Doodly Affirmations and Messages from My Muse...

I can't believe it's been a whole week since I blogged - ack!  Where does the time go?  I'm trying to get my swirly life under control here, and little by little it's working, but I'm not quite there yet!

I do have a Life Book update for you though!  I continue to LOVE this workshop!  I can't believe how much I am learning and broadening my horizons!  Here are my pages for the last two lessons...


#1: Doodly Affirmations with Dawn Devries-Sokol:

 

 This one was not all that different from my usual art journaling process, 

but I had a ton of fun with it! 

#2:  Messages from Your Muse with Shiloh McCloud...

 This two-page spread was created after a meditation where you meet your inner creative spirit (as an actual person), discover the message she has for you and see your personal symbols.  It was a very cool process, and so much fun to create these pages! 

I also want to let you know that Inspiration Everywhere is now on Facebook - finally, eh?  So, if you want to like me over there, then you will get notified when new posts go up, and possibly other things too!  Click here to go to my Facebook page!

I am continuing to try to get back to blogging daily, so wish me luck and I will see you here again soon!

My version of the story of Goddess Maeve...

Hey there everyone!  In Moonshine, we are learning about the story of the Celtic Goddess Maeve. She is a goddess of love, and was known to have an intoxicating effect on men.  :0)

Anyhoo, you can read more about Maeve here, but the part of the story that I chose to focus on was the ending. Maeve and her husband had an argument about who had the most possessions.  Her husband won because he had a magic bull, and Maeve did not.  So Maeve set out on a mission to get a magic bull, and she got one, but she threw it into the cage with her husband's bull and they tore each other apart. 

I don't like that ending!  The thought of the two bulls killing each other is just not right! HA.  So I rewrote my own ending, and made a page about it.  My ending is written on the page...

 I did the background first.  Acrylic paint on the top part, and the bottom part is collaged bits of gelli printed deli paper.  Then I painted the two bulls with watercolor pencil, cut them out and pasted them on top.

Here's a closeup of their faces.  I feel better now, seeing them happy together...

I'm loving the Moonshine class, cuz there is so much to learn!  I hope to get time to do two more art journal pages, before we move on to the next step, which is creating a painting!

If you are interested in find out more about Moonshine, or signing up - click on the widget in the sidebar. You won't be sorry!

Thanks for visiting!  I will see you again soon!

Life Book Update...

Hey there everybody!  I've been super busy with Life Book and I've got two projects to share with you tonight! 

The first one was called "Inky Antics," and was taught by Aimee Myers Dolich of Artsyville.  The lesson was about inking up some papers and using them to make a collaged list; but I had just received some new pan pastels the day I did this, so I just HAD to try those instead!  Here's how my funky list turned out...

What I did was - write my list in black pitt pen, and then rubbed some glossy accents over each area with my finger and let it dry...

 

That allowed me to go crazy rubbing the pan pastels over the top; and the glossy accented areas resisted the pastels.  

Here's how it turned out...

 

The next week we did faux stained glass with Joann Loftus!  She shared with us a really neat technique for using deli paper to create a stained glass effect!  Here's how mine turned out...

 

My design was inspired by this stained glass piece by Michelle Hendry.  This was super time consuming, but I loved the result!

I have to say - if you get a chance to take Life Book next year (or even this year - registration is still open), I highly recommend it.  It's one of the investments I've ever made in my creativity! 

Thanks so much for visiting, my friends!  I really appreciate each one of you!

 

Book of Days Update...

Hi everyone!  I have a long-overdue Book of Days update for you today.  Here are three pages from April...

April 23...

 This one evolved as I did it.  I was struggling with learning how to do Johnny's insulin shots at the time and was so frustrated with myself.  The first journaling I did was on the blue paint in the bottom right corner.  It says something about about not being able to get it right. After I stepped away from this page, I re-read it and realized how hard I was being on myself.  That's when I added the leaf on top, with the kinder journaling - ha.  The image comes from a photography magazine.  (P.S.  The shots are going just fine now.  I think I was trying too hard).  :)


This page was an experiment with deli paper...

 

I am taking Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's "Getting Started With Deli Paper" workshop (which is fabulous by the way).  One of the techniques is to trace an image onto the deli paper and then paint it in, cut it out and collage it onto your page.  That is what I did here.  The woman is a model from a magazine ad.  I have to admit I wasn't happy with how her face turned out - hence the huge sunglasses I added (lol.)  That's what art journals are for tho - experimenting!  I love the technique and will no doubt use it again, probably not on something with such small details.  

and here's a simple page for journaling...

 

The image is a page from a magazine (thanks Renee!); which I loved as is, and didn't want to mess with.  Sooo I just added journaling right on top!  I love how it turned out!

I have sooo missed my daily journaling; and really hope to get back to it now.  I thank you for hanging in there with me during my chaotic time!  I will see you again very soon!  Hopefully tomorrow!!!

 

Moonshine and Every Day In May - a great combo...

Hey everyone!  I've got a story to tell about synchronicity today!  It goes like this...

You may already know that I've gotten into sketching lately, after being inspired by Danny Gregory's sketchbooks.  Well, there is a group online called "Every Day Matters,"  which is named after one of Danny's books.  They are a big group of people who are also inspired by Danny; and they share their sketches and support one another online.  It's really fun!

Anyways, they have an annual challenge called "Every Day In May," where you sketch something every day in May.  There is a list of things you are supposed to sketch, but you don't have to stick to it unless you want to.  I really wanted to participate, but I knew it would be tight because of all the classes I'm taking right now.  Still I started on May 1st with the first prompt.....BUBBLES.

Here's what I came up with:

 I had a hard time with it; and I knew it was because I felt rushed.  If  you look closely at the eye you will see a lot of white out, and the hand gave me trouble too.  I couldn't relax, thinking about how much time it was taking. Moonshine, which is a class I've been super-excited about also started on May 1st. 

I decided to abandon the idea of sketching every day in May.  Moonshine was more important; so I started on that.  The first thing you get in Moonshine is a planner to print out and fill in each day.  Guess what is on that planner...

a little spot for a daily SKETCH!!!!  I mean really - is that synchronicity or what???

The idea behind this daily sketch is to notice things you encounter in your life - to slow down and feel the connectedness.  What a beautiful idea!  And it's labeled a "doodle,"  so there is no pressure to take tons of time, or make it perfect - yeayyy!!!

So I began, using the Every Day In May list when possible.  Here are my planner pages for so far in May, plus closeups of the sketches...


 May 1st...

 

EDM - Draw a favorite sound...

 (water soluble pencil)

May 2nd...

 

EDM: Draw something that brings you joy...

 (water soluble pencil and colored pencil)

May 3...

 

EDM: Draw your socks...

(colored pencil)

May 4... 

 

EDM: Draw a pine or fir tree...

(copic markers)

 

 May 5...

 

EDM: Draw a favorite scent...  

(water soluble pencil)

May 6...

 

Draw something you got for free...

  

 (Pitt pen and white sharpie)

May 7...

  

EDM: Draw a coffee pot (I chose clouds instead)

 May 8...

 

 EDM: Draw a lock...

 

(watercolor pencil and pitt pen)

May 9...

 

 EDM: Draw something creepy.  (chose a bug - altho I don't find them creepy; especially not ladybugs)

 (copic markers and pitt pen)


Which sketch is your favorite?

P.S.  Here is a link to the flickr group for Every Day in May, if you want to join in, or see what everyone else is doing!

P.S.S.  Much more to come about Moonshine - it's FANTASTIC!!!  I love it so much I decided to become an affiliate for the first time ever!  Click on the widget in the sidebar to find out more or to register!

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

Lollapalooza One Journal...

Oh my goodness - I just finished making my Lollapalooza One Journal - it was so much fun!

Here's how it turned out...

The front cover is collaged with bits of paper that I used for the inside pages. I cut an album cover down to 9x12 inches and used the back side for the collage...

so then, you can see the front of the album cover on the inside of the front cover!  I left the first page blank for a poem or quote...

The rest of the spreads have a spot for journaling, a  place to doodle and a spot for a list.  This format was inspired by something we are doing in "Moonshine," which I will tell you all about next time...

The pages are all different sizes, with all different types of paper...

Some of the papers are glued on, some are stitched...

 It's a super fun and easy class - just right for heading into a busy summertime...

 Now I can't wait for Lollapalooza 2, on May 29th!  Yeayyy!

Lollapalooza is a series of journal-making workshops taught by Martha Lever.  You can find out more info about them by clicking here.

Thanks so much for visiting!  I hope you are having an awesome weekend!

Cascading Leaves Stencil Test Drive...

Hey there everybody!  It's time for another stencil test drive!

This time I've been playing with Jessica's Cascading Leaves Stencil, which looks like this...

  Such a versatile design!!!

This stencil makes a great background, and works well for layering too.  For my project I chose to use it like this...

 

The background is just a mish-mosh of acrylic paint swiped on when I had leftovers from other projects.  I also added some watercolor pencil to fill in the white spaces.  The day I made this was the first day that actually felt like spring in our neighborhood; and I really wanted to commemorate that.  The pups represent how excited I was to go for a walk (if you've ever experienced getting  a dog ready to go for a walk, you know what I mean)!  

I put a piece of masking tape across the middle of the stencil to keep from getting paint where I didn't want it.  Then I stenciled the bottom half of the page with green acrylic paint in a couple of shades.  Afterwards I added the black outlining with a journaling pen to make it stand out a little more.  I know the design is actually leaves, but doesn't it make great grass too?

Please check out Jessica's blog, and the other test-driving artists to see more ways to use the Cascading leaves stencil!

Judy Shea

Roben-Marie Smith

Nathalie Kalbach

& Jessica Sporn (the designer)

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