Art Journaling in January

After a busy and creative December I've been having a bit of a dry spell...finally got going again at the end of this week.

When I get stuck I really do go back to the folks who brought me to the party. Dina Wakley has had a huge influence...I just love her style. As I am still developing mine, I see her work in many of my pieces. 

This page used a technique from Sami Harding as part of Creative Jump Start 2014 hosted by Nathalie Kalback. What a great way to start this year...in 2013 each of the "starters" used the same thing three ways, this year it's household items. Sami's lesson was about using transparencies which I didn't have, so I used sheet protectors to paint with fluid acrylics.  Way fun. Something I'll be going back to I'm sure.

I debated whether to put this page up or not. There are some things I like  - the face, the circles, a lot of the background. Some things I don't. The darn circles need to be a smidgen higher!!!! If I didn't move so fast I would have seen that. At 57 I'm still learning that lesson! And frankly the poor dear looks a lot like house-frau. Alas.

I will say again though, the Dylusions journals take a licking and keep on ticking (okay, another way we know my age).

And lastly. I couldn't help but notice that when I'm having a bit of difficulty getting started with art, my desk is relatively clean. When I'm in engaged, it's a disaster. Happy to say I'm getting back to normal now.

Top Ten Art Journal Spreads

I had such fun looking back over all my projects (2013 Favorites) I decided to review my journals. These are the top ten "entries" in no particular order.

I return to these colors again and again.

A lesson in white space, from Dina Wakely's Art Journal Freedom a great book!

Doodling at its finest - from 21 Secrets.

The tragedy at the Boston marathon stayed with me for days. 

Finally I made several journal pages that helped. 

A prompt from France, and her Journal on Mondays videos. 

Springtime

Everyone is different....

A summertime trip down memory lane. 

Ah yes, the Book of Troubles....

That day I was thankful for the man I share my life with, but in general I'm just thankful for my life.

Sometimes I Need to be Reminded

The other day a friend and I were talking about how different siblings can be. She, apparently, is quite a bit different that her sister. In an effort to explain this to her daughter, my friends mother said, "Lauren, not everyone wants to see the world."

Now Lauren and I can't imagine a life like that, but that phrase has been resonating in my mind all week. We have the grown (well mostly) kid at home, and yep, you guessed it, they don't all want to see the world. And it's okay. So I took some time today to make a journal page to remind me....

The entire time I was making this spread I kept thinking of Alison Bomber's work, of which I am a big fan. She works a lot in browns and blues, which is not my usual color scheme but I thought I would give it a try. She is also a QUEEN of layers. I managed to get 10 on my background. 

I started by putting a lot of water down in my Dylusions Journal, followed by Distress Paints in Weathered Wood, Iced Spruce, and Stormy Sky. After that dried I went in with a bit of Wild Honey mixed with Picket Fences and Antique Linen. The Antique Linen is the first color I've had to replace in that palette...it goes with everything!!

Next up was some soft gel through a stencil...I had the soft gel for a while, but haven't used it...perfect for translucent stencils. I applied some Distress Ink on top of the stencils to make the shapes pop a bit, and put on some Washi tape for color and texture.  I used the world stamp from a Tim Holtz collection for some added interest in the background as well.

My eye kept catching a container of white reinforcers on the floor (goodness knows where they came from?!) so I popped them onto the background and applied some more paint over top them in the same background colors. They looked a little plain tho, so out came the embossing powders which worked pretty darn well...I rather like the mixture of them on the spread now. The final background layer was some text stamped in white ink. 

I started with a size 12 tag - might as well have started with a 10 since I had to cut it down, but ah, the things we learn along the way. I'm not very good yet with the individual Hero Arts stamps, so the stamping took me a bit. I auditioned several backgrounds and finally just went back to a manilla tag, coffee archival ink, and some Antique Linen Distress Stain. 

I covered the tag with some scrap paper which I quieted down with some watery Antique Linen Distress Paint to bring them all together. Next I added some Tattered Angels mists and a mixture of Dirty Martini and Black Dylusions spray splattered about. Washi tape helped join the tag to the background. 

Final embellishments included my favorite film strip 2 ways, some Chinese tokens, and a faux rusted compass. Looking back I see it really isn't blue and brown, more blue and yellow-ish orange...but hey, at least I gave it a go. 

A Clean Desk for WOYWW 233

Yippee Skippee. I finally cleaned my desk, just in time for the weekly sharing hosted by the wonderful Julia! I've been at the state planning conference for the last four days. I'm happy to report although I might be getting older, I am getting wiser and after four full days of talking and being "on" all the time (as one of the organizers) I took today off. It was blissful.

Here it is in all it's glory. Christmas bits and bobs to the left and ready to go. While I was cleaning I usually put things on my chair, but Ben the cat was there. Being the lazy cuss I am I put them there anyway. The most casual of cats, just kept on bathing. I did finally get him to look at the camera though.

He's just my best buddy. All cat ... all on his terms .... but I was told he missed him Mom. Big Smile.

On the things I'm working on is a Christmas Book. All three kids will be here at one time over Christmas and I want someplace to capture the memories. I was thrilled when Tammy Tutterow had an on line class....less thinking was just what a I needed. I don't have everything she's using, but I can get close enough. 

I had some time last week to play in an art journal....real quick....with lotz of colors. Super fun. Love the Zig Wink of Stella brush glitter pens. They make sparkles so easy and mess free. 

Life is good these days, and I am enjoying the journey. Hope you are too. 

I'm at the tale end this week, because it's 6:30 pm Wednesday evening here in Alaska. It's already Thursday morning (maybe even afternoon) and all my friends in the UK are probably fast asleep and will wake up in 4 to 5 hours to start their days. But as someone once said - It's Wednesday Somewhere in the World. And this time it's here! Have a good week everyone. 

I'm Coming Back!!! WOYWW 230

October was a tough month, and so I took a break from our weekly gathering, and I missed it. But things are starting to settle down, so I am sticking my toe back in the water and joining Julia and the gang for WOYWW - or What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

A mess! That hasn't changed. lol.

Front and center is a journal page in ocean-y colors (we just decided to save our pennies and go to Hawaii in about six months!) ...based on a great video that France Papillon did in her Journal on Monday's series. I am an unbashed fan of hers! I have done some paper weaving before, but never thought to try in my journal.

The coolest thing I did in October, by FAR, was attend the Art & Soul Retreat in Portland, Oregon. Portland is about 1,600 miles from where I live, but it's  the closest art retreat tome. I took four wonderful classes, from for great teachers. It was a great experience!

One of the classes I took was Faux Metal on Wood. 

This started out as a 12 x 12 x 1 piece of wood. We used plaster through a stencil, and then used a series of washes...one to neutralize the paint, one to rust, one to lay down copper, and the last to start the patina reaction.

Everyone's reaction was a little different, but I like all the variations that happened on mine. I think this will eventually end up in my kitchen.

That's it for now. I want to make sure I have time to start with the visiting!!! 

Is There Even a Desk Here?

Yikes! My desk is the antithesis of Julia's. C'est la vie. Julia who, you ask? She of the Stamping Ground who hosts us each week for a look about the world and our work desks.

It's a bit of mess. I think I might need to change out the paper, but that requires way more energy than I happen to have as of late. We've spent a glorious week being ill at our house; he who is never ill, with a sinus infection, and I with dental issues that resulted in oral surgery. In between bouts of ouches and pain meds I would stumble into the fun room and mess about. Didn't really get too far. 

Filled up the last page of my first journal. So to make the bookends complete I decided to take a picture of my first ever journal page.

I had to laugh, because there is that same double pen lettering. I've probably done it a total of 4 times in my journal, but the universe knew to do it now. I love it when then happens. 

And then there is this:  

the well used spiral that I once thought would drive me crazy and that  I've come to like the look of.

Now if we could just start feeling better, get the cat back from the vet hospital and get going on all those before winter projects life would be headed towards normal. A girl can always hope....  Have a good week. 

WOYWW 4th Anniversary - No. 208!!!

Woo Hoo. It's here. For four years Miss Julia, she of the Stamp Ground fame, has hosted our little party, a world wide snoop onto the desk top of others. It's all harmless and can be lots of fun. In honor of the anniversary, Julia reflects a bit about deskers...I've been a kind of in and out desker over the last year and half, but have been pretty faithful the past several months. I look forward to it. Simple as that.

I've just returned for a week away with my sweetie in San Francisco which was green and sunny. Yay. I did a bit of shopping there as well.

I found those fun and colorful tab stickers on the left side of the desk at a place called the Container Store. What a plethora of stuff they have - my goodness. I couldn't resist all those colors! Moving around  the desk clockwise you'll see a Ranger Glue Stick. I point this out because unlike almost every other glue stick I have ever tried, this one actually works!! I used it on vacation to start a quick, down and dirty travel journal and was really impressed. Above that you can see a card from my friend Linda...I should have taken a close up of the flower -- it is beautifully shaded and shimmery. Gorgeous.  Moving around a bit more you can see the clear, plastic carry bag with the very pink zipper. Sadly what you can't see are the fun flamingos on it which is what caused me to purchase it in the first place.

But my favorite art score were these:

I feel in love immediately. I mean who doesn't love an elephant on a stripped beach ball wearing flowers in her hair and a doily on her posterior? All the stickers are fun and sparkly....I found this at a grocery store in Glenn Ellen, California. Can't wait to use them.

Also can't wait  to play on my prepped art journal page and in the Fun Room altogether.

In addition to the folks I've already committed to, and the next person in line, I do have one extra ATC I'd be happy to send ANYWHERE to the first person who comments they would like to swap and extra one.

Hope you have a glorious week!

WOYWW #204

It is snowing where I am!!! I would complain, but, ah heck, I'm gonna complain. This is not good. I am so jealous of all those green pictures I see, many with actual flowers in them. Grrrr. I am in Fairbanks - which is north of where I live, but still. We are very busy in Alaska setting all sorts of temperature records...15 degrees below normal. sighhhhhhhhh

BUT here's the good news, it's time for What's on Your Work Desk Wednesday, hosted by our friend Julia Dunnit and I will get to see creative wonders and an occassional travelogue picture as well. So knowing I would have a fair amount of time in the evenings I did take a photo of my desk before I left on Sunday.

I was working on the new Tim Hotlz Assemblage Clock for an upcoming class. As usual there is an eclectic assortment of goodies from Tim's new French Industrial paper - which I LOVE - to old favorites like Distress Inks and gears. Working with the clock was actually really fun. I found that cosmetic sponges with black and silver paint gave it the best "old" skin. I tried of a lot of application methods and you just can't beat cosmetic sponges some times.  

It was a busy week so I don't have any other goodies for you. I did bring my small art journal with me, so here's a couple of pix of those pages. 

Both of the pages started as odd bits of color left over from other pieces. On the left I just went with the shapes and saw hearts. One the right I topped all that color with a new stencil I had just gotten and all of a sudden I was transported to Belize where we saw the HUGEST bamboo ... art; it can literally transport you. Gotta love it.

This page was based on France Papillion's Journal on Monday Series. Some of the same techniques, but a very different page. I just love her blog and her journal videos. Her voice is so melodious, and her work is pretty fearless.

These pages are just pretty colors. Love pretty colors.

May there be many pretty colors in your life this week!! Thanks for stopping by the traveling Fun Room.

WOYWW #203

I am TOTALLY into WOYWW lately! So. Much. Fun.

Every Wednesday (in the UK) the lovely Ms.Dunnit, she of the Stamping Ground Blog, hosts a peak at desks around the globe. And before you know it, your checking in on your buddies in Australia, North Carolina, US, a whole bunch of places in the UK, South Africa, California....it's just a hoot. But to play, you have to show your work desk.

Since I live in Alaska, which is way earlier than the UK, I usually take my photo on Tuesday night. Tonight I worked late, sent my sweetie to the airport on a business trip, and didn't get home until after 8:00 pm. So I thought i'd take a picture of my desk and that would be it.

The stuff right in the front of the picture is blogged elsewhere, but I had to move it to take photos so there it sits. The red package is photos I actually had developed to make into an album for a friend. The rest of the desk is just paint, brushes, stuff I haven't gotten around to putting away. But as often happens in the Fun Room, once I'm in there, I want to do more. In this case journal. Fortunately I had a page with LOTS of color on it ready for me. Sadly, another wonderful example of my not stopping in time...oh well. It served a purpose tonight. 

Last week I showed a close up of a Mariner's Compass quilted wall hanging, which I did not make. Below is little split nine-patch which I did make. It's was an exercise in value and blending --- and was a blast to make. Quilting is what I did before I got involved of all of THIS. 

There is something like 45 different fabrics in this 15" by 15"piece! One of the reasons I like Mixed Media is I actually finish stuff!

May you have a wonderful week creating - whether you finish it or not!!

Happy WOYWW 200 Julia!!!

For the last couple of years I have faded in and out of What's on Your Work Desk Wednesday hosted each and every week by Queen Julia of WOYWW land. She invites us to take a pix of our work space and share it with folks literally, around the world. This is what my desk looked like tonight:

She has steadfastedly (I think I might just have made up that word....) posted and let us just kind of hang out. I really appreciate her. When my life was kinda crazy last year and I was moving twice and didn't have any creative space she made sure I got an ATC during the swap even though I couldn't reciprocate. AND she even sent me a button which I proudly display on my desk. I appreciate her humor and style. So Thank You Ms. Dunnitt!

I've been experimenting, working on class items, finishing up a birthday present and working in my art journal over the last week....here's a sample.  

I was in a serious funk last week and I want to sincerely  thank the ladies who reached across the miles to commiserate and sympathize. It was like getting hugs. One of the many reasons I love WOYWW.