What's on your Workdesk Wednesday: Awaited Treasures and Advent Reflections

My parents in law arrived from the US yesterday and they brought with them some art materials that I ordered and had sent to their address (cheaper postage).  I've been waiting excitedly for these "treasures" to arrive.

I saw this Sakura's Koi Watercolor Field Travel Set  in Alisa Burke's blog some time ago and promptly searched for where to buy it.  It comes with a brush that has a water container in the handle so that you just squeeze the handle when you're painting.  I couldn't decide on whether to buy the small set or the bigger one so I bought both!

Last Sunday was the First Sunday of Advent. It is the New Year’s Day of the Church, the start of the Christian year, and so it is...

•A time to start anew.

I thought of starting an Advent project, something which will help me focus on the season, perhaps something I can use as next year's Advent calendar.  I  decided on a set of 25 ATCs, one for each day of December until Christmas.  I know, I know, too ambitious a project for this busy season, but as I said, it is only a start and is actually for next year!  So far, I started on the background, which, when the cards are arranged together, will form a verse from Isaiah 40.  I don't know if the verse will still be seen after I'm done painting and collaging but well,  I'll know it's there.

Advent is also...

 A time to prepare.

As Christians, we prepare for Christmas.  And so, I spent the weekend up in the attic, organizing the Christmas presents I have stocked up there, preparing to get the Christmas decorations out come "Gaudete" Sunday (the third Sunday of Advent which emphasizes the joyous anticipation of the Lord's coming).  We prepare not only in the way we decorate our homes or give gifts but also, we try to prepare spiritually.  I cleaned out a lot of stuff and put them aside to give to the less fortunate.  Getting rid of stuff is also a way of symbolizing my desire to prepare for Christmas by trying to get rid of my bad habits and weaknesses.  And so, on my desk this Wednesday (for our weekly blog hop organized by Julia), aside from my newly arrived watercolors, there is no art work, just the remnants of my cleaning activities.

Advent comes from the Latin word 'adventus' which means "arrival" or "coming," and so, it is...

•A time to wait.

We are reminded of the original waiting of the Jews for the birth of their Messiah.  We wait for Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus, and we wait for the second coming of Christ.

We're always waiting - to pick up the kids, or to see the doctor, waiting for our turn in the supermarket line, or for more important things like answers to prayers- for a job, healing, or a problem child.  Sometimes we can get impatient, or sometimes we lose hope when our prayers seem to remain unanswered.  Advent can teach us how to wait, to wait prayerfully with patience and hope.  Advent is...

•

•A time to hope.

In the midst of a world full of suffering, pain, poverty and war, we can hope for the day when we will “hunger no more, and thirst no more . . . and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7).  And we try to do our part to let these words come to pass as we await our greatest Treasure, Jesus Christ.  A blessed Advent season!

A Madonna and Child ATC and a Giveaway

Another two post week for me!  Here is the Madonna and Child ATC I was making in my previous post. The gold halo and details don't show very well in the picture and I think it looks much better in person.

 And Lulu is having a giveaway for her followers!  To join it, you have to make a post mentioning her giveaway, so here's my post.  I'm hoping I win.  Ah well, hope springs eternal!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday? That's the question a bunch of us ask each other every Wednesday. Well, since I did a bit of organizing last weekend, I regained control in the never ending challenge to have a workspace to work on.  Ahh, how nice to have some space again!  The WOYWW neat team would be proud of me!

I decided to organize my magazine clippings and assorted papers to make it easier for me to find what I need so I put them in two bins under the bed (which is right across my desk).  The plan is to pull out the bins when I'm looking for just the right image or paper color for the collage I'm making.  We'll see if it works.

On my desk is a work in progress, another Madonna and child ATC (which I owe someone).  I made the sketch, covered it in wall putty (something you buy in a construction supply store which you can use as a gesso substitute), used some watercolor and copic markers to color in, and now will add shading with colored pencils...

For my Altered book on "Words to Live by", I finished a page with one of my favorite bible verses,

 "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you", Matthew 6:33

 

I wanted to try a different style so I decided to make a colorful collage with all sorts of layers and swirls and all sorts. I didn't know how it would turn out as I searched for images and pasted and painted, but then, Life is like that too, isn't it?  You never know how it will turn out and it's full of layers and swirls and all sorts.   Making this collage has reminded me that come what may, I will continue to try to live by these words and even now, I feel that I am living an amazingly blessed life and "all these things have been added to me."  

For more desks, and lots of  creativity, inspiration, all sorts of information,  thoughts and ramblings from all over the world, see The WOYWW List here.

ATC Collages with Gift Wrapper

I promised myself I would post some time else other than a Wednesday, so here is a post that I made some time ago which I realized I hadn't posted yet.

Here is a gift wrapper I designed for our shop Papemelroti (I am the "pe" in the name)...

and here are some Artist Trading Card collages that I made using the extra prints.

 

Yay! I got to post today! 

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: Altered Book Page

Uh oh, for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, hosted by Julia over at Stamping Ground, I have joined the messy team this week.  I even had to open the drawer to put some papers since there wasn't enough desk!  Just when I thought I could stay on the neat team!

I did another page in my Altered Book and all I need to do to finish it is to put the verse.  I haven't decided how to do that.  Hand letter? Shall I print it out and paste it on?  See, I'm trying out some letters I cut out from a magazine. 

I gave this page a layer of wall putty, and did the drawing with colored pencils.  Then I pasted on some bible verses around the lamp, and covered them with some wall putty (maybe a little too much since you can hardly see them). Here's a close up...

Then I used watercolor, a bit of pen, and my brand new copic markers (love them!) to add more colors.  Ramona, from Create with Joy guessed the verse right for my AB's previous page.  Can you guess what verse I will put on this page?

And, you ask, if those were the materials you used, how come your desk is all a mess and filled with paper?  Well, I want to do more collaging in the next pages, but wow, I realized that I can't be neat when making a collage!  But then, I am so enjoying myself, I am sure you will excuse the mess.

What's on your workdesk?  It's a Wednesday, so come and show us!

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!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: ATCs and the start of an AB

I keep telling myself I will make posts between my What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday posts but obviously I didn't get to do that this week. Again.  But at least,with WOYWW, I get to post at least once a week!

I've been busy!  Getting my desk in order inspired me to do more organizing, and would you believe it?  I changed the drawer guides in the drawers in my desk.  I put in full extension drawer guides so now, the drawer opens out all the way til the end.  I am sooo pleased!  Move over, Mr. Handyman!

Then, I finished some ATCs.  Some of them had been lying around half finished for weeks, like these two Mother and Child pieces... 

And the ones I made by special request for trades in ATCs for All...

I also looked up the info that Elizabeth sent me about Altered books (ABs) and there were instructions to pick a book with at least 300 pages so that we could make a "niche book".  Uh oh, I had already picked the book with the least number of pages before I read this so I guess the niche book will have to wait.  Besides, Elizabeth says, "you are always free to break the rules, because there are none."  Wonderful!

So far, I have done a page, experimenting on using wall putty to glue some patterned paper napkin on.  More on that next time.


For now, it's off to visit some of the desks joining WOYWW in Julia's site.

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: Order, etc.

Happy WOYWW!

The word for the week in the 52 Weeks 52 Words Challenge was ORDER and so I spent the weekend putting my craft space in order! Yesterday, all that was on my desk was an empty space except for a few ATCs and colored pencils. Am I joining the neat team?!

Well, what's that box that you see today?  Yesterday, I read Elizabeth's tutorial on how to pick a book to alter (previously, I thought the only factor to consider was cost - it should be cheap!).  So, I took down the box labeled "Books to alter" and checked on the books inside.

Yay!  They all have sewn signatures! I am one step closer to starting an altered book.  Now if only I knew what the next step is.  Any links you can point me to?

On the top left shelf, you can see a little Nativity I made.

I used a "Yakult" bottle as a base for each figure.  A little old lady sells this probiotic drink to us every week and the pile of plastic bottles was getting too high.  I had to think of a way to recycle them.  This is what I came up with.  Maybe we can sell this as a kit in our shop.






 Then, my sketch for the Stretching to Sketch Challenge this week is a mermaid.

And, there's still time to join my giveaway!  If you would like a chance to win, just leave me a comment on the original giveaway post (not the WOYWW post).

And, in case you haven't heard, WOYWW is a link party organized by Julia for those of us who like to take a peek at workdesks from all over the world.

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: Delight!

Once in a while, I succeed in tidying up the top of my desk!  I arranged some of my finished art on the shelves... 

and cleared away the piles of stuff to drawers under my desk...

I am delighted!

On my desk is the giveaway fan I was making a few weeks ago (it used  to have a printed advertisement on it)...

Unearthed from under the pile on my desk, I was able to continue it, making a collage of houses and trees on the "morning" side.  I am still looking for verse to write on it. Something like

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;" Lamentations 3:22-23
or

"From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy." Psalm 65:8

I am planning to add more details or maybe I will start on the "night" side first before adding to this side.

Then I have some sketches that I made for the "Stretching to Sketch Challenge".  Kelly Berkey posts pictures of herself in different poses each week and I thought I would join in and do some practice sketching...

I started out with Stretching to Sketch Challenge Week 5.  I did this one in a sketchbook and after I started coloring it, I realized the paper was only good for pencil sketches...

 For "Stretching to Sketch Challenge Week 6", I made an ATC with pen and pencil shading...

I really believe I have improved a lot in my drawing skills ever since I started making ATCs and other art.

And, as promised, as a thank you to all my visitors and followers, I am having a giveaway!  If you would like a chance to win "A Mother's Masterpiece", please leave a comment in my giveaway post (the previous post).

Joji Roper Todd has a blog hop for artists and I linked this post to that. And to see what "What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday" is all about, drop by Julia's Stamping Ground.

I'm having my 200th Follower Giveaway!

I have reached 200 followers and as promised, as a heartfelt thank you for all my wonderful visitors and followers, I am having a giveaway!  I am giving away an original 5 1/2" x 7 3/4" mixed media piece entitled "A Mother's Masterpiece" (the title was Morti's suggestion). 

Those of you who follow my blog know that the Mother and Child is one of my favorite themes.  And those of you who visited me when I shared about this piece on What's on Your Workdesk Wednesdays know that this piece has some text from a devotional which reads...

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paint his own nature into his pictures." 

Henry Ward Beecher

and...

"In everything we create, works of art, music, literature, even our children - a bit of ourselves is revealed."

Ephesians 2:10 says "You are God's work of art" so isn't it wonderful to think that each one of us is beautiful in some way and reveals a bit of God?

This week's word for the Words of Me Project is "bliss", 

- noun

1.supreme happiness; utter joy or contentment: wedded bliss.

2.Theology . the joy of heaven.

3. heaven; paradise: the road to eternal bliss.

4. Archaic . a cause of great joy or happiness.

For me, happiness, joy, contentment come from the knowledge of God's love for me, and from the love of family and friends around me.  When I became a mother, I understood God's love for me in a deeper way.  Though I love my children imperfectly, I love them so much.  And so, I realize how great is my Father God's love for me since His love is perfect.  God is love. (1 John 4:16)  If I want only good for my children, how much more does my Father want only good for me, His daughter.  To know this, is bliss!

If you like "A Mother's Masterpiece", and would like a chance to win it, here are the rules...

1. For one entry, please leave a comment on this post.

2. As a special thank you to my followers, for a second entry, please leave a comment on this post telling me you are a follower.

3.  If you would like another entry, make a post about the giveaway, or post it on the sidebar of your blog for the month of October, and link it to this post.  Comment on this post to tell me you added it to your blog.

  

I will be picking the winner after October 31, 2010. 

Again, thank you so much to all those who follow my blog, come to visit me and leave me a comment to brighten my day.  It is a joy and delight to share with you and to hear from you.  I hope you like my giveaway and join it!  Blessings and Bliss to you!

The giveaway is now closed.  

Thank you very much to all who joined.