Hearts flooded with light

It seems that God continues to speak to me through this painting. At the time that I was painting it I thought having a yellow heart was a bit odd but today I read this verse and now when I see this painting, and the other one where a yellow heart seems to have appeared also, I will think of this verse and the hope it brings.

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light

so that you can understand

the wonderful future He has promised

to those He called.

I want you to realize

what a rich and glorious inheritance

He has given to His people.

Ephesians 1:18

Two pages and a lady

I have been working in circles quite a bit lately.

I got to spend some time with women who have never art journaled before. I tried really hard to get them excited about doing it. I had four exercises for them to try out and experience different ways to create a page. I had fun but they were so quiet it was hard to tell if they enjoyed it or not. I hope at least one of them was inspired to keep it up.

At the dollar store, I found foam alphabet puzzels and they work great as stamps and only a dollar. Whoo hoo! I used them on the words fun and art in the journal page above.

I have been inspired by my friend Paulette to look for images in the backgrounds.
Her name is Mirium and she is a foreigner, from where I do not know, but she is quite the fashion diva and is very exotic. I think I could make up a whole story about her.
It sure does feel good to be back to painting.

He is with me

The LORD says, "I will rescue those who love me.

I will protect those who trust in my name.

When they call on me

I will answer;

I will rescue them

and honor them.

I will satisfy them with long life

and give them my salvation."

Psalm 91:14-16

But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength.

They will fly high on wings like eagles.

They will run and not grow weary.

They will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

I'm back

Well, I am back from the beach. I have to say that I really did not want to leave. It was so quiet and peaceful and I was just starting to relax. Five days would be perfect. Three just leaves me wanting more and seven would feel a little long. Anyhoo, it was a nice time away and productive too. I got some pages done in my journal and some crochet projects finished.

I don't know about you but I seem to wear pants and dresses that don't have pockets to carry my cell phone around in. And, I can pretty much gaurantee that if I go downstairs for anything my phone will ring. If I do take my phone then I set it down and leave it somewhere and am hunting through the house trying to find where I set it down. So, I designed some little purses to carry my cell phone around in. I got a little carried away because it was so fun so I think I will put some of them in my Etsy store. I am keeping the black/white/gray one for myself though. I am just loving how these have turned out.

They have really long handles so you can wear them cross ways on your body so they don't slip off your shoulder. Now I am hands free.

I was surfing the net and found a site recommended by a friend. I love this blog by Mandy Steward called Messycanvas. I wrote down a quote by her on this journal page because I could relate so much to what she was talking about in her blog post. I am finding that the more I look at other artists' work the more uncreative I become. The inner critic goes wild telling me how they are so much better than me and what was I thinking when I thought I could be an artist anyway. It really gets bad sometimes and I have to pray hard to silence the voices in my head. I am truly a tortured artist at times. That's when I know it is time to scale back and just create. I have seriously thought of completely shutting down all my on-line stuff but I don't think that is the answer either. Just do the best I can creatively and be OK with that. That's my goal.

I've also been hanging out with this cutie pie. Last night we took our first mom & tot tumbling class. Or, in my case, Mimi and tot class. I had to do all the stuff with him and boy was I tuckered out when we were done. The gymnastic center was jammed packed with kids everywhere and so I think he was a bit overwhelmed but we had a good time anyway. It is a 4 week trial so we will see how it goes. Gives me a chance to get some exercise too.

Unplugged mostly

Postings have been sparse in the last couple of weeks. Do you ever feel like you just need to be quiet and you really don't have anything to say anyway? Well, that is how I have been feeling and it has led to staying home, dealing with sick family, cooking and laying low.

We have been doing some construction that has our house in quite a mess. We painted the livingroom, put in new carpet and moved furniture around. It is coming together so nicely and now our kitchen is getting a good coat of paint and new ceiling. It will be so nice when it is all done. Right now we can't even use the kitchen. Thankfully it will only take a few days to finish. In the meantime I am enjoying a few days at the beach. I don't do so well living in chaos. I'm hoping it is all done by the time I get home. I am crossing my fingers.

I should have some journal pages done by the time I get home and I will share some pictures. Mostly, I am having fun reading, watching the waves and cooking yummy healthy food that no one else in my family would think of eating and enjoying every bite. Which I am going to get back to right now.