She's All That Journal Pages Tip-Ins #2

Introducing the second entry into the "She's All That" journal page for tipping-into your journals.  I love the colors of the peacock blues and greens.  The journal lines are ready to be filled with lovely words.

I am hoping to have a book full of these lovely pages for sale in my Etsy soon. 

Now they are available for $2.00 each in my shop.

www.kellysartjournaling.etsy.com

I pray you all have an amazing week full of girlie creative fun!

Hugs and blessings everyone!

Painful Venting

This past week has been a frustrating one.  I seems that I have over done it by doing too much.  I was doing just fine, the new medication was working, at least helping me to function better than I was.  However, I discovered that doing too much nullifies the effects of the medication!  I am so like that!  Once I start feeling better I see all the things around the house that are not cleaned up or I schedule a bunch of things in one week and then I crash and burn! 

This page was actually quite easy to achieve.  I drew a face, colored it in with copic markers, cut it in half.  I found a beautiful rich green piece of scrapbook paper for the background.  I used SMASHBOX tape for the dotted border at the top of the page.  I used a ligher piece of scrap paper for in between the sides of the face.  I also used the Smashbox date stamper at the top ~ it is a very creative way to track the date of each piece. 

I was trying to get to this page all week and everthing else was getting in the way.  I have now learned (hopefully) to not do too much in my week.  "Take it easy, go slow, and keep going" ~ I think that's what my physiotherapist at the Chronic Pain Clinic told me this week.  She's a very smart woman!

Well I pray that you are all having a fabulous week, I'm off to try and visit a few of my favorite blogs.

Hugs and blessings everyone, thank you for coming by.

She's All That Journal Page

Doing a little Sunday journal page making.  This journal page I sell on my Etsy shop @ www.kellysartjournaling.etsy.com and I also show what it could look like all filled out with my journaling today.  This page was so much fun to make as it brought out the girlieness in me and who doesn't like that??? 

Once the page was filled out I wrote out text in the empty white spaces surrounding the girl, they say, "God you never seize to pursue me and lead me beside still water." 

It is such a true statement.  God is always with me and everytime I need to cry out to Him, He prepares the way for me to do so.  This time it was during an amazing Church service today.  A young pastor gave his testimony about losing his wife in a car accident that he was also in, he witnessed her death.  It happened at a time in his life when everything was going so well, he called it "his jerusalem" time.
The period after losing her he called "his time in exile".  He was lost for six months in deep depression and began to drink to numb his pain.  Thankfully people at his Church loved on him and brought him back and He surrendered his life once again to Christ vowing from that moment on he would serve the Lord.  Since then he has been remarried and has two beautiful children, he is still fervently serving the Lord as a pastor.  His story reminded me very much of Job.

What an amazing testimony, I am certain many tears were shed but I couldn't tell because my eyes seemed to be leaking and I could not control it!  His testimony made me very aware of the brokeness I was feeling and well, let's just say I had zero make-up on after that!! :)

We all need to hear a good testimony every now and then.  God meets us in our brokeness and He never lets us go!

I pray that if you find yourself in a state of brokeness that you will turn to Him.  Cry out to Him because He is listening, actually He is waiting for you right now!  He will meet you right where you are and you will find comfort in His arms. 

John 3:16 "For God so LOVED the world that He gave up His one and only Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting love."

God bless you. 

Many hugs and blessings to you for your new week.

Decisions, Decisions...

Hi Everyone!  I am working on a piece of art for a human trafficking/sex trades recovery centre and I am trying to decide which one I like best and which one makes the most statement... I think the bottom one, with color is the better one.

I got this idea from a photo my friend (who will be running this centre) sent me via facebook so I do not know who originally took the photo but it was a very powerful one for sure.

As I was preparing to draw this piece I googled human trafficking and it sent me on an emotional rollercoaster!  My heart was so heavy burdened for all the people caught up in this awful experience(?).  I don't even know what it could be called, it's not as if these people have a choice, some are stolen as young children, some sold by their own parents to pay for food, others hooked on drugs are lured into traps...

Whatever I can do to help this cause I am going to do it!  I am getting involved with this recovery centre because I know that these women need to know that they are loved, they are worth the effort, they are people who contribute to this world... and most of them, well they just need a good hug from Jesus to start them on their way.

I pray that all of you are well and loved.

Hugs and many blessings to you.

His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Last weekend I listened to a lovely friend of mine give her testimony at a ladies breakfast.  Her testimony led me to draw this piece.  I thought of the song that she mentioned "His Eye is on the Sparrow" (I think it's called) and meditated on the images that came to my mind.

 I drew a birds nest on the top of her head and a sparrow just hanging out on the side of the nest.  I did this because I wanted to relate to the sparrow in this song, that God's eye is on the sparrow and "WE" are that sparrow; meaning, He takes care of each and every one of us, all of His creations. 

That song is a wonderful reminder of how we do not need to worry or be afraid, that God never leaves us nor forsakes us but actually 'WATCHES' over us.

May you all be very blessed this weekend.  Hugs to you all.

A Picture of Peace In Times of Fear

"For we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind" 2 Timothy 1:7

I have been really contemplating this verse this week as I concentrate on "FEAR" in my book on visual healing through God. 

Just the words, "spirit of fear" make me think.  Fear is a spirit?  I never thought about it that way, but it must be true as that is what the Word says.  Fear is a spirit, and not only that, it also says... "For we have not been given a spirit of fear".   So... to bring it all together in my understanding, fear is a spirit that we have not been given.  Then why is there so much fear in the world?  I believe it is because we ALLOW this 'spirit of fear' into our lives. 

What happens when we allow it into our lives??? We become consumed with fear! 

God does not want this for us, that is why He did not give us 'the spirit of fear', no, he gave us a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind!  Can we have love and peace when we are consumed with fear ~ I don't believe we can. 

God wants so much for us but HE does not want us to live in fear. 

So today, if you have any fear, take a look at it through God's eyes and examine it thoroughly... if fear is not from God, then it is from someone who wants to kill, steal and destroy us.  (aka - the Devil). 

Ask God to release you from the spirit of fear so that you can truly live a life of love and of a sound mind.

Hugs and many blessings to you.

Green Pastures

The Lord is my Shepherd,  I shall not want.  He maketh me to lay down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters,  He restores my soul.  (Psalm 23)   

   

Those words are so incredibly beautiful I cannot express the amount of peace the Lord has given me from them.  When I was sick and overwhelmed with depression my Hubbub would simply speak Psalm 23 to me in its entirety and I would be able to find my way back to peace with the Lord right beside me.  He is my comfort, my happiness and my hope.

In todays world it is difficult to slow down, to breathe to take a step back from the busyness of this life... now, I am taking that step.  I am so thankful to God that He has given me this time to restore my soul... to heal my body. 

I am not working so I can concentrate on Physiotherapy and working with the Doctors on my medication.  I plan to start walking on my treadmill a little bit at a time and get some strength back in this body.  This is, once again, my time of healing.  We all need that every now and again.

I pray you are all well.  I am sorry I have been so absent from all of your blogs.  I hope I will do better soon.

Hugs and many blessings to all of you.



Within The Cross

This week I was consumed with getting the results of my MRI.  I was trying so hard to trust in the Lord but I found I didn't know what to pray for... was I supposed to pray for God to completely heal me? or was I supposed to pray that they would find something in the MRI so that I could have the surgery and would be completely healed from that???  These are the questions that were hard for me. 

In this drawing it was God leading me... I never really have a plan when I start to draw, I usually start from the middle and work my way out.  It wasn't until I was completely finished my drawing that I realized what God was doing inside of me.  I placed myself in the cross ~ and then I thought, wow, yes Lord!!!  I was giving myself permission to place myself on the Cross and realize that what Jesus did on the Cross was for ME too!  His grace, His love, His devotion to US... is sufficient for me too!  I needed to place my worries and concerns on the Cross and completely hand them over to HIM.  The words surrounding the cross are from the Psalms "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not upon your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path."  I further realized (upon completing this piece) that I was talking myself into fully trusting in the Lord, to acknowledge HIM in EVERYTHING and that HE will take care of me.

So, a few days later... I call the specialist to see if the results are in... they are.  After being forwarded from one place to another I am finally at the moment of truth; "what did they find?"  and "when will my surgery be?"... these are the questions going through my mind. 

After a few moments of listening to the nurse describe the results it took me a few moments to realize that they did not find what they were looking for, only a couple of bulging discs that would not need surgery!  Much more went on in the discussion but the sum of it all was that I would not need surgery... and what did I do when I got off the phone???

I cried and I freaked out!!!!  Say what????   Yep, I was very foolish.  You see I set myself up for months thinking and preparing myself for surgery and months of recovery and then suddenly everything changed!  I hate change, I can't process change and sometimes I just need a good swift kick in the butt to realize that it's not the end of the world!!!

I should have been praising God.  I WON'T NEED SURGERY - PRAISE GOD!!!  But I was so concentrating on the pain I was suffering that I thought I knew how I was going to be fixed and that was that!!!!  God however has severely humbled me and since than has slapped my hand (figuratively speaking of coarse) and has helped me realize how very foolish I was for not trusting in Him. 

HE is MY GOD, my creator, my maker, my sustainer and my provider; HE is my healer and redeemer and my shelter and MY GOD.  HE knows me so much better than anything or person in this world will ever know me and HE certainly knows how to heal me.   

It was such a GOD THING that my son was home from school when I received the results.  He prayed with me and His words were filled with wisdom that I never could have grasped had he not been with me at that moment, he prayed "God please heal my Mom, God you are the maker of it so you know how to heal it, so we just ask that you heal it in Jesus name!"  Simple prayer really and he prayed other things but those words were like a light bulb going off in my head (TRUST IN GOD - they said to me.)  Yes God, I will trust YOU.

I will continue to see the Doctors and the Chronic Pain Clinics and the Physio for my pain, but I will trust in GOD to be the healer of my body and that He will bring me to my healing whether it be by His direct hand or through the Doctors.  Oh how I love my GOD.

I hope all of you are doing well and are finding the joy that God so richly gives.

Hugs and many blessings to you all.

Finding Joy

What does it mean to find Joy?   Is joy lost that we should need to find it?  Actually, I believe it is!  The way of our fast-paced highly technological busy world makes it rather a difficult process to experience true joy.  I believe we have moments of joy that we grab here and there while we are living our busy lives but are those moments TRUE JOY?  or are they just little bits of happiness on the go?  When was the last time you took time out of your day to go off in search of finding some real "JOY" for your day? 

I have been very guilty of closing my eyes to the joys around me because I have busied myself with too many other things I think needed to have my attention. 

It helps not working now... for I can see the light that always surrounded me.

God is with us always, He is everywhere all the time and He has such Joy waiting for us to grasp!  We need only ask; we need only open our eyes.

Today the sun is shining brightly and I could hear the birds singing outside my window, a rabbit happily bounced up and down making me giggle.  Then he tried to force her body through an opening in our fence and I literally laughed out loud when she didn't fit and had such a chagrined look upon her cute bunny face.  I believe she was full of babies and that is why she didn't fit through the opening.

What an amazing JOY it is to think of Spring and to think of new life happening around the world, this very moment, every moment really.  God is constantly creating new life all around us.

I found my JOY for the day by just opening up my senses and being aware that God is with me.

I encourage you to take this on yourself... seek and you will find!

Hugs and blessings everyone!

Hello Again My Dear Friends

Well hello again!  I know I have been extremely absent from my blog for awhile, but guess what?  I am back.  I was on a 40 day fast from my blog for Lent and now it is done.  So much has happened in these last 40 days...  I am no longer working but concentrating on my healing of my body from FM and Hypermobility issues with my joints.  I will be doing a lot of Dr's visits in the next little while and praying for good results! AMEN!  My Sister is out of the hospital and at home recovering, although frustrated with the slow healing process, I think she will eventually be okay.  She will most likely feel the effects of this tragedy for the rest of her life in her body and soul but I know that with God she will find her true healing. 

I made her this Angel as per her request (she has always wanted a red-headed Angel because she has beautiful red hair herself).  I drew her as a very serene look to her face, one of almost deep concentration within trying to reveal the power of healing the Angel was giving to my sister from God.  I hated seeing my sister in so much pain, it truly broke my heart, but hearing how much joy she received from receiving my Angel for her I was blessed indeed.  I wrote her a long letter to go with it that it might entertain her and she loved that too!  She told me that when she feels well enough to sit up and actually use her hands to write, she is going to write me a long letter back:)  I had the biggest smile on my face due to her words!  I cannot physically be with her but I can certainly send her things to cheer her up!

I will share some more work that I have done during the 40 days later this week.

Many hugs and blessings Dear Friends.

Against Drunk Driving

I am extremely frustrated these days and I am sorry if this is going to turn out to be a venting session... however... my Sister was just in a horrible car accident, hit by a driver under the influence of alcohol.  She is very blessed to be alive and will be recovering for a long time.
It frustrates me that some people do not think, do not plan ahead (if they are going to be drinking) and do the right thing ~ get in a taxi or get someone to be a designated driver for the night.  Many innocent people suffer for their thoughtlessness!
My Sister is a fighter and she will recover, but there are many who die in these accidents that will never have the blessed opportunity to recover from their injuries. 
My Sister has a broken neck, she was almost scalped from flying glass that has left her with a head full of stitches and staples holding her head together), she has a broken collar bone, 3 broken ribs, a broken deformed wrist which she needs surgery on in a couple weeks... physiotherapy has to come to her hospital room everyday to try and help her to relearn how to walk.  It's a mess!  My nephew said that she lost A LOT of blood at the accident scene ~ he almost fainted when he first saw her at the hospital.  By the time I got there (which was an airplane ride away) she was all stitched and stapled shut but her hair is still washing out dry blood and it's been over a week! 
I pray for her quick recovery as she has two young daughters at home that need their Mama! 
If you have any influence over anyone in your life to stop them from drinking and driving, PLEASE, PLEASE stop them!  I am one of the lucky ones, I still have my Sister... but who know's who will not be so lucky.

Sorry for the content of this post, I am really needing to vent my frustration.
Many hugs and blessings to you Dear Friends.

New Tree Of Life

It seems like every few years or so I am inspired to create a new "Tree of Life".  This time for some reason I chose faces... I was thinking of the past generations sleeping while they wait for the New Jerusalem.  Come Lord Jesus, Come.

This was my "Tree of Life" in 2011

I'm not certain why I did two trees in 2007, one (the top) is my crazy tree of life, and (the bottom) is my "Tree of Life" with all the different fruits.

The "Tree of Life" symbolizes something so precious that we often take for granted.  It is a gift from God and when we accept His Son into our hearts we become apart of the Family of God which is blessed to partake in the fruit of the Tree of Life.  So beautiful.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I'm off to celebrate my son's 17th Birthday.

Hugs and blessings

Inspiration From a Lovely Artist

I discovered a lovely artist named Dorina Costras today.  I found this painting of hers and it really spoke to me of the emotions in the girl with the mask.

I wanted to use the exact same pose but do this up "KELLY" style to speak to women who have just come off the streets.



There are sayings all through her hair and the words on the drawing are;

I Choose Love

I Choose Joy

I Choose Freedom

Open my heart and allow wonderful things to flow into my life.

The idea of the mask spoke volumes to me as I went through a period in my life where I felt like I was always wearing a mask of some kind ~ unable to find myself.

Just sharing some inspiration with you all.

Have a wonderful week.

Hugs and many blessings!

I Will Worship

I started this piece last week when Hubbub and Son were in Arizona.  It is a 16x20 Canvas done using Copic Marker Inks.  I am in love with the way these inks flow down the canvas!  It is called "I Will Worship".

Have an absolutely lovely weekend!

Hugs and blessings

Building Foundation

This piece was inspired by an urging of the Holy Spirit. I was inspired to bring my markers and journal to Church on Sunday and this is what I drew during the service.  (Normally I would not be able to do this as the seating at Church doesn't really allow for me to journal during Church, but this Sunday morning God prepared a place just for me!  Our Church is in a highschool gym, as I walked in that morning I looked to my right and was so blessed to see two leather pieces of furniture, one being a big leather chair with plenty of room for my supplies and the best thing was that it was off in a corner so that no-one would really notice me journaling ~  God is so good!
Lately God has been pressing on me the importance of prayer; for our children, for our spouses, for ourselves, for our homes, churches, work places, cities, and Country...  I picked up this book on my Kobo called "The Veritas Conflict" and this book literally brought me to my knees in prayer praying for my teenagers.  It describes in great detail what happens all around us as we pray, a Spiritual battle that we cannot see but that we are VERY much a part of.  The vision I had for this piece was in seeing people praying for each other and being on fire in the Holy Spirit, being surrounded and enveloped, protected and made stronger as they prayed.  Their words were building a strong and solid foundation in God.  This vision came to life in me as our Youth Pastor called the Columbia Missions Team to the front of the Church for prayer and a young teen prayed over them. 
I love, love, love it when God speaks to me in images and allows so graciously for me to develop the vision onto paper.  I love being close to God as I put color on the page.  I cannot express enough the delight I have in this process. 
So, keep praying peoples because great and mighty things are happening for the Kingdom, be encouraged.

Big hugs and many blessings my dear friends.

Journaled in some of my journal tip-ins

These journal tip-ins look so different when they are filled in with journaling.  I am going to tip them into one of my journals and then work outward by coloring in the backgrounds in a subtle way as not to take away from the tip-ins themselves.  I really like the faces as it looks like they are talking to each other.

I hope you are all having a fabulous Friday!  It is cold, cold, cold here in Calgary and half of my family is in Arizona at a wedding (Hubbub and youngest son).  I had the option to go but chose it would have been two quick of a trip for me, darn it!  However, I get to spend the whole weekend with my eldest son who just started driving!  He loves it and is doing really well.  Hold on tight to your seats and stay off the sidewalks!  Just kidding.

Happy weekend to you all, hugs and many blessings.  And for those of you going through tough times... remember I am praying for you okay!  With much love.

Learn From Me

Monica from an All woman's school in Texas contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in creating something for their pamphlet for their annual spring retreat.  Their theme would be "Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart" - focusing also on forgiveness, trust in God and humility.  I told her I would pray about it and see what God would give me for it.

The above drawing is what I saw.  I saw Jesus hands holding His healing streams of living water with a reflection of a woman (representing all women), being in the knowledge of our hurt, pain and unforgiveness within us.  The rocky background being His foundation.

I hope this is the vision they are looking for, I haven't heard back from them yet.

Well I wanted to share with you this blessing.  I love it when people find my blog and I am able to bless them in this way and especially when God gives me a vision for them.

I hope and pray you are all enjoying your week. 

Hugs and blessings dear friends, with much love.

Journal Tip-Ins Now Available

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.