Art Journal January

'Tis the beginning of the new year, and brings us to Art Journal January.
I will be playing along with Milliande again this year, and welcome you all to join us.
So break out your art journal with me, and play along. Just click the link below to sign up.

Christmas Countdown is back!

Just a quick reminder that Lisa Vollrath's Christmas Countdown is back! Remember to check out all the awesome images each day from now until Christmas.
Thanks again Lisa for the wonderful gift! You are the best.
Ten Two Studios Countdown to Christmas.
(don't forget there is a link permanantly posted in the right side column!)

NaNoJouMo day 30

Today's word- Culmination. Well, it's the last day of the month. It has been fun and hard all at the same time. I have tried new things, used new supplies and learned much from it all. I still have a few pages in the process, so I know I will continue to work on them til they are done. Today I painted my kitty Smudge. Well, actually it is my daughter Abby's kitty, but she is still part of the family.

NaNoJouMo day 29

Today's word is Contemplate. It is a very fitting word, as I have been contemplating the last few weeks, and where I have come from the beginning of this process until now, with only a few days to go. It has been a difficult process, as I have really been pushing myself to draw or paint each day. I am pleased with the way my drawing has improved, and my painting has changed dramatically since the first day. So here is my painting for today. A contemplative girl.

NaNoJouMo day 28

Today's word is Lucidity. I am working on some paintings of my fur baby sketches. Today is Meiya, our other dog. Actually she is my husbands dog, but she is still part of the family.

Awesome Giveaway!

Check out this YouTube video of scotia9338 Awesome Giveaway!
Subscribe to her channel and you might just win! (Secretly hoping you won't, because I want to, but if I don't then I hope you do.)
It would be one awesome huge Christmas Goodies box.

NaNoJouMo day 27

Today's word is Exalt. I am not doing so well creating with the words, but just making sure I am working in my journal each day. Today is my husbands birthday, so all I did was a bit of painting on one of my earlier sketches. So here is my ode to Kota :)

NaNoJouMo day 26

Today's word- Acclaim. I have found myself rather busy the last couple of days, so I only carved enough time to paint yesterdays sketch of the gift. Hopefully I will find the time to work in my journal more, but at least I am doing something each day.

NaNoJouMo day 25

Today's word is Gratitude. Very fitting being that it is Thanksgiving Day.
I am very blessed, and feel much gratitude for all my family and friends. It is wonderful to know that I have friends all across the globe. I know that Thanksgiving is primarily a US holiday, but I hope that all of you will take a moment to be thankful for all of your many blessings as well.
I sketched a package to represent my many blessed gifts.

NaNoJouMo day 24

Today's word is courage. I suppose you could say it takes courage to continue on, even when it gets hard. Today I sketched a kitten to go with my puppy from the other day.

NaNoJouMo day 23

Today the word is Evolve. I suppose you could say that I am evolving in my artistic expression. Today I did another practice sketch.

NaNoJouMo day 22

Today the word is Relax. So I did! I decided to work on some backgrounds. They are done with watercolor crayons. I have been having a lot of fun playing with them lately. Here is what I did today:

NaNoJouMo day 21

Today's word is Atonement. I worked on another sketch, but today it was a puppy instead of a girl.

NaNoJouMo day 20

Today's word is Poise.
Here is my painted sketch:

NaNoJouMo day 19

Today the word is Fray. I managed to get
my paints out today and put some color into a previous sketch. Here is how she turned out:

NaNoJouMo day 18

Today's word is actualize. I didn't get a lot of sketching done today, but I did manage to give baldy from yesterday some hair and a body. Hopefully I will be able to paint her in the next few days.

NaNoJouMo day 17

Today's word was Sumptuous.
I didn't journal much today since I was out of town most of the day, but managed the start if another face sketch. This one is still bald. I am not sure what she will have for hair yet. I did manage to do a tiny bit of shopping while I was away, and found the best bargain on some pretty Christmas stamps. I am not sure if I will get any cards made with them or not, but they were 40% off, so for right at $7 I couldn't pass them up.

NaNoJouMo day 16

Today's word is Divinity. The very first thing I think of when I hear this word, is the Candy that we make at Christmas time. I guess I am starting to get ready for the Holiday season, and have thoughts of Christmas on my brain. Here is my sketch for today.

NaNoJouMo day 15

Today's word is Luminous.
Here is what I painted:

NaNoJouMo day 14

Today's word is Portray. Today I worked on another sketch. I am finding the process a little more comfortable the more I do it. I think I will continue to practice my sketching and painting, as I am finding that it is a rewarding experience. Tomorrow I paint her.

NaNoJouMo day 13

Today's word: Mystique. I did not have much time to work in my art journal today, because I went to an all day workshop, but we did several creative projects including a scrapbook page. So for today I am counting my scrapbook layout as my art journal submission. I know it is not quite the same, but it will have pictures on it, and journaling when I get it ready to put in my album, so I think it works that way. I plan on doing some drawing tonight after the Harry Potter movie is over. Just can't do much during these movies, because I love them so much I can't stay focused on anything but that. LOL
Here is my scrapbook page layout:

NaNoJouMo day 12

I love today's word~ Essence. What a great word. So inspiring I finished my art journal page today.
Here is what I created.

I worked some more on the shading in her face, and then used my spritz ink and a stencil for the border. Added the words, and a cool little clear plastic element with the star from Close To My Heart. It matches the background paper that I gessoed over to make it lighter. I had a lot of fun finishing this up today, and hope that I am out of my creative funk now.

NaNoJouMo day 11

Today's word Reverie was a very appropriate word considering today is Veterans Day. I did not create according to the word, but instead did another practice girl sketch. I do enjoy working on practice sketches, and have learned a lot doing so. I am still not sure what this page will turn out to be, but I will keep working on it a little at a time.

My favorite Close To My Heart product

My favorite product is the stamping acrylic blocks. They are by far superior to any on the market. I love the variety of sizes and shapes they come in. Also the organizer that you can get to store them is wonderful. It keeps them all tidy and close at hand for when you are ready to stamp. Thanks Close To My Heart for making such great products!

NaNoJouMo day 10

Today's word is Liberty. That has to be a good word for me today, because I took the liberty of only applying a bit of gesso and distress ink to my background. Still not feeling extremely creative, but forging through.

NaNoJouMo day 9

Today's word- Forge. To advance gradually but steadily. Today was difficult. I struggled to get anything out. It just wasn't a creative day for me, but then again, I moved forward.
Today I managed the start of my stucco background. I will gesso it tomorrow and see where it takes me from there.

NaNoJouMo day 8

Today the word is Virtue. Today I worked on backgrounds.
I am not finished yet, but this is a start.

NaNoJouMo day 7

Today's word: Moment. I definitely had a moment today, with my back being completely out. I did manage to sit for awhile and do some art. I did some painting, and here is how it turned out:

NaNoJouMo day 6

Today's word: Esoteric - I suppose all my posts and drawings are esoteric. Unless there are more of you out there that really do care and I don't know about it. I still maintain it is the process of creating and sharing is what has made me who I am, and not the acknowledgment of such. Either way, here is what I sketched today.

NaNoJouMo day 5

Today's word: Equanimity. Sadly I have to admit this word is not in my known vocabulary. So like any good curious soul, I looked it up. It means: composure, steadiness of mind under stress, a source of strength.
HUMMM! That is a great word. Now to see if I can make something out of it.

Well, I am not sure this is any representation of our word of the day, but I did keep my composure today as I was sketching. LOL

NaNoJouMo day 4

Today's word is Quarter. Again, I am not sticking with the words as such, so today, I decorated the cover of my handmade journal so that it isn't so plain while I work in it. Hopefully it will be a bit inspiring for me to continue to stick with this project.
Here is my cover with the cover flap out:

NaNoJouMo day 3

Today's word is Fortune. Again, I am not necessarily working with the words, but just trying to get some kind of art journalling done. Today I did the mixed media background for this page.

NaNoJouMo day 2

Today's word is Choice. I guess today I chose to paint in my doll face. LOL I am not sure it turned out as I expected, mostly because I am working in a handmade journal and the paper is watercolor paper. It has a lot of tooth to it, so I am thinking that is why my color blending didn't go as I had hoped, but I am satisfied enough with it to continue on.

NaNoJouMo

NaNoJouMo stands for National Nonstop Journaling Month. Basically you do some kind of art journaling everyday for the month of November. To read the official beginning and specs on the subject check out d'blogala she is posting a new word ever day. The post about the inception of the idea is here: Intro
Today's word is Inception.

I am not necessarily working with the words, as of yet, but mostly my goal is to get something to paper each day. So today I worked on a doll face.

"I AM" journal prompt

This is an art journal page I did for a prompt with Milliande.ning.com called "I Am".
Basically I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about who I really am, and not necessarily about what other people think of me, so I thought this would be a good thing to art journal about.
If you would like to play along, you can, here is a link to the page: "I Am" art journal prompt

The Master's Touch

These are some Round Robin journal pages that I did for my sisters book which is entitled Hands.
I chose to do a bit of a spiritual type page, so have included the images of the hands from the painting Creation. I printed them and then cut them out and adhered them on top of my own background.
I call this background the "Stucko" technique, because it always looks like there is a layer of mortar on top of rocks. It is a fairly easy technique, which yields some amazing results.
First is a layer of old book pages, and then on top of that, torn pieces of decorative paper. In this example, the paper looked like old wood slats, but the tone was good, so it worked.
Once the decorative paper is adhered, (I used gel medium to attach it) then with an old plastic gift card, I scraped gesso over the entire surface, and then continued to scrape it till the paper started to show through again. You have to work fast, so the gesso doesn't dry on you, but if you do one side at a time it works pretty well.
Once you are happy with the amount of gesso, you just set it aside til it is good and dry, and then I took a distress ink pad, and smeared it across the whole surface, and then with a paper towel, I rubbed the ink around, and also it rubs some of the ink off. It makes for a lovely subtle aged color and pattern. Just perfect for this page.
Then I adhered the cutouts to the backgrounds, and then with my brown watercolor crayon, I outlined the cutouts, to help seat them into the page, and give it all a cohesive look. I also ran the crayon around the outside of the pages to give them an aged and vintage look. Then wet them with a small paintbrush. I added the lettering with some tiny alphabet stamps and a brown StazOn pad, and voila!

Mini angel canvas

This is just a little painting I did... I was feeling a little sentimental, and thought that a pretty little angel would be fun to paint.
It is done on a 6x6 inch canvas. The background is watercolor crayons, and gesso mixed. The wings are gesso then a light coloring accent with a pale blue watercolor crayon. The crown is metallic acrylic paints. The base coat of her face is acrylic paint, and then several layers and colors of watercolor crayon for accents and depth.
Everything else is done in acrylic paints. She was a ton of fun to paint, I may even do another one like her at a later date.

Memorial Day weekend

A few glimpses through our journey to Yellowstone.
It was a lovely day filled with great memories.
Awesome beasts!

YES! That is most definitely a grizzly bear!
Yellowstone lake (from the south side)

Lily pads~ taken at the Continental Divide

Old Faithful just starting to erupt.

Old Faithful in all her glory.

Old Faithful Geyser (that's a lot of boiling hot water)

The party's almost over :(

Our little dip in the surf of Yellowstone Lake- north side near Fishing Bridge
(it was extremely windy)

Abby getting her feet wet.

Quincy's little treasures