NaNoJouMo

I've been a little lax about scanning lately. I started a new job last week and put in 40 pretty intense hours of training at the computer so didn't want to put much more time in. But this weekend I got a couple pages scanned so want to share them with you.

NaNoJouMo day 19 the word was FRAY.  Since I was feeling a little frayed from a week of training I extended it out to FRAYED and the page above is what I came up with.  The background is watercolor pencils.  Then I used a piece of mesh fabric with frayed edges.  The word is on a piece of ledger paper that I first drew a bunch of lines on with a sharpie and a ruler.  Then tour it out of the ledger paper and inked the edges with a black ink pad.  Then I stamped the word "frayed" on the paper and adhered it and the mesh down with gel medium.

NaNoJouMo Day 13 the word was MYSTIQUE.  Below is the page I made inspired by that word.  I decided it should be a tribute to the ever mysterious, ever powerful Feminine Mystique.  And I wouldn't want to say anything more about it and take away from the Mystique!

The background is watercolor crayon.  I then covered the whole page with used postage stamps stuck down with gel medium.  Stuck a blue border of stamps on 3 sides with more gel medium.  Then printed the words on a piece of ledger paper and cut it out with postage stamp decorative scissors.  Edged it with teal ink and stuck it down with gel medium.  Last step was to put more stamps down on and over the edges of the ledger paper.

I'll share more as soon as I have a chance.  I want to thank Dawn again for sharing NaNoJouMo with us.  You can check what she's posted for it all month on her blog here.  Thanks for taking a look.   

Equanimity - NaNoJouMo

Here's another page I did for NaNoJouMo.  You can find more info about it in previous posts or there is a link on the sidebar of this blog.
The prompt for this page was "Equanimity".  I had to look it up to make sure I knew what it meant.  Good thing cuz not sure I did!
I used watercolor crayons, white acrylic and a brayer for the background colors and layers.  The collaged flowers and circles are cut from decorative paper.  And various rubber stamps were used on each layer.  The words were stamped on last.
I really like how the colors turned out.

With NaNoJouMo I find that I don't journal and/or create fast enough for a daily prompt.  The goal is not to complete a page everyday but to journal everyday.  I am doing that and I will keep a list of all the words but I don't think I'll make a journal page centered around each one.  My goal with art journaling is to create no pressure art so words that don't do anything for me would be pointless for me to journal about.  That's not to say that I won't challenge myself and use words I wouldn't normally, just that I'm not going to make something using every word.  But I don't think of that as the true goal of NaNoJouMo - I think of it as a way to explore your own journaling and to get in the habit of journaling everyday and it is working wonders for me to that end.  It is so good for my heart and soul to make a point to be creative everyday - whether in a few hours stretch or even just to fit in 20 minutes on a stressful, rushed day.

My best words to offer to you - take time to do something you really, truly enjoy everyday.  Make the time!  You'll realize benefits.  Being happy isn't always a given, sometimes you have to reach for it and take it in whatever small bits you can get it, and build from there.

Library book sale at the expo center at the fairgrounds this weekend - I'm hoping to find some cool books there for inspiration and art materials for some bargain prices.
Hope you all have a great weekend!

NaNoJouMo - CHOICE

Here's another page for NaNoJouMo - Dawn DeVries Sokols' prompts for journaling everyday this month - you can find the original post here.  And be sure to check out her blog here to see lot's of link to what others are doing for NaNoJouMo and lot's of inspiration.  All the daily prompts are posted there too.
                                                                  

The background for the page is a rubbing from a rough surfaced picnic table.  It doesn't show real well in the photo but it shows the wood grain.  I drew squares of various colors on the background.  Stamped out the word "CHOICE" on squares of scrapbook paper.  Edged them in various colors and glued them down.  Then I printed the words for the rest of the page on a couple dif pieces of patterned vellum and attached those with brads.

Thanks for taking a look.  And be sure to check out Dawns' blog and NaNoJouMo at the links above.

NaNoJouMo - one week down

I've been participating in NaNoJouMo.  You can see the original post here.  It's Dawn DeVries Sokols' idea to give us prompts to get us journaling every day for a month and it's alot of fun!  Check out Dawns' blog http://www.dblogala.com/ to see lot's more about it and lot's of inspiration.
The first week is over.  It started Nov 1st and goes for the month.  Here's what I did for the first day:

I don't usually do anything to the first page of a journal.  Or, save it for last.  But with the start of NaNoJouMo and a word like "Inception" it just felt right.  I went all with words for this one and started with a piece of scrapbook paper.  I used ledger paper for the words and the 1.  Grunged it all up a bit with a stencil brush and ink and sequin waste and more ink.  I think it ended up looking pretty fun for a first page.

Here's another page I did.  The prompt for this day was "Fortune".  And since I'd been saving this fortune cookie fortune (aka hoarding) to use someday this seemed like the perfect time.  You can click on the picture for a bigger image but just in case you can't read it, it says "You will emerge from uncertainty into great peace and freedom.".  I've had alot of "stuff" going on in my life for a few years now and am ready to move past the uncertainty and great peace and freedom sounds wonderful - bring it on world!  

I have more pages in various stages of completion.  I'll share them as I get them scanned.  The challenge isn't to complete a page each day.  The challenge is to journal each day, whatever works for you to that end.  So think about it and check out Dawns' blog - it's never to late to start.  Just Begin Where You Are!

Have a great week everyone!

Book made with Bind-It-All

Here's a book I made for my niece for her 8th birthday.  I made it with my Zutter Bind-It-All (a nifty toy for adding the coil binding) and it was so fun to get to do such a variety of pages.  Take alook at the following variety of pages.

Thanks for taking a look!

willowing.ning.com - Art, Heart & Healing

I've been taking part in the FREE class Tam is offering at willowing.ning.com called Art, Heart & Healing.
Tam is a wonderful person, I just love her! She is so easy to learn from! And a true joy to watch!

Years ago, someone told me I couldn't draw. I think I can pretty much trace it back to a really traumatic experience with a substitue art teacher in 8th grade. Fortunately for me, Tam came along and didn't bother to tell me if I could draw or not. She just showed me how! I have never (or probably not since that 8th grade art class) seriously tried to draw a portrait. But I have to say for a first effort I am really happy with this portrait drawing! I used what watercolor crayons and pencils I had on hand, and not being into drawing people didn't have alot of "skin tones" so I'm not real thrilled with the coloring. Except I do love the hair color! (used my current fav Inktense Pencils for the hair) And I am thrilled with how the overall journal spread turned out. I love Tam's technique for painting and background.

Here's a closer look at the face:  (click on either picture to see a larger image)

Like I mentioned the class is FREE. So head on over HERE and check it out! She might just help you learn something about yourself and in addition to creating some great art you might create a happier you! That, of course, is up to YOU! Enjoy!

Fall is in the air - postcards

It's been cold and wet here in Oregon lately.  And very windy!  Looks like it is snowing leaves as the wind speeds along the process of the trees shedding their leaves.
A friend of mine that is too far away for me to go visit is sick and in the hospital, so I've been making postcards to send her so she'll hear from me daily.  Even got my mom to paint one for her.
Here's some of what I've sent:



                           

Using Inktense Pencils by Derwent

This is the card my mom watercolored.  It's the scene from where/when we met my niece's school bus the other day.

And the following is from a one-for-one swap I participated in at Swap-Bot.com.  It's Inktense Pencils again.

I put one of my favorite quotes about this time of year one the back

"Autumn is a second spring

when every leaf is a flower"

-Albert Camus

Hope every one is enjoying this season.  I think it is my favorite.

Thanks for taking a look!

The Spooky Gallery Journal Page

Ths week the challenge on Ky's blog The Gesso-Dragon is "Spooky" and in honor of this time of year she challenges us to make a journal page honoring something we like about it.  You can check out the challenge and the blog here.

I love Halloween and have alot of Halloween stamps I really like so decided to make a gallery page using a variety of those.  The background is craft acrylics.  The pieces are on a variety of card stock and watercolor paper.  I stamped and cut out images and framed them.  Drew the spider webs on and stamped the spiders as well as some of the gallery attendes in white ink.

The Spooky Gallery banner was attached with silver skull brads - love these!  The words "The Spooky Gallery" were printed out from a Word document on cardstock.  The background was colored with watercolor pencils and water was dripped down the page for the subtle black drips.

The larger skulls at the bottom of the banner are clay masks made by a local artist.  Oh wait, that was my imagination running away with me, actually I cut them out of scrapbook paper.  But wouldn't they be cool clay masks?

Spooooooooky, huh?

This page was alot of fun to make and it was alot of fun to get all my Halloween stamps out and look through them.  I got alot more...may have to do another Halloween project!

Thanks Ky for hosting the challenge!

Wisdom Journal Page - more on Inktense pencils

Playing more with Inktense pencils by Derwent  I made this background page.                                     

                                                                                                                                                                       

I started by painting a watercolor paper page in my journal with gesso. Then colored with the Inktense pencils and applied water with a brush and a squirt bottle and let someof the color drip down the page.  I then used some sequin waste as a stencil to make the dots (using pigment ink pads).  And stamped a owl a couple times that I used on one of the collage elements (see journal page below).

Here's that wise 'ol owl in the collaged page, stamped on ledger paper, which 

is used alot in this journal, sort of a recurring theme (the inner edge of each page is trimmed with it also).  The stamp is part of a great set that includes an awesome Raven.  It's available from Stampin' Up and I order through my friend Laurel's website here.  I stamped the

image of the man on a piece of decorative scrapbook paper, tore the edges and glued it down. (he looks Chinese, and wasn't Confucious Chinese and full of wisdom?)  I edged the paper pieces with coordinating inks to what I used on the background. 

I had started this page because I had been playing around with Zentangle letters and had doodled the word "wisdom".  I colored the background of the word with a deep indigo Inktense pencil after I had glued it down as the white background stood out too much.  I used a couple skeleton leaves. one was alteady teal, the other I colored with a pigment ink pad.  I cut the loop off some asian charms and glued them down over the leaves.  Added a used postage stamp and a cut out butterfly and decided that was all the wisdom I had to add to the page! I hope it brings me some wisdom...

Thanks for taking a look!

New favorite art tool - Inktense Pencils

I love using colored pencils and watercolor pencils and thanks to my friend Paula (JournalArtista on YouTube and UStream) I've found a great new pencil I am having alot of fun with.  They are Derwent Inktense Pencils 













They are water soluble and really brilliant colors.  Here's some examples of what I've done with them:

Here's a rather abstract still life journal page, I'm still working on it but wanted to share the intensity of the colors of the intense pencils with you.  If working on a porous paper like watercolor paper I would suggest a coat of gesso first to keep the colors from soaking into the paper.

Here's an example of the intensity of the colors once water is added.  These are a stamped image on a linen texture cardstock. The top image is with water brushed on, the bottom is of the pencils before the water,  You can see how they pop!

Here's another example of before and after the water is added.

If you get a chance, give them a try.  They are alot of fun and really great colors!

In the style of (I hope) Urgent 2nd Class Mail

One of my favorite artists is Nick Bantock.  And one of my favorite art books is Urgent 2nd Class by Nick Bantock.
An online friend, Catherine, mentioned she was reading the book and we decided to exchange some mail art postcards, therefore having actual mail art as they had to go through the mail!
Here's the postcard I made using acrylics for the backround, Nick Bantock rubber stamps, and used postage stamps.  For a last touch of green I used a regular hole punch and punched out dots of green paper and glued them on.  I colored the PELICOS rubber stamp image with Derwent Inktense Pencils (more on those coming in my next post).

And here's the card I got from Catherine.  I love the metallics in the background.  Also the adirondack chair - and check out the sea and sky in that image - wish I was sitting there!.  And I think any collage that includes postage stamps is COOL!

Making and swapping postcards is always a great time!

in pieces

About time I completed a journal page, wouldn't you say?  I've been making backgrounds and gathering "stuff" but not doing alot of finishing lately.  I just like making art, sometimes it doesn't even matter to me if I finish it!  But then, I need to close out an idea so I can move on at some point.  Of course, that doesn't mean I won't ever go back and add more...who knows!

This page is gessoed then painted with acrylics, with some 91% alcohol spilled on it for interest.  Then some scraps cut up from an old calendar picture that I used for a book liner.  I glued them down then softened edges with pigment ink pads.  Haphazardly stamped a few images, again with pigment ink.  Drew a few swirls with colored pencil.  Cut the shanks off a couple flower shaped buttons and glued them down along with a metal embossed pewter or silver flower sticker I had colored with lilac pigment ink.  Then wrote the words with a Sharpie water based white paint marker.

I'm really liking the color combinations.  Probably what drew me to use that calendar page in the first place.

Thanks for taking a look!

Postcard Swap

I made some postcards for a swap I'm participating in over on the ArtJournaling.ning.com site.  That is a great site to find alot of info about Art Journaling, meet alot of great people, see alot of photos, and there are free and pay classes.

Anyway, the swap was fall or Halloween themed (a couple of my favorite things!).  I painted watercolor paper purple and orange backgrounds with craft acrylics.  Cut them into 4x6 pieces.  Then got busy with stamps and punches, and scissors and some scrapbook paper.  Some of the stamps I used were ones I got out of the $1 bin at Michaels.  I like shopping smaller independant art and craft stores but not alot of choices where I live and you can't beat those $1 deals.

I cut my watercolor paper the wrong size so ended up with only one orange background...I skipped that measure twice cut once rule...oops!  But now I have some nice 4x5 pieces to make card fronts.

So above you see a couple Halloween cards and below is my one orange post card with a fall theme.

For the orange one I left the deckle edge of the watercolor sheet intact along the bottom.  I love how that looks!

Thanks Kerri for hosting the swap!

Happy Fall y'all!

Helping a worthy cause - A Place To Bark

A Place To Bark is Bernie Berlin's dream - she pours her heart and soul into it each day and saves lives of dogs and cats.
She needs our help to keep the place going.  You can check out The Place To Bark website here for lot's of info and ways to help.  You can see some really inspiring animal stories there that will be sure to touch your heart!

A great way we can help her now is by voting for her at the Go Daddy commercial contest:

Please Blog, Share View with every animal lover dedicated to Life & give @aplacetobark 5 stars! http://bit.ly/8XAaIY Rescued pets rule!

Please give A Place To Bark your vote today and tell people you know to join in!

Thanks!

21 Secrets - Art Journaling Workshops!

Have you heard about 21 Secrets that Connie of Dirty Footprints Studio has put together.  You can read all about it here.

It is 21 workshops from 21 dif artists!  Wow!  And you can work them at your own pace.  There'll be videos for each.
It's artists like :
Paula Phillips - The Journal Artista - she has a couple streams on UStream each week as well as a bunch of YouTube tutorials, and her blog JournalArtista here.  You can find lots of great art examples for her in all three places.  Her calss is going to be about windows and doors to the soul - should be great!
Leslie Herger of Comfortable Shoes Studio who will be teaching about glazes, how to use them, how to make your own, etc.  Leslie is a journal artist, painter, master book maker - just a tower of knowledge in the art world!  She streams on UStream, does youTube tutorials, and has a blog Comfortable Shoes Studio here.
Samantha Kira - The Journal Girl will be teaching how to journal on canvas.  Samantha always has great new ideas and creates really fun pages!  You can find her on UStream and her blog, Journal Girl here.

So be sure to check it out here!  I'm sure you'll be excited for a chance to get so much information from so many wonderful artists!

Bird Altered Book

Here's another couple number themed pages in my bird altered book.  Plus on the right side I made use of the printed words on the page.  Just had to add the word birds.  You might need to click on the pic to enlarge so you can see the other words.  I love it when I can incorporate the words on the page!  I also got a chance to use some of my fav blackbird rubber stamps.  As well as the blackbird postage stamps.  Years ago, prob atleast 10 now, I bought a lot of postage stamps on Ebay - I think it was 7 lbs - and about half of them were bird stamps from Ireland.  Yippee!  I love stamps with birds on them.  They are my fav!  I may never run out.  Unless I ever do get to a project idea I had to cover a wood chair with them.  Think for a minute how many stamps would equal 7 lbs - it is alot!  The rest of them were mostly Australian, again lot's of birds, including the ones I used to cover my Bird Altered Book.

      

I also did a quick page using one of the other things I like to collect (I'm a COLLECTOR not a HOARDER!).  A postcard.  This is a really nice vintage one so I put it in with photo corners so as not to damage it.  The backgrouns is scrapbook paper with an edge.  And I spread some white pigment ink on it before I wrote Baltimore Oriole on it and inked the edges.  And drew the line in the center with the same black sharpie I used for the words.

Hope you enjoyed taking a look!

Have a creative weekend!

Remember September Mail Art Contributions

Here's the envelopes my mom, my niece, and I made to mail on September 11 (Saturday) as part of a mail art tribute to those heroes that saved lives and those that lost lives on 9.11.01.  That's three generations of Mail Art!  Pretty cool, huh?
You can read more about the Mail Art Tribute here.

Here's my mom's envelope.  I love that eagle she drew!  Wish I could draw as well as her.  Maybe someday...

Here's Piper's envelope.  She's 10 years old and just started 5th grade.  She is becoming quite an artist.  It is so fun to make art with her.  Today we were at her house but we spend alot of art time here and I have my paint studio all set up in the garage and we have a great time.

Here's my envelope.  My original plan was to do alot more to it.  But when I got to this point I liked it alot just as it was.  Taken me a long time to learn when to quit with an art project!

My very good friend Debbie is who originally told me about this mail art project.  I've done it off and on since (I think) 2003.  But I think she has done it every year since 2003.  You can see her contribution for this year's tribute on her blog here.

Thanks for taking a look.  Let's all take a moment to Remember September 11, 2001 today.

Remember September Mail Art

I should have posted this atleast a couple weeks ago...but...I didn't so I'm posting it today just in case anyone has a chance to participate.
Here's a chance to honor those heroes from September 11, 2001 by contributing to a Mail Art Memorial.
All the info is HERE.
Sorry for the short notice.  My mom, my niece and I are going to decorate envelopes to send tomorrow after we pick my niece, Piper, up at the school bus today.

Here are a couple I sent in previous years:

Hope you have a chance to participate.  If not, save the website for next year!

I'll post my envelope for this year later, after I finish it.

Thanks for taking a look at my blog!

Stop Hate. Starting Here.

Here's some info about a very interesting art project you can participate in. 

It's called "The Butterfly Project" hosted by The Holocaust Museum Houston in Texas, USA.

Their mission is as follows:

The Holocaust Museum Houston is dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust, remembering the 6 million Jews and other innocent victims and honoring the survivors' legacy. Using the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides, we teach the dangers of hatred, prejudice and apathy.

And the tag line following it reads:

Stop Hate. Starting Here.

The project is about remembering the children that lost their lives in that terrible time in history.

Trudi Sissons - Two Dresses Studio is putting her own spin on it for another unique way to participate.  Click here to find the info.

You can also find links on Trudis' blog to the info about the original project and the Holocaust Musuem Houston.

I hope you'll think about participating in Trudi's project!

By following and reading Seth Apters' blog The Altered Page is where I learned of this project.  You can see his blog here. 

Thanks Seth, for always being a great source of information!

Something Fishy

Here's a journal spread I did using some fish postage stamps I'd been hoarding for awhile.  First I used craft acrylics to paint the background in stripes of bright blue, turquoise and orange,  Threw the orange in as a try at using a color I never make art with.  Next I drew some swirls across the page with a watercolor colored pencil and softened it with some water and a brush.  Then I started gluing stuff down - postage stamps, fish I cut out of pictures, a few gold scrap fish I painted with acrylic, a ticket I'd stamped a fish on, and a piece of ledger paper I'd printed the words "Something fishy" on.  Then I stippled over it with dark blue ink to blend it all a bit.  Last thing I did was stamp a fish postoid style stamp a few times in white pigment ink.
I was glad to put those old postage stamps to use.  I really like creating with postage stamps.  And shopping for them online.  So many cool images out there.
Thanks for taking a look!
I hope you all have a creative week!