Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Donatello and the Jaguar


I just spent the better half of my morning trying to calm a 5 year old who is clearly struggling with the most basic component of our human souls...and I'm pretty positive this won't be our last discussion of the subject ;)

I sat and listened to my exhausted son sob over the fact that he would no longer be allowed to get a Lunchable because of the choices he had made earlier in the day. I watched as he admitted repeatedly that although the rules had been clearly set before him, he had chosen to ignore them, and the consequences, because "I just wanted that toy!!!"

No matter how I spun the conversation, he kept returning to the fact that he just "wanted it!!!!"  After reminding him that he had just received MANY toys a mere 3 days ago at his birthday party, he sobbed, "but I just want to have ALL the toys so I can have more toys than anyone in the galaxy!" I have no idea where he gets his dramatics from. I blame Big A. ;)

Clearly I wasn't getting anywhere with my lengthy convo, so I resorted to visual aids. I must admit that I was pretty proud of my resourcefulness in choosing my characters, and feel that I truely captured my audience. Giant Donatello playing the part of our Heavenly Father?! Um, yeah, I nailed it.

T-man was played by a tiny jaguar. A very respectable animal, but significantly smaller than Donny.   I showed him where God wanted us by having Donny hold the jag. Then I showed him how each complaint that he had thrown at me all morning moved him further away from the Lord, BUT God never changed. He just stayed the same. Never moved, never turned away. Just waited for he jaguar's return.

The jag, however looked like he was getting attacked by a bee- running back and forth, to and fro, trying to make the "right" choice. Thankfully, at this point, T-man new exactly what the jaguar needed to do to return to a close hug with Donny. He told me the good choices that he COULD HAVE Made that would have allowed him to be closer to God, which he admitted was where he wanted to be.

The knowledge was there, but let's face it. His little heart was struggling something fierce!!! As I summed up what I thought to be a home run in the "life lesson" department, I showed him Romans 7:15-25.  Don't worry, I totally summed it up In kid version because SERIOUSLY, I have to read those verses about 20 times to get everything straight. Sometimes graphs are involved just to keep my thoughts straight!

Bottom line: I make bad choices. It's my sinful nature. I don't always want to make bad choices, but I usually do. I try hard to be "good," but it's hard and I can't do it on my own. So, PRAISE JESUS that he fights that battle for me!!!

Good stuff, huh?! I finished my epic presentation with a summery, at which point my son hit the harsh reality that he was REALLY NOT going to get a Lunchable...and began the fit again. :/

...this must be how God feels with us.

*****
I also used this book as a great learning tool, which is where the quote on my bible page came from!



Monday, August 17, 2015

He Won't Give Up on YOU!

It's good to be back in this Bible!!! I have been working in my Notetaker's Bible for a bit, and was missing my bigger bible! Not to mention, I thought I had LOST it!!! 😩

I was in complete panic mode when I went to work in it, and couldn't find it ANYWHERE!!! Thankfully, I had just left it at church after small group! Whew!

Our church has been doing a series on "FindingYour Way Back to God," through studying the parable of The Prodical Son.

For the longest time I really didn't like this story because I tended to relate to the "good" brother, and didnt think that that stupid brother who broke all the rules deserved a party AT ALL!!! (Anyone with me here?!). BUT, once I got more into life and realized that I, myself, didn't really make the best choices all the time, I saw this story completely differently! I had a NEED and a YEARNING for that grace that the Father (my Heavenly Father) so willingly threw at the "bad" son!!!

My most favorite part of this whole parable is Luke 15:20, "But, while he was still a long way off..."

Good grief, does that just sum me up!!! (Can I get an "Amen?!") I am still a LONG WAY OFF!!!

I have recently been feeling inadequate in pretty much all areas of my life. Nothing I do seems "good enough."  So, when I read God's words in Jeremiah 31:3, it just hugged my sad little heart!

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again..."

Well, Praise the Lord that He will Not give up on me!!! What a powerful truth!!!

I hope that if you have found yourself not where you want to be, or should be with the Lord, that you will take heart!!! He is eagerly waiting for you, even if you are "a long way off!!!

To see the whole process video, click the link below!

Thursday, July 30, 2015

New Bible, New Technique

My mom found these new little bibles recently called Noteworthy Bibles by Zondervan!  They are a little larger than pocket size, and my FAVORITE part is, get this, there is only text on the left side of the page, leaving the whole right side open!!!
I love creating in my other journaling bible, but I sometimes feel limited by the space that's given. I've really had fun working on a whole page!
So, as I was working in my notetakers bible today, I realized that I have done all of my painting WITH MY FINGERS!!! Ha! No brush, no credit card scraping, just my fingers...and I love it!!!
I think one of my favorite things about painting is the fact that I can spread and smear the paint with my hands if I want to, and there is just something so freeing about that!!!
I also haven't done a video of working in my new bible, but I will get right on that!!! 

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Illustrated Faith

This summer has been a great break for me to get a chance to work in my journaling bible!!! I love documenting the truths that the Lord has shown me through using the talents he has given me!!!

I've actually made videos (which if you follow my Facebook page, you've seen) of each of the pages shown here!!! I've been really excited to create, share and teach through this whole process! 

This spread is to remind me of the VBS that Brittney and I decided to do for the sweet little preschools from our weekly Story Corner!!! Ironically, as we were "letting our lights shine," it was pouring all 3 days!!! 😂 but, these moms and kids were faithful, and The Lord "reigned" through it all! ( see what I did there 😉)

This flap page is one of my favorites!!! The heart is made up of bits and pieces glued together, but when the velum lays over it, it's one beautiful piece-just how God sees us through the blood of Christ!

Aaaah, the passage of John 1:40- "I will make you fishers of me." Not only T-man's life verse, but SO much to absorb!!! I heard some amazing teaching on this passage from a husband and wife team last year at Bible Study. I was so furiously writing everything down because it was just so good!!! Now I'm having to add tabs into my bible just to get all of that meat in there!!! I totally love this journaling card, though!!!
Be sure to follow my Facebook page to see more process videos!!!

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

The Sketchbook Project!

I just mailed my sketchbook project yesterday! This was one of the hardest years for me to come up with an idea of what to make, mostly because I have been sewing, and out of my normal growth. After much thought, I am very pleased with what I created this year! I look forward to bringing the kids to Brooklyn in the future, and letting them see what we made! Enjoy!
























Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Bible Journaling- My process

Here's a bit about my journey.  I must preface this by saying that I am almost always the free spirit, go with the flow, "Oh, come on, just try it! It will be FUN!" girl.  I am usually working along side my mom who is hugely gifted in her artistic and creative abilities, but is always needing the rules and the boxes to keep everything in.
With that said, this was Hard for me to start.  It's hard for me to create "on command," and truthfully, I didn't know where to begin.
So, I began with my favorite verse. And paint. :D I feel comfortable with paint, and ever since the Lord brought me this verse about a month or so ago, I feel like it is our family's verse! It's what I want all of our hearts to be about, and this just sums it up! Anyways, more on that later. 
I wrote, I played with the lettering, and then I tried this:
I had seen a few people on the Facebook page do a house, and I thought, Hmmmmm, I can do that! So, I whipped out my Crayola watercolors, and went to town! (* I placed something plastic between the two pages because watercolors will bleed!)

That picture is not complete, but I will be finishing up the details later!

Ok, so I mentioned my Mom earlier.  These are some of her first pages:

Aren't they AMAZING?!  This is right up her alley!  She so clearly and beautifully illustrates the images that the Lord brings to mind through the Holy Spirit, and effortlessly depicts them on her pages!

After listening to the sermon that Shanna played for us at the Illustrated Faith workshop on Colossians 3, I was really drawn to verse 12 that says, " Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
He also spoke about being Transformed into our new life that has the qualities, and The Lord spoke to me about how wonderful it is that he always makes things new!!!
And, here is my page!
I felt a little bit more comfortable working with mixed media, but I am still trying to find my groove in this whole thing! I will keep pressing on, and hopefully make some videos of my process!

Monday, March 23, 2015

Illustrated Faith

Hi, friends! I had to share about the most fantastic workshop that Mom and I went to this weekend!!! We had the joy and privileged of meeting and learning from Shanna Noel about Bible Journaling! I had run across this concept about a month ago, and as I was beginning to love the whole idea, I saw that Mare had invited Shanna to come to Indy!!!!
Whhaaaaaaatttt?! I couldn't even believe it because I feel like the cool stuff never comes here!!!

So anyways, what is this bible journaling I speak of?!  Oh, yes, of course. :D
You can check out all of the details at Illustrated Faith, especially the Questions page, but I will share the gist of it here with you :)


Illustrated Faith is about using the creativity that God has given you (even if you think you don't have any!!!- Yes, even YOU can do it!) to document what he is doing in your life IN His word!  By journaling, illustrating, or coloring next to or around the scripture you are not only allowing those truths to dwell on your heart, but leaving a legacy "to the next generation" of the amazing works that He is doing!!!

Yes, it's fun to use paints, pens, stickers and washi tape (oh, the washi tape!), but as in everything else, it is about GOD!!! It's a way to work through what the Holy Spirit is teaching you and remember the amazing things that God is doing for you and through you!!!

At the conference, Shanna gave her testimony and shared with us about how she began journaling in her bible. Next, she had us listen to a 15 minute sermon and take notes.  We were then given complete creative freedom to document what we had gotten out of the message!

We were able to try new materials, seek Shanna's knowledge and guidance, and get to know those around us!  At the end, each of us shared our pages.
You know what?  I later realized that each person held their page up for about 7 seconds, and then spoke the rest of the time about what GOD had spoke to them and how GOD was working in their lives at the moment!

How. Cool. Is. That?!!!!

So, thank you, Shanna, for investing in us, for being obedient and faithful to the Lord's calling, and for being so super fun and fantastic as to give us all this amazingly special treat!!!
Stay tuned to see more on my process and techniques that you might like to use!

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Sew Much Sewing!

Happy Saturday!!!  Big A is out of town at a football conference this weekend, so the kids and I are enjoying the fresh snow that fell last night!  After the 15 minute snow suit application for the littles and I, and then sledding and traipsing through the snow, we are pooped!!! ...but in a totally good way!!!

We're enjoying our lunch and I was thinking about heading up to sew...and then I realized that blogging about sewing from my comfy chair sounds WAY more fun! ;)

I really got into sewing this past year.  Hobby Lobby kept putting their Simplicity patterns on sale for $.99, so obviously I had to buy ALL THE PATTERNS!!!  Ha!  At least that's how I felt at the time!  Plus, I've been collecting gorgeous fabrics from my trip to Chicago, and Crimson Tate downtown, and of course, Hobby Lobby, so I put them all to good use!!! 

My niece, Story, had a Princess birthday party last June, and I used one of my new patterns to make Liv a princess dress!!!  It is fashioned after the Tinker Bell fairy dresses, and I must say, I can't actually still believe that I made this!!!  She looked absolutely beautiful fluttering around outside...plus it's all pink, which makes it even more awesome ;)
 This dress was from a Project Runway pattern for kids!  So, of course, I worked furiously in the dining room at my sewing machine during nap time for daaaaaaaayyys, pretending that I was in a clutch "make it work" moment and only had one day to complete my task!  ;)  My friend, Hilary, gave me this gorgeous fabric because...she has a boy :/  So, I did her proud and made Liv this fancy dress!

 This summer while at Hancock Fabrics, I found these amazing graphic prints of bikes and sewing machines, so I whipped this little beauty up during a nap time so she could meander the park in style.
 Oh. This dress.  Be still my heart!  I stumbled on this fabric and about fell over!!! ... I probably get WAY too excited about things, which is also what the lady cutting my fabric must have thought as I stood there gushing over it!!!
 I used this tutorial from Pinterest!!!  As she is getting bigger, she can still fit into it, although this summer it will probably be a shirt!
 After that, I decided to try something for myself!!!  The pattern said "easy" on the front, so I figured I'd give it a whirl!  Not knowing what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised!!! I really like being able to say that I made my clothes!  :D
 I had found this tutorial on Pinterest, and this adorable polka dot fabric around the same time, and I LOVE this little tunic!!! 
 She debuted it at Thanksgiving this year, and can you believe that she did not stand still even ONCE for me to get a great picture of her in it?!?! (I can! ;)
 I also dabbled in Kimonos this year!!!  They are the perfect light layer to add pizazz to any plain outfit!!!
 Once it got cold enough, I began making Kozy Kimonos out of fleece to keep us all nice and toasty...which they do!
 And, of course, if you follow me at all, you know that I've been making a gaggle of Babushka Softies this year!!!  This is just one group of the MANY I've made that are actually being sold in our friend's restaurant shop!
 I thought I'd throw this one in for fun :)  Our small group had an Ugly Christmas Sweater party this year, so I channeled my inner Ann, and recreated a combo of outfits she made for us when we were little!! My sweater both sparkled and shined, and Andy, well, his snowman was very happy! LOL!!!
 Here are my Valentines Babushkas that have a pocket on the front for you to leave notes to your little love in!!!
 Oh. Livie's 2nd Birthday Dress!!!  This dress was made from fabrics that I got in Chicago, from a pack of fat quarters I got for Christmas, some from my friend, Hilary, and adorable little Babushkas on the apron! 
 Since Liv had a Doll Party this year, I made each girl a small flannel Babushka softie to take home!!!
 Thank you, if you made it through this whole post! ha!  Let me know if you have any tutorials that I should try!