My Newest Art Journal

Thought I would share my newest art journal with you and also the first entry that I've been working on in 5 minute increments while we are in the middle of a little remodeling.

It is handmade--not sure about the cover but the paper is handmade in India.
Hobby Lobby has these in the sketch tablet area.  Be sure and print
out a 40% off coupon before you go.  I just "google" Hobby Lobby internet
coupon and it comes right up.  You can use one coupon per day.  I have
a HobLob close to me so it really pays off.

These pages are just beautiful!

Here is a peek at my first entry!

I received a beautiful card by snail mail last week and wanted to preserve it.  I loved this
little part of it and wanted to keep it where I could look at it often.

Part of the card read "You made my day very beautiful" so I

added it larger to emphasize.  I wish I hadn't done it quite so large

but that is one thing keeping this journal is all about--helping me grow in

my art and make wiser decisions.  I am prone to  be very impulsive and

ruined many a nice piece of art work by impulsively adding something or

introducing a new color that just didn't work.  I am trying to learn restraint

which is very hard for me.

Thought you might want to see my messy workstation--

Hope your day was beautiful in every way today.
"A friend's a friend forever when the Lord's the Lord of them--"

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Art Journaling

Art journaling is something new to me. I have journaled a lot in my lifetime and have done some calligraphy in a journal but I have never combined my calligraphy, art and thoughts in to one journal.

 This year I hope to do just that and today I wanted to show you what I did yesterday.  It is very rough and I will explain a little about each picture.

If you decide art journaling is something you would like to do, my "art journaling" Pinterest page has some excellent sources for help. My Pinterest button is located in the right sidebar of this blog.

I started the page with some loose watercolor flowers.  Anybody can do these--Martha Lever's blog has a great little tutorial for making "color drop flowers."  I think it is actually a YouTube video.

I added some very loose calligraphy with a brush and watercolor and inks.  As you can tell, I did this freehand and did not use guidelines.  To look really nice all letters should be slanted to the exact same degree.  As I wrote "Dianne," you will notice that my letters got bigger and bigger.  Not a good thing unless you have planned it.  Next time I will work harder on degree of slant and letters the same size.

This is just a little side note to remind me of who was here and what we were doing on January 27, 2012.  Five guys were here from Renewal Ranch working on the house so I listed their names and the work we accomplished.

This is a close up of one of the flowers.  After the water color had dried, I went around all stems and flowers with a Pilot extra five black pen--Micron pens are excellent for this.  When I first started doing this, I made the lines very straight with no wiggle or curves in them.  I decided that I liked it better with a little jitteriness added.  So that is why there are double lines on some of the stuff.

This journal is extra big (about 16" x 12")and the watercolor paper is excellent.  I can't remember where I got it --I do remember I had to special order it for a calligraphy course I took in Santa Fe, NM with Randall Hasson.  However, a plain little sketch tablet will be fine for doodling and light watercolor work but you really need a watercolor tablet if you want to get serious about improving.

Randall's work in incredible by the way.  I'm pretty sure his blog is listed under "calligraphy" on my Pinterest page or you can type his name in the search bar here on my blog and read more about him.

The main thing on this page is Psalm 150.  It is a great praise and worship psalm and I come dancing before my King today and isn't it amazing that He rejoices and sings over us!

Have fun doodling and art journaling if you decide to try.  

Remodeling!!!

As you can tell from the pictures shown, we are in a huge mess at our house--doing a little remodeling-- All of the family room furniture is in the midle of the room covered with sheets.  Every floor and piece of furniture is COVERED IN sheetrock dust--we have dusted and vacuumed til we are blue in the face--I guess every little bit we get up now helps later.

We are

 *Painting the entry hall, family room, living room, small bath, kitchen and kitchen cabinets, laundry room and walk-in pantry--

 *Painting our brick fireplace which has been just the natural exposed brick and the wood surround and mantle--it will be an oil-based semi-gloss antique white paint by Sherwin Williams--

and getting new countertops and sink--

 In the picture above on the wall to the right you can see a white rectangular space--this used to be where a wet bar was that we never used--one day several years ago, I noticed that it backed up to our pantry right off the laundry room so I suggested to my husband that at some point in time we might close it in and utilize that square footage for a more useful purpose--and that is what we have done-- It is in the process of being painted, new shelves and new linoleum tiles laid in there--

The picture below is of my dining room (it is not getting repainted)--EXCEPT right now it is acting as our pantry--oh me, will be glad to get rid of this mess--but the bigger pantry will be so nice.

We should be close to through in two or three more weeks and I am so looking forward to getting back around and visiting each of you.  In the meantime, hope you are doing well and I miss you.

While I am excited and pleased to be getting these new things, this is NOT where my happiness comes from--

 By wisdom a house is built, 
   and through understanding it is established; 
through knowledge its rooms are filled 
   with rare and beautiful treasures. from Proverbs 24


and the ONLY source of that wisdom, understanding and knowledge is Jesus!

The person who has God and everything else has no more than the person who has God alone.  I believe this with my whole heart.  Am I content with what God has blessed me with be it great or small?

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Day After Day

This is one of the reasons that winter is my favorite season of the year. I know, I know, I am by far in the minority but I have always loved winter--snuggling up on the sofa with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, curling up with a favorite book, getting out in the freezing cold to traipse to every basketball game under the sun, and viewing scenes such as this--if that tree had all its leaves on, my brother-in-law would have had to walk all the way out to the street to capture this and then the houses would have probably been in the way.

A great big thank you to Mike Hogue, my BIL, in Fort Smith. I think this was taken yesterday evening.  I wonder if what we saw here in the Little Rock area this morning was a trailer of that cloud system.  We are a couple of hours from Fort Smith.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech night after night they display knowledge.  There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. From Psalm 19

Oh and lest I forget--I've spent many hours (well Oklahoma hours--some years less--some years more--) driving or sliding to and from work--so I did have to get out in it but still love it!

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Expectant Waiting

My friend, Nancy, mentioned in her comment on Tuesday "being still and listening."  That is basically what this post is about.



 That is what I did for years that I have let fall by the wayside as of late.  I read a book some years ago --(Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ) by Jeanne Guyon-- that totally transformed my devotional life which ultimately transformed my life.

The Holy Spirit, through Guyon, taught me how to turn my thoughts inward, not outward, to get away from all distractions-- to close all devotional materials and just concentrate on communing with God who LIVES INSIDE ME.  (I'm not knocking good devotional materials--they just shouldn't take the place of intimate waiting and listening before God--at least that is my humble opinion)

When we stop to really ponder that He lives inside us, it is almost more than our finite minds can fathom but it is true.  God lives inside of us if we have asked Him to come in and be our Savior.

So instead of turning my thoughts outward or heavenward so to speak, I turn them in to my core, my heart, my mind, my will which I have given over to Jesus--it is His domain--He lives in me--so ultimately I am turning my thoughts to Him.

This is a discipline at first--the enemy loves to bring to mind any distraction that he can--what to cook for dinner, what color I am going to paint the kitchen cabinets, you name it--anything to get our minds away from concentrating on God and His love for us.

After a concentrated effort day after day, this discipline became second nature to me and I could sit down, read God's Word, pray, STOP AND BE STILL AND LISTEN, and it was amazing what thoughts He brought to my mind.  
This was not a two or three minute conversation with God most of the time.  I hesitate to say because I don't want to exaggerate, but I would guess that sometimes I was totally still before Him--not praying, not asking for anything, not reading--totally utterly still while disciplining my mind to only concentrate on Him, for at least 15 to 30 minutes. 
I am not putting a time constraint on God because the more I became tuned in to Him, and could control my wild thoughts, the quicker I could hear His voice and what He wanted to say to me.  (Not an audible voice but a still, small whisper in my mind)
So I am sure at times it was much less than 15 minutes and maybe at times more than 30.

Yes, I do believe we should obey what we hear Him say to us if instructions are given.  However, it seemed to me when I was practicing this regularly that more often than not the words I heard were life-giving, life-affirming, scripture straight from His Word to encourage, and also that is when I wrote my best poetry or prose.  As one of my daughters-in-law told me one time--"You really can't take credit for that."  And I couldn't.  It was straight from the heart of God.
I did not write as He was speaking but as soon as I knew He was pausing or giving me a break, I wrote with wild abandon all the Words I could remember that He said to me.

And most of the time, I could remember almost all because His Word heard so plainly is hard to forget--and it does NOT return VOID.
Am I special to be able to hear God's voice like this?  No, well, yes, I am special to Him just as you are.  He is no respecter of persons.  He desires to be intimate with each of us and yearns to disclose Himself to us.
The LORD confides in those who fear him;
   he makes his covenant known to them. Psalm 25:14

So back to the basics of waiting on Him which should be my highest privilege to do, I will:
1.  Be aware of the Holy Spirit convicting me of sin and repenting immediately.
2.  Read 5 Psalms a day, every day--
3.  Wait on the Lord with patient expectation, a clear mind and a surrendered heart, mind, and will.

I am anxiously waiting to hear from Him if there is anything else He wants me to do. 
I would love to hear your suggestions or how He has impressed you to worship Him. 
Andrew Murray also has a wonderful book about waiting on God which has been very instrumental in my life.  That's for another day!  Smile.  Love all of you,Dianne
© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

The Psalms

For many years I have read 5 psalms every day no matter what else I was reading or studying.

 I have gotten away from doing this the last few months and when I prayed yesterday it seemed that I was impressed to restart this practice.

 Here is what I have done and it is amazing the way these psalms fit together--at times even using the exact same wording. 

On the 1st of the month I read Psalm 1, 31, 61, 91, 121--

On the 2nd of the month I read Psalm 2, 32, 62, 92, 122--

so all I'm doing is just adding 30 to the chapter number of whatever I am reading--

These psalms help prepare my heart for worship and communion and sometimes I use them to sing or recite back to God as a form of worship.

They also prepare me for what I will share tomorrow which some of you mentioned in the comments from yesterday.

Much love, Dianne

 © all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Seeking More

There have been times in my life, I know, when I have sought God and His presence in my life more than I have recently.

 Oh, there are lots of reasons (or excuses) I could put forth--

 *The grief of losing a close relative and the almost paralysis of the soul that can sometimes follow--

 *The challenges of a major surgery and all the ramifications involved--i.e. no energy, etc--

 *Getting caught up in the "busyness" of the holidays and all that entails--

 I could go on and on but I think you get the picture. Suffice it to say that I desire to be back in the mode of really seeking God each day of my life.

 Why is it that when we neglect the good spiritual disciplines in our lives that it is so hard to reverse the course--almost feeling like we no longer know how to do it.

 Today as I read the scripture below, I knew I had to do something about my lack of spiritual inertia, so this is very simple but is what I am focusing on today.

May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.  from Psalm 40

 I asked God to show me how to truly seek Him again--what would that look like today in my life if I truly did that.

 As I became quiet before the Lord, this is the thought that came to my mind--the first step in seeking Him--

CONFESS SIN

So I spent some time confessing sin--that is all I am going to focus on today--I did do my daily Bible reading and a couple of psalms just for the enjoyment of it--but today will be about focusing on the Holy Spirit convicting me instantly when I sin--and immediate confession.

 I would love for you to add comments of what "seeking God" looks like to you. 

Hopefully, I will add something each day for a few days that God in His mercy and grace will show me.

I hope to be back soon to the full spiritual discipline of searching for and seeking Him as I would for gold if I knew there was a stash buried in my back yard.

He is THE treasure to seek for and I never want to forget or neglect that.

Have a blessed day, sweet friends. I love you.

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

New Morning

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,    for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;    great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;    therefore I will wait for him."  from Lamentations 3

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

I Think This Story Will Give You Hope

Turner, my 16 year old great nephew

Whatever situation or circumstance you are facing today, I think this story will give you hope.

 It goes like this: Shortly after my husband and I retired to Arkansas in the fall of 2004, I got a call one evening from my brother's wife telling me that their son, then 35 years old, had been hit by a car going about 40 mph.

Jay, my nephew, had gone with his wife and two sons to a fall festival at their son's elementary school. Because of the overflow crowd, they had parked across the street on a church parking lot.

While crossing the street on their way home, my nephew stepped in the path of a car driven by a 16 year old boy. The teenager who hit him was not drunk, not on drugs.........it was an accident--a terrible, horrible, almost indescribable accident-- Jay had severe brain trauma, both legs were broken in many places above and below the knee, his face was marred almost beyond recognition at the time, and the list of injuries just goes on and on. It was an incredible miracle that he lived.

I won't go in to all the details but Jay was denied many things because of the accident--one of them was his career--a cutting edge computer whiz for a major corporation--he had to take full disability.

This morning when I got on Facebook this was what my great nephew, Turner, had written on his status:

"I have the strongest dad on the planet! And I want everyone to know it!  My mother and I were looking through pictures and we came across pictures of my dad right after his accident. He looked lame and mentally challenged.  He looked broken and empty minded. He looked like he was barely there with his skin tight around his bones and his face crooked and lame.  If you didnt know anything and just looked at him you would think he was about to die.  Despite the fact that there was not much of him left, there was at least one thing behind that blank face. My fathers heart!  He came back from literally his death bed--he fought with all his might and his whole heart and will to get back to normal!  He didnt do it for himself though because it would have been easy for him to just give up and be a vegetable for the rest of his life. No! He did it for his family so that we could have a dad and a husband and a son and a brother and a friend.  He fought to get healthy again for us! And he won! Today a stranger would not know anything through plain sight or conversation.  My dad has come a long way, an understatement, he has come worlds from where he was in 2004. It is all because of his heart and will.  Thank you God so much for my father! I am blessed to have a dad as strong as him!  And after all of the fights and arguments we have had!  If I were to learn only one thing from my dad it would be how to keep on trucking. If nothing else I hope I inherited his heart!  Dad, I have taken you for granted and I cannot express how much I am amazed at you and how much you are my hero and how much you are the fuel that keeps me going.  I love you dad and I am so proud of you and I want everyone to know it!"

Dear God, I just want to thank you for all the miracles that have come to our family through this tragic accident.  While we may not understand everything, we trust that you kept Jay through it all and are still working miracles through it.

Thank you for all the incredible doctors and nurses at UAMS (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences-an amazing hospital where people come from all over the world--and we are especially grateful for the incomparable trauma unit), for thousands of prayers that went up for Jay from all around the world, and that you held all of us in the hollow of your hand during this difficult time.

I pray that you will continue to bless Jay and his family because there are still many challenges as a result of the accident and they need you everyday, just as we all do.

You are faithful O God--you are faithful!


© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Our Christmas Day!

Our sons drove in late Christmas Day so when my brother and his wife discovered that we would be alone, they invited us for Christmas dinner at their house.

 I wanted to give you a little glimpse at their decorations because I thought they were so pretty. Until my parents died, we had always spent Christmas at their home so it has been many years since I had seen Johnny and Gay's decorations.

While it is very pretty, I think it would quite economical time wise to decorate as they do especially as we get older. It is taking me longer and longer to get all the decorating done. We have collected so many ornaments over the years--and they are ALL so meaningful but maybe.....just maybe I will go the route Gay has gone with her decorating.........paring down....making it a little more simple.

Here is a picture of their tree--so simple yet so gorgeous--it is an artificial tree with white lights, grape vine wrapped around it, red berries and red birds, mainly cardinals. It really is stunning and I love the grape vine wreath because it adds an element of "country."

This is Abby Grace, my two year old great niece.

These are four out of five of my brother's grandchildren--Cooper, Abby, Peyton and Aimsley.  Turner is not pictured.

Just to the right of the tree is a table behind one of their sofas.  Gay uses the same vase all year long, just changing the floral arrangement with each season.

I also wanted you to see the mantel--so simple but so pretty--

© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted