Jesus is the Reason!

Good Thursday all my crafty friends! Well, I am so glad to be posting again today because as I noted yesterday, this will be the only time I can post until after the 1st. When you live in the country, you can't get internet!!! LOLOL How is that even possible?? With technology today, it should be a given, but alas, not in south Georgia! LOL

So today I am going to post my last two challenges of the year, which I hope sets the precedence for next year! I confess, this past year was a real stinker for me and posting! I had a very challenging year, but God in His infinite wisdom and love, saw me through it all! I'm so VERY THANKFUL and GRATEFUL for my Heavenly Father all year long, but most especially at this time of year when we celebrate His most AMAZING gift of love to us all in the form of His Son Jesus Christ! LIFE, and life MORE abundantly! When life's stresses, hustle and bustle and furry of the holiday season seem to way on you, won't you take the time to reflect on your year, count all of your blessings, tell your family you love them and most importantly remember the REASON FOR THE SEASON in the form of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! What great love, mercy and compassion our Father in Heaven has for His people! Happy Birthday Jesus!

So as a part of the Pick A Stick Challenge over on the Facebook page of the same name, here are my December submittals for the journal page and ATC! First up, my journal page! I don't get on Facebook too much anymore expect for my challenges and family contacting, so when I went to the page, I just laughed to so others's journal pages because apparently we were ALL thinking the same way this month! You will see quite a few pages that have the same theme style as mine! I love it! We were in sync and on point this holiday season! Not the intention, of course, but a happy coincidence!

I had fun this month mainly because we all love Christmas and crafts for Christmas just seem to come easy! :) But you will see the drawn stick requirements below:

As most of you know for this challenge, the only requirement is that you craft your journal page in the order of the stick pull! The fun, of course, is coming up with ideas to do those requirements and obviously the challenge is doing them in order! I do come up with snags sometimes, but this month was a breeze!

I gesso'd my page and then applied assorted acrylic colors with bubble wrap. I then added my "hanging" stars with my non dominant hand (in my case, my left!) You should have seen me trying to get the glue down and add the strings and starts with that hand! I might have had an evil look on my face during parts of that fiasco! LOL The next was to drip paint, so I dripped some of my Daler Rowney liquid acrylic from the top down and dried and took some of my Caran d'ache crayons and colored around here and there and then applied water them to soften up.

Now, the alcohol is always a mystery to me, but I just took a pipet and put a little alcohol in it and then sprinkled here and there and then blotted. I really can't tell that it did anything, but there you go....I complied! LOL I then took my Big Brush Pens and colored the edges of my page to fulfill number 8 and tenn number 9 said doodle around the edge. So I doodled the top edge to have dangle downs! I wasn't sure about using the straight edge what it really meant, so I took my Tim Holtz tool and distressed the edges because I wasn't really sure? Oh well, voila! Page done! 

Added incentive is to then do the ATC Challenge from three sticks pulled from the 10 that were pulled for the journal page. My ATC was also a breeze and so much fun this month! 

The stick pull is as follows:

I gesso'd the ATC firstly because I wasn't sure what I was going to do, no harm, no foul, but I ended up wishing I hadn't! Oh well! Reason being I had to "color with markers" first! Eeek. But it turned out ok. I took a circle stencil from Donna Downey and used my Faber Castell Big Brush Pens through the stencil here and there. Kind of hard to see them now that they are mostly covered! Then we had to doodle around the edges,which I also did with my Big Brush Pen and then I covered it with and "antique colored" modge podge and while it was still wet covered with Ranger Rock Candy Glitter all over and then dried it! You soooo can't see it in this picture, but it's yummy glittery!

I had this wooden Santa in my stash, so I gesso'd him and painted him and also covered his beard and fuzzy on the hat with the same glitter. I then distressed the edges with Vintage Photo and did the same with the ATC. I put that little guy on with pop dots and then did the same with my "be merry!" Voila, ATC done!

Love, loved this months challenge! Thank you so much Pick A Stick Team for ALL (YOU GUYS ARE THE BOMB!!!) you guys do to keep this challenge going every month and I'm so thankful to be able to take part (even if it was slim this year) and meet new crafty folks and see all their amazing craftiness! My challenge for next year to to be able to do it each month!! Fingers crossed! LOLOL

Merry Christmas to you ALL and a VERY BLESSED New Year! May 2018 be FULL of joy, peace and prosperity for you!

Blessings 

WOYWW #446

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends!! Christmas time is near!!! I would like to report that since my open confession last week that I had not bought ANY Christmas gifts yet.....I have since bought a few!! Woop, woop!! Can you feel the excitement!! LOL Now, that by NO means is to suggest that I am even NEAR through, but hey....I still have four more days! LOLOLOL

So it's that time of the week that we show off our digs as a part of WOYWW over on Julia's blog Stamping Ground!! Come check ALL the lovely crafters' desks and perhaps play along! This week I a going to share several photos (sorry Julia), but MAJOR squeals are coming from my "art closet" and I have to share!

A couple of weeks ago I shared about my wonderful, long time coveted, Christmas gift to myself and this week I want to share that......IT'S HERE!! Yipee!! I'm doing the jig, doing the jig, doing the jig!!! LOL Yes, you could rightly say that it really doesn't take much to make me happy, and I mean that literally, but this long awaited gift to myself makes me squeal with delight! So what is on my work desk this week?????? NOTHING!!!!!!!!!! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!! LOL

Oh the glory of it all.....or none! LOL

Look my friends.....I have elbow room!!! I can ACTUALLY see the top of my desk! I was about to bust to get my new gift out of the box and put it together! And I did. I finished about midnight the night before last and had to FORCE myself to go to bed and not start cleaning my art closet! But alas, I did and last night I came home and began cleaning and organizing with my new found space!!

So you really can't tell about my space because of the angle of this shot and because my closet is so small I couldn't show more, but my cart is there for you to see with all it's glory and you can see that I have underneath storage units that are filled with goodies and then the storage units go to the left behind my Raskog cart down the wall as well. I have some space about my desk that you can see from the first photo that I smaller storage units and then the shelf above that, that you can't see, has journals and art books and magazines that I use as inspiration! I can't believe that I finally have this guy and all the space I have now on my desk! It's the best and I sure hope I can keep it that way! By the way, it was midnight when I finished again! LOL But in light of that......I did do a little crafting to test out my new space......

So as a part of several online challenges that I love to take part in, I am trying to finish up a journal page and an ATC! My last day at work until after the 1st is tomorrow, so I am going to try to get these both done and share tomorrow as I don't really have internet, except my phone, at home, so it's always hard to share from my house...I usually post from work (I know....bad me!) One day, I will get in this century! LOL

Well, in other news, yesterday was my 19th wedding anniversary! Yep, can't believe it! Seems like yesterday we walked in that little church! My hubby and I have been through some times together! Some bumpy and some amazing, but through it all, God has seen fit to bless us and keep us under His wing! I think the best thing we've done right through it all, is our two amazingly beautiful girls that I would walk through fire for! I'm sooooooo thankful for my life! :)

My husband drives a truck, so most weeks hes gone and then comes in on the weekends. But yesterday, it just so happened (thanks Father God), he was making a pass back through our town to get to Boca Raton, so me and my girlies hopped in the car and met him at the interstate for a romantic Anniversary dinner at the "Huddle House!" LOLOLOL Folks in the US know this is a breakfast stop, mostly on interstates, that is the farthest thing from romantic!! But, the thought was there and we had a good time! And....he got to see his girls! Here are a couple "romantic" anniversary shots for you! LOLOL

Well, I am sure I was wayyyy over my allotment with sharing, but just had to do it! I hope to post my challenges tomorrow guys! Happy WOYWW to all! :)

Blessings

WOYWW #445

Good Wednesday all my crafty friends! It's FINALLY chilly here!!! I feel like it may beginning to look a lot like Christmas! LOLOL I'm not too excited......it's just a cold front that has gone through our side of the country, so we will see if it stays or not! Others have received lots of snow around my state, but alas, we did not! I love snow and miss it greatly! There's still time.....maybe Mother Nature will come through! LOLOL

Well as it's Wednesday, it's time for WOYWW over on Julia's blog Stamping Ground! Each week is time for wonderful goodies on fellow crafters desks!! I love playing along, making friends and gleaning from their inspiration! Won't you join along??? Hop on over to her blog and show your goodies as well!

I am going to show the finished product of what was on my desk last week! I have my tag challenge over on Tag It Tuesday on the Facebook page by the same name! I have enjoyed playing along with these taggers since it started and really enjoy each month's fun! This month the theme was Sparkle and Shine! Love it! Christmas has always been sparkle and shine, so an easy tag to do!

As usual, my phone camera NEVER shows the true color or in this case the "sparkle and shine" that was required for this month.....but I tell you, it's sparkle and shine all over!

What I had in my mind this month when I was making this tag was "sparkly" balls when you look through a "frosty" window! I love Christmas balls except the fact that they are EXTREMELY easy to break....I'm an expert!!! LOL

On this tag, I basically started with gesso on this tag which was red. I didn't do a heavy coat because I didn't mind that some of the red peaked through. Then I just got out some acrylics applying with my trusty brayer and some of my Caran d' ache crayons and applied directly on the tag and then activated with water. After that, wherever it looked like natural balls or ornaments, I just enhanced with paint to form the balls. Once I got the balls like I wanted, I then applied glitter modge podge all over. 

I then just embellished the balls with a little stamping and stickles. On the "joy" ball, the centerpiece is a wooden snowflake that I painted and then embellished further with glitter from Ranger that I love, love. I then shaded with my wonderful Faber Castell Big Brush Pens, put twine through to look like they were hanging, added ribbon and "poofs!" Voila!  Simple enough and as I said, you really can't see all the glitter and shine, but its there! One day, I will become a "real" blogger and have proper equipment! LOL

I hope you all are having a wonderful Wednesday and getting all of your Christmas shopping done! I haven't bought the FIRST gift yet......what????? Yep....I don't know what I am waiting on, but I better get to cracking! LOL I hope you all have a great rest of the week and weekend!

Blessings

WOYWW #444

Happy WOYWW all my crafty friends! This Wednesday is #444 over on Julia's blog Stamping Ground where she woooos us to reveal crafts or crazies on our desks!!! Mostly mine is crazies! LOL Go on over and check out crafters creativity around the globe and maybe join in! :)

I did not participate last week, it has been crazy around here since Thanksgiving! I went on our annual Thanksgiving camping trip the week of Thanksgiving and it was AWESOME! It was well over due and JUST THE RIGHT camping weather! Of course, I did what I do best while camping......sitting by the fire curled up with an awesome book......

When I came back last week, I came back to a desk of catching up and so could not post last week either! I haven't really been able to play a lot in my art closet, so I will show you "MY CRAZY" for WOYWW!!!

Yep, this is what it has looked like for a couple of weeks! You can see a WHOLE LOT of supply that I have been just too stinking lazy to put up!! The paint palette is new, I had gotten it and the watercolor paints before the holidays and have not put up and the rest is pretty much inks, embellishments, papers and bum tags that I just haven't thrown in their proper bins!


Now, I want you to get a good look at that desk because virtually the "small" space on the craft mat is the only area I have to work because a) all that crafty supply is on top of my table and b) all that supply is there because I have NOWHERE else to put it! LOL So, after two long years of hem hawing about making this purchase, I FINALLY decided to by myself this wonderful goody for myself as an early Christmas gift!! Yippeee for me! :) Now, the initial one I was looking at was the uber turquoise one that everyone has, but it was like $60, which is why I have been looking at it for two years! LOL But this wonderful cinnamon one I got for $25! HUGE difference!!! So next time you see my table all the goodies will be in my new IKEA Cart! I'll have ELBOW ROOM!!! YAYYYYYY!!!!


As I am the "ultra OCDer (is that a word?)," I had to clean up a tad because want to get cracking on my December art challenges! So after I cleaned up, this is what is now on my desk! LOL

I have turned over my tag that I am working on for Tag It Tuesday over on our Facebook Group and then I will get started on my journal challenge and my ATC challenge for the Pick A Stick Challenge for December!  Come on over and join in with us for those great challenges! Love seeing everyone's creativity!

Well I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday and awesome rest of the week!! I will leave you with a few more pictures from our GLORIOUS camping trip! If you've never been camping, I encourage you to give it a go! There is NOTHING like being out in God's great big beautiful world with friends and loved ones! It's a blessing!

Home Away from Home!

Sharing nature with that little guy!

Beautiful colors all around!

My two beautiful babies!

Yep me and my book mate doing what we do!

Blessings!