Art Journaling

Wow! Something I thought was so weird and "I would never do" has me eating my words. At least Tracy has me eating my words. lol I had seen so many things that people called art journals and to me they just looked like a hot mess. A bunch of stuff that people found here and there, some trash thrown in, now tons of paint slopped on, etc and they called it art. Well, what Tracy does.....in my eyes, that "real" art. I love what I am learning and I so enjoy the classes, the chats, and our times on Monday nights. I have made a new group of some pretty great friends. :-) We don't just learn from Tracy, we learn from each other, share about our lives and.......well, I like it! I want to try to share just a little bit of what I'm learning because you can not only art journal, you can take it to canvas, you can use it on scrapbook pages, and you can use it on cards. Hey, I'm thinking about art journaling on my room divider for my craft room. The sky's the limit. lol Hubby better hide! ;-)

I so enjoyed making this page. Tracy used something I didn't have for the background so I used some molding paste that I had. The fancy tool I used to make texture is my daughters tupperware toy. lol

Here is a close up of the flowers. Some are prima, paper, and the top set is die cut from watercolor paper and glimmer misted.

The stems are drawn with charcoal pencil, which I now can appreciate, and I am trying to let it go that I'm not so happy with my handwriting on these pages.

Anyway, I'm going to try to share some of my pages and things I'm learning more often. Life has thrown me some scary curves and I am so thankful for the enjoyment and diversion that this gives me! It makes me happy! God is good!

http://www.scrapscene.com/tag/wipmonday.html

Blessings

You never know when or where you next blessing will show up. My latest blessing showed up in a very creative person who shares her time and talents with so many people. To some it might seem strange considering I've never met her in person but she has inspired me in so many ways. I literally laughed out loud tonight watching her class. In case you'd like to know who it is.......Tracy Weinzapful Burgos, President of Helmar Glue Company. I've started two art journal's and I can't begin to tell you the joy that I've gotten out of trying the new techniques, creating new things, and just taking the time to learn from Tracy and all the others in chat. I'm thinking I'll share some of the pages and perhaps some of the techniques that I'm learning. Oh, one more thing that has me super hyped......Chris told me to go ahead and order a kit that goes with a class Tracy will be teaching. My birthday isn't til May but I'd miss the class if I waited til then. I ORDERED IT TONIGHT!!!! WooHoo!

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Here is the first page I made for my journal. Tracy told us to draw our own stems and leaves. I used her technique of using a mask for the background and used a charcoal pencil to draw the stems and leaves. I was dissatisfied with some of my words being crooked but........Tracy says to embrace and learn from what you don't like and don't do it again! As hard as it was to do it, once Glue Dad's vote came in as NO I shouldn't change it.......I did as Tracy said. :-) All in all.....I'm happy with it and I really did learn from it.

Proud of my college girl :-)

My momma amazes me. She has so much spunk and more get-up-and-go than most young people and she's 75 years old! I am so proud of her. She was so worried about her finals this past semester. I spent the night one night and got up early to quiz her because she was concerned about how she would do. She is on her second year and the kids at the college love her. Anyway, the pictures below are the results of some of those finals. :-) Of course I had to sneak and take these pics. She just doesn't understand why I'd want to post things about her tests and such on facebook. To her it isn't that big of a deal that she's going to college, why, people would think she's silly. :-)

She has inspired me and once my daughter gets a few years older I want to go back to school. I just hope I can do half as good as she is doing. I am so blessed to have a momma like her. Below is this years school picture! Isn't she lovely? :-)

Homemade Cleaning Supplies

There are so many different recipes for homemade detergent and using the Fels Naptha bar soap is my favorite. The above pic is what the soap looks like grated. You can double or triple the recipe. This batch I used the whole bar of soap.

Homemade Laundry Soap

1 whole bar Fels Naptha (can use other types but I prefer this one) Found in the detergent isle

1½ cup washing soda

1½ cup borax powder

~You will also need a bucket, about 6 gallon size~

Grate the soap and put it in a pan. Add 1 gallon and 2 cups water and heat until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 13 quarts hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 4 gallons plus 2 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load. I stirred it several times while it was cooling. My daughter also liked playing in it. lol http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm (Link where I got the recipe)

The pic below is how it looks while it's cooking and it basically looks the same when it's done.

I just poured this into laundry detergent containers that I had kept. Oh, I put some essential oil in this last batch. I think it was orange. :-)

Now for the scouring powder. My sister makes this and I think it's all she uses now except for straight baking soda. :-)

Ingredients

http://wellnessmama.com/1348/all-natural-homemade-scouring/ One of the links that has more info than I do. :-)

2 parts baking soda

1 part salt

1 part borax powder

Pour ingredients into jar or bowl. (or a styrofoam plate or whatever you have handy lol) Mix or stir until well mixed. I made a shaker out of an empty icing container. I poked holes in the top with an antique ice pick. :-)

Lightly wet surface with water or undiluted white vinegar. Sprinkle powder on and let sit 5 minutes . Scrub with a brush or just a rag like I do, until clean Rinse with water and I read that you can rinse with vinegar for really bad messes.

A pic of the container I used and what it looks like sprinkled on my daughter's school work. ;-)

And you can't forget the puppy who is hoping that you're fixing something to eat. lol

Never Take Life for Granted

Sitting here at the hospital with Dad Watson and the rest of the family and thinking about how much we need to hold the ones we love so close. If you want to let them know just how much you love them.....do it. You never know what a day may hold. I've been so stressed over all I have to do, Thanksgiving coming, Christmas, I want this done, that done, etc etc. and now........None of that means anything when you realize just how fragile life is.
You know what......all those things will be there later, I can let some things go and probably most would never notice that I did. I keep thinking that I'm eventually going to get it all together and be this organized person that has her house just so, crafts made in a timely manner, blog on a regular basis, and on and on. I may just need to accept me for who I am and quit stressing about it. Now to just actually be able to do that.

I read something today that I really liked..........
When you write the story of your life make sure no one else holds the pen!

What works for me

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia about 17 years ago. I was 25 at the time and had went through the horrors of thinking I had cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, or who knew what. I actually wondered if they really didn't have any idea what was wrong with me and just made up a name. lol Then on top of it.......I have/had OCD. My daddy broke his back and was paralyzed from the waist down. My uncle had passed away 2 weeks earlier. Life was so out of control and so the dr says.....That was one area I took control in and I cleaned like a fire out of control. I cleaned so much that I was literally making myself ill. I felt like I was going crazy and didn't know what was wrong with me. Thank God, a friend called and read part of an article out of Reader's Digest about OCD and I was like.....that's me! Wow, this could go on to be a book, and I'll add more as time goes on but to make a long story short.......There were more bad days than good and some where I could hardly get out of bed and didn't. I tried so many remedies, herbs, health food things to the point that I was pretty much skeptical of anything. They would give me pain killers but those things scare me. I've seen first hand what they can do. My daughter, Brooke, had asthma so bad that I would sit up and hold her so she could sleep at night and she would have to have treatments several times a day and night. Rev. Beers told me about a product called Juice Plus that had helped one of his grandchildren. If I ordered it, she would get it free for entering a children's study they are doing. I did it! (she no longer uses and inhaler or treatment by the way, and I can't remember the last time she has been sick) I now take 3 tablets a day and have more good days than bad and actually have a life again. I met a lady, Cindy Hartly, who is absolutely amazing. She has MS and a good day for her was getting out of bed and sitting on the couch. When I met her I was only taking one tablet a day and she advised me to go up to two. I couldn't believe the difference it made. I wish I could tell you all about it like she can. I think she should write a book! Basically, in a nutshell.........If we could get all our fruits and vegetables in a day, foods that hadn't been picked before ripe and lost nutrition, that is the best thing!! But, this is not a perfect world and we can't! So to bridge the gap, Juice Plus takes fresh fruits, veggies, and berries and dehydrates them, and puts them in a capsule form. What's funny is I've been taking this for years and now it came out on TV today. Below is a link that will explain so much better what I am trying to say.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2097567154343

https://www.juiceplus.com/nsa/content/Home.soa?site=ew46914

Homemade Dog Biscuits

First of all, I caved. Me, with my OCD and having said I would NOT have a dog in my house......I ate my words. And Chloe has stolen my heart. She is, of course, the cutest, smartest, most adorable dog ever. lol Here she is wanting a treat! :-) She will now sit, lay, and walk on her back legs for a treat and definitely knows what "treat" means.


I have found that dog treats are quite expensive, especially if you're like me and want them made in the USA. Surfing around on blogs I found the neatest little blog and this girl had a dog, that I think is blind and deaf and she shared the cutest stories and pics of him. Anyway, I got this recipe off of her blog and now........I can't find her blog. I thought I had saved it. :-( If anyone knows the blog, please let me know so I can give her credit for this.

Dog Biscuits

4 C whole wheat flour

1 C cornmeal

1/2 C parmesan cheese

1/4 C milk

1 1/2 C water

2 eggs

1/2 C canola oil

Preheat oven to 350. Oil or spray 2 baking sheets. Combine all ingredients till mixed well. Roll out dough to 1/4 to 1/2 thickness. Either cut into squares or rectangles. (I used cookie cutters.) Bake for about 20 minutes or until biscuits are hard. Let cool. I found that you should really make sure they are completely cool and dry before you put them in anything. These are not to be sealed in a container. Just put them in a bowl or something without a lid. Chloe absolutey loves these and we shared with my friends dog and she loved them, too.

Cooling doggie treats

All arranged in a bowl my father-in-law made and sitting on my buffet. :-)

Update: I found the website.

http://www.jenandcoblog.com/homemade-dog-biscuits/