MICHIGAN TRIP JOURNAL PAGES

Hi Everyone!


I've been working on my Michigan journal pages.  I prepped a few pages ahead of time knowing that time would be limited but due to luggage constraints I left the journal at home.

Using Dylusions spray ink, I spritz the pages and glued in a Mitten map, the shape of Michigan and a bold date stamp for the opening page.  

Bountiful produce

Another pre-prepped page with pink and orange acrylic paint.  It reminded me of the bountiful produce at the Farmer's produce stands.  Loved seeing the fresh fruits and veggies, the biggest pumpkins and gourds.  It was a delight to this girl's eyes.

A little collage of photos taken of my daughter and grandson along with a watercolor I did of the Holland Lighthouse. We didn't get to actually go to the lighthouse because it was under reconstruction do to the shifting sands. I found a photo on line and painted from that. 

Let's celebrate! We had lots to celebrate on my visit.  My BFF's and my belated birthdays, daughter Amanda's birthday and baby Jackson turning 6 months old.
I should have gotten pictures of the birthday girls and boy! The background is paper I painted designs on and then glued into the journal.  I liked it so much, so why not use it?

At the Apple Farm with the Mommy Group picking apples for the very first time in my life!  What fun this was.  I kept the label from a bottle of water to commemorate the event.  I love the tree stamp, it was such fun to use colored pencils and a water brush to complete the look.

Thanks for joining me today! I'd love to hear what you think of my journal pages. Drop me a comment if you have time.

Happy Journaling!
Suzy

WHAT'S ON YOUR WORKTABLE?

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to Brees Mimi Design Studio! Come on in! So happy you are joining me today for a quick peek inside the place I call "studio".  Today I'll reveal my worktable.  It's my "go to" place, my favorite spot to be, where I feel completely at home and were the ideas flow freely. 

Work table in studio

You will find me here most afternoons (if I'm not working or taking care of the grand-kids) and sometimes very late at night when I'm able to sneak in a few minutes before bedtime.  

The worktable is approximately 5-6 feet long and 3 feet wide, a standard folding table from Office Depot. In order to protect (lol) the lovely brown laminate finish, the work surface is covered with several sheets of watercolor paper. This idea comes from Jennibellie Studio, to use watercolor paper and wipe the excess paint from brushes here and later use this paper for other art projects. Since the watercolor paper surface is a recent addition to my table (previously used brown craft paper), I'll have to let you know how it works out. 

Work surface protected by water color paper.

To tell the truth, I couldn't stand looking at all that white paper....so I painted a few ideas on one side and use the other to wipe excess paint on. 

 On top of the w/c paper is a non-stick craft sheet, in my immediate working area. It is perfect for a dab of acrylic paint or spray inks when a palette isn't needed and wipes off easily! Even acrylics can be peeled off the surface if left too long.  I LOVE the craft sheet! 

Non stick craft sheet in immediate work space.

On the worktable I have my essential tools which are: acrylic paints, glue & gesso, pens, brushes, ink, paper towels & baby wipes. 

The pink metal tub holds bottles of glue, glue sticks, gesso, mini paint palettes and water containers (recycled fruit cups or yogurt containers). A revolving rack (repurposed spice caddy) houses artist acrylics and my favorite handmade basket holds fave acrylic craft paints.

Current fave acrylic colors include Poodleskirt Pink, Whispering Turquoise, Citron Green, Slate Grey and Black. 
A mason jar and silver topped glass containers hold Washi tapes. 

Above in thrift store finds of ceramic, stone and metal cups my collection of pens, markers and scissors are corraled. It looks like the mini stapler has "attached" itself (sorry, couldn't resist) to the metal cup and awl is buried in the ceramic holder. Small metal dishes hold miscellaneous items that stray across the surface from time to time. 

Paint brushes, plastic utensils, ink and credit cards

The lovely metal box is another thrift store find! The lid of the box remains open at all times for quick access to brushes and various utensils used for spreading or applying paint and gesso. All are contained in recycled glass jars (salsa-yum!) within the box. Ooops, I see the pink stapler has also attached itself to the metal box!  Another glass jar contains old credit/gift cards (to spread glue, paint or gesso), water brushes, bone folder, and sponges.  The metal box resides on top of a mini wooden slat table (repurposed from a picnic basket), underneath the wooden mini table is a divided glass pickle dish (thrift store find) holding black ink pads, India ink bottles and date stamp, the dish can be slid out when needed.   A spray bottle of water, paper towel holder, package of wet wipes and a bottle of water are near by.  

Inspiration board

Inspiration comes from many sources and I keep mine right in front of my worktable!  On this board is a background of BH&G paint color swatches, you know the pages that the newest colors are on? Here's a fun page at BH&G to test your color personality!  Each season, my board is changed out and the background colors with the season. Then I add my favorite poems, quotes, color palettes, and various items that catch my attention. Strings of glass beads, pieces of jewelry I like, cards with string or threads, cutout paper dolls, crochet flowers, it is here for inspiration.

My current project: hand painted paper and sewn covers for watercolor journals. Both journals have hand sewn watercolor signatures inside and flaps on the cover which secure the papers within. My inspiration came from Mary Ann Moss SEWN. Go check it out! 

I hope you have enjoyed the Work Table tour and that you will come back next week as we continue A Peek Inside The Studio!  

I'd love it if you would leave a comment so that I know you were here! I love hearing from you! 

See you next week, until then....

BEE CREATIVE!

Suzy

PSS.....BREAKING NEWS! A day late to the party on WOYWW (that's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday)but I thought I would post this anyway. Let you know more of the details in next post! 

PLAYTIME SKETCHBOOK

Hi Everyone!

Nothing better than PLAY TIME in a sketchbook or journal!  I love to spend time with my glue stick, stamps and watercolors.  It is good to spend time creating without any purpose whatsoever! You never know where it will lead you creatively.  I don't feel the need to finish a page or make it pretty. In my sketch books and design journals you'll find lots of unfinished pages, some with stamping and nothing else. Like this page below created when trying out new stamps and deciding between black or brown ink. Personally I like the look of both on this page. 

Whenever I purchase a new stamp(s) I always try them out in a sketchbook first! Stamping the designs over and over again helps me visualize other ways in which they can be used. Using different color ways also is a wonderful way to see how color effects the design. I enjoy doodling around designs and writing any ideas down next to the stamped images. 

I use watercolor pencils, ink, craft paint, scribbles, crayons, etc. Nothing is off limits.  

Mixing stamps designs is fun! Here's a page where I was experimenting with houses, drawing trees, stamping with feathers and even a birdcage. Yep, I know it's upside down! Who knows what THAT'S about. 

Being a quilter, I love pattern and fabrics and they sneak their way into my sketch books too!  Here's a little pattern for a bug quilt I made for my great-nephew. The fabrics are glued into the book with a glue stick and the curly cue antenna was a practice applique piece cut out and glued on to the page.

As you can see, anything and everything goes into the design sketchbooks. I so enjoy looking through these pages and getting new ideas and using some of the old ones too! 

Hope you are having a wonderful week!  Go glue or stamp something in your sketchbook!  WHAT??? NO! You don't have a sketchbook?  Well head over to the nearest Joanne's or Michael's and pick out an inexpensive sketchbook! Get your glue stick out and glue down a random piece of fabric or paper, add color or a nice doodle....get started now! Have fun!

Happy stamping & glue sticking!
Suzy

INDEX CARD A DAY WEEK 5

Hi Everyone!

It has been another busy week around here, working and caring for a little one! Wow, I'm finding it difficult to find a little block of time to create each daily index card. Each night after everyone is asleep I am trying to catch up with email and blog posts. 

Well, other than the time crunch this month, I've also joined an online class with Mary Ann Moss called SEWN. There will be more details coming! Check out the little video over on the left side of this page, if you are interested in the class, please tell Mary Ann I sent you! 

Ok, the Index Card A Day Challenge (ICAD) from this week can been seen by clicking on ICAD tab on the right side bar.  

Hope you will enjoy this weeks collection and be inspired to make your own little mini art works!

Happy Painting and Doodling!
Suzy

ICAD WEEK 3

Hi Everyone!

This post is a bit late today but better late than never, right?  I've been getting things spruced up around here for my darling daughter and grandson to arrive this week (DSIL will follow soon).  They are in transition, moving from Texas to Michigan and will be staying with us for a month.  We are looking forward to spending time with our 3 month old grandson, DD and SIL. Jackson is growing so fast! He is smiling and getting such a cute personality, we are certainly blessed to have them stay with us.  

It's been a wonderful week making index cards each day, so much fun! My plastic bin of goodies sit under the table waiting to be sifted through for just the right tidbit to add to the cards.

If you'd like to read more about the details of each card for this week and any previous ones you might have missed, just click on the "Index Card A Day" tab on side bar to your right. 

Thank you so much to all who have left such kind comments, each one makes me feel so loved. I can't wait to share the cards with you!  Please share with me which is your favorite and why. I love hearing your thoughts.

Happy Doodling!
Suzy

Linking to : Daisy Yellow; Paint Party Friday; Art Journal Everyday

ICAD WEEK 2

Hi Everyone!

Happy Weekend! Happy Saturday! 

Time for the ICAD (Index Card A Day) reveal for Week 2.  This week was even more fun than the second week because I've learned a few lessons:

• go with the flow
• don't over think it
• have fun

Check out the entire week's ICAD by clicking the tab on the right side bar to read more. 

Here's a peek.

Thank you for stopping by! 

Happy Doodles,
Suzy

Linking to : Daisy Yellow; Paint Party Friday; Art Journal Everyday

The Learning Prompt

Hi Everyone! 

Working on two journal projects this month has been pretty exciting stuff for me, a learning process.  The Li'l Journal Project over at www.lilblueboo.com is based on prompts that  Ashley Hackshaw creates daily and posts on her blog.  Each prompt subject (s) leads to a past or present experience in your life. I find myself deep into thought some days from a one word prompt, other days is seems like silly fun to me but either way, I am having a wonderful time interpreting these word prompts. I look forward each morning to getting a cup of coffee and sitting down in front of my computer and to see what prompt Ashley will have for me today..... 

Knowing Ashley was taking a little break from prompting last week I began working on another art project called Get Your Art On, Check it out at www.tracibunkers.com. It's a 30 day project to make art, any kind and there are no prompts. Okay, by the Third day in this process, I discovered that I really like word PROMPTS which seem to give a  focus or direction to creating a page. I know, this might sound a bit lame to some people, being prompt less (LOL, is that even a word?) but speaking for myself and left to my own devices (prompt less), I wander around the pages kinda willy-nilly. So here's a big thank you to Ashley for the daily prompts! 

Here's some pages from the 30 Day Get Your Art On series:

Day 5: Push Beyond Your Norm. Sorry for the shadows on the page, it's been a crazy week weather-wise for photos.  Continuing to work with stamped tissue paper and adding acrylics to the mix. Pushing Beyond the usual inks and color palette.

Day 6: Making Art with Bree. Brianne is my oldest grand-daughter, she is 3 yrs. old and loves to come to Mimi's house to "make art". We played colored pens, silk leaves and glitter glue, after she left, I made this page using some of the same materials. 

Day 7: Morning Has Broken. When I photographing the background of this piece I noticed a shadow on the page that looked like a tree with branches, so I pulled out some papers to make a collage of the shadows. I'm not entirely happy with this but it is what it is for now, I'll go in and modify it later. 

Day 8: What's That Buzz??  You might think the title has something to do with the Bees and honeycombs but actually it was about the buzzing noise I heard when working on this piece. We were having some electrical problems and the buzzing was the air conditioner trying to come on! Yikes! This page inspired by a journal prompt on Li'l Journal Project. 

Come back and check out the Li'l Journal Project Pages later this week! Until then, GO.... GET..... YOUR..... ART.... ON!!!

Bee Creative!
Suzy

Linking to: www.lilblueboo.com  www.tracibunkers.com