Stampendous Blog Hop

Hi friends! Today I'm joining in the fun of blog-hopping with the rest of Nat's Creative Squad, and Stampendous, which is the company that produces Nat's Stamp and Stencil line.

There were no rules about what to create - only that we needed to use something from the new line of stamps.

I've been thinking alot about Prince, ever since I heard the news that he died.  It was such a shock. I am a fan, and also a Minneapolis girl, so the news hit close to home.  It's been wonderful seeing all the tributes showing up for him.  I wonder if he had any idea of the impact he made on people all over the world. It would be great if he could somehow look down and see it.  Anyways, I wanted to make a tribute page in my art journal, and Nat's bird stamp was just the thing. Here's what I made...

"When Doves Cry..." 

Page 7/100 (for the 100 Day Project)

The sky is done with white crayon and spray inks.  The ground is bits of text paper, painted and stained in various shades of purple.

I stamped Nat's bird stamp in light purple acrylic paint, and then colored over his beak, head and wings in three different colors of tombow marker.  I carefully cut a slit in his beak in order to fit the photo in. I also outlined everything in a superfine tip Faber Castell Pitt Pen, and added a shadow all around him with a dark purple tombow marker.  Here's a closeup...

I drew a purple tear on a separate piece of paper and glued it on. 

Here are links to all of the designers creating for today's blog hop.  Leave a comment here and/or at any of the participating blogs and you will be entered into the drawing to win all three of Nat's new stamp sets!

Louise Healy 

Janelle Stollfus

Marsha Valk

Gwen Lafleur

Michelle Rydell - that's me!

Cheiron Brandon

Lea Fritts

Pam Hornschu

Nat Kalbach's Blog

Stampendous Blog

 Thanks so much for visiting, and have a happy Friday!

My City Speaks To Me...

Hi friends! I'm blogging about my April project over at Nat Kalbach's blog today!  This month's theme is "My City Speaks to Me," which features Nat's Urban Scribble Stamp and Stencil set.

Here's a sneak peek of my project...

Come on over to the blog and see the whole spread, and the process behind it!  While you're there, I'd love it if you leave a comment for me

P.S. I will be back tomorrow with a 100 Day Project Update!

Thanks so much for visiting!

Documenting Life - Pages 5 and 6 of 100...

Hi friends!  I'm happy to be back with pages 5 and 6 of the 100 Day Project!

Page 5 is actually a large tag, that will be inserted into a pocket in my journal.  It is a prompt from the Documented Life Project...

"Guests at a Roundtable Discussion"

I decided I wanted all of my roundtable guests to be inspiring women who I have never met in real life.  Here's what I came up with and why...

Page 5/100

"Fantasy Roundtable"

 The list TEN form is a printable from the Documented Life Project women.  I printed it out onto kraft printer paper; and used hand-painted hole reinforcers to highlight the numbers. Pasted the list onto a large black Ranger Tag, added some white doodles and a hand-dyed ribbon for the top.

Here's the back side of the tag...

I used the back side of the tag to add tiny photos of each of the women on my list, along with a typed list of what I find inspiring about them/why I chose them.  I just think it would be so neat to listen to these ten women discuss life - what's important to them, what they've learned from their challenges and triumphs, how they have fun, just everything!

So--- On to page 6!

Page 6/100 is a double-page spread in my journal, documenting April 19 - 21, 2016...

I wish I would have taken a picture of this page before I started working on it.  It had a bunch of collage already, plus a double pocket stitched into it, with a technique I learned in the Artful Attache workshop I recently took from Roben-Marie.


The two major things documented here are Johnny's medical emergency and Prince's death.  I am happy to report that Johnny is feeling much better.  He has to wear his cone for a couple of weeks, but he is adjusting to it surprisingly well, which makes us really happy. :)

I have to say I am still in shock about Prince's passing.  Being a Minneapolis girl, it hit really close to home.  There will be some tribute pages coming for sure, but for now, just a photo and note that it happened.  :(

On this side you can see the double pocket sewn onto the page.  Tucked in are the tag page from above, and a postcard that came with some happy mail from Maisy Handmade on Etsy.

 So, that's it for today! Tomorrow I will be back with a sneak peek of my April creative squad project for Nat Kalbach, along with a link to the step-by-step blogpost!

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful Monday!

Just a quick check in...

Hi friends!  I just want to check in quickly so nobody worries.  Our cat Johnny is doing well with his recovery.  Our focus right now is just to care for him and get enough sleep.  I'm behind with the 100 Day Project, but will catch up no problem.

I am hoping to be able to post again by Monday.

I wish you a wonderful Sunday!

The Philosophy is Kindness...

Hi friends! Just a quick post to share today's page...

Page 4/100 for the 100 Day Project

Thanks so much for visiting!  I will be back tomorrow with day 5/100!  Have a great day!

When Life Happens...

DAY THREE OF THE 100 DAY PROJECT

I had plans for another big journal page for day three,  but then this happened...

Our poor sweet little Johnny ended up in the emergency room with a nasty abscess on his cheek/neck.  We couldn't see it because of his long fur, and then it broke open and - well - let's just say it was alarming and not pretty.  We didn't know what was going on, so off to the emergency vet we went.  We were there from midnight til about 2 am, while they cleaned it and looked for the root of the problem.  Turns out he has a sore spot in his mouth that he was scratching at. We made a followup visit to his regular vet in the morning.  There will be more followup needed, but I won't get into that here. We are exhausted, but Johnny is doing well with his cute little conehead self. 

I'm grateful that before it happened, I had finished a little tip-in postcard for my journal, documenting an earlier day that I had missed.  So here it is, my submission for Day 3/100...

It's a 4x6" page for the documented life portion of my journal, done on the back of a beautiful art postcard from my friend Marit!  

I did it as a tip-in to finish off my week in my journal.  Here you can see Marit's beautiful artwork on the front of the card, and how it looks closed, against the journal page...

and here it is flipped open...

Thanks so much for visiting today!  I will be back tomorrow with the next installment of the 100 Day Project!

It's what we do AFTER we fall...

 DAY TWO OF THE 100 DAY PROJECT:

Hi friends!  Today's journal spread was inspired by a writing prompt.  In the Book of Days workshop, we receive daily writing prompts based on a theme for the month.  It's a great tool for self-inquiry. The prompt for April 15th really got me thinking, and here's what came out...

The prompt was:  What is your relationship to power?

Right away my mind went to the subject of self-power, or sovereignty.  Without going into the gory details, let's just say there have been times in my life when I have given away my power.  It's been a journey, for sure, but I'm in a great place now, and I wanted to explore that further.

Here's the process I went through to do just that...

First, I scribbled out all my thoughts in pencil on the page.  Then I covered them up with various colors of paint...

I added words intuitively that fit my feelings on the subject...

After that I stenciled and wildly splashed more paint around to make a colorful background...

I wanted to put an image on the page that represented how far I've come in my relationship to my own power, and a lion came to mind.  I am lion-hearted!  Yes I am!  I set about to bring the lion to life. I mixed acrylic paint with liquid acrylic ink, to keep the colors (both the background and the lion) translucent.  I gave her green eyes to represent my spirit within her. Here's what came out...

After that, I found a quote on pinterest that fit perfectly.  I wrote it on the page with a sharpie poster paint marker, added a few more details, and here is the finished page...

"It's What We Do After We Fall..."

Here are a few closeups...

The whole process was really empowering and fun!  I am so proud of my lion-hearted lion!

Thanks so much for visiting today!  I will be back tomorrow for day 3 of the challenge!

I wish you a wonderful Wednesday!

We're Off and Running...Day ONE of the 100 Day Project!

Hey everyone!  I'm excited to share my first page for the 100 Day Project!  This one is kind of a title page, or intro page for the project...

 The Get Messy group actually gave me the inspiration for this page.  One of their current prompts is "Right Now..." which was absolutely perfect for me today!

The border is done with pieces of painting underpaper, text and photocopies of my art.  The background is liquid watercolor and neon watercolor markers.  The journaling talks about my excitement for the project, and the guidelines I have set for myself.  I set the guidelines to provide a sense of structure, which helps my swirly brain stay on track!

Here are my self-imposed guidelines for this project...

1. I will complete one journal page each day.
2. Can be any type and any size.
3. I will try to stay one day ahead, so that I can post the pages at 12:01 am on the appropriate day. For example, I did this page on Monday, so I can post it on day one (tuesday).
4. I don't have to do the pages all in one sitting, but I do have to finish one page each day and post it on instagram.

On instagram I am @shelleyrydellie, and my hashtag for this project is #100journalpagesforshelley2016. This year I will try to post here every day too.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in my excitement!  It's so much fun to stretch yourself sometimes!

Have a wonderful day my friends!

It's Time for the 100-Day Project Again!

Hi friends!  I'm so excited because tomorrow is the start of the 2016 100 Day Project, and I am going to participate again!  Yeayyy!!! I can't wait! Have you heard about the 100 Day Project? Here's the basic idea...

It's an instagram challenge, so really the only requirement is that you have an instagram account.  A big thank you to Elleluna, who is the organizer again this year! If you participate, you would want to follow her for all the latest info. Last year I did a journal page each day - you can see them all by clicking here.

This year I am doing journal pages again (of course, what else would I do?  HA).  I'll be using the hashtag #100journalpagesforshelley2016. My plan is to post them not only on instagram, but also on facebook and here on my blog. 

Are any of you playing along? Let me know and I will follow you on instagram so we can cheer each other on!

Thanks for visiting!  See you back here tomorrow for day one!

Gettin Messy!

Hi friends!  I joined a new art journaling group, and I'm having so much fun with it!  It's called "Get Messy Art Journaling."  I discovered it because the "30 Days of Lists" gals are partnering with them for a special thing called "Get Messy Lists," which started on April 1st.

Every week there are some list prompts and art prompts to get you creating.  Here's what I've done so far...

The first three are tip-ins and the last one is a full two-page spread.  All are in my April journal that I shared in my last post.  

It costs $10/month to join, but you get more than prompts.  There are different things going on all through each week, plus a fun facebook group to be a part of.

If you want to find out more about the Get Messy group - click here.

 That's all for today - I wish you a wonderful day!

Howdy Doody! Sorry for my Absence...

Hi friends!  I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted!  Eek!  Where does the time go?  I think I need a schedule to follow to help me get to regular posting again.

I still have a couple of pages left to complete in my first art-journal of the year, but I will get to them soon, and other than that it is complete!  I've had requests to do a flip-thru of that journal, so I will do that as soon as I finish those few pages. I've loved every minute of working in it!   Here's how that one looks right now...

As of April 1st, I started my second journal for 2016.  I made it in Roben-Marie's workshop called "The Artful Attache."  It was tons of fun!  Here's how it looks...

It has the same number of signatures as the last one (six), but this one is a larger format (9"x12" as opposed to 8"x10"), and I alternated between plain watercolor paper and collaged and stitched watercolor paper.  Also, instead of a week-at-a-glance format, this time I'm doing more of a daily free-flowing style. So far I'm having a blast filling it up!  Here's what I've got so far for daily entries...

I'm loving the free-flowing style, cuz I can change it up depending on whether I feel like painting or not...

 I can add in photos and ephemera if I have it...

and how many days fit on each page can vary depending on how much I have to say...

I can even work in online class lessons, like I did here, with a lesson from Radiant II - Art Journaling.  The girl with the blue hair's face is shaded completely with oil crayons.  I had never tried that before but it was really fun! 

I've got so much more to share, but that will have to wait for next time, since I want to get this post up for you right away!

I hope you are doing well!  I wish you a wonderful Wednesday!