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!

linger

Another art journal page prompted by the Documented Life Project...

Distress ink splattered with water...dictionary text paper...Dylusions spray ink...

A copy of a Modigliani portrait that I love...

Fun die cut pieces...a little penwork...



Journaling using Faber Castel Pitt pens...
   "The portrait makes direct eye contact with the viewer...linger and decode the story."
     (quote by Lynne Perrella)

...linger and decode the story...

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.  :)

art

I read this quote and have been thinking about it. (It is always interesting to think about why we are compelled to create-at least for me it is.)  :)  And then Joanne Sharpe showed this flower in Artfully Inspired Life 2015 and I figured I could do that.  So I decided to create a journal page...

I sketched out the layout...the lettering and the flower...in pencil first then I inked it all with my trusty Sharpie pen. When I was sure that the ink was dry I erased all pencil lines.  Now for the fun!  Using my Tombow markers I "loosely" applied color.  Then I took my waterbrush and "moved" that ink around, filling in and softening lines.  I love having the control of a marker, yet the look of watercolor.  I decided I needed just a little something else so I put a blue marker in the Tim Holtz Spritzer and spritzed here and there.  (It is a little hard to see this in this picture.)   Finally, using a Kuretake waterbrush filled with sumi ink, I brushed ART.  I absolutely love how very rich and bold that black-black-black sumi ink is...I definitely want to "play" with it in more projects.

Have a great day!  And go ahead...create something, make your soul visible!  :)

happy new year!!!

Woohoo!  2015 is here and in full swing!

Not much art happened over the past two weeks...and although I missed it, it was just too full...which is such a blessing, so no complaints here.  :)  Nevertheless, I was SO ready to get back to my desk and START the ART!  Here is a peek at my first project of the year...

I started with a composition book from the dollar store...I love the size of these for my quiet time notes...added scrapbooking paper from my "stash", plus washi tape, Tim Holtz stickers, a bingo marker, and a beautifully folded dictionary page (thanks Amanda!).

 

Can you see the edges are inked?  I'm not sure why but adding color to the edges of my journal pages almost makes me feel giddy!  :)

 

Open it up and this is what the inside cover and first page look like...

 

 

And finally, this is the back inside cover...(is that what it is called?)...anyway, you gotta have a pocket, right?!? 

 



 

There you have it!  The first journal ready to go!  And so it begins...

Happy, happy!!!

"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...

fun!

The warm-up exercise for our Art Journaling class at Creekside Studio was to stamp this fun circle stamp from Stampers Anonymous...I love making a spinner from this image...it is whimsical and interactive, which I love in my journals...and whether I actually "spin" it or not, its a fun prompt...

First I stamped script in yellow along the bottom of the page and the little Tim Holtz icons in black along the right edge of the page and cut around the images to create a fun page edge...Then I sprayed Dylusions spray inks over a stencil on a dictionary page, and glued it down.  Finally I put the brad and spinner in the circle and taped it down...this is how it turned out... 

Very fun!!!
 

A is for...

The next page is A...
A is for "Appreciating, Acknowledging"...

and the back...
  (dictionary scraps, gesso, Rusty Hinge Distress Ink, clip art, washi tape, flower embellishment)

Then, N is for "Naming, then"...
  (Tim Holtz tissue paper, scrap with ransom letters-"take note", psalm 100 distress inked)

and on the other side...
  (dictionary scraps, gesso, Broken China Distress Ink, scrap paper, postage stamp doodled around, border added with Tim Holtz tiny staples)

Thankfulness really is a game-changer...Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  :)

THANKS

 So...its been a while...here is the acrostic I came up with for the word THANKS...its meant to be read like a sentence-ish...     :)

Today, each day...To
Him, my Heavenly Father, my God, my Lord and King
Acknowledging, Appreciating
Naming, then
Kneeling in gratitude for each and every
Small and/or Significant gift given from His Hand.

Here are how the "pages" are progressing as I journal on them, a bit here and there...as I can...

The first page...T...

and the back...
  (dictionary scrap glued down, gessoed, Distress Ink in Wild Honey , acrylic paint over drywall mesh tape   across the bottom corner, Tim Holtz clock stamped with black Archival Ink on vellum cut out and glued on with Glossy Accents...)

Next is H...
  (Distress Inks-Rusty Hinge & Gathered Twigs- sponged and textured on background, script stamped with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink in lower left corner, letters and words cut from magazines, glued down with clip art...words inspired by Ann Voskamp.)

and the back...
  (dictionary scrap, gesso, Distress Ink-this time Seedless Preserves, Peeled Paint Distress Paint over my own stencil, stamp on vellum, graphite pencil to highlight around stencil...)

 

 Fun, fun!  And as I have said before, I just love the meditative focus and process of "working" in my journal...or is it "playing" in my journal?...either way it is ALL GOOD!  :)
Give it a try...Enjoy!

the process

Its interesting when you think about "the process" of learning, growing, life...or any project or chore that we tackle...there IS a "process" involved...as I began October's journal, I pulled out paper that spoke 'fall' to me...and then I started to sort through it and narrow down what I would use this month...this is a peek at what that beginning process looked like...

 

...and a little closer look at the yummy papers, yummy colors...

I love that those hot air balloons kinda look like pumpkins.  :)

...then, inspired by our women's retreat preparations, I decided that this month I would make a small "file folder" to hold all the "pages" that I create...

I don't know if you can tell by the pic, but we are making small file folders to hold our retreat notes (the file folder on the bottom of the stack is a normal letter-sized file folder.  The pile of folders on the top are about 8 1/2 x 6 each...super cute!)...
...here is my October journal "folder"...made from Tim Holtz paper...

 

 So that was just the process getting started...Yikes! Its the 8th...I gotta get journaling!  I'll be back with the first page or two...

beginning

in the beginning...I collect all the "ephemera" that is inspiring to me at that moment...what a fun mess!

 

 This crumpled piece is actually a paper towel that I has used to blot and clean with...I loved the inky colors and saved it (I should probably be embarrassed by that but I'm not...sigh...).  Now I will use it for texture and to add a little character, to alter this book... :)

...kinda like what happens to us...colored, torn, wrinkled, used by our life experiences...AND in Him, we are altered into something beautiful, something new... 

 

...as I was doing this, I started thinking of icons...images that hold some significance for us...I know that I am drawn to certain images and will use them over and over again...things like keys, clocks, birds, butterflies, etc....and without putting more weight on this than it deserves, I still like to ponder why it is that I like these images...anyway, instead of using any of the things I initially pulled out, I chose these mini images by Tim Holtz, stamped, cut them out, glued them down...again, the "process" was fun and meditative.

I may add more journaling to this, maybe not...but I'm happy with it...the scrunched and wrinkled color in the bottom corner grounding the black and white "icons"...what are your personal "icons"?