Beloved jane

How to Make Large Prop book

2011-12-01T00:37:00.000-08:00

I know you all asking yourselves, "How do I make a very large fake prop book for my daughter's Christmas play?" Well you are in luck. I learned how to do this from the help from Dave Lowe (he was kind enough to share on his blog to help out this Mom) Thanks Dave. Here's my Tuesday Tutorial on Thursday. Or presenting Thursday Tutorial....

Onward. First start with foam core and cut front, back and binding. Take chipboard (thin dense cardboard like on the back of paper pad) and use that to cut embellishments, strips on binding and raised middle. Make sure it fits together then glue with spray mount. I also added cut down furniture nail heads to the 4 embellishments in the corners with glue gun (seen in the next pic).

Next you will decoupage paper towels to your book with watered down Matte Modge Podge and let dry. This gives a textured and weathered look. When it's dry tape together on the inside and use glue gun if needed on the outside.

Now we add gold paint and let dry. Then stipple and wipe off burgandy paint to give a distressed look. Then use stickers or your handydandy Cricket to cut out the title of the book and glue on. Also add holly to the corners because it's a Christmas play and The nice Director wants holly. Then take your Mod Podge and decoupage the whole book to give nice matte protection. When it's dry glue in fake pages that have been crumpled and distressed with ink on the edges.

And here is the finished prop on stage. Isn't that stage warm and cozy? Makes me want some hot chocolate.

Cardboard box, tape and some paint

2011-11-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

Look at this supper cool car that my brilliant husband built for Elias' Awanas Drive In Movie Night. This night is so much fun for the kids because they get to play games, parade, eat, and watch a movie in their cardboard box cars. Can you say over achiever.....really this doesn't look like a box to me.

And I had to share Ivory's Awana box car Airstream from 2006 also built by Chris and painting and images by me. Don't you love the picture of us looking out the back? It's a real photo blown up.

Orphan Sunday....today!

2011-11-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

Faces of Adoption from Videos for AGCI on Vimeo.

This is video from our adoption agency, All Gods Children International with Matthew West's song, "One Less."

Today is Orphan Sunday. Orphan Sunday is a call to the Church for awakening and action on the part of the orphan. What can you do?

Fabulous Coffee

2011-08-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

Announcing our new online coffee shop:

justlovecoffee.com/TheKohlers

We will admit that we are coffee snobs. We own our own Expresso machine that gets used twice a day and even more if friends or family stop by. We even call the machine by name....Expobar. If it wasn't so big, we would take it with us on our vacations in our trailer. That being said, we are serious about coffee and always on the lookout for superb coffee beans that give a bold shot of espresso with rich and lovely crema. Well we have found the ultimate roaster with superb beans!! Even organic coffee beans (organic is the way to go if you are going to be drinking this much coffee : ) The 3 coffees that we sampled were all wonderful. This is top quality Fair Trade, mircro-batch roasted deliciousness. We are happy to be partnering with Just Love Coffee Roasters in our adoption fundraising efforts.

A little about Just Love Coffee from their website:

Love kids? Love coffee? We do too. There are an estimated 143,000,000 orphans in the world and this number is expected to grow. Rob Webb, founder of Just Love Coffee Roasters, knows personally how expensive the adoption process is. The thought of having to raise tens of thousands of dollars to adopt a child is staggering to many. It can be the obstacle that stands in the way of a family's commitment to adopt, and many times slows down the process of bringing an adoptive family's child(ren) home. Many people don't know where to start. Just Love Coffee Roasters wants to be that starting point for raising money to help unite the families with their children.

We have set up a online coffee shop and we are selling bags of coffee for $13-$14 for 13oz. bag plus shipping. The beans are for drip and espresso and come ground or whole bean with over 18 to choose from. (The shipping is the same if you buy 1 or two bags.)

Visit our store: justlovecoffee.com/TheKohlers

The Call

2011-07-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

God gives us each a passion, a gift, a calling. For each of us it looks different. We cannot ignore it…He calls us. We press on forward trusting our sweet Father and listening to his voice. Only He can give us the faith and perseverance to walk it out. And so we step out in faith.

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love God. 1 Corinthians 2:9

Our hearts ache for the fatherless. 147 MILLION ORPHANS. Fatherless, Motherless. Our Arms are open. Our hearts are open.

Ethiopia, Africa. God lead us. Friends pray for us

This blog of mine...

2011-07-01T15:09:00.001-07:00

Oh this blog of mine. It sits so quiet. So neglected. I hesitate what to write. What to share. Afraid to say the wrong thing. Do I have anything to say worthy of your time? Maybe. I think the problem has been on keeping reserved and not writing from the heart. This is after all a journal of sorts documenting this precious life that God has given me for just this time. But I do confess that this journaling/writing thing does not come easy to me. I have never kept a paper journal. Talking, sharing my heart face to face is what I am good at. And so I will have to write as if I am talking with friends and family. Not get caught up in the typed words on this screen. Here we go....

And the random photo of the earrings is to keep things creative and pretty here. Every blog post needs a photo! I made these for a dear friend (they were a gift from her lovely husband.) They are fashioned with amazonite stones, vintage shell rosary and sterling silver accents.

What I am listening to....

2011-05-15T00:15:00.000-07:00

This so deeply touches my heart.

Chickens...a year later.

2011-04-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

A year ago we began with 10 chickens and now have ended with 5 hens (2 Ameraucana, 2 Buff Orpingtons and one super cute white Silkie) and of course a beautiful coop the husband built. We are enjoying our delicious organic eggs and silly little hens.

Thankful.....

2011-04-24T23:12:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful for 3 months, 3 birthdays and 3 wonderful kids.

My daughter and her random photography of our kitchen

2011-04-01T23:29:00.000-07:00

There's more were these came from...my computer is full of these random photos including photos of all the food in our fridge and cabinets.

Beach Day in January

2011-02-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

Tea anyone?

2010-12-03T23:38:00.000-08:00

One of my wonderful friends gave me a mess of beautiful dishes including teacups...and this is what happened to the chipped ones.

Spring is here...

2010-05-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

Spring is here. What better way to celebrate spring than baby chicks! We have joined the group of "Backyard Poultry Owners" and our family is loving every minute of it.

Without further ado, meet our chickens that were hatched around Easter.

Snowball a White Silkie Bantam

Storm Trooper a White Silkie Bantam
Gwen a Buff Orpington
Another Buff Orpington
Tallulah an Americana
Grace an Americana

Stormy a Black Silkie Bantam
Darth Vader a Black Silkie Bantam
Janis a Light Brahma
Penelope a Partridge Cochin Bantam
Aren't they cute? They won't stay like this very long....they are already growing up. Could you tell the kid's named them all except for Penelope...she's mine. Now the boring details, there are 5 standard breeds that are the egg layers and 5 Bantams that are the smaller, designer birds that my daughter hopes to show at fair next year for 4H. As far as eggs, we will have to wait 8 months for eggs and also at that time we will find out who the rooster or roosters in the bunch are (when they start cock-a-doodling). Unfortunately, roosters are not allowed in the city....so they will have to find a new home (that will be a sad day as we are smitten with all these chickens.)

If you are interested in getting chickens there are tons of wonderful sites out there. Here are two to check out.

www.backyardchickens.com

www.mypetchicken.com

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas.....

2009-11-16T20:30:00.002-08:00

I had the pleasure of attending Birds of a Feather's Christmas Open House a month ago. Birds of Feather is located in beautiful Cambria and is well worth a drive to check out this lovely store filled with treasures. You can find everything from ephemera, german glass glitter, ribbons, decor, antiques....oh the list goes on. Heres a little peek...

New jewels in my etsy shop

2009-10-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

I have been having a hard time photographing my jewelry and getting my etsy shop updated with all my new pieces. Not sure why? Maybe this is the why...

Aahh...Yes, I do believe this is why. But, how cute is he? And such a great helper!

Treasure Hunting

2009-09-30T23:27:00.001-07:00

Ever since I was a little girl I have loved Flea Markets, swap meets, garage sales, thrift shops, junk shops, antique stores...you name it! And now that my little one is getting older, I have been getting back in the habit of Flea Marketing with my partner in crime...my sister-in-law. This entails getting up at 5:30 in the morning (thanks to my Espresso machine), bundling up warm (big sweatshirt and gloves), racing up and down the rows with eagle eyes (because the early/quick bird gets the worm) looking for that one thing "that makes my heart sing" (As my Aunt Beth says), and all the while having a wonderful time hanging out and laughing with my sister-in-law (she is so much fun!)

My favorite acquisition....this Victorian mourning pendant. A beautiful piece of history.
And check out this urn/champagne chiller that I tuned into a paper towel holder!
This cool metal table was a steel at $20 and I use it to hold my school binder and supplies in my kitchen and it will double as microscope lab table!

Homeschooling

2009-09-30T22:50:00.000-07:00

Oh, the wonderful books we will read and the fascinating places they will take us to. The sweet time spent together. It's wonderful to be back in school.

This year, Ivory is in the 5th grade, Elias is Pre-K and Beckett...well he just hangs out with us.

Beloved jane jewels

2009-09-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

A gift for a dear friend. This necklace is made with Apatite gemstones, freshwater pearls, rhinestone rondelles, and sterling silver. Frippery at it's finest.

Part Two

2009-07-31T23:20:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back. The truth is we have been back for quite a while and enjoying our summer break so much that I haven't had time to blog. So to get you up to speed we had a wonderful time in San Diego with our friends. As far as our trailer, only one little thing fell off. Here a few photo highlights.

Taking off...Part One

2009-06-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

RECAP...of our trip.
It's done....at least the bottom portion. Aaah....a sigh of relief....I was able to get the front dinette bottom cushions finished and my sweet husband installed mini aluminum blinds in the kitchen and got the trailer all ready.... all in record time for our trip to San Diego! Off we go. I'll let you know what falls off the trailer on this trip.

Treasures to be had at the Gem Show

2009-06-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

I found out there was a Gem Show happening in Santa Barbara and invited my sister in law, Netty, to go with me for a fun day of shopping (till you drop) , eating (Indian food) and laughing (I always have fun with Netty :). The two of us had a blast looking at all the beautiful gemstones, pearls, beads, findings and beautiful things. I think we were in the building for 4 hours (maybe more, who keeps track?) I had so much fun learning about all the different stones from all over the world. A few of my favorites are Garnets, Apatite, Peruvian Blue Opal, Chrysocolla, Smoky quartz, Labradorite, Iolite and the list goes on. Now, I need to take my treasures and get make some jewelry.

Airstream and Sewing

2009-06-02T01:33:00.000-07:00

Summer time is approaching and I need to get busy sewing, our vacation is nearing. We have a 1966 Airstream Trailer (Tradewind) that we have been fixing up for about 3 years now. I managed to upholster the back pull out bed about 2 years ago and now need to finish by upholstering the front dinette. I'm a little behind on schedule because when I was pregnant with my now one year old, the "trailer smell" made me nauseous and I could not go near it the whole pregnancy. I also couldn't drink mocha's...so very weird, because these are two of my favorite things. And now, I have been busy with a one year old who doesn't appreciate sewing! So now is the season to sew...I think. The front dinette is designed and built by my loving and handy husband, so our family of 5 can fit comfortably. He also installed bamboo flooring for my birthday last year, new window (because the old one exploded into a million pieces in Yosemite...some kind of crazy static explosion), and installed a new back hatch (because ours blew off in Yosemite, apparently that happens a lot.) Oh, and he had to install a new fan when the old one blew off on a trip to Santa Cruz. Our joke now when we leave for a trip is "what will blow off next?" We never leave on a trip without duck tape and cardboard.

This is what memories are made of.

To be continued.

Mother

2009-05-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

I decided to make myself a Mother's Day and Birthday present to celebrate being "A MOTHER"! I used a heart brooch that was made by my Grandpa Toar for his mother, my Great Grandma Ivory. My Grandfather was a tool and die maker/machinist by trade and photographer and "Rock Hounding" were his hobbies. He fashioned this brooch out of metal heart with a plastic-like heart that he carved "Mother" into and welded a cut out of an old coin to the front and used an actual safety pin on the back as the pin as a fastener. I have had this pin for some time now and realized it needed to be made into a necklace. I chose to use black glass beads, vintage rhinestone rondelles, black glass roasary chain, oxidized sterling silver chain and wire and black fresh water pearls. I think it turned out quite lovely. An heirloom to pass onto my daughter Ivory.

Remnants of the Past Antique Show

2009-05-09T23:38:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of attending the Remnants of The Past Antique Show in Nipomo, the end of April and wanted to share with you a few pictures of the day. This is a wonderful show put on by the lovely Judy Watkins. If you have never been before...you need to make the next show. The show is filled with some amazing vendors and artists.
Check out this vintage Victorian doll house. I know the picture doesn't do it justice. I have never seen an old one like this before...it was absolutely darling! I always keep my eye open at Flea Markets for an old, shabby and affordable one that my daughter and I can remodel. But, then again there is so much work to be done on our "Real House"!

I grabbed a bunch of these cotton stems.
I really loved these vintage doll heads.

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Beloved jane makes jewelry.

2009-05-04T23:51:00.000-07:00

Making jewelry and setting up my etsy shop. Stay tuned as it all comes together.

belovedjane.etsy.com

My girl can bake!

2009-05-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

Ivory has been wanting to make a recipe from her new American Girl cookbook, "Kit's Cooking Studio" all on her own. She chose the banana cake recipe because our bananas were brown and begging to be put in some sort of recipe. I have to say, it was delicious and I am so looking forward to having another cook in the house.