What I Did On My Art Retreat: part one...

Hi friends!  I just got back from spending a week (yes a whole week!) at a scrappy retreat center with my friends Anne and Christina, creating like crazy!  We had so much fun!

I usually like to at least get one photo of the group of us when we go on retreat but I forgot this time - rats!  I did get one photo - of Anne...

Her painty fingers and happy smile pretty much sum up the week!

I got lots done, and rather than overwhelm you with all of it at once, I figure I will break it into two posts!

Here's what I got done in my No Excuses planner journal...

I finished my calendar grid for January (celebrating the color gray)...

a grey collage...

I did one of the weekly drawing challenges - a bunny...

and I finished up the last week of daily entries...

The animal photos on the right are a taped on flap...


Left side detail...

right side detail with the flap open...

I'm thinking about turning my No Excuses Journal into a 3-ring binder planner!  That way, I can stick all kinds of things in there, like  photo pocket pages, ephemera and more journaling!  It could be like my quirky version of project life!  How fun would that be?

Okay, so that's all for today, but I will be back tomorrow with part two of "What I did on my Art Retreat"!

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

Just to let you know...

Hey everyone!  I just want to let you know I haven't forgotten you!  I have some stuff going on that will take me away from blogging for another week or so (don't worry, it's all good stuff!).  After that, I will be back to daily posts again!

Have a great week my friends!

Rekindled by a spark...

Hi friends!

Just a quick share of a journal page...

The illustration was inspired by a photo I saw on pinterest.  Done with tombow markers, a waterbrush, and pitt pens.

I hope you are having a fabulous week so far!  Thanks for visiting!

Just Be (Journal 52 Week 2)...

The second week's challenge over at Journal 52 was   "Just Be." 

Here's what I came up with...

It was one of those pages where I had a story, but no idea how I was going to create the page when I started.  I just started playing with layers of stencils and spray ink.  Then I added some collage papers, doodles, and acrylic paint.  I found the image of the woman looking out into the ocean in a book and it fit perfectly, so I pasted it on.  Lastly some doodling, journaling and a title. 

I realized that lately I've been doing lots of planned pages; so it felt really good to jwing it with this one.  How about you?  Do you usually plan your journal pages, or are you  more of a "just play and see what happens" type?

Artfully Inspired Life Dailies...

A quick share of a couple more pages made for my Artfully Inspired Life class with Joanne Sharpe.  These were both done with Tombow Marker and a waterbrush...

I am so loving this class!!!

Thanks for visiting today!  I appreciate you!

The Word is... "Sing!"

Hey everyone!  It's the 15th of the month again, which means it's time for the One Little Word Challenge!

The word for January is SING!

Here's what I came up with...

 I had fun with acrylic paint, collage bits, and lots of paint marker doodling on this one!

 It was made from a page in my junque journal that originally looked like this...

Can you tell who that is?  It's a pic of Judy Garland and her daughter Liza Minelli!  I found it in an old magazine (I think from the 60's?) and added it to the journal when I originally put it together.  When I found out our word for January was SING, I knew it would be perfect!

What does the word SING make you think of?  Do you have a photo you've been meaning to scrap that would work?  A journal page you could make?  Come on over and play along with us at One Little Word!  You've got a whole month, and we'd love to see you!  Click here to go to the challenge!

Thanks so much for visiting today!  Have a wonderful day!

Journal 52...

Hi friends!  Are any of you participating in Journal 52 this year?  It's a free, year-long workshop that my friend Anne participated in last year; and it looked like so much fun, I decided to join in for 2015! 

The first prompt was "Pathways."  Here's what I came up with...

I realized as I was making this page, that this is the third time in the last year I've used that song lyric on a journal page.  I  must be feeling a special connection to it!

In my Year of the Spark class - we were asked to submit a "creative selfie," so I used this page for that too.

I'll leave you with the song that inspired the page - "On The Road to Find Out" by Cat Stevens...

P.S.  If you want to join in for Journal 52, click here to go to the website.

Thanks so much for visiting, and I wish you a beautiful Monday!

Alchemy Cards so far...

Hi friends!  I'm excited to share the Alchemy cards I am making in my Inner Alchemy Circle group.  The focus is on Animal Spirits and Archetypes...

This is a whole different kind of project for me, and I'm loving being part of it...

The biggest part about making these cards for me is reflecting on the meaning and energy that resides in each one...

I was attracted to the course because of my love for working with animal totems; but I am finding the archetypes fascinating as well...

I am really loving the spiritual nature of this project.  I am learning a lot about the symbolism, and it's so fascinating!

The cards have a lot more meaning than just the three words I put on each one, but I wanted to have a simple reminder of what made me feel the most connected to them...

The cards are 3x4 inches.  By the end of the course, I will have a complete deck of 28 cards.  I plan to use them for creative inspiration in my artwork and perhaps also in life... 

So far I have 12 done...

I am so looking forward to finishing my deck and putting it to use!  I will keep you posted on the progress...

Thanks so much for visiting today!  I appreciate each and every one of you!

Beginnings...

Right now all of the classes I'm taking are having their own version of a "beginnings" lesson.  At first I was a little worried about it, cuz I don't want a bunch of repetitive pages; but each one is a little different, and I am delighted that they are all falling together quite naturally!

The first Documented Life Challenge is to use book paper and work with the theme:  Be Your Own Goal Keeper.  Here's what I came up with...

 

(book paper, gesso, acrylic paint, tombow markers, pencil, white poster paint pen, shipping tag)

 

I kept it pretty simple and listed three goals for the year:

1. Go on Adventures,

2. Create Something Every Day, and

3.  Approach all things with Love.

 

I already had the first Lifebook lesson on the next page; so together they make this spread...

That gave me the idea to use the next two spreads to represent my other two goals.  This is my first Book of Days spread...

(gesso, ad image, acrylic paint, fabric spray ink, neon oil crayon, markers)

The image of the girl and her dog is a gesso transfer that I colored with paint and ink.  I usually have a terrible time with transfers of any kind, so I was delighted that it turned out!

and then, here's my final goal, represented on my mantra page from Artfully Inspired Life...

(tombow marker and pitt pen)

It's a fun challenge to make all the different classes work together in one journal. I thought about giving each workshop it's own book; but I've tried that before and I always end up with half-finished journals all over the place - ha.  This way I don't have that problem!

I hope you are having a super-groovy week, my friends!  Thank you so much for visiting!

 

Workspace Wednesday - My painting station...

Hi friends!  Here's a quick Workspace Wednesday post for you...

This is how my painting station looks right now.  It sits on one end of one of those folding banquet tables in the middle of my studio...

I keep some big sheets of kraft paper underneath everything to keep it clean.  As a side benefit I can create some pretty cool hand-painted papers with them, just by wiping my brush off before sticking it in the water to clean it.

I keep one set of small tubes of lots of colors on the table.  The bigger paint containers are stored away unless I'm using them.  You can barely see it in the right hand corner, but there's a big pink craft sheet as the main surface for painting.  I find that putting the underpapers to the side (rather than actually under my project) makes it easier to wipe paint onto them without risking getting the wet paint all over my project.  Also, there are two water buckets - one for rinsing off warm colors, and one for rinsing cool colors.  Helps to keep your water from turning to mud so fast.  I keep the covers on the buckets to keep the cats from investigating...

 

Acrylic brushes are being stored in an old marker organizer...

Watercolor brushes and water are kept separate from the 

acrylics, to keep them clean and working nicely. 

The nice thing about the water basin covers is they are also palettes!

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments.  Thanks so much for visiting!

The Watcher and the Doodle Girl...

Hey friends!  How is your 2015 going so far?  Mine is going great!  I want to thank you so much for all of your comments on my recent posts!  I really appreciate hearing from you!

I just realized I never shared these two portraits from the Radiant Faces Workshop - (which I am still LOVING by the way)...

This is "The Watcher," which was taught by Kylie Fowler.

She is the one who lovingly watches over me - kinda like a guardian angel...

 (photograph, acrylic paint, gesso and marker)

She started as a photograph of me, and morphed into someone completely different when I started to add paint over the top.  It's the first time I've done a paint-over collage technique and liked the results!


And this one is called "The Doodle Girl," taught by the fabulous Joanne Sharpe.

She represents my 70's soul...

(Copic marker and pitt pen)

I still have one or two portraits to go in this class.  If you are interested in learning various styles of portrait-creating, I highly recommend Radiant Faces.  The diversity of each lesson has been amazing! 

Thanks so much for visiting today!  I appreciate you!

The Beauty of Gray (No Excuses - Week One)...

The theme for this year's No Excuses Program is "A Year of Color."  As a color enthusiast, this makes me absolutely GIDDY!  Each month focuses on exploring a different color.  The color for January is Gray...

This is my spread for the first week...

On the flip-out I pasted the workshop handout for the month.  I blurred out the information, since it is a paid class.  I pasted on a couple of photos from pinterest to spruce it up a bit..

No Excuses is a journaling program designed by  Gina Rossi Armfield.  If you want to know more about it click here.  It's based on a desk diary format, and it's tons of no-pressure fun!

Thanks so much for visiting!  I appreciate you!