joy to the world

Art journaling...

Joy!!!
Merry Christmas art friends!!!

a party on the page

Here is a peek at an art journal page that we did at Play on the Page at the Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville. Tis the season to be jolly...with lots of celebrating happening, so we created a party on our page.  Our journaling prompt was what gift has this past year given you, which we tucked behind the gift box.

I hope you are finding time for a bit of creativity...as you enjoy all the festivities.  :)

catch up

I can't believe it has been a whole month since I last posted...and I suppose that this upcoming month will be even crazier with the holidays...sigh...oh well...it is what it is...and I DO so love the holidays!!!  :)

I just thought I would catch up with just a few of the things I have been working on, playing with lately...in/for/around teaching classes...all very fun...

Finished up Ink-tober....

Lettering as background...

Oh...and then a little of this...not "play on the page" but fun anyway...and just look at colors...yum!!!

 And now this...

So much to be thankful for!

Blessings!

that was fun!

I've been teaching altered book basics this year, and so this has been my "playground."  This is one of the pages I have been playing with...

Combining my love of letters, collage,wash tape, fun edges, doodling...it is still in process since I know that I want to add clip art or a stamped image...I will update you as I finish it...

Too much fun!!!

playing!

Last month I had the chance to go to a workshop at Kuretake, a company that makes amazing pens, markers...things that make my heart flutter.  :)  (Thanks Sandy @ the Stamp Art Shoppe)

I was able to get some of the products that we used in the workshop and have been "playing" with them for fun...AND for new class ideas...can I just say...too much fun!!!

I wanted to try a "watercolor" technique using the Kuretake Zig Wink of Luna brush pens.

I always start by making a sample swatch to check out colors and "personality" of new supplies.

I thought it would be fun to show the "process" of one of those projects.  I started by wetting the watercolor paper then applying the blue, green, and light green inks to the page. Then I blended the color with a large flat brush...the pigment is so rich and I just love the hint of metallic in these.  I didn't like how "crisp" the edges looked so I spritzed the edges with water, and loved how the ink splattered and softened.  Then I journaled across the page using a medium blue ink that would show but not draw attention to itself.  I decided that I wanted some texture on the page but not collage, so I used the Zig Embossing Pen with a circle stencil and put circles here and there and embossed them...very subtle, and just what I wanted.  Next, I grabbed a Tim Holtz stencil and stenciled the wildflowers over the writing with black ink.  Since I had so much fun with the embossing pen, I drew some swirls on circles cut from dictionary pages and embossed that. Finally, I "grounded" the flowers with text paper and washi tape...outlined the text circles with the light green Luna ink...

 

Here is a slightly different angle...can you see the texture of the embossed circles?





Well!  That was fun!  I can't wait for my next "play date" with my new toys...I'll keep you posted.
By the way, Have I mentioned how good for you it is to "play" now and then...therapeutic even...try it...do something fun, I mean, good for you this week-end.  :)

still here

I really am still here...just working away "behind the scenes"...on all kinds of things...some creative, some just necessary. I have been journaling in tiny increments here and there where I can, but still at it nonetheless...always!  I will add some of the pages I have done as I can...some of them are finished, and some are not...which is ok with me because my journaling is for me...

Last month my daughter and I took a class taught by Dina Wakley at the Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville...It was a wonderful class and Dina is an amazing teacher...Her "Facing the Facts" class was a complete stretch for me since I don't feel very comfortable with my drawing skills, or lack of them  :)  ...BUT she taught us to draw a face and then challenged us to draw 100 faces...in other words, PRACTICE!  Well, the class was an encouragement to me (BIG difference between my "before" face and my "after" her-instruction face)...plus my daughter inspires me constantly with her drawings...anyway, I have been drawing faces (I think I have sketched 15 so far.)...I'm not confident enough to show all of them :) but this journal page represents this activity in my life right now....

As you can see, she is simple...basic...but I like her...
Like anything in life that is difficult, practice helps so much...sometimes my girls look like aliens...my husband called one of them 'horseface'  :)  ...but I am enjoying the process so much...I highly recommend it.  :)  Think of something you would like to learn to do, get a little instruction and then practice...alot...
                            ...and while you are at it, have a good time...laugh lots...enjoy the process!

a new month

A new year, a new month, a new week, a new day...all are so exciting.  So full of possibilities.  This year I decided to make a "small" art journal for each month.  It has been very fun...easy to complete and "fill" because they are small:  so far no bigger than 6" x 6" and about 10-12 pages...This is perfect since I mostly work in 10-20 minute time slots.  (I rarely have more than a 20 minute chunk of time "just for art")  I have also been trying to stretch my color palette "muscles"...using different colors than my usual favorites.  So, this month I chose some paper I found at my favorite stamp store (Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville) to inform my May palette:  yellow, gray, green, and blue...kind of a funky combo, if you ask me...but I am loving it!

  

This is the cover...so far undecorated.  I usually do my covers last unless I am inspired sooner than later.  Also, I spiral bound this one...just to try working in this format...we'll see...(The past 4 months have all been stitch-bound.)

Bordering my first page...tape along bottom.  then I chose catalog pics that spoke to me at that moment...probably thinking about journalling so I chose the pen...and I always LOVE script and books :) 

  ...glued those in place...

Then I punched some little butterflies, and cut a bigger one out of notebook paper.  I played around with placement, and glued everything down, along with some fun tape.  I love the sense of movement on the page that the scattered blue butterflies give.

 

I added the words "explore," "discover," and "wonder" which I stamped on white paper...(I am doing 30 days of  WONDER from Margaret Feinberg's book Wonderstruck  so I want to include that in this month's journal)...I like it so far...I will journal, doodle, and embellish it more...as I "live" with it.  That is the happy beginning...

Happy MAY!  

MAY you be happy!