The Bethlehem Project (12/13/2009)

"Rosenthal's Inn" = my hubbin made the Inn from foamcore board spray painted with terracotta adobe looking paint. Details like windows were drawn in with a black sharpie marker & the different building outlines were made with black auto detail tape. The "Heavenlies" was a small platform and garden arch decorated to the left of the Inn for the angels to stand on for their announcement to the shepherds. One of my Sunday School kid's mom's decorated the trellis. The "Manger" scene was to the right of the Inn. It consisted of some hay bales & a wooden manger built by Carpenter John, a member of our church. I made the paper mache rock in which the lost lamb was found behind. I was only able to get three layers of paper mache on the rock as it took a long time for the layers to dry. I constructed the base of it from a large cardboard box, foam packing forms, & plastic bags taped all together. After it was paper-mache'd, it seemed as big as a mini-bus!

Here's the recipe I used for the paper-mache:

Whisk 1 ½ cups white flour into 6 cups of cold water in a saucepan until dissolved well. Place saucepan on stove & cook the mixture on medium high heat until thickened, stirring occasionally. When it is thickened & looks like white sauce (gravy), remove from heat. Let cool, stirring occasionally to prevent flour from settling on the bottom of the pan. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt (preservative).

Meanwhile, tear newspaper into 1 ½" strips. When paste is cool to touch, dip strip into paste at one end and push rest of paper in with fingers. I pull up one end of strip with left hand, stripping excess paste off by pulling paper between my first two fingers of right hand. (if you are left-handed, reverse directions). Lay flat on project and smooth down. Overlap slightly with next strip and so on until project is completely covered. Let dry. Add the next layer of paper strips cross-wise to last layer to make it strong. The more layers you add, the stronger the end product will be. On the last layer, I generally use layer of brown paper (like grocery sacks) as it is easier to cover with paint, but it is not necessary.

favorite product list

My favorite product and tool list will be a work in progress. I may add in or delete from time to time. I do not get paid for endorsing a particular product -- these are just the ones I like and use. 

A. 
Acrylic mounts for stamps - Fiskars 
Aleene's Tack It Over and Over Glue 
Awl or craft pick (pokey tool) 

B. 

Backdrops (twin-size flat sheet, sheers, decorative shower curtain, green screen

           tarp, tablecloths)  

Backdrop Stand (a t-shaped, 3-legged stand designed to hold a backdrop curtain behind

         you while you are taping a video to dress up or hide the background) - online Walmart 

Black and White Striped Backpack. (Cross-body purses do not work with forearm crutches

        and since I need the crutches to keep me stable, I've had to go to a backpack. Would

        LOVE to have one made by Mary Engelbreit and I've suggested it at her website.

        Anyway, the backpack carries my essentials as well as my sermon notebook and the

        GRACE & Prayer card coloring sheets I hand out at church. I also like backpacks with

         zippers - they are harder for pick pockets to roam through.)

Baseball Trading Card sleeves for 3-ring binders (artist trading card storage)
Bigz Dies - Sizzix
Bookcases (storage)
Brads/Eyelets
Brayers (hard plastic for sharp creases, soft foam for paint)

C. 

Cardstock
Craft Barn (storage)

Clasp rings 
Crochet Hooks (in all sizes)
Composition Notebooks
Cutting Mat (marked in 1-inch lines)

D. 
Die-cutting Machine -- Cuddlebug! 
Document Sleeves for 3 ring binders

E. 
Elmer's Craft Bond Glue

Embossing Folders
Eye Candy and Ideas - Pinterest, Splitcoast Stampers, YouTube 
Eyelet Punch/Setter - 

F. 
Fabulous Freebies

Fibers (butcher's twine, crochet thread, embroidery thread, sewing thread, string, yarn) - Coats and Clark
Filing folder boxes (clear plastic with snap-on lids for cling mounted stamps and thin-let die

     storage)
Food packaging (recycled images and 11 pages of potential Art Dolly Dresses)
Freezer paper

G.

Glue (with a fine nozzle tip; I dislike glue sticks personally, but like them for toddler Sunday     School class crafts) - Aleene's Tacky Glue, E600, Elmer's Craft Bond

Gorilla Pod Stand (a 3-legged stand for cell phone videotaping; the legs also bend, so one can

     wrap them around a pole to video tape from an angle or moving object such as a rollator)

H. 
Homemade Glue Dots

Harbor Freight Sheet Metal Hand Punch #44060 (I haven't been able to find the tool on

     Harbor Freight's website, so perhaps it has been discontinued, so I'm going to add a photo

     of the tool. It's come in very handy, and I only paid $20.00 for it. I found a similar hand

     punch on Amazon for twice that.) 

Hefty Slider Jumbo Storage Bags, 2.5-gallon size or 14 3/8" x 16". (To hold scrapbook paper

     and all the scraps or to organize ephemera by theme)

I. 

Idea Journals (black or white 3-ring binder/spiral notebook of doodles and lists)
Ikea   RÅSHULT Utility Cart with Wheels

Ink (basic black and colors in chalk, dye, permanent and pigment) - Clearsnap/Colorbox,

      Marvy/Uchida, Ranger, Stazon/Tsukineko

Inventory Journal (3-ring binder of color charts, die shapes, punch shapes, and stamp-offs)

J.

K.

L. 
Laminator and clear plastic sheets (our old laminator jammed, so hubby took it to a repair

     shop and the cost of repair was $5.00 more than the cost of a brand new one, so we tossed

     the old one and purchased a new one. The new one has a release button.) - 

Walmart Lamp (clip-on adjustable lamp for videotaping)

M.

Magnetic bowl (holds bolts, brads, eyelets, nuts, and tiny thin-let dies) - Harbor Freight

Magnet sheets added to 8.5" x 11" tagboard (to hold thin let dies in clear file folder box

    storage)

Magnet wand (telescoping magnet for dropped brads, eyelets or tiny die pieces) - Harbor

    Freight

Markers (water-based dye and alcohol-based permanent inks) - Marvy/Uchida, Sharpies

    (See my Fabulous Freebies tab for a link to a Marvy/Uchida printable marker chart &

     coloring sheets)

Mary Engelbreit's Craft Books

Mary Engelbreit Rubber Stamps - I have purchased them from eBay, flea markets, garage

     sales, Michaels, and thrift stores.  But I just got the word (11/15/2019) that Rubber Moon

    has licensed with Mary Engelbreit to produce her stamps. YAY! You can purchase them

     from Mary Engelbreit's website. 

Masks and stencils.

Microsoft Paint & 3D Paint (came with my laptop computer.)

Microsoft Photo and Video Editor 2021. (Came with my laptop). 

Milk Crates (portable storage for pencil boxes and my Mary Engelbreit clamshell tins I use to

     store her stamps in) 

N. 

O. 

P. 
Paint (acrylic based and water-based) -- Hobby Lobby, Joann's, Michaels, Walmart
Paint brushes 
Paper (upcycled paper like homemade, Kraft sacks, prescription chemistry papers, and

     store-bought cardstock - white, colored and decorative scrapbook paper)
Paper Trimmer (cuts and scores) - Fiskars
Pencil boxes (plastic clamshell with colored flat tops for storage) 
Pencils (colored, mechanical, watercolor), my current favorites are 30 Count Crayola

     Twistables (wish they had refills)

Pill bottles (transparent bead, blade, sequin, & sponge storage, sponge daubers, etc.)
Pincushion
Plastic packaging (transparent-for homemade stencil and shaker cards)

Polaroid Zink (smart phone photo printer)
Punch Buddy
Punches (Basic shapes and a corner rounder)

Q.

R.
Ribbon (dots, chintz florals, gingham checks, and stripes in 1/4-inch-wide chiffon or woven)

Ring Light (4 settings to give your face its best glow while videotaping. Mine is a clip-

    on version connected to an adjustable cell-phone clamp for videotaping.)
Rubber embossing mat for die-machine
Rubber Stamps (cling or pre-mounted; I do not care for clear stamps)

S.

Safety or bulb pins - Tim Holtz (bulb pins)
Scissors - Tim Holtz
Sewing Machine (basic machine with zig-zag stitch) 
Sewing Needles and Pins
Sharpie Marker (fine-line, black)
Spiral notebook (purse sized product shopping trip list)
Stapler, staples and staple remover (tiny sized for attachments)
Stazon Ink Cleaner Liquid
Stencils (homemade with dies and store-bought) and Masks

T.

my best tips (post) 
tissue boxes (checks, dots, stripes, and chintz florals)

Tracing disks  (can be used not only for appliqués in quilting, but also for scrapbooking)

Twistables by Crayola (side note: Check out this crayon website by clicking here!)

U.

V.

W.
Washi tape (checks, dots, stripes, and chintz florals)
Water brush (I like the Pentel brand the best, but also have a Kitchen uretake)

Wendy Vecchi's Make Art Stay-tion magnet board by Ranger  (now I have 2 to scrapbook a

        spread on. The hinge in the middle on the back is a piece of decorative duck tape.)
White eraser

X.

Y.

YouTube's Free Audio Library (downloadable music clips and sound effects; see the

     description box below my videos for titles/artists)

Z. 

A Little About Me!

First of all, I'm an ordinary person who has been richly blessed with a genetic crafting gene. Exodus 35:31 and Proverbs 24:3-4 are two of my favorite scriptures.

For most of my life, I've been involved in the creative arts - ceramics, creative writing, singing in both church and school choirs (even cutting a record with my school mates in ninth grade), and needlework. I've taught craft classes to children at church and to homeschoolers. I have sewn some costumes and made props for our church dramas.

I was a volunteer page in a small town library for two years and was honored by the library system at a special tea presenting a new craft book to our library with a inscribed frontpiece nameplate with my name and the amount of hours (1000+) I put in there. 

I began scrapbooking approximately thirteen years ago when my sister sold Creative Memories, and was introduced to rubber stamping about the same time. I've had several things published that I've written or created. Poetry has been published in literary & youth magazines, a church history article in a genealogy publication, crafting articles online at OldFashionedLiving.com and cards published in Scrap & Stamp Arts, Just Cards!, Just Invitations!, Just Weddings!, and Just Holidays! magazines. For three years, I compiled an e-newsletter for educators at church, a resource list for my homeschooling support group, and most recently, a hometown arts & crafts resource list.

I was a moderator in the homeschooling sub-forum in the Parlor forum at the defunct Old Fashioned Living website, and currently, I'm a member at Splitcoast Stampers where I have a thread in the forum called "Need a Poem?", was a member of Club Posh's forum. I'm also a member of other websites -- check those out on the "follow me" tab. 

In October of 2009, I accepted a position with the Stamp A Mania/Posh Rubber Stamp Design Team and served seven months with them until the recession hit. Unfortunately, several years later Mark Stansell's health declined and he passed away during treatment for cancer.

I was active in two ATC clubs on and off for over a year until both stamp/scrapbook stores closed its doors. Since the coronavirus shutdown (2020-2021) made in-person crafting impossible, occasionally my friends and I craft together via video chat app.  Several years ago I was introduced to Stephanie Ackerman's Documented Faith by a friend and have learned how to doodle during one of her classes, however, Stephanie has closed her Documented Faith ministry as of this year (2021). I am continuing to doodle though and am trying my hand at art journaling. It is much like card making, except in larger scale. 

I met my husband on a blind date and married my dear knight one year later. We've been married for 36 years now and have one son.  Health-wise, I have A.D.D., pigmentary glaucoma (am an advocate for the Glaucoma Research Foundation ONLY!), asthma, sleep apnea, wore a brace on my right leg for drop foot (now am wearing a built-up shoe which feels as stiff as a brace) and some doctors thought, because of an enlarged heart, I might have pulmonary hypertension, but that has been disregarded (I still have the enlarged heart and water retention, so the search continues for a diagnoses), but I don't let any of it slow me down. If ya have dreams, you gotta put feet on them! ❤

One of the most enjoyable extracurricular activities I participated in in high school and college was the publication of the campus literary magazine. I wanted to carry that over in our son's homeschool, so we combined two activities into one in our homeschool support group = a literary magazine and yearbook. 

In the samples below, I combined scans of the front covers of each of the publications my poetry were published in along with one poem. (click on photos to enlarge for viewing).

Our homeschool support group published a poem that I wrote about schooling our ADD son. His mama was ADD too, so I went to school twice!💗

I filled out a survey and Christine M. Field selected certain portions of my answers to use in her book she was writing called Homeschooling the Challenging Child. I received a complimentary copy for participating after it was published in 2005 by Broadman & Holman . Woo hoo! She quotes me 4 times! Christine was interviewed about the book on YouTube -- click here to watch! 

Boy, was I surprised when I received this complimentary copy of Pearl Dexter's book called "Scones, Shortbread, and More." I sent her a royal scone recipe which she included in her book. 

My first craft magazine - YaY!