Car Display Holder for over the door

This past weekend my son had a birthday party for a classmate (actually 2, twins) and after talking with them and their mom I decided to recreate an over the door matchbox car holder similar to one we received from a friend. Of course I quickly realized that this could be used for all sorts of things from matchbox cars to barbies to trains and tracks...you name it.

To say the least I am super excited with how it came out and can't wait to make more for all sorts of things... Their mom knew what I was planning to make and I am pretty sure she was more excited about the gift than they were, but she said they wanted it hung up as soon as they opened it so I guess it was a win win... Happy Birthday again Miles and Nolan!

Free Fonts, the good the bad and the ugly

Being a designer and working with very different clients usually at the same time, it's important to have a variety of styles and ideas on hand at all times. You never know what a client will want to try next. So I have a list of books, websites, blogs and such to turn to for inspiration. Of course these are not just for working with my clients they are also for me when I am working on my art.

I wanted to share one of the sites that I came across recently for free fonts. Now I know that there are a lot of site for free fonts, but not all the fonts are that great, this site Font Squirrel does the hard work for you, by picking the best of the free. Of course you still need to read the fine print as to how you can use the fonts, but for designers, scrapbookers, artists that are on a budget this site is great!

Do Not Be Afraid, I Bring Good News

I think it's always interesting when my son has a new saying. I always wonder where he gets them, most I can figure out and those I can't I will ask him about and I can usually decipher his answer. He's 3 so it doesn't take much for him to pick something up and repeat it over and over again. Which of course I have to remind myself of that every once in awhile.

So when he came up with his last saying I chalked it up to his Sunday School teachings, especially being that we just finished up the Christmas season, but anytime I asked him where he heard it, he would simply say "God".

Now our family has had a pretty rocky end of the year. One of my closest friends past away suddenly in November. This was especially hard for me because I have never lost anyone close to me. I didn't know what to feel or how to act, and I still don't really. I have been going over in my head for the last 2 months what I would have done differently if I had only known...but I didn't. She was a strong woman of faith and she was changing lives all around her, including my own. I have a lot to be thankful for because of her influence in my life. I miss her greatly and it's been super hard to focus on anything, especially my art. So instead I focused on nothing...not really a good thing to do with so much going on.

But a couple days ago everything finally clicked, I realized my son was giving me a message from God. A message I think we often forget especially this time of year.

DO NOT BE AFRAID, I BRING GOOD NEWS

There is always so much going on, but this time of year things seem to get more stressful more hurried, and the message that God is trying to remind us of gets lost. The GOOD NEWS doesn't seem to be the reason for the season anymore, and I think that was my struggle this past year. While others in my life worried about what "things" to get everyone and anyone, my thoughts were on Mary and the scene at the manger. I could not see how we went from celebrating the birth of Christ in a lonely meager manger to what it is now. I was sad for all these people running around me looking for presents instead of looking for Jesus. But my son got it. Now whether or not he actually heard it from God is a different story, but he at least got the message.

It took me a while but I finally got the message too and just sat amazed. Somehow my 3 year old has enough sense to listen when God was talking, but like so many others I struggle to sit still long enough to do this. So I decided to challenge myself this year for the first time. I sat down with a friend of mine and we made a list of things we want to accomplish this year, after sitting and listening to where I thought God was directing me (This way I had an accountability partner)

But I also wanted to share a few of them here with you...so here goes.

1. Find more venues to teach my Spiritual Art Journaling class.
(if you know of any please share, I would love to hear your ideas)

2. Write a book/journal and get it published.

3. Challenge myself and my art and push it to new levels.

So these are what I will be trying to focus on this year, of course things might change (I am always up for change) but I am really going to be trying to LISTEN to what God is wanting from me and right now I think these are the paths I am supposed to be on.

So what are your plans for the new year, where are you feeling lead? I would love to know what's on all of your plates.

Freelance: Trade As One

It has been another crazy week around here, with no end in site. I am planning a huge Block Party (aka Quilting Bee) in October for the ministry that I started called Safe Blankets. We are partnering with Willow Creek Community Church's North Shore Campus for a day in which they are asking their congregation to "Just Serve" the community around them. There will be about 10 different places that they can volunteer at and Safe Blankets is going to be one of them!

Of course life is never that easy, by having just 1 iron in the fire, I also have my freelance that has picked up tremendously (which I love), which includes businesses, brides and new mothers, plus my son just started preschool! And of course I have been asked about teaching in more than one venue the Spiritual Art Journaling class that I just taught at Believers' Fellowship.

But while I had a free moment I did what to share with you some of the freelance work that I have been working on over the past couple months. All of these items I did for Trade As One, a fair trade company. Their mission statement as it all: Our mission is to use fair trade to promote sustainable business and break cycles of poverty and dependency in the developing world. We all have a conscience. We want to make sure people get the chance to use it when they shop.

They are an amazing group of people with hearts so big! I have enjoyed every moment of working with them, and I don't intend to stop anytime time soon. If you a chance take a look at their website they have a store right there so you can buy online or you can become a Fair Trader which is an advocate for fair trade, where you can host a party and educate people about the importance of fair trade. There are many other ways to get involved too so check out their site and learn more about their passion.

Renegade Craft Fair and a Texas Sized Sleepover

This time last weekend Renegade Craft Fair was in full swing here in Chicago. As usual I was blown away by the amount of vendors as well the talent they possessed. If you have never been to it I highly recommend making the trip for it. It spans 6 CITY blocks (3/4 of a mile long), there are booths down the center facing both sides so by the time you walk around the whole thing - it's over 1.5 mile of walking! It was a great weekend, not just because of the show, but because I got to have an "sleepover" with some friends from Texas who were accepted into the Renegade Show and needed a place to crash. Cheyne from Cut Out and Collect and Brian and Lynnea from Squid Ink Kollective got to stay in our humble abode (my studio, aka the basement) and in their free time we bummed around Chicago showing them our fair city. They are amazing artists with unbelievable talent.

Cut Out and Collect shop features handbags, clutches, wallets and many other one of a kind pieces you are sure to want. A note on the embroidery: This is a technique Cheyne has been working with in which she uses her regular manual sewing machine and special thread to embroider. While it's faster that hand embroidery, it requires the same steady hand and patience and has some very unique, one-of-a-kind attributes. (and it's amazing) Don't see what you want, contact her for a custom piece!

Squid Ink Kollective focuses on screen-printed apparel and posters, as well as hand-sewn and printed housewares, clothes and accessories. Between Brian's amazing illustrations and Lynnea's self taught seamster skills there's no telling what these two will come up with, but it will be awesome.

Anyways if you get a chance check out their shops you won't be disappointed! And to you guys (Cheyne, Brain and Lynnea) we miss you already and hope you come back soon.

My Class

So last Tuesday I taught art journaling for the first time! I had such a blast with the wonderful women at Believers' Fellowship. I started the class with a demonstration on what they were going to be learning to do later on in the class and then gave a brief overview on what art journaling was and why it was important to their spiritual journey.

They jumped right in, when it came time to creating their own page. I had pre-cut 5x7 sheets of paper, markers and paints on the table for them as well as little baggies with magazine pictures, scraps of paper, ribbon, string, buttons (all things that they might find lying around their house. I wanted them to see that they didn't need to go out and buy anything special to start a journal. These women were amazing! They came up with some beautiful pages, which you see in this post. They only had about half hour to forty five minutes to create these! I am still blown away. Especially if you consider most do not consider themselves artistic or creative and it was their first time to work with these materials. Thanks again ladies for making my teaching debut a success!

 

Teaching for the FIRST Time

So I am working on a new project! I am going to be teaching my first class in less than a week. I am scared, but at the same time so excited! I can't believe how quickly this is pulling together. (less than 2 months) The class is going to be on art journaling. It's not a new concept, but I am going to be teaching those who do not think of themselves as being creative or artistic - so it's new to them. I have been focusing a lot of my time lately on my own journal and really feel lead to teach others. This is way out of my comfort zone, so I must be on the right path, right?

Anyways I am totally looking forward to it, and would love to know from all of you, if you journal and if you do what do you focus on when you journal...