My Daughter Rebekah's Blog

I have to be a brag-in mom...

to know me is to know...

I LOVE my children with

all my heart and soul.

NO one loves them more then

their mama, except for JESUS.

I believe God has called me to be

a wife to their daddy

and

To be THEIR mother.

I will thank God all the days

of my life for

Blessing me times 4...

Plus one good man.

Rebekah is a Creative Spirit...

Besides drawing and decorating

our Christmas Tree for the past

3 years 

(pictutes in previous post)

She Loves...

Drawing

Music

and taking pictures.

Her teachers tell me

she a good writer too!

Rebekah is starting a blog...

2 posts so far...

Photography by Rebekah

 This is one of my favorites...

She took it in 2008.

She is my flower child...

A free spirit...

Creative, And

a beautiful blessing.

 This one is a collage

she made of her and Rae.

Everyday her Sister

and on (most) days one of

her best friends.

This one she took for Thanksgiving.

Rebekah and Rachel

my favorite girls in the

whole wide world.

http://rjruby.blogspot.com/

Stop bye and welcome her to

the world of blogging.

Good Luck Rebekah!

Take a picture, write, dream and

be true to yourself.

Another Stroke of the Brush...

A mothers advice...

Dearest Girls

Follow your dreams and see where

they take you.

Have Faith,

Love

and

Jesus in your heart...

Share,

Care and take a leap

of faith once in a while.

Steer clear of fear,

False

Evidence

Appearing

Real...

Be a blessing to others.

Believe in yourself.

Try to live your life with

no regrets.

Be forgiving,

Be a good listener and

a good friend.

I Love...Loving you!

May the true meaning of Christmas

Reveal to you

the Love of God...

With the perfect gift of

His Son. Jesus

 Many Blessings, Deborah



Renewal, Painting and In life...

Renewal...

This is the original painting I

began in 2008...

I say began because I realized

the other day it wasn't

finished...

Titled,

"Scout and Cheyenne, Splash"

Another Stroke of the brush...

Renewed ....
I added some warm colors on the
backs of the horses and lightened the
fronts of the horses.  I also cropped the
original size to Matt it. I added more blue wash
over the hoofs in the background to
create a better feeling of distance.
Can you tell a difference?
Before I kinda felt the painting was a little
flat. I (think) I am happy with the renewed piece.

 Speaking of....
Renewal

This time of year reminds

me of new life.

We are reminded & many celebrate the birth of

Jesus and all that His birth meant

for us as Christians.

Hope

Renewal

Forgiveness

A precious Gift from

GOD.

What gift could top this???

All this hustle and bustle

shopping for the perfect gift.

Sometimes I am overwhelmed by

the materialism in my life.

I get caught up in the idea of

something new...

New Furniture

New Car

New jewelry...

I have more so much more than

I need, Really!

My Family,

My Friends,

 A Savior...

This morning I told my children

we weren't having Christmas...

Whooooa!

That did not go over so well, try this at you own

risk...

Here is what I heard...

"You can't do that,

That is not fair...

You can't just not buy us stuff."

That is what Christmas is all about!!!

Whoooa! (Me)

Mind you my children have been privileged

to attend  a christian school

until the 8th grade.

Sure, we have made many sacrifices to pay that bill!

But It was important to the cowboy and I.

My thinking at this moment...They know better than this...Right?

The answer is a resounding no!!!

They are normal children living in a material world.

They may not have as much as some,

but they have more than many.

So where did this feeling of entitlement come from?

Really, Can youTell Me!!!

I can only hope and pray that one day they

will realize how blessed they are.

With age and maturity comes wisdom, Right?

I am counting on this scripture,

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go:

and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

I really wouldn't take Christmas

from my children...

But it did open up the opportunity

to have a great conversation with them.

Lets call it a little training session!

One Point for the Parents....

Many Blessings, Deborah

Sometime a piece of art isn't finished

even when you think it is....

OUR TREE BY REBEKAH J. RUBY This years theme is Santa himself

Each year for the past few,

My daughter Rebekah has designed our

Christmas tree...

She begins by sketching it out with

colored pencils.

Then it is may job to find new

ornaments to fit the theme...

We go to Goodwill and the Salvation

Army and use some ornament from

the previous year.

This Year Theme
Santa

Our tree at mornings first light...

Santa's workshop with lots of red bulbs...

and his reindeer.

HOHOHO

So many Santa's to choose from....

Presents...

Red & Green his signature colors...

Dear Santa ....

Glitter and lots of lights...

So this year Santa is hanging

around our tree and it looks

lovely...

I am always so proud and

amazed at her talent, she takes

time to place each ornament in the

perfect spot...

Perfectionism from the Cowboy (her daddy)!!!

(not from the mama)

but, I am happy to say she is a creative spirit just

like me.

And my personal favorite is...

Yep, that is Santa with a

palette.

Proving there is a artist

in each and everyone of

us....RIGHT.

And Santa is a perfect example

of using our gifts and talents to

be a blessing to others.

And giving all the glory to

Jesus....

I hope everyone is enjoying

this holiday season.

And may all your prayers and

wishes come true

this Christmas Season....

Many Blessings, Deborah

A Tutorial for Inexpensive Holiday Ornaments

Hey everyone are you getting into the Holiday Spirit?

We had a great time visiting all the

cowboys family in South East Missouri.

Of course

All I did was eat!!!

Yikes!!!

ANOTHER STROKE OF

 THE BRUSH...

Tutorial

Holiday Ornaments....

So simple and fun to make.

Joy to the World Bird Ornament

All you need...

 You probably have on hand in

your studio.

 Lets get started...

 Holiday craft paper or wrapping paper

Diamond Glaze

Scissors

Exacto Knife

Brush

Ribbon

Foam Core

Embellishments

Lets get started....

First trace the shape you want to make

onto the foam core, I used scrapes.

I used a wooden ornament from our tree

 to make my shape.

Cut the shape out with your exacto knife.

Trace the cut out

shape onto the decorative paper or

wrapping paper.

Glue the foam core to the paper

of your choice.

Cut the paper to match shape and

Leaving about a 1" edge around the shape.

Use your scissors to cut

about a 1/4" slits

all the way around the foam core shape.

Start gluing the slits to the back of the ornament.

Slitting the paper makes it lots easier to

do the round shape.

You may have to trim the paper a little

here and there to cover all the foam core.

It is all glue up and dry.

I like using the diamond glaze

because it drys so fast.

To finish the back I traced and cut the shape

with some construction paper and

hot glued it to get a finished look.

I added ribbon with the glue gun

and

I added some BLING 

& embellished letters.

&

BaMm OOO! 

 Then I came up with another idea.

I used scrap piece of denim and painted

 a cute little snowman on it. I finished off the back

with a round piece of denim sized to fit

and added a bright red bow.

I used acrylic paint with fabric medium

to paint my snowman.

I used all the same steps noted above

after my paint dried.

Easy...

Fast...

Fun...

Once I got these going...

 MORE

 ideas started reeling in my head.

 How about using...

decorative fabric...

 cookie cutters for the shape...

news paper and paint a design

on it.

You could embellish these to your hearts desire.

Foam core is inexpensive and if your

anything like me you have scraps

of everything lying around the studio,

decorative paper, fabric, newsprint, wrapping

paper or felt.

Make sure your exacto knife is sharp!

 I hope you"ll give it a try...

 If you do give it a go?

Use your imagination!

 I hope you'll share what you come up with...

Have a creative day!

Many Blessings,

Deborah

Jesus is the reason

for this season!

Art, Seeds and Petals Series and The Brave Girls Club, Go Now and Check them out!!!

Seeds and Red Petals

Art and Soul

Loves...

Creative souls...

Women Inspiring each other...

Growing in my Creativity

 and

Sharing...

My Creativity

My Faith...

My Experiences

 and

New Blog Finds....

I found a great blog a couple months ago and I wanted to

share it.

These Sisters are creative and inspiring...

They offer

mountain retreats and are getting ready to

 launch their  first online

 workshop, which will be 6 weeks long.

http://www.bravegirlsclub.com/

I myself would looooove to go to one

of their retreats in the Idaho Rocky Mountains...
the perfect setting for 5 days of life-changing fun!
It is officially on my bucket list!

Click on the link to check it out...

I know you will love them too!!!

Another Stroke of the Brush...

I have been busy getting my art into some

local shops for the holidays!

 

My family and I are getting ready to go and

visit family in Kansas City and Sikeston, MO

For the Holidays.

Praying for CLEAR weather!!!

Amen!
(not leaving the house if there is even a hint of band weather)
Here is Why?

2 years ago we attempted to go visit my cowboys/husbands

family in Sikeston, Mo. 2 hrs south of St. Louis.

We were about an hour and a half out of town

when we came upon some sleet on an overpass.

All at once the car in front of us hit their brakes

and in turn we had to hit ours. We had our Ford Excursion

filled to the brim with luggage and all 6 of us...Plus our little

white dog, a Westie. We proceeded to roll down an embankment

3 times, Yes 3 times. Our little dog was air born in our truck like Toto in the

Wizard of Oz. We were all shaken and a little banged up

but, NO one was seriously hurt...It Was A Miracle!
It all happened in slow motion....
 No.....

Really,  A real Miracle!!!
 Not only was our dog flying around

but there was also a ball hitch airborne. For those of you who don't know

what that is...It goes in the back of the truck under the bumper to

attach a trailer. Don't ask why my cowboy needed

to bring an extra one for this trip? But it was now located

on the dash board in the front of our truck.

These ball hitches must weigh at least 5 to 10lbs. I can not

believe it did not hit someone in the head.

MIRACLE!!!

Needless to say our truck was totaled and we had to call our friends to come and pick us

up and take us back home. All this happen the day before Thanksgiving, I did not

have any groceries to cook a Thanksgiving meal, we weren't supose to be home.

Another Miracle... Neighbors brought us all their left overs after their main meal....

We sure had a lot to be THANKFUL for that year...

Hence the prayer for good weather!!!

We have not been to see the cowboy's family

since the accident and it is a 9 1/2 hour trip.

Thankfully going south is a good thing because

the weather gets better the further south from Iowa we go.

The crisp colors of fall...

Here are some pictures I took

in one of the shops my art is currently in....

I though it would get me in the spirit of

of Giving Thanks!!!

I also thought I might do a still life???

What are you thankful for?

May you be thankful for family and

friends and share your many blessings
with others.

Deborah

 



Give Away on FB Art & Soul Gallery

Pretty in Pink Roses

Give Away!!!!

I am so happy to

reach 100 fans on

my face book fan

page...

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Art-Soul-Gallery/135683238189

I am having a Rosie give away!!!

3 Ways to win....

1st Become a fan, Leave a comment, or share Art & Souls link on

your Home Page....

Leave a comment for each way to win

on the fan page.

 

Here is what you can win!!!

Thanks for participating!!!

Have a beautiful day!

Many Blessings, Deborah

These Boots Were Made for Walking, My First Tutorial

                          And when I start too

walking, these boots will be like NeeeeeW!

First a pair of my boots...

And a some inspiration.
I'll let ya all in on a little
secret........                             

I have a western boot fetish...

I have, Black, Brown, Red, Aqua, Dark Purple,

 Just to name a few!

Some people collect trinkets, I

collect Western Boots.
No worries, I only buy boots when they are on sale!!!!
shshshshshshs!

 This Pair is a "little" worn out!

So I figured it is time for a make over.

Supplies:

Paint, Brushes, textile medium, a pair of boots and 

the rest is an open door for creativity. 

First a base coat... With Folk Art Paint and a Textile medium..

How about some Southwest style....

A Lizard, I made a pattern and traced it on

the boot  

with a Watercolor Pencil.

It is easy to erase the outlines from

a watercolor pencil.

I use them when I do Mural on Walls.

Draw a Cactus, I cut out, traced around edge  with

a watercolor pencil. 

It took about three coats of paint to cover the base coat 

of pink. 

The textile medium thins out the paint.

Make sure the paint and textile medim is well mixed.

3 Coats done, now time to dry and when it is dry,

it is time to add

 some detail...

A little Cactus Detail...

Some bright colors for the lizard detail...

Wah LA! a "like" New pair of boots.

I will need to do some rearch and figure out

what I can use

for a top coat and a protectant

Any suggestion are welcome!

I think I will wear them to the annual

Pony Express Dance!!!

I might even need a new outfit...

I Love your comments, let me know

what YOU think?

BE BLESSED WHERE EVER YOU ARE!!!

DEBORAH

New Art Dancing Sunflowers, Recycled Whimsy Blooms & Inspiration

New Art

From the Art & Soul Studio

Watercolor painting
on watercolor canvas...

Titled "Dancing Sunflowers"
Sunflowers are one of my favorite subjects
to paint. Not sure if it is quite done?
Have any of you used watercolor canvas?
What did you think of the experience?
Any Tips and Tricks out there?
Please!

New ... Painted on fabric

A light cotton scrape fabric painted with

acrylic with a textile medium added.

I use the stretcher bars

from a piece of  old shabby art I found

at good will for $1.19

I removed the old canvas

and then attach the fabric to the wood frame.

No fear the old art was a mass produce

piece from Target of somewhere.

Titled "Whimsy Blooms"

Size 8"x8"

I finished the 1" sides of this piece with old jeans I

cut a strip from.

I am liking the idea of recycling old mass produce

art into something new and original.

Another Stroke of the Brush...

MAKE TIME TO NURISH YOUR SPIRIT...

YOUR SPIRIT NOURISHES YOUR ART.

If you ever experience a creative block...

Try something new,

Believe in yourself...

Believe in your art...

Seek inspiration from,

God, Nature, Other Artist

and in the simple things in life....

"Be Faithful in the small things, because

it is in them you will find your strength."

Mother Teresa

Enjoy the spirit of creativity!

Many Blessings, Deborah