Bible Journaling Part 1

Since one of my 30 in 30 goals is to finish reading the whole Bible (ps. not gonna make it lol), I've ventured into the wonderful world of Bible journaling and Illustrated Faith. Yay!

Outside Cover. (Materials used: acrylic paint, 4x6 project life journaling card, dollar tree letter stickers)

At first I wanted to get an actual "journaling Bible" with the wide margin and fancy thick paper, but they carry quite a hefty price tag at $50.  Needless to say, that is way out of my budget for a new hobby/craft.  Instead, I went to my local goodwill and bought a paperback English Standard Version Bible for 99 cents ^.^

Inside Cover. (Materials used: watercolor pencils, watercolor paint, black precision pen)

As you can see, I created a cover for the front and water-colored a bit on the opening page.  That first 'entry' was the hardest.  I mean, as a child, I was taught NeVeR to write in the Bible unless you were highlighting scriptures.  So the idea of drawing in the Bible was a complete departure from anything I've ever done.

Genesis 1:31 (Materials used: gel matte medium, gelatos, acrylic paint, gold paint pen, black precision pen)

Now because I got a regular Bible, the pages are quite thin.  This problem let me to pick up a few mixed media supplies.  I purchased a bottle of gel matte medium from Michaels and that is perfect for coating the pages and preparing the for painting or whatever kind of media I decide to put on them.

Genesis 9:11-17 (Materials used:gel matte medium,acrylic paint, gold and silver paint pens, yellow marker)

I also got a pack of gelatos pigment sticks, a container texture paste and stencils, watercolor pencils, and various kinds of paints to use in my entries. 

Exodus 3:13-14 (Materials used:gel matte medium, gelatos, sharpie)

I've enjoyed using acrylic and watercolor paints on the different pages, depending on what "feel" I'm going for.  For instance, acrylic paints will cover the print on the pages completely while watercolors or gelatos stay transparent. 

Exodus 20:1-17 (Materials used: watercolor pencil, silver paint pen, black precision pen)

I will say, I'm not very good at using the watercolor pencils yet.  I'm having a hard time getting them to blend properly.  But no worries! There are plenty other scriptures to practice on and be inspired by.

Joshua 1:9 (Materials used: watercolor paint, sharpie, white acrylic paint, gold paint pen, washi tape)

My dream, when it comes to my Bible Journal, is to fill it up and keep it on our coffee table next to the family Bible Lamar and I got as a wedding gift.  That way whenever friends and family come to visit, they can see and explore it.  I think that will be awesome!

Crafternoon #9 - Shop Stocking

Hi there :)

Today's crafternoon consisted of me finishing one scarf for the shop and beginning another. I have some really interesting dye ideas for the second one.

Instagram of my finished scarf: stitch detail.

The idea for the second scarf is a dip/drip dye job. I plan to saturate the ends with fabric dye and then hand it so the color will soak down. With any luck I'll have an ombre effect that fades to the original white... we'll see. I'm kinda excited about this plan. There will definitely be photos of the progress.

Instagram of the beginning of scarf #2

I really want to put a lot of time into stocking the Etsy. Mainly because we've had it "open" for almost a year and it's still really... dead... for lack of a better word.  Most of our sales tend to be to friends who have asked personally for products. I mean, I want the Etsy to be successful... I have such big ideas for it.  I just have to get there.  I have to sit down and crochet until my fingers are stiff to make sure that I have product to put out there. I've got a lot to do. But lucky for me I love it.

In other artsy news, my lovely boyfriend has finished part one of his painting for his brother. He decided to do a grid gradient background and then paint the images on top of it. So he finished the last few squares last night. It looks really cool. I kinda want him to paint me one... or maybe two to hang by my bed... (psst... hint hint wink wink LMR). Anywho, here is a progress shot of his painting.

Needless to say, he's very proud of the progress. I'm proud of him too. :~)

Let's see... Roommate has been working on a cowl and it's turning out really nicely.  She's using a beautiful wine/burgundy color yarn & it's super soft.  Here's a pic I snatched from her instagram.

I'm going to call the pattern a modified granny stripe. She said she started doing the regular granny stripe, but felt the spaces were too big, so she altered it.  Gotta love crafty people taking on the spirit of Tim Gunn and makin' it work.

I think that's all for this week's crafternoon session. I'm going to get back to working on scarf #2. I have some other sewing projects in mind for these upcoming days, and I need to get on planning the yarn bombing outing.  There's lots to do here at Apt203 ^.^  Peace.

PS. This is how much my dogs care about my crafting...

Clearly, what I thought was a quilt-top layout plan, was actually a doggy wrestling ring.  Who am I to say different?? lol.

Crafternoon #8

Hey there.

We finally had another Crafternoon with more than myself, hurray!  Today, my friends Dee & Mimi came over for some diy time. Mimi wanted to crochet a scarf to wear in the winter & Dee wanted to learn to crochet.  So we had a crafternoon crochet lesson.  It went really well & now both ladies are working on double crochet scarves ^.^

This is the direction that I dreamed Crafternoons would take. I wanted to provide a place where people could come and learn a craft or teach one. That way, we create a melting pot of diy ability.

Cherie took a picture of me teaching Dee how to crochet.

Our crafternoon guests crocheting away at their projects :)

I wrote earlier that I finished my first official handspun yarn. I twisted it up into a wee little hank and it was very cute ^.^

Cute little hanky :) I love Kiva's face in the background.

I found this briefcase sitting outside our dumpster one night.  I decided to spray paint it. A quick coat of paint is a really easy way to spruce up a find.  First, I painted it silver, then taped the striped pattern, & then sprayed it navy blue.

Here it is mid process.

And here is the completed paint job.

I have since taken off all of the tape. The clasps and metal feet are silver and the handle is still the original black.  I'm not entirely sure where I would use it. Plus, the inside is a black/white houndstooth pattern that no longer goes with the outside.   Maybe I'll cover the inside... that's still in the design works.

Cherie worked on refashioning a shirt she got from her Grandmother.  She did a lot of nipping, tucking, and grommet setting and created a very cute lace up tube top.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it yet, but I will.

This was a great Crafternoon. Next week, I hope to host another Crafternoon just as great. :)