Material Mondays - Recycled Bag Journal

I wanted to show you one of my favorite bags.  In its hay day It was lovely and soft, very flexible, I loved the colour, but alas I wore it out...

Whilst it was not leather, it meant that it didn't last as long with the daily uses.  I would take it every where and it began to get a bit worse for wear.  I decided that I wanted to see if I could create something else that would prolong my use of the bag.

I decided to make a cover for a journal, where the inside pages would be able to be replaceable, but I could keep the essence of the bag.  Taking it apart was easy, and in the back of my mind I had a vague idea of how I would reconstruct it.

It was one of those projects that once I started I was determined to finish.  Armed with glue, needles, wool, painted fabric and some signatures I was ready to begin working out how to put together the bag. 

I added stitching here and there and with a bit of perseverance it began to come together.

Adding tassel's on the bag

The inside detail includes painted fabric which you can recycle from old clothes or sheets.  This journal uses my sons old primary school shirt and trousers and the strips of fabric provide spaces for extra storage.  The signatures as I said are attached by the plaited blue and purple wool, and is a selection of painted papers from projects that I didn't use.

Painted recycled materials for pockets on the inside

The pockets are deep enough to store supplies and still be able to close and not be too heavy.

The bag journal came together really well, I added detail on the back using fimo clay, sequins and fabric paint and made a woolen button as the clasp.

With corresponding wool, I added tassel's and placed painted fabric on the handles give them added durability.

Quite a different looking bag now, I am looking forward to using it, might even use it as a travel journal!

If you are considering learning how to take part in creative activity check out Craftsy online courses, at the moment they are doing a special offer on some of their classes, and they are offering some free mini courses. Click here.

Confidence - Creating in Faith

Confidence

What do you know that you know, that you know to be true?

Earlier this week I had a mini revelation or understanding about my life.  It wasn't something now I think of it that I didn't already know, but it was clarity that shone its' light over an area of my work.

'You know that you know that you know to be true.....'

In my prayer life I have been praying for change, but we all know that change can only come if you do something different, taking that step each day doing something different until you get the required results.  The change could only be activated if I had the confidence to know that despite what things look like, something totally different than the current view is expected.

I am confident in knowing that if I want to learn something and everyday I do a little bit to expand my knowledge, put it into practise, review and learn some more, I can be guaranteed that in a year I’ll know more than I did when I started.

Having confidence helps me to know that in every situation there are several outcomes possible and if I am flexible in my approach and not ridged then it is possible to be able to gain insight and understanding from any outcome.

In our faith we have confidence that there is a living God who cares for us and wants us to live a life beyond anything we could possibly imagine, using the gifts, talents and abilities that we have all been given, working on those ones that need work, sharing, giving, blessing....

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength... Philippians 4:13

God wants you to be curious about life, to stretch beyond what society tells you is the norm and to keep asking those questions like a child who learns about his surroundings starts to ask the ‘why’ questions.  God’s word tells us to 'ask and you will receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be open in Matthew 7:7'.   There is no standing still, no static, or staleness but an excitement about each and every day, knowing that the difference that it will bring depends on our perspective and whether our glass is half empty or remains half full.

The Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught... Proverbs 3:26

What have you put your confidence in?

Recycling Project - Mini's

From some of the projects that I have been sharing here and here, you would have realised that I have a thing about quinoa and textures as part of a creative project I thought that I would make a series of mini frames that you could use in different ways. You could use them in and on your journal or cards, or a range of other projects.

I wanted to create antique type look and having old photographs within the frames enables you to achieve this effect. There are many royalty free images that can be used that you can find on the internet.

I guess I have found the quinoa to be quite versatile in creating surfaces but also as edging as once it is dry it becomes really hard.  For the one below I tried out linseed's.

For some of the mini's I used a combination of polymer clay, stones, clay and friendly plastic.

There are so many beautiful things that can be made using recycled materials, the only problem I am finding is running out of space either from the things I have been collecting to make something else or the things I end up making. There will be lots of handmade gifts being given at Christmas this year:)

I hope you have a blessed weekend, and allow your creativity to push back the boundaries in order to allow yourself to really soar! 

Come back on Tuesday to see how I make the Mini's in Tutorial Tuesday. Do share creative ways in which you have used recycled materials and leave a comment below.

Gratitudes and Celebrations - Week 21 -Support

Support - Gratitude's and Celebrations

When you feel like quitting, reach out to your support network

Who is in your support network?

The saying, 'no man is an island' reminds us that we were never meant to be in this on our own.  Here is a song courtesy of Dennis Brown.

We can isolate ourselves or feel isolated in certain circumstances but we have to make sure that we surround ourselves with encouraging and positive people who can not only keep it real, but also see further than what is in front of them - our cheer leaders near and far that encourage us to go another mile, take another step to be more than we ever thought we could be.

As we look to surround ourselves with encouraging people, let us also be the one who can encourage and shine the light on others.  Your words of encouragement to another could make the difference between them giving up or getting up and dusting themselves off and trying again. 

I celebrate the encouraging souls near and far that have been a source of strength along the way and I am grateful for another day to be able to encourage someone else.

As this week draws to a close can you think of the beautiful things in your life. Do leave a comment and have a blessed weekend!

If you want to see how I made the journal (click here)