGS!

Who Am I?

2011-08-02T20:37:00.000-06:00

Have you ever wondered, 'Who Am I?' I have many times. I remember as a teenager I would stare in the mirror looking deep into my eyes hoping to see a glimpse of my soul ~ I hated my teenage years. No matter how hard I stared I could never see that person inside of me. Years later when I came back to Christ I finally understood who I was supposed to be, not someone pretending to be someone else... but God revealed to me His idea of who I should be. He showed me who I am in His eyes and it was beautiful. If you are in Christ you are guaranteed many things; forgiveness of your sins, acceptance and adoption into the family of God, eternal life with the Father, you become a child of God, one of His Saints. Isn't that a beautiful picture? It blows me away sometimes. We are the "Bride of Christ" and one day we will be presented to the Father as holy and blameless in His sight. This page reflects just a few of the benefits of being in Christ Jesus. To understand more look up John 3:16 and you will understand. We are His beloved. Oh what a glorious thing that is!

Happy week to you, may it be full of the Lord's blessings.

Take Captive My Thoughts Lord

2011-07-31T15:55:00.000-06:00

I hate it when my thoughts go all over the place and I can't seem to focus. This is when I start doing too many things at once and then I get all flustered because I can't remember all the things I have going.

This is also when doubts creep to the surface and I begin to question my abilities to accomplish anything at all ~ I hate it I tell ya!

One thing my hubbub tells me is that I think too much! Do you have that problem? Last night he asked me if I am even capable of holding only one thought in my head at a time... I thought about that and realized that I CAN do this, but only when I am Art Journaling. When I am focused on a page I can actually manage to think about only the topic of the page. I realize that this process is a meditative healing balm to me as I think about how God has and is working in my life.

I pray that He holds captive my thoughts and so that they do not go off in all directions. I pray that I stay focused on Jesus so at the end of this race we call life I will receive my crown.

I hope and pray you are all having a very blessed long weekend. Hugs and many blessings to all of you.

Tshirt Image

2011-07-28T19:50:00.000-06:00

I am helping with a fundraiser for my Church and I am trying to come up with some t-shirt ideas to sell. I was really wanting to design a t-shirt that would speak to women in regards to God's love for them. I'm not too sure how these images would look on t-shirts. What do you think? Do you think they need a border around them? Hmmmm... I will have to think on it some more.

I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend - forecast here, sunny and warm! Yay!

Hugs and many blessings to you all.

Journaling While Camping

2011-07-27T07:04:00.006-06:00

My family and I just had the coolest weekend of camping at Glennifer Lake. I am posting three days later because it has taken me that long to recover... but it was so much fun. Our entire Church booked a group site so there were so many people and the best thing was that we actually got to know many of them over the weekend that we hadn't been able to connect with yet! Awesome times, great fellowship and beautiful beach time!

I was able to pull out my journal a few times and work on the above page, I call it my 'James Tree' as it is covered in scripture from James. I drew the tree really whimsical looking, and I was thinking about the 'taming the tongue' part of James. Why is it so hard to tame anyway? I think it is because our brain just doesn't think about what is going to come out of our mouths most of the time! As Christians we represent Christ so shouldn't our speech also represent Him? So I ask God to help me, to bless the words that come out of my mouth, to help me encourage others and build others up... I guess that should include myself too! I tend to put myself down at times... I think I need to tame my thoughts too!

My youngest (14) had some journal time too, when he had a headache. He loves to draw crosses. He went and spent some time in our van (where all my journal supplies were) and he came out with this lovely page. I knew art journaling was healing! His headache was gone by the time he finished! :)

Here's Ben and his friends at camp getting ready for their awesome tube ride behind a speed boat! Ben went on twice and loved it! Josh was gone most of the weekend with the youth but he had a blast not having to check in with his old mom and dad!

I snuggled in to the back of our van at night with a mattress, memory foam topper and all my warmy blankets. I brought tons of extra blankets and sheets to cover the windows and had my own little sanctuary to sleep in. I felt so safe in there I slept like a baby! The boys and hubbub all slept in the tent!

I Just Found A Lovely Blog Filled With Inspiration

2011-07-21T09:48:00.000-06:00

Cori Lynn Berg of Sacred Art is now another favorite of mine. Just by chance I found her website and I LOVE her style.
Click on Sacred Art to link to her blog.

This piece spoke to me and the words that went with it, read her words on her blog. She is such an inspiration. This painting is the cover for a journal, wow! I am amazed. Thanks Cori for sharing your inspiration with the world!

I hope you enjoy her blog and are as inspired as me!
Hugs and blessings everyone!

The Truth Shall Set You Free From Comfort Cottage

2011-07-19T11:34:00.000-06:00

I have been unable to post lately, sorry. However, today I would love to share with you a friends post over at Comfort Cottage. Terri really shares her heart and it is truly apparent in todays post.

Please go take a look at her blog and see her lovely art work. http://terrimorse.typepad.com/comfortcottage/2011/07/true-freedom.html

Many hugs and blessings to all of you.

Hypermobility of The Joints

2011-07-13T08:45:00.000-06:00

Do you remember doing this as a kid? I think I must have lived in this position as I layed on the floor watching tv. To me it was the most natural position to be in. I remember my sisters teasing me about how double-jointed or flexible I was and I was happy to entertain them.

Last week I had an appointment with a Rheumatoid Specialist and they did a head-to-toe exam on me (the first I had ever had which is pretty ridiculous considering I have had pain in my joints since I was 9 years old). Anyway, they tested ALL of my joints and what they discovered was that I did not have Rheumatoid Arthritis, or Lupus (which is good), but what I do have is a hypermobility of all my joints.

Most people grow out of this (double-jointedness). But some do not. I still have it and this is the reason for all the pain in my joints. I am still in shock that no-one has told me this before! I don't know that it effects everyone in the same way but for me there is too much movement in my joints and this causes immflamation and pain ~ that is why I cannot exercise like everyone else because my joints are already overextended as it is.

They also told me I have a bad case of Fibromyalgia (which I already knew) but it was funny because the specialist knew exactly what points on my body gave me pain (and unfortunately she kept poking at them! (OUCH! QUIT IT! OUCH! QUIT IT!...LOL)
I was so impressed with this clinic because they really understand pain and were so helpful in explaining what was actually going on in my body. Chronic pain is not understood by many in the medical field but the specialists are so understanding and they treat you like a person, unlike others who treat you like it's all in your head.

For some reason I have extremely sensitive reflexes and at one point during the session there were two Rheumatoid specialists, one physiotherapist and an RN all using me for entertainment because my reflexes were so brisk and sensitive! Because they were all so nice, and that day was a good pain day, I was once again happy to entertain.:)

I am so glad to finally know the reason for my joint pain, and now the Specialist clinic is going to set me up with exercises that are for people with hypermobility so that I don't keep hurting myself. It feels good to get some answers and to be on the right road to not hurting myself anymore.

Well, I hope and pray you all have a wonderful day. Here it is raining... but I'm okay with that as this gives me time to work on my book.

Hugs and many blessings to all of you.

I Am My Beloved's

2011-07-10T15:30:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a doodle day for me as I watched some movies/tv shows we have on DVD. As most of you know we do not have cable tv or satellite or whatever they do these days... LOL! We are not completely out of it when it comes to world news, we still listen to the radio and whenever we check our emails the news comes up... so we aren't COMPLETELY out of touch. We like it this way... we do not like all the STUFF that is thrown at you in commercials and some tv shows ~ NO THANK YOU! We are simple people I would like to think, and we strive for the simpler life.

Anyway, yesterday I got to doodle some and as I doodled I thought about my Savior! I can't help but think of Him... where would I be without Him? My life could have taken a far different path and I would have been lost forever! Jesus came and rescued me right at my breaking point... and for that I will always be thankful. So many are lost to the world these days, left in pain and sorrow. HE can take it all away, we need only ask Him.

This reminds me of the week after my Dad passed away, I went to Church that Sunday. For some reason Pastor Barry called an altar call (which was highly uncommon for this Church) and I went up for prayer. A tall grey haired man came to the front to pray for me, I had never seen him before and he did not know my situation having just lost my father. He looked into my tear-filled eyes and said these words, "Jesus takes the place of the ones we lose." Then he prayed for my healing. I never saw that man again but many years later our paths crossed in a most peculiar way... He was head of the Board of the Foursquare Church in Canada and I was working at a Foursquare Church as secretary. I was given the task of putting together a scrapbook for him and I saw a picture of him and knew instantly this was the man who prayed over me after my Dad passed away. For years I thought he was an angel because the words that he told me began my healing journey to grieving for my earthly Father. Because of my job, I was able to place a tribute in the scrapbook telling him how thankful I was for that prayer. He may not have been an angel, but he was certainly like an angel to me by saying those words.

Jesus cares for us and looks after us when we are hurting. I am so in love with Him. Thank you Jesus for this beautiful memory.

Hugs and many blessings to all of you. I hope and pray you are all having a lovely weekend.

D.T.W. (Aka Duck Tape Wallets!)

2011-07-09T09:00:00.000-06:00

One of my son's friends at school came to school one day with a DTW (duck tape wallet) and he sold 10 of them, quite the entrepreneur I would say! Ben really liked the idea of these wallets so I 'you-tubed' it and found a great video tutorial

We went to Michael's this morning and loaded up with all sort's of Duck Tape! Ben spent two hours making his very first wallet!

Then we kept going and I made one and he made another.

These wallets have two main pockets to hold money and receipts or whatever, card holders and a window slot to put I.D. They are so cool and fun to make!

I love the window slot ~ every wallet needs one right?

When we finished making them Ben turned to me and said, "I enjoy making new things with you Mom, we should do this more often... yes indeed." I agreed. LOL! I love my time with my boys!

Hope you enjoy this awesome video tutorial and our wallets.

Have a blessed day!

Paper Dolls

2011-07-08T21:40:00.000-06:00

I have not had the opportunity to load these pictures and tell you about my fabulous Saturday with my girlfriend Charlene and her adorable daughters Brooklyn and Tessa! Hubbub went on his very first motorbike trip to Fernie, BC with a group of guys from Church and I had my girlie time!

Girls are so wonderful ~ it's true! I am not used to having girls around and I'm definitely not used to making arts and crafts with them, well let me tell you what a treat this past Saturday was!

When the girls sat down at the table to look at the book (Julie Nutting's Collage Couture) their eyes were so dreamy and full of wonder, they couldn't wait to get started! I had already cut out the paper doll parts and attached them with brads (it could be kind of tricky for little fingers to do). Now, they needed to decide what kind of outfits their dolls were going to have... Brooklyn chose an elegant style dress that is sort of country-like in the book, but we made it more into an evening gown; Tessa was frilly all the way, she chose the most colorful dress in the book and she wanted to use just as many colors!

After choosing their dress styles I had them choose their colors of papers (I had a number of beautiful scrapbook paper that are all girlie that I was just waiting to use), again their eyes went all dreamy as they ooooed and aahed their way through the pages. I LOVED SEEING THIS and was so blessed by this girlie time.

Now it was time for cookies and milk while I drew out their gowns on tissue paper then cut out each piece separately. The girls were so patient as they waited for me to finish.

When their gowns came together they were in awe, they LOVED them! After placing the dresses on their dolls I created some hair and headbands for their new dolls.

Brooklyn named her doll Jessica using her middle name and Tessa named her Kelly after ME! (Super awesomeness!)

And here are Jessica and Kelly fully finished! I hear they played with them the entire day at home.

Thanks Charlene, Brooklyn and Tessa for coming to play with me, I had a wonderful time!

Hugs and blessings Everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Introducing #714 Kerry Estey Keith

2011-07-05T13:00:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone. I hope you are having a fabulous summer day! I have not shared inspiration from the Artists on the All Kinds of Artists Blog Hop in a while and a new member has joined today and I just had to share with you her beautiful photograph. Her name is Kerry Estay Keith from A Woman and A Wild Place (LOVE THIS NAME BY THE WAY!)
Her blog took me on a mystical journey through wildlife and photography as you can tell by this fantasy-like photo of hers. If such a journey appeals to you go take a look at her blog.
Can you believe the number of Artists linked up is at 714????? What a blessing!
Hugs and happy sunshine blessings to you.

All I Have I Give To You

2011-06-30T18:11:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was not so good of a day, but today is much better. I have been blessed with such amazing wonderful readers that have truly encouraged me... thank you... everyone... seriously... thank you.
I woke up today with great strength, I even went for a walk at 6:30AM before work and listened to my praise music... what a fabulous way to start my day...
Then, to open up my emails and find such love in the comments of my blog post yesterday... WOW! You are all so amazing! My piece today is on a much more positive note.
Thank you all, I am so very blessed by all of you.
Many hugs and many blessings.
Happy Long Weekend everyone!

God Grows Me Even When I'm Sleeping

2011-06-29T17:41:00.000-06:00

Honesty is always best right? Well, to be honest... today has not been a great day. I'm just a little bit cranky (a lot!) and irritable (a ton!) and a wee tiny bit lost (a whole bunches!)
It has been a couple days really, since I got my first rejection letter from the publisher regarding publishing the AKOA Healing Expressions Book. Apparently there are so many Art Journaling books on the market and/or are coming out very soon that there isn't a great need for my book! The Editor that emailed me also said that the "Healing" aspects of journaling is really not selling very well! Hmmmm.... okay...
God, what are you doing?
She also said that the type of book I am proposing might sell better in the self-help area. Hmmmm... okay again...
God?
My whole purpose for this book was to help others find their healing by being inspired by the pages of other artists who found their healing in art journaling, maybe it should be a self-help book?
If you have been reading my blog from the beginning you will know my story, but for those who have not... (in short/blunt form) here it is;

Abused as a child by Grandfather, alcoholic Father, Abusive Boyfriend in high school, Stalked and raped, highly dysfunctional family, Married (couldn't trust Hubby because of my past) Father dies at 23, had first baby at 24, bedridden for 8 months of second pregnancy, second son born, he gets sick and hospitalized at 6 weeks old, and basically I have Mental Break Down. Right away I'm hospitalized in the Psych Ward for 3 Months with Post-Partum Depression. 4 years of complete memory loss and literally in my bedroom during the beginning of my depression...

7 years later... introduced to Art Journaling and the healing begins, it was a slow process but well worth it. God has done such an amazing miracle in me through His Word and through Art Journaling. The journey that He has taken me on is nothing short of pure mercy, forgiveness, letting go and most of all LOVE. There is a lot more to my story but this is just the basics to show you that I needed healing and the Lord has given me HEALING!

14 and 1/2 years later... still on medication for depression and sleep disorder, but stable and feel that I have completely healed from depression (I just have to take meds to keep me stable and I am finally okay with that).

Sure, I have Fibromyalgia, but God has brought me healing for that through my journaling too! I am not healed physically, but emotionally I am doing much better!

I believe that Art Journaling was used as a tool to my healing and continues to be used as a tool for my healing every day. I want others to find this release and I know that God wants to give that release to others too!

So that's it, in a nutshell... now God needs to show me the rest! Where to go from here...

Well, here's to life's many adventures!
Happy week to all of you ~ HAPPY LONG WEEKEND!
Hugs and many blessings

Julie Nutting Page ~ Take 3... and... ACTION!!!

2011-06-23T22:00:00.000-06:00

I do not claim this page as MY work, but it is more of a COPY of Julie Nutting's work out of her book. I traced one of her gals on tracing paper and then switched it up a bit. Julie's gal had a fuller dress and straight hair, I gave her less layers and waves or curled hair. I know, "Way to switch things up right?" However, I am just learning Julie's style and then I will let loose with my own style.

For now, this lil' missy was a great page to vent on, LOL! I LOVE my venting pages as they are so releasing! This gal makes me think of a 1950's wife who wears high heel shoes and a dress to clean the house! I could personally never do that! For one thing... I can't wear high heel shoes and for another I married a man who takes care of me and hopefully I take care of him too, but I don't serve him as a waitress every night and bring him his paper and slippers! LOL!

I hope you all had a wonderful week filled abundantly with creativity, love and good things!

Hugs and blessings to you all!

Fun in Setting Goals

2011-06-21T21:20:00.000-06:00

What does a girl blowing kisses have to do with me setting goals???

Well... I am sooooo glad you asked! LOL!

I have had to set goals twice this week, once for the Chronic Pain Clinic and second for the Rheumatoid Specialist and what I learned through the group session and the phone calls with the nurse etc., is that me setting goals is a GIFT to myself, kind of like me blowing myself a kiss!

The more goals I set for myself the better/healthier I will become. I am starting off slow... for example, one goal I have is to walk on the treadmill for twenty minutes three times per week. Another goal is to learn how to breathe, so I am listening to some wonderful relaxation cd's from the clinic that help me to breathe, visualize and relax all my muscles. There are so many goals I have it has been somewhat overwhelming so I decided to make a FUN journal page capturing my feelings in text and a fun picture reminding myself that it is a GIFT. Sometimes you just have to make things fun ~ especially when life isn't at times! This page helps me to see things in a positive way and not to concentrate on negative thoughts!

I had no idea how easily negative thoughts can creep into our minds and create so much strife within us until a Dr. once pointed out what was actually happening in my thought process, this was many years ago when I had post-partum depression. The brain is such a complex thing, it baffles me just trying to think about how it works. Apparently negative thoughts come because our mind is actually distorting our thoughts, what's happening in our mind may not be reality! At least that's what was happening when I was depressed. I think much clearer these days and am able to recognize the basis behind negative thinking, for example I could choose to be negative in my thoughts towards my Fibromyalgia but instead I choose to be positive and create positive lovely things to combat it! I think it's all a matter of attitude!

I know that God has healed me tremendously, He has taken me under His wing and given me guidance, nurtured, taught and protected me and now I am able to fly. He can do that for you too!

Happy Week to you all. Hugs and many blessings.

Father's Day and a Princess

2011-06-18T12:30:00.000-06:00

Hello and happy weekend to all of you! I hope you are all having great weekends! We are! I entered my husband in a Fathers Day contest with our local radio station and HE WON! We all can't believe it... so this weekend we are moving all of our furniture around, from one floor to another to make room for two brand new leather theatre recliners!! I am so excited because not only does it bless my wonderful hubby and father of our sons, but it also blesses me too because I will have a relaxing place to lay, sit while watching movies or listening to my new relaxation tapes from the Chronic Pain Clinic! Thank you God!!

He also won some "Extreme Dad" prizes like throwing the first pitch for the local Vipers Baseball game (he's a little nervous about that one thinking he's going to hit the batter! LOL), some golf games, scuba lessons, river kayaking, zip line (which should be interesting considering his fear of heights! LOL! I may give that one a try!) Our summer is planned out for us with all these fabulous activities, again, thank you God.

So... now onto my art. I was able to work on my second piece from Julie Nuttings awesome book "Collage Couture" and this lil' gal is what I came up with. First of all her cute little face...

I had a little trouble with her hair and am not quite sure that I am fully satisfied with the results! Julie uses higher end Acrylic paint for her girls hair, I did not have that on hand... so I used Adirondack brown paint from their paint dabbers, then went over with a redish copic marker and then some gold highlights. I really love drawing the face over the typing of the magazine text, it gives the face such a different look than what I am used to.

Next I want to show you a REALLY fun aspect of Julie's designs that she shows in her book... the lace bottom of her dresses, or crinolines I guess is what it's called. I love the final look that transpires as you place the lace on the bottom! This is so feminine and what girls are all about right???

Julie suggests adding embellishments as butterflies or other feminine items as flowers and bling. It really does fit in well with fashion!

And here she is... "PRINCESS"

As you can see, I added bling and butterflies to her. I am enjoying this process so much by the time I am done I am going to have a whole book of these cute lil'ladies. I would love to see the designs you come up with, so please do share them if you get a chance!

Have a great Fathers Day Weekend... please wish all your Fathers many Father's Day blessings!

Girlie Girl - I Love Julie Nutting!!!!!

2011-06-16T08:30:00.000-06:00

I received my new order yesterday!!! What might you ask was my order????? The lovely new book by Julie Nutting called "Collage Couture: Techniques for Creating Fashionable Art". This book is as tasty as its title!

I prepared myself for work today by taking some of my scrapbook paper and my new book. Since it was super slow today I was able to create this lovely little darlin'. Isn't she fabulous???? I am in love with Julie Nutting's work and she explains all of the how-to's in her book!

What a fabulously fun project this was!

I ordered my book the second I discovered her book was coming out! It is now available on Amazon or at Chapters. I ordered mine from Chapters (as I live in Canada) and it arrived just a few days later! Fabulous! I have since devoured her book from cover to cover and can't wait to create more of these babies! TRUST ME, YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK JUST AS MUCH AS I DO!!!!

So now, I must wish you a wonderful week full of color, fun and creativity!
With much love and many blessings

Thankful For Being A Mom

2011-06-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

This page took a long time coming, I drew this out in 2009 and just today I finished it! I have a few pages that I could go back to and finish up, I can't quite remember the reason for not finishing it but today it just took on a life of its own until the very end! I love it when a page takes over and I get caught up in it, even the doodles swept me up in memories of my boys as they were growing up, remembering how I always would measure how big the boys were by the size of their hands on mine... aaaaaahhhhhh the memories. I am going to miss their little hands, now they are almost the size of mine and one day I know they will be bigger!
Motherhood is such an amazing gift whether your children are biologically yours or adopted... once you take on that roll of Motherhood you have truly become a "Mama" to a precious life and will forever be their "Mama".
When my youngest was born I was very sick with Post-partum depression and I was unable to bond with the little guy. Then one day (he was about two years old) he was coming down the stairs and I was going up and he looked at me with such a beautiful smile and said, "MAMA" for the first time! I think it was that very moment that the darkness of my depression began to melt away from me. He called me Mama even when I was too sick to really acknowledge him. He called me Mama even though at the time being a Mama was the last thing that I thought I was... (meaning that I was consumed with horrible guilty feelings of what an awful Mama I really was). Obviously my precious child thought otherwise ~ by the look on his tiny face, the light in his sparkling eyes and his beautiful outstretched arms that were reaching for ME, his Mama... obviously I was good enough to be his Mama that day! I will forever cherish that memory.
It reminds me of how God views us... even though we sin, even though we have put other things before Him, even though we cannot possibly think that God would ever forgive us of our sins... even though... even though... even though... HE DOES. He does love us, He does think that we are enough, that we are beautiful and precious in His sight even with all our sin surrounding us. He loves us regardless of our circumstances... even if we have been horrible Mothers at one time in our lives! He says "Come, come... just as you are COME! Let ME take your burdens from you, Let ME wash you clean as snow, Let ME love you just for who you are!" His grace is sufficient for us!
Thank you God, thank you for your deep love for your children. We are so blessed to serve you, to love you, to be forgiven by you. I love YOU God.
I pray that your day is filled with God's love and know that YOU ARE ENOUGH!

Hugs and many blessings to you.

New Piece - "Handful"

2011-06-13T08:30:00.000-06:00

I drew this piece last year and it has sat in my book of sketches for a long time. I don't know why I never got to finishing it, it might be because I drew the hands incorrectly from what I had originally intended... they were supposed to be her hands, but if you think about it the thumbs would not be in front if they were hers, so now it's someone else holding her face and I'm okay with that... that kind of makes it into a story, a mystery.

Today I added all the color and doodles and it looks much different than when I first began. I unfortunately didn't take a picture of the before, so I hope you like the after! One of my favorite colors is salmon pink so I wanted it to be a little different so I 'pinked-up' her hairdo!

On Thursday I had my first "Goal Setting" group at the Chronic Pain Clinic. Some of you might be asking what kind of goals can you set in regards to pain, right? Well, I had the same questions really, then the session opened up my eyes. There are many goals that I need to set and some of them I didn't relate to my pain before; things like relaxation... I mean I knew stress causes me to hurt more but I didn't really think about true relaxation and what I do to achieve it. There is actually a relaxation class at the Clinic and one of my goals is to sign up for it!

I guess I should have taken the hint about my 'not' breathing when I went in for surgery in January and the nurse had to continually tell me to breathe, apparently I do not breathe enough! (My hubbub has been telling me that for years really, I just didn't listen... me being a stubborn Norwegian and all! LOL) Anyway, the relaxation classes will also teach me how to breathe - BONUS! Do any of you have this issue?

Other goals I can set are things such as, I want to work on my moodiness (apparently I get moody when I am constantly in pain ~ weird right? Y'no! It's true though... so one of my goals is going to be working on my moods, which comes with calming down the pain, which comes with a hole whack of other goals that can be reached by attending the resource classes at the clinic. So I am rather excited about the rest of this year... I know the beginning hasn't been stellar and all... but hey, there's a whole other half of the year to go so I'm not counting 2011 out quite yet! LOL! Positivity is a huge factor... I am learning so much! YAY! Well, I shall keep you updated with my progress, I am expecting great things!

I really hope that all of you had a wonderful and creative weekend.
Big hugs and many blessings

Redone Doodle Gone Wrong

2011-06-10T21:00:00.000-06:00

A fellow artist and one of my blog friends contacted me with some awesome advice for my "Doodle Gone Wrong" piece. So, I took her advice and added some color, warm colors to below her cheeks and cool colors above her cheeks. I think it has made a huge difference and I really like the effects of her advice. She also suggested I use copic markers. What do you think?
Thank you Mary for your wonderful advice!
Happy weekend to all of you.

Doodle Gone Wrong!

2011-06-09T08:57:00.000-06:00

I am not one for morbid skeletal pictures, seriously! I don't know how this doodle turned out this way but it freaked out my kids! My hubbub thought it looked like a robot, and here I was just trying to play around with some different doodles on a face! Yikes! It is very skeletal looking isn't it?
I had a few hours to kill at work yesturday and that is where this doodle took me, before I knew it I was looking at a skeleton. EW!
Oh well, they can't all turn out beautiful right?

I hope you are all having a fabulous week! I'm off to my last day of work this week (YAY) so this is the beginning of my weekend. Hubbub is having a birthday tomorrow and we are celebrating by going out for breakfast as a family on Saturday (that's what he wants to do!) I know that it will be lovely.

Happy weekend to all of you with many hugs and blessings.

Working Out What's Going On

2011-06-08T06:59:00.000-06:00

Working out my thoughts with God.

Hugs and many blessings.

Remember My Word Of The Year?

2011-06-06T09:00:00.000-06:00

Do you remember my word(s) for the year? They were 'Health' and 'Healing'... well all I can say is that I have been doing a whole lot of healing this year! I am really beginning to question my intelligence when it comes to choosing my word(s).
So far this year I have had an emergency Appendectomy, a sinus infection, and two urinary tract infections (possibly caused from my surger in January). That's five rounds of antibiotics this year and it's only June! I'm not complaining really! I just find it interesting that my word(s) for the year are what they are and this has been the kind of year it has been. I'm going to be choosing my words much more carefully next year. LOL!

Hugs and Blessings To You!

Doodle Time Today

2011-06-03T18:30:00.000-06:00

I had some time with my pen and journal today which makes me a very happy camper!

Happy Weekend everyone!

Thinking About All Kinds Of Artists Book

2011-05-27T09:39:00.000-06:00

I was thinking about the book "All Kinds of Artists" that I'm trying to put together from the blog hop and this journal page came out of it. The idea of women coming together in a collaborative effort for this book gave me the vision for this page.

Have a wonderful creative weekend. We have the house to ourselves as our boys go on a youth weekend away. Aaaahhhhhh! Looking forward to the time with my hubbub.

Hugs and blessings

Surround Yourself With Flowers

2011-05-25T14:38:00.000-06:00

Wow, I cannot believe that I found the time to complete this piece. If you know me and my art you know that I love drawing and painting faces. This face drew out a lot of emotion... I remember being really depressed and not much could break through that darkness. One thing that seemed to always draw me into feeling better was flowers, or feminine things, I would buy a lot of flowery things for my hair and just wearing them gave me a smile. Pretty things change my mood!
Surround yourself with flowers and a smile will eventually make it to your face.

Hugs and blessings everyone!

April Calendar

2011-05-20T09:00:00.000-06:00

I have seen some amazing calendar pages lately as I go through my blog reads and decided to have my go at one myself. I managed to write down something for every day of the month of April! Yay!

April was a wonderful month as my family and I were blessed to escape to Arizona for 10 days.

I don't think I will get to creating a May calendar page but June is looking hopeful! LOL! Here's to June then!

Wishing you and yours a very blessed month of May!

Hugs and many blessings to you.

Forgive Me For My Recent Neglect

2011-05-18T17:13:00.003-06:00

Ah my Dear Friends... I have missed you. I have been so caught up in my "All Kinds Of Artists" book project that I have not had any time to work on my journal let alone post new blog pages! However, I have emailed all 687 participants and am awaiting responses, I have put together a proposal for the publishers and am almost ready to send it out. Onward and upward! May God bless its path!

Today I am sharing with you a new journal piece that I finished about fifteen minutes ago (I know! What took me so long to post it right? LOL). This page is called searching. I hope you enjoy it!

Thank you for your patience and understanding in my lack of posting lately, I promise to do better!

Many hugs and blessings to all of you!

Attention All Art Journalers!

2011-05-04T12:22:00.003-06:00

Hello all you lovely peoples out there! I am so sorry I have been absent from Blogland for awhile. I have been sick... however, in all of my time away I have come up with an idea and am wondering if anyone out here would like to take part in such a crazy idea with me.

When I started the ALL KINDS OF ARTISTS Blog Hop I had no idea of how many wonderful artists would sign up, nor how much inspiration I would receive from everyone!

I would like to create a Collaborative Art Journal book for publishing that would include submissions from all of you wonderful Art Journalers out there!
If you would like to take part in my ALL KINDS OF ARTISTS collaborative Art Journal project please send me off a comment with your contact information or a way that I can get a hold of you and I will contact you with what I am looking for in regards to a submission.

You can also shoot me off an email at k s u n_1999 @ y a h o o . com (no spaces).
I would love to hear from you, let me know what you think.

Big hugs and many blessings.

Bad Hair Day Story

2011-04-27T17:45:00.002-06:00

So I have been humming and hawing over what to do with my hair for awhile now... I have super thick hair and it seems to be harder to do things with it on days when I am in a lot of pain from FM.

Lastnight I found these funny looking curlers(?), they are more like cloth covered wire with a small square sponge in the middle, I decided I would give them a try ~ if they didn't work out nicely I could always straighten my hair in the morning - NO PROBLEMO, right?

Ya right!

I woke up this morning and started unrolling the rollers... as I let the bottom of each piece of hair go it sprang up to my head and I was left with these funny looking, very fuzzy curly q's stuck to my scalp, some of them didn't curl at all because they didn't dry so they kind of just hung there 1/2 curled and limp looking. It was an intresting sight to see, to say the least!

No problem... I'll just wet my hair down, blow dry it and straighten it and all will be well in my world!

Ya'noooooo!

I went to plug in my straightener and suddenly it wouldn't turn on! "WHAT???? No, this can't be happening! I haven't used a curling iron in years, in fact I don't even own one anymore and all I've ever used to tame my thick frizzy long hair is my precious straightener!"

Endless thoughts float through my brain...

I wet my hair as I planned and began to blowdry my sopping wet mane of locks, my bangs are bone straight and are hanging in my eyes which are already beginning to irritate me. I am not a happy camper, in fact I'm kind of freaking out!

It took me 30 minutes to dry my hair, 20 minutes to locate an old round brush, another 20 minutes to paste my bangs into place... and boy if someone had had a video camera pointed at my bad hair day experience they would have been seriously entertained at my expense!

In the end I went to work with my bangs in my eyes and my hair definitely not in place and shiny, (more like fuzzy, strangely wavy and very dull looking indeed). But hey, it's only hair right?

Oy Vay!

Do you have a 'bad hair day' experience you would like to share with me? I would love to read it! Just send it on over to me in the comments!

I hope you are all have a wonderful hair week!
Hugs and many blessings to you all!

Finally A New Post!

2011-04-23T14:18:00.003-06:00

Just been playing around with Martha's "Calligrafun" lettering and some doodles. I am not so sure that I am finished with this one yet. We shall see. LOL! Is an artist ever really finished with their work? Why does it never look "COMPLETE"?

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Easter Weekend. Happy Easter to you all.

Hugs and many blessings

Home Again, Home Again Jiggidy Jig

2011-04-19T16:38:00.007-06:00

We arrived home lastnight around 2:30am all tired out from the flight but it was a wonderful trip. We all so needed to experience the warmth, the sun shining, the flowers blooming and the birds flying around.

Isn't the above tree gorgeous? I love God's trees!

We were so blessed to be able to stay at my sister-in-law's condo, it makes the trip that much more enjoyable when we have a free place to stay. It was right on a golf course which was kind of funny because we aren't really golfers but were highly entertained by those on the course itself. The fellows who mowed and took care of the landscaping every morning were hilarious - they each took turns golfing on each hole they finished maintaining ~ they had a blast doing it too! LOL! What a gorgeous place to be able to work at every morning! I would say they are 'living-the-dream' as the saying goes!

This was my "HAPPY PLACE" every day but one where we went to the mall with the big arcade for the boys! I can actually say that I got just enough sun to warm me through and through (for a while anyway)!

This wasn't a "shopping" trip for us but more of a "Sun-warmth" trip for me, but my hubby got me two treats that I absolutely love, the mask is one of them.

Talk about fun, right?

and this is the next...

I'm a simple gal... I love my sketchers! I decided I would try these sketchers 'shape-ups' which are supposed to tone your legs and thighs etc, as you walk. I hope they will be okay and not hurt my back!

We came back to snow on the ground but God has given me peace about that! The sun was shining today!

Have a blessed day! Big hugs!

Hello From Arizona

2011-04-14T10:40:00.004-06:00

Hi my lovely friends in blogland. I thought I would say a quick hello from Arizona. I am really enjoying the blessing of the warm sunshine and beauty of this State! I captured a beautiful shot of a crane while here. I love listening to all the birds chirping and singing around me in the morning with my cup of tea and my bible. What a perfect way to start the day!

Coming back to the condo from getting a gelatto we were greeted by this little guy! He doesn't look as tiny in the photo but he could seriously fit in the palm of my hand! He was so super cute! I didn't want to go into the condo because I knew that he would run away and sure enough he did! Bummer. But he was so cute!

So for today we are on our way to the mall for a few hours in the big arcade for the boys! Fun, fun, fun. Did I tell you how much I love being a boy mom? LOL. I really do, at least I get to go shopping while the boys play!

Many hugs and blessings to you all! Talk to you soon!

Decorah Eagles

2011-04-07T12:51:00.003-06:00

A dear blogging friend of mine from Creative Treasures has a link up on her blog to a place in Iowa where you can watch live bald eagle 'eaglets' being born and I knew I just had to share it with you. Thanks Michelle for posting this on your blog.
Have a look for yourself, I could personally watch this for hours and hours!

Type in your browser: http://www.ustream.tv/
Scroll down to Decorah Eagles
Enjoy
Happy Weekend Everyone!
I'm off to Arizona and will be away from blogland for a few days, I will check back here and there.
Big hugs to you all!

Grandpa Sends Boys His Old Leather Jacket!

2011-04-01T08:30:00.006-06:00

So yesterday was a fun day in our household. Hubbub received a large package from his Dad and inside was his Dad's old leather jacket that he used to go riding with. Unfortunately it didn't quite fit Hubbub so the boys took it over, hence the reason for the dashing photos above.

Why do they need a leather jacket?

Because hubbub finally got a motorcycle! Not a new one, a very used one! He has already replaced the muffler and is planning to do some intensive surgery on the motor etc., it needs a lot of work, but what a wonderful thing for Hubbub and the boys to do together!

I just thought I would share the joy that we've been experiencing - BOYS AND THEIR TOYS!!!

Hugs, blessings and happy weekend everyone!

A Border Makes All The Difference

2011-04-01T08:27:00.003-06:00

What is it about a nice black border??? Some of my art just does not feel complete until I put a black border. What do you think?

Happy Weekend everyone! Hugs and many blessings to you.

My First "Calligrafun" Inspired Piece

2011-03-31T10:16:00.003-06:00

Well here it is... my first "Calligrafun" inspired piece. I LOVE lettering and Martha Lever has made it so much fun with her "Calligrafun" class. She makes it so easy to learn this creative fun style of lettering. If you want more information on taking one of her classes you can click on her name and that will take you to her blog, or click on "Calligrafun" on my sidebar and this will also take you to her blog. From there she lists her classes in her sidebar. Thanks Martha for teaching such a fun class!

I pray that you are all having a fabulous week. I am staying positive even though it is dark and gloomy with light snow here in Calgary... off to Arizona soon so looking forward to the sunshine!!! Happy day to all of you with many hugs and blessings!

Introducing Our Newest Enrollment...

2011-03-30T09:00:00.000-06:00

Robin Mead from Insights and Belly Laughs (LOVE THE NAME) has just joined our "All Kinds of Artists" Artist Blog Hop and I was inspired to share this lovely piece with you all. I love the layers and colors she has used, and this is such a happy piece! If you get a chance go and take a look at her blog by clicking on the highlighted Insights and Belly Laughs!

Happy Creating with many hugs and blessings for your week.

Angel Wings By Martha Lever

2011-03-29T09:00:00.000-06:00

Martha Lever over at Art Du Jour blog had the sweetest post yesterday and I knew that I needed to share it here for you today! Isn't she lovely?

I hope you enjoy her, and the quote as much as I did.

Hugs and blessings

Sharing With You Again

2011-03-28T09:00:00.000-06:00

Cheryl Bakke Martin #605 in the "All Kinds Of Artists" Artist Blog Hop inspired me today with her cute logo. I fell in love with it instantly. Check out her blog for more inspiration if you will.

Nikki Ella Whitlock #557 of the "All Kinds Of Artists" Blog hop has created this most amazing mosaic called Masquerade, a definitely must see. Just think of the time she is putting into this beautiful piece!!! Wow! Go check her blog out if you get a chance.

As I was once again Blog Hopping through the "All Kinds of Artists" Artist Blog Hop I realized something, there are many 'blog hops' out there but mine is a little different in the fact that it never ends. As far as I know most 'blog hops' are contests and at the end a winner is chosen among the entrants. I started the blog hop for one purpose... to gain inspiration and make a place where other like-minded artists gain inspiration as well.

One lady contacted me not certain as to what she was to do after entering her link to the blog hop, so I thought that I needed to explain it to everyone in case some of you do not know... once you have entered your link to the list you now have access to all the artists involved in the blog hop. This means that you need only click on the other links to be brought to the other artist's blogs and to be inspired!

So now everyone knows, go out and be inspired!

Found Something Gorgeous You Will LOVE

2011-03-26T10:57:00.004-06:00

I found this ladies art on Ingrid Dijkers blog where she describes her experience with taking Julie Nuttings class (the artist of the above piece of art). Both Julie and Ingrid have beautiful blogs so if you get a chance please take a look and you will be inspired!

This is Ingrid's art that she completed in Julie's class, isn't it gorgeous???? I think she did a fabulous job!

I had to share these beautiful pieces of girlie art! I hope you are as inspired as I am!

Happy weekend everyone with many hugs and blessings surrounding you!

645 ARTISTS signed up!!!! Take a Look!

2011-03-25T08:52:00.005-06:00

Diane Costanza #626 in the Artist Blog Hop created this really cute, funny piece of art and I knew I needed to share it with all of you! I love finding art that is unusual and funny and beyond the usual of creativity, I think this piece definitely qualifies don't you? A few months ago I drew a face with a butterfly on a ladies nose but I never finished it. Maybe I will take it out and give it another try. Her blog is beautiful so take a look if you can.

Kris Wiltse #632 in the Artist Blog Hop has a beautiful blog called Drawings From Life in which she has some amazing art work, one being the above watercolor. Please go and check out her blog and give her some blog love.

Linda Teddlie Minton #633 in the Artist Blog Hop has posted these awesome romantic letters from her Grandfather to his future Mother-in-law (click on the picture to read it closer). I was so touched by the chivalry of this letter, the man (her Grandfather) actually asking the mother for his hand in marrying her daughter! What a lost art in todays generation!
We are bringing up our boys with gentlemanly behaviours and habits and pray that they will ask their future parents for permission to marry their daughters! May this art not be lost on my boys!

Well, just a few little goodies to look at from the newer artists that have signed up on the Artist blog hop. Wow, I cannot get over all the talent in these ladies, in all the ladies signed up! If you get a chance browse through some more artists and if you can let me know of some of your favorites I will post them on here.

Hugs and blessings, have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Community Art Project Pages Done!

2011-03-24T09:00:00.000-06:00

Ahhhhhh! This is what I call a productive art week! Yay! I finished my pages for the Community Art Project Phoenix is having over at her blog

Hugs and blessings everyone!

HERE .

Link To Rebecca Anthony - Penny Lane

2011-03-23T11:50:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone! Sorry about the link to Rebecca's site not working... Please go HERE and it should work.

http://penandinkbyrebeccaanthony.blogspot.com/

Please let me know if this is not working and I will try and contact Rebecca.

Hugs and blessings everyone!

A Journal You MUST SEE

2011-03-22T11:00:00.003-06:00

My dear friend Rebecca Anthony over at Penny Lane Ink has just published her beautiful journal pages over on her blog in a book that you can purchase!!!! It is a definitely MUST SEE and I wanted to make sure you all know about it! Go have a look and let me know what you think!

Congratulations Rebecca!

Hugs and blessings

Girlie Feminine Swap Page Finished

2011-03-22T09:00:00.004-06:00

Well I'm all finished my Girlie swap page and I had a lot of fun using my Twinkling H20's (by Luminart - which I am not exactly positive if they are still in business or not as their website did not come up on Google, hmmmm.)to give her a beautiful glow. You can't really tell in the photograph but the H20's are all metallic and shine so beautifully.

I gave her eyes some flowers and funky eyelashes!

And added some fuzzy pink yarn to the top left hand corner to give the page that feminine charm!

And voila! She's finished and ready to be sent off to my swapping partner TJ in Germany! Have a safe flight!

Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend. Yesterday was the first day of spring here and it snowed ALL DAY!!!!! So much for the first day of spring! LOL!

Hugs and blessings