Art Journal January Day 11, 12 & 13

I've been really busy these past few days, so I apologize to those that are keeping up with me for not posting.
I am really enjoying this challenge, and am squeezing in a little art time everyday. Which is one of my goals this year.

Day 11 prompt was to make a message in a bottle.
The bottle flips open to reveal a message I wrote to myself to read again at the beginning of next year. It should be fun to see how I feel about what I wrote to myself this year.
The supplies I used in this page are:
scraps of decorative paper,
blue, light blue and white acrylic paint,
opaque white pen,
black micron pen,
twinkling H2O paints
watercolor brush pens


Day 12 prompt~ vertical lines
I had fun scribbling on my page with vertical lines, and then dripping paints and alcohol inks.
It was kind of freeing to see the paints running down the page.
I used oil pastels and micron pen for the lines,
then dripped 2 colors of blue acrylic paints down the page, and while it was wet,
I dripped the denim alcohol inks into the paint.
I wrote the title with an opaque white pen, and the words with my fine line micron.


Day 13 prompt~ facing silhouettes
I started with a background of water color paints in big circles, (red yellow and blue)
Then I scraped a layer of white acrylic over the top, which smudged it up quite nicely.
Then I cut out the images from a scrapbook paper, and glued them down facing each other.
I then drew around them with a fine line micron pen, and a 6B charcoal pencil to give it depth.
Then I added my rantings.
It was a good release, and helped me to realize that I need to take care of myself, and let my inner beauty shine!

Art Journal January Day 10

Day 10 and counting!
Today we were to include something burned in our pages. Boy did I make a mess in the studio with this one. (OOPS) Good thing it cleans up easily. lol
I used distress ink and some stamps for the background, and then with white acrylics and watercolor crayons, I painted over the words in the text, (except for a few specific ones)

Art Journal January

While I waited for Milliande to post the next prompt, I just couldn't go a day without journaling. I have gotten this far, and I don't intend to stop now.
So, I decided to just sit down and see what came of it.
I happened upon the pocket in a magazine ad, so I made a pocket page. I used lots of fibers to embellish the page, along with alcohol inks for distressing.
I decided to tuck some little strips of papers in the pocket, that have some very personal goals and hopes for the future.

Art Journal January Day 9

Day 9 of January Art Journaling.
Today's prompt was a really cool one- to use masking tape in your pages.
I started off with a background of yellow ocher and burnt sienna acrylic paint, then a light coat of gesso over the top.
I added the masking tape in a criss-cross pattern, then I brushed on a light blue acrylic paint.
The funnest part was to stamp some masking tape with StazOn inks and then cut it up in little strips to make flower petals.
Stamped some flowers with my StazOn pads.
Then I broke out my watercolor crayons.
I colored all the flowers, wrote the word "bloom" and colored in the bee.
Bloom is one of those words that is going to help me to "Shine" this year, I am starting small with a little blooming. :)

Art Journal January Day 8

Day 8 already, and I feel like we are just beginning.
Today's prompt is to pick a word that resonates with you for the coming year.
I chose the word "SHINE"
To me that word has many meanings, so I included the meanings found in the dictionary, and then journaled how I feel the word is going to help me throughout this year.

The supplies I used today were,
a background of handmade paper and old book scraps,
white gesso over the top,
twill scrapbooking letters,
a sprinkling of metalic stars,
metal flower embellishments with brads in the center, and a big metal S for Shine.

Art Journal January Day 7

The last day of the first week of January 2010!
Today's journal prompt was to include a smile in the page somewhere.
I decided since I haven't been drawing many faces lately, that I should give another one a go.
I had hoped to get a great big smile on her face, but it didn't seem to come out that way, she isn't sad though so I guess that is success.

Supplies I used:
2B charcoal pencil
Fineline permanent black Micron Pen
ColorSoft pencils- (that I got for Christmas, and oh are they yummy!)

Art Journal January Day 6

Day 6 - wow, I am really enjoying the time I take each day to art journal. It is such a fun experience, and is helping me to find myself. I have been trying some new techniques. Some more effective than others, but it is a learning experience.

Here I have used the alcohol inks to draw a simple tree shape. I added a gel medium transfer, and lots of doodling.
The background is paper snippits covered with gesso, some stamped images of eyes, and a healthy dose of distress ink.
I chose to address what a tree means to me, and how I feel about my family.

Art Journal January Day 5

Here we are closing in on the end of the first week of the new year, and I am doing well, still energized, and excited about art journaling, and creating something each day.
Today I chose to add some little goals for this year in my journal page. I thought it was fitting with the theme of the day which is to incorporate a diary or calendar page into the page.
I have quite enjoyed adding Alcohol inks to my pages- I haven't done that before.
Here are my results:

Art Journal January Day 4

I am still keeping up with Milliande's Journal January, crossing my fingers that life won't get in my way too much and I can keep going.
Today's prompt was to use a checkerboard border somewhere in the page.
Here is what I came up with. At first I was not at all happy with the results, but I have come to accept it, and that is what art journaling is all about for me anyway.
I am sure there will be lots of ugly art in my future.

Art Journal January Day 3

Still playing along with Milliande on her January Journal prompts.
Today's prompt was to include a big circle in the design.
I chose to include some positive self messages to help me start out the new year.
Make sure you check out Milliande's site for all the other page prompts.

Journal January Day 1 and 2

As I posted before, I am participating in Milliande's Journal January.
I have to say I must be feeling inspired to do journalling pages again, because I got so into the pages that I forgot to take pictures of my background before I started on my Day 2.
So here are a couple of pictures of the pages after I was done.

It is hard to read in the photos because of the glare, but it reads:
"I will Believe in myself"

Art Journal January

My dear friend Milliande is going to be taking us on a Journal Journey again this year.
I am going to try to play along, if you want to join us, please click the picture below, and we can all create a fun art journal for January!

Happy Feet

One last Christmas present.

My sister asked me awhile back if I would be willing to crochet and bead some socks for her daughter, like the ones I made when my girls were little. I said - SURE! I would love too. I didn't realize that I wouldn't be able to find thread, needles, and beads in all my recent moving in. So here I was with a project and Christmas approaching quickly.

I didn't make it in time for the big day, but I have spent the last couple of days finding all the stuff I needed, crocheting the edgings, and adding beads.

I took them over to their house today all wrapped in a package. My little niece was so excited to be able to open another present, and when she saw what they were she was so happy! The joy of a four year old is so precious. She ran around and showed everyone what she had received, then she decided today was a good day to try them on. Fancy feet we call them. :)

She even picked the pair that matched her clothes with no help from anyone! The girl is going to be a diva, I can just picture it now.

Here is a couple of picts of her new Fancy Feet.

A Little Festive

My girls REALLY wanted to decorate gingerbread houses this year, and now that they are teenagers, I feel like I can let them loose, with the warning that If You Make the Mess- You Clean It Up!
They were so good! I gave them each their frosting packets, a ton of candy, and they went nuts.
(They even cleaned up when we were done.)
I am surprised that there wasn't more on the floor, but they did remarkably well.
Here are the houses...
The left one is Abby's, the middle- mine, and the right one is Quincy's

Here is Quincy standing on her chair trying to press the last of the very thick pink frosting out of the tube, to make flowers. She must have needed a little more push than she could get sitting down. lol

This is Quincy's finished house.

This is Abby's finished house.

And mine, as you can see it is rather simple. I think it is too hard to stay focused.
So instead I was looking at the lights and ornaments on the tree, when...

A little visitor came by and landed in the tree outside my window. This birdie was so cute filling up on berries. I wish we had more birds come visit, as the trees are just chock-full of berries... plenty to share.
I can't wait til Spring when the new birds come and partake from the feeders. I think we moved in just a little too late in the year for them to recognize the feeders before it got cold. I will keep them stocked with seed just in case some stop by, maybe they will tell their friends. :)

Christmas Spiders

The Legend of the Christmas Spider

If you’ve ever gazed at the beautiful tinsel sparkling on your Christmas Tree and wondered who came up with idea of decorating the tree in this way, wonder no longer.

According to German legend, it signifies a Christmas miracle from many years ago. The day before Christmas, as the small house in Germany underwent its Christmas Eve cleaning, the resident spiders, not wanting to be swept up with the broom, hid in the attic. When nightfall came and all were settled into bed, the spiders crept downstairs. To their amazement, in the middle of the living room was a beautifully decorated Christmas Tree. They were so excited that they ran all over the tree. They scurried up the trunk and leapt from branch to branch. Unfortunately they had left their mark. A gray spider web now covered the whole tree.

When Weihnachtsmann, also known as Father Christmas, arrived he was amused to see the tree covered in spider webs. Now he faced a dilemma. The family would be disappointed to see their beautiful tree all wrapped in the webs, but the spiders were so pleased with their handiwork that he did not have the heart to take it down. What could he do?He thought and thought and came up with a wonderful solution. He turned all the webs into beautiful shimmering silver strands. When the family awoke on Christmas Morning they ran to the living room and saw their tree sparking and glittering in the morning sun. Their delight was unsurpassed. They had never seen such a beautiful tree. Only the mother knew that a true Christmas miracle had occurred overnight.

From that day on tinsel became a treasured ornament for trees all over the world. Those who know the legend make sure that they give thanks to the industrious spiders by hanging a beautiful silver or gold spider ornament in a prominent location on their tree.

* * * * * * * * * *

I made a bunch of beaded spiders this year for all my fellow Fireflies on Milliande Ning site, it was a ton of fun putting them all together and making each one unique.

This is the collection of spidies that I finished.

Close-up of one of the spiders.

12 Days of Christmas giveaway

Christmas gifts

Lisa Vollrath from Ten Two Studios and Go Make Something is giving a free download every day til Christmas!
Check out her link to the Christmas downloads HERE! (or the link on the right side of my page)
Merry Christmas from Lisa! Gotta love her!

Christmas Wish giveaway!

Milliande is making a Christmas wish come true.
Check out the details at Milliande.com

Another Journal Page

Here is another journal page I made this fall, but somehow missed it when I was uploading photos.
This spread was for Susan, and her topic was dragons, princesses and other magical things.
I just love the dragon, and his glittery fire :)

November - Already?

Wow! Time flies when you are having fun, or not.
I have been one busy beaver lately.
We are moved into our new home, but slowly getting unpacked. I just want everything in it's place. My husband packed the silverware, and he doesn't remember what box he packed it in, so we are still using what happened to be in the dishwasher on the day of the move. ARG.
I know it will show up soon, as we are running out of places to look.


I have managed to squeeze in a couple of art journal pages, the first topic was Water. I chose the frozen variety. LOL
It is done with only fabrics, and a few snowflake gems.


The second topic was Heart Garden, and it is done with light weight Spackle that you get at the hardware store. I lightly brushed it through the holes of a couple of stencils to get the dimensional flowers, and then I colored them with chalks.
The arch is out of a shimmery handmade paper. I just love the expression on the little flower girls face.

2 more Art Journal Pages

I know, I should be packing boxes for the move, but I am still lagging behind schedule, and just can't bring myself to not create.
One of these pages I did a week or so ago, but just haven't made the time to put it up. The other one I just finished, and am waiting to send it to make sure it is completely dry.

First is a page for Marion, her topic was School. I went a bit of a different way by going with Education and Knowledge. It is a little quirky, but that is a style that I know Marion loves, so I hope that she likes them.


Second is for Sharron, her topic was Italian Affair. When I think of Italy, I think of stone buildings, and dreamy fields of grapes. I cut out the window of the right page, and added a picture of a castle like building, and then added groups of grapes, which I then covered in Crystal Lacquer to give them that shiny plumpness.
The quote: "A hundred years can not repair a moment lost" is an old Italian Proverb, which to me tied in the dreamy aspect of the piece.

Tribute to Jackson Pollock

Getting some more art journals done, I was able to incorporate the same subject into two different books.
(remember to click on images to see them larger)
The first book is Karen's and it is on Freedom.
I chose to do Jackson Pollock, because his outlook on art is that of expression, not necessarily completion.
He created his works out of feeling, not a predetermined idea of what it would end up like.
To me I feel that is 'Freedom in art'. I created these pages without any idea of what they would look like when they were finished, and it was an amazing experience.

The second journal belonging to Abby was titled 'American Idol', and we were to incorporate someone we look up to into the pages, so I was able to stay with the Jackson Pollock theme.
Even though he grew up in New York, he was born here in my home town of Cody, WY.

Both journal entries were done with acrylic paint. Some thinned with water, and painted on with a straw, a stick, and a paintbrush. Something that Jackson often did was use unusual items as 'brushes'.

The fist pages for Karen were done with pastel colors on a black background. (directly in the book) Then the paint was let to dry for 2 days. (it's thick in places) Then I printed actual works from Jackson Pollock onto Canvas paper, and then heat set and sealed them so they would not smear, then adhered them around the quote from him.
The quote reads:
'I like to express my feelings rather than illustrate them. There is no accident just as there is no beginning and no end...The painting has a life of it's own.'
Jackson Pollock, New York, 1951.
The second pages for Abby were done with earth tones, on a metallic brown linen texture cardstock. Let to dry, and then I added a transparency where I put Jackson's photo, name and life dates on as an overlay to my painting. On the right side, I added a print of his painting 'The Key' done on canvas paper and sealed, matted with the same metallic brown cardstock.
I was really happy with the way they turned out, and how different they look, when still using some of the basic drip technique.

Getting in some art.

I have squeezed in a little art amongst the chaos, here and there, when I can. I am still WAY behind schedule, but I am trying to catch up.
Here are just some of the things I have accomplished over the last several months.

(remember you can click on the images to see them larger~enjoy)


This is my art journal Lighthouse page. I made a very simple how-to YouTube video if you want to check it out the address is : Lighthouse Art Journal Page

Here are some art journal pages I made just for personal growth:

(a new woman~made with parts and pieces from different magazine clippings of women)


Kindred Spirits~ Letters are found from items in nature.


Growth~ Altered Photo


The following are Round Robin Art Journal book pages and Tip-In pages that I made, that are traveling the world.

Love Letter~for Jenene


Wings~for Barbara


Earth Specimen~for Keron


Birds~for Hermine
(second picture shows left page with bird houses open)


"Out with the Old" Doors & Windows~for Diana


"Jeweled Mandala" India~ for Lorna

Whew~ I guess I have done more than I thought, I have been trying to do some 5-15 minute sketch prompts also. The key is to just sketch. Don't think about it. Just look at the image and try to repeat it. Don't erase.... just keep going. When the timer goes off~ STOP. Accept the results, and move on.
I think the 'accept the results' part is the hardest part, but it is taking my art to all new places and I LIKE IT!!!!!

Hopefully it won't be Christmas before I pop in again, but if it is, remember I blog without obligation. ;)
~ Letha

I can't believe I haven't blogged all summer!

I have truly been one busy lady! I intended to take the summer off from most of the hustle and bustle and get lots of art done, instead of all the usually running from here and there. I also wanted to get the studio/classroom set up so that we would be ready for fall... still not done. UGH!
We planned to go to South Dakota over the 4th of July, but plans were canceled because my mom got ill, and had to have surgery. So we have been taking care of her all summer. Back and forth every day. We planted flowers for her to look at, and cleaned off her porch so she could spend a few minutes outside each day~ Doctors orders!
Quincy turned 14~ that was a blast! We had a bowling party, and then went for pizza. It was Harry Potter themed OF COURSE :)

Both Quincy and Abby spent most of the summer doing art classes through the Cody Country Art League and Quincy did Tennis.
Beckie came to visit, which was nice, because she took care of mom while I took care of Bethany's kids while she had her baby. A big bouncing baby boy. Nathaniel River 8 lbs 5.7 oz. Nate is the cutest little plump thing! I was not so secretly hoping for a girl, but now that he is here, I don't think we will send him back- he is way too cute :)
Well, now we are getting ready for Mark's mom and sister to come and visit. Usually the girls fly out there and visit for a week, but this year they are coming to see us. The girls are excited to see them, and they are only going to be here a few short days, so we have a lot to squeeze in.
School starts in just a couple short weeks, and we need to do school shopping, so my plans for not participating in the usual hustle and bustle of the summer fuss went right out the window! HA-HA! Oh Well, maybe next year.