Soul Restoration Reavealed...and a Tutorial

 I am so excited to be taking Soul Restoration with the gals over at Brave Girls Club. I've been receiving daily inspiration emails from the Brave Girls for the past year. So many times, these little messages are exactly what I have needed to hear. Words of encouragement, words of love, words of courage...so many beautiful words. When I couldn't find the words on my own, it was such a blessing to receive the words from them.

I thought I'd share the cover of my soul house journal - and just for the fun of it, I'm posting a tutorial on how I created it as well. This is truly the blog that keeps on giving. 

Everyone started with a blank mini-album but the covers differ among the class between canvas, denim and wood. My class kit came with a denim mini-album made by Chatterbox. It started out looking like this:

So here's what I did to alter and personalize my cover. You didn't think I was just going to show the finished project right from the get go, did you?

Step One

First, I removed the two denim loops on the top left of the cover. I knew I wanted to adhere a doily or other type of paper accent which would not lay flat on top of these loops. And yes, I did save them to use on another project. Then, I used Mister Huey's Calico White mist, Maya Mist Buttermilk Cream mist, Tattered Angels Caribbean Blue Glimmer Mist and white acrylic paint to splatter and grunge up my background. Next, I took a vintage paper doily & used Iridescent Pearl Glimmer Mist to add some sparkle. Then I used more white paint and blue mist to lightly splatter the doily. After everything dried, I used matte Mod Podge to adhere the doily to the album.

Step Two

I took a pre-pleated ribbon (made by Pink Paislee, I think) and cut it to fit the album cover. Since I wanted the red to be a bit more bold than the original dusty red color of the ribbon, I used Mister Huey's Schoolhouse mist to add that true red color. I then used 1/2" double sided Red Line Craft Tape (love this stuff!) to adhere the ribbon.

Step Three

I knew I wanted to use the bottom right corner for the title statement of my album but it took me some time to find a way to display the "I am closed for restoration" saying. Initially I thought I might place it on top of the fabric loop that was already in place on the album...but I just didn't like it...so I took that loop off and looked at other options. I decided on using a Jenni Bowlin label sticker because I really liked how the red edging complimented the ribbon. The original sticker has light black polka dots on the background of the label but I found that the dots actually distracted the eye away from the sentiment. To counter this, I simply used white acrylic paint to cover the dots. I also added a second ribbon down the left hand side, adhering with 1/4" size of that handy, dandy Red Line Craft Tape.

Step Four

I used paper from an old dictionary to construct a lovely paper lollie. If you are interested in learning how to make these, check out this video by Rhonna Farrer. She does a fantastic job demonstrating the technique. Again, I had to add some glitz over the lollie with a couple of sprays from the Pearl Maya Mist. Here's a close-up so you can see the detail of the paper lollie...

 

Step Five

I used one of the Pink Paislee House of 3 tickets as a base of the accent atop that fabulous paper lollie. I added a bit bolder aqua blue color to the outer edges with some Tim Holtz Broken China Distress Ink and added more sparkle with the Pearl Mist. I used my Hero Arts alpha stamps to add the "please be patient" phrase. I had a plain chipboard butterfly That I misted Schoolhouse red and then added Pearl also (I just can't get away from that Pearl Maya Mist)...it is a much truer red than in my photo, actually matching the red of the ribbon exactly. Lastly, I added some Basic Grey mini pearls to the butterfly's body for just a touch more of the aqua color. Here's a detailed look at the ticket element.

 

Step Six

 To complete the cover I added a vintage key in the upper right aspect. I used Tattered Angels Vintage Hardware Antique Keys in black but the black color was all wrong for this project. Not to worry - I simply used acrylic paint to white wash over the key and voila! they key is now perfect.

I hope you enjoyed my first tutorial here on Studio Jenn. I certainly enjoyed sharing it. Leave me a comment if you would - I'd love to hear what you think or any questions that you might have.

One Little Word: Dream

My one word for 2011 is Dream.  

God, I love this word...so full of possibility. 

You might remember, in 2010 my word was Hope. My outlook at that time was much more thoughtful. And it was exactly where my focus needed to be as our family faced some challenges last year. I needed some serious reflection but it was essential to ground these deep thoughts in a positive, loving, hopeful way. Looking back, it is very clear that I *needed* hope, as much as hope as I could get.

And now, I am ready to move on...

I'm really looking forward to seeing where my dreams will take me this year. I am anticipating an adventure. I purposely chose a word that was not just a concept but also an action. This year I want to move forward. I am open to change. I will listen to my heart and soul. I will turn my dreams into realities.

I'm undertaking two specific activities to help me on my journey.

The first is an online workshop with the fabulous Melody Ross of the Brave Girls Club, aptly titled Soul Restoration. Soul Restoration started this week on the 12th - I'm totally loving it! Look for some more sharing on this tomorrow - and my first ever tutorial.

The second is a formal class (cleverly entitled) One Little Word taught by my favorite scrapper Ali Edwards. Ali describes the class like this:

For 2011, I want to do something even more tangible with my One Little Word. I've found that, just like a resolution, it's easy to lose sight of the things you set forward to embark on as regular life gets busy throughout the course of the year. To combat this I plan to bring my word into my life more consciously and concretely and make it more visible by creating an album to hold my thoughts, challenges and inspirations. 

 

You're invited to join me on this journey. 

Each month you'll receive an email and an invitation to visit the One Little Word classroom. Inside the classroom, you'll find a gentle reminder message, encouragement to refocus, and a simple creative project to complete related to your word. At the end of the year you'll have an album that celebrates and honors your word - making it that much more concrete and visible in your life. 

I think this is such a powerful idea. This month we worked on a title page for album, as well as a text-driven collage all about our One Little Words. I'll leave tonight by sharing my completed projects. 

PS Registration for Ali's One Little Word workshop is open all year long. Why not join us?

Oh. Hello 2011

 
I cannot believe that we are already over one week into 2011. I am the worst blogger ever.

:: hangs head in shame ::

But I persevere. I have many hopes, plans, dreams, schemes and ideas for this coming year. I'm sure you won't be the least bit surprised to find out that "Become a Better Blogger" is pretty high on my list.

And for the past week, I've put some time and energy into identifying concrete strategies and tasks that I can implement to make this goal an actuality. I have a plan. And I'm super jazzed about it.

What are some of your plans for 2011?