Starting the process

I have recently been entranced with the beautiful art journals floating around on the internet, at first I was all like "YEAH" LET'S DO IT!  Then I remembered that I have the artistic talent of a dead slug, yeah bummer.  While I love doing DIYs and trying out different crafty projects I am not very good at  sitting down with paint and random objects and creating something beautiful.  I have never been good at coming up with good scrapbook ideas, and I seriously CANNOT draw.  Even though I have all this stacked against me I kept being drawn to the idea and eventually I started watching youtube videos and reading more in-depth blog posts and I slowly realized that a lot of the journaling pages I am drawn to don't take a lot of drawing skills (hehe, pun not intended).  So I figured "Hey, that's one of my barriers torn down, that pretty much means that I am meant for the job!"  So for starters I am just going to use inspiration that I find online and just try to pretty much copy it.  That might be plagiarism but since this is just me trying to figure out if I can do this and I am not going to be selling it or anything I think it is ok, right?  I am also going to start trying to mix different ideas I have seen and just see where it takes me and see if I can do this.  For one thing I am usually not a fan of sappyness, and sappy girly quotes often make me gag so don't excpect to see a lot of that :D.  Also I am pretty cheap so I am probably not going to end up spending tons and tons of money on random art supplies unless I have fully researched it and found what is the best for my needs and skill sets.  I live in a pretty small town so as far as fancy pants craft stores we have....... Wal-mart, yeah, yeah, fancy.  So I am hoping to be able to get some random things at Flea Markets because we actually have two really good ones around here.  Tomorrow I am planning on going shopping to get a few starter things so that I can get started.  So here is my basic starter list of things that I am going to be looking for!
- Water colors (thankfully we already have some from an art class Mom tried to teach us once, yeah we never opened them :D, but they are actually nicer ones)
- basic craft paints (I already have quite a bit of this as well!)
- A book ;) (I am planning on finding an older thrift store book as a journal so I can use the awesome vintage printing show through on occasion and also they are cheaper.  I have ready that I should look for one that has sewn binding instead of glue and if I can't find one with thicker pages then I will use glue or Mod-Podge to glue every other page together to make each page a little thicker. If I can't find I good book I am going to look for an old piano book that is either spiral bound or sew bound because the pages are often thicker and I love the look of music scores as a back ground)
- If I don't use an old piano book as my journal than I want to get one to use for some background pages
- Mod Podge
- Random old cheap books that have cool poems in them or cool pictures (I'm thinking vintage children's books if I can bring myself to cut those up)
- Old buttons
- Letter stencils and any cute stencils I can find at Wal-mart
- Some sponge brushes for applying paint and stenciling
- If I have extra money some water soluble Oil Pastels
- As far as pens for writing on top of paint I read that Bic Crystal Ball-point pens are the best for cheap
- I also read that Bingo Markers from Dollar Tree are a good cheap alternative to spray paint you just poor the ink into a small spray bottle.
- A pack of colorful Dollar Tree tissue paper (to use for texture or to bleed to color onto a page)
- Candles or crayons to melt the wax and use as extra texture in a page (I already have enough of these to start and see what I think about working with them)

I think that is all the things that I am going to look for as of now
Another thing that I am going to start collecting that is pretty much free is any random scraps of paper that I get during the day, like a receipt from Flea marketing, an instructional list that I get while babysitting, tissue paper from a gift, a coloring page from a kid I babysit, the packaging on a new pack of pens, an old bookmark found in a library book.  Basically we come across a lot of different scraps of paper or cardboard in a day that could be easily used to inspire a whole page so I have a little zip-lock bag that I am going to keep in my purse to keep any sort of thing item that might be cool in my journal then when I am ready to sit down and begin the project I can get everything out and see what would actually be fun and what just needs to be trashed.

Check back soon for a list + pictures of what I actually ended up finding!  

Oh and if you are looking for some good well thought out blog posts about cheaper alternatives to the more traditional art journaling tools check out the Art Alchemist blog she has three really good posts about it that I found really interesting to read.

Vacation!!!!

Yeah yeah, I know that I haven't posted on here in a while.  My computer internet has been very pooey.  So when I didn't have school I didn't even mess with it and outside of school messing with it just wasn't worth it.  I could get on my ipod and that internet was find but I couldn't type out a whole blog posts on that.  I finaly fixed it so that should be good now.  Today when I was outside with Jono I decided to snap a few pictures... Here is what I got
Jono after finishing skim boarding. I didn't get a picture of him in action because he wanted me to video him... But oh well

You probably can't tell but on there was this awesome flying thingy it had a small seat and a motor on the bottom with a parachuteish top thing.  This guy was just flying all over the beach... AWESOME!

Another hard to see picture but there was this little stingray by the shore that was just jumpin really high out of the water... So fun. 

Isn't the sunset so pretty??

Barefoot awesomeness 

Jono lookin boss. 

We also rented bikes, been loving riding all over.  I kind of wiped out today, bruised my leg and skined my stomach and knee.  Did ya'll know that in Panama City Beach the side walks are like a max of half a food.  Whhiiiccchhh makes biking  a pain.  We usually just ride on the side of the road I love it!  Just down the road there is this tiny little, cute donut shop.... I am thinking a bike ride and some donuts needs to happen soon.  

Nail art!

I did my nails today!! Let's see how long it takes before building sandcastles and burying people wears them off ;)

Start with a nail polish free, base coated nail.

 Then add a base color of whatever you choose I chose a wonderful "beachy" pink.

Then draw a upside down triangle on the tip of your nail.  I was not using a striping brush so my triangle looks messy, but I found it best to make a small dot in the center of your nail where you want the tip of the triangle to be and draw the lines out from that then fill it in.  It seemed to help me get the triangle to end in the center of my nail instead of all wacko weirdness.   

Then take another color I would HIGHLY advise using a stripping brush for this one... It helps to have awesome friends who get you awesome gold stripping brushes but not everyone is as lucky as me ;).  Just outline the other triangle and write a little triangle at the top.

TADA!!

 See the thumb on this had?  The point of the triangle is WAY off center because of my angle so it looks wack.

Condo Tour!

I made a YouTube video with the Condo tour, here is the link with the video, I just decided to make a video because it was easier to show you everything that way.  Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_yRTvEIrMw.

I also filmed in the dark so it was difficult to see outside on the deck so I took some pics of the view for you guys.....

Vacation Day #1, Panama City Beach, Florida

5:49 am-

We just left Jonesboro, we ended up leaving Saturday and spending the night about four and a half hours into the trip.  I am typing this on the road and will post it when I am Florida!!  We are currently enjoying “Love Take Over” by Mathew West J.

Every family trip we take from like the beginning of time our family has printed off a USA map and every time we see a license plate from a different state we color it in on the map and try to get all states.  The most we ever got was when we went to the Grand Cannon and we go everything except Road Island. We even got Hawaii!! I mean how does that work? Crazyness.  Anyway, so far  on this trip we already have California, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Maryland andddd Drum roll please… Alaska!!! We were pretty proud of that one, pretty good start I think, 13/50.

Yesterday we had to stay around until Preston’s ultimate Frisbee game at 3:15.  We were all so ready to leave that we got all packed up and ready and ended up leaving our house at 12:00pm.  What does the Tate family do in Springfield to kill time? Oh ya know, we go to Lowes, Really Parents? Lowes? Oh well, me and Jono walked around the parking lot looking for license plates and singing “I’m in the LORD’s Army” complete with hand motions mind you.  Let’s just say we got some looks ;).   

Lydia and Rebekah made me a little box that I am not supposed to open until the trip, I decided to wait until today because we left a day early. Any ways it has been driving me nuts! I love presents and to have one that I cannot open yet  ahhh! Sadly it is way in the back, I will hopefully get to it the next time we stop. 

6:49am-

We are driving through Memphis and this little Ozark born and raised girl is finding the factories very awesome, creepy and intimidating.  We just drove past a creepy black smoke belching factory and Jono and I whipped out our ipods trying to take a picture J, oh gosh… I guess I shouldn’t judge when city folk come out to our house and see Cows (seriously people have come over and been amazed by the cows) or deer or the woods. 

7:49am-

We just stopped for breakfast at McDonalds.  I am wondering how McDonalds manages to fit that many calories in one little sausage biscuit!! It’s pretty intense.  We found more states,  North Dakota, New Mexico, Tennessee, Mississippi, FLORIDA, and South Carolina, 19/50.  We just passed through Holly Springs Mississippi. 

8:06am-

I just took the time to crawl into the back and get my beautiful white box, I just want to say my friends are awesome!! I am in the car right now so I cannot squeal like the little girl I am, but would y’all do that for me?  I am going to try to take pictures of everything that is in there latter.  I got makeup, nail polish, gum and candy, what else does a girl need???  I am not sure if I was supposed to open one thing a day or what but there are some awesome notes in there that I am going to only read on a day ;). I feel so loved!!!! Thank you gals!!!!! 

1:19pm-

We just stopped for lunch.  Only two more hours!!!!!  We have added quite a few states to our map but I am not quite sure which ones J.  I am VERY ready to see the ocean! 

4:00pm- 

We are FINALLY here!   The place is BEAUTIFUL and the ocean is amazing!!! 

Right after we got here and unpacked we walked down to the beach we walked along for about 15 minutes before Jono and I decided that we wanted to swim.  So we got our boogie board and went down and body surfed... SO MUCH FUN!  The waves were pretty good tonight, someone told us that tomorrow there are supposed to be eight foot waves so we wanted to get some water time in before we the sun went down cause we probably won't be able to tomorrow.  

Sadly tomorrow we have to do school :( sniff sniff but oh well, it will be easier to get school done with out all of the extra-curricular activities we have at home.  We don't really have any plans this month except getting bored (Mom and Dad specifically say this is something they want to do ;) )... Maybe I will even get to read some! 

Do you guys want to see the place we are staying?  If so would you like pictures or videos (with my loverly voice narrating)?

Well we are getting ready to watch a movie and eat ice cream so TATA!!

Modesty Survey

I found this survey online a while ago that was really informative to read and look at. This was set up a while ago where girls ask these questions about modesty and boys will answer them.  It is a great to see what I might think is perfectly modest is actually a stumbling block for boys.  You gals should REALLY check it out. http://www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey/browse

Saturday Mornings

Ok so Saturday mornings, you know when you sleep late.  Then get up, read a book while drinking hot tea.  Well that is exactly what I would want to do.  The only problem is my parents, their idea of sleeping late is oh, 6:30-7:00.  My bedroom is in the loft, the only thing blocking me from there noises is a curtain.  So every Friday night I will think to my self "Tomorrow will be Saturday I can sleep late, I will stay up a little latter."  Then Saturday mornings my Mom and Dad will get up, make coffee (sometimes they have to grind the coffee beans up), turn on some music (they try to keep it quite, but I hear it anyway), talk, and make plans for the day.  So I end up getting up at 7:30, that is late for me because on a school day I get up at 6:30, but still I would like to be able to sleep until 8:30, that would be REALLY cool.  Oh well, I am fine with it at least I wake up to cool 80s music, my Mom and Dad have GREAT taste in music, the smell of coffee.  I could actually sleep later on the week days, because when Dad gets up, around 5:30ish, he goes straight to work.  When the boys get up the start school, and Mom helps Jono with school or does her morning devotion.