"LET US REJOICE"

This year went so fast.  2013 is about to end.  Did the year go the way you expected?  Did you have some disappointments?  Maybe some unexpected delights?  God doesn't promise that all will be roses, but he does promise to take care of us, one day at a time.  If we can have a heart of gratefulness in all things, we will have joy.  If we have an expectancy of good and look for it, God will bless that attitude.  I made a decision a number of years ago to exercise a grateful heart....to look for the things I should be noticing and glad about....to count my proverbial blessings.  Has everything been roses since I made that decision?  No, there's been death, illness, injury, and more, but as I look back, the Lord was with me through it all and gave me peace.   As you go forward into this new year, why don't you make a decision to "rejoice and be glad in it."  I hope you will.  You will never regret.  Happy New Year to all our friends.  We love you.

Gelli Printing

Love this.  I just have to do more Gelli printing.   No Gelli plate, you say?   This can be done with an old mouse pad or a piece of craft foam.  I've tried it both ways and it does work.  Have fun.

MORE HOME MADE ART STENCILS

France Papillion does "Journal on Monday" every week and she is quite the creative.  You'll enjoy her take on making stencils.

THE DARKEST NIGHT

I started this art journal layout wanting to do something to demonstrate home made stencils to my students in our altered books class.  As an American in Ukraine I don't have access to all the goodies offered in the big mega-stores in America.  And I don't want to teach my students techniques they can't repeat on their own.  Now, I must admit, as I roam the internet or read a Stampington publication, I sometimes desire those new materials and goodies I see out there.  The flip side of that, not having them, can sometimes extend one's own creativity.  So the stencil figures you see here came from figures I cut out of magazines.  Rough cutting I glue to cardboard, then cut out again accurately.  If careful with your cardboard cutting step you can end up with both a stencil and a mask.  Here I used the cut-out mask and dabbed paint around it.  The leaves in the lower corners are what were left from a leaf stencil.  I used regular household spackle plaster and pushed it thru the cardstock stencil.  Being paper I had to throw it out after these two.  Now if one could laminate these they would last a lot longer.

By the way, I called this an art journal and it is, but all my art journaling is now done in altered books. This is an Amway soft cover catalog we didn't need.  Anything bound is subject to my scrutiny for an altered book. . . softecovers included.  And it has a spiral binding that will be fun to hang pretties from to decorate.

I also noticed that this page fits well with a challenge that is going on now at Kat McNally's blog, "words to soothe the weary soul."  Self-compassion is today's prompt.   The words on my page are a reminder that when we are tired and depressed, the morning comes and all looks better.  I learned that lesson years ago.  Now, I don't take my thoughts and emotions so seriously at night....I may just be tired.  Kat's blog:  http://www.katmcnally.com/2013/12/reverb13-day-19-self-compassion.html?showComment=1387432800751#c8887281586528337712

The last step was to add the verse on the tag:  "Weeping may endure for a night, but Joy coeth in the morning."  Psalm 30:5.

Hope you like it.  I love reading your comments.

Be Friends with Failure

 As artists we always have this interior critic running a dialogue.  "Is this good enough?"  You're not really an artist."  "Should I really be doing this?" This little cartoon will help your perspective.  Click the link below to go to "doodle alley, comics that nourish."

Be Friends with Failure

BIRD BOOKS # 2, REPEATED PER REQUEST

My dear sweet husband did this on digital format for me.  So nice to be able to show the whole book at once.   It was fun to do and includes some work from art friends and some of my own little pieces.

FEATHER FUN

This has been my silliness of late.  I did the lower ones first from hymn sheets of an old book that was put in it's binding upside down.  So it made a perfect candidate for crafting.  What you can't see here is the beautiful shimmer they each have.  The upper group was made from cardboard headed to the recycle bin.  I really do like birds so it stands to reason I would like feathers as well.  I'm already making more on this feather kick.  Not sure where it will end, but some have already flown off to other parts of the world.  I also shared this idea with my class  and they all wanted to make some as well.  So fun!  Hope you like them.

Altering Books in Ukraine

I have such fun with these high school students.  They are learning to alter books.  Most never even knew of such a thing.  As you see above we started out last Saturday with a video....they were intrigued.  Here are the backgrounds several did.  I think they are off to a good start.

BUTTERFLY ATC

This is a 1947 Webster's Dictionary page I used for background.  I always keep a page near by to wipe excess paint off my brush or to test a stamp or stencil.  That leads to some pretty pages I then use in other projects.  The delicate dictionary paper is glued to ATC (artist trading card, 2 1/2 x 3 1/2") card stock to give it strength.

GELLI PRINTING ~ "IN THE ROUND"

PAPER MAKING IN UKRAINE

 Not too long ago I had the opportunity to do something I've wanted to do for years... make my own paper.  Sometimes I do crafts with some of the neighbor kids and I wanted to give them this experience.  The above picture is the paper pulp sitting in it's tray with geranium flower petals and some sparkle stuff.

 Our first attempt was a disaster.  The paper was the thickness of a cookie.  So we did some other crafting that night and I decided I needed to work on it some more myself.  This page has leaves.

 After literally years of looking in Ukraine, I found this plastic vat that was just the right size to fit the screen I had that has to dip down into the mixture to pick up the paper pulp (made with my blender).

 After many tried for days to follow I finally got down to TOO thin where the paper ended up with holes as above.  So with much trial and error I figured it out.  The kids came back over and we made cards with the hand made paper.  They really liked that and we had such fun.

 This is my play with paints and some stencils.

 From the paper I made I have done my first signatures for a bound book.  Signatures are the folded pages that go into it.  I've made many mini-books in the past, but never binding my own so this was a first for me. 

 I also made a cover for my signatures and bound them with ribbon.  I'm far from done as I've yet to decorate the cover, (except for a bit of spray color) but I won't do that until I decide what I shall use it for.

For quite some time I debated what I would do with this book when it was entirely finished.  Finally I came to the conclusion I couldn't do anything with it.  As simple and maybe even a bit crude as it is, it is my first bound book so I must keep it.  One more checked off the bucket list.  What do you think?

HOME MADE GELLI PLATE TOOLS

This video won't interest you unless you are into Gelli printing and if you are you'll love her ideas.

ART AND UKRAINE, KACHANIVKA CASTLE

In September Jeff and I took a trip to the town of Kachanivka, east of the capital,  Kiev, to see a castle.  Pristine and stately, it was owned by Pyotr Rumyantsev, Catherine II's Viceroy to Ukraine. He sold it to a Ukrainian who collected Hetman weapons, and under the Soviets it became a penal colony and tuberculosis hospital. They left the scene (thank God!) and now it is a National Historical and Cultural Preserve. A very peaceful and interesting place to walk.

As we toured the castle I was pleased to see examples of native art and many other artifacts.

 I especially loved the dolls and weavings as is evidenced by my photos.  Interesting that there are no faces on these dolls.  Wish I knew what this represented.

 I like the agricultural theme of this weaving.

 Orange and red...very traditional colors in Ukraine.  The word for red means "beautiful."

 An overview of the room and more dolls, some with faces.

 I just love the workmanship and detail in these dolls.

 A rich heritage of art.

Hope you enjoyed this little tour of Ukrainian art.  I love it when you leave messages and would be honored if you followed on this blog.

DOODLING ON MY SHOES

 Last week we were required to take our car out of the country to re-register here.  So what do you do when you're trapped in the car for hours on end? 

 We live near the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, which is fairly central in the country.  So anyway we go is a drive.  Since my sweet husband Jeff likes to drive and since I like him to drive, I'm free to come up with projects to do on the road or where we're staying overnight.  This was one of several. 

 I haven't decided whether I'm done or not, but I haven't moved forward either with it since returning.  Any suggestions?  I'm open to ideas.  Hope you like them.  For anyone who's wondering, they were done with Bic Mark It permanent pens.  In addition I used a Gelly Roll pen in white Uni-ball Signo to clean up some of the places my hand lost control (bumps in the road).

Blessings from Ukraine,  Coleen

Einat Kessler ~ Art Journal Page

This is such a fun page and some good advice.  Very adaptable to anything you want to do.

ART JOURNAL TUTORIAL

I look at a lot of tutorials.  I do that so I'm a better teacher in my classes and of course, to grow in my own art.  So when I find one that I like I post it here on my blog or on my Facebook art page which you can find here https://www.facebook.com/vintageterrace2.coleenfranks.  I think you'll enjoy this one too.  Let me know what you think.  She has a nice and simple approach.

VINTAGE FABRIC LACE BOOK by alittleshabbychic

This is one of the most beautiful books I've seen, but then I really do like doilies and lace having collected it since I was in college (and that was eons ago).  Enjoy....

CRE8TIVE CRE8TION'S SPRING BIRD

You'll enjoy seeing how Andrea Gomoll of Germany works.  I really like how she did her background.  You will too.

THE "ART" OF THE PIANO GUYS

They are wonderful and if you've never heard them you are in for a treat.

5 STEPS TO FINDING YOUR ART STYLE BY LUCY CHEN

http://lucychenfineart.com/5-steps-to-finding-your-art-style/
This is an encouraging post I think you will like.  She does lovely work and you can see more on her site.

ROMANTIC WOMEN IN ART

Beautiful work by Vladimir Volegov

CRAFTY CORSET

I did this for a swap on Yahoo's Altered Books site.  It was fun to do.  I've gotten to where if I'm going to send something off for a swap I often make two so I can keep one.  So now what do I do with it?

ALTERED VINTAGE CHILDREN'S BOOK

I wanted to share this great book.  I see journal/altered book possibilities galore.  I think you'll like it too.  A video by ItsonlyaDream97.

TANGLING IN ATC SIZE

A bit of playing in my studio.  Hope you like it.  Sending love to all.

ENGLISH CAMP IN UKRAINE

Getting the team over the rope without touching it.

Getting through the web.

Fun songs.

Card making at noon time.

Last week we had over 200 kids registered for English camp.  We did sports, songs, crafts (my part) and English.  Lots of fun for all of us.

THE VIEW

This is what it looks like from out my front door looking east in the morning.  I love how the trees cast shadows across the yard.  We live in a pine forest so even though we have lots of trees, we still get sunlight because those trees are so tall.

ALTERED BOOKS ???

I've had people ask me what did I mean by the term "altered book."  So here's a good explanation I think you'll enjoy.
http://gomakesomething.com/ht/thebasics/altered-book/

CAMP AT BETHANY CHURCH ~ UKRAINE

Camp started at 9:30 each morning, though the most excited ones were there sooner.  The first activity was assembly where they heard Bible stories, saw a skit or a movie.

One of my craft activities where bead necklaces with pony beads.  Even the boys made them for their mom's.  So cute.

The oldest group made these boxes, though far from finished here.  They did lots more decorating.   This is the group of kids I invited to return to do a regular craft class starting tomorrow, Saturday.  Would appreciate your prayers for this that they would have remembered from a week ago.

Showing off the mini-books we did with old CDs as a base.  Even this, my youngest group made beautiful books.  They wee so proud of themselves.  I love what I do.

Sweet Dasha is from another church where I have done crafts for a couple of years with the ladies.  We've done prayer journals.   She came to observe how we do camp in our church and to help. She was a blessing.

This is the group I invited for craft class tomorrow.  They were pretty inventive with their projects.  I  just love how free children are with their creative endeavors.

Can you imagine such joy these little ones had with making puppets from foam figures and Popsicle sticks?  They didn't want to stop.

Each day was ended with assembly in the church hall again.  Here is the giving out of prizes.  Now that was a reason to come back and finish the day.

Can you tell how he was happy with his prize by how he's cuddling it?

Darling little Vica.  Having been in Ukraine for close to 20 years, I've known Vica and many of the children from birth.  What a privilege to do what I do.

Little Andre is wearing his beads for his mama and happy with his prize too.

Anastasia really liked painting on her t-shirt.  She's one I"m sure will come back for our class.

This is the front of Christina's book (see her name in Russian).  Every book went home with a lovely big gem provided by Cynthia Henderson of Texas.  They loved those gems.  Thanks, Cynthia for your love of children.

There were outdoor games everyday including parachute games.  Thanks to Dan and Cindy Williams of Arkansas for providing the parachute.

The last day, last assembly was to receive gifts provided by Samaratin's Purse.

No doubt how happy they all were to get this prize.

On their way home with their prize and their ice cream cone.  A happy ending to a happy week.  Please pray that some of these children who have not been in the church will start coming to Sunday school.  Your prayers and provision of craft materials are always appreciated.  I couldn't do it without you.