My Positivity Journal 2021

January 2021 Divider & Front Spread

My YouTube Positivity Journal Playlist

Words

Note: Playlist is set up like a series of chapters. Each month of my journal is a chapter. Click on the link and go to the chapter you haven't seen before to watch it. Or watch the whole playlist from beginning to end and see how my style of journal and video making has evolved. 

JANUARY -- Doing something different this year. I called a time-out -- to take a wee break while I recharge my creative batteries and to  learn new journaling techniques. For instance, I've been watching some Dyan Reaveley videos to see how she makes backgrounds for her art journaling pages, for I want to add in some to my journal too. I'm making it a blend of several types of journals. The best thing I did last year in my journal was to prepare it ahead of time, giving myself 6 spreads per month plus one extra page, with three pages devoted to the requirements of good memories, quotes, and scripture and then whatever else I wanted to do in the rest of the spreads. I watched a lot of bullet journaling and planner videos to list their ideas and did the same until I began running out of ideas at the end of the year. I was late in video making because I was struggling to come up with more ideas to fill in pages. Then I got Covid and didn't feel like messing with either my journal or video-making. I practiced giving GRACE to MYSELF and uploaded them when I could. That was a struggle too - allowing myself GRACE -- a foreign concept to my way of thinking since I usually beat myself up mentally for being less than PERFECT! 

I felt so good though, when I finally got November and December's videos made and uploaded.  I'm taking the best ideas of the last two years and creating something new -- a Table of Contents with assignments for each page, however, I can put my imagination cap on and be creative within those page assignments. I've made up to 6 months worth so far and if by mid-year, if I've changed my mind for something else I want to remove or add-in, I can do so. Oh, and since I use a skinny elastic hairband to keep my journal closed, I've added in divider tabs at the top of the composition notebook to keep the tabs away from the belly band. In 2019, I had divider tabs on the side and used a belly band sideways and the tabs got squished. Last year, I put the divider tabs on the side and used the elastic vertical and the page side of the journal became deformed under the pressure. So this year I will see how the top dividers work out with a horizontal belly-band. 

To prepare journal - 

This composition notebook is from Walmart and has a sewn in signature which makes the journal strong. Some journal makers go through their notebook gluing pages together for strength, however, I glue pages into my journal. The left side of one spread is for writing and the right side of the spread is where I'm gluing in cardstock cut down to size. A spread consists of two pages facing each other (see above photo) and the fold in the middle is called a ditch. 

Adding washi tape to the side edges of the pages make them stronger, for they will be thumbed through a lot. Cut down 12 sheets of scrapbook paper for the front dividers (6 3/4 inches x 9 1/4 inches) -1 per month and glue in, allowing 6 spreads plus 1 page between the months. I have purchased six humorous cards so far from Dollar Tree to use as a pictures on the divider pages.  The table of contents was added to the inside cover. Then I cut down a 2021 calendar that my husband obtained from Half-Price Books to add to the diary page and glued in the word "LOVE" underneath that I cut from some packaging to remind myself that "LOVE" is my theme word for the year (Jesus LOVES Me). 

The glue I'm currently using is Elmer's Craft Bond and I use lots of it. 😃

COVER: Baa! The Lamb of God

Here's my table of contents for the first six months:

1. Divider Page (theme "friends;" most of the cards came from the Dollar Tree)

2. Daily Calendar

3. Pictorial Diary (I was inspired by Dyan Reaveley's "done" diary) 

4. Scripture

5. Art Journal Page 

6. Quotes

7. Art Journal Page

8. Good Memories

9. Art Journal Page

10. Prayer List (it's good to pray for your friends and family) 

11. Glue Book page (tea envelope collection)

12. Poem (either mine or someone else's that I enjoy!) 

I used most of what I had leftover of scrapbook paper that corresponded to the farmhouse décor theme behind the cards on the divider pages and then found two paper packs of scrapbook paper on sale at Michaels and Tuesday Morning. The one at Michael's is called "At the Barnyard" by Recollections and the other is Country Kitchen by Steven Duncan/Echo Park Paper Co. It has a retro kitchen feel to it. I took out all the pages in both that have the small embellishments and cut them up to put into a zippy bag, so many of the small embellies that I will be using to decorate my journal will be from those two packs, however, I have also found some cute farm-type signs on Pinterest and have printed them out on my Polaroid photo printer. I like that the printer paper converts into a sticker. Santa was nice to me that year. smile! 

I will also be using not only rubber stamps and my doodles in the journal, but stencils as well. And I have been practicing a faux calligraphy font template that I found on the internet by hand as headers on my pages. 

If you've been following me for awhile, you know that I will be posting the crafty stuff from the whole journaling year right here in one long post, so come back each month to see what I've added to this post. Thank you for following me. I enjoy my craftin' bliss! 

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February's Video is Finally Uploaded. My first art journal page was inspired by a quote from Bob Goff's book called Live in Grace-Walk in Love, the second by Stephanie Ackerman and the third by Dyan Reaveley. 

With ADD, I have a sensory issue. I don't like clothes that itch nor do I like the rough textured surface of acrylic brush- painted papers, however, I tried acrylic paint with Dyan's technique of using one of Tim Holtz's sponge applicators and I really like it as it is soft and smooth to the touch. 

I used three stencils from my stash to continue Dyan's technique of layering images, one of them being Tim Holtz's cross-stitch stencil, one was an alphabet stencil (brand?) and border blocks (Plaid?). Dyan Reaveley's coloring girl die-cut came from my friend Julie in a swap. The mushrooms are Dyan's Dylusions stamps and the flowers are Posh Impressions. I colored them in with water-based brush markers. The sentiment strips came in a baggy I got at the thrift store, so I don't know the brand. And whoa, I wrote a poem for my glue-book tea envelope page! 😇 

Tea Envelopes are red,

Tea Envelopes are blue,

Tea Envelopes are many colors

When brand new!

I like them red

I like them blue

I like them many colors,

To share with you.

~ DJR ~

 

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YouTube Analytics says that my five most watched playlists are:

Dolores' Positivity Journal

Dolores' Doodles

Dee Gruenig & Posh

Mary Engelbreit

And my newest one: A Year of Joy 

Thank you for making that so! 

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I'm working on the March video. Can't seem to get the music placement just right. I enjoy the creativity, but didn't know I also had to use math to figure out what music I can use where. I grew up singing in church and school choir, but never paid much attention to how long each song was. And an additional challenge is figuring out what songs sound good together. I told the hubs today, I've never really noticed what music and sound effects has been put into a movie to add emotion. I just enjoyed it.  I created a poem to go into the video like the last one. It's a cinquain.

tea

hot water

steep plant parts

many flavor blends of

white, green, black and herbal

Yum!

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I began a new post with Farm Animals Sayings and Quotes for Art Journaling, ATC's, Cards, and Scrapbooking!

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Last month, I included a live portion in my March video. But now my technology is giving me fits, so I can't do a live portion in April's video. Technology is wonderful when its working. Not so much when it isn't. So guess I'm going to have to put on my thinking cap and work around it. This month, I began my video with some slides of what us card-makers used to call serendipity paper and now what the collage makers call collage masterboard. I dug around in the clear zippered bag that I keep all the snippets of paper that reminds me of and stamp off's of Mary Engelbreit's rubber stamps and collaged a bunch of paper together to make new paper that I can use  in my positivity journal. I'm also following Linda Vater's Bucket Brigade challenge with food plantings in galvanized metal buckets on YouTube. I've got lettuce and kale planted and we bought a tomato and hope to get some cucumber planted in the last tub. 

This month I also wrote a haiku for my tea poem:

tea Camellia blooms

leaves picked, dried, and roasted black

steep, scented, sip, smile

~ DJR 

By the way, I'm on the hunt for sayings to use with my zetti art doll journaling pages. I'm looking at Pinterest, but that tends to be a little overwhelming and I get distracted by all the pretties. smile! Julie sent me one. Not gonna tell you what it is for that's for next month. All my dollies will be wearing labels of some sort. Like this month, Dollie is wearing an evaporated milk label. She's also is wearing my face put through a photo booth app and I used an acronym that my husband used to call me. 😁 He told me to quit putting myself down because I was a BBW~ a Big, Beautiful Woman!  Click on the photos to enlarge if you can't read it. So if you have a positive saying that might coordinate well with a label, leave it in the comments below. I added last month's zetti paper doll for you. I'm not cutting up magazines for the arms and legs, but women's clothing catalogs that I get in the snail mail. When I run out of those, I have a paper doll rubber stamp that I can use for appendages. 

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MAY VID:

I was watching a video recently about JOY by Ingrid Fetell Lee. Look her up on YouTube, she has been taped several times speaking about the subject. Anyway, she talked about colors and things that bring you joy. Carolyn challenged me to find the word JOY and I've created a playlist that contain three videos so far. Each video holds about 50 snapshots I've taken of JOY's that I and my husband and others have found since last Christmas (2020). I suddenly realized I could also have moments of joy and delight. One of my moments this month was catching sight of a mama goose strolling down our road with five goslings all lined up in a row following right behind her. I have no idea where she came from, but I was pretty sure where she was going. We have a lake at the end of our road. I jumped up and grabbed my camera and walked quickly out to our front porch to get a snapshot. After I developed the picture, it went right into the photo diary section of my positivity journal. 

My hubby wasn't too sure about my paper Dolly having my face, nor it being oddly messed up in a photo booth app, however, he was sure enjoying the saying I found for June's Dolly and shared it with his family during Memorial Day weekend. He had a good laugh about it and isn't that what a positivity journal should have -- a little humor?  By the way, I updated my Flickr-1 Account. I'll be sharing my zetti dolls there as well as many other paper art dolls that I've created over the years.

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June's Short Video is live! In June, my laptop computer died of old age, crashed and burned, along with all my files, which included three videos I was compiling. Thanks to John, my husband's brother-in-law, my laptop was rebuilt and I've been busy trying to work out the bugs and get used to some of the new apps that he put on it. Have gobs of emails to work through as well. 

Since my video is so late, I decided to try the new YouTube shorts format. Some things to remember:

• Even though YouTube shorts videos are supposed to be 1:00 minute long, make it 59 seconds long. They tacked on one second to my video while my video was being uploaded and processed. 
• 20 (3 second) slides make a 60 second video. 
• YouTube said we can use a 15 second music clip from popular music to accompany our videos without copyright issues, however, to by-pass that, I just found some copyright free music from YouTube's free audio music library. If you fall in love with the music I've added to each of my videos, look in the description/info box under each video for the title and artist, along with any shout-out's to people that I mention in my video. 

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July's video is finally done! And uploaded to my channel. Although a little late for spring cleaning, that's what I've been doing. Spring cleaning my kitchen and replacing all the plastic and wood items we've collected in the last 30 years of marriage for stainless steel and glass. I'm in the middle of a GI workup and have already been diagnosed with lactose and fructose malabsorption. I have an endoscopy scheduled for September. Possum Patty from Pencil-vania calls it the Freedom Diet - free from dairy and free from the usual American fruits. I'm allowed berries and melons except watermelon. There is also a part of the fructose diet that is gluten-free. I'll be happy when I can get heart-burn free. 

My video is a tribute to black and white television. Did you know that RCA began selling black and white television sets to the American public in 1939? Colored television didn't come out until the mid-1950s. My dad purchased our first game, Atari, to use on the television when I was a senior in high school. When Mr. Rush and I were first married, our first television was two TV's stacked on top of each other. His aunt gave him a black and white portable television set that had a picture but no sound and a neighbor down the street gave us a console television that had sound but no picture. It also had no remote control, so we had to get up to change the channels on both TV's in order to watch anything. We were just happy to have television. Before that, all we had was my radio. Young Love!  It wasn't until we were married several years before we purchased a rent-to-own VHS machine from our local grocery store and now I'm creating my own videos and uploading them to YouTube.  Amazing! 

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August's video is up! I've had computer issues all summer and medical testing, procedures and surgeries, so finally getting around to uploading videos. I also uploaded a shorts video yesterday with JOY's that Possum Patty from Pencil-vania sent me. Her most pressing question was -- was I responsible for the rubber ducky named JOY in one of Maine's harbors? Nope, but I thought it was funny that she recognized the word on the chest of the duck while watching the news about how the duck showed up in the harbor one night. 😂

My video includes a tutorial on how to create a collaged master-board or what we called in the cardmaking world, serendipity paper tag for a pocket on the picture diary part of my journal. Some of the paper I used came from Happy Mail from Possum Patty and some of it was scraps that I saved from other projects. Hope to get September's video up soon, perhaps tomorrow. But first a follow-up doctor's appointment. I had a cataract removed in my left eye and two stents put in to help keep the pressures in my eye even a week ago. I was diagnosed with pigmentary glaucoma several years ago. This is me - click here. When was the last time you have had your eyes checked? Don't let glaucoma (or cataracts) steal your eyesight. 

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September's video is live!. I had two requests this month -- a friend wanted me to begin my video with my face and for that we had to order a backdrop stand for  I didn't like what I was seeing behind me. Hubby ordered it from online Walmart on Saturday and it came on Monday.  I found out that a twin size flat sheet in my favorite black and white buffalo check/gingham fit just perfect and my creative mind got to thinking about what other things I could use as a backdrop -- other twin sheets in interesting patterns?, a green screen tarp?, a quilt top (wonder if I can find one at the thrift store that doesn't have a backing yet?), a tablecloth or a decorative shower curtain. I saw some really nifty ones on Amazon and eBay for sale, but I'd rather not spend more than the cost of the backdrop stand. I'm frugal, what can I say! And the other person wanted me to show them how I draw my coloring sheets or Grace cards, so have both in this video. Almost had a disaster right before I began filming though and that's when you have to get creative. My clip-on lamp broke, so will have to replace it but whew, I found a replacement that worked this time. The light and shadows were a little dark, but hopefully a new lamp will shed some new light next time!   Oh, and before I forget,  I also added a sound effect to my video this time. Listen for it! I had to do some juggling between my voice, the music and the sound effect and some of the video was a little glitchy, but it's gonna fly! 

Update: YouTube has removed the Discussion tab from people's channels that have less than 500 subscribers, which grumped me out. But what can you do? I used to be a member, then moderator in the Parlor at the website called Old Fashioned Living. Anybody remember that forum? I am/was also a member of Splitcoast Stampers and Club Posh's forums.  I was hoping to get enough people interested in beginning a forum of my own on YouTube, but guess I'll have to begin a thread with a video on my channel. Like I said before, I like praise, but I also like conversation, so if you want to talk to me, you can in the comments below this post or below each one of my videos.  

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I have a new JOY video up and now October's Positivity Journal Flip-through video. I'm still learning how to edit. It's hard work to come up with creative ideas of what to do in a video, but also how to edit them creatively. And if they are boring or long to you, I'm sorry, I'm doing the best I can, however, I'm open to hearing your ideas about what you want to see (providing they are good and clean ideas). I have two upcoming procedures, one in a couple of days and another one right before Christmas and somehow I pulled a muscle in my lower back while doing some work in the kitchen, so have been nursing that with hot water bottles and cold packs. And car rides are the worst! You don't realize how much your lower back absorbs shocks from road craters and sharp turns until your back doesn't. Mine spasms in pain. 

The best thing though, in October's video, is the Swap and Glue Challenge I participated in with Possum Patty of Pencil-vania. I sent her some images and she sent me some and we created a gluebook page with what we were sent. You'll have to check out my Happy Mail playlist for those particulars.

And I am really enjoying my twist on Teesha Moore's art journaled dolls. I even have Possum Patty making my version of zetti-dolls. See my YouTube hashtag #djrpaperdollart I uploaded another page to my Flickr photo album (see left side menu for link) and I rearranged the front of my channel. Some of my most popular playlists have been added there, however, I have more under my playlist tab. 

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Copy right Claims for Music on my Videos: I learned today who has put copyright claims on some of my videos. When I began recording and editing my Positivity Journal videos in 2019, I used the music that came with the Microsoft App Photo & Video editor that came on my computer. I figured they had okayed it with the powers to be, however, I soon discovered that they had different names for the music than it was listed as on YouTube. As soon as I received the copyright claims (which is different and less severe than a copyright strike), I sent feedback to both Microsoft and YouTube, protesting my innocence and telling each where I got the music. Hence, each one of my videos has the editor I use and the title of the music and composer if I know it down in the description box below each video. 

Anyway, each of the four 2019 videos that received a copyright claim to it means that I cannot get revenue from that video should I ever get to the place where I can monetize my channel (I must have 1000 subscribers plus a certain length of viewing time). I use YouTube's music and sound effects from their free audio library now.  

The claimants are:

AdRev

Hexacorp LTD on behalf of ScoreAScore

Naxos of America 

The reason I dug into my channel today is that a YouTube friend took music lessons on her electronic piano so that she could eventually play well enough to record music for her videos. She found some sheet music in the public domain, meaning that it was published at least 75 years ago and played that music for one of her videos. Now she has a copyright claim against it by some German company claiming that she infringed on a copyrighted recording of the music their company made in 1944. If that music became public domain 75 years ago, then it became so in 1946. IMHO some sneaky and stinky shenanigans goeth here. 

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November 2021 Short! After several months of health issues that included a couple of endoscopies and surgeries, I decided it was time to quit being lazy and finish up my positivity journal and upload a short show and tell video! 

And when I complete December's flip-through, my positivity journaling days will be over and on to new and better things, such as: 

I joined another #swapandglue with a YouTube friend named Linda Dee. We sent each other paper images through the snail mail; she's completed her collages on video, so I have that video to do! 

And Linda and I will each be doing an en masse journal (idea by Shannon Green). I've already have begun collecting a list of items I want to look for to glue down in a new composition notebook, so that video will be coming soon as well, and I've been going through my stash and pulling some things out to send some happy mail to Linda's Mixed-Up Mess! 🤓

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December 2021 Done! 

Fabulous Freebies!

My current soapbox is to please find and use substitutes for those pre-1940s historical records that historians and genealogists such as myself use to document the stories of our ancestors. Former President Harry S. Truman said to learn about history, he read biographies, however, we cannot write or read them, if people destroy records while creating their artwork! 

Some of the records I'm talking about are the favorites of vintage grunge artists like accounting or ledger books, bills & receipts, old photographs and glass or plastic film negatives, handwritten letters or recipes, maps, newspapers, school reports, etc. Genealogists drool at the thought of another record to attach to their ancestors and there are websites scattered throughout the internet that love scans of old records. I know this because I have googled them researching my 3rd great-grandparents and have contributed to several. 

Tim Holtz (or your favorite vintage or shabby chic artist) has techniques and products that can transform your basic white or manila paper into antique looking works of art. You can also scan and print or photocopy old papers on your computer and then donate the originals to your local historical or genealogical society (most counties or states have one). You can also find reproducible, some free, images and papers online (check out Pinterest) to print off. And here are some of my favorites!

 Art-e-zine Vintage Images 

Aunt Annie's Printable Papers

Calendar & Planner Printables

Chronicling America Newspapers See if you can find an ancestor recorded in one of these newspapers before 1963, then you will have a newspaper article or ad for your heritage scrapbook. 

Clipart frames. 

Convert a Photo into Cross-stitch Patterns for FREE!

Coloring Club Database

Color by Number coloring sheets. 

Crafty Secrets Printable

Creative Art n Soul Printables

Dead Fred Photographs

Stuck for a doodle while sketch-noting? See the Noun Project website for help.

If you don't find what you are looking for at the Noun Project website, here's a Clip-Art Library website!  

Dover Publishing Sampler E-news

For Scrap-bookers: Birth Year Happenings

FREE Printable Coloring Sheets from Mary Engelbreit 

FREE Printable Coloring Sheets

FREE Printable Lantern Templates here! 

More FREE Printable Coloring Sheets from God's Fingerprints

FREE Pretty Things for You

Gabby Braun's Printable Legs

Google's Art & Culture (I've been adding art to my favorites!)

Graphic Fairy

Green Paper

Jason Liebig’s Flickr photos of his candy wrapper collection 

Marvy Uchida Coloring Sheets

Missouri Death Certificates. See if you can find an ancestor in Missouri between 1910 and 1970, then you will have a death certificate for your heritage scrapbook.  

MY FREE Printables -- Sorry! A Troll came along and helped themselves to an important document of mine that wasn't included in the deal, so at this time, none of my free printables will be available.  

Paint by Number Generator (off-site)

Also check out my Community tab on YouTube as I've added freebie's there also from other YT channels.  The video tab to the => right at the top of the page will get you there. 

From Splitcoast Stampers forum = Need a poem?

Pinterest: 
Paper: Ideas

Printable Ledger Papers

Printable Sheet Music

Printable Paper Dolls -1

More - 2

Ransom Note Generator (Printable)

QUILT BLOCK CHART

QUOTES:

"A picture is worth a thousand words." (Napoleon Bonaparte)

Shabbydabbydodah

Substitutes for old ledger paper. Print your own and coffee stain them.

Stampington's Dress Template

State Tourist Department Maps & brochures from local Tourist Offices or online. 

Tim Coffey Art Digi's

The Vintage Moth

Topsy-Turvy Doll w/ free sewing pdf pattern

Vintage Photos from the Missouri State Archives

Easy Peasy Tabs

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. I have been scouring the craft and hobby stores around here for a tab punch or die and coming up empty-handed so I put on my thinking cap and tried to figure out how to make a squarish one for myself. I love to figure out how paper engineers do things with folded bits and bobs and a bright idea 💡 came to me when I was playing with a piece of folded food packaging. 

1. Depending on how many folder tabs you need, you can calculate getting 6 (3 inch x 3 inch) tabs from 1 piece of 8 1/2 inch x 11 inch piece of cardstock.  (Of course, you can make them any size, but I needed this size.) You also need a ruler and scissors or a paper trimmer, a pencil, a dry ball-point pen or a bone folder or ball-point embossing tool. You will also need a quarter (or large coin) to trace around or a circle punch. Measure and cut out 6 (or more) (3 inch x 3 inch) squares.

2. Measure 1 1/2 inches down from one side to find the middle of the square and score with either the dry ball-point pen, bone folder, or embossing tool. This will give you a crease that will be easy to fold. My paper trimmer has a little groove under the cutting knife that I follow with the tool to score the paper.

3. Place quarters about halfway on either end of scored fold, trace around and cut out or punch half-circles out. My circle punch has half-marks on the bottom, so I can turn it over and punch out by lining the marks up to my paper.

4. Fold and trim as needed. 

5. All the examples above were made of white cardstock to show you where to cut and fold.  The example below shows that you can make the tabs out of any heavy colored or decorative papers. Cut a few out from scrap paper to have on hand. Use glue or double-face tape to attach the tabs to the thing you need tabs for such as dividers in your notebook, address cards, file folders, recipe cards, rolodex cards in ascending order.   You can computer generate, rubber stamp or use alpha-stickers for your labels and stick on.  Viola, easy-peasy tabs!

Arts and Crafts Curriculum

I was thinking this morning about arts and crafts curriculum. While I feel blessed for having family and public school teachers who thought enough to teach me about the creative process of arts and crafts (ceramics, crochet, decorating cakes,  sewing, scrapbooking, painting, quilting, etc.), I know that's not so in all families and all schools.

When we began homeschooling our son, I wanted to include arts and crafts to give him a well-rounded education. At first I had to start with inexpensive crafts because I didn't know what curriculum was available to us. I'd go to the hobby/craft stores near us in the children's section and tear off a instruction sheet of every available kid's craft there, purchase the necessary items (what I didn't have already in my craft stash at home) to make up into zippy bag kits and put them into a basket along with the instruction sheet for him to choose from during his weekly arts and crafts instruction time. After completing the craft, he would then staple the instruction sheet to his daily log of schoolwork so that I would have a record of what he did that day.

Eventually we used a combination of resources -- encyclopedias, my college Art history reference book (History of Art. By H. W. Janson. Prentice-Hall, Inc; 1977.), art postcards and the internet.

We joined a homeschooling support group and their members often arranged field trips to various places around the metropolitan city. I remember visiting the Nelson-Atkins art gallery on one such field trip. Nothing like seeing the real deal! My son was really into the suite of armor on display and some of the Egyptian art (he & his father was into the Young Indiana Jones series at the time). We took photos of the kids standing next to the sculpture outside the museum for our homeschool scrapbook/yearbook and I visited the gift shop. Was I ever thrilled the following week when our son found an Egyptian rubber stamp set at our local thrift store for $5.99 that we had seen at the gift shop for $26.99 only the week before. It was added to our craft corner.

One disagreement I've had with our children's Sunday School department is the use of cartoon illustrated posters. They say our posters are old-fashioned, but I say kids get enough cartoon illustrations in the film and TV industry. They need to be exposed to the art of the masters and their stories, like Rembrant and Albrecht Durer. If you want modern, go with today's artists like Warner Sallman. The above quick photo of The Good Shepherd print is one I have hanging in my living room and is a favorite of mine. It was given to me by my paternal grandmother. Her Sunday School class purchased it for her as  thank you gift.. Expose them to George Caleb Bingham Thomas Kinkade, Samuel J.Butcher  Arthur John Elsley, Sandy Lynam Clough among others. What better place to expose children to fine art than church? After all, it was the church who drove the appreciation of fine art for centuries by sponsoring the creation of it.

 I found a book near the end of our homeschooling days that I wish I had had at the beginning as it would have facilitated the study of art so much better. It's called "Great Art and Children's Worship." By Jean Louise Smith. Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1948. If you can get your hands on a copy, grab it. I found my copy at a garage sale for a quarter. Each chapter is a lesson on a particular featured painting or sculpture, along with a bit of history on the artist and a short devotion. There are discussion questions to go along with the lesson as well. Ms. Smith has a resource list in the back of the book of suitable artwork to go with each lesson and a section on the symbolism of Christian art.

Quick Card

Hey Beginner Stampers, this quick card is for you! When you own only one or two stamps,

use images cut off the top of a dollar store notepad like I did here!

 

Or use wrapping paper like this card:

 

Purchase extra cupcake liners from the Dollar Store to use on your invitations,

 for your party cupcakes, and to scrapbook the memories!

This party set was published in the Just Invitations magazine by Scott Publications.

Frog Prince Birthday Party Invitation & Party Gear

Instructions:

1. Cut out frogs & crowns (Cuddlekids Milton Frog & Girly-Girl diecuts) and assemble.

2. Lily pads are punched two inch circles with a wedge cut out. Draw lines to indicate edges & veins on leaf.

 

3. Cut out an extra frog back for cupcake pick & glue toothpick & crown between the two back pieces.

4. Cut out pink invitation card (4 1/2” x 8 1/2”), scrapbook page (6” x 6”), ATC (2 1/2” x 3 1/2”) & strip for napkin ring. 

5. Iron cupcake paper liners, then tape to card  and scrapbook page.

6. Glue or tape assembled frogs & lily pads to invitation card, scrapbook page, ATC, goodie bag, straw, cupcake pick, & napkin ring.

7. Stamp frog tracks (Hero Arts) on invitation & scrapbook page. Place frog over fiber “tongue” on ATC frog & tape. Attach with a popdot. Glue on ribbon.

8. Finish birthday gear with solid lime green paper plates, cups, & napkins. Stick cupcake picks in pink or lime green iced cupcakes for birthday guests! Serve with lime koolaid with floating strawberry ice cream balls!

Recipe: Homemade Glue Dots

Aleene's Tack-It Over & Over
Reynolds Release Aluminum Foil (2 sheets)
2 or 3 half-sheets of cardstock, cut length-wise, stacked layers
Scotch tape

Tear off a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap around the 2 or 3 layers of cardstock cut into half long-wise. Fold over sides and ends. Tape on backside. Smooth foil flat on top (I rolled a wooden brayer over mine.) Dot foil with Aleene's glue about 1 inch apart (make dots about the size of a pea) in rows and let dry flat. When glue dots are dry, place another piece of aluminum foil over the top (I reused a long piece of non-stick UPS direct thermal label backing paper over my glue dots), roll all up, and rubber band all the layers together. It's easy to stick in a pocket of my craft bag to take with me to stamping/crops. To use: open by un-rolling a small row of glue dots, place item over glue dot and lift up. It's ready to put it in place on your card or scrapbook page.

Tip: If you should use these dots as not only glue but as popdots between stacks of something such as punched flowers and after constructing the stack, a bit has squeezed out and is sticky, then dust with a bit of talcum powder on the end of a paintbrush. No more tacky!

Love to shop here:

Here's a list of some of my favorite places to shop for new and used crafting supplies in my local area! I rarely buy online as we've been burnt a time or two with fraudulent companies or teeny-tiny products made to look bigger than they really are with trick photography. However, I do like the coupons and gift cards that I request for special occasions! 😊

1/2 of 1/2

Big Lots

Blessings Abound Thrift 

Cargo Largo

City Thrift

Dollar General

Dollar Tree

eBay

Family Dollar

Families for Home Education (FHE; MO. state association) (used curriculum sales) 

Friends of Animals Thrift

Garage Sales by Map

Goodwill

Goodwill Outlet

Half-Price Books (Arts & Craft books)

Harbor Freight

Hobby Lobby

Ikea

Joann's

Maj-r Thrift

Michael's

Museum Gift Shops

Ollie's

Red Racks Thrift

Restore

Salvation Army

Savers

Scraps KC 

The Thrift Shopper

US Toy

= + = + = + = + = + = + = + =

* Farmhouse Décor * 

Bag Balm (one of my farmer grandfathers used this product). 

Chamberlains (dad liked this hand lotion)

Cockrell Mercantile

Cornhusker Lotion (and the other one used this product).

Jamesport, MO Shopping

Massachusetts Street (Downtown) Lawrence, KS Shopping

Pryde's of Westport 

The Brass Armadillo Antique Flea Market Mall

Watkin's (my grandparents & parents used Watkin's products)

= + = + = + = + = + = + = + =

* Bucket Wish List*  

(I'd love to go check these places out!) 

Colonial Patterns Store

Hammer Bros. 

                                                             = + = + = + = + = + = + = + =

                                                                    *USA Shopping:*

 

Check out these websites to find frugal shopping in your area:

Choose to Reuse (Hennepin Co, MN)

Freecycle

Lehman's (Ohio)

St. Louis, MO. Teachers Recycle Store.