Just playing

This morning I decided that I would just play at making backgrounds in my journal.  I haven't started any of my Take Me Deeper pages for May so I thought if I could do the backgrounds that might motivate me.

Do you collect ideas and pictures on Pinterest?  I do

Do you ever do anything with what you've pinned?  Me neither!

However, I did see this technique - without instructions - and thought I'd give it a go.  But first I needed to buy Bleeding Tissue.  Bearing in mind that bleeding is often used as a swear word it was with trepidation that I googled it.  Fortunately Amazon came to my rescue and I was able to order some from Sell Lounge UK which I rather assumed was a UK Amazon Marketplace vendor.   When I was notified that the tissue had been dispatched on May 22nd it said the parcel would be delivered sometime between May 30th and June 19th. This sent me scurrying back to Amazon to find out why.  Turns out it was coming from New Jersey, USA.  Good news though!  It arrived on May 27th.  So today was play day!

I cut some of the tissue into hexagons.  I lightly wet the journal page with water and put the tissue hexagons on to the page.  I didn't worry about what colour I was picking up and putting on the page.  I sprayed the tissue with more water.

Being impatient! I dried the page with my heat gun and as the tissue dried it popped off the page leaving the dye behind.

With these pages I decided to make more of a colour choice.

And with the tissue removed.

On these pages I experimented with all the pieces I had left from cutting the hexagons.  I put the pieces on the page so they were overlapping and then I wet the other page and put it down on top of the bits.

I peeled the pages apart and it looked like this.

I sprayed more water and pressed the pages together again.  And then peeled the pages apart again.

I dried the pages using the heat gun again.

The dried hexagons that came off the first two sets of pages had been dyed by the process.

I glued them to the pages with Soft Gel Medium.

For the final play, I cut the tissue into strips of varying lengths and into squares.

Wetting the page I put the strips and squares onto the wetness and then sprayed with water again.

This time I left the pages to dry rather than speeding up the process.   I wanted to see whether if it dried on its own the tissue had more time to bleed.

 The dry pages.

I love playing with backgrounds where you have no idea what you are going to get.  It's serendipity.

Don't you just love the word serendipity?

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

The Viaduct

Earlier Mary W left a comment about the viaduct photo so today I am putting the rest of my photos of it.

As you walk towards it, it just looks like an ordinary viaduct.

And then when you get underneath you get these amazing shapes.

Mary suggested the photos should be used to inspire some art.  I agree but have no idea what!

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Thankful and excited!

My blogging seems to have fallen by the wayside a bit.  Last week we went away for a few days to celebrate our wedding anniversary.     We did a bit of a detour so that I could get a photo of this amazing viaduct.

I've been really busy leading a book study on His Kingdom Come and planning new classes.
And that's what I am excited about.  I am working on a new altered book class called The Promised Land.

The class will have sections on how to alter a book and then a whole section on how to use that book for a study of these verses:

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land - a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey;   Deuteronomy 8:7-8

And why am I quite so excited when I haven't even started filming the class yet?   Well, amazingly on Sunday I found the negatives of photographs I took in October 1995 when Andy & I went on a trip to Turkey.   At the time I was researching The Promised Land plants for an embroidery course I was on and I was fortunate to see and photograph olives, figs, pomegranates, date palm and grapevines.   On Monday I sent them off to be digitised and they came back yesterday on a CD and I now have all those photos to use for the Altered Book class.  I just need to find the photos I took last year of wheat and barley.

In amongst the photos was this one - showing Andy sitting on the pontoon waiting for a watersports class.   Wasn't he cute?

I'd better get back to my planning.

Thanks for stopping by.

Bernice

Thankful Thursday

I am taking part in Thankful Thursdays - an original meme from His Kingdom Come.

This week's theme is being thankful for the people in our lives.   I am thankful for all my friends and family but these people in particular.

The person I am most thankful for every day is my husband, Roger. But really thankful today as we celebrate our 32nd Wedding Anniversary.

This was our 25th Wedding Anniversary

Our wonderful son, Andy, who is handsome, thoughtful and wise (and somewhat more bigheaded now if he reads this!)  We are so proud of him.

Next, the most beautiful woman - inside and out - our daughter-in-heart, Andy's wife Naomi.   We are extremely proud of her.   She is amazing.

And lastly today - this wonderful couple - Naomi's parents - Kenny & Betsy.  Their hospitality knows no bounds.  Their house is my second home.

 Who are you thankful for in your life?

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Colouring Books for Grown Ups

Did you know that coloring books for grown ups are all the rage?

Apparently they are very good for your mental health.

At His Kingdom Come two of our members have developed colouring books.  And they are all Bible based.  So not only are you able to improve your mental health but you can spend time meditating on the word of God as you are colouring in.

How fantastic is that!

Here's Narda's book.

And here is Shonna's.

You can buy and download them at the HKC shop.

Thanks for stopping by
Bernice

Thankful Thursday

I am taking part in Thankful Thursdays - an original meme from His Kingdom Come.

This week I am thankful for lots of things but thought I would concentrate on my day out yesterday in London.

1.  I am thankful for the safe and speedy travel by Chiltern Railways to London.

2.  Thank you to Anneliese for the free ticket to the Grand Designs Show.

Check out Fox & Bear Studio.

3.  I'm thankful that despite there being a lot of weather about yesterday I managed not to get wet!

4.  I'm thankful that I can afford to treat myself to a cream tea at Libertys of London.

5.  I'm thankful that I can move about freely - without let or hindrance - in my own country and be a tourist whenever I want.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

A new class

I'm excited to announce a new collaborative class from these girls!

We are the Foundation Team of His Kingdom Come.  You can find out about HKC started here.

We all got together for a weekend at Diane's house in Florida and had a great time together.   We had a great time playing, creating a new collaborative class, eating, going to church and discussing our vision for His Kingdom Come.

Sign up for the new class is now available with the classroom opening on May 16th.

Drum roll please:  Announcing

The Zigzag Postcard Book

 

Our finished books

If you're not already a member of His Kingdom Come please join.  It's free.  The Zigzag Postcard class costs $20.   Find out more here.

I would love it if you joined us in this self-paced class.

Thanks for stopping by.

Bernice

Book Club

Starting on Monday I am leading a book study of the book: The Creative Call by Janice Elsheimer.

To quote the author:
This book ‘offers Christians a point of view and an approach that is consistent with Christ’s teachings.   Instead of hoping that finding ourselves will result in practicing our art again, we need to realize that only through losing ourselves and becoming reliant on God can we discover how to use those gifts the way he wants us to use them.‘

We will be reading a chapter each week and sharing our thoughts in the discussion area for each chapter on the His Kingdom Come website.  If you are not already a member it is free to join His Kingdom Come and the Book Club is also free.

There's exciting news in Book Club.

Narda Poe has produced a colouring book of the verses used at the beginning of each chapter of The Creative Call.

The book comes in the form of a downloadable PDF which means you can choose what paper to print it on.   It's available to purchase in the HKC shop for just $9.

It's well worth buying even if you are not doing the book study.  Meditating on a verse whilst coloring it in and then learning it by heart is a great faith building exercise.



Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice