Dream Board

Hello to any other Life bookers out there in blog land.  Yes, I know, I am behind on doing my dream board, but I think it was worth waiting for because of how I ended up doing it.

What is a Dream Board?

Generally a dream board is a piece of collage art work that represents your dreams in a particular situation.  For me this is my dream board for the next 12 months.  

Normally you start by just scribbling down on your page some of the words that represent those dreams.  

In this case I skipped that part, but here's why, and also the reason I'm glad I didn't do my dream board back in the 2nd week of January.  

It was my birthday last week, and one of the things a friend gave me was a blank Christmas card which had Christmas Wishes on the front.  She said it was because she thought I needed to write my wishes, dreams, hopes for the coming year down for myself.  

Ta-Da the perfect push to complete my dream board and the perfect thing to centre my board around.  

So, in this case I wrote all my dreams on the inside of the card and made it a part of the page.  You could choose to do either way, or find some other way of incorporating the words or not include words at all, it's all up to you.

The next thing you need to do is find some pictures to go with your dreams.  You can cut them out of magazines or find them on the internet and print them out.  I did the latter but used proper photo paper to get good quality images.

Play around with a layout of the pictures on the page until you find one you like.

I think that allows me to see everything I need to see and still be able to open the card.

I carefully removed the card so as to leave the layout undisturbed, because I didn't want to attach the card until the adding the colour was complete.

Carefully glue the pictures down using whatever method suits you best.  Most of the time I don't use glue sticks when doing art journaling projects but this time I have to admit to doing so.  It was to hand and easy to use.

Next you want to start adding some colour.  First of all I used some spray inks through stencils, but I didn't get  photo of that stage, I was so into the process, I forgot.  After the stencil work, I added some acrylic paints.  I chose the colours based on the mug of hot chocolate in the top right, purple!  I chose two shades of purple and used the same brush, mixing them together on the page as seemed to go well at the time.

Next you want to make it YOU in some way.  If you are into fancy lettering, add some of that.  If you are into scrapbook embellishments, use those, if you like glitter, grab some of that.  I chose to use just a little gold paint.  Some onto the page, and then some dry brushed around the very edges of the page.

Finally I added the card back into the middle of the page.  This time I did use gel medium as a glue rather than the glue stick,. because I want to be sure it won't come up at a later date.

And there you have it, my dream board for the next 12 months, including the card, which does still open so that I can read what is inside if I choose to.

You can find the sites that i link up to over in the side bar.  Come back soon to see more of the work I produce in Life book or my other crafty adventures.

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Living Thankfully

Another week, another list.  Here we go then, in no particular order, On Sunday 29th January 2012 I am thankful for . . . . 

576.  Awesome, Incredible Amazing friend who made us a huge wooden front of a boat to use as a prop in school bible story assemblies.

577.  Incredible school head teachers who can make a suit of armour from cardboard and a stapler in just 10 minutes.

578.  Answered prayers for a member of the admin staff at school.

579.  ME on the wall of rejoicing.  For the current 8 week session of Sunday's Cool each week the children are drawing pictures of things that either make them happy or make god happy to go on our wall of rejoicing.  This morning two of the children put pictures of me up there!

580.  Although I ached terribly after helping out yesterday at a friend's father's 90th birthday party, I am more or less back to normal now and hope to sleep better tonight.

581.  A friend who reminded me this morning that I don't have to DO anything in order to be acceptable to God and that it is OK to say no sometimes.

582.  Another member of the church who soaked me in prayer during worship for quite an extended period of time.

583.  That as I struggled during that soaking prayer to focus on Worship, God too reminded me I did not need to do anything and that in fact he was giving me this extended prayer time as a gift so that I would have a reason to not DO anything for that period of time.

584.  Arch supports that give my feet a bit more support than shoes alone would.

585.  By simply moving my chair from the side of the table to the end I now get to journal snuggled up next to the radiator on cold mornings.

586.  A comfy sofa and a husband who took over the essential chores for an afternoon.

587.  Tickets to a Holocaust Memorial Day event tomorrow (yes I know it was this week but the event is tomorrow) to hear a Holocaust Survivor speak.

588.  That even though I have an assembly in the afternoon and have to travel by bus I will still be able to make it from there to the event.

589.  The person choosing the nation for prayer for next week's Leadership course had chosen a nation that is not too complicated for me to find food for.  There are two of us on food for each session and we have to base the food on the nation chosen for prayer.  I am on the rota for food for this up coming one and the nation will be Turkey.

590.  Youngest getting an invitation to his first event through a scheme for widening participation in higher education that he only qualifies for because of where we live.  It might not be the nicest part of town, but there is plenty of good to living here, not just these advantages.

591.  

If you wish to participate in blogging about your list of 1000 gifts or in Thankful Thursday, you can do so by clicking on the banners at the top of this post.

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Re purposing Chocolate Boxes

At Christmas I was given a box of these

I don't like that particular drink but did enjoy these chocolates.  When they were finished I wondered what to do with the box.

I remembered that a friend has posted about covering boxes with paper.

So I pulled out some paper I had stashed away quite a while ago.  Gorgeous, hand made papers from PaperChase from when they had them on offer with 5 for less that the normal price of 1.  Heck, as a crafter when you see a deal like that you have to take advantage right.  So the paper had been stored for a while and this was the time to bring it out.

The photo doesn't do it justice, red paper with gold threads and gold paper with copper threads, gorgeous stuff.  I tore the paper into pieces.

Then I grabbed some PVA glue and diluted it with water.  You can go 2 parts water to 1 part glue, but in this case I probably went thicker than that, with less water.

Because I didn't want to lose the effect of the threads I didn't soak the paper with the glue mixture, I brushed it onto the back of each piece.

Place each piece of paper onto the box, covering the whole surface, right to the edges, turning under at the edges, to the inside of the box.

Use more glue at the edges of each piece on top to secure it well.  You could glue the whole surface but I found that meant the threads in the paper didn't show as well, so I just worked the edges in this way.

I used the gold paper for the bottom of the box and the red paper for the lid.  I don't know what I am going to do with this box yet, but it appears to be just the right size for crayons.

At the bottom right of the lid, you can see what I mean about the gold threads on the red paper losing definition when too much glue was applied.

You can check out the sites I link up to over in the side bar.

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Flame Hoodie Customer Pics!

I love seeing my creations on their end users, and since most of my business is internet based, it's rare that I get to see people's smile when they try one of my hoodies on for the first time. 

So, I LOVE it when people send me pictures.  (Oh it's just so PERFECT on him isn't it??).

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Enjoy the Adventure

That's my theme for 2012, Enjoy the Adventure.  There are lots of things coming up that I already know will be  classified as Adventure.

Leadership Course - Seriously, why would someone who struggles with criticism as much as I do take part in a course where basically no one teaches you anything, you just all take turns in doing the stuff and being critiqued by the rest of the people on the course.  Seriously why?  Because God said 2012 was the year to Enjoy the Adventure, and what is adventure if not a little scary, right?

Then there's another opportunity that is only a possible at this stage and I can't really share here.  A team I am involved in, was asked to consider this IF it does come up, and after talking it through with the team, I put myself forward.  I won't know until March now if I will go forward to do that, so I have to wait.  But if I do, it is going to mean a lot of work and a lot of responsibility.  Again scary and out of comfort zone.

Last week the church I am part of had a week of prayer.  Meetings every evening.   I had been to all so far, when on Thursday I was asked if I was going to be around on Friday.  When I said yes I was asked to lead the Friday evening.  Scary?  Oh yes!  But actually I wasn't as wound up as I had expected to be.  A little, yes, but not as much.  There was a time when even something like leading a small prayer meeting would have had me in the bathroom throwing up!  It's still scary, it's still stretching, it's not something I would want to tackle without God, BUT I did it and it went OK, and I came out the other side stronger.

Are you beginning to see a theme here?  Adventure, scary, stretching, hard, difficult, etc.  What happened to the Enjoy?  I actually asked God that last week in my Journal.  Yes, I know, OUCH!  But I was being real.

I know that there will be times in both those things coming up that will be enjoyable.  There are things, already happening that will continue through the year that are both stretching, scary AND enjoyable.  I am taking part in a year long online art class that has already had me doing my first 3/4 portrait, my first colour portrait, and my first profile portrait since discovering art as an adult.  They're not perfect, but I am having a blast while being stretched at the same time.  I also know that there is an element to this theme of finding the enjoyable within things that would normally seem hard to me.

However, God did not disappoint!  You see, when I first got my theme, and you can read about it here, the word Enjoy came first, on its own, and God had intended all along for that sometimes to be the case.  Monday was my birthday and in amongst the wonderful birthday greetings on facebook there were two that were so personal and so blessing that they brought me to tears.   One of them spoke of being thankful my mother gave birth to me, being sad for me that she is no longer around and knowing that she would be proud of me if she were.  Oh that made me cry, good tears.  I sat and thought of all I have been doing in my craft room lately, thought of the creative woman my mother was and KNEW, probably for the first time in a long time, that my friend was right.  My mom would be proud of me.

Then my dad phoned to sing happy birthday.  He said he'd been looking at some of the pictures I'd shared on facebook of my recent art work and asked me "Where did you learn to draw like that?" and was asking all about it.  That's a big deal to me, a seriously big deal and I am in awe that God would choose to bless me with that from both my mom who is no longer with us and my dad who is in less than 2 days!  Enjoy?  Oh YES!

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Men's Flame Hoodie - The Fire Inside

This hoodie was a custom order for an old friend who used to fire dance with me.  Due to a car accident a while back, he's not able to do much fire dancing anymore so he wanted a hoodie that lets him express that fiery nature regardless.

I love how it turned out.  I didn't get the greatest pictures, since I wanted to ship it out quickly.. but the details on this one are fabulous.  There are flames embroidered on the sleeves and on the front, and the edges have a really cool embroidery pattern along them.  There are inside and outside pockets, and the tip of the hood is red, which is super fun.

To make this hoodie, I took design ideas from three different hoodies I've made in the past.  The main pattern was the same as the Legolas Hoodie, and the design was of course modeled on my flame hoodie.  I also took a few elements from this Samurai hoodie I made for my hubby ages ago (which he still wears all the time and it's in amazing condition.. I wish MY hoodies lasted that long, but I am pretty hard on them!)

My fiery friend promised he'd send me pics when it gets there.. I hope he does, I can't wait to see it on him.  :)

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Bible Assembly Props

The latest in the line of props I have had to make for our bible assemblies is a Spear for the story of David and Goliath.

I had a spare garden cane, that I used for the handle.  Then, I took some thick card, well it was 2mm pulp board, really quite thick, and cut out the shape of the spear head.

I covered the length of the garden cane with black duct tape and the cardboard spear head with the normal silver duct tape.  

The top of the garden cane already had a split on one side, so I took my craft knife and matched the split with a notch on the other side.  I slipped the base of the spear head into that notch.  You might be able to see here that it sits IN the cane at the top.

Then I attached the spear head to the cane using more silver duct tape in various different directions to keep it secure.

I'm pleased with how it turned out.

The only problem with all these props for these assemblies, is where to store them.  This one is 6feet long!  Oh and I have to walk up to school today carrying a bag of costumes and this, and it's raining!  Ho hum!

You can check out other costumes and props I have made by clicking on the creativity tab at the top of the page.  You will also find my other art and craft projects there.

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Edwardian Ball in San Francisco - Circus and Costumes

Saturday night, my hubby and I got dressed up and went to the Edwardian Ball in San Francisco.  I've heard about this event for years & years and I've never made it before.. it was absolutely delightful (if a bit too crowded).  If I do it again next year, I am getting there much earlier.

But Oh! the costumes!  And the circus acts!!  We managed to find all the people I knew for sure were going, plus bump into a couple more we didn't expect.  It was one of those places, though, where every single person you see looks almost exactly like someone you used to know, or should know, or met once at a party.  Everyone was eye-catching.  In my costume I fit in perfectly, but did not stand out.  I'll get more extreme and wacky next year.. I like to be on the line between fitting in and standing out.  :)

To that end, I spent a huge amount of time shopping in the vendor's hall, and acquired my first bustle.  It LIGHTS UP!!  It's red and gold and poofy and it lights up with little red lights.  It was made by Katherine the Great at Blue Moon Designs .. she had SO much gorgeous stuff.  Actually, everyone had so much gorgeous stuff! 

The whole experience got me ruminating.  Upstairs, amazing and inspiring circus performers.  Downstairs, amazing and inspiring fashionistas.  If I were going to participate in this event next year, would I rather be upstairs?  Or downstairs?

His hat has a hat!

Immediately I answered "upstairs!  on the stage!!"... but as I thought about it more, and truly explored my heart for the answer, the quieter voice inside me whispered, "downstairs.. with the costumers.. watching people try on things I made." 

This is significant.  Of course, I LOVE performing, love being on stage.. but this is the first time that I've presented myself with that kind of choice and felt like I was 51% on the "downstairs" side and just 49% on the "upstairs" side.  I really, REALLY love costumes.  Maybe I feel like after 10 years of being a full-time performer, I'm ready to start making a change? 

This gives me a little hope for the future.  Being a performer, well, has an early retirement age.  I've probably got another 10 years in me, if I'm careful and wear sunscreen and do a lot of yoga.. but not much more than that, at least, for the super active circus stuff.  But if my passion migrates over to costuming.. well, I can do that for the rest of my life.  Until this week it's always felt like an inevitable concession.. eventually I'd "have to give up" performing and "fall back" on sewing.  This week was the first time I've ever made the voluntary choice to choose sewing over performing.

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Prescriptions Getting Expensive?

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Yes, I know what you might be thinking, who am I to talk about prescriptions being expensive, living in the Uk and having the national Health Service and so on, but I do hear from all my American friends and readers how hard it can be sometimes paying for your prescriptions over in America.  I know of friends who skip doses or even skip entire refills because money is too tight.  With some conditions that might mean the difference between a good day and a bad day, but with other conditions that could mean taking some scary risks.

If you have a regular repeating prescription, Walgreens might be able to help.  They now have Walgreens Prescription Savings Club.  $5 per year for an individual or $10 per year for an entire family.
For that you will get savings on more than 8000 brand name medications and ALL generic medications.  You will also get discounts on things like your annual flu shot, nebulizers, diabetic supplies and EVEN prescriptions for your pets.

If you have a condition that means regular prescriptions, this is going to pay for itself really quickly.  You can stay up to date with the latest from Walgreens by following them at Walgreens on Twitter or by liking Walgreens on Facebook.

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Living Thankfully

Another week, another list.  Here we go then, in no particular order, On Sunday 22nd January 2012 I am thankful for . . . . 

560.  A lovely visit from friends this afternoon and fun playing on the Wii with their kids.

561.  £10 for youngest for helping our neighbour cut the hedge.

562.  on the same day youngest used the last of his credit on his phone.

563.  Silence might not always be golden, but on this occasion God used it to speak.

564.  The push to step out of comfort zone and do something unexpected, lead the last night of the meetings for prayer week at church.

565.  The flowers to thank me for doing so.

566.  Despite it being out of comfort zone I was nowhere near as anxious and wound up as I expected to be.  I knew it was going to be OK.

567.  In the middle of a church meeting room that is difficult to heat, when the sun streams through the windows, even on a cold January day, there are spots that are wonderfully warm.

568.  Walking across the room away from that sunlight, I was amused by how long and thin my legs were.  Hey gotta take it where it comes, but one day, with a lot of hard work they might look like that for real.

569.  Gifts for my Birthday on Monday.  I was allowed to open one today, a wonderful journal with watercolour paper and the rest that will wait until tomorrow.

570.  Beginning to sense that God is speaking to us again about inviting people over, about things not needing to be perfect, and being able to work around the things that I might thing prevent it.

571.  Low sugar cranberry candies, sweet and good for your bladder too.  heeheeee.

572.  Being free to step out of worship for just a few moments this morning to put my heart right with God and deal with a little issue of forgiveness, then step back in and KNOW it was dealt with, SENSE the change in worship for me.

573.  The sound of children laughing and talking about what I've just said as they leave the school assembly hall.

574.  Free WiFi in McDonalds meant I could check emails to check which week hubby and I are doing what on the Leadership Interactive Course and look up Haitian recipes for when I am choosing the nation to pray for.

575.  Arrived early to pick youngest up from musical theatre group, so spent time in the car praying with hubby.

576.  

If you wish to participate in blogging about your list of 1000 gifts or in Thankful Thursday, you can do so by clicking on the banners at the top of this post.

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Inspiration: Firefly Path

I've been drooling over the clothing and costumes and images by Firefly Path for years and years now.  Such an inspiration!  If you've never seen Lillyxandra's stuff, then make sure you've got a good chunk of time and get ready for delights and lots of squeee-ing.. and check it out!

Now go get inspired...

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Forest Faerie Hoodie Revisited

Christmas 2009 there was a serger under the tree.

I got it out of the box and spent hours twiddling with it, learning to thread it, and jumping up and down excitedly.  I'd wanted a serger for years, and now that I had it, I wanted to make something amazingly beautiful and warm, just for Me.  Enter: my first hoodie.

I chewed up a whole box of colored pencils sketching, deciding on each seam, each detail, each line.  I drew so many different sleeves that I fell asleep dreaming of sleeve designs.. and this multi-leaf design (which has become a bit of a signature for me) came to me in a dream that night.

It took me about 2 weeks of sewing (and re-sewing), and what resulted was the first ever Forest Faerie Hoodie.  I fell absolutely in love with it and have worn it almost constantly for 2 years now.  I've spilled on it, slept in it, walked and biked in it, gone camping in it, and once dropped a flaming torch on it while showing off my fire eating skillz.  It's still my favorite hoodie.

However, after two full years of warm cuddly goodness, and watching other hoodies come and go and not quite measure up, I decided it was time for a new Forest Faerie Hoodie. 

I've gotten a bit better at making hoodies since that first try, and two years of wearing this hoodie gave me loads of ideas for improvements:  

• I ride my bike in the cold, cold morning air and my upper arms still get cold.  New hoodie has double-thick sleeves that go all the way up.
• The pockets are warm but my hands fill them up.  New hoodie has inside pockets for phones and headphones and junk, leaving the main pockets free for my hands.
• The embroidery was sort of wiggly, as it was my first try and I didn't know what the heck I was doing.  I have since learned about stabilizer.  New hoodie's embroidery is *gorgeous.*
• The lighter green hem was always kind of bunchy.  New hoodie has a simpler embroidered hem that's smooth and hugs my hips.

This hoodie is the reason Fire Pixie Fashion exists.  I am wearing the new one now and it's soft and delicious and warm and oh so delightful.   I'm not sure how it is that clothing can make me so happy on so many levels.

Now.. what do I do with the old one?  I'm not one to keep things in the back of my closet for sentimental value, and it's a bit too worn out to sell "used."  Maybe I should gift it?  Advice?

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Life Book Lesson 2

 Just a quick shout out to any of my readers who are doing Life Book over on Willowing.ning

If you are struggling with this lesson, don't panic.  If you are struggling with the whole idea of representing yourself as a goddess because your own beliefs differ from that, don't panic.  I too find myself in that position.  I am still going to go ahead and complete the page.  I picked up on one phrase bonnie used in the video, she was still talking about Goddesses, but ones to represent different parts of your character and she said "Feelings and logic".  I can represent the part of me that is more feelings orientated and the part of me that works well with logic, without my page having a single thing to do with goddesses. And yes, I am still going to focus on the fact that there is good in both parts of my personality, because there are good and bad in both, just like Bonnie said.

I am sure you can find two aspects of your personality that while they appear to be opposing can both have a positive influence on your life, when used right.  Focus on those, and keep going, you CAN DO THIS and you can learn more about yourself through it without ever compromising your own beliefs.

Now, onto the other part that is stretching me with this class.  FIGURES!  Oh Lord, I did my first 3/4 portrait for the 1st class, my first ever canvas mixed media piece this week apart from Life Book and now I am doing my first ever figure since rediscovering my artistic side.

I decided to look online for pictures that might represent those two aspects of my personality and work from those.  Here is my practice at copying a figure for Feelings.

Of course this particular image is also going to mean my ever face in profile, arrgghhhh!

Maybe you can find an image, look at the instructions in the pdf and draw over that image, with the stick figure that bonnie shows us in the pdf, so you can see where each part is on the photo you have in front of you.  Whatever you do, don't give up!  I know I won't!

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First Canvas

After a childhood and teen years believing I was useless at Art, I finally got into art journalling a couple of years ago.  But everything I have done art wise since has been in my journal, or on paper, I had not dared to commit anything to canvas.  Last week that changed.  I saw some small chunky canvases in Home Bargains (a budget store), for just 99p.  So I picked one up.  I think it is either 6 or 8 inches square on a deep frame.

I started with collaging some scrapboook papers using gel medium.  I did some stamping, stencilling and used paint on bubble wrap to create more texture.  Then I looked for some shapes, the way Mystele does in her videos.  I sketched the outline of the head and the clothes then worked on the background.  I tried to do a crackle paint finish on the bottom, but that didn't work and I got bubble paint instead.  Still, I like the extra texture it gives.

Then I grabbed some paints and pencils and worked on the face.  It's certainly not the best face I've ever done, but overall I like it.

Finally, I painted the sides of the chunky canvas and ran that colour along the edges of the front with my finger.

Take a closer look:

Overall I am pleased with her.  I am not sure however if it needs something more.  Maybe a 3d embellishment? Maybe some words.  It's interesting that for someone whose primary art is writing, I find it difficult to combine words with my drawn and painted art.

Any thoughts?

You can find the sites that I link up to over in my sidebar.  Check a few of them out and come back soon to see what else I am doing.

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Living Thankfully

Another week, another list.  Here we go then, in no particular order, On Monday 16th January 2012 I am thankful for . . . . 

542.  Still having fun in the craft room.

543.  Enjoying the digging that results from God prompting me to write Jochobed's story.

544.  The push that reading The Creative Call gives me to get writing, when I had expected it to push me to get arting.

545.  I had forgotten how much I love creative writing.  I am thankful for being reminded.

546.  Cheap chunky canvases in one of the local budget shops.

547.  The gorgeous looking frost that is outside this morning, and

548.  The fact that I don't need to go out in it.

549.  our central heating boiler was not condemned (although it may not pass next year's inspection) and we DO have time to organise a replacement.

550.  When we NEED to do that God WILL provide.

551.  While my attempt at milky jelly (jello for my American friends) didn't quite look right, it will still taste fine.  I'll let it set up more next time before I whisk the milky stuff in.

552.  the apps on my phone that let me read and stay organised on the go.

553.  I was able to get the speaking slot I wanted for the Leadership Interactive course at church.  I have until May to prepare a 10 minute talk on Encouragement.

554.  Encouragement from a friend about my writing.

555.  Questions from another friend about my writing about who and why?  They may not be comfortable questions, but they will make me a better writer.

556.  Week of prayer at church, time to focus in, and lift up the body before HIM.

557.  Lunch with a family from church yesterday that went much better than I had expected.  Must return the favour but we can't sit that many people around our table, hmmmmmmm

558.  17 year old boys still want to sit with their mom sometimes on the sofa.

559.  The lime cordial that is making it much easier to drink more water each day.

560.  

If you wish to participate in blogging about your list of 1000 gifts or in Thankful Thursday, you can do so by clicking on the banners at the top of this post.

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This Week in the Craft Room

Quick update on what is happening in the craft room this week:

Painting - I'm working on my first canvas, a chunky canvas I picked up for less than £1, which I collaged with some scrapbook papers, and then painted over with various layers.  She's not finished yet.  I need to do the face and finish the clothes. I'm thinking about doing a crackle paint finish over the background at the bottom.

Art journaling - Worked a couple of pages this week.  One that recorded the words a friend spoke over me during prayer time at church and one that I started intending it to be that other one, but that morphed into something else as I worked.  Ho hum, that's the thing with art journaling, sometimes you discover as you work that this page wants to be something else.

Writing - I am currently working through "The Creative Call" by Janice Elsheimer, a Christian response to "The Artists Way".  Reading, writing, etc.  The current creative writing piece that I am working on is "Jochobed's Story".  The story of Moses birth and early years seen from his mothers point of view.  I'm working on it a little at a time and struggling with some of the background details.  I know Moses was 80 at the time of the Exodus, but how old would he have been when he left Midian and returned to Egypt?  Would that have been just months before the Exodus, or could it have been a few years.    It makes a difference to where and when I set the telling of the story.

I think it is reasonable to expect Jochobed MAY have had her first child as young as 14 or 15, women were married and mothers much younger back then.  If we assume that that first child was Miriam, and that Miriam was around 7 or so when Moses was hidden in the bulrushes along the river, then Jochobed could have been as young as her early to mid twenties when she had Moses.  80 years later would make her over 100.  Is it reasonable to assume she would still be alive at the time of the Exodus?  I know in the early parts of the Bible people lived much much much longer, but Moses himself lived to be 120, so????  In my mind it probably would be stretching it TOO far to have her still alive and telling the story then, which is why I am wondering how much earlier Moses came home.  If it was a few years, even just 3 or 4, then it would be feasible to set the telling of the story as one of the final things she does, telling the story to other relatives after Moses return.  Ho hum, thinks thinks thinks.

Other Crafty Pursuits - Hubby and I have just started a leadership course at church.  We were given the notes for the course as loose sheets, with the suggesting of putting them into a folder.  We don't have desks to lean on during this course, just have our notes in our laps, and I don't know about you, but I can't be doing with a whole folder open on my lap and a bible and a pen!

So I decided to get my Bind it All out and put something together with that.  I have some 2mm thick board, that I could use as the back, which would make it plenty sturdy enough to write on.  That way I could fold the pages I have already done around to the back and still be able to access the pages I needed, with just one A4 space on my lap.  I wanted to use some patterned thin card for the front but I discovered the patterned card wasn't quite A4, which all the papers are, oh dear!

Can you see that strip of pink at the top, yes, the patterned card is 5mm too short.  I grabbed some plain card, and trimmed the patterned card down so that it was 5mm too short on all 4 sides, and stuck it down using my ATG gun.

Once that was done I headed to my Bind it All.  Oooops, not concentrating and this happened:

It's supposed to look like this:

Don't panic, I found a way to still use this card.  We'll come back to that later.

I added in a couple of blank sheets of paper after each weeks notes since we are also supposed to journal our experiences on the course and this means I can keep those notes in there. Then I punched all the pages and the backing board then pushed the O wires through the holes and squished it up in the Bind it All.  For some reason I can't get my O wires to squish to circles, they always seem to go like this, with a kind of point in the middle, I wonder what I am doing wrong.

Now back to that badly punched bit.  I was so glad I decided not to decorate the front until after I bound it, because I was able to switch that round to the upper right corner, and cover it up like this:

Girly enough to be me, but not SO girly and pink that all the guys on the course (over twice as many guys as ladies), give me weird looks.

Oh and BTW, does anyone think it has been far too long since I emptied out the chamber on my Bind it All?

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