Early Morning...

The Tennessee River Wild Life Refuge photographed by Rita Hutcheson-Cobbs.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.

Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

~ Psalm 143:8

I must admit mornings are not my favorite thing to experience,  but how could I possibly get a photo like this one without a morning drive. While people are rushing to begin their week, I am looking past the obvious facts like today is Monday, the long week has begun or that the fog is so thick it could be sliced with a knife, as my dad use to say.  That is how it is with life, our busyness or the crises at hand can't let us see past the fog to the sunrise of victory that awaits us when the fog lifts. Regardless of the haze or the fog, God loves us, as His Word declares. We are to trust our faith and rely on the hope of what is to be. Outward appearance should reflect that faith and that hope by smiling and being happy. However, that large cup of coffee sprinkled with vanilla doesn't hurt either. =)

Thinking a green jadeite and red kitchen could really spark morning creativity for our family. What do you think? 

Love, Blessings, & {{{Hugs}}},

RHC

www.RitaHutchesonCobbs.com

Art Journaling at the River

 I wanted to share a couple of art journaling pages that I plan to use in a digital project. I love the colors that create the center of the right page. The little white flowers was something I created using the wooden tip of a brush. I am falling in love with water color crayons and pencils.

I am truly loving this layout and the colors that it represents. The bottom color is popping through the white paint and I loved that. These art journaling pages I will also use in a digital project. The stamps made the perfect third layer background. Love these colors.

The Tennessee River tonight! I wanted to capture these colors so that I could find paints in my stash to match these vibrant amazing colors of the sky reflected in the waters which are mirroring the fall colors of the leaves in the trees at the waters edge. I felt this was a reflection of my soul, bright, sunny, happy as I think about the whole day. God is so rich and good to give me this opportunity to thank Him for a happy spirit. If I were to write a song at this very moment, it would say "Create within Me..." I want others to see my strong faith of hope, love and peace. In all that paths that I have walked, and there have been many, I know where my strength comes from and that is in the personal relationship I have in Him and the many friends that share my love for creativity and art. There is power in creating with color.

Love, Blessings, & {{{Hugs}}},
RHC
www.RitaHutchesonCobbs.com

Recycling a Children's Book into a Vintage Mini Album

This mini album was so much fun to make! Of course, anytime I can recycle materials I am in my comfort zone. There are a lot of new materials especially from Close to My Heart. The colors are magnificent and represent the fall and coming holidays well. 

The base for this mini album is a children's book that was missing elements so I took it apart and recreated it into this lovely mini album. It is a gift for a church minister and his family to show our appreciation for what they have meant to our entire family. I wanted some really vintage detailed elements to the book, but since I didn't know if his wife scrapbooked, I kept the inside fairly simple with photo/journaling spots, simple mini albums within and cute tags. The colors were fall earth tones with turquoise as the main color theme.  Surprisingly the additional frame on the front cover wasn't heavy nor did it take away from the rest of the album. The detailed video of each page can be found on my youtube channel.

Continue to find ways to recycle, reuse, and recreate. It is amazing to see something to damaged turn into something amazingly beautiful.

Love, Blessings & {{{Hugs}}},
RHC
www.RitaHutchesonCobbs.com