First Ever Video!!!!!!

Ok so the video is done. I really didn't do much with it, and I know it kind of sucks but it's just the first one. I really didn't have a plan of what I was going to paint so I kind of just did something really fast and simple. But now I know how the camera works and the video program so in the future I can do something better. I want to film a larger painting on canvas I just need to figure out what I'm going to paint. I've been wanting to paint something for a while now I just don't have any ideas. Do you ever have that happen? Artistic road block... it sucks... maybe I'll just start playing around and something beautiful will appear.

First Video Ever!

Today I decided to start filming my art. I'm going to start making videos for youtube of my art process. I'm not sure if I will talk through the video or if it will just be me painting or whatever, but I'll figure that out as I go along. I'm really nervous about it because I've never made videos before, but maybe it will be good for me. I think it will be cool for me to be able to go back and watch myself paint and see how I get to the end result. I don't know when the video will actually be posted, but I'll make sure and blog about it when it happens. What would you like to see me make a video about?

Thoughts for the End of the Year

This year has been full of good times, and lots of struggle. There have been lots of ups and downs, and unfortunately I've mainly focused on the down times. Why is it that it's so much easier to recognize the negative rather than the positive?
Well this year hasn't been all bad. We started out the year getting the most adorable puppy ever, we've had our first anniversary, a new church, a new youth group to work with, a new group of friends in our small group, I've made a lot of art this year, and I've even sold a few pieces.
It really has been a good year, but I want this next year to be even better. I have mentioned things I want to do like making art every day and donating the proceeds to a charity, I want to blog more, I want to get my art seen by more people, I want to start making art for other people not just for myself. I want other people to enjoy my art as much as I enjoy making it. Not sure yet how I'm going to accomplish all these goals, but I've learned to just take it one day at a time otherwise I get overwhelmed with it all.
So for those of you who actually read this, what are some things I can do to sell more art? What kind of things should I make? What would you buy if you were looking for art for your home?
I need some new ideas, and I'm working on a few new things but I'm not ready to share them yet.
So what should I do???

365 Project

There are all kinds of 365 projects out there, but I've always looked at them as something impossible to complete. This coming year I think I'm going to try my own. I want to make art every day this next year. It can be anything and any size. I'm also thinking about making small pieces of art every day to sell, and the proceeds will go to a charity of my choice at the end of the year. If I sold each piece for $5 that would make a lot of money in one year. I'm going to keep thinking about it this month and decide what I want to do.
I want to learn new styles/ techniques and I think doing art every day will help me to grow as an artist and learn new things. One artist that I absolutely love is Agnes-Cecile and I would love to learn her technique. So that's one of the things I'm going to work on this next year. I also want to practice just portraits in general and get better at that because right now I kind of suck. So I want 2013 to be a year of transformation in my artwork. Hopefully that will include being able to sell my art, and just share it with others. But even if no one else ever owns a piece of my art it will still make me happy creating.

What's the point?

That's what I've been feeling lately... "What's the point?" No one really pays much attention to my art other than clicking "like" on a picture on Facebook but no one really wants it. I've invested time and money into my art, and I'm the only one who enjoys it. I really want to share my art with others, but unless people actually buy it, then I don't think I can keep doing it. It costs to much money, and it's not like we can display it all in our house. I don't know what to do... I'm not sure why it is that other people I know can sell paintings left and right, but I can't sell even one. Do I just suck that much?
I would really appreciate thoughts/ feedback on this.

I'm just kind of stuck right now.

Creative Rut

I've been in a bit of a creative rut lately. It's been a couple weeks probably. I did start a painting last week (I think) but then lost my motivation and have yet to finish it. I haven't really been to busy to be creative, I just haven't had any ideas. Sad, I know. :(
Last weekend Adam and I finally started building our coffee table made from pallet boards. I'm pretty excited about that. We've had the boards sitting on our back deck since the beginning of summer. We're going to finish it this Saturday. So that is some exciting news. I'll post pictures when it's done and in our house. It's at my parents house right now.
I saw on Samantha Kira Harding's blog that she has been using her ipad to make journal pages lately, and I think I'm going to try that out. Maybe I'll find some new inspiration from that.
Another task for the next few days is to get the house clean. The whole house, with the exception of the art room. I'm not sure if it's something we will or can even accomplish, but at least by Thanksgiving since we are planning on going out of town. Hopefully we'll both be feeling well enough to get some work done. Being sick just really sucks.
Well I suppose that's all I have to say for now. I may post again later today with my progress on everything... we'll see.

Creativeness for the Day

Well today I actually feel like I accomplished something. I made a few stamps from foam sheets, and I made a tag today.

The bird, cross, dots and heart stamp turned out great, but the hope stamp was a fail. i forgot to make it in reverse so now it stamps backwards... oh well, I still had fun doing it. 

Now, I have to figure out a reward for three of the girls in my small group in youth group. I gave them a challenge and told them if they did it I would have something special for them, and three of them did it, so now I have to find something to buy or make. I have no idea what to do right now. Anyone happen to have any ideas? I am at a loss. I'm not sure if I should make something like artsy, or if I should just buy something.  I have until Sunday to have it all figured out and done. So any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Also, since I'm asking for ideas, do any of you have any tips for how to keep up with blogging? I'm not absolutely horrible with it like I use to be, but I would like to do more. Is there anything you would like me to write about, or something you want me to make? Would you want a tutorial on something? Again, any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Tag Tuesday

It's been to long.... I have been horrible with actually doing what I say I want to do as far as art goes. Mixed Media Monday only happened once, and Tag Tuesday was skipped as well. So today I'm trying to get back on track.
I actually made these tags last week, but I never got around to posting them. So here they are...

I hope you enjoy them, and I'm going to try really hard to start posting more frequently. I may have to challenge myself to blog every day again, that seemed to work for me. Also please check out my facebook page, Shackle Designs. I posted a new family photo shoot we did the other day, and I'm working on some more of my sister's senior portraits so let me know what you think over there. Thanks again for reading :)

A Bit Behind

Well I haven't posted for a while. I've been a bit busy lastely. Yesterday was our first year anniversary and we stayed in STL Friday night. Saturday we went to the zoo and did some shopping at World Market (love that store so much) and then Sunday of course was church and youth group. Then yesterday we went to an apple orchard and then went to Hobby Lobby. So I haven't had much time for anything... now I'm feeling a bit ill, so I'm not sure how much I'll get done this week either, and then this weekend is really crazy. There's a youth retreat Friday-Sat. then the Folklife Festival Saturday and my little sisters birthday party at my parents house. Then sunday is church, then little sister's party at Bonkers, then youth group. So yes, very crazy. Hopefully I'll be able to make some time for art though. I'll try to at least do some tags this week, and get them posted. Next week hopefully will be back to normal and I'll be back with Mixed Media Monday and Tag Tuesday.

Well on a totally different note... I'm really struggling with the whole not having a job thing. We want to be able to get a house, and right now that's just totally not possible because with only Adam working we have no way of having any kind of down payment. If I could just get a job then we could start saving money for a down payment, and we'd be able to get a house. Why is it so hard? I really don't understand... I'd really like to make at least a little extra money from my art. If you are interested in purchases anything from me please let me know. I'm also going to start making some juice pouch crafts. I have a coin pouch that I made for myself, and I could make those and sell them for $10 each. I'm also going to explore making wallets from juice pouches. I make art journals/ sketchbooks / journals as well. If you are interested in purchasing one let me know and we can discuss options. I feel like right now I'm not contributing anything, and if I could make a little money from my art, I would feel like I'm actually doing something. So please consider helping us out with this.

oops

Sorry I didn't post yesterday or today... Yesterday was my mom's birthday and so I was at her house celebrating, and today I've had a horrible headache. I'll try to get caught up with mixed-media monday and tag tuesday and post tomorrow.

Tag Tuesday

Here's my second new thing this week. TAGS. I've never really done much with tags before, because I don't really know what to do with them. I'm still not sure, but I'm going to start making tags every Tuesday, and we'll see what happens with them. They may become part of my art journal, or maybe something else. The other day I came across an artist who creates an ACEO (art card, editions, and originals) every single day, and she is selling them for a charity. I thought that was a really cool idea. (check her out here) I think I may want to do something like that with all these tags I'll be making, but we'll see. I'm not sure what charity I would donate to, or maybe I could use it for a mission trip or something. But again let me know if you all have any ideas.
I'm still working on my pencil drawing today. It's hard, and I'm not feeling super inspired by it. So I'm not sure if this one will ever get done, but we'll see. I suppose it's still good practice.
Another thought for today. I've been getting a lot of people reading my posts and that's awesome, but please do me a favor and follow/subscribe my blog. I would really appreciate it. Right now I only have 2 followers.


so here's my first tag today. Sorry the picture isn't the greatest. I didn't feel like getting to my scanner, but I will later on so you can get a better picture. It says "Love with all that is within you"

Mixed Media Monday

Hello everyone! I decided to start something new to help me keep up with blogging. Today I want to introduce my new theme, Mixed Media Monday. Every monday I will create a mixed media piece either in my art journal, on canvas, or maybe some other crazy thing I come up with. For right now I will just post a photo of my finished piece, but in the future I may start making a video of the process. I'm not sure when that will happen because I'll have to figure out all the video stuff. I've never made videos before, so we'll see.

For now enjoy today's art journal page.

Blog Challenge Wrap Up

Well the month of September is now over, and as I look back over the month I see that I did not blog every day like I challenged myself to do, but I did blog way more than I ever have. So I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm going to think up another challenge I can do for myself to force myself out of my comfort zone, and do something I haven't done before. So I'm excited for that. If any one has any challenge ideas please let me know.
So I'm not sure if I'll do anything creative today, we'll see. I'm going to try to draw more often. I use to do it all the time, and I can't remember the last time I did a drawing instead of painting. So right now I guess that's a bit of a challenge, but more short term probably. I'll post pictures of my process as I begin my drawing. I'm a bit nervous about it for some reason.
Well I guess that's all I have to say, if I do something fun today I'll update later.

Day 26

Last night I just worked on some gesture drawings. I did 15 second drawings while looking at the page, and then I tried it without looking at my paper. So it was a pretty interesting exercise. I've never done gesture drawing before. I quite enjoyed myself. I think it's going to really improve my drawing skills.

Day 24

So I just wanted to update with some pictures.

This is our art funds jar. It says ART but you can't see the "T" in the pic. 

Here's the front of my new sketchbook

and the back of my sketchbook

 The following few pictures are the beginnings of me learning how to draw people. I'm pretty horrible at it right now, but hopefully with a lot of practice I'll get better.

Day 23

CAN'T GET A BREAK!

Bad things just keep happening, and it makes you stop and just ask, "Why God, Why? What purpose does this serve?" Then I have to stop and remind myself that even though right now I can't see any good in this, God can and does work all things out for the good of those who serve him. So I'm trying to see the bigger picture and see that God really is taking care of us, and he is totally providing for our needs. Just a little bit ago our tv got fried by a spilled cup of cappuccino. It sucks, and Adam is trying to see if maybe he can save it, but I know that without the tv working I will have a lot of time with nothing to do. So with that time I could read my bible more, or paint more, or practice drawing more. So maybe that is the good that will come from it. Sometimes when bad things happen you just have to step back and try to find a new perspective. So I'm going to work on that this week.
On a more creative note. I did start drawing some today. I'm going to try to learn how to draw people. That's the one thing I've just never been good at. So I'm going to work on it. I'll post some pictures tomorrow of what I've done so far.

Day 21

Today has been quite productive as far as creativity goes. I'm making a new sketchbook, one that I'll be able to carry with me wherever I go. So hopefully that will help me to get back into the habit of drawing. I use to draw all the time when I was younger, and for some reason that just kind of stopped. I mostly paint now, or work in my art journal (which I haven't done in a while.) I'm not totally done with it yet though so I'll post a picture later if I finish it. I also made an art funds jar. It's from a candle that we had used up. So I just cleaned out all of the left over wax and I made a cute label and glued it on. This jar will be for any spare change we may have, or for the money that I make from selling art. It will go in this jar and then we'll go on an art shopping spree or something. I'm pretty excited about it. We actually end up with a good amount of money just from spare change. You should try it yourself sometime. It doesn't have to be from art, it can be for whatever your hobby is. I'll update later with a picture of my jar and sketchbook. Thanks for reading :)

Day 20

Well the past few days have been a bit emotional. Things have not been going well, and I won't get into it all but in short we are poor. Well maybe not really poor because we can pay our bills this month at least, but we are really struggling. It's one of those times when it feels like I'm stuck in this darkness, this storm, that will never end. Like there will never be light again. I know that's not true, but that's how I'm feeling.
So out of all these emotions I'm hoping something creative comes to the surface. I haven't done anything for a few weeks now, well since the tree painting which still isn't done, and that's not ok. I need to do something creative, I just haven't really had any ideas lately. I think it's time to go to my idea jar and pull one out.
I'll update later if I do end up painting or drawing or something.

Day 16

Sunday is always pretty busy for us with church in the morning, grocery shopping right after church and then youth group at night. It doesn't leave much time for painting or anything. I don't remember the last time I painted. It's been a few weeks I think. That's a bit sad, but my mind has been on other things. This week has been difficult, and it's not really getting better so far. I don't understand why things are so difficult financially. I mean it's just the two of us, we don't have children to take care of. But, I know families with children and only one parent working, and they are doing just fine. How does that work? I keep thinking eventually things will get better, but I really don't see how right now. I'm trying to stay positive and just know that God is taking care of us, but it's really hard right now. Maybe that's the whole point of it though. Maybe God is putting in a situation where we have to completely trust him because we've been trying to do things on our own. I just don't know what to do... maybe we aren't suppose to really do anything, maybe we are just suppose to have faith. I just wish I knew. I think this may be one of those times when I'm thinking to much, it's hurting my brain.

Day 15

Once again, nothing creative to report today. We spent the day with my mom and sisters. We went to a jungle safari thing which wasn't really very cool, and then we played mini-golf. That was really fun because my mom had never done it before. So she was pretty silly, and we laughed a lot.

Day 14

So the reception for the exhibit was tonight. It was alright. I didn't win anything, but that's ok. Not really sure what I my overall opinion of it was though. I have mixed feelings. But my art will still be up for a little over a month so people will still see it. I felt a little like I didn't fit in though because my art was totally different than everything else there. So I'm not sure what people think of it. I hope people like it, but I don't know.
Hopefully sometime we'll get to display our art in a gallery where it will be for sale, and not to be judged for a competition. That will be so much better. So I guess just pray that things work out for us to be able to do that, and I'll have to work on painting some things that I'll be willing to let go of and sell. I have a problem with that most of the time. I really like the things I paint, and I don't want to get rid of them I want to keep them all. It's my own creation, and I'm the one who forms it from the very beginning, it's hard to let go of.
I'm learning that it's pretty hard to get support for art. So many people say the like it, but they aren't willing to invest in it and that's pretty sad. Like I'm not just posting stuff for people to look at and say it's good. I'm posting it all so that people will want to buy it. Maybe it's just not that good... idk... if you read this please tell me what you really think of my art. I really want your honest opinion. Please. I'm begging you. Tell me what you think.

Day 13

Today I'm working on adding my photos to the Shackle Designs Facebook page. It's taking a little while since I'm watermarking them all first. It's been kind of fun looking through all of our photos though. Right now I'm going through Adam's edited photos, and they are amazing. I'm thinking that we need to get some of them printed to put up on our walls. But you all should check them out if you haven't already.

Day 12

Wow, I'm really not doing so hot with blogging every day. But oh well, I'm still blogging more than I ever have before.
So I really haven't done anything creative or artistic since last weekend when Adam and I painted the trees, and I'm still not done with that project. But this past weekend was pretty busy. Friday we went to the Hannibal Arts Council Gallery and I submitted to pieces of artwork to the Originale Exhibit. The reception is Friday where they will announce awards. That part makes me nervous, but oh well. Then Saturday was the Fall Fling at church so we helped out with that. We worked at the inflatable bounce house slide thingy. So that was fun. I had to go in and rescue a couple kids, one that kind of had a panic attack, and one that just didn't want to come out. Then we went to my parents house for dinner. Sunday we had church in the morning, then grocery shopping right after, and youth group that night. So it was a full weekend, with no time for art sadly. But I really enjoyed myself. Sometimes it's nice to be busy like that especially since I'm just home all day.
Also this past weekend we went into another gallery downtown, Gallery 310, and talked to them about having some of our displayed there. So now I just have to paint some things that I'm willing to part with and take them in for the artists to look at and decide if they want to display them. So it sounds pretty promising. I would absolutely love it, and just getting to be a part of a group of artists will be great. So Adam and I are both pretty excited about that.
Well I think that's about all I have to say for now. Hopefully we'll do some more paintings or something this weekend and I'll have something more interesting to blog about.

Day 9

This weekend was pretty busy. There's lot to write about, but right now I'm really tired and about to go to bed. So I'll tell you all about my weekend tomorrow, but now I'll just say that after this past week I finally know that we really are in the right place right now and I just need to seek the Lord for what I'm suppose to do here.

Day 7

So I'm still not done with my painting, but I've been promising a picture. So here we go...
 

                               

Well there they are. Adam's is on the left and mine is on the right. I still have more to work on, and Adam has to touch it up a bit. But, you get the gist of it. Our only plan was to paint a tree, and I really love the way they both look. I think we're going to put them up in our bedroom.

So in other news, I just submitted to pieces to the Originale exhibit here in town at the Hannibal Arts Council Gallery. I'm excited about it, but also really nervous. I hope people like them. There's a reception next Friday where they will announce the awards. So I'll probably be really nervous for that. I just think it will be cool to have people actually get to see my artwork instead of just a picture of it on Facebook. I'm just glad I have this opportunity. I would love to be able to show my art in other galleries here in town, but I'm not really sure how to go about doing that. So we'll just see what happens, maybe this exhibit will open up new opportunities.

Day 4 and 5

Yesterday I was getting ready to write my blog post, and my head starting hurting horribly and I couldn't look at the computer screen anymore.

I worked on my painting a little bit more, but it's still not done yet. My goal is just to have it finished by this weekend. I really like how it's looking so far though, and I really love Adam's. His is pretty much finished, so I'll post a picture of it tomorrow.

Today did not go as I had planned. Our house is a complete mess, and my plan was to wake up and start cleaning. However when I woke up I found that my puppy had eaten one of my favorite shoes. Then I went out for maybe 30 minutes and came home to find that she had pooped in the house. Later in the day I had to go with my dad to the doctor, and when I got home from that she had gotten a paint brush from the utility closet and eaten the wooden handle. I'm not sure what her deal was today. She doesn't normally do things like this. So as you can imagine my day was a little frustrating, and I didn't get any work done. At least not so far. Hopefully I'll get a little done before bed.

I'm trying to get more done with our new facebook page, Shackle Designs. Please check us out on Facebook when  you have time. I would really appreciate it. I'm realizing just how hard it is to really get going with selling art, and even just getting people to look at it online. A lot of people "like" it, but they don't really want to spend the money to own it. So that is a bit frustrating, but I'm sure all artists have gone through that. I would love to be a full time artist someday, but I'm not sure how realistic that is. It seems that there are few people who can actually make a living doing art. But if I could do anything in the world that's what it would be. Well to be an art therapist actually, but it's still being an artist. So I would love that. The problem is that involves college, and right now we really don't have the money to be able to do that. Things are really tough right now, but hopefully one day it will get at least a little easier. Until then, I'll just keep creating, and hoping that other  people invest in my creativity.

Day 3

Today has been a pretty good day. Adam and I decided to paint together today. We really had no idea what we were going to do, but then he decided we should both paint a tree. So we set out on our quest for inspiration, and we both arrived at our ideas. They are totally different, and not quite done yet, but I love them both. It's so fun to see how two people can paint the same subject but it turns out so differently. Just yesterday I saw Roben-Marie Smith's video on youtube about her and Samantha Kira Harding doing a challenge called "points of two". Basically it was where they had prompts or techniques to try out each week, and they would each create an art journal page based on that, and then they got to see how different their work was. I thought it was really cool, and would to do that sometime. Maybe one day I'll find a partner to do that with.
Well that's all for now. Tomorrow I'll post a picture of our paintings for you to see.

Day 2

Today I didn't do anything creative because my family has a big picnic/reunion type thing every year at Labor Day. So we were there all day. Tomorrow I'll try to do something more creative to post for you all. All one or two of you who will read this. :)

Day 1

So since I'm not very good at keeping up with my blog I decided to take on a challenge to blog every day in September. I'm not sure what I'll talk about all the time, but I just want to have something posted every day to start a habit of doing it.

So today I thought I'd take you through the process of my latest painting, Paint the World.

Here's the first stage. I just spread some paint on the canvas with no real rhyme or reason. 

Next I used some stencils I had lying on my desk to add a little more color.

On to finger painting. This part was just fun and messy.

.

A final touch of some metallic paint.

Now I just picked out some parts of the background that I really liked and I painted around them.

I added an alphabet stencil to the large circle, and then painted the leaves and flower. 

Here I used a stencil again to create the dots and i added some ink dripage to the flower stem.

Here's my final painting. The words painted on were just something I came up with when working in my journal one day. 

Well that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed that little trip through my creative process. 

A Little Stress

So I have been trying to sell some of my art for a while now, and I have managed to sell a few things. I love being able to sell something, and just getting to share my work with other people. I post all of my art on facebook and so many people comment on it, and say how awesome it is. But, when I say that something is for sale, no one is interested. I just really don't understand it. What's the deal? If you really like something why wouldn't you purchase it when it's available? I'm not trying to sell things for hundreds of dollars... I think the most expensive is $20 right now. I really hope something changes, and I can actually start selling things.

Hope is Found in Love

So I decided to start posting about my art. This is a piece that I actually made a while back, but I decided to write about it now because I really like it. It's titled Hope is Found in Love obviously by the text on the canvas. I painted it when I was just meditating on the Lord, and things about my life. There were so many times when I felt as if there was no hope for things to change, but then I would remember that there is hope in love, and there is a verse that says "God is love" so essentially there is hope in God. I know not everyone believes in the same thing, but really the only way to have hope no matter what the circumstance is to look to God. He already know what's happening, and he knows how you can overcome it and be able to stand again. So this painting is very simply a face looking up toward God for hope to get through all of life's struggles.

This painting is available for purchase. Leave a comment if you are interested. I can simply make a print of it, or I can sell you an original. You can also let me know what size you would like. Thank you so much for your support. All money I make from my art will go toward creating more art, and also part of it will be set aside in a missions fund, for my husband and I to be able to go on a mission trip together in the future. Right now I don't know where we will go, but I'll let you know when we decide. 

Devotions for the Artist

So a while back I had the idea to create a devotional series specifically for artists. It would be a devotion based upon a picture or graphic of some sort. Of course there would be scripture involved as well, but it is mainly an image that invokes deep feelings or thoughts and then I would write about something to think about for the day, or a verse to meditate on.
I'm not quite sure how I will go about creating this, but I'd like to get some input. Do you think it would be a good idea? Would people actually buy it? or am I just wasting my time? I'd really like your opinions, please leave a comment. Thank you!

Song of Solomon 4:9

Song of Solomon 4:9 (ESV)
"You have captivated my heart my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace."

Captivate: to attract and hold the attention or interest of, as by beauty or excellence. To capture. Fascinated.

God is captivated by me. WOW! I'm not really sure what to say about that. God, the creator of the universe is captivated by me, a broken girl who fails every day. That's crazy. I don't' think it's even possible to really understand how amazing that is. God is so in love with us, and we often forget about him. How often are we captivated by God? I think probably when I first got saved I was captivated by God but then over time that fascination faded away. It doesn't have to be that way though. When we really seek after God, and are reading his word we will be captivated once again by his beauty.

Acts 3:6

Acts 3:6 (ESV)

"I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk!"

Do I have that kind of faith? They simply said, "get up and walk," and it happened. How does that work? I don't understand, but I don't think I'm really suppose to. I want to have this kind of faith. I want to just know that I can say "in the name of Jesus be healed." and it will happen. Not because of me, but because the power of Christ in me.
What if we, the body of Christ, could truly grasp the power of Christ that resides in us. Things would be so different. People would be healed of sicknesses. The blind would see, the deaf would hear, and the lame would walk. We could live the way we were created to. We would be in unity with God the way we were meant to be.
"Christians" tend to have a bad rep, and I think it's because we don't walk in the power of Christ. We do things our own way, and we fail. Often times we stand in the way of people coming to Christ, and we don't even realize it.

John 15:5-8

John 15:5-8 (MSG)


"I am the vine, you are the branches. When you are joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is- when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples."


Without God I can't do anything so why do I keep trying? I try to do everything on my own, and when I fail I ask God for help. I should go to God first though. How different would my life be if I went to God for everything? I wonder what opportunities I have missed because I tried to do things on my own? I have to step aside and let God take control. 

I'm Still Here

I've started so many blogs before, and then forgotten about them. I don't want this to turn into just another forgotten blog I started. It has been a while since I've posted anything though.

I really haven't been all that busy either. We did go to Ohio this past weekend to visit Adam's parents. It was a good little trip. We took Alli (our puppy) with us and she did so good. That was her first long trip, and she was so well behaved. She was a little confused but that's ok. She enjoyed meeting new people.

So now we're back at home, and things are back to normal. Adam goes to work, and I'm at home with Alli and nothing really to do.

I would like to get an etsy shop going, but I'm really not sure how to go about it. I don't know what to make for it, and how to price things. So much to think about.... but hopefully I really will do it. I would love to be able to sell my art and crafts. I love creating so much, and I want other people to be able to enjoy it as well. I am a little scared about putting myself out there though.

So I've been thinking lately about how I use to just sketch all the time, and now it's like I really have to be inspired to do it. Also I use to write all the time... poems, short stories, or just whatever. I don't really write ever anymore. I wander what changed? It's not that I don't have time, I actually have more time now than I ever did before. hmm... maybe I'll start writing again. This blog could help with that, if I actually remember to do it.

Do people actually read this? If you're reading this, can you leave me a comment so I know that someone was here. I'd really appreciate it. I think that would motivate me to write more. Thanks. You're wonderful :)

Well I'm going to stop now because I'm just rambling.

What if we really lived like Jesus?

As we've been on this journey of looking for a church, I've been thinking a lot... Why are there so many? There are so many denominations because we can't all agree. Everyone has their opinion and idea about what should happen. But what if the church actually came together as one body as we are suppose to be, and we set aside our differences and just lived like Jesus. The world would be changed. People would come to Christ. Christians wouldn't be looked at as hypocrites, but we would be loving, humble people. I'm tired of all the stupid stuff churches in America do. It's time to rise up in the power of the Holy Spirit and shake this nation. Let's light a fire in our souls that cannot be quenched. Let it spread like wildfire and burn for Jesus.

Just a little intro to my mind...

The first post of a new blog... what to say, what to say...

I don't really have any big news or exciting things to say, but simply my thoughts for today.

We didn't get to go to church today because Alli (our puppy) accidently turned on the stove and the house smelled like gas so we took her to the park to avoid having a sick puppy. Before I really wouldn't have cared about skipping church because I didn't enjoy it, but now that we've started going to a new church I really like it again. I know that my relationship with God shouldn't be based on what church we're going to, but when you don't have support from people at church and it's just boring that really does hinder your personal relationship with God. Things have been rough lately with some really stupid drama that was going on at church, and now that we've removed ourselves from the situation I think things are going to get a lot better. Now we're in a church where the people are friendly and what to get us involved, and people want to get to know us. It's nice to feel wanted.
Well other than all that not a lot is going on. We bought some new canvases yesterday so hopefully I'll get some creativity going and paint some new things. I'm hoping to get a shop set up on Etsy and try to sell some of my art work and also some handmade journals. I would really enjoy doing that, so I hope it works out. I know it may take some time though, so I hope I can stick with it long enough to see some results.
I'm not sure what I want this blog to really be about. At first I was thinking I would post all about art, and that's it... but I don't think I'd really enjoy only posting about art. There is so much going on in my mind, so many thoughts, and ideas that I just want to get out. So I think this will be a place for my mind to just go free and put out all of my ideas and thoughts and just everything. I'm sure there will be plenty of posts about art, and the things I'm creating but also about my relationship with God and what I'm learning. Ideas I have about the church and the world...  yea kind of just my mind on paper (well I guess not paper but you know what I mean).  I'm sure not really anyone will read this for a while, but hopefully one day there will actually be people reading my blog, and hopefully it will mean something to them.