DIY Flip Book

This is a project I made to help me with anxiety and panic attacks. Some of you may be familiar with that bag of worms but most probably not. Its something I deal with from time to time and so much of it is rooted in negative thinking. When things get rough for me I like to put positive affirmations up all over my house to remind me to hang in there and to reprogram my negative thoughts with positive ones. Sounds silly but it works for me. However, when things get better I throw them all away. The next time I need them, I find myself having to look them all up again online. This got me thinking of a more permanent solution so that I could have all of my favorite quotes and affirmations where I see them often and easily accessible.


I came up with the idea of making a flip book. This now sits on my nightstand where its the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning. The cool thing with this concept is you can replace what I have used it for with your own favorite quotes, scriptures, calendars, recipes, family pictures, Halloween or Christmas mini albums or whatever you want.

Here is an example of one of my favorite positive affirmations.

A lot of my anxiety stems from me worrying about my anxiety flaring up in public and how that will effect what others think of me. I have to remind myself that it doesn't matter if people think I am weird because I get panic attacks. It only matters what I think of me and I have to remind myself that I love and respect myself the way I am even with my anxiety no matter what anyone else thinks.


This particular page has a little bit of symbolism on it. The handwriting (ok traced handwriting hehe) and the crackled paper are to remind me that I don't have to be perfect to be beautiful. The number one in the corner is to remind me to put myself and my happiness first.

This was REALLY easy to make for anyone interested in doing their own. I'm keeping mine simple because I don't want it to get too big. My supplies for just the flipbook all came from my local Hobby Lobby or home and were:

2, 8X8 pieces of thick cardboard from the back of a sketchbook
1, 12X12 and 1, 8.5 X 11 piece of cream cardstock paper
1 8X8 piece of patterned scrapbook paper
Tim Holtz grungeboard book (This will be for the different sections) I will use a thinner grungeboard paper for the individual affirmations so the book isn't so thick.
Photo splitz and a gluestick

I used the tutorial found here to make my blank flip book. It took me maybe an hour and cost less than $15.00 (Can be cheaper using coupons).

The stand looks like this from the side:

I'm really excited about this because its so easy and customizable to whatever you want.

Here are a couple other similar ideas using rolodexes:

Enjoy!

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Artistic Scripture Journaling: Koi Watercolors

I have been spending a lot of time studying and journaling about Lehi's vision in Chapter 8 of 1 Nephi. I have never before gone into it with so much depth. Although there is more about the vision I've journaled about, I wanted to dedicate one layout to the different symbols of the vision and what they represent. Here is how I did this page:

I got my inspiration from this digital scrapbook layout:

I love the concept of the boxes with doodles and journaling. Since my scripture journal has lots of text and little pictures, I thought this would be a great way to incorporate both. I had to make adjustments based on the size of my journal and the amount of information I wanted for each symbol. First I did everything lightly in pencil and then filled it in with black micron pens and colored pencils. Because my paper has ridges in it, there were darker lines showing and I wanted a smoother look. So I busted out my new Koi watercolor brushes that I have never used before. I was a little intimidated to use them and wasn't quite sure how they worked. I checked out some tutorial videos found here. They have a lot of different ones you can learn from. Here's an example one:

Finally feeling brave I gave it a shot. It was super easy and really fun! I felt like a kid in art class.

I also used other materials such as gelly roll metallic pens and perfect pearls. I took a picture with the light shining on the journal so you can sort of see the shimmery effect perfect pearls has on the tree when it is in the light:

and the glitter glue on the fruit:

This was a liberating experience for me because I am a true perfectionist and to freehand the boxes knowing they wouldn't be exactly straight was really hard. But I like it that way.

For the straight and narrow path, I made it straight, but I changed the texture along the way. Starting on the path to Heavenly Father can be rocky and difficult. Repenting isn't easy. As you make your way to baptism the path gets less rocky. And then the closer you get to the presence of the Lord the shinier, more beautiful and smoother the path gets. 

There are a lot of beautiful paintings that already exist of Lehi's vision. But this page is special to me because of the time I put into it. I will remember so much more from this experience. I hope it helps you to think outside of the box when journaling what you are reading about.

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Journaling Templates

This is my newest favorite layout in my topics journal. Its about forgiveness and the majority of it is from a talk that I found a long time ago that I have kept in the front of my scriptures that changed my life! Its called "The Healing Power of Forgiveness" by President James E. Faust. 

Some people have asked if I would be willing to sell my chapters and topics page templates. The problem with this is I have used purchased graphics that would cause copyright issues if I use them for more than personal use. However I have been tweaking some of them to make them downloadable.

Here is an example of part of the layout I did in my Topics journal using one of the templates you can now purchase. I had to change it a little bit so that it looks like this (without the watermark):

You can purchase it alone for $3.00 here:

Or you can buy it in a set. I am also offering the journaling page for your chapters journal where it has a column for verse by verse journaling. Here is an example:

Tweaked a bit, it will look like this when you download it:

Alone it is $3.00 which you can purchase here:

Both of them together at a discounted price of $5.00 can be purchased here:

 

If you have any questions about these templates please let me know. When purchased the files will be emailed to you within 24 hours. You receive the .psd, .png, and .jpg file versions. All you have to do is print them out and fill them in just like I do. By doing it this way it allows me to use them when I want the structure and to not have to use them when I want to do something more artsy.Please check your junk mail folder if you don't see it.

Here is the other Topic Page which I cannot sell because it is just like Shannon's which she sells in a book. She did such a fantastic job. Its too perfect for me as is; I can't think of a way to improve it.

Enjoy!

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Scripture Journaling Artistically: Tim Holtz Inspiration

I have a hard time making layouts in my scripture journal that is all writing based. I am so used to working with pictures from scrapbooking that the transition is difficult. I can make simple pages that look great artistic wise but they don't hold alot of information. Or I can have a page with a ton of information, but its not very pretty. So finding a balance is tricky and I thought I would share new tools and techniques I have been learning for anyone else trying to have an artistic journal that is also filled with lots of writing and information.


This is an insert I made for my Topic Scripture Journal page on Faith. I used alot of supplies and inspiration from Tim Holtz designs. The hardest part is just having all the supplies. When you have that, the things you can make are endless. 


Supplies Needed:


Cardstock Paper or Tag of any size (My paper was completely white when I started)
Craft Sheet- This thing is so awesome I love it!
Distress Inks of any colors (I used Broken China, Black Soot, and Vintage Photo)
Ink Blending Tool
Spray bottle with water (He has a mister but any sprayer will do)
Grungeboard (I used the angel wings and Crown)
Distress Crackle Paint (I used Auntiqued Linen)
Gold Paint or Glitter Glue
Stamps (I used a clock stencil I found at my craft store)
Perfect Pearls
Micron Black pen
Light box
Heat It Craft Tool (I just use my blowdryer)
Any other embellishments (I used Prima Flowers WOOD CLOCKS) Just remember if its for a journal to keep them more flat and not too chunky.


How to Do it: (All embellishments can be replaced with your own)


1. I followed this video tutorial from Tim Holtz to learn how to ink up my paper to be blue. (He shows you how to do it within the first 3.5 minutes of the video).





2. I then went around the edge inking using Vintage Photo Ink and the blending tool. (Starting on your craft mat make little circles and slowly move onto the sides of your paper).
3. Blow it with heat tool or hair dryer for a few minutes. (Must be dry before you apply the perfect pearls.)
4. Stamp Clock image onto background using stamp or stencil and Black Soot Ink.
5. Go over it using Perfect Pearls- the white powder. How to do this is also shown in the video above. My pictures don't really show how it looks because you need to see it in person. So watch the video to get an idea.
6. Trace the quote onto the paper using a Micron pen and lightbox. I used the fonts, Pea Devon Caps, Arial, and Scriptina.
7. Take grungeboard wings and crown. I painted my wings using the crackle paint. I used gold paint or gold glitter glue to paint the crown. And glue grungeboard onto paper. 
8. Glue wood clock on top of grungeboard.


It looks like a lot of work but it takes just a few minutes to do. And it is super crazy fun. And super forgiving. Since I gave this one away I had to make another one for my book and adding all the additional information I had on the topic made it a little more awkward but it ended up like this:

Imagine if you just did a quote journal based on these inserts and techniques. It could be so beautiful. Using the same technique and supplies but just using a different stamp made this:

I plan to use this when I get to the tree of life. Its hard to see from the picture but I used glitter glue to make raised bumps for the fruit. I used perfect pearls copper and white on the tree which you also can't see. Oh and green ink too for the grass. I also used this to make some invites and it took me maybe an hour or two to make over a dozen. Its super fast and fun. 

One thing I haven't been able to find is wrinkle free paper. There is some out there I know, but I haven't found it yet. I just have to let mine flatten in a book for a bit when I am done.

Has anyone else come up with some artistic ways to balance art and information in there journals? I'd love to hear about it.

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Journaling Artistically Techniques: Adding Artwork, Tracing Fonts & Monograms, Using 3D Pens

A lot of my journal pages uses the templates that I created, but sometimes I want to spice it up a bit and add some more artistic elements to the page. So I have been learning how to use tools and techniques that I thought I would share in a few posts.
I took Shannon's idea seen here: 

and made my own "one of a kind" version out of it. 

I dedicated one side of the page to a Humble woman and the other side to a Prideful Woman. I chose those portraits because I wanted something better than stick figures, something with color, and I like them. :) I think Venus by Botticelli looks very pure in that image. And for the other woman (Boreas by John William Waterhouse)- I feel like she is shielding herself from all the prideful things I have written next to her, protecting herself from them becoming a part of her. I searched a long time to find an evil looking woman and just couldn't find anything that seemed to fit. So there it is. 

To label the pages I used Lady Rene font which I am in love with. I'm kind of a font snob and addict. (FYI: every time you use Comic Sans, a designer loses their wings.) Depending on the paper I use, sometimes I will just print a font right onto the page and other times I will print it out on regular paper and using a little light box (I got mine at Hobby Lobby for $10), I will trace the letters onto it like I did here. 


I went over some of the words using 3D pens. 

They are pens that leave the ink raised. They aren't meant to be used on porous surfaces but I still use them on my paper and I think they are cool.

Here is another example of where I traced fonts and used the 3D pens on the page:

The letter "H" was traced from this website where you can download monograms and trace them. Here is a great video demonstrating how to do it.

The whole quote was done awhile ago and I just added into the page. I share this idea because you could have a get together or craft night with friends where you decorate fun quotes for your scripture journals and save the personal study stuff for later.

I used the talk "Beware of Pride" by Ezra Taft Benson  (a really AWESOME talk btw) to get all the humble and prideful attributes I listed on the pages. Sometimes I just used opposites of each other. There is still room left on the Humble side so if I come across anything in the future I can continue to add to it.

I still don't think the layout is done, it needs something still. Any ideas? My next post will be about using a lot of Tim Holtz products and techniques so stay tuned!

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Scripture Journal Character Analysis Templates

I am thrilled with the warm responses I have gotten about my scripture journal project. One of my favorite  things to do when studying is to do a character analysis on the people I am reading about. I try to attach my favorite picture of that person. I look up scriptures where that person's name is mentioned, and as I go through the chapters write down anything I have learned from them. I do a search on lds.org and depending on the person, sometimes there are entire talks written about them. In that case I may attach quotes that I like, more historical facts if there are any, personality traits, physical descriptions, important life events, what they have taught me, etc. In doing this I created a few templates that I just print out and fill in and it keeps my studying organized. I've decided to make them available for you. You can purchase them individually or altogether in a pack at the bottom. They come in .psd, .png, and .jpg file formats and will be emailed to you within 24 hours of purchase. Here are what the templates look like:


Template #1- Character Analysis

 and an example of a page I used with it:

$2.50 for .psd, .png, and .jpg file formats that will be emailed to you within 24 hours of purchase. Please check your junk mail if you do not see your purchase.

Template #2- Historical Analysis

 and an example of a page I used with it:

$2.50 for .psd, .png, and .jpg file formats that will be emailed to you within 24 hours of purchase. Please check your junk mail if you do not see your purchase.

Package Deal- Both Templates:

To purchase both templates at once you can do so at a discounted price here:

Both templates, $4.00 for .psd, .png, .jpg file formats that will be emailed to you within 24 hours of purchase. Please check your junk mail if you do not see your purchase.

I hope you find these as useful as I do. Enjoy!

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One of a Kind Red Dress

Last one!! $39.99. Size 0-6 months. I sold many of these dresses at my booth, but they take me forever to make so get it while you can. This red dress is the last one I have so once it's gone, it's gone. -Tamara

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