Getting Artsy - Mini Art Journal

I used a stencil (Plaid Folk-Art: Fleur) and foam blending tools to create a pattern on Watercolor paper. I used Close To My Heart ink pads in Sweet Leaf, Topiary, Buttercup, Hollyhock, Vineyard Berry, and Indian Corn Blue. Then used the patterned paper to create a mini-book. I learned how to create the book from the class video Art Journaling 101 taught by Erin Bassett at True Scrap 4.
All this stencilng was inspired by Stencil 101 it's a FREE class by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer at Balzerdesigns. I'm also currently taking The Curious Scrapbooker's Field Guide taught by May Flaum at Big Picture Classes, this is the 2nd session I've taken this class because it so inspired me to step into some new areas with my supplies.
 

Next I stamped and embellished each set of pages.
CTMH stamp set Tailor-Made, CTMH Buttons, CTMH Glitter Gell in Stardust. Page sprayed with Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz in Sparkle

CTMH Stamp Set Chairs To You, watercolor pencils, Tim Holtz waterbrush, CTMH sparkles colored with CTMH alcohol marker in pear. Page sprayed with Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz in Sparkle. Ribbon CTMH. CTMH Glitter Gell in Stardust.
CTMH stamp set Trees & Things. Washi Tape from Pick Your Plum, flowers by Prima, Bakers Twine from Fancy Pants Designs. Flowers sprayed with Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz in Silver & Sparkle.
My first art journaling. Now I just need to decorate the outside cover.

Purpose: A Quote For Staying On Course.

I find myself in a difficult season of life. I find myself often very sad, very discouraged. This is not the way I imagined my life in the enthusiastic blush of youth. Today I came across this quote by Mother Theresa. I find comfort & encouragement in this reminder that the ultimate result is beyond my control, it is only up to me to do MY best, and to value my best regardless of outcome.

"People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful
you will win some false friends and true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway."

— Mother Theresa

Heather & Emily

This is my dear friend, Heather. I finally got to see her daughter, Emily, when I was in California this summer. Isn't she a beauty!

I had a lot more embelishments on this page, but took them off becuase Emily is so pretty, I wanted her pictures to shine.
Here are the steps I used to create the title.

I used a text title.

I added the cat head & body & positioned the layers so the body was behind the title and added a shadow behind the kitty.

I added two heart swirls & added shadows to make it stand out from the other layers a little more.

And finally I used a flower sprinkles element and clipped it to the title layer so that it looks like the flowers are painted on the letters.

Another digital scrapbook page from Just The Basics class at ReneePearson.com

Template from Sketch Collection 22 (provided with class) by Jen Caputo for ScrapbookingGraphics
Digital Elements from A Sweet Day kit by Ellie Lash Sugarplum Paperie found at SunshineStudioScraps

I Still Love My Kindle

Sometime in June an update to the Kindle 2 operating system was released, included in the update was the ability to share highlights over Twitter and/or Facebook.

This new feature allows me to share passages on Twitter (or Facebook if I want.) This particular passage I wanted to share with my brother, who isn't on Twitter:
I highlighted the passage, clicked to share on Twitter and off it went! It looks like this:

Tweet Link

Twitter linked to the passage of text I wished to share (and now I have a link to it that I can email to my brother.) The quote must have a limit as to lenght as the final word is missing, the last line should read "shortly after."

Link to Quote

Isn't that cool!

Purpose: Do It Anyway, A Quote For Staying On Course.

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

~Mother Theresa

Value & Worth

I actually tweeted that today. I find that now I have the complete statement. To continue in the same vein...

My value as a person does not come from the state of my house.
Other people can impact the state of my house.
No one has the power to change my worth, my worth is wholly up to me.

My one little word for 2010 is PURPOSE.

How True

Wanda posted this on facebook I had never heard or read this quote before. I like it!

“Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

See Post: How the Fragrant Hand Got It's Name

Do You Have Fragrant Hands?

A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers.

As women we turn our hands to so many tasks. We clean and beautify our homes, kiss and bind up hurts. We express our creativity in our interests, develop special talents and deep friendships. We help with homework, and teach our children some of life's most important lessons. It is we who prepare the sustaining meals that fill our homes with aroma & bring our families together. We create the holiday and everyday traditions that give our children a sense of belonging.

Our hands are fragrant with the perfume of our labors. This is the meaning I had in mind when I called my blog The Fragrant Hand. I thought of my lovely mother's soothing hands, so full of talent. I considered my own hands and found them fragrant.

As you go about your day-to-day, think not of the dishes that will need to be done again tomorrow... think instead of the sweet fragrance that you alone can add. Your hands are perfumed by all you do. You too, have fragrant hands.

In memory of my lovely Mother, Cathy Black.

Like sitting across a sunny kitchen table and having coffee with Julia.

While killing time in the airport a few weeks ago, I saw an ad for the upcoming movie (released this weekend) Julie & Julia, it mentioned that it was based on a book, so when we were in the airport book shop buying bottles of water I scanned the shelves for a glimpse of the book. There it was, but right next to it was a title that made my heart jump. My Life In France by Julia Child. "THAT Is a book I want to read!" I thought to myself. While sitting in chairs waiting to board the plane I downloaded the book to my Kindle (gotta love technology's instant gratification.) What a pleasure it is proving to be.

Julia reminisces about her life in France, the period when she found herself and fell in love with food and cooking. The stories are in the first person and I love reading her own words, I can hear her speak them in my mind as I read. In the book Julia tells the story in a series of memories about things that happened during that time in her life. It's not like reading a book, it's like sitting across a sunny kitchen table and having coffee with Julia.

In my post Quoting Julia - Remembering Mom I talked about my admiration for Julia Child. The movie Julie & Julia was released this weekend, I'm excited about it, but I am a little afraid to see that movie & read that book. I guess I'm afraid they won't get her right. My life in France certainly, does.

Bits from the book: My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme

This quote about her husband, Paul, reminded me of my own husband. "He was very particular about his car-packing, and very good at it too, like a master jigsaw-puzzler."

"In France, Paul explained, good cooking was regarded as a combination of national sport and high art,"

"I couldn't help noticing that the waiters carried themselves with a quiet joy, as if their entire mission in life was to make their customers feel comfortable and well tended."

"It was a remarkable lesson. No dish, not even the humble scrambled egg, was too much trouble for him. 'You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made,' he said. 'Even after you eat it, it stays with you-always." I found myself nodding in deep agreement with Chef Bugnard Julia's first instructor at Le Cordon Bleu as I read this story.

"The best way to describe it is to say that I fell in love with French food-the tastes, the processes, the history, the endless variations, the rigorous discipline, the creativity, the wonderful people, the equipment, the rituals. I have never taken anything so seriously in my life-husband and cat excepted-and I could hardly bear to be away from the kitchen. What fun! What a revelation! How terrible it would have been had Roo de Loo come with a good cook! How magnificent to find my life's calling, at long last!"

Roo de Loo is Julia's nickname for 81 Rue de l'Universite, where Paul and Julia made their home in France.

Quoting Julia - Remembering Mom

"The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook" ~Julia Child

It was when my mother loaned me Julia's book "The Way To Cook" that the culinary light bulb come on for me. There are not particularly recipes that I still make out of this book. But the way it was laid out, cooking suddenly made sense! This cookbook is laid out with a Master Recipe then several additional recipes which add upon the original, teaching new techniques and how they build upon each other. Beginning with Chicken Simmered in White Wine with aromatic vegetables, which could be taken a step further to become, Blanquette of Chicken in White Wine Sauce, which ultimately became a wonderful Chicken Pot Pie. This is the book that broke me out of recipe box bondage. Suddenly I understood the techniques and I could just go into the kitchen and make my own way, recipe optional. It was also Julia and this cookbook that started me making creamed vegetable soups - how I love them!. My mother set the stage by taking me to eat at 40 Carrots and Vie De France in South Coast Plaza when I was quite young. I was relishing Cream of Broccoli and Cream of Cauliflower long before Broccoli Cheese came in and went back out of vogue. I remember we'd check the soup on the specials board at 40 Carrots, then trek down to Vie De France over all those hard-on-the-feet bricks, and consider their Soup Du Jour before we could decide where to eat and get into line for a table. Food is all wrapped up with memories for me, I often say it is a part of the special culture of my family. My mother saw Julia Child in person, once. I think it was at the (long gone) Bristol Farms in Anaheim Hills and Mom loved to watch Cooking With Jacques (Pepin) and Julia on PBS. The Way To Cook is mine, now... passed on to me by Mom. I think my fondness for Julia is tied up somewhere in all those memories with Mom.

And look at her... How can you not smile at that sense of fun!

A Thought for Thanksgiving

"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is
the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence;
see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence
to be able to touch souls."

~Mother Teresa