VRSLY UPDATE

Never ceases to amaze me what I find in the garden

 that makes a great background 

for Scripture or words of encouragement.

                                                                                       photo credit to Teresa Davis

   Photos and words to share and pin.

Living as a digital missioner 

in the Kingdom.

Stairway Gallery Wall

     This spot in my house 

is really challenging to photograph.

But, it is one of my favorite areas.

It is the stairway to the lower level.

The main reason it ended up a gallery wall-
this way, 

is because I can't hang things in straight lines.

And this wall changes all the time.

Seasonally, on a whim,

or as other treasures come along.

The main reason change

 is so easy is the use of clip boards 

and wooden pant hangers.

They are quick to change out. 

Wooden hangers found in antique stores. 
Hotel Washington- Washington DC. and 
Southern Hotel- Baltimore MD.
Found these hangers in Indiana- 
maybe from a long ago trip
 of sightseeing to the EAST.
They hold old linens and lace-
 easy to flip out and change it up.

Flat canvas works great
 to add printable Bible verses 
and encouragement.
Just Mod- Podge them on a painted canvas.
Use both sides and change it out.

 This mixed-media project uses a cereal box side 
covered in tissue paper as the base 
for vintage papers and add- ons.

This artwork is just stunning. 
This vintage graphic is from 
Kate Krause Ball done in 1940
from a IDEALS magazine of that era.
It is a depiction of the life of Christ.
In minute detail and lettering.
Before graphic design tools. 
A bit about Kate Ball-
Kate was a lifelong resident of El Paso, Texas.
She was a commercial artist, art teacher, 
fine art painter and creator 
of many illuminated religious scrolls of 
Bible verses, which in 1952 
were exhibited at the Library of Congress. 
Many of these illuminations 
were reproduced in a book, Thus It Is Written,
which was the first 
of many illustrated publications 
she did for Ideals.
She won an award 
for newspaper illustrations at age 10.

Visual faith and mixed media projects
come and go 
and get rearranged on this gallery wall.
The story keeps changing 
and that is what a gallery wall
 is all about anyhow.

Bible Marginalia-The Lord Hears

Bible Marginalia Series- #254

Psalm 6

O Lord, Deliver my Soul

Sometimes I fall into a pit of lament.

And for no apparent reason.

Nothing seems quite right.

Everything is a bit off.

My heart sags.

My spirit sinks.

O Satan, you come too quick

to pull me down.

Then I remember-

that I can turn to you, Lord.

Even if I don't know what to pray.

You lift my head.

You hear me.

My Spirit is strengthened-

 because you hear my plea.

O give thanks.

Supplies:

Napkin

Stickers

Colored pencils

Fine-point non-bleeding Sharpie pen

Tri-Art Gesso

Bible Marginalia-What is Your Life?

Bible Marginalia Series- #253

James 4:13-15

"Come now, you who say,

"Today or tomorrow we will go 

into such and such a town 

and spend a year there

 and trade and make a profit"-

yet you do not know 

what tomorrow will bring. 

What is your life?

 For you are a mist that appears 

for a little time and then vanishes. 

Instead you ought to say, 

"If the Lord wills, 

we will live and do this or that."

It is God's wisdom that we are in the dark 
about the number of our days on earth.
We move along and make plans, 
but a thousand things can come up
 to divert or change all of that.
More and more I think about 
the fragile thread of life, 
and how quickly that may change.
The earthly part-
not the forever part.
This time of breath on earth,
is truly like a vapor 
that vanishes on the horizon at dawn.
And basically not even 
leaving a sign that it was even here at all.
 Maybe that is part of the draw
 to being in God's Word 
and leaving a "trail or vapor"
 of where we have been.
Marking the journey.
Placing trail markers.
Even though we are called to 
plan and prepare for the days ahead,
it serves us well to
bookend those plans with-
"the Lord willing." 

Supplies:
Still experimenting with 
Napkins- 
I love how this process 
caused the napkin to fade as a mist
Tri-Art  Clear Gesso
Washi tape
Colored pencils
Fine-point Sharpie non-bleeding pen

Bible Marginalia-Love One Another

Bible Marginalia Series- #252

2 John

Walking in Truth and Love.

 Love the salutation in this section-

 "to the elect lady and her children."

Joy that some of her children 

were walking in the truth.

We know it is full joy when all

of our children walk in the truth.

"And now I ask you, dear lady-

not as though I were writing you

 a new commandment, 

but the one that we have had

 from the beginning-

that we love one another."

An intimate relationship here-

ministry friends, 

discipling, mentoring

 and encouraging one another,

walking in faith together.

And one word that makes it all

hang together- ABIDE.

ABIDE.

ABIDE.

Not a new thing,

just this one thing,

this very hard thing.

Called to live it out,

but just this one thing-

LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Experimenting with

 paper napkins in my Bible.

(The LOVE word 

and gold sparkles is the napkin)

Supplies:

Napkin

 Tri- Art clear Gesso

 Make-up sponge

Washi Tape

Stickers

Colored pencils

Bible Marginalia- A Joyful Noise

Bible Marginalia Series- #251

Psalm 100-

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

Serve the Lord with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!

It is he who made us and we are his,

We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

 and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him;

bless his name!

For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

Supplies:

Used a napkin collage process on this page-

simply pull apart a napkin to one layer

 and add with clear gesso
 with a makeup sponge
 and a light touch. medium.

Cardstock

Stickers

Fine-pont Sharpie non-bleeding

Colored pencils
Tri Art clear Gesso

Early June Garden Walk

Lovelies here and there

 in the June Garden.

Gooseneck Loosestrife

Pink Astilbe

 White Yarrow

Sedum in the concrete planters

 Endless Summer Hydrangea

 Yellow lantana

Fennel likes this spot on the south side

Evening Primrose-

Oenothera

 Pink evening primrose-
Oenothera
and the lard press

a pot of dahlias 

and the old slip scoop

somehow this cactus is blooming in June- 

a bit mixed up but wonderful indeed.
Each week in the garden 
is different and some things fade
 and others come into full bloom.

That is the beauty of a summer garden,
in Virginia.

Prayers for my Children Project- HOW-TO

The Covers for the Prayer Flip-Chart

This post will show two examples of the

 Prayers for My Children 

that I made last week.

Finally got one done for third daughter- Sara.

 Then one for her dear sweet friend Megan- 

a brand new mommy.

  Here is the dedication page- 

for the Wilsons and the Schmitz family.

I will show the daily prayer pages- 

side by side.

All 31 days.  

I tried to use a collage app to 

shorten the post,

 but then only one shows up well.

I had been asked to give them as examples

 for those who have a challenging time 

 coming up with a page design

 and just wanted a guide.

I started with 6 pages of

 coordinating scrapbook paper.

Then I cut them into strips just an 1/8 of inch 

smaller than the calendar page.

 I tear the words of the printed sheets

 and add a bit of distress ink to the edges.
(KEY- you can tear the strips of words so they are ready to go 
but keep each set of words, number, 
and prayer verse together- 
or else it is a big mess to sort out. 
SO do this as you go along....)

If you are a straight-edge 

kind of person you can do that too.

Distress ink just looks 

really cool on TORN edges.

The order of the day was to keep it simple-

in order to complete the project.

The scrapbook paper 

can also be torn to fit the calendar page.

I move through and do all the pages first.

Washi tape makes an easy addition for variety.

There is no right or wrong way

 to do this project.

The calendars are printed in 3 different fonts

 and can be found in the FILES section here:
Visual Faith Community- DC Metro
 You don't have to 'be on" Facebook to get to this files.
 If you have trouble- contact me on this blog and I can email them to you.
 But, you have to give me your email.

We have the calendars sets

 made at a local printer.

I tried making them myself. 

There were a mess to line up and get straight

 and the holes punched?

Not so easy to have it look professional.

 The basic card is white cardstock here.

You could also use other neutral colors.

It measures- 3 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches.

 I added a page in each calendar 

with some vintage images

 from IDEALS magazines from the 1940's.

Two blank pages are in each set to add photos

 of the children you are praying for each day.

When done you can go back 

and add all sorts of doo-dads, 

paper clips, brads, ribbon, stamps, yarn.

I love this project 
because it stands up by itself.
Now that it is finished-
 simply pray each day for your children, 
their spouses if married, and grandchildren,
and great-grands.
Right into the next generation,
day after day after day,
And then next month- start again.
Pray with intention.
Pray with a tool 
that helps you be accountable.
Pray and believe that the Holy Spirit
 guides your heart in prayer.
May this BLESS your family.