Week 4 - Life Book

This week our lesson was by Mandy van Goeije. We learned how to create a storyboard using stick figures.

I found this to be a wonderful tool to  illustrate scripture in a quick and simple way.

This was actually a vision I had shortly before my own personal cyclone hit. Jesus was teaching me not to focus on my circumstances but on Him through His Word. It really helped me during a very trying time.

I love this verse in Hebrews. We just never know when we will come face to face with an angel.

This drawing illustrates the need to grow roots in Christ and become established in Him. (Col 2:7) How far down we sink our roots determines our stability during the storm.

I really enjoyed this quick and easy form of illustration and I will be incorporating it into my art practice.

Life Book 2017 - Week 3

This weeks lesson was by Misty Mawn. Misty paints wonderful portraits in acrylic paint. My preference is watercolour as I find acrylic paint a challenge. However I gave it a go using what I had - Distress Paints and some Crayons.

Misty inspired me to step out of my comfort zone and play with colour.

I couldn't help myself and ended up using my acrylic paint watered down to achieve a loose look. It was funny, I did it quite unconsciously.

I added Romans 12:2 to her blouse.

I wanted to try aqua and purple for skin tone. She reminds of the blue lady from Avatar!

Well it was fun letting loose with colour today. I really want to experiment with yellow in my next girls skin tone. We will see what happens.

Life Book 2017 - Week 2 - Second Bonus Lesson

Here is the second bonus lesson this week by the fabulous Andrea Gomoll. I loved creating this lesson as it was so relaxing just creating background pages and turning them into affirmation cards. I probably went a little overboard with my pages as I ended up with 30 cards! Oh well as I figure it, I will have one card for every day for some of the months. I'm sure I will be adding to my deck in future.

I created the background of my cards using a watercolour wash with Paper Artsy Infusions and Perfect Pearls sprinkled on top. The Infusions are lovely and produce a quick, colourful background.

This is Golden Sands Infusions. I created two background pages on 200g/m2 watercolour paper and glued them together which gave me a wonderful sturdy card.

This is Sunset Beach Infusions. I created my own collage background paper by printing Psalm 139 onto paper stained with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. On my scraps I used a sheet music stamp for some variety.

This is A Bit Jaded Infusions. All of the affirmations on my cards are based on truths contained in the Bible.

I embossed all the edges of my cards with gold embossing powder. Now you can't tell I have adhered two pieces of paper together.

All thirty of my cards. I'm looking forward to creating more colours and affirmations. The Bible has a treasure trove of them.

I am thinking that these could make a lovely gift.

I wanted to display some of my cards on a page for my Life Book. So I created another background page using Blackcurrant Infusions. I adhered a piece of Tyvek to the back of my paper for strength and then cut slits for a sampling of my cards.

Here is my finished page with cards inserted.

I punched holes before I made my slits to prevent tearing.

I absolutely loved creating this project for it's ease and practicality. I am going to shuffle my deck and pull out a card each day to remind me of God's truth about me, meditate on associated verses and apply it to my life.

If you are interested in playing along with us in Life Book, click the link in my side bar for more information.

Keep on creating!

Life Book 2017 - Week 2 - First Bonus Lesson

We are now into week 2 of Life Book 2017 and we have the treat of two bonus lessons by two of my favourite artists, Tamara Laporte and Andrea Gomoll.

Bonus lessons are intended to be shorter in length to give us some breathing room to catch up if need be. They can also be artists interviews.

I have so far finished Tam's bonus lesson of a sweet little hummingbird.

This week I have been challenged by God to have a heavenly perspective and to stop living under my circumstances. It brings me closer God and His love for me.

I am working on Andrea's fabulous lesson and will be back soon to share my work.

In the meantime, keep looking up.

Life Book 2017 - Week 1

It's finally here, Life Book 2017!

I have so enjoyed this first lesson by Tamara Laporte.

This was the warm up lesson.

My word for the year is "Blessed".

This year I am also going to be studying Heaven, not only as a future destination but also as a present reality.

Some background texture.

Next was the main lesson.

Tam called this lesson "Journey with the Light".

I am so glad Tam taught us that all mistakes are fixable. I scrubbed the paint too hard around the eyes and caused the paper to pill. I thought I was going to have to start over but I decided to paint over the top with acrylic paint effectively sealing the paper. Thankfully it worked! Thanks Tam for teaching us not to give up.

I filled my basket with hearts of blessings I would like to give this year.

These are a sample of many.

We have been created to be a vessel through which blessing flows, not just received and kept, but to be passed on.

I pray you are blessed this week and have an opportunity to be a blessing.