book report

If only...

If only I had been allowed to do book reports like this as a kid in school!  :)

So...our Women's Bible Study just finished a short 3 week study on the "book" of Habakkuk...It was a wonderful study:  relevant, deep, applicable.  I loved it...and I haven't been quite ready to "be done" with Habakkuk so I decided to do my own review during my quiet time...which led to jotting down highlights...which led to these blocks all lettered out...  :)  Since I penciled it all first and then inked it (with my favorite pen...the Sharpie PEN)...I got to REALLY "handle" these highlights...so, not only was it a fun review but interacting with the Word helped reinforce it too...very fun!
...hmmm...I'm thinking color might be fun now...  :)

What do you think?  Give it a try with the next book you read...the who, what, where, when, why and how just might be alot more fun penned with a little playful "flair".  :)

still giving thanks

My heart is full and as I bask in the mood of Thanksgiving...

I am STILL giving thanks, counting my blessings, CHOOSING gratitude...and this is the perspective...the frame of mind that I want to continue to carry into the Christmas season...into the new year...into my everyday, in fact.

Blessings and Thanks to you!

thankful

Pretend that this is the journal page you are working on this week...

What would you list as the things you are thankful for?  What images, pictures would you collage on this page to represent those things that stir gratitude in your heart?

Happy Thanksgiving!

let the page speak

 

The page:-

The focus:-

One of the things that I love about art journaling is that the colors and imagery and texture speak for themselves...and while each viewer may have their own interpretation, very often I don't feel the need to write a lot after I have created the page...sometimes I do go back and journal on it, sometimes I don't...it is my journal, after all...  :)

What do you see?

Revisiting an old journal...

 

 

...in this journal I spent some time "studying" some of the great works of art that I enjoy...this is one of Edward Hopper's...I see aloneness, but not necessarily loneliness...thinking, reflecting, processing...stealing a moment...light...pausing to take it all in...
What do you see?

nothing profound

Looking back through some old journals...

...beautiful papers, and timeless inspiration in that face, Mona...PLUS a party hat!  :)

Put on your paper party hat and have a great day!

Fall...

aaahh...fall...

 

 

"living, enjoying, celebrating the GIFT that is today...this moment...NOW.  Today is a gift...untie the ribbons."   Ann Voskamp

 

Enjoy!

found!

I was digging through my paper stash the other day and look what I found...treasure!

 

This is a file folder that I made out of Tim Holtz paper last October and evidently it got buried in the strata...so finding it was such a blessing...so much fun to see what I journaled last year...here is one of the "pages"(they are loose, not bound)...

 

 

As you can see, the paper didn't need much work...its beautiful and so just a quote-informed by the season  :)  and a little tape...quick and easy...journal happiness...

 

up close...quote printed on vellum...

 

Hope you are enjoying your October!  :)

 

 

 

 

sure

It started like this...

tissue and dictionary bits...
and then stencil, stamp and drip some gelatos (by Faber Castel)...

add more paper bits...

 

and it feels just about right...

...at least for now...  :)



inspiration

I definitely am not a great photographer. But I do try to be mindful to take pictures of the things around me...cell phones sure make that easier...I feel like taking the time to slow down and stop to snap the shot is kind of like capturing a moment...being fully present and somehow it is an expression of gratitude for what I have right now...what is right in front of me...appreciating this now...as I "pay attention" my senses wake up and I enjoy things I might have rushed passed...things like color, texture, shape, beauty...inspiration is everywhere...

 

Take the time to look for it...find it...enjoy it...

more color



As summer is winding down, I must be thinking about fall...leaves changing color...because that is what keeps showing up on the pages of my journal...interesting how that happens...

 

I am loving this riot of color...and can you see the leaf in there?...(Tim Holtz Distress) inks sponged, sprayed, dripped, rubbed, and stamped on this page...

 

 

This is just the beginning...the foundation for this page...

I even love the "mess" that such wet mediums make of the paper...hmmm, kinda like the "glorious mess" (as my husband so affectionately calls it) of life...

  (Close the book, add some weight, and those warped pages become flat again.)  :)

 

One of the reasons that it is good to journal:- getting "out," expressing what's inside...even when you are not aware that it is in there...just something to think about...actually, go ahead, "play" on the pages of your journal, and see what shows up...

better than therapy

Getting color on paper...

 



Ink sponged through a stencil...ink pad brushed on the page...watercolor splattered-which, by the way is SUPER fun, maybe because it feels a little out of control :) in a good way...hmm...better than therapy. Try it!  (Just watch the walls when you splatter :) just saying)

rehearse and believe

Playing with washi tape...

 

I created a flap-hinged with washi tape on both sides of the cardstock-



 

 

 

I love everything about art journaling...obviously!!! :)...the fun of it as well as the significance it can have-when I need/choose.  This page is an example of needing to focus, remember and rehearse truth...practicing mindfulness on the page...it's a good thing.  :)

 

thinking...

...in color...creating artful reminders...

 

you never know when you might need that visual "prompt"... 



on the pages

More pages from my summer journaling...

 

 

 

 

The processing really IS more fun when I'm "playing" on the pages of my art journal.

 

"playing" and processing

The last "official" day of summer...wow...it has come and gone so quickly...I have been (of course!) sneaking in moments of journaling time when I have been able...I thought I would share some of what I have been "playing" with...

 

 

..."playing" with Tombow water-based markers and a water-brush, Distress Stains by Ranger, Prang watercolors, stencils, and my trusty Sharpie pen..."playing" and processing...

to do

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
                                                                                                Mary Oliver

 

 

Something to think about...

 



the finished page

Here is the finished page (from the last post)...at least for now I am happy with it...who knows, I may add to or alter it sometime...:)  That is one of the things that I love about art journaling...just like me, the pages are always "in process".

 

 

I cut the "frame" with an exacto (a technique we worked on in my "Cut It Out!" class at Creekside Studio https://www.facebook.com/pages/Creekside-Studio/573215292765578 )...then I added a little doodling around the frame and the leaves...plus, I used the Gelly Roll stardust pen to add a bit of sparkle to the wing...you can't really see it in the photo, but its fun.  :) I also gave the polka-dot butterfly antennas with a bit of thin brown twine tied on.

 

Hope you are enjoying your summer.  :)



I'm back!

Here I am...I haven't been here...and I haven't been on vacation either...It has been a very busy past few weeks...My baby graduated from high school, so there has been lots and lots going on around here...
I have still been arting...as I can squeeze it in...and I will always squeeze in a bit...even if its only a few minutes in one sitting...it really, really does add up...and that little bit does wonders for my outlook on things.  :)
Here is just one of the pages I have been playing around on...

 

 

It's amazing what paper, a little glue and ink can do to refresh you...   :)  try it, you'll like it!



pages

I thought it would be fun to show you a few of the pages we "painted" in last Monday's Creekside Studio art journaling class...
Here is what we were working with... :) ...it was a very happy mess of supplies...

 

 

Some of these are finished but (as I have said before) most are still in process...I will add journaling, doodling, shading with graphite or charcoal, highlighting with white pens and/or gel pens as I am inspired...who knows...just like me, they are still in-the-making...  :)

Are you "documenting" your process?  :)

painting with paper

A little peek at what we will be doing in the Creekside Studio art journaling class on
  Monday, Apr. 21...

...painting WITH paper...yep, that's right!
And this just a bit of what we will be "playing" with...

 

 



Too much fun!  Let me know if you'd like to join us...love to have you!  :)

 

 

and finally...

This is continued from my last post-which "got published" before it was ready...this is the page after I did a little "pen work"...as usual it may or may not be finished...you just never know when you may want to add a little something else to a page...and I love that in my art journal that is perfectly acceptable...  :)  ...a work in process.

the process

Thought you might enjoy the progression of this page...

...a quick little sketch inspired by the budding trees and new life out there... 

 

 

up a little closer...

 

and finally...