Category Archives: Motivational

Teen Birthday Party of Arting!

Good evening!!

Yesterday, I spent my night hanging out with a gaggle of 11 fabulously giggling teenage girls! Yep! That’s right!! It was my niece, Megan’s, birthday slumber party, and I got to be a part of her big surprise of the night by surprising her and her friends with an art class customized just for them!! 😉

Here is the birthday girl with her finished art piece:

Megan

Megan

Not having taught an art class for teens in over 15 years, I was both nervous and really excited to see what I could come up with! I was ready to teach 8 girls for 2 hours, and ended up teaching 11 – EEK! That was alright, I had supplies for 12 – WHEW!!! Thank goodness I am an uber planner!! 😉

The night's sample project! A 10x10 mixed media canvas

The night’s sample project! A 10×10 mixed media canvas

The thoughts behind this canvas was that each girl would create a self portrait mixed media canvas with a personalized love letter to themselves! The only rules we had, while we were arting was that we were not allowed to criticize our work, and that they had to decide for themselves whether or not their self portrait looked like themselves. We, as girls, have a tendency to constantly be looking to others for affirmation that we are enough in all things. I wanted them to trust themselves in knowing what color their hair or eyes, or skin color looked like! They needed to affirm to themselves that their judgement was enough!

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The girls did an ABSOLUTE SMASHING job!! Not only in creating some AMAZING artwork, but in staying focused, being positive, and hanging in there when something unexpected happened on their canvases!!!

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Just look how focused they are!!

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We took these canvases one step at a time, and made sure to take plenty of breaks as needed! During breaks we played “Down By the Banks”, “Angels in the Graveyard”, “Statues”, and there was dancing, LOTS and LOTS of DANCING!!! 😉 They made me feel like a teen again myself!! 😉

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Anyway, instead of trying to figure out a way to teach the girls how to draw one of my whimsical long neck girls, I took the time before class to draw a generic looking long neck girl and provided a copy for each girl! It would be up to the girls to, not only color their paper girls themselves, but they also had to draw their own hair, because the only thing my sample girl had was generic bangs! All of the girls did such an AMAZING job on this, really blowing away all of my expectations on how they were going to work out!

As they were getting ready for their first break, to let their art work dry a little bit, one of the quieter girls, turned around and said to me, “Excuse me, this girl is supposed to look like me, but I wear glasses every day, and I don’t know how to draw glasses.” OMG! You could have knocked me over with a feather!! How could I have not thought of that!?!?!?!? Well, I told this dear sweet girl, her name was Laticia, we would draw her some glasses. I would draw, and she could be my model!! I dug out my good drawing tools and got started!! She was so sweet and so patient, especially since I had never drawn glasses before IN MY LIFE, but in that moment I felt like she and I had become kindred spirits, and I needed these glasses to turn out perfectly! (being a glasses wearer myself, I know how they can become such an important part of your personal style!)!!! AND if I may say so, these glasses turned out AWESOMELY!!! I can honestly say that this became my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE portrait of the evening, and I am now inspired to draw glasses on a bunch of my girl drawings!! 😉

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Isn’t she cute??? Both of them!! 😉

Every single one of these girls made my night soooooo much fun!!

DSC06527Here is their silly face version:

DSC06531By the end of the evening, I had assured all of the girls that because they now had created their own art canvases that were now officially artists!!! They were tickled pink by that! It was very easy to tell that they each had a really good time, which I was EXTREMELY thankful for!!! 😉

Here is a slideshow of all of the girls, (except for McKenna, who had to leave a little early, which meant I missed taking her picture! Sorry, McKenna!!):

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I am so proud of all of these girls! It was so much fun watching them learn something that at the beginning of the night they were sure would be impossible for them to do, to watching them pour heavily over what hairstyles to draw, which colors to choose, and what positive messages they were going to add to their personal canvases to create their own personal love letter to themselves!

They all did a SPECTACULAR job, and I honestly could not be prouder!! It was a lot of hard work, and at the end of the evening, as I was heading home, I was seriously beat, but MAN WHAT A NIGHT!!! I can NOT WAIT to do it again!!

The birthday girls' tired auntie AKA art teacher, and her mama!! ;-)

The birthday girls’ tired auntie AKA art teacher, and her mama!! 😉

Thank you girls!! And THANK YOU, Megan!! I hope you had a birthday party that you won’t quickly forget!!

Here is to a night of feeling UNBELIEVABLY BLESSED by the work that I am doing!!

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If you want to have a different life, live differently!

 

 

 

Why Do I Art?

Crown HeaderGood afternoon!

I have been asking myself, and have been asked a lot lately about why I art?

Well, the short answer is that it is fun, but the long answer is that I have been using art journaling and mixed media to deal with a lot of stuff going on with me right now, mentally and emotionally!

I left a 14 year career in IT healthcare in July of 2014. I left with the idea that I was just taking a break…that this was just a sabbatical, and as soon as I was rested, then I would put my pantyhose and business clothes back on and get back to work. Well…I hadn’t really let myself listen to my soul whispers in almost 14 years, if not longer! I realized that, when I finally did get quiet, there was a lot going on inside of here that I had just really stuffed down, and did my best to hide from everyone including myself. As I started to get quiet and just listen, so many things started to pour out of me. The sense of immediate overwhelm almost left me catatonic…I was paralyzed with “what the hell is going on here??” kind of thoughts, and so many repressed feelings. Feelings of guilt, inadequacies, sadness, fear, loss, anger, resentment, years of self abuse, and ultimately a real longing for something more…but honestly I had no idea for what.

It has been 6 months since I have walked away from what I had thought was my security, future security, financial security, health security, benefits, etc, I realize that I had been putting my faith in all of the wrong things for far too long, and now that I am clawing my way out of the hole I have created for myself, and trying to climb out into the sunshine, I realize that I may never go back to that work no matter how good the money is. I also am learning first hand that I may have to let my life completely bottom out before I am actually successful at starting over again!

For someone who has always been the “fixer” and the “protector”, the idea that I may not have hit rock bottom yet, is very hard for me to acknowledge, but one that I am staring in the face.

There is a little church song that I grew up singing. It is called something like Spirit of the Living God Fall Afresh On Me…at least those are some of the words I can remember. The words to the chorus are:

  • Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on me
  • Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on me
  • Break me
  • Melt me
  • Mold me (we also added “Fill me” here too)
  • Use me
  • Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on me

I find that I am singing this song a lot lately. I think I am at the “Break me” point of this song. And man, can I tell you, it is rough…I have cried more in the last six months than I think I may have ever cried in the entirety of the rest of my life.

I know that really is more than the “break me” part, but I just have to keep pushing through to get to the melt me, mold me, fill me, use me parts of this little song. I just wish that the break me part wasn’t taking so long, or that it wasn’t quite as painful as it is turning out to be.

That is what arting is helping me move through. When I art, it forces me to be quiet – to shut up – to stop talking – stop over thinking everything – stop trying to control everything! That is just not possible in art! When you are arting, you have no choice but to go with the flow, and see where the finish product will take you!

I know that God has big things in store for my life…I have known that since I was a wee child! I just don’t know what that life is going to look like. I pray that it has to do with tons of arting and helping women! Those two things feeds my soul and makes me smile all the way down to my spleen, like I never thought possible! I want to be able to sit down and say, “I can NOT BELIEVE that I get paid to do this! I would SOOOOOO do this for free!!”

In the meantime, there is a very good possibility that I am going to lose my home, which in my heart I am okay with, in my head I am completely rebelling against the idea! I have been teetering with the idea of going back to my old job, just to help save our place, but the other night I had a dream that I had gone back to my old job, and in my dream, I was sitting at my office desk, getting ready to work. I looked up, noticed where I was, and I could literally see and feel my insides turn black like charred paper that had been set on fire, curl up and crumble away, into charcoal dust in the wind. I immediately awoke, feeling so sick to my stomach from what I had just seen and felt. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt that I could never go back, but then what? What am I going to do?

Do I keep pushing forward with my art? Teaching art classes and leading my Soul Book Club?? My soul shouts “YES!!!!” at the top of her lungs when she hears that message! So, I DO KNOW that that is what I am supposed to be doing, but how can I make a living doing that? I am not sure.

Until I figure that out, I am just going to have to keep walking in faith.

  • Faith that I am not alone.
  • Faith that even if we do lose everything, that this is a process. A process to help get me back on the path that I was meant for, not the one I had been mindlessly following for so long.
  • Faith that God really does have a plan for me.
  • Faith that God is talking to me through my soul whispers, and I really need to keep listening to Him.
  • Faith that everything really will be alright!

Wow! Could that have been any longer of an answer?? I just wanted to make sure you knew where my motives were coming from, and I am guessing there are going to be some big changes coming in the form of my living arrangement, which might effect how some of you get a hold of me, but after talking through it with myself…that is ok. It really will all be ok! I am worth fighting for, even if that might be the hardest thing I have ever had to do!!

Here is to living a life that is both artsy and authentically me!

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If you want ta different life, live differently!

Art Journal Video #14

Good afternoon!

I am happy to announce that my latest Art Journal Thursday Video is post up on YouTube! Yeah!

The supplies I used were:

  • #2 pencil
  • Tim Holtz Distress Stain: Old Paper
  • Daler Rowney Simply Acrylic: Brown
  • Ceramcoat Acrylic Paint: Napthol Crimson, Maple Sugar Tan
  • Art Advantage Acrylic: Mars Black
  • Apple Barrel Gloss Acrylic Paint: White
  • Book pages
  • Distress Ink Pad: Forest Moss
  • Stamper’s Anonymous Stamp: Handwriting from the Reflection set CMS111
  • Aleene’s Quick Dry Tacky Glue
  • Stabilo All Pencils: Black, Brown
  • Black Uni-Ball Signo 207 Pen

DSC06460For those of you who had watched last week’s video, you might remember that I was really struggling to get a door onto my spread. After changing my mind last week, and coming up with something completely different, that I happened to have LOVED, I thought I was just going to leave it at that and do something different today too. But that door was nagging me, so I decided I would just buckle down and create my door this week!

DSC06467I decided it was time to get brave and let my inner kindergartner come out and play. I gave her full reign on what the spread would look like and what materials she could use!! The sky was the limit!

DSC06469Although my spread wasn’t very earth shattering, materials or techniques-wise, I was still pretty proud of myself that I did it!

DSC06474Also, I have learned this week that art has a tendency to go through an “ugly phase”, and I have to confess, this spread was no different! The key to the “ugly phase” is that you need to just push through it, and let it all finish coming together!

DSC06477When I had gotten to the point where I was painting the stairs, I had a moment of, “What the heck am I doing??? I am such a fraud! This page is HORRIBLE!!! I can not believe that I am trying this for the first time on camera!!! Have I lost my EVER-LOVIN’-Mind???” Yes, true story!

I am glad I pushed through because, even though this is not my favorite spread, and it is COMPLETELY different than what I normally do, I ended up having a real fondness for it! 😉

What do you think? I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this week’s art spread!! 🙂

Also, if you have any ideas, or techniques that you might like to see me try in one of my future layouts, please let me know in the comment section and I will see what I can do to be accommodating! Also, I really do LOVE answering any questions you may have about art journaling, mixed-media, or anything you might have seen me do here! Please feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I will try and get back to you in a timely manner!!

Until next time!

Here is to a BEAUTIFUL Creative life! 😉

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If you want a different life, live differently!

Teaching Mixed Media Techniques: Eclectic Backgrounds Class

Good evening!

I hope you all had an excellent weekend! My weekend is Sunday and Monday, so I am just now coming to the end of my weekend, and it has been pretty relaxing!

Before my weekend ends completely, and I get back into the hubbub that has been my filled-to-the-brim weeks, I wanted to share with you how my mixed-media art class, Eclectic Backgrounds, went this past Saturday!

DSC06459I was very excited about this class! This was my first, for pay, class!! I was also very nervous because I knew it was going to be a small class, which actually turned out to be such a blessing!! My first students were Sharon and Lynette – they were so MUCH FUN to have some play time with!!

DSC06456Because I was so nervous, I was planned to the ‘T’, however, I have a confession to make…I thought the class was supposed to be 3 hours long, and it turned out I had only scheduled it for 2, which meant we had A LOT to cover in a VERY SHORT amount of time!!DSC06447 Thankfully we not only got it all done in time, we all really had a GREAT time!! That is what I was hoping for most of all! 😉DSC06445We learned and practiced 6 different mixed media art background techniques! We even had enough time to get all 6 of our samples turned into handmade journals that we can take with us and play with when we got home!DSC06455I made sure to bring some of my art journals and some of my artwork to show how the backgrounds we had created could be added on to make completed art work either in art journal or art canvas form!
DSC06451 These are some of my whimsical faces AKA “Long Neck Girls”, I am teaching a class on this technique in February and March of this year!DSC06450I will be teaching a repeat of this Eclectic Background class, on January 21st, from 1-3 PM, at Runaway Art & Craft Studio here in Salem, Oregon. So, if you missed out on this first class, and would like to join us for the next one, please either leave a comment in this blog post below, or e-mail me at beautiful.creatives@yahoo.com to get more information!

Thank you to Sharon and Lynette for being so AWESOME! and for Kelsey at Runaway Art & Craft Studio for cheerleading me on so well, while also taking pics for us!!! This place is really becoming my home away from home!! 😉

As for this week, I am teaching another later this week for a private party! This time I will be teaching a gaggle of teenage girls, which I am sure will be a LOT of fun! I will make sure to share pictures from that fun evening too! 😉

Until then! 😉

Here is to a BEAUTIFUL Creative week! 😉

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If you want a different life, live differently!

Art Journal Thursday #13

Good morning!

I am so excited to share that I have finally gotten an Art Journal Thursday video up on YouTube!

The supplies I used are:

  • Dylusions Ink Sprays: Crushed Grape, Calypso Teal, London Blue, and White Linen
  • Ranger Black Archival Ink Pad
  • Recollection Stamp: Tiny Script – Unsure of actual name
  • Deco Art Crafter’s Acrylic Paint: Tropical Blue
  • Delta Ceramcoat Acrylic Paint: Pansy
  • Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint: White
  • Stampers Anonymous Ultimate Grunge Stamps: Polka Dots, Dates
  • Stampers Anonymous Grid Blocks
  • Golden High Flow Acrylic: Dioxazine Purple
  • Faber Castell Graphite Pencil
  • Black Stabilo All Pencil
  • Black Uni-ball Signo 207 Pen
  • White Uni-ball Signo Broad Pen
  • Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue
  • Scissors
  • Paint Brush

DSC06417When I set out to create this week’s layout, I knew what I wanted to do! I wanted to have a really cool door, and my sentiment was going to be, “When one door opens another one opens.” Well, that is exactly what happened this week! One door closed and another one opened!! LOL! 🙂

DSC06419After giving up on my door idea, I realized I was going to have to give my background some more attention! A few spritz of Dylusions Ink Spray was not going to be enough for what I was wanting to create!

DSC06428So let the fun begin! These are my favorite kind of backgrounds to do! Lots of acrylic, circles, doodling, drips, stamps!! Sign me up!! 😉

DSC06423I think these pictures speak for themselves!! I just love the scrumdiddly-umptiousness of it all!! 😉

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I also LOVE the colors that I used this week! I don’t normally work with blues and purples, but after seeing how this spread turned out, I may have to dabble with these more often!! 😉DSC06426

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I ended up ABSOLUTELY LOVING this spread! I can honestly tell you that it is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITES!!!DSC06420

So, what do you think? I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this week’s art journal!

Also, if you have any ideas, or techniques that you might like to see me try in one of my future layouts, please let me know in the comment section and I will see what I can do to be accommodating! Also, I really do LOVE answering any questions you may have about art journaling, mixed-media, or anything you might have seen me do here! Please feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I will try and get back to you in a timely manner!!

Until next time!

Here is to a BEAUTIFUL Creative life! 😉

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If you want a different life, live differently!

First Soul Book Club!

DSC06319YEAH!!!

I have been waiting for today for a very VERY long time, and I still can’t believe it actually happened!! I will need someone to pinch me!! 😉

Today was our first monthly Soul Book Club meeting and man, what can I say?? I, for one, had so much fun!!! It was a small turnout, which was both expected since today is so close to Christmas, and much appreciated because it helped us figure out what will work and what won’t work in a small group!

I know I am completely biased, but I thought that there was the perfect mix of art journal techniques taught, personal stories shared, thoughtful conversations had, and laughter had by all of us! Matter of fact, I had so much fun that I completely forgot to take any pictures to share – doesn’t that just figure? Our time together, happily flew by!! 😉

Anyway, I will see if I can do a better job of remembering to capture those memories visually next time!! 😉

Today we learned more about what a Soul Book is and how to get started with different techniques to add color to our pages! It is fun to see how everyone translates all of that in to their own styles!! It is very inspiring!!! 😉

After our first meeting today, there is one change that we realized we would have to make right away! We would either have to get a larger meeting space or we are going to have to limit our groups to 5 instead of 8, which is what we had originally planned on! 🙂 We also, laughingly realized we may have brought a little bit too much in the way of art supplies…that is what happens when you put a bunch of art supply junkies into one room and tell us that we should bring whatever else we would like that might be missing off of the regular class supply list!! LOL!! We brought everything but the kitchen sink!!!

No worries! We had such a good time, I am so thankful to the lovely ladies who made it today!! I am sure I am not alone when I say I can NOT WAIT until our next get together next month!!!

Good times! Good times!!

Here is to living a BEAUTIFULLY CREATIVE Life every day!!!

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If you want to have a different life, live differently!

Weekly Art Journal #12

Good morning!

I am happy to announce that my weekly Art Journal Video #12 is posted out on YouTube! 🙂

Here is a list of supplies that I used in today’s layout:

  • Book pages
  • Ranger Collage Glue Stick
  • Golden Acrylic Paint: Teal, Naphthol Red Medium, Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue
  • Liquitex White Gesso
  • Fineline Bottles: one filled with black acrylic and one filled with white acrylic
  • Black Sharpie, Fine Point
  • White Signo Pen
  • Archival Ink Pad
  • Ranger Dylusions Numbers Stamp from the Basic Backgrounds – DYR34568
  • Sentiment printed from computer onto regular printer paper
  • Scissors

DSC06339When I set out to get started on this week’s spread, I really only had two things in mind, I had some pages from a specific book that I wanted to use, and I was really excited about using a new Teal acrylic paint that I had picked up from my local art supply store. The book that I had found was a 1915 encyclopedia that I had picked up for a few dollars from my local Goodwill.

DSC06343Being a self-profession bibliophile, I have a very hard time ripping pages out of books, ESPECIALLY OLD books. However, this book was in such dis-repair with torn pages, a broken spine, and just an all around mess that I felt that by using the pages in some of my art projects would be a great use of this long forgotten little treasure! Plus the cover is a DIVINELY BEAUTIFUL leather that I have hopes for recreating my own art journal from.Anyway, back to today’s spread…In addition to my book pages, and my new teal paint, I really wanted to keep today’s layout quick and simple. With the busy holiday season upon us, we have so much that we are trying to do. I wanted to prove to myself that I could still make time for art journaling even when life is crazy busy hectic!

DSC06348I love all of colors of this week’s spread, and I don’t usually mute my backgrounds down, but if you watched the video you might have noticed that it was done entirely on accident. I had made marks on my page using white gesso, and because I did not like it I used a heavily watered down brush to disperse the gesso, and in doing so muted the entire page down just a little. I really REALLY like how that turned out…I may have to do that more often!

On a side note, whenever I make a mistake, I like to call it an “OFI” (pronounced owe-fee). This stands for opportunity for improvement! This gesso incident was a perfect example of an OFI!! 😉

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I also was having some trouble coming up with a sentiment for this week, so I started to look around my art studio and came across some “Truth Cards” that I had created a few months ago. When I came across the truth card that had these words on it,

“You already know what the answer is…Just trust it…it is right.”

I knew in a moment that that was it! I could stop looking!! I needed to hear this message in exactly that moment!!

DSC06351So, what do you think? I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this week’s art journal!

Also, if you have any ideas, or techniques that you might like to see me try in one of my future layouts, please let me know in the comment section and I will see what I can do to be accommodating! Also, I really do LOVE answering any questions you may have about art journaling, mixed-media, or anything you might have seen me do here! Please feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I will try and get back to you in a timely manner!!

Until next time!

Here is to a BEAUTIFULLY CREATIVE week! 😉

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If you want a different life, live differently!

Soul Book Club

DSC06290I want to invite you to join a Soul Book Club!

YEAH!!!! 🙂

What is Soul Book Club?

Well, Soul Book Club is an intimate group of women who meet every month to spend time learning art journaling techniques to help them create a Soul Book!

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What the heck is a Soul Book?

A Soul Book is a personalized combination art journal/scrapbook/smash book/diary/planner etc. It is a fun and creative tool to help you remember what is important to you and your soul!

DSC06297Why a group?

For starters this is a fun way to learn art journaling techniques, and share how your fellow Soul Bookers are using their Soul Books! My goal is that these groups will also become intimate groups of women who will become Soul Sisters who support each other as they go through the ups and downs that life has a tendency to throw our way!

DSC06298How can I join?

If you want to join let me know by e-mailing me at beautiful.creatives@yahoo.com!

DSC06301What about cost?

The cost is $10 per month. This will help with the cost of art supplies, but this is not a group that is meant to make any money – this is a group solely for the purpose of supporting each other as we go through the process of creating and living with and through our Soul Books!! 🙂

DSC06303When?

This first Soul Book Club meets the third Saturday of every month, from 1pm to 4pm. As more people sign up, more classes/times/locations will be created to keep the groups intimate!

DSC06309Where?

The first Soul Book Club meets at the Broadway Coffee House, which is located at 1300 Broadway Street Northeast #100 in Salem, Oregon

DSC06305What do I need to bring?

I will make sure to provide oodles of decorative craft paper, craft paints, paint brushes, and glues, but I would recommend bringing the following items:

  • Magazine images
  • Any copies of pictures you might want to include, make sure to have at least a few of just yourself – it is YOUR Soul Book after all!
  • Any miscellaneous ephemera you might like to include (book pages, maps, old letters, etc)
  • A pair of good paper cutting scissors
  • Your favorite black pen (preferably permanent ink)
  • Your favorite white pen (optional), but I am bringing my white Signo Broad pen
  • Anything else is completely optional! 🙂

DSC06314What else do you need to know?

Broadway Coffee House has requested that I let all attendees know that beverages, besides water, is not permitted, but we are more than welcome to bring up any food or drink that we purchase from their coffee house!

Also, space is EXTREMELY limited, so this first Soul Book Group will be limited to 8 attendees! As more people sign up, more classes/times/locations will be created to keep the groups intimate! I am also hoping to have Soul Book Groups in cities such as Portland, Albany, and possibly Eugene – I am up for suggestions!

If you have ay questions, comments or concerns, please let me know by either leaving a comment on this page, or your can e-mail me at beautiful.creatives@yahoo.com!

I hope to see you there!!

Here is to living a FABULOUSLY CREATIVE life! 🙂

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If you want to have a different life, live differently!

Weekly Art Journal #11

Good morning!

I am very happy to announce that my Weekly Art Journal #11 video has posted out on YouTube!

The supplies I used on this week’s layout is as follows:

  • #2 pencil
  • A couple of different kinds of erasers
  • Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Tissue Paper – Postale
  • Uhu Glue Stick
  • DecoArt Acrylic Craft Paint: Tropical Blue (DCA102)
  • Premier Prismacolor Pencils: Sepia (948), Burnt Ochre (943), Dark Brown (946), Peach (939), Beige (997), Yellow Ochre (942), White (938), Greyed Lavender (1026), Blush Pink (928), Lavender (934), Process Red (994)
  • Black Fude Ball 1.5
  • Black Uniball Signo 207 pen
  • Ranger Distress Stains: Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain, Black Soot
  • A scrap of map paper
  • Faber Castell Gelato: Dark Green
  • Black Ranger Archival Ink Pad
  • Recollections Chevron Wood Mounted Stamp
  • Plastic doily stencil
  • Ranger Texture Paste
  • Palette Knife
  • Sentiment printed out on regular printer paper
  • Brown Stabilo All Pencil
  • Water Brush

Unlike most of my weekly journal pages, I started out with an idea on how I wanted this week’s spread to appear. I knew that I wanted to draw one of my cute long neck girls, I wanted to use the Ranger Postale tissue paper, I wanted to use my favorite Tropical Blue craft paint, and I knew that I wanted to use my new Ranger texture paste!

DSC06274So the hard part was just going to be drawing my long neck girl, in it’s entirety, in front of the camera, so I challenged myself to see if I could keep the camera going the entire time, and not cut away, like I had done the last time I drew one of my girls for Art Journal Thursday. And you know what??? I TOTALLY DID IT!!! WHOOT! WHOOT!!! 😉

DSC06281I was extremely proud of myself that I didn’t chicken out and cutaway, but because I didn’t, it made for a very, very, VERY LOOONG video!! EEK!! So although I thought that the drawing of my long neck girl would be the hardest part, the hardest part actually turned out to be editing my video down to less than 15 minutes! WHEW!! 😉

DSC06271That combined with doing the voiceover, which you may know I am extremely new to, this was probably my hardest video to date, but I must confess I really LOVE the way this spread turned out! 🙂

DSC06278During filming, I did have some issues while drawing my long neck girl! Eyes are always rather tricky for me, and this week I see that her left eye is too far left for my liking, so I will have to keep working on that! I also had some trouble getting her lips to look just right! I have recently changed how I draw lips, and I think it is not working for me. I had better keep looking for a whimsical lip shape that makes me happy! 🙂

Practice! Practice! Practice!

DSC06280As for the background, I really LOVE this one! 🙂 The tissue paper, the messy chevron stamping, and the texture paste used throughout the round doily stencil all came together better than I could have hoped for!!! I am just LOVING all of the yummy patterns and textures!! 🙂

DSC06276I also love that I snuck the word “Courage” onto my long neck girl’s neck! Courage is something that I am consciously working on using more of, so this will be a gentle reminder to myself!! 😉

DSC06287As for this week’s sentiment, as I have said in past posts, I usually have a tendency to do my art journal pages in silence so I can hear any messages my soul might be trying to tell me. This week was no different. I have some hard choices to make in the next few weeks as it pertains to work, and I realized, during this week’s art journal time, that I have a distinct vision in my head about what I want to see in my life. Where I am living, what I am doing for a vocation, etc, and I realize that I am the only one who can take the necessary steps to make that vision come to fruition!

Life is not about finding yourself, it is about creating yourself, and not only that, but it is up to me to get out there and start creating it!! No one is going to do it for me!! So this sentiment summed that up for me, perfectly!! 🙂

DSC06286So, what do you think? I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this week’s art journal!

Also, if you have any ideas, or techniques that you might like to see me try in one of my future layouts, please let me know in the comment section and I will see what I can do to be accommodating! Also, I really do LOVE answering any questions you may have about art journaling, mixed-media, or anything you might have seen me do here! Please feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I will try and get back to you in a timely manner!!

Until next time!

Here is to a BEAUTIFULLY CREATIVE week! 😉

 

1 - Signature

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!