What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: Renovation Plans

On my desk for WOYWW, our weekly show and tell, are some plans I am working on.  My friend bought a house and the plan is not good (an understatement) so I am helping her plan for a renovation.  I don't think I have mentioned it before - I am an architect by education.

It is difficult to plan from an existing plan with existing structural foundations which can't be changed.  It is much easier to plan from scratch and build the structural foundation according to the plan. Much like life, I think.  Much better to make good decisions from the start, to try to live life according to God's plan for my life than to do it my way and have to fix up the consequences of bad decisions.  And so I try to follow God's plan, and do as this verse from the bible says...

Peeking out from under the plans I'm working on is a page from my Altered Book (for Elizabeth's Altered Book course).  My Altered Book has pages of different countries.  I am sure you can guess what country this page is about!

Check out other desks and join in the fun of WOYWW! And I'm also linking up to Word Art Wednesday,  Faith-filled Friday, Heartprint Hallelujahs, Art Journal Every Day and Spiritual Sundays.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday: An Assortment

For this week's edition of WOYWW, where bloggers around the world get together to show off their desk and take a peek at other's desks,  here is my desk (this is the neat part!)

A few close-ups.  Some ATCs that I will scan before I send off to new homes.  Thank you, dear blog friends, for offers to trade!  I will check to see if I have enough (and make a draw if not).  Hopefully, I can send these out soon.  Also, a page from my prayer journal (I am also scanning the pages and in my previous posts, I have pages from my journal).

A page in the making from my "Journey" altered book (I'm not sure if I've shown you this Hongkong page.)  If you are interested in making an altered book, the Altered Book course is available in Elizabeth's blog.

And here is a little tin from Heidelberg, Germany.  I asked my hubby if he had any tin cans I could  cut up for a project and this is what he gave me. Oh no, it's too cute.  I'll keep it as it is!

Check out what everyone else has been up to!  Julia has the WOYWW list.

WOYWW: WIPs

Today, a short post for WOYWW.  Promise!  A WIP collage for my AB, my Love Bunny wearing the WOYWW button with some mixed media ladies...

a lovely envelope and ATC giveaway win from Lorraine and a beautiful felt ATC from Phyllis, a trade in ATCs for All...

And if you missed it, please drop by my Easter Celebration giveaway post if you would like a chance to win my mixed media piece, "Tree of Life."  Other desks here!

Easter Celebration Giveaway!

The giveaway has ended.

Thank you so much for joining!

A blessed Easter season to all! 

May the Risen Lord bless and guide us through the journey of life!

I have been making an Altered Book.  It is entitled "Journey" and I plan to fill it with maps and clippings of the various countries I have travelled to.  But it is also about the journey of life and it ends in this niche at the back of the book.  But as I thought about all my travels and my journey of life, I thought of St. Augustine's words, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." 

Jesus Christ, My True North
Image of Jesus from Holy Card Heaven, used with permission

I like to think of my life as a journey, a journey to the heart of God, a journey to Love.  And this Easter, we celebrate the best example of Love, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39  

To celebrate Easter, to celebrate my journey in blogland, and to thank my wonderful followers, I am having a giveaway.

I am giving away an original 7.5" x 11.5" mixed media piece entitled "The Tree of Life."  I made it using acrylic paint, colored pencils, watercolors and collage on a gessoed sketchpad background.  The flowers (on her hair, on the tree and the ones she is holding) and her dress are collaged on.

If you like "The Tree of Life" and would like a chance to win it, simply leave a comment on this post.  If you would like more chances to win, please leave separate comments telling me if...

1.  You are a follower,

2.  You made a post with a picture of this giveaway or posted a picture on the sidebar of your blog (linked to this post).  

3.  You tweeted about the giveaway with a link to this post (please leave the tweet URL).

I will be using the random number generator, so please make sure you leave me a comment for each entry you make.  I will pick the winner after May 27 (Pentecost Sunday). 

May you have a wonderful Easter season!

I'm inviting my blog friends from Paint Party Friday, Studio Sneak Peak, Faith Filled Friday, Heartprint Hallelujahs, Sunday Sketches, Inspire Me Monday to join my giveaway!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: Giveaways!

It's that time of the week again when a group of bloggers (fondly called WOYWWers) show off their desk for the weekly What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday link party.  On my desk this week are some giveaways!  One is an adorable "Love Bunny," an original "Grimitives" art doll that I won from Kaf.

This precious little bunny was wrapped so nicely and smelled so good when she arrived.   I am so thrilled to adopt her!

And while I'm at it, let me show you something else I won some time ago but which I haven't shown you because they're not on my desk...

These lovely plant charms were made by Kay and she sells them in her Etsy shop.

I've been so blessed with my giveaway wins, haven't I?  (My hubby teases me that I should buy a lotto ticket, LOL.)

The other giveaway on my desk is one I am making to celebrate reaching 400 followers.  Since Easter is coming up soon, it will be an Easter giveaway as well.  I am deciding if it is finished.  Watch out for my giveaway post if you want a chance to win this.

For the Altered Book course that Elizabeth is giving,  I have made my glue experiment pages for Lesson 4...

and have started a double page spread using gesso (this picture was taken the other day).  This is my first page and since I am from the Philippines, my "Journey" altered book starts with a map of the Philippines.  On this page, I will add the quotation, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" - Lao Tzu.  

That's all for another one of those long posts I try to shorten (but obviously don't succeed in).  Happy Wednesday, dear blog friends!

And if you want to visit my previous posts, here they are - The Journey of Life: Altered Book WIP and Love and Forgiveness: Prayer Journal Illustration.

The Journey of Life: Altered Book WIP

I am taking Elizabeth's free Altered Book course and here is what I have done so far...

This is my inside cover for my altered book.  It is entitled "Journey."

I am quite pleased with how my niche turned out, thanks to Elizabeth's excellent instructions about clips and gel medium to keep the pages together.  I have used the pages of an old pocket atlas to cover this part.

What will I put in my niche?  Well, although my altered book will be filled with pages of different countries I have travelled to, in the end, as St. Augustine said, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."  And so, in my niche I plan to put a compass to symbolize the True North, the constant that guides travelers.  In my life, my True North is Jesus Christ and my niche will reflect something I have been thinking of ever since I started this book, "My life is a Journey to the heart of God."

Linking up to Inspire Me Monday.

WOYWW: Almost No Desk in Sight!

Happy Wednesday, dear blog friends!  It's time once again for the State of the Desk address (otherwise known as "What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday").

After getting back from Boracay beach, I had to catch up on my projects and so my desk is quite busy today.  Here is my altered book with the niche I cut out (Elizabeth's instructions for how to cut the niche here)...

Here's a book I bought with cute little fabric projects and the giveaway I won from Corey Moortgat, The Art of Personal Imagery.

with Corey's note to me.

And here is a necklace I won from Renee.  Yes, I am happy (no wonder I love joining giveaways!)

Here is one of the sketches I drew while listening to some talks during the conference I attended in Boracay (multi-tasking!)

And the painting I am making to celebrate reaching an amazing 400 (well 408, now) followers!  Not finished yet but as soon as it is, I will make my giveaway post.  I am so grateful for each of my followers!

That's it for the State of the Desk.  There's not much of the actual desk to see because it is so full.  Although I hardly had time to visit desks last week, this week, I hope to visit more of the desks on this list.

And, if you missed my post about Boracay, where I was last week, you might want to take a peek at my pictures of this wonderful beach paradise.

WOYWW: Altered Book in Progress

Happy Wednesday, dear blog friends!  Today, my desk has my assignment for Elizabeth's popular Altered Book class.  I have reinforced the inside cover and end page with some maps (from an airline magazine), scrapbook paper and a layer of wall putty (cheap gesso alternative).   Elizabeth was concerned about computers and gesso in the same table and I am one of those who has just one space for everything.  Don't worry, Elizabeth, the laptop is closed and covered when I am messing around with the wall putty or gesso!

My theme is "Journey" and I am going to make pages about different countries (since I like to get travel brochures and maps whenever I travel).   I have started to put papers, stamps and other materials in a box for this project.

Peeking out from one of the cups is a plastic spoon I was planning to make into a kid's project (I couldn't throw away the nice pink spoons which came with the yoghurt we had).

And, some bits and pieces - correction tape which I read could be used as a base to write on in journal pages, a miniature Hebrew bible which was a gift from Jerusalem and an old box of miniature perfume bottles (I am wondering what I can do with them).

That's it for this week's What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday!  Thank you so much for all your visits and comments!  I appreciate each and every one of them.

Among my previous posts - Lenten Reflections in my Prayer Journal and 2011's Lenten atc set, a Digital scrapbooking promo, and Valentine's day in Guangzhou, China.

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: Weekend Art

Wednesdays are time to take a peek at workdesks around the world for those who join What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday.  And over here in this workdesk in Quezon City, Philippines (did you notice that I did some tidying up?), I am busy scanning the Artist Trading Cards and Altered Book pages that I made over the weekend.

Here is a closer view of the page from my Altered book "Words to Live by", which is about some of my favorite bible verses.  This page is a mixed media collage with a magazine picture of a "straight path"...

and turning the page, another collage with magazine cutouts of praying hands, a stairway and a heart that is perfect for the bible verse which tells us not to worry and ends with a promise about the peace of Christ...

More about those pages when they are finished.  Can you guess what bible verses the pages are about?

I got to do more than my usual weekend art because my family spent the weekend at the beach (I know, I know, that may sound weird to those of you who are having cold weather).  The sun can get really hot during the day so I set up a table with the art supplies I bring and spend the day crafting in the cool shade.  I did get to go to the shore early in the morning though.  Here is proof...

My 84 year old Dad's sailboat waiting to be sailed...

This is where I walk, searching for sea glass...

Some flowers along the path to the sea shore...

And you?  What's on your workdesk today?  To visit more desks from around the world, over to the Stamping Ground.  Happy WOYWW!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: Sketching Practice

Last night, the thought of not having anything interesting to show for our What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday link party made me get to work on a sketch (if you need a push to get some crafting or art done, maybe you should come and join the party!)   I just did it for practice (as they say, practice makes perfect and I am quite pleased with my progress since I started doing more art). I have a file of magazine pictures which I bring out when I'm looking for a model to sketch.  And since my desk was full, I did it on the bed and took this picture...

But since this really isn't my desk and it wasn't a Wednesday yet, I took a picture of my desk this morning...

 

...with my project (colored in with colored pencils, Copic markers and watercolor), a toilet paper roll (shall I keep it for a project?), and a book I got for 5 Philippine pesos (This money exchange website converts this to 0.071 GBP or 0.11 USD!)  What a bargain!  It has many beautiful illustrations in it...

and the binding is perfect for an altered book (based on what I learned from Elizabeth, the Altered Book Lover!)  I get so excited when I find things like this.  I just hope I'll get around to using it! If you want to join the party and show your desk, or have a peek at desks from around the world, drop by Julia's blog!  Happy WOYWW! p.s. I'm delighted that fellow WOYWWer Wipso won my OWOH giveaway!

What's on your Workdesk Wednesday: New Stuff and a Winner!

 

My hubby surprised me with a new printer some weeks ago and I finally found a place to put it!    There it is way down on the bottom shelf.  It fit in with barely a millimeter of space to spare.  Of course I am still looking for places to put the stuff it displaced.

Then, my hubby just came home from a conference in Japan and he brought home some Copic markers!  I told him I wanted some flesh and brown tones and here is an ATC I made using the markers he brought.

The first page of my Altered Book.  It is going to be about some of my favorite verses.  I drew a profile of myself that I am quite pleased with.  It is actually recognizable as me, at least I think so.  She is going to says "WORDS to live by".

The second page is one in which I experimented on using wall putty to glue on a patterned napkin.  The pretty rose border on the right side is part of the book's design.  The big rose is a magazine cutout that I glued on, put wall putty over, and colored with colored pencils. I am going to use this background for a bible verse which says something about grass and flowers.  Can you guess what it is?

And because I got tired of looking at the plain white wall putty jar, I decided to cover it with book paper and wall putty.  Who knows how it will look next week!

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to visit a lot of other desks for the What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday link party.  I have been having the usual problems with my internet connection and in fact for a while I thought I would only be able to post one picture on my post today.  Hopefully, I will get to visit more desks this week.

And finally, I picked a winner for my 200th follower giveaway.  I know, it's taken me so long to do it, sorry about that.  Anyway, the winner is....

Hillbilly Handiworks!

Hillbilly Handiworks makes some wonderful quilts and  I think my giveaway "A Mother's Masterpiece" is perfect for someone who homeschools her children! Send me an email with your address, Hillbilly Handiworks, and I will send you your prize!