Making journals

I'm in a journal making mood! I just finished a journal using an old hard cover book. I took the book block out and collaged the cover. The innerds are made of drawing paper and I embellished some of them with small pictures or stitching. This journal is a gift for someone to write in, not necessarily for visual journaling. I used several coats of varnish on the cover which gives it that shiny and hard surface.

I got so into making this journal that I signed up for Mary Ann Moss' Full Tilt Boogie class to learn how to make several other types of journals. Fun!!

Here is the front:

and here is the back:

What are you working on?

Art Journal flip

Here is a look at my first art journal I started. It's not complete but I'm tired of waiting for that day. Hope you enjoy!

ART JOURNAL FLIP

Tangle time

I've been working on a Zentangle in my Moleskine journal. It took me a while but I'm pleased with the final product. I used a quote from Albert Einstein that I liked.

I've also done a couple Mandalas as well.

I realize these are not the clearest photos, but you get the idea. The bottom two are from my tiny 3.5"x5" journal.  I've got a whole board of pinned Zentangles on my Pinterest site. There's a link on the right side of the blog. Happy Tangling!

Etsy site!

Hey everybody! I now have an Etsy site where I have stuff for sale. No art yet, but some quilts, bags, and a journal. I just made the journal and I really love it! Here is a peek-

There is a link on the right hand side of this blog if you want to check out my Etsy site. Thanks for visiting!

Flow

So I took another class from my 21 Secrets workshops I'm signed up for. It's called Flow and taught by Connie Hozvicka. You're just suppossed to paint, pick some colors start painting and see what happens. add some lines and see where it goes. This was quite fun and I was surprised by the outcome. I would definitely try this technique again. I've only done the first lesson. There are several others to try as well. Here is my attempt:

To me it seemed like alien beings speaking their language, all with different reactions to their environment and different emotions.

More 21 secrets

I took Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's watercolor class at 21 Secrets. This is my creation. It's all watercolors. The stencil with watercolors was a new technique for me. I love the way the flowers are on her face.

Inky tags

I got inspired by Roben Marie Smith's tutorial on tags. I cut my own tags out of watercolor paper I had. They are embellished with yarn and rub ons for the lettering.

I might add some sewing to them too. Fun!

21 Secrets

I started a new online class called 21 Secrets, its 21 classes that you can take anytime from now until the end of the year.

The first class I dove into was Dina Wakely's Intuitive Painted Layers. Here's my attempt:

It was fun and gave me some new ideas to try, especially if I get stuck and don't know where to start.

I'm using exsisting Art Journals that I've started since I have so many. Maybe one will get filled up! I don't know what that means, maybe that you get to start another one. Anyways, I'm hoping to learn some new techniques and just play. My friends from Journalfest are playing with me so that will be fun to see what they do too! Stay tuned for more from 21 Secrets!

Fixed page

This is a journal spread that I have tried to fix several times. You know what they say, "Third times a charm". I guess it's true, because I finally like it. That's the beauty of paint, if you don't like something you do, just paint over it!

First Video Journal Flip!

Good afternoon everybody! This is my first attempt at filming a journal flip. Since none of my art journals are filled yet, I picked a Remains of the Day journal to show you. This is an online class taught by Mary Ann Moss. I've had a lot of fun making these journals. If you like it I'll flip through some more.

I tried to get fancy and edit it with title and credits but then the format wasn't working. I'll figure this video thing out someday.

Journal pages

I've been working on some pages with the help of my cat, "Baghera". He's such a help! He would try to get right on top of what I'm doing if I didn't suggest an alternate location. I can't tell from his expression if he's impressed or not.

Here is the finished spread. The page on the right has writting on it, but I did it with a grey gel pen and it's hard to see in the photograph.

And here are a couple pages I did awhile ago, but don't think I ever posted:

I'm going to work on my Remains of the Day journal, so I'll post those soon! Hope everyone is being creative today!

I'm here

Yes, I'm still here. I've been dabbling in this and that. I haven't felt like I've finished much but I'll post what I've got.

This was a completed background that I finally added some text to. I've been collecting quotes and inspiration on Pinterest, if you want to follow me on that site too.

This is a journal spread from a lesson in my 'A Lovely Dream' online class taught by Suzi Blu. I really wish my photos turned out better. I'm open to advice.

I think I'll work on some Remains of the Day journal pages today. I'm having a hard time focusing on one media, but that's fun too!

My precious pooch is laid up at the hospital with an uncertain future. His back legs are not working and the surgery he had will hopefuly improve his condition. So I did a journal page with him in mind, inspired by Samantha Kira Harding's video.

A Lovely Dream spread

I've added some layers to my Lovely Dream spread. Lots going on but I'm pleased with the result. For those of you new to my blog, this is a class I'm taking from Suzi Blu. It's an online class so you can complete lessons at your leisure. No pressure. However, if you keep up with the other students, it's kind of fun to see what everyone is working on at the same time. It's a lovely commumity of supportive artists and art students.

Recently I completed a painting for my Mom's birthday. Here it is below. She is featured in the painting with her partner Ralph. They recently went on a vacation that included London.The background is an image transfer that I painted around.  There are several personal references included in this piece, which made it fun to do.

In addition, I've been having lots of fun working on Journals. I will post them in more detail as I give them to my friends, but for now you just get a glimpse.

Remains of the Day!

I've been having so much fun taking the Remains of the Day class offerred on line by MaryAnn Moss. I've already completed two journals, and there's no telling when I might stop. The journal is a mish mash of scraps of paper, epherma, fabric, and junk sewn together to make a journal. The idea is to put your everyday happenings in it, from the mundane to the exciting. Here are some pictures for you.

So now I just have to fill it up! I'll post more pictures as that happens. It's been fun taking pictures of mundane things just to have some photos to add. Everyday can be a photo op.!

Journal entries

I find myself draw towards posting pretty drawings, not focusing on the journaling aspect of my art journals. I've got some finished journal pages done that I thought I'd share. It feels good to complete something, even if it might not be as interesting as a drawing. There is something about words, writting, text that I really love though. Just the look of it, I don't even have to read it.

This is a quote from Orly Avineri from a class I took at journalfest. Some students really wanted to know the next step, or what the final outcome would be and she wouldn't tell us.

The journal entry above I'd previously posted without any wording.  In case you can't read it, "If we all spent as much time feeling beautiful as we did feeling ugly, the world would reflec that back to us. Focus on what you like about yourself and live your life from that place. Go forth and be fabulous!"

Have a creative day!

I carved a stamp!

Here is my first attempt at stamp carving. I think I like it. What should I carve next?

Here are a couple pages from my 5"x8" Moleskin journal. It has thicker pages for painting, which I really like. It also has the least amount of entries in it. I guess I tend to save it for drawing/painting vs. collage so it's not as convenient to do a quick page.

You can't read this one too well, but it says that I've noticed that my girl's eyes are too rounded on the bottom. Once you see these things, it's hard not to see them. It's good though to be able to look at your stuff and see where you can improve.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you had a blessed day.

New pages

I've been working on finishing some pages I'd started earlier this year. Here are a couple without any journaling, but somewhat completed none the less. The first is a girl I drew on a newspaper menu from our local pizza parlor that I doodled one night while waiting for pizza. She turned out much more exotic than I thought she would but I like how she turned out, and I like that she is different from most of my other girls. Maybe it's the lushous lips. The ink under her left eye also ran when I varnished her but I left it cuz it made her seem more mysterious.

This next one is one side of a journal spread. She is a spiritual wise woman. I'm not sure what she might have to say yet.

I've got lots of ideas brewing in my head right now. I hope to have some time to get them out this week, or at least start on some new projects. Christmas is right around the corner now, I usually try to make most of my gifts. Not sure what to do this year. More soon!

Journalfest part 2

Alrighty, here is some more about Journalfest. Day 2 of Journalfest I took a class from Orly Avineri called Text and Texture. We got to play with lots of different media; paper, ink, paint, modeling paste, and pens. Here are the two spreads I did.

This one has to do with using other languages to convey meaning. On the left is several words in hebrew, and on the right is a mayan glyph. You can't see all the layers in the photos but there is a lot of texture in this spread.

In this spread we looked for symbols in our handprint that could make up letters in our own personal alphabet. On the right we were just to make up an alphabet. It was fun to just quickly let whatever come out onto the paper. I think it does look like an actual language.

Here are some of the great people I met. We had lots of fun at meals and in the evenings journaling together.

Valerie, Colleen, Corry, me, and Lori