October photo journal pages

Here are my pages for October in my monthly photo journal. I have a live demo on Periscope @ Fayraidesigns. There is also a post on my Instagram feed. 

Photo Journal Share

This morning I shared my September photo journal on Periscope. You can watch before tomorrow morning before noon. After that if you have Katchme. com, you can view it anytime. I also share my handwriting journals as well. Check out my photo journal pages below:

A unique journal

Recently my son and his wife took a trip to Europe for a few weeks. It was a surprise to me. So when he told me I bid him have a safe trip and a good time. I had just one request--bring me back a journal. So not knowing if he would fulfill that request, I really forgot about it. Well as their trip neared its end, he sent confirmation that he had indeed gotten me a gift. So I was beside myself trying to guess what it could be. I dreaded having to wait for him to mail it but I just thought I had no other choice. Then on Sunday about a week or so ago, I got a text message from Susan(DIL) that said, "sorry I missed you, I left your gift on the front porch" I could hardly contain myself. I rushed home to find that yes indeed there was my gift all wrapped up nice and pretty. I didn't tear into the wrapping because I wanted to save it. And when I opened it, I was floored. It was a lovely journal  they had gotten in Venice. It is beautiful . As Susan wrote on a little post it about how Venice is known for its blown glass, the journal is custom-made to represent that. See the pics below 

Live on Periscope today!

I did a live art journal share on my Periscope channel today. My handle is FayRaiDesigns. I was part of an event called "Pass the Art Journal" which was hosted by Natalyn Bradshaw. She started a Facebook group called "VOICES" . There were two other artists that shared their work as well. This is a bi-weekly event. To join the group you can go to: Facebook.com/groups/np voices

My page

Just journaling along....

Well, my summer vacay has ended and it's back to the daily grind. Not much time for creativity so I have to carve some time out of my BUSY schedule to do what I love. So.......

A doodling we will go

Over on Instagram, I am participating  in a doodling challenge (#DND challenge) which is hosted by dawnnicole. Each day using a prompt, the participants are to doodle a word or image. It is so much fun! It helps me to hone some drawing and lettering skills. Here is a two-page sample of what I have done.

So if you like to doodle, this challenge maybe just for you.

Planning On It

After a week-long session of spiritual instruction, it was time to play catch-up. My planners and journals had been neglected for that long. So pile high on top of each other, I began to plan and journal my heart(and hand) away. Just a little idiomatic phrase there. But it came easy because I had so much to tell and to write. What a jam-packed week it was too. So now it's back to the business of spilling out my life onto white pieces of paper. Ha! I love it! I've also been hanging around the new app Periscope lately as well. I think I'm going to enjoy nesting there. You may even catch me trying to do a few.(psst I have already done a few) Anyway, stay tuned. My handle is Fayrai. 

Also today I stopped in The Little Bake Shoppe located in Wagener, SC. They have amazing sandwiches and pastry. I ordered a Reuben on seven grain bread.

Delicious!! This maybe my last time stopping in for awhile since school is about to begin. Totally not looking forward to that!! At any rate, other than being extremely HOT, the summer was not so bad. Now on to the rest of the year.😒

A week of Spiritual Study

This is the view as I traveled for some spiritual refreshment at a week-long Bible Study Course. It only highlights the wonderius work of our fear-inspiring God.

Picture Perfect

I am the queen of repurpose. I save almost everything. Isn't that some of what being artistic is all about? While I'm trying to fit new purposes into old things, I love to weave in other forms of art that I dabble in. So my post this week uses some "artsy junk" or should I say "treasures" that I saved from some packaging leftover from a purchase.

Using some mixed-techniques , I used various paints and applied them with my fingers. I added some book pages and home-made stencils. Lastly, I added a picture of my son. I love mixed- media, it is forgiving.

Pigging Out

This past weekend a friend smoked a pig and invited all of us to enjoy it with him. Pork is not a meat I eat a lot of but I enjoyed the association just the same. Even though the temps were blazing and the flies were buzzing, we made it happen. Good times with good friends can't be beat.

Journal to Journal

It is all about the journaling. And I try to do a lot of that in my journals. From "fauxbonichi" to art journals, I try to fit it all in a day's worth of crafting. Since I'm still on my summer break, I'm trying to make the most of my time. This relaxed time has allowed me to keep these beauties current for the most part. Sometimes I do get a day or two behind but I am usually able to catch up without much more delay. I'm loving this creative process. Now another crafty venue is vying for my attention: quilting. The summer will never be the same.

A "craftsman/woman" deserves a crafts man's tote

Look what arrived early this morning. My Craftsman tote. When I opened the door to go and feed Sidian(my dog) there she was, sitting neatly placed on my porch. What a surprise. It was 7:00 am. So I drugged her in and filled her up. I love this storage alternative. Of course,the purpose is to hold all my planners and planner supplies. And it is so portable.

Midori journaling

 One thing that I love about my Midori Travelers Notebook is that it is portable and has just enough space to record my week or month. I also have a canvas to use leftover pictures that I have printed but couldn't find a use for in some of my others craft venues.(i.e pocket scrapbooking) here is the week of June 29-July 5. I use my Canon Selphy to print my photos and an app called Photo Collage.

Books to read this SUMMER

Just arriving today are two art journaling books I ordered from  Interweave(Cloth, Paper, Scissors) Art Journal Courage byDina Wakly is for mixed media techniques  and The Art of Whimsical Lettering by Joanne Sharpe will help me to perfect my writing style. I can't wait to dive into these yummy books. Stay tuned for some inspiration.

Surprise package

I rushed to the post office to pick up a surprise package from my son and DIL.

My weekend

Here's what I did this past weekend. I attended a spiritual convention with over 7,000 other spiritual people. The convention's theme was: Imitate Jesus.

What a spiritual feast it was!

Fauxbonichi Style

As July approaches, I have some new approaches to journaling that I am going to embark upon. I have to admit that I did not always like journaling but with some of the new techno goodies that are available today , I am rethinking that idea and recreating my writing style. So since my latest "fauxbonichi " is almost filled up, I'm starting a new one which will include the listersgottalist challenge.

Canvas Decor

After cleaning and purging my room recently, I decided that I wanted to add some handmade
decor to my craft area.  I had saved a catchy saying that I found on the web and used it as the basis for my creating.  To start, I took a small 8x10 canvas and proceeded to add some embellishments.  I layered on a scrap piece of a telephone book page, painted it and then adhered it to my canvas.

Next, I added two strips of cardstock, some of my scrap writing paper that I

write little snippets of notes, wood letters(that I painted) and then I took a clear

script stamp and covered the canvas randomly. I also added some

doodles and lastly one of my hand-drawn artsy flowers. I can't wait

to display it in my craft space.

Getting my Summer Craft On

Well it's here, summer vacation. What a wonderful time for me. I get 2 and a half months off with stress-free living. Well, at  least a little less dtressful. So what am I doing? Crafting my little hands and brain away. Check out my IG account(button right) to see what I'm doing. I dusted off my Imagine and it is working double duty helping me to create stickers for my planners. What's next? I guess some awesome projects are just ahead. So stay tuned

May Photo Journal

Just finished my May photo journal pages:

National Scrapbooking Day

For National Scrapbook Day, I worked on March and April pages in my photo journal book.  Check out these pages:

Spring Crop in Marietta, Ga

On April 25, 2015, three crafty friends and myself traveled about 3 hours to a crop in Marietta, Ga.  The crop was hosted by none other than Tiare Smith of Scraps of Color, a crafting .ning site. We arrived there around ten- thirty after a bout with some bad weather.  After unloading our supplies, we got right down to business.  Lunch and dinner was provided as well as prizes and entertainment, i.e. dancing by some of the crafty ladies.  Here are just a few pictures from our trip.

Checking my List

Are you a person that likes to write LISTS?  I don't. Well, I didn't.  Recently I jumped on the listers bandwagon.  Over on Instagram there is a listers challenge titled, "ListersGottaList".  So each day there is a prompt that helps you to reflect on things that happened or is happening in your life.  All you have to do is write your answers down in a list format.  The fun part is that you can add some flair to the page by adding simple or lots of embellishments.  In other words, you can just make a simple list or you can really spice it up.  The challenge started April 1st.  Some of the listers bought journals or other books to house their creation but I made my own.  For the cover, I used "The Denim Stack" and added some alpha letters for the title.

For the inside pages, I used craft cardstick.  Below are a few of the pages, prompts I did:

Another fun thing about this challenge is that you can do the prompts at your own pace, you don't have to do it everyday.  (But it is so much fun that you will want to) You can just double up the next day or the next.  So if you think you don't like lists, try this challenge and you may change your attitude about making a list.  Then, go over to Instagram and look for #ListersGottaList and start your own list and also see what lists other creative people are sharing.  It's really a lot of fun!

A Different Kind of Paper Bag Album

Last weekend I was inspired to create a different kind of mini album.  It was inspired by  Shellye McDaniel at Papered Cottage.  I had so much fun putting this little gem together.  I used some manila envelopes and regular lunch paper bags.  Then I layered on the embellishments.  I also used my trusty sewing machine to bind it all together.

Personal PLANNING

Personal PLANNING

My PLANNER friends are such enablers.  So when they decided to grab the KIKKI K planners that were on sale, I also jumped at the chance to finally own one of these most sought-after planners.  After what seemed like an eternity, my lovely pink A5 planner finally arrived all neatly wrapped and boxed up.

At first I just stared at it and admired the texture of my new found love.  Then I decided it was time to personalize it.  I watched a few You Tube videos and then put my Silhouette Cameo to work.   My Silhouette Library offered an array of items that made personalization a breeze and the print and cut feature just further helped me to add my own personal touch.

I used frames, quotes and folders to make my planner just  right for me.

I can't wait to share with my planner friends how their enabling has turned me into a planner enthusiast.  If you are a planner enthusiast can you share some of your planner ideas?  If you would like to see more planner ideas or a video how-to just drop a comment.
                                          HAPPY PLANNING!!!!!