From the front, she's cross-eyed

While playing with Eden in her room yesterday:

“Eden, what are you playing with your ponies?”

“They are at school.”

“Oh, really?  What are they learning about?”

“They are learning about God.  They’re learning how to obey God.”

“Oh, great!  Make sure you tell them that they can’t obey God on their own.  They need God’s help to obey!”

“Well, they can obey a little bit.”

“No, they can’t.  Not by themselves.  Not deep in their hearts.”

“Oh, that’s sad.”

“Well… yes… until you remember that we are all the same!  We all need Jesus!”

“Oh, Okay!”

Praise God that he knew our hopeless state, and sent his Son to meet our disobedient, prideful hearts right where they were!  Praise God that he died for our sins, enabling us to be forgiven and obey, something we could never do alone!  And praise God for play time and opportunities to share the Gospel with little girls who, like me, want to try to obey all on their own!

An assortment of Jenni Bowlin Halloween papers, including a 3×3 grid piece of paper that can be folded into a mini album! (Video HERE )  Except… Well, let’s just say I had a few ‘reservations’ about the technique used to make the mini album and I felt the need to improvise a bit.  I think the overall effect is the same, and the paper is really fun to work with.  My other assignment is ‘My Choice’, and I can’t wait to get started!

Make sure you jump on over to Holly and Sheri’s blogs to see their materials for the month!  Also, Holly is having a giveaway in honor of her new ETSY shop, don’t miss it!!!

My supply pack this month consisted of a selection of papers from Bo bunny and Jenni Bowlin, along with an assortment of ribbon, a scrap of wallpaper, and a collage board.  (The collage board is a blank piece of wood with ‘hangers’ on the back)  For my collage board, I wanted to use something I had an abundance of (hence the forks), put together in a clean and fun way.  I really like the way it turned out, and it might have a permanent place in my kitchen some day!  Each fork holds a collage ‘component’ (lace, metal, wire, stone/beads, glass, paper) arranged in a way that is vaguely reminiscent of food (Inside the glass bottle are little pink peppercorns, the paper tag says ‘keep cold’!)  I had a blast with this, and it came together very quickly.

Jennifer from Mystic Paper told me that someone walked up to her at the counter holding my collage board and asked “Is this REALLY on sale for only $5?!”  ”No,” Jennifer gently explained, “that’s the price tag for the collage board.  That piece is not for sale!”  She has since removed the price tag from the back of my (finished) collage board!  I told her, next time, tell the lady she can have it for $40, and I’d split it with her!  (Not as good of a deal at that price!)

We are waiting on some new paper at Mystic Paper before our next Design Team project- Yay for CHA season.  But in the meantime, maybe I can do something with This paper from Graphic 45… I won a  24 pack on their blog this week!!!

The front:

The Inside:

Left side detail:

Chain Close up:

Right side detail:

Bottle close up:

(Notice the tiny key in the front bottle!!!)

Thanks to my dear friend who asked me to do this, and trusted me with something so precious.  It truly was a blessing to me.  What a gift it is to be a part of a church body where we can open ourselves up to one another, use our gifts to serve, and watch God’s glory be multiplied!

(P.S.  She LOVED it!  Phew!)

My kit this month is a variety of ‘Antique Americana’ papers from Bo Bunny and Jenni Bowlin, along with a variety of ribbon (first picture).  I also received a length of wallpaper border (2nd picture) and a collage board.  (The collage board is simply a piece of wood on which to create art.  There are notches in the back for easy hanging, as well!)  Our instructions this month are to create 1 scrapbook page, and complete the collage board.  I love when we are given freedom in our projects, but I have to admit, I needed a little help on what the term ‘Collage Board’ meant…  Basically, it meant I could do whatever I wanted!  Sweet!  I can’t wait to see what Holly and Shari create with their product!

I will be back to share my big project for the month of June.  A dear friend asked me to do a special project for her.  I was so honored, and I hope I did it justice!  Stay tuned!

Oh, yeah- EAT THEM!!!

For this month’s Mystic Paper Design Team project,  I decided on 3 scrapbook pages, one for each of kids!  (Photos taken by One3photo.com !)  The project materials for this month were Tim Holtz’s new Kraft resist papers, printed with both an ink pattern and an embossed ‘shadow’ pattern.  The embossing is seen more clearly when ink or paint is applied, and can’t adhere to the embossing- a new pattern appears!  Honestly, I’m not sure if I did the paper justice, or if I really ever ‘got’ the concept behind the paper (and this coming from an ink fanatic!), but I do like the way the pages came out.  Each one really captures their personality.  Each of the 3 pages has both green and red, fabric, and their initials.  Coordinated, yet individual!

Make sure to check out Holly and Shari’s projects for the month- both mini books using Tim’s new paper!

What fun!!!

Our Design Team kit for the month of may for Mystic Paper includes 8 sheets of the newest paper from Tim Holtz- his Kraft Resist paper.  Each beautifully printed piece of paper (each picture above shows 4 of the pages, the paper itself is like a paper bag) is also printed with another layer of embossed, water/ink proof in a coordinating design.  (In the first picture, the bird is printed in black, and lines of music are embossed above.  The embossed layer will show through paint and ink.  I can not wait to start experimenting with this fun paper!  Stay tuned to see where it leads me, and in the meantime, make sure to check in on Holly and Sheri to see their projects for the month!

About a year ago, I saw these in a magazine I enjoy, Cloth, Paper, Scissors:

and I thought they were sooooo cute!  Each of the black and white images on each face of the block houses were printed using a technique called linocutting.  It is a variation of wood carving:  the image is carved out of a block of wood (or in this case, blocks with a softer linoleum edge fused onto it) in reverse, then smeared with ink and printed onto paper, fabric, or whatever your little heart desires.  There are some lino carvers who are true artists (just search ‘lino’ on Etsy… wow!) but I have enjoyed carving a few, simpler pieces.

In my valentines box, you can see my very first attempt at a linocut block:  the little ‘O’s’ behind the X, printed on a mini canvas in brown ink:

Here is the little bird featured in my bird book (I printed the silhouette off of the internet, then carved the stamp with an X-acto knife):

A simple stamp with a lovely word: (the faint lines around the image are traditional in Linocutting)

Yummy, cupcakes!:

And, here is my favorite piece that got me started in the first place.  In 2010, a group of men and women from our church, Grace Bible Church volunteered to make a piece of art for each of our elders as a modest Thank You for all the work they do for us and our church.  I carved this stamp, an image of the cross and the Bible verse reference Galatians 6:14. (May I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world).  I used this stamp to print and frame gifts for the 4 deacons at our church, as well as make cards to accompany the elder gifts:

I enjoy being able to make designs in whatever pattern I want or need, with minimal cost and materials.  Any ideas on what my next Lino project should be?