English Garden Art Journal Page for Round Robin

This is the original mock-up in my own book for the current altered book round-robin I am participating in. I wanted to try a mono-chromatic look, which is also a prompt from The Documented Life Project, found here, which is another challenge I am participating in.

To make the background, I gessoed the page, then scraped two colors of pink acrylic craft paint  onto the page with a credit card. Then I stenciled the flowers with white gesso. I stamped various flowers onto the page in varying colors of pink. Then I went over some of the flowers with texture paint, puffy paint or glitter glue. Then I stamped the title and outlined the letters in a darker pink pen. I did put a little green on for the flower stems and leaves. My dear husband pointed out that it really wasn't monochromatic, then. Oh well. It's my first try. I also tried shading some of the flowers and stems, but I wasn't particularly happy with how it turned out, so I abandoned that for the final version.

This is the final version of the book. The book theme I am working in this month is "An English Garden" and will eventually wing its way back to England to its owner. I have one more spread to do for her before I mail the book on to the next participant.

Sewing Mends the Soul - Book of Days

Book of Days "Sewing Mends the Soul"

A new Book of Days spread - "Sewing Mends the Soul". I used modeling paste in a stencil and so it has lots of yummy texture. I tried another gel medium transfer on the left of a vase of lilacs. It didn't turn out too well, but it adds interest, anyway. There are also doilies, trim, ribbon and a strip of cardstock that I embossed with pink embossing powder. The seamstress is an image from my art calendar. I had a lot of fun with this one.

Book of Days - More Pages

My two page spread for the First Day of Spring - I had fun with this one.

I theoretically joined a challenge to attempt to copy 3 Modilgliani paintings, but I only did one and never posted it. But I really enjoyed reading about his story and the tragic story of his lover, Jeanne Hébuterne. She was born 2 years before my grandmother and had such a tragic life. So I chose a portrait of her.

The left tip in is an attempt at water color from the Strathmore Workshops. It opens up for more journaling, which you can see below.

The water color tip-in opened up here.

This is another spread that is a multi-fold-out. Opened up here and folded closed below. I also have a tip-in from a happy mail card I received from Elizabeth Helwig.

I am pretty far behind in my BODs, but I'm hoping that the summer will allow me to catch up. I hope to be returning the blessings for my Happy Mails and swaps.

More Book of Days

I'm finally posting a few more pages from my Book of Days (BODs) Altered Book/Journal that I am doing with Effy Wild. During Spring Break, I hope to have more time to get some photos posted.

Effy's challenge for this spread was to use mosaics in the background.

For this spread, I tipped in a birthday card that I received from my mother many years ago. I didn't want to lose it, so I was happy to be able to include it in my book. The trees are just looking out my window at school. That day happened to be pretty and sunny.

 This spread shows a tip in that is happy mail that I received from an online friend along with a magazine that I won in a drawing.

This is a hand drawn face from a magazine picture. I cheated and made an outline first from tracing paper, so I knew where to put the eyes, nose and mouth. I also drew the butterflies.

Just tried a lot of new things here, including using white over the doodles from Doodles Unleashed workshop by Traci Bautista.

The challenge for this page was to answer the question "What do you need to tell yourself?" and to include an envelope on the page.

This page was inspired by a picture in a flyer that came in the mail from Pier One. I really like this one. I think this takes me up through entries till the end of January. Hope to post more pictures soon.

Hope you've enjoyed looking at a few of my pages. I am having tons of fun.

Book of Days & Paint Party Friday

I have been having a great deal of fun doing Book of Days with Effy Wild. She is offering this year-long course free of charge and it has been so inspiring. I can't believe her generosity. The basic idea is that you do one two-page spread and one multi-day spread each week, along with a two-page spread for special days like holidays and birthdays, etc. She has two videos a week and a Wednesday dispatch. She also does a live stream once or twice a week. It is absolutely unbelievable how much creativity you can experience free of charge. You can still sign up for her course here. She also offers a premium course if you prefer more privacy and personal interaction.  She walks you through everything you need to get started.

I chose a short-hand text book that I picked up at Salvation Army for under a dollar. One of the important aspects for a book that is going to take this much painting, adding, etc. is that it has a sewn binding. You have to remove lots of pages so that the altered pages fit. Good quality paper for the pages is also a definite plus.

I have been doing pretty well at keeping up each week. I am going to post a few of the beginning parts of the book today.  She also encouraged us to choose a word for the year to focus on. Mine is "Humility", which was a word that God kept laying on my heart for several weeks leading up to the start of this book. I just felt it was going to be my word for the year.

This is the cover of my book. The paper along the right side of the book came in a wonderful package I received from Patty Symkowicz when I won a drawing from her blog. I just felt it was so beautiful that I wanted to include it on the cover.

This is the inside covers where Effy asked us to write a letter to say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012. She challenged us to use an envelope in our spread. The photo is not a very good one, partly because I couldn't get rid of the shadow on the left side and the metallic paint on the envelopes caused the camera to go a bit wonky.

This is the first two-page spread that I did celebrating Jan. 1 - Happy New Year.  I used a decoupaged napkin, stickers and a cut-out from a calendar page.

This is my first Monday spread using Effy's recommended theme of "looking ahead". It has lots of layers, paint, ink stamping and collage pieces. This is one of my favorite spreads.

This is my first multi-day spread for the first week in January. I journaled a bit about each day. I painted the background yellow and then used post-it notes to mask off the writing squares when I painted the rest of the page. More stickers, stamping and ink sprays finished it off.

Well that is a look into my first week of Book of Days. You should really check out Effy's blog and her Book of Days course. It is not to late to start.

I am also linking up with Paint Party Friday. You can hop over there and check out many wonderful artists who are sharing their passion for painting. They are such a wonderful, friendly and welcoming group of people who are always encouraging. It has been a blessing to me to find this Friday party.

Paint Party Friday

That's it for today! We are having a rare spell of fabulous March weather, so I am going to go out and enjoy some of it. Blessings to you all.

Priceless Possibilities - Altered Book Journal Page

This is a page I just made last week. Sometimes the page just seems to come together and that was what happened with this one.  The small quote within the circle says, "Every day we live is a priceless gift of God, loaded with possibilities to learn something new, to gain fresh insights."

I have had several things that have happened over the last little while that have brought home to me the idea that each day is a gift. A good friend of mine has been been battling breast cancer. She is on the upswing and I am continually praying that she has defeated this thing for good. Another friend and neighbor of ours who is only 49 has just been diagnosed with stage four sarcoma. He is just recovering from surgery and soon will be starting chemo. He has a young son who is only 6. Wow - praying hard for his complete healing, too.

Our church has just gone through a major upheaval. It is hard when people you love and care about are torn asunder by difficult things. Just one more thing to point out that we can take nothing for granted.

We can all use a reminder to treasure each day and its possibilities for the gift it is and thank God for it. I'm taking time this weekend to reflect on all of my blessings.

I'm linking up with Art Journal Every DayArt Journal Every Day  over at Balzer Designs with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. Lots of yummy pages linked up there, so take some time to check it out.

My Newest Altered Book & Pink Sat.

Finished Pages and Tag

Last week I finished up a two-page spread that I was doing with my book on the theme "Butterflies".  This was a mock-up or practice try before I worked in a round-robin book that I am in. It was my first time to work in someone else's book, so I was pretty nervous. I opted to experiment in my own book first. Her book turned out slightly differently than mine did, but I really liked both of them. Mine is a little more "vintage" and a little darker; hers is a little more bright and happy. Here is my process. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures when I was starting out, but basically, I gessoed the pages, sanded them and then decopauged a paper napkin down. Then I painted the surface with some diluted gesso to tone down the color.  I used a different napkin above than the one below and then I glued on some matching ribbon and rubber stamped and inked the edges.

Next I used spray color over an old plastic table runner and used acrylic paint and I pencil eraser for the dots. I then rubber stamped and embossed the butterflies.

After this was done, I added the dress figure that I made, the fan, the flower and the tag. I cut a slit through part of the pages to make a pocket for the tag to slip into. I also inked and embossed the slit opening to keep it from fraying or tearing.

And then I stamped the quote on and added the brown velvet ribbon. I also put some swirls on my painted dots with a glitter gel pen and added some of the glittery gel pen to the flower. That doesn't show up very well on the photos, but in real life it adds a lot of interest. I also stamped a few smaller butterflies all around in the background.

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I'm linking up with Beverly over at How Sweet the Sound. Head over there and check out all of the wonderful pink posts.

Just a Quick Finished Page

I thought I would share a finished page - I really liked the way this turned out - the words really seemed to complete the page.

Before

 Middle

After

 I also added some shading, ala Pam Carriker and some extra stamping.

Present in the Mail - Thanks, Amisha!

I was so delighted to come home to a gift in the mail, sent to me by my dear blogging friend, Amisha, from Gorgeous and Fun Things. She sent me the wonderful book Journal Spilling: Mixed Media Techniques for Free Expression by Diana Trout. I am so excited. I have already thumbed through and it just looks like exactly my cup of tea! Thank you so much Amisha!! You are the best! I am truly blessed. I have looked through this book at Barnes and Noble, but didn't want to spend money on myself! It is full of so much good information, beautiful art and tutorials - all about art journaling!

The Front Cover

This is the artwork from a chapter called "The Inner Critic". I just love this artwork.

This is another page about doing an autobiography. 

I can't wait to start trying out some of this. I know what I will be reading tonight!

Being Creative # 10 - Our Biggest Fears

This is the last of Amisha's topics for us to blog about at Gorgeous and Fun Things  Being Creative Blog Party. It is #10 - our biggest fears. Am I creative enough? Am I good enough? And some more of such big beasties......

For the first question - "Am I creative enough?" - funny, I don't worry too much about that one. I have a strongly held belief that every person is creative - because we were all creative as children. It is more about uncovering or rediscovering our creativity. If you ever used crayons to sketch a picture in Kindergarten or built a castle with Legos, or created a playhouse out of leaves, twigs and pine straw, etc. - then you are inherently a creative person! We have just become so organized and rigid and accomplishment-oriented in order to survive as adults, that we have smashed down that creative little inner person. So for me, I feel that somewhere deep down inside, there is that little creative person pushing to get out. My job is just to figure out how to relax and play again! So that is not a fear that I struggle with.

Next is "Am I good enough?" - Again, I don't worry about that one either, because I just don't care if anyone else likes what I do. I just do it for myself and try to have fun. My enjoyment comes from experimenting, learning and occasionally liking the outcome. It makes me happy to just be doing something creative and expressing myself in a way that I haven't used in many years. I haven't been published, and frankly, I don't think that I have anything unique enough or good enough to get published. But maybe someday, I might, if I keep on giving myself permission to continue exploring and practicing and playing. But for right now, it is just about the personal enjoyment. So that is not a fear I struggle with either.

Ahhh, but there is one big, bad beast that I do struggle with often, and that is the big GUILT word. I struggle hugely with feeling guilty about taking time just for myself to do something that is just for me and is purely for enjoyment. I'm not selling, accomplishing, performing, cleaning, helping others or whatever else I feel that I "ought" to be doing. Instead of cooking dinner or grading papers, I might just be playing in my little creative spot - and often I feel guilty! My heart races and I start to feel anxious, like the housekeeping police are going to come and arrest me! I am thankful that my dear husband continues to encourage and affirm me in my creative efforts. However, he is a type-A personality that is ALWAYS accomplishing something, so I feel inferior to him. He tells me over and over that I should not feel that way, but that is my biggest fear, I think. And that is that I will not be accomplishing something "meaningful".

To overcome this, I have set a goal that I will be creative at least 20 minutes every day. I have been faithful to that and I am starting to shove down the Guilt monster.

And the other monster I deal with is the "too much stuff" monster. I feel like I am a hoarder of stuff - I have such a huge collection of supplies and ephemera and magazines and books. This summer I plan to whittle down my stash in a significant way, because truly, it becomes a hindrance to being creative. My dad was a true hoarder of stuff, so I want to be careful not to let my stuff overwhelm me. This is where there is a line you walk between seeing the beauty and usefulness of every little thing and not saving so much that you can't find anything or have a place to actually create. Hence my goal of decluttering my stash as soon as school is out. I hope to share my wealth with others and throw away the junk!

Lastly, I will share with you my latest creation. I actually just love this one. It contains a picture of my very creative Grandmother and my son when he was very little. She was a great inspiration to me and one of my greatest cheerleaders.  I made a color copy of the photo and added it to one of my altered book/art journals.

The right hand page is actually not completed, but I have done the layers in the same colors so that the two pages will be unified and coordinated.

Mamaw, Me and Ryan

I want to thank Amisha over at Gorgeous and Fun Things for hosting this blog party and for giving us really thought-provoking things to blog about. Her Mr. Linky is going to stay open so you can still join in the fun by just posting something that you have done creative. I love that it can be anything without a time table or format. Hop over and see what she has going on and say hello!

Inspiration and Being Creative Blog Pary

INSPIRATION AND BEING CREATIVE BLOG PARTY!


I am sharing a finished art journal page and if you would like to see the steps I used to create this, check out my last post at Art Journaling and Joy.

Art Journal Page Using a Photo of My Daughter

Today I am linking up with Amisha over at Gorgeous and Fun Things for her Being Creative blog party. Her topic for the week is "inspiration" - and I have so many areas for inspiration that it is hard to find a place to begin!

First and foremost for me, I believe, are my children! I have 3 very creative children who love to create and don't get bogged down by "self-doubt" or others expectations. I remember sitting with my girls watching them do scrapbook pages by the dozens while I struggled to complete one or two. They just were happy and didn't second guess things, nor were they afraid to use my "special" supplies! LOL! All of these things are important for me to incorporate when I attempt to do something creative!




Next is magazines and books - there are so many wonderful things out there to expand your thinking and introduce you to new ideas. I remember when I first started reading Stampington magazines - I was sort of blown away by the edgy art they showed - especially in the Melange section of the Somerset Studio Magazine. But now I love trying so many things that I see there. I have stacks and stacks of books and magazines and I go back to them again and again. Something that did not mean anything to me the first time I saw it, may be very inspirational later, when I have been exposed to more regarding that particular technique!


And lastly, one of my most recent discoveries are online tutorials that are just awesome. There have been times where I have stared and stared at a page that I loved, but could not for the life of me, figure out how the artist accomplished it. Now that I have discovered these online tutorials, my eyes have been opened and I even think - wow! maybe I could do that! Here are just a few sites that have inspired me:       
Pam Carriker's Blog Pam has so many wonderful things on her site including some free tutorials!


Journal Artista Paula Phillips has lots of wonderful tutorials and videos that are FREE on this one!



All Norah's Art Sharon Tomlinson - wonderful painter of faces and also does wonderful fabric art!

Misty Mawn  - Just wonderful blog and her art is fantastic!


I could go on and on, but these are a few great stops for you to try out.


Thanks so much to Amisha for putting on this wonderful blog party! I am having a blast! Pop over to visit her blog and visit some other very creative blogs that are joining her for her party!

Art Journaling - Joy - Being Creative Blog Party

ART JOURNALING TECHNIQUE :

Today I am sharing my latest art journaling project. I will show some of the steps, although I did not get photos of some of the intermediate steps. This project is based on a photo of my youngest daughter.

This is the original photograph that I started with. It was taken by my oldest daughter last summer.

I then modified the photo using the sketch function of my printer software on my computer and printed this out. Unfortunately, I wanted the reverse, so I just outlined it with Sharpie marker and held it up to the light and traced it onto the back. Then I went over it with pencil and traced it onto a sheet of paper.

 This is the original sketch on a piece of colored paper that I have in another altered book. I then made a color copy of this and cut it out and glued it into my art journal. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the original collage before I started working on it. I tore pieces of paper from other artwork and glued them down prior to gluing in the portrait. I then painted just the face and skin area with gesso and then acrylic paint avoiding the eye area. I then began shading and adding color with oil pastels using the techniques I learned in Pam Carriker's Strathmore workshop 1.

This is the first photo I took of my progress. This shows some of the pink that was in my original work.

Here, I have added more details and shading.

 This is the final version - at least for now. Her cheeks are still pink! Sort of! I will come back to it later and see if I feel that I need to add more to it. I will be joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday. Head over there to experience more pink fun! 

INSPIRATION AND BEING CREATIVE BLOG PARTY!

And tomorrow I will be linking up with Amisha over at Gorgeous and Fun Things for her Being Creative blog party. Her topic for the week is "inspiration".
Thanks so much to Amisha for putting on this wonderful blog party! I am having a blast! Pop over to visit her blog and visit some other very creative blogs that are joining her for her party!