Sneak Peek - Mixed Emotions: Classroom Opens this weekend!

I'm getting so excited about Mixed Emotions, I can hardly stand it!  Class officially starts on Monday, February 4th, but we are opening the classroom this weekend, so that people can get situated, greet each other, and get to know their way around.

If you are still on the fence about whether to register or not, let me answer a couple of questions that others have posed. Maybe they will help you to decide...

1.  Is Mixed Emotions all about the heavy, emotional stuff?   Let me assure you - no!  We are going to have FUN!!!  Mixed Emotions is all about learning fun techniques that you can use to emphasize whatever emotion you might want to get across on your page.  It's all up to you!  We will be exploring all kinds of different emotions, but you choose how deep you want to go.  The emphasis is on having fun and expressing yourself!

2.  Do I need experience in Art Journaling?  Nope.  The techniques in this class are aimed at all skill levels.  Whether you already journal daily, or have never picked up a journal, this class is for you.

3.  What is the cost in U.S. Dollars?  The price of Mixed Emotions is 35 euros, which translates in U.S. Dollars - as of right now - to $47.50.  It is listed in euros because Marit is administrating the registration, and that is the currency she uses in the Netherlands.  You can pay through paypal, and the conversion will be made for you.  It's super easy!

4.  Do I have to buy lots of supplies?  No, the supplies are very basic. We really want you to be able to use what you have.  When your registration is received, the supply list will be emailed to you.  

The workshop consists of 12 lessons. Marit and I take turns, each covering different emotions. Here are a couple of sneak peeks from my lessons...

If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments.  I will answer them in my next post.

For more information, or to register, click here or on the Mixed Emotions widget in the sidebar.

I can hardly wait!!! 

Weekly NME Journal Update...

One thing I am loving about my No More Excuses (NME) journal, is that I have absolutely no expectations for beauty in it.  It's more of a place to learn, practice, and reference.  That freedom makes for messy pages that make me totally happy!!!

Here's my progress from the past week...

Weekly page...

 Free-writing about the theme of the month...

 Sketches...

 Things I'd like to do in 2013...

This was my first time trying Absorbent Ground as a background - instead of gesso.  Apparently, I have a lot to learn about it, because I failed MISERABLY.  HA.  I thought it was supposed to create a paper-like surface, so you could use watercolors and such.  Instead it made a chalky-like surface that made it impossible to blend colors (as you can tell), and it also smeared my waterproof pen.  Hmmmm...  This will take more research.

I hope your weekend was AWESOME!!!  Thanks so much for visiting!

FEATURING, Butterflies, and Art Journal Display...

Hey there everyone!  I hope you are staying warm today.  Michael and I just got back from a drive, which turned into a winter storm while we were out.  Brrrrr.  I'm glad to be back home safe and cozy.

I've got three things to share with you today!  First, my copy of Featuring Magazine arrived, and I'm so excited to see the article about my studio!!!  I love how it turned out!!!

There is also a sneak peek about the article on Featuring's Facebook page here.  I am really loving looking through this whole magazine!  It's got articles on all different mixed media artists; and the full color photos are beautiful!  One of the articles is about the annual Top 2000 blog party, which is hosted by Marit Barentsen, and features one of my pieces along with other artists' including my friends Linda and Glenda.  So much fun!  If you want to know more about Featuring Magazine, click here.

Thanks so much to Founder Marit, and the staff at Featuring, for doing this article so beautifully!  I am honored!


The second thing I have to share is this week's Multi-Day spread in my  Book of Days.
I was inspired by this pic I found on the internet...

 

Isn't he gorgeous? I love the color of his wings, and the striped antennae too!

Here's how my spread turned out...

I drew the butterfly with pencil first; then adhered the text collage bits around the drawing. The black outline and body are done with Golden Liquid Acrylic.  The insides are mostly Letraset Aquamarkers, with a little acrylic paint mixed in.

I am sooooo enjoying the process of making these multi-day spreads.  It's fun to think of different ways to make room for four days of journaling.  Kinda like putting a puzzle together.


Lastly, I finally got around to making a place upstairs to display my art journals!  I've been wanting to do that for months now.  I had a shabby antique bookcase downstairs that was holding boxes and other "junk."  I brought that upstairs, cleaned it up and put it in the bedroom.  Now it holds almost all of my completed art journals...

After all the time I spent filling them up, I love having a special place for them. 

 

 I will leave you with a picture taken just now, of my friend Willie.  He is enjoying the snowy day from the comfort of a warm scraproom...

Have a wonderful Sunday my friends!  Thanks so much for visiting!

Excavating Hidden Treasures...

This week's topic in Soulistry, is "Aging."  To be honest, I didn't really want to think about it - ha!  Ever since my mom died, I think about death too much, and the subject of aging just brings me right back to the idea of being closer to death.  NOT FUN.  Part of why I loved last week's topic "living in the moment", is that it helped me stop doing that - thinking about death I mean. 

So anyhoo, I followed Effy's lead, and used the "pulled art" method of exploring the topic.  If you're not familiar with pulled art, it's a really neat concept.  You paint a messy background, and then look for shapes within it, kinda like looking for shapes in the clouds (one of my fave things).  Lo and behold, it lead to a spiritual awakening...

When I first completed my messy background I couldn't see a thing in it.  So I left it overnight.  When I came back to it the next day, I immediately saw an angel!  And then I saw a woman planting a garden! and then lo and behold, a big old RAVEN appeared right in the middle!  This was so exciting!

Here's a photo of the background.  I had just started to outline the images in white chalk...

 Can you see them?

Here's how it looked as I started to pull the images out...

 As I was doing this, it was amazingly enlightening.  I was thinking about the images, and what they represent, and it all made sense. 

Here's my completed page.  It represents January 23rd in my Book of Days...

 The woman is me planting seeds for change.  Always planting and tending to the garden of my life.  The angel represents how the universe has and continues to watch out for me, guiding me in the right direction on my path.  And of course, the raven is me!  Ravens are symbolic of creativity and transformation, so she fits right in with the theme.  Thinking about this totally affected my feelings about aging.  I am letting the fears go.  I am embracing all that is good and wise in me.  The best thing about getting older is that I am FREE to be who I really am.  What could be better than that?

If you are interested in learning more about the pulled art technique, check out Tracie Hanson's 21 Secrets workshop called "Journal Quest."  She graciously now offers it free on her blog.  Click here to go to the post.

More on Book of Days can be found here.
More on Soulistry can be found here.

Thanks so much for visiting my friends!  I wish you a super creative magical weekend!

Life Book: Scales of Light..

This week's Life Book lesson was called "Scales of Light," and was taught by Dion Dior.  It's meant to represent the beginning of our Life Book journey.

Here's how mine turned out...

The lesson was actually in black and white, but I couldn't resist making mine pink.  I'm in a total pink phase lately.   It's all done in colored pencil on black cardstock. 

So. Much. Fun.  I'm loving Life Book 2013 even more than I thought I would.  Seriously big FuN!

Thanks so much for visiting! 

Book of Days: Transformation...

Hi everyone!  Over at Book of Days, we are exploring the topic of "Who Am I Right Now?"  As I pondered this, the thing that kept coming back to me is that I am in transformation.

Here's what I came up with...

The woman is a stencil that my talented friend Jessica Sporn designed for StencilGirl Products.  I really wanted her to stand out against the colored background, so I used modeling paste through the stencil. I just LOVE the way she is standing.  She felt perfect for what I wanted to express here.  Other materials include: acrylic paint, stamps, distress stains, gesso and gelatos.  Oh, and some spray ink.  Basically every medium I had in orange and/or pink got thrown on there.  Ha.  The doodling was done with a Sakura Glaze pen in black, and sharpie poster paint pens.  The title was done with india ink and a brush.

I hope your week is going great!  I will be back tomorrow with a Life Book page to share.

Thanks for visiting and I will see you then!

No More Excuses 2013...

I'm so excited about my No More Excuses journal for 2013!  I've taken bits and pieces of all the different NME workshops, and I'm combining them into a journal that feels just right for me!

Here's a peek into my NME journal for 2013.  I'm using a tangerine MomAgenda as the base.  I'm making my own tabs (there are more to come...)

And here are a few of the pages...

For more info on the No More Excuses workshops, click here.

Project Life: November 12 - 25...

I just realized it's been over a month since I've had any Project Life layouts to share with you - eek!  It's about time I guess, eh?

Here are the last two weeks I've finished for 2012...

The week of November 12 - 18...

 Closeup of left side...

 The card that says "cozy" is one of the ATCs I made in 2009 when I was doing one every week.  They are coming in handy now!  The bottom left 4x6 is an image I pulled off the internet, when the voting for the Netherlands Top 2000 Songs of all time was going on.

 Closeup of right side...

Ephemera here includes the bag from Blick art materials, that my paintbrushes came in; a piece of the box that my Brush Basin came in, and a screenshot of our last challenge at STM.

And here's the week of November 19 - 25...

A closeup of the left side...

 

The beautiful card that says "Happy Thanksgiving" was a free download from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer (thanks Julie!)

 Closeup of right side...

The top left image was taken from the internet.  It was one of the daily Bing wallpapers.  I just thought that was so sweet.  How often do you see a lamb kissing a turkey?  LOVE IT.

Now, I've got to get started on the month of December 2012!  I've been saving my Noel Mignon December kit (pictured above) to use. 

How are you all doing on your Project Life albums (if you do them)?  Are you all caught up, or behind like me?

Thanks for visiting!  I will be back tomorrow with a No More Excuses journal update.  Have an awesome Sunday, my friends!

Multi-Day Spread...

I decided to do a multi-day spread for Tuesday thru Friday in my Book of Days this week.  Kept the format simple.  Just paint and writing...

I really enjoyed the process and will probably repeat it next week.

In other news I FINALLY got my Seafoam Project Life Binders - yeayyyyy!!!  I must say they are really beautiful!  I'm halfway through making January pages, and will share at the end of the month.  I've got a few weeks from December that I can share before then tho.

Also don't forget, it's not too late to sign up for MIXED EMOTIONS!!! (see widget in the sidebar) If you have any questions about this art journaling workshop I am teaching with Marit Barentsen, please feel free to leave them in the comments, or email me at michellelapoint@yahoo.com.  We'd love to see you join us!!!

Take care my friends, and Happy Saturday!!!

Soulistry: "Look Well To This Day..."

I had a lot of fun thinking my Soulistry topic through this week.  It was all about "being present in the moment.  The prompt was a Sanskrit Proverb...

"Yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision.  But today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.  Look well, therefore to this day."

It made me think of my dog Dacotah. We nicknamed him "Zen Master," because of the way he was when we took him on walks.  He went very slowly, stopping to sniff each flower; greet each person he saw, and listen to any bird sounds.  It made me slow down too and appreciate those things.  What a sweetheart he was.  Anyhoo, I was thinking of him when I made this...

 The new thing I tried this time was a water-soluble pencil for the title.  I loved the effect so much I went crazy and outlined everything - ha! So much fun!

P.S.  This was my sweet, huggable Dacotah...

photo is from 2005

Thanks for visiting! 

Life Book Week Three with Christy Tomlinson...

I love Christy Tomlinson's style, so I was excited to see what she had in store for us this week in the Life Book workshop.  I have taken several of her classes and she is a creative whirlwind.  She works quickly and is fun and full of ideas.  She never fails to inspire me, and this lesson was no exception.  We learned how to make beautiful flowers out of tinfoil!

Here's how my page turned out...

The title came from this song by Amos Lee, which I've been listening to this week:

The man's got SOUL!

P.S. The new Project Life Binders are FiNALLy available on Amazon!  I ordered two of the Seafoam style, and I should have them by Friday.  So exciting!

 P.S.S.  Mixed Emotions starts in less than three weeks!  I'm so excited to be teaching it again with Marit!  We are going to have a blast playing with different ways to put emotion into your art journal pages!  Whether you are new to art journaling or have been doing it for years, we welcome you to join us!  The six-week workshop starts February 4th.  For more info or to register, click here or on the widget in the right sidebar.

I hope your week is going well!  Thanks so much for visiting!

Book of Days Catchup...

I haven't shared any Book of Days pages in awhile, so I've got a catchup post for you today.


First up is my page for January 5...

 For this page I tried two new things... 

The hair was done by painting gesso on top of the spray ink background, which gave it a softer version of the same color.  Then I took it a little further and defined the different strands by adding more acrylic paint.

The journaling block was made by adhering a piece of tissue paper down with a glue stick.  I wanted just enough coverage to be able to see my writing, but still have the background show through. It worked great and I'm sure I will be using that trick again in the future.

 Here's my page for January 10...

 The colors on this one are a combination of neocolor II crayons, and Letraset Aqua markers.

This is the page for January 11...

 Effy inspired me to try using a Project Life card on a journal page.  It was an aha moment!  I have like a bazillion project life cards!  How awesome to find another way to use them!  Anyhoo, this was my first Soulistry prompt page.  I stamped the prompt on the PL card. 

 I also finished this page on January 11...

 I had some new inks to try out, so I just randomly blotted them around on the page.  I labeled them for future reference.

 And finally, this is the page I finished last night...

This one is done with gesso, acrylic paint and tissue paper. The theme I was working with for this page was "Full Circle."  I'm realizing as I type this that I could have also said "The more I create, the more I want to create."  HA.  It's so true.


I hope it's helpful for you to see these pages.  I'm loving the process of making them, and sharing them with you.  I thank you so much for visiting!  Have an awesome day my friends!

Here's my Creative Plan for 2013...

Hi there everyone!  I've been working on my journaling schedule for 2013, and I'm excited to share it with you! 

The way it works is that each day I've got a different project/journal to work on, and then the following day I will share it with you.  I've been meaning to do this since the first of the year, but time is getting away from me here! 

Anyhoo, here's a photo of my main projects...

I will go into more detail about each of these projects in their own post, but here's a little overview to give you an idea. Going from the bottom to the top...

The ring binder on the bottom houses my Life Book 2013 pages.  I haven't written the title on it yet, because I have a feeling it won't be big enough to house the whole year's pages.  I will probably end up binding it in a different way, but for now it's perfect.  The Life Book lessons come out once a week for the whole year.  I will be working on them on Tuesdays. For more on Life Book, click here.

The second book up is my Book of Days.  This is my main art journal, which is the backbone of my creative practice. I will be working in that journal three times a week.  Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  The Wednesday page will be a Soulistry prompt, which is part of the Book of Days premium program that I'm participating in. More on Soulistry below.  For more info on Book of Days Premium, click here.

And then it's Project Life - and yes, my Seafoam Edition arrived today - yeayyyyy! I will be working on my Project Life pages on Saturdays.  For more info on Project Life, click here.

Above that is a Papaya Art Writing journal.  That is my place to take notes, paste in class materials, make lists, to-do's, etc.  There is no specific schedule for this.  I just grab it when I need it and write stuff down.

Above that is my No More Excuses Journal for 2013.  I'm excited to be doing No More Excuses again this year!  I took the No More Excuses journal class series in 2011. It's loads of fun, and you end up with a desk calendar chock full of doodles and scribbles and fun little memories of your year!  This year I bought the 2013 inserts. For more info on No More Excuses click here.

And finally, on top is the Soulistry book, which we are working on in the Book of Days program.  Soulistry is a book full of quotes and prompts and topics to reflect on for journaling.  You could totally do it on your own, you don't need a group. It's a super cool book.  I will be doing a page in my Book of Days journal every Wednesday. Here's a link to the Soulistry book on Amazon.

Man, now that I write it out, that sounds like a lot - ha!  But really, it's just right for me.  I love to create every day; and having these projects to work on gives me variety.  The schedule gives me something to look forward to on each day, and stops me from wasting time trying to decide what to work on.

So here's the overview:

Mondays - Book of Days Art journal spread
Tuesdays - Life Book Assignment
Wednesdays - Soulistry art journal spread
Thursdays - Open
Fridays - Weekly wrap up in my Book of Days art journal
Saturdays - Project Life
Sundays - No More Excuses journal

 I'm going to do my best to come here and share my pages with you the day after I complete them.  So now, I'm off to work in my Book of Days!  I will be back tomorrow to share!

Thanks so much for visiting!  Please feel free to leave any questions in the comments.  I will do my best to answer them in the next post.

Have an awesome week my friends!

Life Book Week Two: My True Intentions...

Hey there everyone!  I'm here and I'm okay!  Life has been super extra busy this week, and I'm sorry for my absence.   I've missed being here and sharing my projects with you! 

The second week of Life Book was just as fun as the first!  We created "True Intentions" dolls!  Here's how mine turned out...

I had to travel for work this week, and I actually created this start to finish in my hotel room Tuesday night. I think I finally have this travel journal kit thing down! The background was done with gelatos; background stamping is gesso; and the shading on my doll is done with a combination of Letraset aquamarkers and Neocolor II crayons.

Thanks so much for visiting!  I really appreciate you!

Saying Goodbye to Scrapping The Music...

Hey there everyone!  I hope you are having a beautiful week!  With all of the new things happening with the beginning of the year, I haven't had a chance to post this yet.

After 5 and 1/2 years of challenges, we decided it was time to close down the Scrapping The Music blog.  It was a difficult decision made with a heavy, but grateful heart. I feel honored that I had the opportunity to coordinate the blog, and work with so many creative and dedicated women on the design team over the years. Some of the design team created "goodbye to STM" layouts for our final post.  Check out their beautiful work here.  The blog will stay up indefinitely, in case anyone would like to still work on the challenges - they are there for you.

The good news is, we have started a flickr group called "Art Inspired by Music!" The group is intended to provide a casual place for people to post any kind of music-inspired project -  It can be art journal pages, scrapbook pages, mixed media, altered art, photography, etc. If you made it and it was inspired by music, it belongs in our group!  There are already 143 images there, and we'd love to have you join us!  Click here to check it out!

Don't forget - there is still time to sign up for the art journaling workshop that I am teaching with Marit Barentsen called Mixed Emotions!   It starts February 4 and runs for six weeks - we are going to have tons of fun!  Check it out here!

Book of Days 2013, Volume 1...

I'm so excited to be starting my brand new Book of Days for 2013 - yeayyy!!! 

Here's what the book looks like...

 

This is my first time working with paper like this.  It's handmade and super thick and rough!

The first thing I did was paint the cover...

 

 

To give you an idea of how rough the paper is, here are a few pics of the process of creating my first background. I colored over the page with gelato crayons, and then blended them with water and gesso...

 

The pinks are my attempt at coloring. The yellow shows how it looked after adding water.  I discovered I can't use too much water right on the bare paper or it starts falling apart...

 Thankfully it took to blending well with gesso.

 and here's my first finished spread.  My word for 2013 is balance...

Thanks so much for visiting and for your kind words.  I wish you a wonderful weekend my friends!

Sign Up Now for Mixed Emotions!!!

Have you signed up yet?  It's not too late to get in on the Mixed Emotions Fun!  Check out our promotional video here...

Mixed Emotions

An Art Journaling Workshop with Marit Barentsen and Michelle Rydell

February 4 - March 14, 2013

You will create a minimum of 10 art journal pages together with a matching folder to store your work.

Teachers: Marit Barentsen & Michelle LaPoint Rydell

Art journaling focuses on putting your personal thoughts and emotions on paper and you don’t always have to use words to do that! Even if you're not a writer you can create meaningful art journal pages because an emotion can be expressed through a photograph, a color, a material or a particular technique. In this workshop we will explore one specific emotion each lesson, and take that emotion as the basis to create a personal art journal page. What does each specific emotion mean to you? You are encouraged to explore your inner world and your perception of your emotions and turn them into art journal pages. Each lesson also explains a different technique, step-by-step, through photos or an instructional video. (The techniques are consistent with the emotion).

“Mixed Emotions” includes:

• 12 lessons with assignments in pdf format. Each lesson will focus on a specific emotion and an art technique that goes with it. Techniques will be clearly shown through photos or demonstrated on video. Both beginners and advanced art journalers will find pleasure in working with the lessons.


• Access to inspirational videos to inspire you and help your creative juices flow.


• Extra printable collage sheets with photos, illustrations and quotes to use in your work.


• Access to a private group discussion forum where you may share, ask questions and interact with the teachers and other class participants.(Access will be activated a few days before the workshop starts or within 24 hours of payment.)


• Access to group albums for posting your completed assignments and seeing what others have done. (Access will be activated a few days before the workshop starts or within 24 hours of payment.)

Price: € 35.00  (currently translates to approx $45)

We are going to have FUN FUN FUN!!!

My Fairy Artmother...

Hey there everyone!  I've finished my first assignment for Life Book 2013!  It was all about creating our very own Fairy Artmother, to cheer us on through our journey - such a great idea!

Here's how mine turned out...

She is 9 x 12", and done with Neocolor II crayons, letraset aqua markers, black and white journaling pens, and some sparkly stickles for her tiara.  It was my first time using the aqua markers and boy were they fun!

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

Happy New Year!!! Finishing up my Book of Days...

Happy New Year everyone!  It's 2013!!! Yeayyyyy!!!!  I just love the start of a fresh new year!  So many possibilities, we can make it anything we want to!!!

I'm excited because Life Book 2013 just started, and Book of Days Premium just started, and I started a brand new set of journals!!!  It's so much FUN!

Before I move on to sharing all the new stuff, I want to catch you up on the final pages in my Book of Days for 2012. With the Top 2000 party, and being gone for Christmas, I missed sharing these...

December 13: Intentions...

December 14: Peace On Earth...

December 19: Dreaming my own Dreams...

December 20: Overwhelmed...

December 21: Excited for Tomorrow...

December 22-27: Christmas in Cali...

For this one I brought the small pink notebook on my trip, and filled in the daily events each evening.  Then, when I got home, made the collage spread with a pocket to slip the notebook into.  Easy peasy!

and my final page of this journal.  A thank you to the year that was 2012...

The photo on the right is actually a pothole in my sister's parking ramp.  It looked just like a heart, so I had to take a picture!  Turned out perfect for this page!

And here is my completed Book of Days!  I love how fat it became!

It covers July through December, 2012...

Tonight I am attending a live online event at Wild Soul Arts.  We are going to decorate our book of days for 2013!  Yeayyyy!  I can't wait!!!

Do you have any new creative projects for 2013?  I'd love to hear about them!