Homegrown Hospitality

Paper Hearts & Ask For What You Need

When Courtney asked me to play along with the launch of her book latest book, Paper Hearts, I said yes immediately without even reading the book. Here is a little blurb about Paper Hearts:

Abigail Pressman would never have guessed that love notes penned on paper hearts by an anonymous couple could restore her belief in love. As a business owner in a quaint town at the base of the Rockies, she’s poured everything into dreams of expansion . . . and resisting the matchmaking efforts of the Valentine Volunteers, who gather in her store to continue Loves Park’s tradition of stamping mail with the city’s romantic postmark.

When Abigail is unwillingly drafted into the Volunteers, she encounters the paper hearts, a distraction that couldn’t come at a worse time. A hard-to-read doctor has become Abigail’s new landlord, and he’s threatening to end her lease to expand his practice.

As she fights a growing attraction to this handsome man crushing her dreams, Abigail is inspired to string the hearts in her store, sparking a citywide infatuation with the artsy trend. But when a new batch of hearts reaches the Volunteers, it appears something tragic has happened to the couple. Will uncovering their story confirm Abigail’s doubts about love, or could it rescue her dreams . . . and her heart?

Personally, I have been working on NOT jumping the gun and answering YES when asked to do things BUT because it was Courtney (and I LOVE her books) I knew I wanted to.  She "asked me for what she needed" and I said Yes.

I have to admit that I have not finished reading the book yet but wanted to throw in my own spin on the topic "Ask for what you need" topic because I do not do that and I need to.  I am pretty sure that I am not the only one that does not ask.  I will be the first one to offer help to someone and force myself on them to help with what they need BUT (darn big buts) I am the last one to ask for what I need.  I forget or I make excuses that "I will" and then I don't.

I need to be specific with God, too.

YIKES..that is a big one.

Sound familiar?

Now that it is my turn to share with you how I tied in the "Paper Hearts" theme with the "Ask For What You Need" quote, I wanted to show you what I made to remind myself (and others) to remember to ask.

First I doodled out the "Ask for what you need" quote onto a piece of watercolor paper. BEFORE I added color to it, I scanned it in black and white:

Once I had that done, I added a little watercolor to brighten it up a bit: Then I sat and looked at it for a bit and thought about the quote, what it means and what I need to start doing.

I was not real sure what the next step was going to be but I knew that I needed to tie in the hearts.  The paper that I doodled on and water-colored was small so I created a worksheet that holds four of the same print. I loaded my home printer with card stock and printed it.  
I knew that if I die cut the paper or simply cut shapes with scissors that one side of the paper was going to be printed and the other side would be blank so I re-printed my paper so it printed the same image on BOTH sides.

What a great idea!!!..I know !

Using my Banners & Hearts die from Sizzix, I cut out lots of double sided hearts.  Now do not worry if you do not have a heart die, simply use a stencil, template or freehand hearts and cut them with scissors.   Once I had my hearts cut out, I grabbed my sewing machine and started sewing the hearts together, right down the center to create a garland of hearts.  Don't sweat it here either of you do not have a sewing machine.  A needle and thread work just perfect and you do not have to go down the entire center of the heart.  Just run the needle through one of the top humps of the heart and string them that way.

So now what?

Well, I have my little garland of hearts hanging right where I can always see them as a constant ( and pretty dang cute) reminder to "Ask for what I need"

Thanks for stopping by.  If you create something based on this idea, I would love to see it.  You can email me at homegrown1(at)att(dot)net

or

tag me on IG at http://instagram.com/stephanieackerman1/

or on

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stephanie.ackerman1 You can download and print out my art (on both sides of the paper!) to create your own garland Download Paperheartsaskforwhatyouneedbut PLEASE do not duplicate or sell the art.  Thank you.

A Closer Look - Week Four

Every once in awhile I will be sharing over here on this blog, what my Documented Faith 2015 planner pages look like.  

It is simply to share with you the things I use and do as encouragement for you to work on your pages or journaling.  This is a look at last week, week four.

There are THREE segments to my planner for this particular week because I added in a "Tip-In" using the download that I printed on card-stock. This allows for lots of stuff to be added in.

What the heck is a tip-in you ask?  You can go here to see what I a talking about.

Anyway....the far left (segment 1) A reminder to PUSH - Pray Until Something Happens.  A little reminder of a great conversation I had with my new friend and fellow "Documented Faither," Robin.  When you are thinking, working and planning things, it is so important to pray & PUSH through it.  Remember, it may not always work out the way we want it to go but that is because it is not our plan, but HIS.  If you can remember and believe that, then whatever happens, it will be okay. 

I wrote out the weeks verse, made some notes about things going on during the week and added little strips of washi tape here and there. I love Washi tape in case you have not noticed or heard me say and I USE my Washi tape.  You should too!

Center (segment 2)

I decided to join in with my friend Michelle Allen (my co-teacher,roomie and friend from Camp Create) in 300 days of creating.  I added in a little Library card pocket to my page and added in the little pieces of art that I have created. NOTE: I covered the front of the Library card Pocket with strips of Washi Tape and then smudged in a little Gesso to tone it done a bit. 

Segment 3 - A tip-in I created using the download printed on card stock:Sadly, I adhered the program and photo from the funeral I attended on Friday of last week but also the perfect spot to record my personal thoughts, emotions and prayers for my sweet cousin Carrie is now with Jesus, healed and happy.

Happily, I also added the Encounter Church info of my super fun, creative and beautiful friend Julie.  She is an AWESOME God loving woman and is the wife of a Pastor and church planter . I was so excited to attend the first of four kickoff services at Encounter this past Sunday.  If you are in the OC/LA/SD area, I recommend that you make it a plan to attend...and let me know, I will go with ya!

Okay, I believe that is all for now.,..but wait...if you are completely unsure of what the heck I just was talking about with my Documented Faith 2015 and want to know more you can do these things:

• Check out the Documented Faith 2015 site here
• Check out how a couple of thousand God loving women from all over the world are creating in their journals here.
• Register for the FREE, year long weekly/monthly journey with me here.

Die Cuts and Distress Markers

I have found a new love with the combination of die cuts and Distress markers and wanted to show you quickly how easy it really is to make an ordinary die cut look super cute.  

The key to getting the watercolor effect is to use watercolor paper. I have several watercolor pads and all of the papers vary slightly in color.  They have a slight yellow hue to them and  I prefer the Ranger/Tim Holtz Water color paper because it is bright white which allow for the colors to be more vibrant.  

I die cut shapes that I want to create with out of the watercolor paper.  The flower below is my new flower from the past release with Sizzix.  You can see all of them by clicking here or any one of the Sizzix banners her on the blog. Using a Uniball Signo Micro 207, I add an outline around the shape and then double up those same lines:

To add color, I am going to use Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress Markers and a Water Brush. Add a light swipe of color to your shape:

Using a moistened Water Brush, start to gently blend you color.  This is going to take practice so do not get frustrated.  You do not want your brush dry but you also do not want it sopping wet.  Use a paper towel to blot the water as you go. Try adding two colors to a shape: to get a really great look: Like I mentioned above, the color of the Watercolor Paper is going to make a difference in the outcome of your art.  Take a little time to experiment and play and remember that like anything else, it is going to take some practice.  Remember, it is just paper so if you hate it, toss it and start again!

More on Die Cuts & Watercolors coming soon!

The Documented Life Project 2015 Guest Artist #1

I am the first guest artist for The Documented Life Project 2015...eeek!! and in case you have not been here before, 

Welcome, I am Stephanie Ackerman.

I want to thank you right now for visiting because I am so excited that I may forget to thank you at the end of this post. I also want to thank the amazing ladies who created this entire project. I am blessed to call them friends and I secretly call myself the 6th in the Art to the 5th Group.

Okay, so here is the prompt for this week: 

The art challenge for this week is WRITING, and the prompt is WORDS WITH FRIENDS. Honestly, I was a little stumped about the "Words with Friends" part so I completely forgot about the "Writing" challenge.  Make sure that you read all of my rambling until the very end so that you can see how I tied all of this together.  

P.S. This is a lengthy post so grab a cup of coffee, get comfy, sit back and enjoy!

"Words With Friends"

Seeing that it is the beginning of a new year and everybody seems to be choosing a word based on Ali's "One Little Word" concept, I thought I would reach out to my friends and see what their words were. This turned out to be super fun and I encourage you to try this.  I started with a simple text to a bunch of my friends:

I had the best time seeing the photos come in with their words...but now what? Well, to be honest, I was not sure so I opened up my journal and started to create a background.  I know how my creative mind works so I knew that at some point, an idea would come. 

Based on the words texted back to me, I cut out the definitions from an old dictionary and set them aside. 

In my Dylusions journal I adhered a layer of old book paper, receipts and invoices to my pages using Glue & Seal.  Before I dried it, I added a thin coat of Gesso using an old gift card and then a light layer of Distress paint. I dried my surface and added little clusters of washi tape around the layout to break up the pages and to add a little color:

Next I die cut a bunch of Post-It notes into the shape of a little hanging tag. (One for each of my friends words) and I placed all of the definitions around the pages.  Once I got them all placed, I adhered them down and dried the entire surface.

Then I added a little Post It tag close to each definition: At this point  I was still not sure where I was going with this but just went with the flow.  I grabbed a bottle of Broken China Distress paint and using the dabber and my finger, I added a little paint to the page and smeared it around.  I was not being careful and I was okay with getting paint on the Post It tags, the definitions and the Washi Tape.    

TIP: If at any time you feel like you have a little too much of something, grab a baby wipe and wipe away.

Then I grabbed one of my own carved stamps, some Archival Ink and proceeded to stamp a little here and a little there:

I decided to add a little more color so I smudged in a little Barn Door Distress Paint.  I used a little alphabet stamp set to stamp out each "word" on the tag next to the definition:

Then guess what?

I decided I did not like the tags so I took them off and set them to the side.  This type of thing is normal for me and I just figured that I would use them on something different so I did not immediately throw them out.  Once the tags were gone, I knew what I needed.

I cut out little hearts from old book paper and added them next to the definition.  One heart for each one of my friends.

Using my pointer finger and some Liqutex Basics Acrylic paint in Cadmium Red Deep Hue, I smudged in color to each heart and dried them. I added in some depth and shadows around each heart and a few places on the pages using a Black Soot Distress Pen. You can look back and forth between the photos and see what a huge difference just a little smudge here and there makes.  So I have a heart for each one of my friends, a definaition of their word and a pile of cute little distressed tags over to the side.

Writing

This is when several things started to come together but I still had to mix in the "writing" and I was thinking in terms of writing letters...NOT hand lettering.  Should I be "doodling" and doing hand lettering on my pages? 

Not necessarily and THIS is one of the reasons why The Documented Life Project is so awesome.  It means different things to each one of us so here is what I did:

• I adhered an old library card pocket to my page and using the same paints, stamp and supplies that I used for the background of my layout, I blended in the library pocket to my page.
• I grabbed my pile of Post-Its and adhered them onto larger tags and placed them in the pocket for safe keeping.  Each one of the tags has a word and the name of my friend that sent it to me. When I first requested them to send me a word, some sent me photos of them holding their word so I printed out each one of those photos and also adhered that to the tag.

Here is where the "writing" challenge ties in.  I decided that I was not going to actually write on my pages but write a note to each one of my friends and send them the tag with their word and the photo on it as a reminder for them to focus on that word.  Because my friends words inspired the entire background for my pages

I simply scanned my background pages into my computer and then printed out the artwork onto cards that I will use to write them notes.  

I think that this is when my heart exploded and the project came full circle.

You may feel a bit overwhelmed by the "pin ball machine" way I create because I do bounce back and forth a bit, but please don't be.  My purpose is to encourage and inspire you to use what you have, think outside the box a bit and to enjoy the creative process.

Thanks so much for sticking with me through this entire post and thank you again to the fab 5 for inviting me to be part of this awesome project.  If something I shared here inspired you, I would LOVE to see your work so please either tag me on your FB or IG photos or email me at homegrown1(at)att(dot)net. 

The WHY & HOW

Like many of you, this year I am doing The Documented Life Project in the Dylusions Art Journal at the same time I am doing my own Documented Faith 2015 and Shanna's Illustrated Faith.

Just typing that and then reading it can sound overwhelming so I want to tell you WHY and a little of HOW I am combining all three of these together,

For me, because I "create" for a living and work from home, all of my supplies are always out and I am always working so I have everything I need ready for me.  This also means that I wake up and go to bed with a creative mess on my table which is NOT a great thing.  I get overwhelmed, over stimulated and grouchy because it constantly reminds me of deadlines and time-lines of what I NEED to get done,

The remedy to all of that and for me, the only remedy is to put God first.  

Here is the plain and simple TRUTH.  I put God first and the rest falls into place and takes away all of the anxiety, stress, worry and grouchiness when I see the mess. When I give God the first of my time, He makes enough time for the rest.

True story.

The way that I put God is FIRST THING IN THE MORNING.  This means that I need to maybe get up a little earlier. I know that it doesn't work for everyone but let me tell ya, if I don't, my day is a train wreck.

Here is my WHY:

I want God to be the engineer & conductor of my train because when I drive it on my own, I fall off the rails.,,

every

single 

time.

My "how I do it" looks like this (and remember this is the way I do it and never means that it has to be how you do it)

I start with praying and then I move right into my three running journals.  Each day looks a little different and I do not put pressure on myself on who gets what.  It is really however I am moved to create.  Sometimes I write a little in my Documented Faith Journal, add a few photos, throw down some washi tape, do a little doodle or write out a quote on a Project Life card and tape it in. Sometimes I journal in my bible based on the verse that we are focusing on for that week in Documented Faith and sometimes I create in my DLP Art Journal. I will say it a thousand times because I want to remind you and myself that we can do this how we want.  There are no rules, just encouragement & inspiration.

Now isn't that a breath of fresh air?  

If you are feeling ANY pressure from doing any of this guess what?  

It is self inflicted.  

Aren't we good at that???

I sure am BUT I am working really hard at changing that and as I share my creative bumps, curves and roadblocks, my hope is that something I share might remind you of a little something that maybe you will be encouraged to work on.

My best advice for running all three of these amazing projects together is to put God first.  The rest will follow.  It is a promise. 

If you would like to join me on Documenting your faith in 2015, check out the info here.  It is free and there is no pressure, just ideas, prompts, encouragement and a whole lot of love from a whole lot of people from around the world that are doing this! Click here to join us on FB here.

If you want to join me and thousand of others in on The Documented Life Project with the fabulous 5 and get your fingers happily inky, painted and creative, click here to read all about it.

If you want to join in the ever expanding Illustrated Faith group on FB, click here to join in.

and p.s..a shameless plug.  If you wanna see all of my new Sizzix stuff, just click on this banner below:

CHA, Documented Faith, DLP and Other Stuff

CHA RECAP

Even though CHA was about 27 minutes from home and I did not have to go out of town, I realized that going back and forth between the convention center and home proved to be just as crazy! Thank you so much to those who stopped by to see me at the Sizzix Booth and for those who took my class on Saturday.

I was so happy to reconnect with Lisa and loved to sit back and watch her chat with each person that stood in line to meet her. I am blessed to call her friend and I so grateful for the opportunities she lead me to many years ago.After a crazy first day at the show, I brought Jill, Lesli and Sheri From WhimSoDoodle to church with me. What a very great way to end a day at CHA. I got to chit chat with Laura about our upcoming Faith Retreat to Italy. I am humbled that Laura asked me to join her and Jeanne and we are all working on a wonderful creative and faith filled 7 days in Lake Como.  Click here to read all of the amazing details.The show wrapped up on Tuesday and if you have not already seen the quick little video about my latest release with Sizzixyou can check it out on the Sizzix Facebook Page. 

DOCUMENTED FAITH

We are in week three of Documented Faith and I am moved every single day by the comments, the sharing and the things that are happening in our group/study.  I really appreciate all of the "thank you's" but it is all God.  He is using me to help but only GOD could bring together a little over 2,000 women from all over the world to Document, share, experience and create based around faith.  If you are reading this for the first time and would like to join in with us, please search FB for the Documented Faith group and click request to join.  To read more about the why and what of Documented Faith, click here.

As you may remember, I am combining The Documented Life Project 2015 in the Dylusions journal, my bible journaling with the Illustrated Faith group and blending it with my Documented Faith in the Moleskin journal.  It seems like a lot but when I do one, I do them all, just a little each day. Here is a look at my first week.  The challenge was about goals: 

I will be sharing my week two of Documented Life Project with The Blank Page and Gesso in a day or two. I am a little behind and this is where I am at right now: I love love love this group and look forward to each week and a new prompt. I secretly call myself the 6th in the "Art to the 5th" group and THIS was just announced..EEEK!

Okay, that is it for now. I am going to be adding some new teaching dates as well as going through my release from Sizzix next week. Have a GREAT weekend!

CHA..

Still back and forth between the show..Be back soon!

Two More Days

CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) Trade Show begins in two days and I will be sharing with you my latest release of products by Sizzix. 

It takes about 10 months from idea to introduction to the marketplace and I have been working with these pieces for so long that, well, they feel old to me when really, they are brand new! (was that a run on sentence or what?)

Since I can't really show you much until Saturday, I will give you in a peek in a second but I want to talk to you about the WHY of my latest release. 

If you remember, the first release was about being a foundation and how each piece was designed to have a long life because it was a basic shape. Because new products get released every 6 months, sometimes the older dies just get pushed to the back of the shelf. This is not what I want to happen so when I designed this next release, I wanted to be able to coordinate the new with the older. Here is an example of what I am talking about:

Pictured above is a large canvas that I adhered the words "Happy Everything" to using the Fresh Blossoms alphabet die.  I blended in a bunch of the new stuff with the old and it goes together very nicely.

I feel like if you are going to invest money in buying products, they should be like Garanimals. You can mix and match everything because it all coordinates. .

Remember, I cant show ya everything but if you look at the photos again, I will say that it sure would be awesome to have the option to cut tons of tags in a bunch of different sizes in whatever medium you want...

I know!!!!!

There is..

a purpose a plan and it is good.  It is a promise.

The Documented Life Project 2015

My love for the DLP has continued on for year two and I just finished up the first challenge to use book paper with the "Be Your Own Goal Keeper" prompt.  Blank pages can be scary for some but for me I see it as an opportunity to experiment.  The great thing about mixed media is that if you don't like it when you are done, you can just paint over it and start again!

Like the DLP ladies, I am also using the Dylusions Journal and it is my most favorite art journal format (well, next to the moleskin!)  I like the durability of the journal and weight of the pages.  I don't have to do an infomercial on them as I am sure you may already know! 

Alright, so the first thing I did was layer on old book paper.  I adhered it using the Ranger Matte Medium, which is the same as Glue-N-Seal which by the way is making a come back.

BEST MEDIUM IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD (if you ask me and NOBODY is paying me to say that)

anyways..

after I got the paper down, I swiped on a light layer of white acrylic paint and dried it.  I added several colors onto the background using the distress markers. Honestly it was a tad to pastel for me so I added a few more torn pieces of old paper to calm down the screaming easter egg theme.After I dried this layer, I adhered circles of my own painted paper around the two pages and topped each circle with a dab of Distress Paint.  I smeared and smudged Broken China Distress Paint in between the areas around the circles.  I shadowed the circles using a Distress Marker in Black Soot and wrote several quotes about goals using a Fude Ball pen. To blend in all of the areas, I grabbed a piece of bubble wrap, dabbed some White Picket Distress Paint on it and simply stamped the paint here and there around the two pages.

To finish up my pages, I adhered an old envelope to the right page, wrote down some of my 2015 goals and added a few of my favorite red hearts, one to each page. I am so excited to be on part of the journey with you again and look forward to a super creative documented year!
Here are the products that I used, available at your local Scrapbooking store, Online stores and through Amazon