Happy New Year's Eve! It's the final day of the Top 2000 party!

Hi there everyone and a happy new year's eve to you!!!  It's the final day of the Top 2000 party!

The song I chose for today's page is the late Jeff Buckley's 1994 cover of the Leonard Cohen song "Hallelujah." It comes in at #68 on the list of the Top 2000 songs of all time. 

There are a lot of different ideas of what the meaning of this song is.  "Hallelujah" to me, is about the complicated nature of love and relationships. I first became aware of "Hallelujah," when Jason Castro sang a short but moving version on American Idol.  Since then, I've heard many versions, and it's become one of my favorite songs.  The lyrics are so bittersweet, and Jeff Buckley's tender version is stunning.  Check it out here...


Here's the journal page I created for "Hallelujah..."

Here's a link to the full lyrics, and to Jeff Buckley's official site.  If you are interested in Jason Castro's version that's here.

If you want to see what the other participants have created for today's portion of the list, click here to go to Marit's Blog.

I hope you have enjoyed the Top 2000 party!  Being a music lover, it's been super fun for me to take this week at the end of the year and pay tribute to music.  I want to say a HUGE thank you to Marit, for hosting this party for the fourth year in a row!  Thanks so much to you for visiting!

Day Six of the Top 2000 Party - "I Am I Said..."

Hey there everybody!  We arrived back home last night, from our Christmas trip to California to spend time with my sister Renee.  It's been so fun to see all of the submissions for the Top 2000 party at Marit's blog!

Thanks so much to everyone who has left me a comment on my first five Top 2000 posts!  I really appreciate each one of them so much!

We are already at the sixth day of the countdown, and my chosen song for today is #418 - "I Am I Said," which was released in 1971, by Neil Diamond. Here's how my page turned out...

 and here's Neil himself, singing it...




I had to pick this song for today; because I recently rediscovered Martin Zellar's cover of it in my CD collection.  I played it for Michael and he LOVED it!  Ever since then we have been singing it nonstop around the house - ha!  If you want to hear Martin's version (which totally ROCKS I might add), click here!

Tomorrow I will be back with the last day of the Top 2000 party!  I hope you will stop by again!  If you want to check out the other submissions, head on over to Top 2000 headquarters here.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Day Five of the Top 2000: "Moondance..."

My pick for today's song is an old classic that I've always loved.  Coming in at #597 out of 2000, is Van Morrison's 1970 release, "Moondance!"

Here's my page...

To make this page I knew I wanted dancing animals in the moonlight, but I wasn't sure what kind, so I googled "dancing animals," and found these cute felt mice.  I tried to find the original blog they came from so I could credit the artist who made them, but I haven't been able to.  Anyhoo, I used their picture as a reference for drawing the mice above.  The rest is just acrylic paint, with a little bit of washi tape.

Check out the video for "Moondance" below...


To check out what the other participants created for today, check out Marit's blog here!

Thanks so much for visiting!  Tomorrow is day SIX - the second to the last day- eek!  We're winding up to the end!

Day Four of the Top 2000: "Fireflies..."

Today we continue the countdown of the top 2000 songs of all time!  My choice for today was another no-brainer.  "Fireflies," by Owl City is special to me.  One of my clients, who was a very special and inspiring person, passed away this year, and it was her favorite song.  I will always think of her when I hear it.

Fireflies by Owl City, released in 2009, comes in at #971.  Here's how my page turned out...

I love how magical this song feels.  Check out the video here...

How can you listen to this song without smiling?!  Karen, this is for you.

Thanks so much for visiting!  Tomorrow we continue the countdown with day five!

Day Three of the Top 2000 - "Some Nights..."

As we count down from 2000, my pick for today's song is a really new one, released in 2012 - "Some Nights," by Fun.  It comes in at #1448.  When I first heard this song, I was struck by how different it is.  I love the bold harmonies and again, being a lyrics lover, it really intrigues me.

Here's how my page turned out...

The background is done with layers of tissue paper (the kind that bleeds), glued down with matte gel medium, and interrupted by strips of dictionary paper for some contrast.  The title is stamped with acrylic paint, and written with a glaze gel pen.

Here's the video for "Some Nights..."


To see artwork for some other songs on the list, check out Marit's blog here!

Thank you so much for visiting!  Tomorrow we continue the countdown with day 4 of the Top 2000!

Day Two of the Top 2000: "The Pretender..."

My choice for today's playlist on the Top 2000 is #1789: "The Pretender," by Jackson Browne.  I've been a major fan of Jackson's for my whole adult life.  I find his songwriting to be absolutely amazing.  Seeing The Pretender on the list for today, it was a no-brainer that this was my song of choice!

The Pretender was released in 1976, and has a completely different feel for me, than Magical Mystery Tour (yesterday's pick).  More urban, more bleak.  I tried to reflect that in my page.

Here's' how it turned out...

 

and here's a little bit of the process I went through for making the page...

The first thing I did was gather together colors that I felt represented the emotion of the song ...

Layer one of randomly brushing these colors onto the page...

some spray inks to make it even more grungy looking...

Then I decided we need some texture and contrast, so out came Julie Balzer's chevron stencil and some Ranger color wash...

At this point I did a google search for images of Jackson, that had the right "feeling" for the page.  I came up with these three...

I decided on the top left-hand image; printed it on matte photo paper, cut it out, and glued it down.  I added a few more elements with paint, and then chose the part of the lyric that represents the song best to me.  Here again, is the finished page...

and here's a video for the Pretender, where Jackson explains the meaning of the song before he sings it.  I love this...

To check out everyone's art for today, click here to go to Marit's Top 2000 headquarters!

Thanks so much for visiting!  Come on back tomorrow for day 3 of the Top 2000!

Welcome to the Top 2000 - Day one!

I hope you are having a merry Christmas (if you celebrate)!

It's the first day of the Top 2000 Blog party!  If you are not familiar with the Top 2000, it's a celebration of the Top 2000 songs of all time - as voted by listeners of Radio 2 in the Netherlands (and anyone else in the whole world who wants to vote!).  Starting on December 25, they play the songs in order, starting from 2000, and working up to #1, which plays on New Year's eve.

My friend Marit Barentsen hosts an annual online party, where she invites the world to play along with her, as she creates a piece of art inspired by a song from each day's playlist.  This is the fourth year of the party, and I have played along each year!  Sooooooo, here we go!

I have a format I like to follow.  It has three guidelines...
     1.  Make the page about the song itself (as opposed to making it about my life, and using the song as a title or something)
     2.  Include a photo of the artist(s) somewhere on the page.
     3.  Include the number on the list where the song falls, somewhere on the page.

My pick for today's song is "Magical Mystery Tour," by the Beatles, which comes in at #1977.  Here's my page...

Magical Mystery Tour was released in 1967, and it's a great representation of where my love for bright colors and groovy style comes from!

The page was pretty straightforward to make.  I created a mask for the horizon line, and sprayed orange and yellow mists on the bottom.  The sky is acrylic paint, with some sequins sprinkled on top.  For the letters, I typed the title in Bell Bottom font, and then traced it onto some October Afternoon Witch Hazel paper, and handcut each letter out.  The image of the Beatles was taken from the internet.

Take a step back in time, and check out the video for "Magical Mystery Tour..."


Also, each day Marit posts all of the artwork for everyone who is playing along with that day's list.  It's so much fun to see what everyone picks, and how they interpret the music!  Check it out here!

See you tomorrow for day two!

Book of Days for 12/10/12 - SNOW...

I had so much fun making this page in my Book of Days!  I really wish I would have taken in-process pics, but alas I got so involved in the mess-making that I forgot all about it.  Sorry about that!

Here's how it turned out...

The title letters are chipboard, and I stuck them on the page with modeling paste, followed by a couple layers of gesso over the whole page - letters and all.  I also collaged down some plain white paper towels, which create the lacey looking texture you see, and the raggedy edges (especially on the bottom left corner).  That was followed by another layer of gesso, to cover the paper towels. The snowflakes were done with modeling paste applied through Julie Balzer's new stencil that came with her December Art Journal kit.  I glued down the photo of our yard after the huge snowfall, and then promptly got blue mist all over it (aargh).  I pulled the white of the snow on the trees back out with a white gel pen.  The mists are both Dylusions - Bubblegum pink and London Blue. 

The page is super heavy now, but I love how dimensional it feels.

I hope you are having a wonderful week my friends!  I will be back on December 25th for the start of the blog party honoring the Top 2000 songs of all time!  I am making a journal page for each day of the week between Dec. 25 through New Year's Eve.  Each page will honor a song on the list, and I will be here to share them with you as we go.  If you want to play along there's still time!  Click here to go to Marit's blog and read all about it.

See you on December 25th!

Looking forward to the Top 2000...

Hi everyone!  I've got a new Book of Days page to share with you today.  This one is for December 4th.  I had the Top 2000 party on my mind...

Here's how it turned out...

It started out to just be a page to play with my Dylusions Mists.  I was really in the mood for bright colors - can you tell?  Ha...

I wish I would have taken a photo of the page before I started.  It was a mix of scrapbook and ledger papers, some of which you can still see through the ink.  I started with a light coat of gesso, followed by the pink and orange spray ink, which I let drip and then dried with a heat gun.  That was followed by some stenciling with charcoal and silver spray ink, and stamping with blue acrylic paint.

The dark purple around the edges is a mix of acrylic, inktense pencil and neocolor II crayons.  The white brick is a super-old rub on that I had in my stash. That's when I decided to make an intro page to the Top 2000 party.  The photo is from an ad in Filter Magazine...

and again - here is the finished page.

The sheet music I used for collaging and for the title was carefully chosen - it's from classic rock and roll songs: The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel, Give me Love by George Harrison, and Hey Jude by The Beatles.  My guess is that they are all on the list.  I know the Boxer is, I can't remember for sure about the other two.

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed the mini step-by-step.  The Top 2000 blogposts start on Christmas (December 25th), and go every day through the week leading up to New Year's Eve.  I can't wait to share my pages with you!  If you want to play along (and you should cuz it's super FUN!), check out Marit's blogpost here with all the info!

Thanks for visiting my friends!

Hello December Art Journal Page...

I've been really enjoying working with faces lately!  They used to stress me out, but I'm learning to relax and just have fun with them, and it's changed my whole attitude!

Here's my Book of Days page for December 3rd...

The background on this one is pretty simple.  A layer of dictionary paper pieces, adhered with gel medium.  On top of that is a border of neocolor II crayon, blended with water.  The heart was stamped with a piece of cardboard that I cut into a heart shape.

In other news, I have three of my Top 2000 journal pages ready for Marit's blog party!  Yeayyy!  Find out more about the Top 2000 party here.

Also - just a reminder that registration is open for MIXED EMOTIONS, the art journaling workshop that I'm teaching with Marit Barentsen.  It's a SUPER FUN six-week course that runs from February 4th through March 14th.  There are two lessons per week - one by me and one by Marit.   Click here or on the badge in the right sidebar for more information or to sign up.

Thanks so much for visiting my friends!  I really appreciate you!!!

Featuring Magazine is Coming Into My Studio!

I'm so excited to share the news with you....


The third issue of Featuring (a Magazine about art journaling, mixed media and more), is doing an article about my art studio!  I could not possibly be more excited!  Here's what they say in the preview...

"Into the Studio
Michelle LaPoint Rydell works full-time during the day, but at night you can find her creating in her studio. “My studio is my sanctuary. I surround myself with things that make me feel happy, so just being in there is bliss.” Michelle shows us around."

There's also going to be an article about Marit's Top 2000 Blog party, and lots more fun stuff!  And look, one of my pieces is even on the cover!

Can you tell which one is mine...?

It's the one in the middle on the left (with the blue paint and the eyes). 

There's lots of other cool stuff in the magazine too, and you can pre-order your copy now!  Click here to go to the Featuring store and check it out!

P.S.  A big thank you to Marit Barentsen and the Featuring staff for doing such a wonderful job with the article.  I'm really excited about it!

Thanks so much for visiting my friends!  I hope your week is going great!!!

Art Journal Page Progression...

Hi there everyone!  I hope you are staying warm!  It's really cold and super snowy here, and I have a heater going on my feet as I type this.  To give you an idea of the amount of snow we have right now, here's a pic of Michael shoveling our deck today...

And last week we had no snow at all!  Amazing.

Anyhoo, back to the crafting world...  I have an art journal page to share with you today, and I actually remembered to take some photos of the process, which I hope you enjoy!

Here's my Book of Days page for November 30...

And here's how I got there...

This is how the page looked when I started - pretty much.  The image of the sunset on the yellow scrapbook paper was already there; part of the book when I made it a long time ago.  The left side was the collage of plaid and pink papers.  My first thought was -  I wanted to make the two pages flow together better, so I added a light coat of gesso to the left side and started smearing some yellow paint....

I decided to cover up the photo with some cardstock; and then I could just play to my hearts content; without worrying about ruining the image...

 Here you can see the first three layers:  1. Yellow paint smeared with a credit card; 2. Some of Julie Balzer's border stencils and some bubblegum pink dylusions spray; and then 3. Stenciling on top of that with gesso.  Wonderful fun...

 At this point I was done spraying, so I uncovered the photo.  I just started adding collage bits, stamping and tape here and there, with a little bit of neocolor II crayon to pull the purple color over into the left side.  I loved how the bright colors tied in with the photo, but the neon felt a little too in your face, so I started adding some brown to tone it down...

and here's the finished page again.  I covered most of the spread with the brown transparent paint, but left bits of the bright colors to show through here and there.  I also added some more crayon, gesso and stamping, before finishing the page with my journaling.

 I had no idea how this page was going to turn out when I started. I am learning more and more to be intuitive and playful, and not overthink things, and I love that.

I've also been working to finish my "One Little Word" minibook before the year is over, and I'm excited to share it with you!  Have you picked a word for 2013?  I have - it's "Balance."  More on that to come...

Thanks so much for visiting me, and for your kind comments!  They truly make my day!  See you again soon!

Project Life: November 5 - 11, 2012...

A jam-packed week...

Here is the overview of November 5 - 11 in my Project Life album...

 This is my second week of coordinating it all with my Noel Mignon Student Council kit.  What I'm learning about using a pre-selected group of supplies (in this case a kit) for a whole month, is that I end up being more creative with my spread; and (this is the best part), I actually use stuff up!  It feels really good to be working through my supplies this way!

 Here's a closeup of the left side of the spread...

I used lots of ephemera this week!  On this side I've got... my "I Voted" sticker from election day, my friend Nan's business card; My name tag from our crop day, and some packaging from my new October Afternoon washi tape.  Another new find, is the website where you can download the Time magazine cover from any date you want (all the way back to the beginning of the magazine in 1923!)  This is going to be useful for Project Life on an ongoing basis!  Click here to check out the site and search for your own covers!

Here's a closeup of the right side...

 Sorry about the pixelated pocket.  I hate doing that, but this is a work-related thing, and I have to protect privacy.  No ephemera on this page, but I did include some stuff that I thought was fun.  The middle left pocket is from a Smash notepad.  I cut around the journaling box so that I could back it with patterned paper.  The orange quote in the middle came from my Oprah magazine; and the far right is a list of ENFP qualities that I downloaded from the internet, to complement my art journal spread right above it, which is about being an ENFP (it's a personality type).  Click here if you want to find out more about that, or find out what your type is!  Then, finally, I took a screenshot of some of my top pinterest boards to include here. 

I hope you are having a great week so far!  We've had over a foot of snow!  It's pretty, but terrible for driving - ack!

Thanks for visiting!

Project Life: October 29 - November 4, 2012...

 Thanks so much for all of your kind words on yesterday's blog hop post!  I really had a lot of fun working with Jessica's new stencil!  There will be more stencil hops coming up - click here to see a complete schedule!

Now - on to Project Life! 
Here's my Project Life spread for October 29 - November 4.  It includes a trip up north, a birthday party, and an announcement!  I am using my Noel Mignon "Student Council" kit as my main kit to work from for this month, along with bits from the Project Life Clementine kit...

I used one 5 x 8 insert this time, which holds the announcement for Mixed Emotions (my upcoming art journaling workshop with Marit Barentsen) from my blog.

Here's a closeup of the left side of the spread...

 Ephemera includes a postcard from my trip up north, a room key folder, and part of my dental reminder postcard. 

 Here's the right side with the insert showing...

and without the insert...

 The November calendar is another freebie from Owl Barn.  Ephemera on this page includes packaging from my new Dylusions art journal.  The birthday party card is from October Afternoon's Cakewalk line. The striped flair badge was plain, but I added the word "sun" with stazon ink to personalize it.

 Last but not least, here's the left side, with the back of the insert showing...

 I took advantage of the extra space by putting a few miscellaneous photos from the week on the back of the insert.

I'm toying with the idea of splitting the layouts up by month next year, rather than sticking with the weekly format.  Like, having a intro page for each month, and then filling up pockets as I go until the month is done - more freeflowing.  Not sure - have any of you tried something like this? 

Alrighty then - that's it for today!  I wish you a wonderful Saturday!  Thanks so much for visiting!

Welcome to the Stencil Test Drive...!!!

Hey there everyone!  Today is the official start of my friend Jessica Sporn's Stencil Test Drive - Yeayyy!!!  I've been playing with Jessica's Hebrew Calligraphy Stencil with Hamsa, which looks like this....

The text on this stencil is this beautiful blessing:

May God bless you and keep you
May God cause the divine light to shine upon you and be gracious to you
May God turn toward you, and grant you peace
(Numbers 6: 24-26)

Here's a little tutorial about how I used it in my Book of Days Journal:

I started with a heavy coat of red, orange and magenta acrylic paint, and then used gesso and a foam brush to stencil the design onto both pages...

 GASP!  How gorgeous is this design?!!!  The stencil is so beautiful I didn't even want to touch it at this point!  But alas, I did - ha.  Had to force myself to, cuz I had an idea...

 I wanted to create a sunset scene, so I cut a big circle out of cardstock, and used it to paint some gold acrylic over the top of the design...

 

Then I added some miscellaneous collage bits, and a quote I'd been thinking about; 

and this is my finished page...

This has become one of my favorite recent pages. I love the idea that god's blessing is there in the background, as encouragement.

I had some leftover paint on the stencil, so I grabbed a tag, splashed some orange paint on it, and then turned the stencil over, and rubbed the extra paint onto the tag by pressing on the back of the stencil with my fingers..

 You can't necessarily tell what the design is anymore, but what a beautiful background it makes!  This tag is all set to finish off with a quote or focal image!

I wanted to try using the stencil as more of a subtle background, so I made another page.  This one is also in my Book of Days.  It's a check-in on my word for 2012, which is "Peace."  After I created a background on this page, I added in just bits of the stencil here and there with blue paint...

 They are subtle, but add extra texture, which is just what I wanted; because I was planning to do a lot of writing on this page.  I also wrote the word peace with blue paint, and used some hand-carved stamps to make the hanging beads.

 Here's the finished page...

 I can already tell I am going to be using this stencil ALOT!  Journaling is such a spiritual thing for me, and having this blessing on any page would give it extra depth.  Plus, it's just such a beautiful design!

I hope I've given you some ideas for how to use the Hebrew Calligraphy stencil!  

Please check out Jessica's blog, and the other two Test Drivers, to see what they did with this stencil too! 

 Jessica Sporn Designs

A Colorful Journey (Carolyn Dube)

The Key to my Art (Judy Shea) 

If you'd like to purchase the stencil, click here to go to Stencil Girl Products!



Thanks so much for visiting!  I will see you again soon!

Two Pages in my Book of Days...

Hi friends!  I've got two journal pages to share with you today from my book of days. One was done when I was short on time; and the other when I had all evening to create.

This page was from Nov. 28th, and it was so easy, it almost doesn't even count...

The base page included the colorful background and the two birds.  The first thing I thought was "those birds are too cute to cover up with gesso."  So, I didn't.  Instead, I just doodled on a head-dress for one and a crown for the other one, and gave them speech bubbles, so they could talk about me - lol.  On the right side, I did do some gessoing over the background, and added my brainstorming for the elements of "air" and "earth."  That's it!  The only thing that took any time at all was my thought process for the brainstorming. 

Easy peasy lemon squeezy! 

The next page (for Nov. 29),  I did was just the opposite, in terms of time and effort.  This one is for the Elements Workshop I'm taking over at Wild Soul Arts. It is my work with the element of "Air..."

I knew right away that I wanted to include a raven for this page.  I used this photo from pinterest as my reference.  This was all done with a combination of acrylic paint, inktense colored pencil, and neocolor II crayons.  The journaling reads:

"In my dreams I can fly.  I can get away from anything scary, just by holding my arms out and believing.  The stronger my faith, the higher I can go.  The Raven guides me."

I hope you are having an awesome week!

Project Life Update: October 22 - 28, 2012...

October 22 - 28 was a quiet week at home...

Here's a closeup of the left side...

 I used a lot of Amy Tangerine's Ready Set Go line again this week, combined with pieces of the Cobalt kit.  Ephemera here includes my name tag from our girlfriend's monthly crop; and a short article from Best Friend's magazine about a senior dog who found a home.  I love the stories in Best Friend's magazine, so I thought including one would be fun!  I also included a piece of a Maxfield Parrish painting (cut out of a thrifted book).  Maxfield Parrish is one of my very favorite artists.  I love quiet weeks, cuz they give me a chance to include random tidbits like that.  I forgot to take a picture when we went out to dinner with Michael's folks, so I got an image of the restaurant from the web. 

How cute is that photo of Willie sneezing?!!!  Michael texted it to me when I was at my crop.  Love that!

 Here's a closeup of the right side...

Ephemera here includes the sales receipt for my first-ever purchase from Blue Moon Scrapbooking; and a piece of the packaging from my meal at Taco Bell - ha.  One thing I love on this page is the little photostrip diecut with the tiny pics of Willie and Johnny.  It is also from the Ready Set Go line.

It's been fun using the Ready, Set Go line all through the  month of October.  I think I will continue that concept by picking a new collection to use through the month of November. 

I've started working on the next week's spread, and I hope to finish it today.  If so, then I will be back to share it soon!

If you are doing Project Life; how is it going?  Will you be continuing next year?  Will you be doing anything differently if you do continue?  I'd love to hear!

Thanks for visiting, my friends, and I will see you again soon!

Elements Workshop: Earth...

Happy Friday everyone!  My Book of Days page for November 26th, is a continuation of the "Elements" workshop, that I am taking over at Wild Soul Arts.  This time I am contemplating my connection to the earth...

I have to admit I am thrilled with how this one turned out.  The background is a tissue paper collage, covered with Golden Fluid acrylic in Van Dyke Brown.  The leaves are painted with gesso, and filled in with more Golden Fluids mixed with a little gesso to make them more opaque.  The hand is a happy accident.  I wanted to paint a hand right on the page, but I was afraid, so I sketched it on a scrap of an art supply catalog first.  I ended up liking it so much I just cut it out and glued it right on!  Now I love how the catalog page adds an extra element of pattern, that I wouldn't have had if I had used paint for the hand. 

One of the most important things I am learning through the process of completing an art journal spread every single day; is to trust the process.  I don't have to have an idea of what I want to do, in order to start a page.  I just start painting, or collaging or writing or anything, and the ideas and feelings form during the process.  It's an amazing bit of magic, I think!

Thanks so much for visiting!  I will see you again tomorrow!!!