Making Books

I like making books. Altered books and three ring binder books and mini travel books. I like making books A LOT! In fact, so much so that I don't necessarily finish the books that I begin ...hmmmm, finishing what I begin ...that's a topic for another post! Anyway, back to making books ...
I have multiple art journal books that I work in at the same time. I think, for me, there are two main reasons that I work in multiple journals: 

1.) I usually have so many things  running around in my head and for some reason I feel the need to categorize them into themes or topics. Thus, multiple journals. I have one for making art and recording thoughts about my "One Word" for the year ~ my Gratitude Journal.  

I have another where I am making art for prompts from The Art Journaler community that I belong to, as well as some random journaling about my journey of self-discovery. I found a book appropriately named "The Examined Life"

2.) I find that I enjoy working in different sizes of journals. My Gratitude journal is 6x9 landscape. The Examined Life altered book is 5x8. When I made my Reverb 2012 album I had found a perfect little book that was 4x7 and I loved the smaller pages.

So I found another small book and started another art journal in it for this year. This one is 4.5x7. So far it just contains random art journal pages.

But probably my favorite size; the one I keep returning to is 7x9. I have done quite a few of this size:

2011 Advent Art Journal

SLJ Class Art Journal

Montana Road Trip from 2011

Because it's my favorite size to work in I have a new 7x9 art journal book in progress.

The beginning of the cover. The watercolor paper I buy has wonderfully heavy cardboard/chipboard back pages. I cut one down for the cover of my new 7x9 art journal binder, then sprayed on some inks and splattered on paint on a piece of patterned card stock. I glued it on the chipboard cover and will decorate it as I am inspired.

Like I said, I like making books and I love spending time filling them with the musings of my heart, one art journal page at a time. It keeps me sane!

Be Who You Are

Be who you are. I love this phrase. It's significance came out of the journey through the book of Ephesians our church did a few years ago. Ephesians is a book about the identity and purpose of the church and of us as Christ-followers. Ephesians 4:1 calls us to "live a life worthy of the calling you have received". In other words, be who you are, who you have been called to be.

I wonder if other people think about this as much as I do. I think about it quite often. This journey of discovering who I am and, more specifically, who I am in Christ, has been so defining on so many areas of my life. As a Christ-follower my first and foremost calling is corporate in nature. I am to live out of my calling as a child of God, a member of His family, first. This calling is the same for every Christ-follower. We are called to things like loving others, living sacrificially as Christ did, being obedient to God, serving God through the body of Christ, being reconcilers, agents of His divine grace, and on and on. This is who, we who are Christ-followers, are called to be. This is what defines who I am. And grasping this has shaped me significantly.

Discovering how God has uniquely wired me has then enabled me to learn how to function as He has called me to. My personality, spiritual gifts, talents, abilities, and the passions God has placed within me all serve to help me be who God created me to be. Learning about myself in these ways have helped me learn the things that help me be more effective in that calling. Like, for example, how art restores the energy my stress-filled week of ministry depleted.

I think one of the most important things God has revealed in this journey of self-discovery is that it is not ultimately about me. I discover who I am and how I am put together so that I love and serve God and others as He has called me. The ultimate goal of self-discovery is to bring glory to God in and through my life. Be who you are.

“Through faith, self-knowledge leads us to self-acceptance and a self-love that draw their life from God’s acceptance and love.” Richard Foster, Prayer, The Prayer of Examen.

“Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.” Steven Pressfield, Author

"You have searched me, LORD, and you know me." Psalm 139:1

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:13-14

The Word I Didn't Think Of

Today I finally read Julie Balzer's post from last week for her Art Journal Every Day group. Her post fit so well with our lunch conversation at the office last Thursday that I spoke about in my last post. She gave a name to those things that block our creativity: ePEcTaTioNs. Not a complex word, but one I didn't think of when I was writing. It fits so well. Our expectations of our art, of ourselves, of others, block us from moving ahead. So, we don't make art. We don't dream. We don't allow ourselves to grow. We don't work through conflict. We don't love others. We don't take steps of faith. We let our expectations immobilize us. Letting go of expectations is valuing and enjoying the process.

Some tips from Julie on letting go of expectations:

Here are some ways to help you let go of expectations:

• Narrow your focus.  Instead of thinking of the end result, think about what you want to accomplish in the next few minutes.  For example: I want to use this stencil.
• Follow the shiny ball.  What does that mean?  When something interesting flits across your line of sight or through your mind, follow it.  Take that detour.
• Walk away.  I often find that the pieces I hate the most are the ones where I was relentlessly pushing and pushing and pushing and overworking my art.  Sometimes taking a break and coming back another day with fresh eyes is just the ticket.
• Do something to purposely ruin it.  Rip it.  Cover it with paint.  Ruin it.  Gasp.  It works.  It makes you less afraid.  And forces you to let go of your expectations.
• Don't compare yourself to others.  Maybe I should say that again: don't compare yourself to others.  As Dr. Seuss has taught us, "No one is youer than you."  Art journaling is not a competition.
• Make art every day.  When making art becomes part of your daily routine it really takes the pressure off.  Release that valve by taking ten minutes a day to do something artistic.

http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/2012/01/art-journal-every-day-let-go-of-expectations.html

So, I intend to make art every day this year and enjoy the process!

From my Scrapbook Life Journal



Expectation is the root of all heartache.  William Shakespeare

 

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.  Theodore Roosevelt

Dreams grow holy put into action.  Adelaide Proctor

Random Thoughts Today

Some rambling random thoughts for today:

{Taken at Youth Haven Ranch July 2011}

This is one of my favorite photo shots from 2011 and it seems an appropriate photo for today, Martin Luther King Jr. day.  Yesterday in church we read Dr. King's speech "Paul's Letter to American Christians".  In this speech he talks about Sunday morning being the "most segregated hour of Christian America". Dr. Kind delivered this speech in 1956 and I hope that now, 56 years later, this is becoming less true of the American Christian church. I'm afraid, though, that we still have a long way to go. But there are changes. There is growth. I'm pleased that it is changing in my own church. And the children are leading us! This is what the above picture represents for me. Young children don't care about the things that tend to separate us as adults. They're just looking for someone to be a friend with. May we learn from them and from Dr. King.
"I still believe that love is the most durable power in the world. Over the centuries men have sought to discover the highest good. This has been the chief quest of ethical philosophy. This was one of the big questions of Greek philosophy. I think I have an answer America. It is love.  This principle stands at the center of the cosmos. As John says, "God is love." He who loves is a participant in the being of God. He who hates does not know God. It is here we find the true meaning of the Christian faith. This is at bottom the meaning of the cross...."  (from Paul's Letter to American Christians)

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35

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I am determined that I WILL FINISH my Advent Art Journal, even if it takes me till spring. I am almost all the way through the first three weeks. Recent pages completed:

I'm loving collaged and painted backgrounds right now. I find that when I simply set out to make some background pages, the creativity flood gates open wide!

As usual, I am involved in multiple things at the same time. I am taking a year long class with Stephanie Ackerman that mixes faith, art journaling, doodling, and soul searching. January's prompt is "Being honest with yourself". My cover page for January:

Scripture on the tag is 1 Thessalonians 5:23: "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Enough rambling for one day. :)