The Word is... RELEASE...

It's the 15th of the month again, which means it's time for the One Little Word challenge!  This month's word is...

RELEASE

"Release" was the perfect word for me, as I've been dealing with this transition into retirement.  It's so funny, cuz I thought that retirement would feel like one big Saturday; party time all the time, right?  Well, it's weird - it's like I had all these huge expectations for myself, and now I've been dealing with alot of (self-induced) guilt because I'm not "producing" as much as I thought I would be.  LOL.  I talked with a friend of mine who also recently retired, and she has had some of the same feelings; so maybe it's not that uncommon when you retire.  It's like, I've been working for so long that it feels somehow wrong to relax.  Aargh.

Anyhoo, it was therapeutic for me to work on this page...

How about you?  What does the word "Release" mean to you?  Come on over to the One Little Word challenge and  play along!  We'd love to have you!  Click here to go to the challenge!

Thanks so much for visiting today!  I appreciate you so much!

Artists Give Back Online Auction Starts Today!

Hi friends! I'm so excited to be a part of the Artists Give Back online auction, which starts today at 7am EST. 

All proceeds from this auction will be donated to http://www.pastoralist-child-foundation.org/, an organization devoted to educating and empowering girls to resist Female Genital Cutting and forced early marriages, and to adopt safe and peaceful Alternative Rites of Passage to womanhood.

I am donating this 9 x 12 handmade journal...

 Here's the description from the auction site:

The spiral binding on this unique journal is adorned with colorful fabric strips. Cover measures 9" x 12." Inside, it has 58 pages of all different sizes with stitching, paper piecing, multiple spots for journaling, doodling, and/or painting on each page.

The auction site only allows 4 photos, so I thought I would include a few more here...

The idea I had when I made this journal, was to have a place on each 2 page spread, for journaling a bit about your day, a spot for a small drawing or doodle, and plenty of space to paste ephemera or photos...

You could also just use the different papers as a first layer, and paint right over the top, for more of a mixed media look...

I am honored to be in the company of many amazing artists that are donating their work to this worthy cause. 

To view the auction items and/or place a bid, click here:  Artists Give Back Auction.

The auction site is open from today (December 8, through December 12th at noon, est.)

Thanks so much for visiting!  Have a great week!

Mixed Media Cards Monday...

Happy Calendar-changing Day everyone!  This month makes me extra happy because the first of the month comes on a Monday!  That's two fresh starts in one - a new month AND a new week!  Yeayyy!!!

A few years ago, I participated in an ATC swap with the theme of "Mixed Media Journal Prompts."  It was tons of fun, and I ended up with a full deck of beautiful cards.  I keep them in this special wood box...

 

See how perfectly they fit?

 

Last week I was feeling stuck, so I shuffled the deck and had Michael blindly pick three cards.  This is what he picked...

The prompts were:

1. Write a little song

2.  Make your journaling secret by writing without any spaces between the letters or lines

3.  Journal a lyric

So I got busy...

 It was the perfect chance to journal about something that had been bothering me. I love this technique cuz you can get it out, and not only does it stay private, but it creates a neat pattern.  I wrote with a permapaque marker over a teal acrylic/white gesso background...

Then I used my new Derwent Graphik marker to blow some splatters on top...

added some tissue paper, a magazine image, and some acrylic drips...

and finished the page by journaling a lyric by Matchbox 20 on top.  This lyric had been going thru my head all week and fit with the topic of my journaling perfectly.  I drew the words with my marker, then gessoed around them to obscure the background and make them stand out...

I love how my page turned out!  I'm thinking about making this a regular practice.  Like maybe once a month, or once every couple of weeks?  I haven't decided yet.

I love my deck of cards, and wish I had some more.  I'm thinking about hosting a swap in the new year.  Would anyone be interested in participating?  It would be an atc swap with the theme  of art journal prompts.  Let me know in the comments so I can gauge interest, okay?

I will leave you with the video for the Matchbox 20 song that my lyric came from.  It's one of my favorites...



Thanks so much for visiting and for your comments.  I appreciate them!  Have a great day!

Workspace Wednesday - Progress...

Hey friends!  It's workspace Wednesday again, and I have made lots of progress on my studio transformation!  The biggest thing that happened is that Michael and I got my new Ikea corner desk set up.  I could not possibly love it  more!  It's huge!  Here's a pic:

It's actually 3 pieces that fit together - a corner, one small table and one long table - part of the Linnmon collection. It's one of those deals where you can mix and match by picking the table tops and legs that you want.  I love that it has drawer space on each end.  I haven't filled them up yet, but I will!

That big brown chair is new too.  It is soooooo comfortable - WOW!  The cats think so too - I can't get them out of it - HA!

Here's another view...

Those folding tables will eventually be replaced with some sort of center island.  Have to wait on that for awhile.  For now they function just fine and give me plenty of room to spread out.

I haven't done any decorating yet.  That will come with time.  :)

Here's a pic of the desk area that you can't see in the other pics, because it's behind the chair...

Having the computer monitor in the corner gives me so much room on the desk - I love it!

I will try to get some better detail pictures by next week for you.  Let me know if there are specific things you'd like me to share and I will do my best to cover them for you.

I will leave you with a pic of my sweet buddy Willie enjoying the new chair...

Thanks so much for visiting, and I wish you a wonderful Wednesday!

Workspace Wednesday...

Hi friends!  I'm excited to join in this week for Workspace Wednesday!

Here's an overview of what my studio looks like right now - it's a mess:

(Click on the image to see it larger)

It's a large space (24' x 20'), but it's in need of organization.   Things are strewn around willie nillie and there are piles everywhere, which makes it a challenge to get anything done. 

Here are a couple of closeups of the tables where I work:

The setup is not very functional right now and it's driving me crazy! 

The good news is we've ordered a large L shaped desk from Ikea, and a Raskog Cart; and it is scheduled to arrive today!  Yippee!!!

My plan is to bring you along with me as I transform this space into an organized creative sanctuary.  I will be back next Wednesday with an update - I hope to see you then!

Thanks so much for visiting!  I appreciate you!

Random Daily Junque Journal Pages...

Hey friends!  I've got a few before and after pages in my junque journal to share with you today.  These are just random pages of daily writing, with some techniques learned in Julie Balzer's 30 days in your junque journal workshop...

Wednesday November 5:

Before...

and after...

 That cute little drawing is something Michael found blowing around in the yard.  How adorable is it?  My favorite part is the "smuch!"

 Friday November 7...

I forgot to take a "before" photo on this one - sorry...

and Saturday November 8:

Before...

and after...

You can still see a little of the Filter Subscription page showing thru the right hand side if you look closely (behind the "know who you are" stamp, and above the words "no use explaining").

 and finally, here's Tuesday November 9:

Before...

and after...

There's nothing about the image on this page that has anything to do with my writing - I just liked it, so I kept it.  I also like the "Rubber Tracks" typefont, so wanted to preserve that so I could try it myself later.

You really don't have to have deep profound things to say to art journal daily.  Even though these are just miscellaneous random thoughts, I'm still going to enjoy looking back on them someday, and it's a great chance to fling paint around and play with colors!

If you are interested in making a junque journal like this one - check out Julie's "Make your own Junque Journal" workshop.  That's where I made this one and it was tons of fun!  Click here for more info.  (I don't get paid for this I just really want to share in the fun!)

The Word is..... AGLOW

It's the 15th of the month and you know what that means....

It's time for the new One Little Word challenge!  This month's inspiration word is AGLOW!

Here's what I came up with...

I found this lyric from the song "Dance with You" by Live and it really spoke to me.  I used two of Jessica Sporn's stencils: Cascading Leaves and Rain.  The leaves became flames, and I made the girl from Rain fly by modifying the angle of her feet, and changing the way her dress lays against her legs on top.

Come on over and play along with us at One Little Word!  We'd love to see what you come up with for the word Aglow!  Click here to go to the challenge!

Happy Saturday everyone!

The days fly by (Planner Update)...

Hi friends!  Oh my goodness - I just realized that I haven't done a planner journal update here since early JULY!  Eek!  Here are a few catch-up pics for you - the rest of July...

Thanks so much for visiting!  I wish you a happy Thursday!

The Girly Girl, Goddess and Stranger...

Hi friends!  I've been working like mad in the Radiant Faces workshop, and I'm excited to share my pages with you!  What I love about this class, is learning all different artist's perspectives and techniques, and applying my own style and twist to them. Some are more in my comfort zone than others, but they have all been fun!  Here are the latest three lessons...

This one is taught by Christy Tomlinson, and it's called the Girly Girl...

 

 Here's my "Goddess", taught by Julie Gibbons...

and here's my "Stranger", as taught by Dina Wakley...

In other news, I'm working on coming up with a more organized blogging schedule - something with weekly features, maybe some tutorials, and all kinds of different information and inspiration - oh and giveaways too!

In the meantime, you can help me out by letting me know what types of things you would like to see on this blog?  I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks so much for visiting me here today!  I wish you a fabulous weekend!

A dog and an elephant...

I'm really enjoying learning how to use watercolors!  I'm excited to share a couple of my recent animal paintings with you...

This puppy is one I did just for fun in my watercolor sketchbook.  He is a combination of pen and ink, tombow marker and watercolor pencil...

This elephant was in response to the No More Excuses Sprout for this week.  He is done completely with tombow markers, except for the eye, which is pitt brush pen.  He is attached in my planner as a tip in.

 

I hope you are having an awesome week so far!  I wish you a terrific Tuesday my friends!  Thanks so much for visiting!

Junque Journal Finished Pages...

I'm in the middle of taking Julie Balzer's 30 Days in your Junque Journal workshop, and I'm excited to share how it's going with you!  I'm having so much fun working on these random paper pages!  Here's what I've done so far...

I had already sketched the face on this page before I started filling it (a preliminary sketch for Radiant Faces)...

Same thing with this one - (secondary sketch for Radiant Faces)...

 

 I had a lot of fun taking this page...

 

and turning it into this...

Here's one where I channeled my inner Julie and tried one of her fast marker faces...

and these are the three latest pages...

Thanks for visiting me today my friends!  I wish you a Super Duper Sunday!!!