We recently moved into a house that is rich with character, surrounded by 1.5 acres of wooded nature, and has everything we were looking for in a house. When we first viewed the house, there was a large canvas photo on the mantel of a mother and her two college-aged children. Our realtor explained that this woman lost her husband a year ago to cancer. Her children are in college and she's ready to move on.
Once we decided that we loved the house and our offer was accepted, I got a chance to meet this owner, Millie. She's about 55 yrs old, tiny little petite thing, and full of spunk and sass. She loves the outdoors and spends a lot of time with her dog, Leo and two horses. She decided she was ready to sell the house and get a fresh start for herself. Millie is going to go sailing for a couple years . . . "or until I decided I hate it" she says. Her husband was the sailor, not her. But she is suddenly drawn boating and is taking an intensive sailing course this month in Maryland. Then, I believe, she plans to spend several months sailing the Chesapeake Bay area.
I'll never forget the first time I walked through this house - there was a large map on the coffee table of the Chesapeake Bay with several dots and markings on it. On top of the map were three small GPS devices and some handwritten notes. I believe she was mapping out her course. It was fascinating.
Weeks later, I once stopped over at the house to measure a couple of the rooms for furniture. Millie is the type of person that says, "just stop by anytime and if I'm not here, the door is always unlocked". I took my measurements and then she walked me through half the neighborhood. We knocked on a couple doors and she introduced me to some people. We walked down to the dock and then the clubhouse, where she shared a couple of stories.
She is an intriguing person, one whom I'm sure will be missed in this neighborhood. I believe she's called to the water for a reason and I hope she finds serenity there. She's one courageous woman.
During our last encounter, I gave her this gift for her new journey.
Here is the process of making this journal.
I first found a blank journal I liked at Barnes & Noble.
I love the natural feel to it, especially the binding, but the cover image wasn't quite what I was looking for. I decided that would be easy enough to change. I sanded down the floral image until it was almost gone. Then I used blue painter's tape to mask off a rectangular area to work in. I wanted to do a dimensional ocean painting.
DIMENSION - I applied Golden Molding Paste with one of those fake credit cards you get in the mail weekly. I glopped it on, then create wave-like patterns. I then let it dry for about 20 min.
SAND - In the corner, where the water meets the sand, I wanted a real sand feel. So I used Tim Holtz's Distress Embossing Powder in Antique Linen color.
-if you want to see a neat video on how to use the embossing powders, go here
I then added some color to the water with acrylic paint. To get a blended look, just keep the paint wet and start brushing the colors into each other. I even painted the whitest parts white to protect the paste from chipping off. It sort of seals it on there. Once this was dry, I applied bright white acrylic paint to the raised edges only with my finger. You might only be able to see that by clicking the image to zoom in.
Once this was all dry, I peeled off the blue tape to reveal the ocean scene I was going after.
The final touch were a couple simple embellishments. I stamped a phrase stamp onto a scrap piece of chipboard and inked the edges brown. This was attached to the cover with dimensional Glue Dots. I then used another product of Tim Holtz, Grunge Board. I don't remember the pack I used, but it was a multi-themed pack with butterflies, crowns, etc.
I pray that Millie WILL "go confidently in the direction of her dreams" and find peace on her new journey.
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