Bible Journaling & More

I have been seeing blips & peeks the past few months on Bible Journaling & decided it was past time I did some art in my Bible & make my studies more personal.

Before I got to journaling, I had a slight problem with my Bible. I like tabs that make it easier to find the books quickly especially during sermons & studies. But the pages of my new The Voice Bible are pretty thin & the tabs were crinkling the pages & tearing. The Voice Bible is the newest translation on the market. I really like it a lot. It's easy to understand & gives a fresh perspective on God's Word.

So I got the idea to add washi tape to the edges to reinforce the tabs & add some color to my Bible. I understand this isn't an original idea, as I have met someone else who did this but it was original for me when I thought of it. It's lots of fun & adds color & personality to your Bible.

Then a few days ago, my SU! upline Connie Smith pointed me over to the Facebook Bible Journaling group & I asked to join. It's a closed group so you have to be invited or approved to join. Heaven!

Many, many years ago, one of the art groups I was involved with had a discussion about doing Altered Art in a Bible. To say the discussion went to extremes & everywhere in between is an understatement. As much as I wanted to do an Altered Art Bible, I let general consensus say it wasn't right or cool. Lesson learned, if you are OK with it & it helps you draw closer to God, God is OK with it.

I decided for now that I want to stick with my The Voice translation instead of a traditional journaling Bible. The smaller margins may prove challenging but I know I can also add in "pages" to enhance my journey.

So here is my 1st foray into Bible Journaling. I used a Sharpie Pen & Staedtler Watercolor Pencils. Until my daughters wedding is over, I won't have a lot of time to Bible Journal, but I will enjoy working on it every chance I get. So as I read & am inspired by the Spirit about a truth, I will make note or start a sketch related to it so I can return to it & create a page related to the inspiration received.

Doing art in your Bible is not for everyone. It's a personal choice & reflects your walk with God. We were all created to be unique by design. Embrace your uniqueness & the grace God speaks to your life.

Upcoming Classes

A quick post of my next 2 classes.

This class is this Tuesday at Whole Lotta Scrap from 6 pm - 8 pm. You will make 6 cards for $15 & get to play with some of the new Memory Box Christmas Dies.

This class is Monday Sept 22nd at Cornerstone Christian Church from    6 pm to 8 pm. You will make 12 cards for $12.

Hope to see you in class soon.

Studio Work in Progress

Will make a valiant attempt to post more regularly, but it's been a week already. What have I been up to? Well with my list of things to do growing longer with class designs, baby showers & wedding stuff, my studio as it was laid out was driving me crazy. It wasn't functioning well. My initial goal was to purge as much as possible & get my 2 rooms down to 1 room & actually have a guest space. 100 days to plan my daughter's wedding kind of put the clean out on the back burner for now. 

So I spent the past 3-4 days trying to make my work space as functional as possible under the current circumstances. I was trying to utilize what I already own and I was still able to purge a little bit in the process. I am currently celebrating every square inch of space I free up & declutter. So it's not ideal but it will work for the next few months of intense project deadlines. And sorry, no before pictures.

I replaced my 6 ft table with a 5 ft table. Now I don't have to play suck in the tummy or don't stub the toes trying to move around. Where the sewing machine sits against the back against the wall, were 2 cabinets I successfully got rid of. They were in the worst shape with the backs falling off & wobble issues. I was able to move most of my punches in from the other room & place on top of the cubby under the window. If you notice, they sit in serving trays, works perfectly. That's my second Big Shot on top. I have 2 for classes.

Across from my work table is my standing work station, I put the left section together earlier this year & added the right section a couple months ago. I successfully got it organized enough to bring in my Cricut from the other room, since I will be using it more for the upcoming project deadlines. My tools are lined up from the left side, Karl paper cutter, Score-it board, Big Shot, bit of work space & Cricut. The very far left corner is my scrap buckets sorted by color in file folders. I can grab pieces while cutting & designing without cutting new sheets of paper. May have to purge these some more, the folder you see on top far back corner is the patterned paper one & it's rather stuffed. Underneath that folder is the white & cream scraps. The basket behind the cutter is for scraps too small to use to put in the recycle bin rather than my regular trash. 

There is still a lot to reorganize but I can create more comfortably now while working on my massive To Do list. 

Off to get started on more projects.

Until I can figure out how to add the Facebook button, find me at www.facebook.com/lifeangeldesigns

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Facebook & Posting

Well I disappeared off the face of the earth again, just kidding. My knee took some extra healing time after surgery & I didn't take too well to the synvisc injections during July. However, I am happy to report that if not entirely pain free, I am again moving much better. Now on to crafty things.

I set up a Facebook page www.facebook.com/lifeangeldesigns  
and am going to do my best to post here & link it to facebook too. I am teaching classes again to my friends & at my favorite scrapbook store which reopened Whole Lotta Scrap. Plus I plan on designing & creating more in general. I have been successful most of the past couple of months reserving about 3+ hours studio time each week. Yeah!

Part of the reason I have been creating more was the Daisy Yellow ICAD (index card a day) Challenge. During the months of June & July we were challenged to create 1 card a day for 61 days. This was my first year to try it & of course I turned it into a 100 day challenge. These are the 1st four cards I did. It's been a lot of fun & a great way to design in small scale & use leftover bits & pieces. I am on day 95.

I also opted to try & read my Bible for 100 days & am working my way through the Psalms. Not on my computer or tablet or phone but actually pick up my Bible & turn pages & read.  I am on day 77.

So wish me luck in posting more. I may have to turn posting into a challenge too :0)

Have a Fabulous Labor Day Weekend!

We are off to visit the new Chickasaw Cultural Center tomorrow.

Cards for Troops News

Yep, I am actually posting. Been a crazy year so far, including a rotator cuff injury and knee surgery. However, life is good and full of blessings.

After careful prayer and consideration, I am officially retiring from event hosting for Cards for the Troops. Doesn't mean I won't still be making cards and a few select kits, just means I won't be taking it on the road anymore.

I hope you join me for our final Christmas in July Extravaganza on July 12th. Details on sidebar.

It takes a lot of hard work to put on these card making events, especially the design and production of kits that produce thousands of cards each year. Hauling a myriad of supplies out on location and back again is exhausting. Usually halfway through the year I am knee deep in items that haven't made it back to where they belong in my studio and desperately need re-organized. I am still pretty much a 1 woman show with assistance from a couple of good friends. I will be scaling down my participation in From Our Hearts to a much smaller scale. I will be focusing on smaller card making projects and the occasional private event.

It is also time for me to focus on new ministry ventures and exploring a wider variety of art. A lot of my personal art has been sacrificed for the basic elegant card designs for the troops. It is time to stretch, grow and evolve my style again.

I wish to thank everyone who has supported these efforts for the past 5 years and for making Cards for Troops a huge success in the Norman OK area. Your gift of time to make cards, donations of supplies (both for card making and for our troops directly) and some $ for postage have been truly appreciated. You have truly blessed our service members.

Here is an excerpt from a thank-you received at From Our Hearts, we have truly made a difference to our troops and their families.....

(note: this card was donated to our efforts)

I live in Maine and have two soldiers currently serving in Afghanistan:

          Our son – SPC Brandon W.

          Our new (6/8/2013) daughter-in-law – SPC Lisa W.

Recently, we received a beautiful card from Lisa for Halloween – all the way from Afghanistan! 

In the card, Lisa had asked me to send her some family and friend’s addresses for Christmas.  I’m just sitting down this weekend to do that … I had assumed that Lisa made the card, she’s creative like that … and for some reason I turned over the card and noticed:

Brandon and Lisa have only been in Afghanistan since October 4,2013 (which happened to be Brandon’s 24^th birthday) and I continue to be amazed by the thoughtfulness and generosity of fellow Americans.  Brandon recently received a care package from a church in Ohio.  Then Lisa received these homemade cards from your From Our Hearts “troops” across America.  What a great country we live in!

Simply wanted to extend a sincere THANK YOU to everyone that assists with creating these cards for our troops who are serving overseas.  It really is special to receive mail FROM them … and even more special when the cards are truly made from the heart.

If you could pass this email along to the person or group in Norman, Oklahoma to extend my sincere gratitude, I would certainly appreciate it.

With sincere gratitude,

Lou Ann W.

Enjoy your Memorial Day Celebrations and know you have made a difference to our military heroes.

Starting a New Year!

Yep, I've been absent for awhile again. I let life get way too busy & was getting exhausted for sure.

I have spent the past couple of weeks getting some extra rest soooo.....
am ready to dive into 2014 at a slightly slower pace. I sincerely hope to have a more focused, less hectic year but you know the verse:

The mind of man plans his way,

But the Lord directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:9 NASB

So we will see where this year leads. I am seriously considering limiting Cards for Troops to just a handful of events or stepping away completely. It has been a fabulous, exhausting 4 1/2 year run with over 25,500 cards created or donated during that time. Ministry and charity work takes over your life and sometimes you need to re-evaluate the direction you're going.

I am excited to start playing today with Creative Jumpstart 2014

It's always great to try new things and refresh your creativity. And on Jan. 24 & 25th I get to take classes with Joanne Sharpe at My Hearts Fancy in Oklahoma City, yeah!

I also have a new adventure in the works. "Hide Thy Word" will kick off next Thursday Jan. 9th from 7 - 9 pm at Cornerstone Christian Church. We will be converting some of our favorite scripture/memory verses into scrapbook pages all year. You will be designing a beautiful book to share and display your favorite Bible verses. Cost of the classes are free and is great for anyone on a budget, as you will need minimal supplies. I will be sharing some of my stash with you at each meeting. The first class is an introduction to some approaches you can use to create your pages with samples, discussion of supply choices, some beginning creativity time and if we need an alternative day for those whose Thursdays are busy. So I hope to see you there! 

Our Sassy Angels Stamp Club is full but I usually have room in my extra classes. So please feel free to contact me if a class is of interest to you.

I started a 10 cards for $10 class last fall. It was very popular with the Angels and they requested I develop more. You have to admit, it's really budget friendly. So we are kicking off January with a 12 cards for $10 class. A great way to build your card stash for the year. Now it won't always be 12 cards but I came up with a creative idea to make 12 budget friendly cards, so that's what we are creating. Class is January 27th from 6 pm - 8:30 pm with light nibbles served during class.

Here are the examples of our last two 10 for $10 classes:

I often find these samples, CASE them and change them up a bit. The first card is slightly fancier than what we did in class. Everyone got to choose a color of ribbon and then we created the cards. The bottom set was our Christmas 10 for $10 and I switched it up a bit, they got to make 5 of each style. The ladies supply their own adhesive and bling, although I usually have some on hand just in case. Sample coming soon for the 12 for $10 class. Email me if you'd like more info.

I hope your New Year is filled with wonderful creativity and a multitude of blessings!