Serendipity Sunday: Memories

I was raised in a Cumberland Presbyterian Church (CP).

It is a very tiny denomination.  Collectively, we aren’t weird…(some of us are cra-cra, though)

I was taught about Doctrine…the Bible…Missions…

What I have always loved about “my church” was that we KNEW we didn’t own this thing called RELIGION.

We sang “Whosoever Will”, and we really meant it.

We have an open altar…open communion table…anyone who believes in Christ is welcomed to partake…we don’t check “membership cards”…LOL

We believe in the Apostle’s Creed, The Lord’s Prayer, The Old and The New Testament, that Jesus is the Son of God, That God is Father, Son and Holy Ghost (ok, I just giggled because, well, I think I have been painting too much Halloween stuff…), so, basically, we believe the BIBLE…

We were a very quiet church, which I LOVED because after having a long week of NOISE, it was so wonderful to go into the House of the Lord and sit in the quiet to worship Him in Holiness…to BE STILL and KNOW… Being quiet (or LOUD) is in no way a measuring stick of one’s belief!

We believe that ANYONE can serve God, and no, you do NOT have to have a penis to Preach, to Teach or to Serve!

Well, if anyone has gotten this far and isn’t TOO offended, I will try to be on my best behavior.

I have the same email address that my mother had, and I won’t bore you with THAT story, because I have others to cause plenty of boredom for now.  Because of that, I get her updates of NEWS from the Denomination.

On May 26, I read that a classmate from Bethel had died.  I didn’t know her well, because she was there to get her MRS degree~~LOL…I was, however, friends with her husband, a CP minister, because I played the piano at a small church where he preached outside of Martin, TN each week.  BOY, howdy, I learned that MANY things can be placed in a person’s nose to cause humor (well, to SOME people)…French fries, pens, pencils, straws…sigh  Oh, how I shuddered on Sunday Morning when he picked me up to go to church and he had a friend with him…it just gave fuel to the fire of misbehavin’!

What I did know about Rhonda was that she was so sweet and kind.  She always smiled at me. THAT is a good memory to have.

Then, on July 18 (strangely enough, the anniversary of my parents wedding), I read that Carolyn Jackson had died.  She and my mother were the bestest of friends!  They were forever getting into something together.  They were sewing buddies and traveling to convention buddies.  She and Mother compiled the only (that I know about) denominational Cookbook to raise money for missions.  Carolyn did NOT want anyone to know her age, but one year, her son threw a birthday party for her and the cat was out of the bag.  She handled it pretty well~~LOL…Oh, how I loved her and how special she was to momma.  Her 98 years were full!!

This was taken in front of The Log Cabin.  It is a replica, of the replica (ROFL) of the Log Cabin that is located at Montgomery Bell Park in Dickson, TN...it is the birthplace of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church that came out of the GREAT REVIVAL...We left the Presbyterian Church because we did NOT believe in predestination....I am the one on the steps...Funny to see that 10 of these people went on to serve as Ministers/Christian Education (some of us got over it, too...LOL)

Last Monday morning, I opened my email and almost dropped my phone when I read about the death of Rev. Patrick Fleming.  He was driving back to his home in Arkansas after taking his daughter to Bethel for her final semester, and killed in a single vehicle accident.

Pat and I were in Balladeers together.  He had married our friend, Janiece, and had two children.  They were divorced and he was recently newly married.

I thought back to those days at Bethel.  I do not want to give the impression that we were the best of friends.  I will say that when you are crammed into a 26 seat bus, traveling for hours, and spending countless hours practicing and memorizing music, you get to know each other pretty well!  While there were people in the group who did not like each other, I can honestly say, that we all managed to get along pretty well, AND you found a way to stay away from each other….ME?  I plopped myself in the back of the bus, and sat on the music box!  ROFL…funny, that soon became the card playing section of the bus…LOL

Pat had demons.  He had a temper that scared me.  He didn’t always treat my friend, Janiece,  like I thought he should, and that frustrated me.  His father was a CP Pastor and my mother knew him.

We often laughed that so many of us in Balladeers were “CP Royalty”…Many of our parents were very active on the denominational level and they knew each other…We would laugh after a concert, when some lady would come flying outside to find “Martha’s daughter”…they were forever getting me and Elinor (Lita’s daughter) confused, because we both had black hair!  I got pointed at a whole bunch!  =)

Recently, I was chatting with another friend from Bethel and he said something about CP ROYALTY…I laughed and said that I was once considered to be that…He laughed and said, “yeah, right”…When I told him who my mother was, he gasped, apologized and said he never knew!!  He said I qualified…lol

Times have changed…we have changed…

Pat sent me a FB friend request several years ago, and it was good to “see” him.  NOW, as I have spent a week REMEMBERING moments from the past, I am thankful that I got the opportunity to MEET the new and improved PATRICK.  He has struggled.  He has fought the demons.  He had started living life LOVING life.  He made certain that Janiece was able to attend their daughter’s Senior Voice Recital.  I was glad that I had the opportunity to chat with him and to get to KNOW him.

I am glad that each of us has the opportunity to be BETTER that what we once were.

I am glad that Patrick fought the good fight and that he now lives with God in Paradise.

Music has always been such an important part of my life.  It has given me opportunities that I never imagined.  It makes me sad that I no longer play and sing, but things happen and life moves on and you adapt and do the best you can!  One day, I hope that money blessings will fall on my head and I will be able to either repair my piano, or get a good quality keyboard, but other things must be repaired, first~~ROFL…but I am at peace with it, for now.

So, though it seems I have shared only sadness, I wrote this to remind us all, that MEMORIES are a blessing.

Sometimes, we make choices and that is all we have…

I have been blessed this week to recount special times with special people and that has been a serendipity moment(s) for me.

My prayers are with all who mourn, but I am assured by reading the Bible, that THEY SHALL be comforted.

I love God, who has thought of everything.  While I sometimes think He doesn’t hear me and He doesn’t care and He will NEVER give me what I need, I am slapped back into reality, and again reminded that He NEVER forsakes me, He NEVER stops listening to me, and He will ALWAYS provide my needs (not wants)…He is my Shepherd and He continues to lead me into Green Pastures, beside still waters, feeding me before the enemy (Satan) and as Kat says, “just showing off!” 

NOW, to remember to FOLLOW Him and to TRUST HIM…

Thank you, Dear God, for my friends…for the memories…and for loving me, anyway, when I don’t deserve it. 

I am so blessed…~~charlotte♡

Tutorial Thursday: Textured Pumpkin

Hey...Hope everyone is having a great week.  My thoughts are with my friends who are causing GREAT PAIN to their checking accounts as they shop at HOOT! 

You know, you can NEVER have enough patterns or surfaces!

I also think of all the screams of delights as people get to meet each other in person.

Hugs are being thrown around like glitter.

Laughter is filling the hall.

Inspiration is wafting through the air.

Friendships are being made and renewed.

Words of encouragement are being offered.

Beautiful COLORS are everywhere.

AWESOME SAUCE!

I pray traveling mercies...

BUT, most of us are HERE, well, not here, but THERE, because it is just me and Charcoal here, doing what we always do and living vicariously through the photos we get to see on this wonderful thing called SOCIAL MEDIA!

I thought I would share what I did with the background I created on Tuesday.

For those who missed it, it is the post before this one, so you can read it to catch up.

Once again, I pulled out my favorite DecoArt Americana Acrylics

I traced the outline of the tag and the Pumpkin 

that I decided to Put on this surface.

I based the Pumpkin with 2 coats of Canyon Orange.

Honestly, one coat would have been fine and more of the background would have shown through, but I decided to use 2 coats...

Let the paint dry completely before going to the next step.

 

When I got the pumpkin basecoated, I have to admit that I was sad to have covered so much of my background, and then....a BRIGHT LIGHT BULB appeared over my head!

I will add the same technique to the pumpkin that I used on the background.

Some days, I really think I am Albert Einstein...

 

Most days, I wonder where my glasses are that are on top of my head... 

This time, I decided to thin my paint instead of putting the water on the surface as I did for the background.  

One reason for this, was because I wanted the color to be stronger.

If you do this, you REALLY have to work quickly or the paint with dry.  Being Wet is what causes the Plastic Wrap to LIFT the paint.  Once the paint is dry, it won't lift off.

I used Tangerine and some Sunny Day placed where I thought

 natural highlights would occur.

Do not work your paint into a smooth basecoat.  

Leave the lines choppy to add some more texture.

Again, work quickly before your paint dries.

Place the plastic wrap over the surface and gently push it down 

to get contact with the paint and then carefully 

remove the plastic wrap while the paint is still wet.

When I removed the plastic wrap, I decided to put the plastic wrap on it again, because I wanted more texture...

The second time was the charm!

Isn't that the coolest thing?

The stem and tag were painted with Honey Brown.

I wanted the tag to look old, so I had the bright idea to do a modification of the same background technique.

I painted the tag with thinned Camel and bunched the plastic wrap into a wad and dabbed the paint to remove most of it...

Sorry, I didn't take a picture of that, 

but you can see it in the finished picture.

For those who paint, quickly this is what I did to complete the design.
Shade the Pumpkin, right stem and tag with Burnt Umber
Highlight the Left of the stem with Camel.
Paint the Circle of the tag with Camel.
The inside circle of the tag is Burnt Umber.
Shade around the outside of the circle with Burnt Umber and also the bottom INSIDE of the circle.
Highlight the top INSIDE of the circle with Sunny Day.
The lettering and lines inside the tag are Lamp Black.
Paint the string of the tag with Honey Brown.
Add a highlight to the string with Camel~~simply thin the paint and line.
Finish the string with an outline of thinned Lamp Black to help it show better.

I would have stopped here, but since I already put 

Happy Halloween on my tag, I went a step further...

I absolutely LOVE this just as it is!!

If I had simply put 

HAPPY FALL

on the tag, I would have called this DONE.

That texture is yummy!!

Now, for those who do not paint, it is never too late to begin to paint.  I have shared LOTS of free line drawings on my blog that are a great place to start.

If you want to paint this, but don't understand (yet) how to float paint, then paint it and outline the piece with a permanent black marker (like a Sharpie).  It will look adorable.

BUT just because you do not paint, does not mean that you cannot take advantage of this free line drawing.

If you stitch, this would be so cute made into little pillows to be used as bowl fillers, or add a piece of jute or ribbon to the pillows to hang on a door knob, a peg, or a drawer pull.  OR hang them on the chairs of a Fall gathering and give them to your guests as a reminder of a time well spent.

IF you like paper crafts, use scrapbook paper to make this!

OR, what I think would be adorable, is to make a set of these on 2x4s cut into different heights (I would say, 4, 5, 6 inches tall) and use them on your Thanksgiving table as Place markers!  You could either paint the pumpkins or use paper to Decou-Page them onto the wood...Just think how amazing it would be for a family of 3 to have one of each size to use for years to come as decorations and as a reminder of a fun meal with those you love!  You could add Names to the tags, or put a special message on them.

Be creative...Use this to fit YOUR style...

Right click on your computer to save this and by all means, resize it to fit YOUR needs...have fun with it!

This is how I decided to finish my design...What fun is this!!

I am not sure why this is blurred , but click it and it is fine...weird, huh!

I hope that I have nudged you a bit to create!  I cannot tell you how important it is to do something for YOU.  

When you feel fulfilled, then you are able to give even more of yourself...funny how life is like that!  

I am simply blessed to create~charlotte♡

Technique Tuesday: Halloween Textured Background

WOW...we just had a gully washer! It is hard to believe that about 90 minutes from here is experiencing drought.  Daddy would always joke around with our friend, Trick Ellis, who lived on the other end of the county, that it "rained on the just AND the unjust."  You know, although they joked, it is true.

I can't repeat enough how much I appreciate my blessings.

I got the loveliest note today from a friend who ordered this sign from me.

It is a Terrye French design that was originally painted on bottles, but I was too lazy to go find any, and so I decided to put the design on a piece of wood.  I really wanted to paint the design NOW...you all know how that goes.  You must follow those nudges, or they will be gone...

Maybe that is just me...ROFL

She asked if I would do a tutorial on how I did the background, 

and I am more than happy to show how I did it.

design is copyrighted by Terrye French

After I painted the designs, I decided to dry brush around the elements to allow them to show better.

As Always, I pulled out my favorite DecoArt Americana Acrylics.

You may use whatever color combinations that you wish, but I used Black, Orange and Yellow.

I based the background with Lamp Black.

I think this box of generic "Saran Wrap" might qualify 

to go into the archives!

Tear off a piece of Plastic wrap that is bigger than your surface.  

If you have to use two pieces, that is absolutely OK!

You want the plastic wrap to have wrinkles in it,

 so do NOT waste your time trying to get it to be smooth.

I wet the surface really well with water.  It had enough to run if I picked up the piece.

NOW, if you wish, you may simply thin the paint you are applying to the piece, but I am showing how I did it.

Wet as a mirror...see the camera phone?!  LOL

I dropped a few drops of the two colors I chose~~

Canyon Orange and Sunny Day.

You can see them spreading out in the water.

~~

I very lightly spread the paint across the surface with a brush.

Place the plastic wrap on top of the piece and gently press it down.  You want it to wrinkle, because this gives the marbled effect.

Remove the plastic wrap....

But...I wanted more wrinkles, so I placed the wrap on it again.

I used the same piece of plastic wrap, 

I just turned it over and gently pushed it down with a shop towel

I can tell from looking at this that it will have more lines...

oh, yeah, baby!!

Now, I have got to paint a fall design on this!  Torture...ROFL...NOT

From painting the initial sign, I knew that I wanted a little brighter background, so I chose lighter colors.  I think I had used Burnt Orange and Marigold on the first sign.

Also, if you want to have stronger colors, don't use as much water.  I wanted it to have a glazed look, and that is why I used so much water.  As I stated earlier, you can simply thin down your paints and not put the wash of water on the surface.  That will also give you a stronger color.

I would like to take a moment to insert a COMMERCIAL about

 Shop Towels.

If you don't have them, buy some.

They are in the paint/tool area at Walmart or any big box store.  

They come in a box or in a roll.

They are strong and they are lint free!  They are not expensive and are oh, so very handy!  Once you get used to using them, you will wonder HOW in the world you ever got along without them.  They are good for me, because I am forever losing my towels, and they fall on the floor and get in the dog hair...heavy sigh...(he is so worth it, though!)

Grab your surface, some water, a brush and some paint, and create some fun backgrounds!

If you have any questions or want to know how to do something (that I know how to do...if you want to learn to change the oil in your car, well, I can't help you...oh, wait, yes I can, go to the mechanic!)

I am simply blessed to create~~charlotte♡