time flies!

Whew!  The days certainly fly by quickly!  I can't believe it has been so long since my last post...it has been very busy these past weeks...I have been blessed with lots of fun teaching opportunities, meeting so many new creative friends, playing on the pages of our journals together...Here is a peek at a page or two...

The above two pages are still in process since I will still add my journaling, and maybe a little "pen work"... always lots of mixed media fun!

Hope you can add a bit of creativity to these last days of spring...as we move into summer.!!!

Thankful!

So much to be thankful for!

Still!  Always!!!

the point of creativity...

I have been "playing" with my Faber-Castel gelatos, having a good ol' time and after I saw something Mary Engelbreit, I was inspired to make these flowers...

I smooshed the pink gelato around in big circles then applied water to blend...next came loose green leaf "shapes" and water to fill and move the color...I set that aside to dry...

 

 

On a scrap of dictionary text I made more circles...smaller, in yellow for the flower centers...blended with my finger...cut them out and glued them on the flowers...

Next I outlined the flowers in a "sketchy" sort of way :)

Finally, I smooshed the pink gelato on a plastic palette and added a bit of water with a brush and splattered the color...oooh!...I LOVE splattering color on a page!

 

Then I did MORE...

 

 

So very fun!!!  The above journal page reads "The point of creativity is the joy it unlocks in you." (Jane Davenport)...that is it!

 

Go ahead make a little joy!

mark making

The theme for March for Documented Life Project was mark making...this is where I started...

I "sat" with this for a while...wasn't inspired to add any more "marks" soooo...

...my default is usually dictionary page pieces...  :)

A little acrylic paint-colors of spring-swiped on with an old credit card...this is where I am...I'm liking it this way, although I know that I will add to it...what would you add to this page?

friends

hey friends!  :)

Hope you are having a colorful week-end!

greetings

For you...

Hope you're having a good one!

color and shapes

This art journal page is my interpretation of the Documented Life Poject's prompt (week 3):  the color wheel...and the Georgia O'Keefe quote...

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way."

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.  :)

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...  :)

Fall...

aaahh...fall...

 

 

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

 

Enjoy!

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)

playing!

I am having a blast getting ready for the next Creekside Studio art journaling class (Monday 3/24)...we will be playing with acrylic paints, using stencils...discussing a little color theory...incorporating a "tip-in", a transparency, putting a pop-up in our journals...lots of fun...here is a peek at the prep going on around here...

 

 

 

Just look at all that yummy color! I can hardly wait!  Check out Creekside Studios on facebook for class details... Creekside Studio 

listen

A past journal page...

A good reminder for me...
                  colors are fun too.  :)
  Happy Saturday!

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...

next...

September is next...what does it hold?  This is the journal I have chosen for September...it was a lot of scrap pieces of paper (Basic Gray line from a few years ago) that I had left over from a different project...I love the paper and the colors "feel" just right for the beginning of fall...the pieces were all different sizes, and instead of cutting them all to uniformity, I folded them, arranged them in the order I wanted, and stitched them together...scraps transformed to a book!

 

 

 

 

oooh...yum!  Gotta go...this is screaming at me, "Come play!"

What does your September hold?  Take time to "play" and journal it!  :)

How doodle you do?

As I mentioned before, most of my journal play this month has been done in 10-15 minute increments...so this page began with the doodling...

...later I added some color...and in the final sitting I added the words (which had been on my mind during the week) at the bottom of the page...

...pause...breathe...rest...smile...
                                                                    ...doodle...

winding down

...the month, I mean, is winding down...already...whew!  I've only been journaling in fragments...or so it seems...But all those bits add up...last night I discovered that I had finished my family camp "page"...This is based on something that I saw on Teresa McFayden's blog...I just LOVE it since I enjoy doodling letters and words more than images...super simple and the concept can be applied to lots of things...

I used WATERPROOF black ink and a calligraphy pen to ink the boxes and journal in the "memories"...It is a fun challenge to use the dipping pens and ink...definitely slows you down...I find it very relaxing and meditative...plus, I just love using as many "fonts" as I can think of...

...Then with Marvy brush markers and a water-brush,  I watercolored each box and added extra embellishments (white polka dots, sparkly gel-pen highlights, blue ink in SHOW) when the paint was dry...

 

 There you have it! My notes and memories from Family Camp...journaling in the box...:)

Go ahead...get out some scratch paper-so there is no pressure...its only paper!-and give it a try..Play a little!

look...

That about says it all.  Check out Ex. 3:1-6, 11-15.
(This page was inspired by Joanne Sharpe's LetterLove 201 online class.)