Bible Journaling Workshop

This past Saturday, I hosted my very first Bible Journaling Workshop with Watermark Christian Store. It was a wonderful morning in the word with 120 ladies (and a few guys too!).

I was so floored by how many people were interested in this event! We sold out over a week in advance and even had to make some last minute changes due to some items not being available in enough quantities for our workshop kits. It's so awesome that so many people were interested in growing deeper in the Word.

We held the event at my church in the cafeteria where the school kids eat lunch. I was very lucky to have help from our awesome production team so that we could stream from my phone's camera directly to several tvs around the room so everyone could see the demos easily.

It was so awesome to get to share my testimony with Bible Journaling! It has totally changed my walk with God and I pray that it touches the hearts of all the ladies who attended in the same way!

We also had a guest demonstrator, Kayla (@kaylas_painted_faith on Instagram) who showed us all how she does her amazing watercolor pages! It was so awesome!

There were a lot of newbie Bible Journalers so I tried to keep it simple with what we talked about. There are so many cool and interesting techniques and styles out there that it is easy to get overwhelmed! My demo was stamping and talking about different kinds of inks you can use for Bible Journaling.

There were also a couple of veteran Bible Journalers in attendance and it was so cool to meet other local ladies who love Bible Journaling!

 This was definitely the largest group I've ever had to speak in front of and it was a bit nerve wracking! But the event was great and aside from the headset mic not working, everything went pretty smoothly.

 For the second half of the workshop, it was time to get journaling! I wanted to include some basic, but impact full techniques so we did acrylic painting with cards, stickers and washi tape!

I did a sample page design that they could follow along with but I was so excited to see that a lot of ladies decided to unlock their own creativity and add their own artistic flare.

We wrapped up the day with a Q&A session where we talked about techniques, favorite supplies and how to get inspired.

 It's been so awesome to see pages from these ladies already popping up on social media! When God opens a door, He opens it wide and pours out His love!

What's up next for Bible Journaling and me? I learned a lot on the video side of things and I'm going to work on getting something set up so I can do some Bible Journaling video tutorials. I'm also working with Women's Ministry at my church to get a Bible Journaling class going for the fall. And who knows, there could even be more workshops in the future!

Are you looking to host a Bible Journaling event at your own church? Feel free to shoot me an email with any questions. My email is on the contact page.

Post-Konmari Sewing Room Tour

My sewing room has gotten quite the reorganization after finishing the hobby Konmari section! I promised you guys that I'd share the finished project with you so here it is!



I was able to get a lot more empty space in the main area since I got rid of one organizer and put the other one in the closet. It's so nice to have all of that extra space for cutting out fabric now! I also was relocated my table so I can enjoy the nice view while I create! Plus I finally got some art out even if it's not on the wall yet. (And one piece needs new glass....)

If you missed the before tour, here it is also!

Acrylic Stamps 101 : for Bible Journaling

I just love using acrylic stamps in my Journaling Bible! They are perfect for someone like me who isn't big on drawing or doing hand lettering. I'm going to share with you the very basics for using these cute acrylic stamps.

You'll need a set of acrylic stamps, a clear acrylic stamping block and some ink. For more info on which inks are best for bible journaling, check out my post Which Inks for Bible Journaling.

Acrylic stamps come on a thin sheet of plastic. To use them, peel the stamp off of the plastic and stick it flat side down on the stamp block. Since both the stamp and block are clear, you can easily position the stamp where you want it on the page.

If you use a stamp a lot, it may loose it's cling and fall off of the block. Just wash with mild soap and water to restore the cling factor.

Next, ink up your stamp on your stamp pad. Make sure you get good ink coverage. If you get any ink on the block, wipe it off with a paper towel or tissue before stamping to avoid getting ink where you don't want it.

Brand new stamps often stamp better if you do a bit of conditioning first. Do a few practice stamps on a scrap piece of paper, stamping a couple of times before reinking.

Stamping in a Journaling Bible provides it's own set of difficulties. To build a nice stamping surface anywhere in my bible, I layer my Illustrated Faith Bible mat under a thin piece of cushy packaging and put both pieces under my page. This keeps a nice flat surface no matter what might be journaled on pages beneath the one you are working on. And in the case of bleed through, it won't make it through all of these layers to the pages underneath.

Stamp firmly on your paper. Be committed when you go to stamp. Moving the stamp around while you're stamping will cause the image to smear and smudge. Then lift off cleanly.

Then enjoy your beautifully stamped image. To clean your stamp, you can use a commercial stamp cleaner or use a baby wipe or damp paper towel.

Spring Work Wear

Spring always puts me in the mood to wear florals! And even though I prefer solids to prints, I do have the most fabulous giant rose print and polkadot skirt for when a floral mood strikes.

About a month ago, I started a new (full time) job and I've been getting used to the new schedule and dress code. It seems like every time I feel like I'm just getting my wardrobe settled, something happens to change my wardrobe needs.

A lot of ladies are afraid to start wearing vintage because they don't know how to wear it to work. Sometimes it takes a bit of creativity but there's usually a way to add some vintage flair to your work wardrobe.

My new office's official dress code is business casual but in my area it's even more casual. Lots of people just do jeans and a polo. This is an example of my work wear.

A nice blouse and skirt combo is a winner for many dress codes. I also love adding my pearls for that extra bit of class.

Accessories are a fun way to express your style at work as well. While the brooch isn't exactly a popular accessory today, they are fun and qwirky. Starting small can help build your confidence wearing vintage at work.

I enjoy wearing crinolines with my full skirts but I leave my really huge ones for weekend wear. Big ones can be a bit impractical for work especially if you have a desk job and will have to sit on it all day!

Personally, I don't have an issue being the person in the office with a qwirky retro style. Some days I opt to wear jeans like everyone else but I really prefer skirts.

And why be boring when you can be fun? I'm in so much better of a mood at work when I'm put together and dressed like myself.

I adore cute shoes! I don't buy or keep shoes that aren't comfortable so my feet can be happy all day too. Flats are my friends in that respect but I also love a good wedge or low heel.

Hair is another fun way to add a bit of retro to your work wear especially if you have a uniform or other strict dress code restrictions. My hair is still a bit short for that at the moment though.

But that's ok since I can still twirl in a twirly skirt!

 What are your favorite ways to wear vintage at work?

Bible Journaling Flip Through Video

Today, I want to give you a peak into my Journaling Bible! I'm so excited to share this with you all. I've been doing Bible Journaling since November and I've been growing so much in this process. I hope you enjoy seeing all of my entries!

IRCC6: Plans and Fabrics

Sorry for not posting last week! My laptop was out for repairs so I wasn't able to post anything except for the video I'd finished before hand. But it is back and happy and we can get back to the regular(ish) blogging schedule.

The Italian Renaissance Costuming Challenge 6 is set to start this week and I'm so excited. I've been gathering supplies (since my costuming fabric stash is quite sad at the moment) and solidifying my costuming plans so I'll be all ready to go as soon I'm allowed to start sewing.

Here are my fabrics! The bottom two are yummy linen yardages. Florida summers are going to require linen so I splurged on some 100% linen for the gown (blue) and petticoat (burgandy). The top fabric is a cotton blend that I will probably regret in August when it's time to take final photos but the color and diamond pattern were so perfect (and cheap!) that I couldn't resist. It's for the overdress.

I was very inspired by the color combo on this lovely lady! So yummy! I did swap which color was for which garment but at least the color combo is good.

I had a hard time getting all of the fabrics to show up as the correct color all in one photo. The two reddish ones are quite the same shade of red purply wine like in this photo.

The blue is a yummy blue gray that is even more fabulous in person. This photo shows it best. I'm so excited to get to sew with it. Both linens are 5.3 oz IL019 from Fabrics-store.com. They are a bit more slubby that I would like but they are wonderfully soft and I'm going to love wearing them.

 This is the style of overdress I'm planning on making-a giornea. This one has some pretty gold trim around the edges and I may try that with mine if I have time! The diamond pattern will be great for designing my own trim. I have some faux and real pearls in my stash that I may end up using to bling it up but I'm not sure yet.

I still need to purchase some linen for my undergarments but I'll have quite a bit to get started with for right now. So excited!!

My Konmari Journey Part #21: Sentimental Items and Photos

I've finally reached the very last category of the Konmari method which is sentimental items and photographs. Really, I was expecting this category to be much harder than it actually was. I had tons and tons of photos to go through but many of them I didn't really have a strong emotional attachment to. Oh, well.



Now that I've completed the process, I'm going to be doing a wrap up video talking about what I liked, what I didn't like and how successful I thought I was. If you have any questions or comments about this process, please leave a comment and I'll try to answer it in my wrap up video.

A Clean Slate

We all have choices in our lives that we wish we could do over. Unfortunately, life doesn't give us any do overs.

But Easter is about just that. Jesus came to pay the penalty for all of our mistakes. He offers to give us a clean slate by wiping away those things in our past we regret.

With this clean slate comes a chance at a new start. We don't have to be the same person we were. We have a chance to be a new, better person.

This gift also comes with a real life, one that we where we walk side by side with God. For Christians, this life is not the be all end all. We look forward to our eternal life in heaven.

Today's journaling is inspired by my church's Easter service. The theme was chalk board inspired as Jesus wipes away our sins. I just had to try to capture the feel of this message in my bible!

This was my very first entry in my Interleaved Journaling Bible! It has a blank page of text next to to each page of text. It's perfect for big, pretty journaling entries.

To get the chalk board effect, I used a piece of black scrapbooking paper for the background. Then I dug out some pretty shades of chalk ink. They look just like chalk drawings! And I threw in a few white stickers since I only had one largish alphabet set. (Need to remedy that!) My journaling was done in a white gel pen.

 I'm so happy to have this lovely page in my Bible! Such a great reminder of the wonderful things God has done for us.