Illustrated Faith

I bought a Journaling Bible two years ago after seeing the nice wide margins that allowed for notetaking.  This is the Bible that I have, it is no longer in print but there are a wide variety of journaling Bibles available.

A few months ago I stumbled on Valerie Wieners Instagram account and immediately fell in love with her art.  I was slack-jawed that she added her beautiful art to her Bible!

Valerie Wieners Bible Journaling

I am not an artist but I am a good copier and creativity is free, or really cheap, anti-depessant therapy.  I am also a very visual person so the idea of reading God's Word and mulling over what I've read and putting that into pictures was incredibly appealing to me.  So I tried it out.

Then I went back and tried adding some color to some of my existing notes.

Pretty fun!  But the pastels I was getting from my watercolor pencils just wasn't cutting it enough for me.  I unearthed my boys' watercolors and started really digging in.

I soon learned that this art form has a name, or several names, Illustrated Faith or Documented Faith.  I found other Instagram accounts like Stephanie Ackerman, Shanna Noel and Little Bit Funky.

Everybody does it differently.  This is my every day Bible but others have a study Bible and just journal and doodle in their Journaling Bible.  Some ladies use rubber stamps and stickers, others use water colors and Prisma Inks.  Some stick to the journaling margins, others cover their whole page.  

There are websites and Facebook groups and Alaskan cruises!  Oh my!  For me, this is simply my fringe hours with God.  Some of my notes are from Bible studies, sometimes I write another translation, sometimes it's just my own interpretation of what I've read.

I've started carrying a watercolor palette with me and at the coffee shop I ask for a small cup of water and plop myself next to a sunny window. 

Sometimes there is only enough time to get out the colored pens and pencils. 

Other times I'm gifted with more time and I plug in my earbuds and jam out on Pandora.  If you see me at McDonald's in full-on worship mode, don't be surprised if I'm raising my arms - just praising Jesus.

This one was a poor excuse of a hack from Pinterest.  My apologies to the original artist for ruining your picture!

I'm so blessed that God put this in my path and is using this to make the Bible come alive in a whole, new way for me.  His Word is alive and active in me and I'm so enjoying allowing it to bubble up in whatever imperfect, humble way He allows.

If you're interested in this, Valerie, Shanna, and Stephanie all have much more concise and beautiful descriptions than I could possibly add to.  I encourage you to check them out.  But even more than that, I encourage you to just get started.  Yes, you'll mess up (like the time I wrote Esther/Boaz when I meant to write Ruth/Boaz...still trying to come up with a creative way to cover that up), yes your pens might bleed through or dribble on your page, you might smudge your handwriting or misspell a word.  But your Bible is a part of your legacy.  I have my grandmother's and my great-grandmothers Bibles.  They are full of four-leaf clovers and obituaries cut from the newspaper.  I want my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be able to look back through my Bible and see what spoke to me, where I struggled, what verses I was working on memorizing.  This, to me, is a great legacy to leave.

If you don't want to doodle directly in your Bible, try buying a journal and seeing what images God's Word stirs in your mind.  Above all, don't get caught up in the details.  It's about drawing closer to Him and for HIS glory!

Ice Candle Part Deux

I know I've posted about my ice candle before but the directions were shabby at best and I thought to take pictures when I made it this last time.

Start with two containers, the larger one is about 2 gallons, if  I had to guess.  I think it was from GFS Marketplace and had potato salad or something similar.  The other container is about 48 ounces.  I have also used the metal insert from my ice cream maker as the middle.  If it is taller than your big container, that is fine...it just has to be smaller in diameter.

Start by filling your larger container with water.  Only fill it about 1/3-1/2 at first. 

 

 Put your smaller container in the middle and put something inside the small container to weight it down.  Your small container will probably shift off to the side if you don't weigh it down.  

You can see in this picture we chose to use a bag of split peas.  I should share with you that if you choose peas or beans of any sort and then accidentally drop your ice candle while it's in the freezer, there is a good chance your bag will crash and break and the bottom of your chest freezer will be covered in dried peas.  

Now you will need something to keep your middle container from popping up.  Mr. Steady used lots and lots of tape.  If your large container has a lid - that is the best.  After I made this I remembered I still had the lid.  Oops.

 

Now, just freeze until it's frozen solid.  When you're ready to use, add some warm water to the middle container to loosen it.  Add a candle in a container (I like to use a pillar candle in a canning jar) and set outside on your front porch.

If the weather is cold enough and your ice candle is still in good condition and pretty solid, you can bring it back inside each night and just refreeze.  I used this one four different times.  This really impressed my friend who saw it on several occasions but didn't realize I had taken it inside each time and stored it in the freezer between times :o) 

I am going to keep my eyes open for containers and maybe do a trio of smaller containers soon.

Burp Rags

Regular ol' store-bought cloth diapers make great, thirsty burp rags.

 A small piece of flannel, cut to fit and sewn right sides together then turned out and sewn shut makes sure the back of your stitching doesn't show through and also finishes it off nicely.  Fun baby gift to make!

(Again, another set of pictures lost, seemingly forever, on the camera but lovingly recovered by my darling husband!)

"New" Towels

Sorry this post is belated, I'm having computer issues and couldn't get these pictures off the camera. Mr. Steady had to email them to me from his work computer. I did this project in November!

I had to trim some length off of our shower curtain, although I learned too late that I trimmed off too much, and, because I'm a fabric hoarder, held on to the cut piece for a while.  When I borrowed and renewed and then renewed again One Yard Wonders I found the perfect use for the scrap.  I ironed and folded and sewed strips on to towels we already had here. 

Then I got a crazy notion to add some polka dots to my shower curtain using some scraps of linen I had hoarded laying around.  I had never done any appliqueing before so I thought I needed interfacing, turns out I didn't.  I need to take those top two dots off, remove the interfacing and resew them on but I'm lazy and haven't done that yet. 

So, an hour or so of sewing and I had some new (FREE!) accessories for the bathroom.  I'll take it!

Handmade Christmas - Signs

This year for Christmas I was really inspired to make as many handmade items as I could, using materials I already had here at the house.  Financial reasons played heavily into this decision but also just the idea of cultivating a heart of gratitude in my children and wanting to be a good steward of things we (or others as the case may be) had already spent money on and were just sitting around. 

I came across this great idea on a blog a year or more ago.  When my mom passed away last December I saved what I refer to as "the pie list" off of her refrigerator.  She kept a list of what type of pie every family member liked on the side of her fridge.  I knew as soon as I saw it what I would do with it.  Mr. Steady took the list to the copy store and had it enlarged.  Then I took a picture I no longer liked and a stretched canvas I had purchased previously.  On the large sign for my dad I wrote "Pie fixes everything", a saying from a sign Mr. Steady and I saw on our second honeymoon two years ago.  Then around this I copied, using carbon paper, my mom's pies.  Dad's favorite is blackberry so it went on the center top.  I just kind of moved the others around until they fit.  Then I painted each pie type. 

 I did something similar for my brother, using the stretched canvas.  His favorite was coconut cream so it went first.  I didn't have room for the whole "pie fixes everything" so I just put PIE on his.

I think it's really fun to have a memento of a loved one's handwriting.  I have some of my great-grandmother and grandmother's handwritten recipes.  Even though I never met either of them it's fun to know what their handwriting looked like.

Joy Swap

 Monica and Carrie hosted another swap and I was so thrilled to participate.  My swap partner, Michelle, replied when asked what colors come to mind when she thinks of Christmas "red, green, silver, sparkly,"  So I took the sparkly silver and ran with it.  This theme was titled "Joy" so I tried to keep the theme the best I could.

I spotted a really neat large pinecone at a local boutique sanded with silver glitter and topped with other pretty sparkly things.  I recreated this by incorporating a sparkly "Joy", I bought a large greenery pick that had red berries on it, I tore this all apart and made two smaller picks, replaced the red berries with silver, sprayed the pinecones with adhesive and doused them with glitter.  I added some silver bells and a hanger of silver ribbon. 

I also sent three black and cream paper medallions.  I was going to make a garland with them or attach ribbon for hanging on the tree but decided to just include the ribbon and let Michelle decide.

When I was all out of ideas on what else to include I found this great ezine (click on the picture of the magazine) through Jenny Allsorts.  I completely forgot the contents of the swap were supposed to fit in a shoebox, hence the name "Shoebox Swap".  This caused a real glitch in the mailing process (they wanted $45 to ship this box Priority - yikes)!

You simply take a wreath form (instructions said foam but I had straw) and wrap with batting.  Then you layer strips of white and cream fabric.  As you wrap the fabric you can add bits and bobbins such as twigs, doilies, etc.  I made photo copies of Joy to the World sheet music then tea-stained it, cut into strips and pinned on.  Then I added a felt dove, the title from the sheet music, and a brooch.  The only thing I purchased for this was the wreath form.  I had all the fabric (white eyelet, creamy burlap, a cream with white pattern, white felt), batting, the silver twig was left over from the pick above.  My dad's girlfriend found the brooch in a parking lot and I begged it off of her :o)  Thanks Sue!

I added a bar of soap that said "Joy" and a package of Ohio Buckeye candy to complete the package.  Hope you like everything, Michelle!

UPDATE: I hadn't added what Michelle sent me - oops!  It was a really fun box that matched my personality and decorating style perfectly:

A tea towel, an adorable tin snowflake ornament, a really cute snowman head ornament, two wonderful smelling candles, a cute tin sign that says "Ring in the Season" and has rusty bells hanging from it.  A box of Stash Chai Holiday tea - yum, a star ornament (not pictured - it was hanging on the tree already), and my very favorite is that stuffed owl ornament with rusty bell feet - so, so cute.  Thank you Michelle!

Dolls

When I saw Monica's dolls I knew they would be the perfect Christmas gift for our two neices, one just turned two and the other will be two in February.  I was able to find the Craft Hope book at our library and it's chock full of very fun projects.  Here is the pattern if you can't find the book.  I scoffed at Monica's suggestion of making the seam allowances smaller but after I broke a seam ripper and stabbed my finger trying to turn those teeny tiny legs out I tossed them in the trash and made bigger ones. 

The doll on the left is for my brother's daughter, I made her a matching outfit for her birthday.  Hope the girlies like them!

Paper Medallion Tutorial

I spotted some gorgeous paper medallions at a local boutique recently and decided I had to have them.  But I have a disease where every time I look at a price tag I think "I could make that for way less than that."   So I went to Hobby Lobby and loaded up on scrapbook paper and then tried to find a tutorial online.  Only problem was I didn't know at the time that they were called paper medallions.  So I finally found several tutorials, all of which looked incredibly labor intensive and also required math which I avoid at all costs.  So I kind of combined a few and came up with my own process.  I started with a sheet of 12x12 scrapbook paper.  I would suggest using double sided if you can find it.  I cut mine into three strips, each 4" x 12".  Then I folded down the edge of each 4" side and glued together to make one long strip 36" long.  I started with Tombo, which I know some people swear by and to be fair mine is several years old but it didn't hold at all.  I ended up using hot glue and I think this made it sturdier overall in the end.

 Then I accordian folded the entire thing.  One of the authors of a tutorial measured every 1/2" and then scored her lines.  Yeah.  Pretty sure measuring falls under math.  I just eyeballed it. 

As an aside, this was the third one I did, the first time I did not glue the strips together first.  The problem with this was my folds were so random that it was really obvious so if you think you're going to fold each 12" strip and then glue together you'll probably want to measure and score.  As an aside to the aside, I did measure and score one of the medallions but a 1/2" fold is very tedious and quickly became a 3/4" fold and I'm pretty sure eventually ended up a 1" fold.  So your paper should look something like this when you're done.

 Take the two ends and glue together so it forms a circle.

 Thread a needle with embroidery floss.

Leaving a longish tail, sew around the top edge about 3/4" in from the top.  Tie the two ends of your embroidery floss together.  Your medallion will end up looking something like a lampshade.

 Cut a circle out of a contrasting piece of scrapbook paper.  I traced around a spool of ribbon then cut with pinking shears.

 Push the middle of your medallion down so it lays flat and glue your contrasting circle in the middle.  Add a ribbon to hang.

Fabric Flower Pins

Several of you have asked me how to make my fabric flower pin - here is the tutorial I used.  Don't drive yourself crazy making them perfect - they are supposed to be shabby and fun...make them yours!

Pysansky Eggs

My friend Carolyn invited me to her church's Pysansky egg workshop. She is a member of an Eastern Orthodox church. One of her church friends, Tanya, is from the Ukraine and offers this workshop every spring and it was a real treat. I was very overwhelmed when I saw all the elaborate patterns and designs you could do. Once Carolyn and Tanya walked me through step by step it was quite fun. It was a very relaxing day with a delicious lunch. Eastern Orthodox have a pretty strict Lenten fast, with the most strict of them fasting from all animal products including meat, dairy and eggs. So there were lots of soups, fruits and veggies.

You start with a white egg that has been blown out and cleaned. You use a special tool to melt beeswax and draw the parts of your egg that you want to stay white (you can draw with a pencil first). Then you dye your egg beginning with the lightest color. On the egg above I started with the yellow dye. Then you use your wax again to color all the areas you want to remain yellow and dye again. The next dye was orange. For the green dots you just use a qtip instead of dipping the whole egg. When you've done your last color you remove all the wax (by heating the egg in a low temp oven) and you get this beautiful design. It really was just amazing that it looks so complex was just step by step.

It reminds me of the scripture in Isaiah 28: precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there. Our life looks complex and messy now, He dunks and dips us into all sorts of things. But we are being refined and in the end when all the mess is wiped away we will be see what He had in mind all along, a beautiful and elaborate creation.


This egg was dipped just once in a single color, I liked the simplicity of it.

Easter Garland

Image property of Monica and Homespun Heart

Monica is planning on attending The Relevant Conference. I am trying not to be jealous because I would really like to go. But right now our funds are allocated to other more-relevant-to-our-whole-family-right-now things. Help Monica out by purchasing an Easter Garland (or Christmas Garland) for $10, she is trying to sell 100 garlands. She is also giving away a garland so go say hello and help her out.

Pilgrim Boy

Need to Want to make a pilgrim costume for your son with materials you probably have at home or can obtain for little to no money? Me too! But when I did a Google search I came up very short. So I had to use my brain and come up with my own ideas.

First buy a long sleeve black shirt, this shirt is going to stay as you bought it so it can be worn other times.

Next go to your sister-in-law's consignment store (if your sister-in-law doesn't own a consignment store you're more than welcome to go to my sister-in-law's consignment store) and buy a pair of black pants that are two to three sizes too small. It really helps if you find a pair with an elastic waist and your Pilgrim wanna-be is stick thin. Otherwise you may need to hem a regular size pair of pants.

Next borrow your older son's white soccer socks.

Go to Lowe's and try to buy a cardboard paint bucket. When you find out that they don't sell them go to two movie theatres and ask for a popcorn bucket. Feel really old and out of touch when the teenagers behind the counter look at you with dazed looks. Go through KFC drive-thru and ask for an empty chicken bucket. Try to do it with a straight face.

Place a paper plate upside down, center top of bucket on plate and hot glue in place. Let cool. Flip over, cut out center of plate leaving about 3/4" overlap. Then snip the paper plate at 1/2"-3/4" intervals and lay pieces flat against inside of bucket. Hot glue in place. Spray paint black.

Beg your family members for old black belts. Choose one, attach to hat and clip off excess.

Buy 1/8 yard of white felt, cut a shallow U shape out for the collar using your child's neck as a guide, attach a button and cut a button hole

Cut two trapezoids using your child's wrist as a guide, attach one button to one cuff, lose one button in the couch cushions, attach another button to the second cuff.

Receive an odd email from the teacher when you tell her you haven't started the costume yet. When your son comes home with a construction paper Pilgrim hat, say "oooohhhh, THAT'S what she meant when she said they could dress up like a Pilgrim or an Indian."

Relish all the hugs and kisses your little Pilgrim guy gives you.

Nursing Cover Up

Recently a friend of mine had a sweet baby boy and I made her a nursing cover up using the directions I found here. I had the boning and D-rings already because I had every intention of making one for myself when The Entertainer was born but didn't get around to it. Can't imagine that.

It's been a loooong time since I sat down at the sewing machine but it was very quick and easy to do. You simply take a yard of fabric, cut a strip lengthwise for the straps (although I agree with the author of the tutorial that the straps are still way too long). Hem around three edges, sew your straps up, add the D-rings, add the boning and voila. It's very modest and portable.