Sunday, September 1, 2013

SSAJ9-September Art Journaling Challenge

Yes, it's September! I'm not really sure what happened to August.  I'm thinking a time vortex!

Since it is September that means it's time for another Soul Scrapper Art Journal Challenge...woohoo!  You can find all the details here.




For my page I channeled my inner Effy Wild and jut let the hair flow.  And I discovered the all that hair is a great place to journal.

Thanks for stopping by and happy creating!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

It's Time for Some Sketchables

Hi, Everyone!  Today I'm going to share what I like to call "Sketchables".  These are sketches that I do during my lunch break.  They're quick with very little fuss.  Since I like to draw art dolls in my art journal I've been practicing doing faces.  Here are a couple I did last week...

Then I found out that pencil will resist paint etc. so if I want to add any of these sketches to my journal it will create issues.  So I have switched to color pencils which is a totally different experience for me...

The most difficult part of using colored pencils is they don't erase like a regular pencil does...yikes!

Well, thanks for stopping by and letting me share my creative journey with you :-)

Until next time...Happy Craftin'!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

My First Mixed Media Swap Page!

 
Everyone has received their pages so now I can reveal my first ever Mixed Media Swap page. What an amazing experience it has been, especially being a novice.
 
I used Golden's Fiber Paste for the first time and will freely admit I am addicted...haha.  I will add here if you use fiber paste and then dapple paint on to it after it dries Beware the Peaks! My index and middle fingers had some very tender spots after doing 21 backgrounds and 21 moons in fiber paste...but what great fun! 
 
I hand drew the girl (one of about 13 variations...it was hard trying to translate sketch to art doll for this project) and painted her, but I wasn't happy with the flesh color so I scanned her into my computer and added some zentangle patterns from Studio Sherrie and paper background from Tangie Baxter Designs. I then printed her out on some medium weight carstock 21 times :-)
 
The quote reads "follow your inner moonlight, don't hide the madness" which is quote from Allen Ginsberg. 
 
Originally I had glass stones where you see stars etc.  But when I started to pack the pages to mail the stones started popping off!  Apparently hot glue will not hold glass stones even when the bottom is sanded...PANIC!  I grabbed an old CM mini punches and Hubby & I punched our little hearts out...PROBLEM SOLVED.  Definitely a different look, but at least they won't pop off.  Did I mention I learned alot?  Haha.
 
I have returned the living room to the rest of the family, for which they are grateful :-)  I've warned them though that there is talk of a second swap in a few months so don't get too comfortable..heehee.
 
Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a chance to follow your inner moonlight today!


Sunday, June 2, 2013

It's Never Too Late to Jump on the Caravan!

Finally! I did a page for the Art Journal Caravan.  I mean we only started in January and it's now June, so it was about time don't ya think?  Haha.  Our first stop this year was The United Kingdom.  My journaling reads :                           Ever since I was a little girl I’ve been fascinated by the United Kingdom. I remember watching British comedies with my mother, like Keeping Up Appearances, Fawlty Towers and To the Manor Born.  Then as I got older I started watching Monty Python and of course, Dr. Who.  Tom Baker was the Dr. when I first started watching and he had this magnificent scarf that went on and on.  Then when I was a teenager I started reading the romance novels full of highlanders and celtic warriors. It was only natural that I would fall in love with my hubby when our first date ended at his place and we watched the Vicar of Dibley together! All these years later and we still enjoy watching
Brit-Coms and laughing together.  This year I even got him to watch some Dr.Who on BBC America. We talk often
of the magical retirement years when we will go traveling.  First stop:
The United Kingdom."
 
For a full list of digi credits click here
 
Thanks for visiting!
 

Saturday, June 1, 2013

SSAJ6-Perspective an Art Journal Challenge

Hello, Everyone! Welcome to June. I’m so excited about this month's art journal challenge over at Soul Scrappers. We’re going to have so much fun!

Did you know the archaic definition of perspective is "optical glass like a telescope"? This month we’re going to look at our environment through an art journaling telescope and see how our perspective changes. In other words we’re going to play with found objects!
 
I used some drywall tape and candy molds.  Journaling reads " I know there is beauty outside, I can see it if I close my eyes and look around me. I know there is beauty inside if I close my ears and stop listening. It's all about Perspective."
 
All the details can be found here.  I hope you join us.  Until next time...Happy Craftin'!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The Perks of Being a Wallflower From Screen to Scrap Challenge

Have you seen this movie?  I must admit that when I first heard of it I thought, Oh great, another teen agnst movie.  But I was so wrong.  This movie is such a treasure.  Great characters and the soundtrack rocks!  I down-loaded the movie and the soundtrack to my laptop.  If you haven't seen it, what's stopping you?

Okay, commercial over.  On to the challenge.  From Screen to Scrap's May challenge is based on the movie poster.  The criteria to follow: a bit of green cardstock, black title and bricks.  Of course I used a lot of green cardstock since it's my background paper :-)  Journaling reads:
Teenager meet Brick Wall.  Brick Wall meet Teenager.  You have a lot in common with each other.  For instance, when I ask Teenager a question he doesn’t vocalize an answer; when I ask Brick Wall a question it doesn’t vocalize
 an answer.  When I ask Teenager to do something he stands there; when I ask Brick Wall to do something it stands there.  See the similarities?  I know that time will erode some of  Teenager’s attitude just as time erodes away a Brick Wall.  But dealing with Teenager in the in-between years makes we want to hit my head against Brick Wall.

We've hit the teenage years hard in our home, can you tell?  We've been working through some challenges. And "talking to a brick wall" is not a cliche to a parent of a teenager! I can almost see my words as they hit him and then crumble to the ground unheard, unwanted <sigh>. But I'll keep talking and hope that some of the words get through.

Digi  Credits: Captivated Visions, Sissy Sparrows and Anna Aspnes.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Craftin'!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Let Your Inner Child Out to Play with SSAJ5

Credits: Studio Tangie Baxter,
Studio Rebecca Mcmeen, Studio Rosey Posey
Ruccola Designs, Fine Crafted Designs
Eenas Creations
It's time for SSAJ5-May Art Journaling Challenge. This month is all about possibilities. And the best part...we're making art dolls! Do you remember when you were a child cutting up paper and magazines to make people? It's as simple and fun as that ;-) Or for those that aren't allowed to play with sharp objects (heehee) you can always draw one.

That's what I did for my page.  I cut out the clothes, but then painted the head and arms.  As you can see I'm still playing around with lettering styles.  Haven't quite figured that out yet.  Each page I learn a little bit more about myself and the materials I'm using.  Which is part of the reasom why I art journal.


When I started this page I had a prepped background of faded blue, white and purple squares.  I then inked up an old texture plate and pressed it on to the page.  It made me think of a wall so I added bricks to the page in a random pattern.  As I sketched my doll she seemed to tell me she wanted to wear pants, which led to pockets and that sparked the idea for my journaling.  That's one of the things I love about art journaling.  If you let yourself relax and just go with it there's no telling where you'll end up.  One thing I learned about my purple glaze pen: Let it dry completely or it will smear.

All the details for this month's art journaling challenge can be found here.


Also, don't forget all the NSD challenges are still going on over at Soul Scrappers. You have until May 12th to get at least 3 done to be entered to win a prize!


Thanks for visiting!