Sometimes I Wander

Happy Weekend Lovelies!

Today is GOR-geous outside and I am super excited to get out there and tackle this day. I am filled to the brim with gratitude (and maybe a little coffee) today. I am feeling very blessed this morning...that I am able to face this day with love, health, and a smile. 

 I worked on this journal page quite a bit yesterday, but unfortunately lost the race against the sun to get a picture. :) The page started with a bunch of book pages and bible pages. Over that I used gesso (thick and heavy) with acrylic paint in greens and blues. Once I started adding more and more, I started to see the shapes emerge. So fun, right!? I love how things just pop out and say, "HI! Here I am." 

I like her tilt. Lol. That sounds funny, but I do. I like the slant of her body. I am still stacking circles on tops of heads for hair. Maybe, she is hanging to the right because that hair is too heavy. Ha!

I did sit for a bit...waiting for the words to come to me. Sometimes I create a piece with words or quotes (scriptures too!) already in my mind. The words inspire the painting. With an intuitive, pulled page I let the words come from the story that unfolds on the sheet.

"Sometimes I like to Wander."

9x12 journal page

Do you like to wander?

Have the loveliest of weekends too!

Inspired Home - Book Page Wreath

I have wanted to make a book page wreath for a long time. I have seen them on several blogs I read as well as Pinterest. One of the many creative goals I have this year is to attempt actually making the things I am inspired by on Pinterest or around the web. So I decided enough is enough! I AM making a wreath. Can I tell you...it was really easy and didn't take too much time at all.

I found this easy to follow tutorial on YouTube by Jenna DeAngeles. It did take some time figuring out the right way to roll the paper cones. But, once I figured it out I became a one woman cone factory. IT would be a fun little task to do while watching TV or instead of folding laundry. :)

I followed Jenna's directions pretty much for the entire process. After attaching all the cones, I auditioned lots of items I had floating around my house for the center. You really can use all kinds of various things - ornaments (too Christmas-y for all year around for me), burlap, fabric flowers, moss, potpourri, etc. I used my stash of wooden knobs and small flowers from an earth toned package of potpourri. I LOVE how it looks!! It really makes a beautiful, strong statement.

The cones are hot glued to a square 12x12 piece of Styrofoam. There are two office binder clips on the top of the Styrofoam to hold the twine for hanging. I have it hanging on the back of my front door right now. I had so much fun making this book page wreath, I may end up with one in every room. :)

Have you made a book page wreath? No? Hurry up! Go! :)

Happy Friday!

Fall Book Page Banner

I recently saw this darling banner made from book pages on Heather Bullard's site. She has a beautiful blog filled with tons of eye candy. I love decorating or doing projects with book pages, so I really wanted to make a banner for my mantle. It was quick, easy, and my daughter was able to join in the fun too!

Supplies needed: old book pages, pencil, scissors, watercolors & brush, letters, twine, glue, and leaf cookie cutter.

First, I used old book pages and drew a large leaf free hand. Then cut them out. For the smaller leaf I used a leaf cookie cutter I had in my stash and used it for tracing. After cutting out all my leaves, I laid them down on some paper ready to be painting.

With my daughter's help, we painted the leaves different fall shades and let them dry.

After drying for a bit, we stacked one leaf on top of another in pretty color combinations. I just glued the top of the smaller leaf down so the banner had some movement. Earlier, I had chosen the word blessed and searched through my collection of ABCs for the letters I needed. (I seriously hoard letters...lol. Maybe it's the elementary teacher in me. I don't know. The scrapbook aisle at Michaels with all the letters...hold me back. Thank goodness they are not too pricey!)

The letters were glued to the top leaf, then turned upside down so I could hot glue the twine along the top of each leaf. Just a bit of advice...make sure the word is going the right direction when you turn it around. Yep. I did it. I glued the whole thing down, turned it around...smiles & happiness. Until I saw that I had glued the entire word backwards. My little assistant thought that was the funniest thing ever. :)

But, in the end...here is how it turned out. Super cute! It dresses up the mirror on my mantle just enough and reminds us of all the many blessings we have this season. 

I am joining the craftiness with Jaime over at Crafty, Scrappy, Happy. 

I love handmade things, don't you? :)