Prophetic Art Journal Page

A few months ago I finally started a project I've been wanting to do for awhile. It's an art journal. It combines basic journaling with more artistic flair...from what I can tell.

I've also been using a technique often referred to as an 'altered book' because I took an actual hard back book and used the pages for my own purposes. My book is a combination scrapbook, journal, and inspirational quotes and verses. So basically everything and anything, whatever I feel like at the time.

My children can draw but that is one artistic endeavor I seem to have no skill in, so I never attempt it. However, I can do simple shapes. The other day I had a vision, a divine inspiration in the form of  a picture in my head. I decided to attempt the picture into my book. I like how it came out...but now I want to add a couple verses to the page...

(forgive me, I do not have a 'real' camera that works so I am limited to my camera phone! :-( 

If I make the images any bigger they are horribly blurry)

It's a sketch of a tree.  

The roots of the tree have the words HOPELESS in them. 

Whether you can see it or not, ALL the leaves have the word HOPE written in them.

I have since learned there are two verses that refer to 'healing leaves'.

Rev 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Eze 47:12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing."

I did not even realize these verses existed. One night after our family prayer and worship time I asked one of my sons, "What is God telling you right now?"
"Let the leaves awaken to speak."
"What?" Did I hear that right?
"I don't know, that's just what He said."
"I know but what was it you said?"
He repeated himself and I knew immediately it related to the picture-he knew nothing about it. I showed him and felt pretty excited about it. The next day I unexpectantly met with a friend to pray. She happened to reference the Revelation verse quoted above with out me even mentioning my picture. I was excited to show her and tell her what my son had said.

God works like that, putting all the puzzle pieces together. He speaks to us in images, words, thoughts, ideas...through any and everything. This was extra fun for me because I rarely draw...my children are always drawing prophetic pictures at church. So this was a new experience for me.

I really enjoy the art journaling because it allows me to create a page and fulfill my urge to create, rather quickly and easily. I mostly use layered papers and stickers to create a page I can write on. I also have verses.

I will add more posts with pix of other pages, later.

Big Brother T to lil brother T: make your own toddler T-shirt

The toddler needs clothes. Really. He has outgrown all but one pair of jeans. The temps have taken a dip so he also needs some long sleeved T's. I haven't gotten a chance to go to the thrift store and I really hate to spend money unnecessarily. In an instant I told oldest to see if he had a T-shirt he no longer wore, maybe was too small...I wanted to see if I could make the toddler a quick shirt.

It was ridiculously simple. Sorry for the poor pic quality--I always think to take pix too late. Here is a semi-tutorial for using larger T's to create a piece of toddler clothing.

We put the T on him wrong side out so we could pin it to fit. We used LARGE safety pins. This avoids the risk of being poked. (Isn't this little guy such a patient little cutie?)

1. Pull up the shoulders first so you can pin it to avoid the the neck being too wide. Make sure it fits around the head easily to remove.

2. Have the toddler hold out his/her arms just long enough to get a good pin under. This will be where the 'sleeve' will begin.

3. Pin the sides along the waist for an appropriate fit.

4. Don't forget to mark the length you want.

5. I took my serger and eyeballed along the pinned edges. From under the arm to down the sides you are basically cutting or serging an upside down L shape on each side.

BE SURE to NOT serge or cut too close to the child's underarm OR they will not be able to comfortably remove or put on the shirt. Always better to be TOO BIG than too small...because you can always make it smaller but you can't make it bigger. IF you don't have a serger, you can simply sew a straight stitch along your lines/pins.

6. Serge (or cut & sew) the tops of the shoulders. Again pay attention NOT to make the sleeve too narrow. Line up the 'collar' so the edges are even.

7. After the underarm, sides & shoulders are cut and serged/sewn, serge the bottom or hem. I am blessed to have a serger so no hemming was required.

TaDaaaa!

I couldn't be happier with how this turned out. It took all of 10 minutes? 

And the sleeve length was perfect! An adult size, short sleeve T produced a long sleeve toddler shirt. 

The shirt cut ended up being more of a roomy-boxy sweat shirt shape but you could also ways cut/sew it narrower along the abdomen if you wanted. I didn't mind how this turned out and I can't wait to create more.

I love when I can repurpose an item into something new. I know we have a bunch of T's around here and now I can put them to good use instead of tossing and/or buying new ones that this little guy will out grow in no time!

Don't you think this would make a great GIFT for new parents?....sneak one of daddy's old favorite T's & recreate it into a shirt the toddler can wear. You can also make little pants out of old T's as well. (have I posted that before? if not, I really should!)  I have a baby shower coming up soon...hhhmmm... ;-)

For a little girl's T, you could even flare the sleeves, which would be adorable. Don't you think? So many options--it's too easy NOT to try, isn't it? This would make a great first sewing or serging project. The toddler won't mind if you make a mistake and no one will even notice. Go ahead, try it today. I know you can do it.