Sunday Update...

Hi friends!  It's day 25 of the 30 day blogalong and I'm still loving it!  Stopping in here each day to say hello is fun!  It's especially helpful when life gets busy (as it has been lately), cuz it keeps me on track with  making time for my art - even if it's just a little each day.  I want to have something to share with you!

Yesterday, for example, was super busy around here, but I did carve out a little time in the evening to work on project life.  Here's how far I got...

Not a lot to see here. Ha.  This is what the first step in my process looks like.  I go through all my various places where I keep clues of what happened each day, and label my pockets with what will go in them.  There are four places I keep these clues:

1.  My day planner
2.  The Memento App on my phone
3.  iphoto on my computer
4.  My Book of Days (grid journal), and
5.  The box I throw memorabilia in.

Between these five places, I can usually find something to represent each day.

Today's project will be to continue to work on this spread.  On Tuesday, I should be able to share it with you - all finished!

I will leave you with a random photo of the cats in the studio this morning.  Willie is claiming the dictionary, by rubbing his chin all over it, and Johnny is doing the same with the de-furring supplies.  They cooperate like that sometimes.  :)

I wish you a wonderful Sunday my friends!  Thanks so much for visiting, and I will see you again tomorrow!

A Life Book Work In Progress...

I want to take a moment to thank you all so much for your kind words about my new design team spot!  I am so excited about joining the One Little Word team; and your words of support and encouragement really mean alot to me!  I think it's going to be a tons of fun, and I really hope you will come on over and play along with us!


You know that thing I said a couple of posts ago - about finishing pages in one sitting?  Yeah, I realize now that that is not always true.  Ha.  Last night I started a Life Book project and didn't even come close to finishing!  It wasn't because of perfectionism though.  It was just because there are a ton of steps to this process!

Here's how far I got...

 I'm making a little sailor girl on a mixed media background.  As you can see I've got a long way to go.  :)

I made her nose blue just for fun, but who knows if it will stay that way...

I will keep you updated as I progress with this one.

I've gotten a few questions about whether I think Life Book is worth the investment.  I can honestly say that buying Life Book 2013 is one of the most worthwhile $99 I've ever spent on a workshop! (and I'm not being paid to say that.) There are new lessons every week for the whole year (with a couple of exceptions, such as a few artist interview weeks), and lots of teachers with a wide variety of styles, which makes each lesson really unique and fun!

As far as buying Life Book 2013 goes, I think it's still worth it if you are willing and have the capability to download the lessons.  The course started in January, so there is a lot that has already happened.  Registration is open until the end of September.  My understanding is that access will go away January 31, 2014; but if you have downloaded the videos and pdfs you will have them forever. You can click here for all the details if you are interested. 

Otherwise, you can always wait and sign up for Life Book 2014 (provided there is one - I am hoping!)

Will I take Life Book again in 2014?  I am definitely planning on it!   I would really miss it if I didn't!

Thanks so much for visiting today!  I will be back tomorrow with another update!

One Little Word...

Hi friends!  I'm super excited to announce that I'm joining the "One Little Word" Design Team!

One Little Word is a monthly challenge blog. Each month, the creative team invites participants to create something inspired by one little word!  I will be focusing on art journal pages, but any type of creation is welcome!  It's a great challenge, and I'm so excited to be part of it!  I will be starting in September.  I hope you will come on over and play along!  Check it out here!

On putting it all together...

Hi friends! The page I have to share with you today is a great example of how you can take the things you learn in various workshops and combine them to work for you!  This is a page in my "Book of Days" journal...

The journal is a 9x12" graph paper journal.  I just love making these grids!

Here is a list of the workshops that I have learned from

Book of Days:  Title and concept of doing "multi-day spreads" in your journal.
Moonshine: The idea of making a daily "Hurrah" list.
Lollapalooza 3:  The actual journal itself, and the grid-making technique.
Life Book 2013: The tulips were a practice sketch for my pink tulip Life Book page.

I put them all together and add my own style, colors and life experience to the pages, and I have a journal that is both a nod to all those workshops, and unique to me at the same time.  I love working in this book so much! I get to use stamps that I love, record the weather and my daily happenings, paste in art that inspires me (I always add the artist's name if I know it, for future reference); and play with tons of CoLOR!  I've mentioned it before, but the backgrounds are almost all panpastel.  The exception on this page is the background of the square that says "celebrate."  I used a tombow marker for that one.

I want to answer a question posted by Dawn in an earlier post.  She asked...

"Oh, I know a question for you. Do you put a time limit on each page you make so you don't keep reworking it or rethinking your ideas?"

I don't put a time limit on my pages per se, but for the most part I like to finish them in one sitting. That is mainly due to my short attention span; but also because I don't want perfectionism to creep in.
Years ago, it literally took me weeks to finish drawing a face, because I kept erasing and fixing endlessly.  After awhile, it made art no fun for me, and ended in burnout.  Since then, I have really learned to let go and accept - no CELEBRATE imperfection!  I rarely go back and rework a page.  Usually if I get an idea of how it would have been better, I will just apply that knowledge to the next page I make.

I hope that answers your question Dawn!  Thanks so much for asking!

Book of Mirrors...

Sorry this post is so short!  I'm having a super busy day, but I wanted to pop in and share my page. 

Had so much fun creating this Book of Mirrors page...!!!

 

Materials used:

Map, scrapbook paper, matte medium, craft paint, golden fluid acrylics, pencil, stickles and sequins.

Thanks for visiting and I will be back again tomorrow!

Project Life Cropping Kit...

I had so much fun at my monthly girlfriends crop on Saturday, and I got a chance to try out my new system for bringing Project Life to a crop.  I wanted something compact; with plenty of supplies to make it fun, without being too overwhelming.  I'm happy to say that my new system worked great!

Here's what I came up with...
There are five items that work together to make up my Project Life Cropping Kit:

1. For Project Life cards...
Close to my Heart Medium Organizer (the middle one on the picture)

I had seen a number of bloggers post pictures of the CTMH organizer and I thought I'd give it a try.  It truly is awesome!  It's like it was made for project life cards!  Here's how mine looks...

 

I have become  Project Life kit hoarder, and I have SO MANY cards that it was a bit overwhelming going through them all to find just the right one to to fill a particular pocket.  So I went through all of my cards, took a couple of each design and put them in this bin.  (The rest went in a second bin that will stay at home). 

I mixed all the kits together, and separated them by type of card, and then by color.    The exception is the kit cards from my Studio Calico subscription.  They all go in their own section on the far left.

I also included a few other things in this box.  Here's a bird's eye view:

 

Here's what's in each section:

Top left: Tiny stapler and staples, detail scissors. glue, and dry adhesive.

Top middle: Black stazon inkpad, date stamp, two sizes of acrylic blocks for stamping, and 4 tiny neon inkpads.

Top right:  4 x 6 cards, one alphabet stamp set, some day of the week stickers, one Studio Calico stamp set, and a couple of sticker pages that came with my SC kit.

Bottom far left: Studio Calico kit cards and embellies (two months worth)

Bottom near left: 3x4 background cards

Bottom near right: 3x4 filler cards, and 6 tags with washi tape wound around them.  (I was able to bring over 20 styles with me this way!)

Bottom right: 3x4 journaling cards

1. Embellies and Doodads:

Close to my Heart Small Organizer (the top one in the catalog picture above)

Instead of bringing all of my embellies, I can just grab a handful of each color of the rainbow, and throw them in this box.  It makes for an easy (and non overwhelming) way to add tidbits to the pockets.

3. Number/Date Buttons and Badges

The Darice 17 compartment organizer

 

 This little box cost me around $2 at Michaels, and works great for sorting out all those little buttons and tags that have the date numbers on them. No more digging endlessly to find the right number!


 4. Alpha and other stickers:
Artbin Marker Satchel

I took the inserts out of this and it's the perfect size for alpha and other stickers and labels...

and last but not least:

5. Pens and markers:
BlueQ Marker Case

This little case is just big enough to hold a few different favorite pens and markers.

Here's the kit all together and ready for a crop!  

I hope this is helpful info.  If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

Thank you so much for visiting me today!  I appreciate each one of you!

Post Crop Recovery Mode...

I had a great time last night with my girlfriends at our monthly crop!  I slept wayyyyy in today - didn't get up til 3pm - HA!  I always do that after my crops! 

Here we all are...

From left to right is Christina, Lynn, Anne and me.  These gals are the greatest!  We have known each other for years and shared alot together.  They are like my sisters, and I don't know what I'd do without them!  Love you girls - thanks for a great time!


I've got lots to share with you all this week, so look for some more newsy posts coming up!  See you again tomorrow, and thanks so much for visiting!

Organizing tonight...

I'm busy organizing tonight!

 Here's a way to bring lots of different washi tape styles to a crop, without all the bulk...

 I'm doing a major renovation of my Project Life organizing system.  This is a Close to my Heart Medium Organizing bin.  It works perfectly for project life cards!

Once I get it finished I will share more details.

Got any good organizing tips?  I'd love to hear them!

I will be back tomorrow with more to share!  Thanks for visiting!

A Few Gelli Prints, and a Huge Linky List...

Hey there everyone!  Thanks for all the comments on my last post - It makes my day when I hear from you!!!

There were a few questions about the workshops I have on my Workshop Tracker form, so I thought I would provide some more info, along with links to the workshops, so you can check them out yourselves if you like!  They are all fun workshops that I would recommend, based on my own experience as a student.

I hope this is helpful! 


Book of Days 2013, Session 2
Instructor Effy Wild
Building a daily art journaling practice
Registration is now closed, but there will be another session starting in January. Click here for more info.

Life Book 2013
22 Different Instructors, Coordinated by Tamara LaPorte (Willowing)
A year-long mixed media art class, celebrating YOU
In progress - registration still open

Moonshine
Instructor: Effy Wild
Mixed Media Exploration of the feminine divine.
Next session starts September 1st.

Inner Excavation
Free Read-along led by Liz Lamoreaux, author of the Book
Effy's Read-along with Liz
Both are self-paced now

Fabulous Faces
Instructor: Tamara LaPorte
Learning to draw and shade portraits

This & That
Instructor: Kelly Kilmer
Finding  Poetry in the Everyday
art journaling course

Letter Love 101 - Art Journals
Instructor: Joanne Sharpe
29 lessons in decorative lettering

Project Life
Not a workshop, but a way of memory-keeping, developed by Becky Higgins

Animal Spirit Guides
Instructor: Gina Armfield
Art Journal with focus on above-mentioned topic

No More Excuses-Art Journaling Series
Instructor: Gina Armfield I've done them all - still working on the UTI version

Masterful Art Journaling (MAJ)
Instructor: Dina Wakely
Art journaling inspiration from the great art masters
P.S. It says 8 lessons, but there is a HUGE amount of content in each lesson!

Artsy Bangles
Instructor: Christy and daughter Tomlinson
Bracelet making (25 different styles)

Free to Create
Instructor: Jesse Reno
Free pdf course - getting messy with paint!

Happy Go Lucky Stitchalong
Instructor: Amy Powers (Big Picture Classes)
Making a fun embroidery sampler

Stamp Carving 101
Instructor: Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

Getting Started with Deli Paper
Instructor: Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

Getting Started with the Gelli Plate
Instructor: Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

And, just because I can't do a post without photos, here are a few for you...

I've been busy making gelli prints on deli paper - here are some of them hanging to dry.  The one of the face was made by putting a magazine image under the gelli plate (it's clear) and painting over the top.  Fun!

 And - I can't resist adding in a few sleeping cat photos.  :)   Here's my sweet boy Willie (also known as the caramel-colored fluffball)...

 (oh to be that flexible - ha)

and his adorable brother Johnny (also known as the Johnmeister)...

I love his little white fang!

I hope you are having a groovy week my friends!  Thanks so much for visiting, and I will see you again tomorrow!
 

Work In Progress, and How I Keep Track of All Those Workshops...

Hi everyone!  Last night I had a lot of fun working in my Book of Days.  This time, I followed Effy's lead again, and did some "pulled art," which is always fun! It brings out a whole different side of my creativity, and it's usually a big surprise when it's done!  How fun is that?

Here are a few process shots...

 After I made a layered background, I looked for images within it.  Our theme in BOD this week is "Faces," so I was looking for a face, but right away the elephant popped out at me.  Next I saw the person's mouth, and eyes.  Then, a little voice inside my head was like - "hey, add a hand!  The person should be holding the elephant!"  So I did.  HA.  Sometimes you gotta listen to the little voices.

Here's the next phase...

Just adding gesso to bring out the images more...

 And here's how it looks now...

 It's almost finished.  Just needs journaling.  I don't know what it means yet, so I'm waiting. Hmmm...



I also wanted to share with you an idea I had recently for keeping track of my various and sundry workshop endeavors.  I LOVE taking workshops!  The problem is, I am taking so many right now, there is no way I can get them all done at the same time!  Sooooo, I decided to make a table to keep track of all the lessons that I want to do...

Having this list alleviates the stress of trying to keep it all in my brain (not gonna happen!); plus it's like having my own little playground!  When I get ready to make a page in my journal, and need some inspiration, look at all the choices I have!  Yeayyyy!!!  

 When I finish a lesson, I get the satisfaction of crossing it off the list!  Another yeayyyy!!!

Do you take a lot of workshops?  If you do, how do you keep track of them?  Do you have a system that works for you?  I'd love to hear about it!

Thanks so much for visiting on this day 15 of the 30-day blogalong with Effy!  I really appreciate you!

Oh, and don't forget - you can head on over to Effy's blog to check out what all of the participants of the 30-day blogalong are doing!

Green-eyed Lady...

Monday night's Book of Mirrors adventure was both challenging and fun.  Our fearless leader Effy is working on faces this week, and I decided to follow suit.  Figuring out how to paint a portrait on black paper was a new experience!

(Book of Mirrors pages are intended to reflect what's going on in my inner world (heart), and are inspired by Effy Wild's Book of Days program.)

Here's how it turned out...

First of all, I prepped the page with black masking tape in the seam, and clear gesso for added strength.  I learned that clear gesso, does not dry completely clear on black paper.   Interesting revelation.  It turned out looking kinda like a chalkboard, which was not what I intended, but a happy accident nonetheless.  :0) 

For the portrait, I decided to sketch first on deli paper, cut out the shape and glue it on with matte medium.  Then I painted with acrylics mixed with gesso on top of that.  The gesso helped the fluid acrylics stick to the deli paper better, and also made the color stand out more against the black paper.

The journaling says "I've come to love Mondays.  How awesome is that?"  It's true!  I love Mondays now, because the new lessons are released for both the Book of Days workshop, and Life Book!  It's always something to look forward to!

Before I go I want to answer a question I received from Mary M. a few  posts back.  She asked:

"Your Book of Days looks handmade. Could you explain materials used and how you made it. I love your work Michelle!" ~Mary M.

Thanks for your kind words Mary, and thank you for the question!  My Book of Days is handmade, and it was fun and easy to do!  I used a big piece of canvas for the cover, and filled it with various colors of watercolor paper.  I used the technique in the awesome (and free) Bookbinding class offered by Effy Wild.  I did a post about it awhile ago - click here to go to the post for more detailed info. Click here to check out the free bookbinding class!

That's it for today!  Thanks so much for visiting and for your comments!  They really make my day!  See you again tomorrow!

Project Life Update - August 1 - 7, 2013...

 Hi friends!  I've got a Project Life update for you today, and believe it or not, it's for August!

Even though I'm behind by a few months, I decided to continue on with Project Life in the current month, and catch up with the old ones as time permits. 

Part of the reason for this is - I subscribed to the Studio Calico Project Life kit, and I was anxious to try it out!  So, here we go...

August 1 - 7, 2013...

 Here's how it looks with the calendar insert...

 and without the insert...

 Page protectors used are design D (left side), and design A ( right side)

What's happening here? It was the start of the 30-day blogalong, a retirement party for my friend Lynn, a vacation photo from daughter Becca and other everyday happenings around the house.

 Left side detail...

 I had a lot of fun working with my Studio Calico kit this week.  My subscription actually started in July, and I used one card from that kit (bottom left).  The title card is from the August kit.  I added some watercolor pencil swishes to the background to accent the Shel Silverstein quote that I glued on to the card.  The top right card is just some October Afternoon paper from my stash that happens to have the word "two" on it - how perfect is that?  :)  The donkey is a vintage postcard, but the "you are here" image is a stamp from the SC August kit.

 Detail of right side...

All the cards used on this side are from the August SC kit.  The photo of Becca and her friend Angela was one that she sent us while she was away having fun!  I didn't notice til I was uploading this photo that the sequins on the bottom card fell.  It actually says "Life is amazing,"  not "Ife is amazing."  Ha.

I am fully in love with Project Life again!  I worked on it all weekend, and made lots of progress in catching up.  I also subscribed to a second PL kit club - Gossamer Blue.  I will let you know how the two compare once I get my first GB kit.

Tonight's project is a Book of Mirrors page in my art journal.  I will let you know how that goes tomorrow!

Check out Effy's 30-day Blogalong, to see what the other participants are up to! 

Thanks for visiting, and for your comments!  I really appreciate you so much!