Can't. Stop. Doodling.

I can't seem to stop doodling pages long enough to paint the doodles in.  Well, there's that and the fact that it's a lot easier to just doodle while sitting on the couch than to actually sit down at the table to paint.  Below are some photos of more works in progress in The Mega Journal.

 And Harper can't stop dancing.  The photo below is from last night's performance.  Might need to enroll this girl in a dance class or something for fun.

Mega Journal

My Mom came to visit us last week.  We had a really nice visit, and Harper loved spending time with her Grandma.  My Mom is an excellent seamstress, so on the last day of the visit, I dug out the sewing machine from the basement so she could create a journal cover for me.  I have to put a disclaimer here that I made Mom sew a lot more randomly than she usually would!  Let's just say that I made her sew as crazy as I would have sewn it.  All over the place. 

Anyway... the first plan was to make two journal covers, but then I decided we could make my DREAM-MEGA-SUPER-DUPER-RIDICULOUSLY-THICK journal!  Mom sewed the two covers into one, and voila!  The Mega Journal was born.  I painted the pages yesterday so that every other page would have some starter color, and I sewed in the signatures last night.  I'm in love and couldn't wait to start journaling in it today. Thanks again, Mom!

The cover (without pages sewn in yet)

Painting pages

Had to start with an octopus on the first page, of course

The side view with the signatures sewn in... so fat and yummy!

Second page spread already started...

And even a third one!  This one will be "two heads are better than one", I think.

Harper kept busy this week too.

Clowning around...

And Harper and Grandma even made an adorable gnome garden complete with swing and gnome home.

Random Doodle of the Day

A doodle from tonight.  If I drew this again, there would be wheels or a city skyline instead of duck feet, but I draw in ink (no pencil first), so whatever happens just happens and I have to roll with it.

Journal Page Show & Tell on Facebook

Hi all!  I'm going to be posting some journal pages over at my Facebook page with a little bit about what was going on when I made the page.  A little peek is below, but you can see the full page here -->www.facebook.com/ShellyMasseyArt or you can click on the Facebook Page link in the menu bar above.  I'll try to put up a new one every few days.  Hope you'll stop by!

Making My Happy Place

Since we moved to Ohio, I've been trying to figure out how to find my tribe of artsies/friends here in Ohio.  I decided to stop whining about it and to do something about it.  Last night was a great first step.  I invited a group of local people to start a monthly arts and crafts night.  There were seven of us happily creating and visiting in the space you see below (already conveniently decorated from Harper's birthday party).  There were so many things going on - crochet, polymer clay, ornament making, zentangling, scrapbooking, and painting.  I would have taken a picture, but we were too busy having fun!  And I finally made some progress on some orders I started a few weeks back.  (Yep, Heather and Jen, those are your works in progress!)

The Fabulous Regina Lord

Have you had the pleasure of meeting Regina Lord (http://www.creativekismet.com/)?  If so, then you and I know what a lucky duck you are.  If you haven't, I'm thrilled to be able to introduce you.  I've had the fortune of becoming friends with Regina over the last few years and watching creativity just pour out of her.  The minute you meet her, you just know she's a good soul.  She's open, quick to smile, and just plain fun to be around.

A while back, she posted the piece of artwork that you see below on her blog, and well, I begged her to sell it to me.  Instead, Regina proposed a trade, and I was IN.  We traded, and you can see in the photos below all the other treasures she sent along.  Oh, what a fun time I had opening that package!  You can peek at the beautiful wrappings of handpainted papers she made in the background.  So lovely, I almost couldn't open them.  But, of course, I knew there was super goodness inside the package, so I made myself tear into them (carefully, of course).

I hope you'll go on over to Regina's blog and introduce yourself if you haven't met.  AND she has an Etsy shop where she sells some of her sweet and beautiful work, so you can get some treasures too!

Hello. I'm four!

More photos on our family blog:  http://shellypaints.blogspot.com/2012/05/harper-is-four.html