I had a paper lantern.....

that had to come out of the new library room and I didn't know what to do with it.  I made it years ago and while it's starting to get fragile, it's still a great conversation piece

There's an opening at the top of the stairs that looks down into the family room.  A very safe place to hang my lantern.  And then I painted a lamp post on the wall.  Notice how I designed the top right to look like the hanger that comes out from the wall?  It turned out great.

You might not be able to tell, but the lamp post is metallic copper, the vines are stickles glitter and the bird is 3D metal:

The pole goes from ceiling to floor and sort of makes guest go "Wow" when they walk upstairs!

You can click on the photo to make it larger.  For $4.99 at the local thrift store I found this candle holder that just seemed perfect for the base of my lamp post.

Someone who saw everything I've done to the house said that I need to write a book titled "How'd you find that!!!"  as I seem to do a pretty good job at thrift stores around the area.  I'm actually working on a genealogy presentation by the same name....but it's about finding people in your family tree!!

Tomorrow I hope to share photos of my new studio.  I'm still painting/repairing windows in the MBR, but the decorative painting in the house is done.....for the moment!!!  Art on the Walls - gotta love it!!!

Trust in Him

The final letter is "T", so of course, I have been working on the word "ART" for my wall of art. And I picked the word "trust" for this letter.



Trust unto Jehovah with all thy heart, And unto thine own understanding lean not. In all thy ways know thou Him, And He doth make straight thy paths.

You know, it's been the times that I failed to acknowledge Him that my path went a bit haywire!

And in the center of the T, I used the flourishes to make a Shin (well, sort of!)...remember that?


I love what you can do by adding brown and blue ink....along with the white pen.  The options are just endless!

So here you have it - my 3 letters for my wall of art are ART.  

And with great personal meaning.  Adonia, Rejoice, Trust.  Rejoice daily in what He has given me.  Trust in him every second of the way.  

With these 3 letters, I have created ART.

Rejoice in something every single day!

I picked the word "rejoice" for my letter "R". The word appears 192 times in 183 verses in the King James Version of the Bible. Most of the verses are action verbs - as in a "commandment" to us to rejoice.



I liked Psalms 90:14 because It reads, "O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." In Young's concordance, it is translated: Satisfy us at morn [with] Thy kindness, And we sing and rejoice all our days.

I really do try to find something that makes me happy every single day, something that I can rejoice in. I believe with all my heart that a positive outlook on life will keep us healthy. That humor heals all. And I also believe that laughter is infectious!



How often do you wake up grumpy and start complaining and then turn everyone around you into a total frump? I know I can do it when I want - trust me....it really works. On the other hand, there are days when it is a huge effort to turn myself into a happy person and try to infect those around me. Now that I'm retired....I'm doing a much better job! LOL!



For this letter, I used some wood flourishes and on half of them, I added Art Glitter over paint and on the other half I just put glossy accents over paint. I like the difference. It's a most simplistic letter......but it can be the simplest things in life that bring us the most to rejoice about!

More wall art

Now that the 8 Nights of Lights are over....I may never do another video!!!! OK....JUST KIDDING!!! But I want to get caught up on my life and all the other fun things I did the past 8 days! Are you getting a rest yet? Not me....I just seem to go, go, go! But I do love a great sale. Hobby Lobby had these shadowbox type frames marked down to $3.50. I couldn't resist!



But they weren't my colors. Of course! So I got busy and altered a couple of them, adding in what I'm now calling my studio signature colors - turquoise, white and brown and this Heidi Swapp paper.



You really have to be careful if you ever come to my house and look around! That's NOT a jump ring on the top of the letter "L"! That's Grandma Myrtle's wedding band! And yes, I've written on the back who this goes to....and I've told Kerry to be sure to read on the back of all my art as it will tell what the little hidden secrets are and who I'd like it to go to!



And I did one with a photo of mom. It says, "She gave me the gift of art. She taught me how to play an dhow to pray. May I give these GIFTS to my children one day." And inside is a piece of domino art that has the word "play" on it.



I'm still working on coordinating wall baskets and if I ever get them all done, I'll take a photo of the wall. For now, the art is piling up on the table so I guess I'd better go play some more!!!

Believe

So, Hobby Lobby has half off all their wall hanging stuff this week and I need something for my wall to hang baskets from. This was $3.00




And this was $2.00 in the Christmas decorate it stuff:




So I took them apart, re-engineered them, reassembled them - and I really like what I got. I used leftover paper from my storage bins and my Ranger white pen.




BELIEVE is a very strong word for me. I remember as a little girl, this story being read to me from the Bible:

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.

and I often wondered - if Thomas did not believe it was Jesus....and he was a disciple.....will I also doubt?




But as I have grown in my life and my knowledge and wisdom, I know that I will not doubt. I simply just believe.

And I continue to create art that expresses who I have become.

Stamping on the Wall

Well, there's "scrapbooking on the walls", so I thought I'd do "stamping on the walls". Mom just moved into a retirement center and said she wanted a sign for her door that says, "NO CPR".

So I traced some 5 1/2" tall letters on green cardstock, then backed them with blue and then mounted them on black. It's really a 12x12 cardstock that I cut out the right side. So pretty huge letters. Do you think anyone will be able to say, "I didn't see that?" LOL!



And look what a few stamps, a white pen and a black marker will do! Just amazing! Now, I could do a whole lot more to this, but decided to keep it simple as again, I don't want someone to say they didn't see the words for all the other stuff. Personally, I think this will look great on her door!



So I guess this is "stampin on the door", not on the wall!!! Found the cutest little medical stamps while in San Diego. The flower is SU cut out of blue paper and popped up, and then an Album Leaves flourish.



Another new stamp I found on vacation. I added a bit to it.



The white pens work great in the Crafter's Workshop stencils. I love alternating black and white as you go from dark to light backgrounds. Looks cool!



The nurse is just about 1 1/2" tall. Just too cute.



And I love this border flower/flourish. Once again, I added a bit to it, but just so much fun!



I showed this to Kerry and he said it was rather "grim". Well, not sure how one can un-grim such a phrase....but I think people will notice it!

So mom, what do you think? Look ok? Shall I start over? Did you get the blue and green....to match your bruises? :o)

Now to finish the layout that will go right below this.