canning

~ What I Learned in September ~

October 1, 2013 by pafisher

Today I’m linking up with Emily Freeman at Chatting at the Sky to share what I learned in September.

1. Art Journaling – I’ve had many journals that I’ve written in… I’ve doodled… I’ve made “art”, but never thought to combine them all together. Now, I have seen nature journals, and people’s sketchbooks that they write notes in, but the idea of an art journal was new to me, and I must admit fascinating! I stumbled upon them on a couple of blogs like here and here, and I wanted to know more. I told my sister, sister-in-law and niece one day that I was going to strongly resist the urge to start a new thing. What a joke! They know me better than that. Within a couple of weeks I had immersed myself in blogs about art journaling, ordered twice from amazon, been to Hobby Lobby and found two classes to take here. I’m gone…lovin’ this “new to me” thing. You can find me in “The Inspiration Room” with mod podge on my fingers.

2. What gesso is – This was an art journaling discovery. Found this stuff that artists use to prepare their canvases or paper. It makes a rough surface, comes in clear, white and black. Very fun stuff!

3. How many wonderful pens and markers are out there – Also part of the above discovery. Wow, how do you choose?

4. And last on this subject…I somehow learned of this sweet girl and her blog – I’m not sure how I came to her spot in the blogosphere, but I just love these little videos of her calendar pages. Check it out here.

5. How to make apple butter – I had never made this and our apple trees are loaded this year, so time to learn something new. I searched on Pinterest for apple butter recipes (there were many), read through some and gave it a whirl. My Dad was my guinea pig, so to speak, and trust me he will tell you if it isn’t right. The first batch was too thin. You have to cook this for a long time, so go with the slow cooker recipes. Here is one to start with.

6. How to build a website – This one is an adult continuing education learning curve. I need to move my blog to a self-hosted website, so I have begun this process. I think the learning is definitely going to continue well into October and maybe November, so this will be on my list again next month. I have the hosting, I’m on WordPress.org, I have framework, a new theme, and now to decorate it to my liking and transfer over from WordPress.com (keep me in your prayers)!

Filed Under: What I Learned Tagged With: art journaling, canning

~ “My Creation Week” #1 ~

September 30, 2013 by Patricia Fisher

I’m a firm believer in the fact that everyone is creative. The people that know me very well know this about me. I have a hard time being quiet when I hear someone say, “I’m just not a creative person”. We were all created by the ultimate creator (artist of all time), and we do carry His genes. We may not all be in touch with Him or His creativity, but the potential is still there. It’s a little different in all of us, but it does exist. So I’m kinda launching off the idea of Creation week in the Bible. Having said that I can now explain my new plan for myself. Being creative isn’t the hard part for me, but making the time can be. So that brings me to the reason for this post title. I’ve come up with a way to motivate (push) myself to create something every day, which I intend to post about the following week….Eek! I figure it will get me thinking everyday about ways to be creative, about documenting it with a photo (which is creative in itself)… and a weekly blog post to keep me committed. So it should be a win-win for me…I make something and I have a way to remind myself of all that I’ve done each week. So I’m thinking anything that I make goes; painting, drawing, art journaling, writing, gardening, sewing, crochet, jewelry, cooking and baking, photography…..pretty much anything goes. Since we all know that God rested on the seventh day, I may also. So it isn’t about exact numbers, but it is about exercising creativity as often as possible. So here goes week one, which started last Monday.

So from art journaling to watercolor to canned tomato sauce and a new pair of earrings… it’s not the sun, the moon and the stars, but it’s a start. Join me and document your creativity.

Filed Under: Creating Every Day Tagged With: art journaling, canning, jewelry, watercolor

” Shop Talk “

January 25, 2013 by pafisher

Amidst the cold winds of winter, many projects are underway. A chair painting process is midway, I’ve run out of the right color of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint which I buy here, so more on that in a later post. We’ve hit several auctions thus far, many little treasures to show for it. But, alas, when it’s in the single digits outside crocheting by the fire sounds the best.

I did snap a few pictures this morning in the store while getting ready for a couple customers. So take a peek…..