Productive Week

A number of finishes this week!  I had some appointments, too, so I’m not sure how I managed to be so productive.  Sometimes the stars align properly!

This is from Bethany Reynolds’ book “Stack-n-Whack-ipedia.”  I enjoy the process and had this piece of fabric I bought specifically for Stack-n-Whack.  I hoped it would make nice kaleidoscope blocks – and I was right!

Here’s a couple close-up shots.

I think this style appeals to my hidden mathematical side.  The blocks are very precise and geometric – yet there is a total randomness to the way each block turns out.  I suspect there will be more of this at some point!

Today’s finish is another block from the Seasonal Silhouettes BOM.  If  you look closely, you can see there are three apples in the center.  I haven’t decided exactly how I’ll finish the details on these, but hopefully the apples will pop a bit more when I do.  Just four more blocks before I have to make some decisions!

Lastly, a two-page spread in my Art Journal.  I picked up some Margaret Applin stencils for creating mandalas and have worked on this page in odd moments through the last couple of weeks.  The stencils contain designs in an arc and you can use the same stencil all around (like the background mandala above), or do all sorts of mix and match – which I did on the foreground mandala.  I’ve been reading that drawing mandalas is used in meditation and spiritual healing.  I don’t know about the spiritual part, but I know I could zone out really well while coloring these in!

In other news, the pugs went walk-about this afternoon – yes, again!  I knew which direction to start looking, so they were not very far away.  Jake “needed” to be carried home.  Wuff – he’s heavy!!

What about you – do you draw mandalas?  Do you meditate while drawing/coloring?

April Recap

Almost a month since me last post . . . now where did that month go?!?  Well, I have been busy, so how about a little summary?

Art Journal Emporium

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but I subscribe to Tangie Baxter’s AJ Emporium and we have a lot of activities geared to inspiring creativity.  Plus, it’s a lot of fun!  Check out the box in the right column if you think you might like to join, too.

One of the activities I take part in is a monthly Artist Trading Card (ATC) swap.  Here is what I received in April:

The Daily Art Dose

I decided to do lettering practice for April – here are some of my favorites:

Emporium Book Club

Yet another activity is the Book Club.  This month, our book was “Art Journal Courage: Mixed Media Techniques” by Dina Wakley.  Check out some of the things I created with the help of this book!

Digital Scrapbook

Since I’ve “discovered” the joys of Photoshop Elements, I’ve used a lot of family photos to create layouts suitable for memory keeping.  One way I keep focused is by joining on-line challenges.  The challenges mean I’m not doing things in any kind of order, but that works for me just fine!

Quilting

In spite of how it may look with all that, I DO have time for a bit of quilt making – just a bit!  These blocks took most of the month, but they are mostly done.

And there are three rows ready to be stitched together:

This is just a sampling.  Whew – makes me tired to look at it all together!  I’m ready for May, though.  Bring it!

Adventures in Art Journaling

I uploaded photos from my camera today – and found a lot of pix of my journaling explorations!  Guess I should upload more often!

I started in a new sketchbook/journal with a plain black cover.  That just won’t do!  So I used a couple of stencils, some molding paste, an oil pastel stick, and voila!  I love it, but next time I won’t use molding paste on something that is moved around a lot.  I’m finding little white pastey things all over the place!

Here’s a couple of the pages I’ve done so far.  One thing I want to do this year is use my Silhouette Cameo more often.  I have been collecting TONS of shapes, but not doing very much with them.  So, I’m trying to cut at least one shape a week and do something with it.  I experimented with cutting some stamps (the ‘January’, ‘create’, arrow, and figure) with mixed results.  It seems to be better with large stamped areas.  I love the arrow stamp, though.  Definitely worth the hassle!

I decided I needed another, smaller, journal for an online class I’m taking.  For this one, I cut up a large “doodle” page for the cover and bound some watercolor paper and drawing paper as the pages.

It’s simple, but colorful!  Just the right size (9”x6”, give or take) and I keep it next to my easy chair, handy for the class exercises and other doodling.  A small bit of Velcro keeps it neatly closed.  What would we ever do without DeMestral’s invention?

And the first thing I did was doodle a mandala!  I used a box of crayons I picked up some time ago, but had never opened.  I love playing with new crayons!!  You can see I also made a list of 10 things that inspire me . . . still working on number 10!  It’ll come to me.

And that page I cut up for the cover?  There’s a lot left, so I cut some of it into ATC sizes.  Ready made backgrounds for when the Muse strikes.  And there’s still some of the page left for future projects.  Yes, it was a Large page!

So that’s one of the things I’ve been doing lately.  Maybe I’ll remember to take pictures of my other projects some day.  Oh yeah – and upload from the camera!

One Word -- Explore

Many artists and crafters (and others I’m sure, but these are the ones I see) like to select one word as a touchstone for the year.  I like the idea, but it can be tricky to find a word that can apply to a whole year.  I mean, I have an attention span of about 5 minutes, so a year is FOR.EV.ER!

Nevertheless, I gave it some thought.  Based on my decision to reduce my stash, I considered words like “Green” or “Recycle.”  They don’t seem inspiring, though.  I ‘tried on’ some generic words – Dream, Create, Focus, Love – nothing rings my bell.

Then I received an ad for the 2014 Art Journal Caravan and the right word came to me.

Explore 

I had to join the Caravan right then and there!  If you’re not familiar with AJC, it’s a combination online class, journaling group, and community hosted by Tangie Baxter at ScrapbookGraphics.com (SBG).  She provides journaling prompts, collage elements, and guidance for a year of creative experiences.

This is the first journal page I created.  I chose this word because I want 2014 to be a year of exploring new experiences, learning new skills, and exploring new ways to do ‘old’ things – like using up a stash!  This can apply to many aspects of my life, not just the creativity.

This week, my explorations led me into the mechanics of navigating the SBG forums and uploading pictures, as well as an introduction into digital journaling.  Well, visual journaling anyway, since blogging is definitely a form of journaling!  At first it was quite a maze, but I am finding my way and can’t wait to continue.

Today’s page.  A reminder to take a breath and enjoy the journey.

---

Page credits

Explore:  map fragment, hot air balloon, book courtesy of thegraphicsfairy.com; all other elements, courtesy of tangie baxter

Nature does not hurry: Snowflake background = rubber stamp on painted paper; Quote, gold splatter, foreground tree = tangiebaxter, Art Journal Caravan January ’14 Collection; Background trees = Death to Stock Photos, Cozy collection; Bird silhouettes = courtesy of vectorolie/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’m in Love with My New Tool!!!

After much thinking and delaying and more thinking . . . I finally ordered a Silhouette Cameo cutting machine.  And it arrived this weekend!  Oh boy!

 

This is the “before” picture of Sunday’s paper pieces.  You can see that I used the butterfly shape and the reverse of the butterfly.  I also cut a six petal flower.

What I really wanted the machine for, though, was to cut fabric for applique.  Oh my goodness!  It works beautifully!!

This leaf is fused and ready to stitch and all those curves are cut absolutely perfect!  My head is all abuzz with ideas!

Things like birthday postcards!  I belong to a fabric postcard sub-group that sends out birthday postcards.  This is perfect!

I had to try some shapes right away and made a journal page.  This thing could become an addiction!  If you don’t hear from me for extended periods, you know what I’ll be doing!!!

Wednesday WOW – June 8

I had several appointments today and then spent the afternoon at the quilt shop.  I’m not sure what happened, but I FORGOT to take any pictures!?!  But then, all I have to show for today is more of the pink blocks I showed you last week.

Fortunately, I DID take pictures of my worktable a couple of days ago:

I played around some in my journal.  One of the many groups I follow on the web gave a prompt of “Serenity.”

I instantly thought of a field nearby where the black angus bulls lie beneath trees and serenely watch the world go by.  Once I had the picture in my mind, I had to make it!  It gave me the perfect excuse to practice some layering techniques I’ve read about recently. 

Not bad for a city girl, huh?