Art breaks are better than lunch breaks anyway

Lately it's all been work, work, and more work.  Today I decided I needed an art break to do some journaling.

So I started with my usual journal.  I don't know if I've ever shown what these pages start like, but my journal is a Victoria's Secret limited edition set of 3 books that I found at Goodwill a few years ago for $10.  The pages start out something like the one below, so I immediately throw down some gesso (primer) or paint to cover up the half nekkid ladies.

 Ack!  Too much gesso...

 I used an old credit card to take some off and flatten the gesso out.

Then I painted with some inks and messed a tiny bit with Pan Pastels.  At this point, I had no idea what I was doing and left it.

When I came back, I decided to dig in the paper pile and chose whatever colors made me happy.  After digging a bit more, I found the Archiver's ad on the right which had the same colors.  Coincidence, I suppose, but I'm attracted to bright colors, so I guess not really.

 After some paint, cutting, gluing and drawing, a journal page is born.

Look away! Look away!

Ok, perfectionists, you've been warned to look away.  Glue gun stencils... not for people with control issues.  Cindy Mayfield asked how the bird she spied in my journal in the last post was created.  I think I saw glue gun "stencils" first from Traci Bautista.  Easy enough to make, but I believe she sells the ones she makes on her website too if you'd rather do that.

Anyway... I was in a circle making mood this morning.  Hopefully you have a better glue gun than the sad little one I have.  I did these on parchment paper.  You could probably do them right on a cookie sheet.  Don't be mad if I'm wrong about that and you're scraping glue off of whatever you put it on. :)

Make shapes.  Let cool.  Peel off.  Use.

 Put on whatever you're going to decorate.

I used Dylusions spray ink.  I probably should buy more colors than the pink and orange I keep using over and over and over.

Voila!  I'm too impatient to wait for any kind of drying to happen.  I now have pink and orange fingers.  YAY!

Houston, We Have A Problem...

Ok, ok... it's nowhere near a rocket ship catastrophe, but I did have a problem.  I was working on the cover of my latest journal.  The journal decided that it would have "A Journey" on the front.  I didn't decide that, the journal did.  Usually I manage to leave enough space for my lettering, but I guess I'm out of practice.  I *could* have just painted over my mistake, but immediately an idea came to mind that just could not be put away.  The journal decided that it needed a tab to open.  I don't know why.  Suddenly it just did.

So I cut a tab using the two circles of some kind of pressed board ornament thing from Michaels.  And of course I couldn't be bothered to use one of the several saws we own.  I used a steak knife.  I probably wouldn't recommend that if you have other options, but it worked fine.

Now it's glued, clamped, and drying.  I'll be gluing the larger (back) part to the inside front cover of the journal.  We'll see how it turns out soon!

While that's drying, let me introduce you to my latest favorite thing.  WIDE Copic markers that were on sale at Michaels.  I would like to have all the rainbow now please.

 Happy, happy, happy...

Until next time!

And then there was light

Thanks to some chalkboard paint, wooden boxes, a lot of wall anchors and screws, my art closet has come together. Hoping some more art happens in there soon!

 

This girl was home quite a bit last week with the flu.  When she started to feel better she dressed up as Princess Leia in honor of the school dress up as a character (it was supposed to be a book character, but oh well) day that she missed.

 AND she lost her first tooth on Sunday!

It's about time!

We're still busy little bees around here.  Busier than ever, in fact, but I'm taking the time to get things wrangled into some kind of order around here.  It's been far too long.

 

So that meant... a new, clean office...

 

A straightened up and purged kid's room.  (She still hasn't noticed that four big bags of stuff have disappeared from her room.  Keeping my fingers crossed that continues.)

 

And even more wrangling... getting my art world in order.  I'm planning to make my office closet into an art space.

 Starting with some ART!

December so far

Well, it's been busy.  But who isn't busy this time of year, right?  We're trying to get in the Christmas spirit around here, so here's a few photos and a video to prove it.  Hope you're getting in the spirit too!

Our little decorator busy at work.

 The elf Sparkleheart is back this year again.  She's a party time kind of girl.

 

 

AND...Harper has a solo in the school play.  Here's a practice run before bedtime (with a little yawn intermission).

Link to her YouTube video ----> Harper singing Christmas Is Love

 

 

 

It was summer. Now it's fall.

Other than the subject line, I won't even talk about how long it's been since my last blog post.

SO, here's what's been going on around here (besides the usual work, work, work stuff):

I carved out a studio space in the basement (again).  Harper was taking over my art space in the dining room on a regular basis, so I flew the white flag of surrender and gave her the whole room.  Now I just have to figure out how to keep her upstairs with Daddy for longer than ten minutes so I can make something.  And maybe someday I'll take photos of the rest of the room.

 I got at least 45 minutes, so one journal page made it this far.

 Harper is still funny.

OH, Harper ran away once.  Before you call social services on me, I was at the door the entire time.  She kept looking back, and made it to that mailbox before she came back.

My Mom and my friend Sheila made this amazing Halloween costume.  (Sheila made the hat and my mom made the shirt and wings.) Harper loved it! (And everyone else did too!)

 I had my birthday.  At the beach in SC with my dear friend Judy.  It was sweet.

 I doodled in SC and on the airplane.

 Harper and I doodle in there sometimes too.

Only about 50 million other things happened too.  I just didn't take pictures of me sitting at a desk coding all day.  OHHHHH... one super cool thing happened a few weeks back!  I found out that one or more of my journal pages will be in Dawn DeVries Sokol's book!  Super excited!!  Dawn's book 1000 Artist Journal Pages really is one of the major reasons I got started journaling, so I'm so thrilled.  (We'll have to wait until sometime in 2015 for the book to be published though.  Gives me an opportunity to practice patience.)