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!

Tweaking the System...

Hi friends!  At the beginning of the year, I posted how I was going to assign a separate journal for each project, challenge, and class I'm doing in 2016.  Here's what the pile of journals looked like...

I was having lots of fun with all these journals in the beginning; but I started to feel overwhelmed at the idea of keeping all of them up to date.  You are probably saying to yourself - well duh!  But hey, I had to try it!  :)  A few days ago, I got a new idea, and I'm super duper happy about it!  Here's what my pile of journals for 2016 looks like now...

I've now got almost everything combined into the top journal, which I will call my Book of Days.  The bottom two are staying separate.  I shared my Fauxbonichi setup in the last post; and I will show you the Artfully Inspired Life journal later.  But for today, I want to share my Book of Days plan with you...

This journal will combine a handmade weekly/monthly planner, along with (almost) all of my art journaling, in a chronological format.  It will hold:

The Documented Life Project
No Excuses Art Program
Journal 52
Book of Days
and/or any other random journal pages I decide to make.  Here's how it looks so far...

I handbound the journal in an 8x10" size. The cover is canvas, and the inside pages are all 140 lb watercolor paper. I painted it an ombre pink with acrylics and gesso, but still need to decorate it and give it a title...

Inside front cover...

 

I did the intro page using watercolors and a technique I learned from Danielle Donaldson's "Watercolor Words" DVD...

 

Then, there's the January quote page...

There's a collage page, which I haven't started yet;  and then comes the monthly view.  Still a work in progress...

 

The weekly pages, complete with tip-in, of which I only have one finished so far...

Then, my plan is to add in any art journaling pages for January, after the last weekly page.  Haven't gotten to that yet, but I will.  :)

Michael and I laugh about how I am constantly changing systems, but I really think this one is going to work great for this year.  What do you think?

Do you have a system set up for your 2016 creative practice? Was it the first one you came up with, or have you made any revisions?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Thanks so much for visiting!  Next time, I will share what's in the Artfully Inspired Life book so far.  Have a fabulous Friday!

Happy New Year! How's it going so far?

Hi friends!  I can't believe it's already January 9th - eek!  How are you doing?  Do you have any fun creative projects going for the new year?  I've been super busy, but having a great time!  I love this time of year so much - everything is new again! 

This year I'm trying a new approach to journaling, by giving each project/workshop/challenge, it's own journal.  It's been fun setting this up, because each journal is a little different in terms of size and paper type.  (More details on that to come). Here's what I've got so far...

Left to right:  Book of Days, Wanderlust, Fauxbonichi, Artfully Inspired Life, Documented Life and Journal 52. 

I'm also taking part in No Excuses, and a workshop called Imagine monthly.  Haven't figured out how I will approach those just yet.

Here's a list of the journaling workshops I'm taking, with a short, "unofficial" description.  There's a link for each one that will take you to the page with more information and registration info.  I hope it's helpful...

Book of Days
Teacher: Effy Wild
Goes all year.  In-depth with multiple elements, such as: monthly themes, oracle card pulls, daily journaling prompts and much more.  Focuses on mixed media.

Wanderlust
Facilitated by Everything Art, with 26 guest teachers
Goes all year. Combination of  learning about mixed media product usage and miscellaneous techniques. Focuses on mixed media and exploring a variety of styles.

Artfully Inspired Life
Teacher: Joanne Sharpe
Goes all year.  Fill up a mixed media journal with beautiful art, new lettering techniques, and journaling.  Focuses on watercolor and lettering, and lots of bright colors!

Documented Life Project 2016: The UnPlanner
Teachers: Art to the Fifth Women
Another year-long project, that uses a ring-bound planner system to document memories in a unique and artsy way. 

Imagine Monthly
Teacher: Paivi Eerola
This class goes for six months - January - June, with a new mini-class each month.  The intention is to get you thinking outside the box to create art that is uniquely you!


I'll be back soon to share how it's going with each workshop.  So far, I am LOVING them all!

I hope your new year is going well so far!  Thanks for visiting and I will see you again soon!