One World One Heart

I’ve been talking about it and it’s finally here! The One World One Heart event sponsored by the Whimsical Bohemian.

I stumbled onto One World One Heart when I first started blogging three years ago and I found a LOT of my current blogging buddies by going around and leaving comments on a LOT of blogs!!! Remember, this was when I first started blogging and I had a lot of time on my hands. I don’t remember how many participants there were that year, I’m pretty sure over 500. I even won a few things. This is a wonderful event and I’m hoping to find some time to hit some of the blogs this time as well.

Each participant sponsors a “door prize” of sorts. I have made a beautiful Butterfly Quote Book for my prize.

The book has five pages and I put my favorite quotes about butterflies on each of the pages (9 quotes). I decorate each page with lace, ribbon and trim, as well as some beautiful handmade flowers with hand cut and punched leaves.

I also used some punched butterflies with pearls and some vintage buttons.

I have literally been thinking about making this for years. I have collected my favorite quotes, bought the chipboard album (don’t worry, I have more than one) and even had it all pictured in my head. When I was thinking about what to make for OWOH, this immediately came to mind. Now that it’s finished, it will be so hard to part with. I’ll be making a very similar one for myself!!!

So, there’s just one rule, well two. Please, you must have a blog and you must leave a way for me to contact you. Leave your email address as myemail (at) hotmail (dot) com or you will receive a lot of junk email (trust me, I know).

That’s it! If you didn’t come here from the One World One Heart event post, go take a look. You will see some beautiful art! If you like what you see here, feel free to have a look around. I’d love to have you back!!!

Blessings,

Christine

Art Journaling

I mentioned before that one of the things I’ve been doing this year is Art Journal Everyday.  I’m pleased to say, that I have journaled everyday.  I have to admit that I have considered my Soul Restoration class to be journaling but I don’t know how it couldn’t be considered art journaling.  You are thinking about your feelings on a subject and then creating art about it.  That’s art journaling!!!

So, other than Soul Restoration (which I’ve already shown), this is what I’ve created.

 

This is the inside cover of my main art journal.  I spent the first several days working on this spread to get myself excited about art journaling. 

 

This is a page I’m working on for the Strathmore class.  They suggested using your own artwork but since I don’t really have any, I found a picture that would fit with what I was going to journal about.  The journaling will be a quote by Marilyn Monroe.  This seems to get put aside and hasn’t gotten completed yet.

 

I completed this spread in preparation for my Soul Restoration class.  What I didn’t realize is that this was very similar to our first lesson.

One of the things that I’ve been loving about art journaling is gathering things from around the house and my craft room to express the things that I want.  This page didn’t turn out exactly as I wanted but it was a lot of fun to put together!

 

A couple of weeks ago, I was having a really bad couple of days and just wasn’t feeling very Brave.  Are you signed up for the Brave Girls daily emails.  If not, you should be.  They send out some very inspirational emails each evening.  I remembered a particular email where Melody wrote about your good mood being a flower and I decided when I read it that I was a daisy.  So the day I wasn’t feeling very brave, I wrote my sad feelings on the right and then drew daisies all over the page.  It really did help me feel better.

Another nice things about art journaling is to try out new products.  I used two new to me products on this page, watercolor crayons and Pitt pens.  As you can see, the pens ran a little bit on the left but not on the right.  I did some water coloring before the pens had completely dried on the left.  I kind of like that look better!!!  It really softened it.

Also, I’m getting a little more comfortable drawing.  I know, I was only drawing simple flowers here but I’ve drawn more this month than I have in the last 25 years and that’s definitely a good thing!

 

The final page I’m sharing this month is a page I did about this week’s Soul Restoration lesson.  This week was kind of hard for me and I realized so many things about myself.  I needed to write some of the things down about how I was feeling.

I used a painting technique that Melody showed us in the Soul Restoration class.  I’ve seen it before but hadn’t tried it yet.  You squirt a bit of craft or acrylic paint on the page and then you spread it around with an old credit card.  I LOVE this technique and have already used it on other things.

I will share this weeks Soul Restoration project plus a couple of truth cards I have made with you on Monday.

I have finished my project for the One World One Heart giveaway.  It’s drying now so I will be photographing and posting it tomorrow.  After that, I’m going to work on some DT things for the week so I can get right back to my Soul Restoration when the new lesson is posted on Tuesday!!!  I live for Tuesdays lately!  I’m not sure what I’ll do when the class is over.

Speaking of Soul Restoration, registration is now open for a new session that will start in April.  They also have Soul Restoration II that will begin in June.  I’ll be in on that one for sure!!!

I guess that’s enough for now.  Have a peaceful Sunday everyone!!!

Blessings,

Christine

Laugh a Lot

I think that’s what we all need to remember in life—Laugh a Lot.  You can’t be sad when your laughing.  And little kids that look like this are sure to make you laugh!!!  I’m sorry but I don’t know who the stamp manufacturer is.

This is one of several images I have colored and not gotten made into cards.  Some of them are several months old.  I know the inspiration will come sometime!

How’s your week going?  I’ve had a good week.  Lots of creating time.  I need to take some photos of my art journals so that I can share those with you.  Now, I’m back to work on my Soul Restoration assignment for this week.

Happy Friday!!!

Blessings,

Christine

Deets:
Medium-Copics; Image-?; Ink-Momento; Paper-My Minds Eye; Ribbon, buttons-Papertrey Ink.

Challenges:
Creative Card Crew--For men
Allsorts--Male/boy
Card Patterns--sketch
Sentimental Sunday--color inspiration

McMahon Five New Release

 

It’s release time at McMahon Five Designs again!!!  How sweet is that!!!  This week I made a card with this beautiful victorian floral banner digital image.  Love it!  One of my favorite cards ever.  I used Basic Grey’s Capella paper, a Hero Arts sentiment and a Wilton doily for my card.

Be sure to take a look at all the images all the way down because there’s a freebie at the end!!!

 

Young Lovers

 

 

Lovers Embrace

 

 

 

 

 

Shurayuki

 

 

 

 

Fairy Flower Vertie

 

The Wishing Flower

 

Harlequin Quilt in Blue Satin

 

 

 

Floral Banner

 

As an added BONUS this week,
Shawne is offering a Charm Digi Set
FOR FREE
and asking you to play along in her
Charm Theme on her Challenge Blog!

Hurry! Challenge ends Monday!
$25.00 in Images Up For Grabs!!!

 

To see all the projects by the lovely Design Team, please visit there blogs!

Amy, Carolyn, Kristine, Lorie, Michelle, Raven, Ruby, Shelly, Sue

Blessings,

Christine

Challenges:
Copic Creations--What’s new
Paper Play--Layer it up
Basic Grey Challenge--Flower power
Sketch Saturday--Sketch

Be the Poem

Hi!  It’s Christine again with my card for the Paper Maniac Inspirations blog.  Our theme this week is Copic coloring. 

In the fall of 2009, I was thinking it might be about time for me to start getting some of these Copics that everyone was talking about.  I loved how people did shading and that there were so many colors to choose from.  Well, about that same time I stumbled upon the Paper Maniac store. 

They had just started the Copic Coloring Club so I bought the first kit thinking that if I didn’t think it was worth it, I would at least have enough pens to color as many pumpkins as my little heart desired (it was October)!!!.  Long story short, I have no idea how many Copics I have now but I’ve gotten every kit from the store plus many others.  I REALLY love coloring with my Copics.  Can you believe they are even a cure for migraines?  I had a migraine when I started this card and now it’s gone.  It just really relaxes me to color—I feel like a kid again!!!

I chose the Unity Be the Poem stamp by Suzi Blu.  I LOVE Suzi’s stamps!!!  I used the Homespun Chic paper by GCD and Melody Ross.  There are so many beautiful papers in the stack with such a whimsical, vintage feel.  I’ve been using these a lot in my soul restoration projects!  The buttons and ribbon are Papertrey Ink.

I also took a photo of the Copics I used just in case you are interested.  I guess you can’t see the names very well but you’ll probably get the idea.  I better get back to my Copics; I feel that migraine coming on again! (*giggle*)  I’m still getting used to my new camera.

See ya’ next week!!!

Blessings,

Christine

Fairy Princess Birthday

I’ve mentioned before that I make birthday cards for my sister’s Sunday School class.  The kids are 3 years old when them come into class, turning four.  I the stories that she tells about them!!!  They are so fun!

I bought this My Favorite Things sentiment stamp just for the purpose of these Sunday School cards.  It’s a very sweet princess verse!

That’s it for today.  I’ll be finishing up more cards tomorrow since I’m all current on my Soul Restoration class.  I kind of miss making cards.  It’s been awhile since I made any cards except DT projects.

Have a great week!!!

Blessings,

Christine

Deets:
Medium-Copics; Image-Pollycraft; Sentiment-My Favorite Things; Ink-Papertrey Ink; Paper-DCWV; Ribbon-Papertrey Ink; Buttons-Papertrey Ink; Other from stash-twine.

Challenges:
Flutterby Wednesday--open
Creative Belli--The letter “P”
Dutch Dare--sketch
Crafts for Eternity--String, flower, button
Stamp Something--Cute something
Pile it On--Anything goes

Missing but Busy

Sorry I haven’t been on the blog much lately, plus not visiting as much.  However, I’ve really been busy in my studio.

First of all, I bought myself a new camera for Christmas and when I received the confirmation page, it said that it was on backorder until February.  Well, it came yesterday and I’ve been taking pictures of EVERYTHING around my studio including…

my Chloe!!!  Isn’t she sweet!  I have to watch her around my sister because she want’s to take her to the orthodontist to get her teeth fixed!

A few weeks ago, I outlined my schedule for the first several weeks of 2011.  I have mostly been working on Brave Girls Soul Restoration class and Art Journaling Everyday.  I have been working on my art journals each day and I’ll share some of that with you in the next few days.

So, we’re nearing the end of the second week of Soul Restoration and I want to share some of the projects with you.  Some of them are very personal and I don’t plan to share them on the blog.  I have purposely made many of these photos small because the are very personal and contain a lot of raw emotion.

Our first assignment was to make a book cover and title page for our Soul Restoration book.

I love the Oregon Coast and it’s my favorite place to vacation.  It recharges my batteries!!!  I found a photo on a realtor site for a beach cottage.  (I want to own this house if anyone would like to give me $295,000-1bdr-yikes!)  I used the cracked photo technique (with UTEE) to make it look like an old postcard.  I forgot to put the postmark on it before I embossed it.

I made the album cover with duck cloth canvas and then colored it like sky and sand with watercolor paints—back and front.  I don’t like the ribbon I used so I’ll be changing that out with some crinkled rayon seam binding in tan colors.  Then, when the book is finished, I’ll add some more crinkled ribbon in blues and tans to the rings.

 

This is the title page for the book.  I’m not going to get into much of the meanings behind these out of respect for Melody Ross and all the work that she and the rest of the Brave Girls Club staff put into this class.

 

More pages in my Soul Restoration book.  (DP is from Melody Ross’ paper by GCD that is now available at Paper Maniac.  Love this stuff!)

 

The principle of a truthteller is a big part of Soul Restoration.  A truthteller is a very private decision that must be made before the Soul Restoration process can be completed.

 

We only had one main project for week two—our timeline.  Since I’m over 40, my timeline went onto the second side.  Can you see the three small manila pages in there.  I’ve reserved those for actual photos from those periods of time.  I’ll probably be adding bits and pieces to these in the next few days.  I already see something that I left of.  I want to put a chipboard heart at the time point where I received my transplant.

Thanks for taking a look! 

 

I’ve been working on a project that I will be giving away at the One World One Heart blog event.  I’ve got everything done but the embellishing—the fun part!!!

I’ve got a few images colored and ready to make into cards so I’m hoping to get a few of those done soon.  Tomorrow I’ll have another new M5D image from Thursday.  That’s the first thing on my list for tomorrow!

Plus, in a few days I’ll be back with some things from my art journals.

Have a beautiful Sunday please!  After what seems like weeks and weeks of rain, we will be having sunny weather in the 40s!  Yay-maybe things will dry out a bit!  My lawn is so soggy you  can see my footprints when I walk across!!!

Blessings,

Christine

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Peggy from Miss P Productions

is the winner of the box of goodies.

Thanks so much to everyone who commented and allowed me to celebrate my happiness with you!!!

Blessings,

Christine

Blogoversary Giveaway!!!

Giveaway Closed—winner has been chosen.

How about it? I’ve told you it’s coming and now it’s here!!!

I gathered some supplies together for a fun altered project.

I started out with this……then this.

I’ve been wanting to make one of these for a long time so I’m giving it to one of my wonderful blog readers!!!

But that’s not all. I spent a few minutes this afternoon gathering some of my favorite altering goodies to share with you! These are some of the things that I would use if I were making one.

Paper. I cut up a few of my favorite 12X12 papers to 6x6 so they would fit in the box. As you can see, there’s some Kaiser Craft pearls in there as well as some blank tickets cut with Tim Holtz Sizzix strip die.

Ribbons and trims. I cut some pieces of my favorite trims (some are vintage) as well as a couple of rolls of Prima Ribbon. I’ve added some of my hand dyed seam binding as well and I will be adding more as I make some new colors for projects that I’m working on from now ‘til the deadline.

There are also some Wild Orchid Crafts flowers and leaves to which I will be adding more as well—some Prima’s and other misc. Maybe even a few handmade flowers!

Trinkets. Some 7 Gypsies flash cards, Tim Holtz tickets and pins, and other things from my stash. I gathered these in just a few minutes and will definitely be adding to this group!!!

Buttons. The white ones are from a big bottle of vintage buttons I got at a thrift store and the colored buttons are misc. colors by Papertrey Ink.

Stamp Set and Die. I accidently bought the Papertrey Ink Fillable Frames set and Die twice so you’ll be getting this one!!!

Glue and Cleaner. I know a lot of people use Glossy Accents almost exclusively for their gluing needs. I like to use Mat Accents instead. Glossy accents can leave a little shiny spot if you use to much glue (which I do often) and Mat Accents doesn’t do that. You will also get a bottle of this tool cleaner which I accidently purchased twice as well. Your bottle will be full though. Your’s is still wrapped in the bubble wrap for shipping.

Like I said before, I will be adding things from my stash to this pile as time goes own. That way you’ll have some fun surprises when it comes to you! If you win that is!!!

All you need to do is leave a comment and add a link to my blog with the picture at the top of the post on your blog somewhere. And please, only enter once to be fair to everyone. I will ship internationally. I will draw for the winner using random.org on January 20!!!

Send as many people over as you can. So, go forth and bring people back!!!

Blessings,

Christine

Live…Laugh…Love Life

Hello ladies!!!  Today I have another new release for you at McMahon Five Designs and guess what?  It’s the time again where we give you a gentle reminder to do your self check.  If you do, we have a free image for you and I made a card with that image.

Since the month of February is Organ Donor month, we are highlight Organ Donor Awareness.  (Sue has written more about that later in the post.) 

I colored my image in the colors for Organ Donation and used an Awareness pin in the middle of the flower as a fun embelly.  Then the recipient of the card can take the pin off and put it on their lapel.  I handed out a lot of these pins ever since I was put on the transplant list.  I love that image!!!  As with last month’s image, it’s appropriate for any type of awareness.

Deets:  The DP is Basic Grey, the rose is cut from American Crafts ribbon and I added some Making Memories (I think) gold pearls.  The ribbon is vintage.

 

The Rose

Hearts

 

Emmaline

 

Winters Champion

 

Meadows Sunset

 

Valentine Buttons

 

Exclusive Line of Acrylic Stamps
By D'Amour Allure
Wishes of Love

 

Even though our focus is Breast Cancer Awareness, our images can be used for many other cancers and diseases.  Listed below are the Awareness' for February.

One is very near and dear to our Hearts.  Literally.  Our very own Christine, is a Heart Donor Recipient.  You can read about her story HERE.

If you aren't an organ donor, please consider becoming one.
It can save a life....like Christine's.  There are currently 110,179 people on the waiting list for a new heart.

You should also know that even if you sign up on the back of your drivers license, you should also register with your state.  In an emergency situation when minutes matter, it makes it much easier for health professionals to know your wishes if you are registered with your state. Please sign up with your state HERE.

After you have completed your self breast exam this month,
this beautiful digital stamp is yours FREE!

Live, Laugh, Love Life

 

AMD/LOW Vision Awareness Month: www.preventblindness.org
American Heart Month (Red or Red & Blue Ribbon): www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4441
International Prenatal Infection Prevention Month (Pink & Blue Ribbon): www.groupbstrepinternational.org 
National Children's Dental Month: www.ada.org/prof/events/featured/ncdhm.asp
National Wise Health Consumer Month: www.aipm.net/wise
Give Kids a Smile Feb 5th: www.givekidsasmile.ada.org 
National Wear Red Day Feb 5th (Red Ribbon): www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth
Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Week Feb 7-14 (Red or Red & Blue Ribbon)
Burn Awareness Week Feb 7-13 (Red Ribbon): www.burnawareness.org
Children' of Alcoholics Week Feb 14-20: www.nacoa.org
National Donor Day Feb 14th (Green) (3rd Thursday of Jan): www.organdonor.gov/get_involved/nationaldonorday.htm
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Help us spread the word!

To see the rest of the teams creations, please visit the Design Team blogs!

Amy, Bonnie, Carolyn, Christine (me), Kristine, Lorie, Michelle, Raven, Ruby (guest designer), Shelly, Sue

Blessings,

Christine

p.s.  I’ll be back later this afternoon with the winner of my giveaway!  If you haven’t entered, theirs still time!!! Stay tuned.