hexagonal love

have you ever had a creative idea in your mind that just won't leave you alone until you've created it? a lot of times when i sit down to scrapbook or create cards i might have a general idea or technique in mind, but this layout was different. it kept coming to mind day after day for a couple of weeks. i first was inspired by a piece of graphic design i'd seen with hexagons and stripes. when i started this layout it just fell into place so fast and i never once struggled with it. i wish more of my creative endeavors could be this way...

- jess

yellow floral card

hope you all had a lovely weekend. mine involved a bit of catching up on cleaning and finally taking down my christmas tree and decorations! i also quite enjoyed our church services this weekend.

i've been wanting to try this stamp set i bought from papertrey ink a bit ago. if you look closely you can see it's not lined up, but i think it still made a lovely flower. the ink was so light on the main image and the lighting so poor in my room when i made the card that i couldn't see well enough to line it up. i think i'll need to practice some more and perhaps mark a spot on the stamps to easily align them next time.

- jess

winter sympathy cards

of all the cards that i create, sympathy cards are by far the hardest for me. there's a fine line between creating a card that will hopefully add some brightness to someones day vs going overboard and having it be too much.a while back a needed some sympathy cards and as we were approaching the holiday season at the time i decided to go for a traditional winter flower, the poinsettia.

 

my first thought was to stay away from this flower, in case it reminded the recipients of the holidays, which are sooo hard right after you've lost a loved one. but they are such a lovely flower and fitting for the season so i decided to go for it and was quite happy with how these turned out.

- jess

french horn watercolor

it's been a while since i've posted any watercolors. and to be honest, i don't pull them out nearly as often as i'd like. which is kind of ironic since they seem to be the hottest thing in scrapbooking and cardmaking right now. i do love working with watercolors though not quite as much as oil based paints.

back in the autumn i decided to be brave and adventurous and create a watercolor for my friend's birthday. she plays the french horn so i decided to tackle that...then i looked them up online and whoa they have a lot of tubing going on. ha! so since this was just a piece for a friend, i found a few images and used them to create a rough trace. i then printed that light trace out onto watercolor paper and got busy putting the colors down. it took me several evenings to get it to the point i was happy with it. first i laid down the base colors then came back in several times to work on the shadows and highlights. and finally i took a pen and lightly did some drawing on the edges to define it even more.

i was quite happy with how it turned out and my friend loved it. looking at this piece again makes me want to go pull out my paints and get started on another piece...

- jess

january currents

listening // lauren daigle

reading // bible and blog, inc.

eating // too much holiday food still

drinking // lots of orange juice

wearing // sweaters

feeling // excited about 2015

weather // in the 30s with some rain

watching // netflix - trying the one month trial...so far not loving it

waiting // for spring

wanting // to be healthier

needing // to put away my holiday decor

enjoying // getting in crafty time

wondering // if i can ever get my body used to mornings

working // on becoming less of self and more like Christ

- jess

get well cards featuring copic markers

this morning i have several cards to share with you. but the fun thing is that they all feature the same technique!

i've been loving all the floral stamps i've seen lately that lend themselves so well to various coloring techniques. normally i would of gone with watercolors but i've been wanting to get some more use from my copic markers.

i'll be honest, when i first started on these cards i thought they were terrible and more than once i almost threw them away about halfway through. but there was this special point i would get to with each one where once i'd added the coloring and cut away the extra white edges that i began to love this technique. and obviously as i made 5 in this same style.

there was also something very fun and freeing when coloring the images. i didn't have to give it much thought and it was loose and free. another bonus was i didn't have to worry about blending, which is why i think a lot of people don't try copic markers.

i really loved how these turned out and i want to make more of them and try some other techniques. i did try stamping in versamark then doing white embossing but that one i did throw away! ha! it just didn't have the same pop as the black ink.

i definitely think this style would lend itself to lots of different sentiments. also these would be fun to make up as a set for a gift!

- jess

olw

i've loved the idea of choosing a word each year to represent my hopes and dreams. i started in 2012 when i first heard about ali edwards' class. that year i took her class but didn't really follow through on the participation aspect though. the next two years i chose words, but didn't take her class. i figured if i hadn't followed through the first year then why take the class again. but one thing i've come to realize is that i need reminders in my life. so this year, i signed back up for her class and i'm looking forward to it.

another thing i've realized is that as i progress along this pathway, my words seem to speak louder to me each year. i've felt God nudging these words into my life and once i grabbed them they constantly find their way into my life in either a daily or weekly way.

2012 - MOVE

that year i wanted to move more. to move physically and lose weight and to move out of my comfort zone. i dropped the ball on that one.

2013 - TRANSFORM

i was looking to kind of latch on to any traction i'd made with move in 2012 and work on transforming my life. but once again my word seemed to vanish from my thoughts as the year progressed.

2014 - DETERMINED

this past year was when i really felt strongly about God giving me a word. He also placed a song on my heart that helped to keep the word close to me. i was determined to follow through on some goals in my life and i definitely made some progress. i felt i'd lived up to my word.

2015 - ABIDE

this word came to me a couple weeks ago and i've felt it more strongly than i've felt any of my other words. i've felt God whispering it to my heart. He wants me to abide in Him. to abide in the moments and season of my life. to stop daydreaming and preoccupying myself when i'm in a moment i'd rather not be in. i need to stop and abide and gain what i can from that moment. it's only been a few days into the year but each day when i want to wish the day away and hope for another moment He gently whispers...abide.

- jess

self worth

good morning! 2015 has ushered in and i'm excited to see what God has in store for this year. these first few days have been busy for me but also so wonderful as i've been surrounded by friends and loved ones. it's been a reminder of how blessed i am!

for january i'm going to be following a blogging schedule of monday, wednesday and friday. i'm feeling pretty confident that i can follow through on this. so far i have over half of the blog posts planned out. i will see how this schedule works out for me to see if i want to continue it for the rest of the year.

so this morning i'd like to share this scrapbook layout with you. many times i choose a photo then hop over to this pinterest board of mine and see what phrases are really speaking to my heart. this particular day i saw this pin and i knew it is what i wanted to document and remind myself. you see scrapbooking to me is part art and part therapy. when i scrapbook these kinds of meaningful quotes it helps me lock it into my brain and my heart. this world is filled with so much competition to be better than those around you otherwise they will say you are not good enough...and that is simply a lie. my worth is not found in earthly possessions or in fleshly beauty. my worth is found in the Lord. and sometimes, honestly, i forget that...and i long to just be accepted in this world of fleshly beauty. but thankfully God speaks to my heart and gently reminds me that i just need to focus on doing His will and pleasing Him.

- jess