JOURNAL 52

Hi Everyone!

I'm very excited to reveal a brand-new challenge I've begun for 2014!  It's called Journal 52 and it is a FREE workshop online with Chelle Stein.  It is 52 weeks of creative prompts and techniques to try!  That's right! It is FREE.  Each Monday Chelle announces the prompt on Face Book on the Journal52 page and there is a Flickr group also.   It's not too late to join in the fun!

This week our prompt was Up UP and Away!  Chelle posts her page and tells all about the techniques she uses, so you have a prompt and some techniques to try. If you are a newbie, then this is the place to start!  It is a very supportive group with all ranges of experience in art journaling.  Check it out HERE.

 Each week I will share with you the thought process and some of the techniques I used to create my page and I'll post them here each Saturday.

So, here is my first Journal 52 page
UP UP and Away!

Right here and now I will tell you that I struggled with the Up Up and Away prompt!  All I could hear in my head was that 60's song: Up Up and Away in my beautiful balloon....so my first idea was to make a box from patterned paper with the lid opening up to balloons escaping into the atmosphere.  I made a cardboard template cloud and sprayed blue ink over it, like a stencil, moving the cardboard cloud around to make cloud banks. After it dried, I really didn't care for it, so I gessoed over parts of the page.

 My heart wasn't into it, my head was engaged but the heart, not so much.  You see, I work best without a preconceived idea or theme, more intuitive.  My box of papers, clippings and tidbits of this and that sat at my feet waiting for me to open it and discover where to take this design.  I like digging through the box, it has gum wrappers, silly paper cards, magazine clippings, tissue papers, book text, stamped tags, paper scraps even an old needlepoint canvas that I pick up along the way. Anything unusual or things that speak to my heart, go in the box for collage.

 So I dig through and start pulling out a few papers, a card and Whoo hoo! A tiny bit dress maker's pattern catches my eye and sparks something within!  Using the pattern paper over the clouds to cover them up and adding a bit of dictionary text to cover the background area, now I liked that!! After gluing down the paper in random fashion, I resumed digging in my treasure box to find other things that speak to me.  Like the flapper girls, they were on a card and I cut them out, two together to represent friends and one to represent me. They are kicking up their heels and having a grand time, they speak of fun and friendship to me.

 In my box I found a napkin with a giant purple flower and another napkin with pink flowers, text and the Eiffel Tower.  Ooohlala, that made for a bit of interest over the pattern paper and text!  Travel and flowers are two things I love, the romance of flowers and the dream of traveling to Paris....that lead me back to relationships and thus the head of the man and the thoughts of re-kindling of romance. And more flower stickers!!!

The pear represents the desire for a healthier lifestyle this year and the tag with LIFE LIFE and butterflies represents the changes coming. The words Thank You represent a grateful attitude that comes from the heart for all gifts and blessings the Lord has given to me.  In return, the tag that reads From Our Home to Yours represents sharing with and giving to others from our blessings.  

I hope you have enjoyed coming into my world of journal making and collage.  I would love it if you would leave me a comment and then join me in this adventure for 2014!  You can catch my Journal52 weekly pages here each Saturday.

Happy Journaling!
Suzy

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

New Travel Series "Down Memory Lane".

Hi Everyone!

It’s Travel Thursday again! Who’s ready to come along?  Today we’ll be taking a different path than usual, but don’t worry, I know the way having tripped down this lane often.  Curious as to where we might be going today? The good news is No Passport Needed! We'll be tripping down Memory Lane! 

We're keeping it LOCAL during this mini Travel Series.  Over the next several weeks I'll be walking you though a series of places: The Neighborhood; A Morning in the Park with Friends; My Own Backyard sketches and In The Studio.  

Ok, so let's see what's happening around The Neighborhood! 

Each morning I would get up and don my walking shoes and start down the road from my house, following mostly the same route everyday (creature of habit here).  Upon returning home I would sketch or draw or paint interesting things I saw along the way. 

I passed this gorgeous white picket fence each morning on my walk, the yellow Alamanda blossoms that cascade over the arbor and down the fence take my breath away. It is a lovely sight to see! This particular morning it is hot and humid and the bright golden yellow daisies catch my eye, as well the appropriately named Firecracker bushes exploding with their red-orange colored blooms. 

I hear a rat-ta-tat noise coming from the woodpecker rapping on the metal streetlight and wonder whether the bird realizes 1. that he's tapping on metal and 2. it is waking up the neighborhood at this early hour!  A bit later I'm walking along and spot a giant raccoon, he sees me too and we both freeze! Yikes. And my neighbor has a new pineapple growing on his plant! There's a small sign "please do not pick". 

This morning a little box turtle has crossed the busy street from his pond and is wandering on the black top of a church parking lot.  Poor little fellow seems a bit lost. 

The weather is turning cooler and the neighbors are decorating for fall with pumpkins and scarecrows.  The bushes are producing these luscious berries in deep plum and purple colors, and the turtles are huddling on the fountain in the middle of the pond warming themselves with early morning rays of the sun. 

Please join me each Thursday for a journey back in time through my journals. What do you see on your early morning walks? Do you take time to record these moments and how do you keep these memories? I'd love to know! 

Happy Travels!
Suzy 

Pink Journal Peek

Hi Everyone!

This post is for my sister Anne, who said she would like to see what was in the Orange and Pink Portfolio and the Pink “stitched” journal.  Well, sister I’d love to show you the Portfolio style journal but there isn’t anything in there yet!  Teesha Moore has an excellent How To video on YouTube, just click on the RED link if you would like to see how I made this journal like Teesha’s (minus the collage art).

Pink & Orange Portfolio Style Journal

Okay, here’s a peek inside the Pink journal.

 

Front Cover

 The cover is made from 300gm weight water color paper (140 lb. inside) which is VERY sturdy.  I sopped up a bit of water color paint and some acrylics from another project.  

Back

A band of water color paper circles around the front and back. 

Obviously, it still needs a little something, something to finish off the banded label. 

Art Statement

On the cover page I put one of my artist statements/disclaimers: Art has many forms. It may look REAL different from Yours. That's why it is called Art.

 

First Page Jitters

The first page of a new journal always gives me pause.  I don’t know what to put there really, so I just goofed around with some water colors and ink.  Eventually I came back to the page and finished up with some journaling about my page angst and now I actually like it (somewhat).

The Eyes Have It

I was visiting http://jennibelliestudio.blogspot.co.uk/ the other day and Jenny had a great idea for covering her work surface (mine is usually covered with brown kraft paper) with water color paper and wiping her brushes and excess paints on it, she later uses it in other art projects.  I mention this because I did put w/c paper on my work surface, pretty soon my paints were out and I was doodling on the paper with paint. Came up with a lovely piece that could be an "eye" (or flower center) and decided to add a version of the “eye” in my journal.

A Rose is a Rose

I saw my neighbor's climbing roses blooming on the fence the other day and this page was born! It's all ready for journaling or more drawing.

Rose page ready for journaling

Played around with some of the grands watercolor pens spritzed with water to spread them across the page.

 

New Colors

My granddaughters, Brianne and Lyla, love to paint, so I'm always looking for new colors to add to the palette.  Alisa Burke’s lovely palette of colors and delightful style really inspires me. I know, really? Me? Soft Colors? What!) I picked up some last week.  This is a bit more intense than I wanted it to be, I'm trying to lighten up but the colors kept calling to be darker. I love the pen and ink bottle stamp picked up at Hobby Lobby for a couple of bucks. 

What inspires your journal pages?

Happy Coloring! 
Suzy

  

Linking to: http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/;Crafty Thursday Obsessions

Clouds of White Butterflies

Hi Everyone!

    The saw the most amazing thing today as I was driving home from the island!  Coming over the Causeway I was admiring the beauty of the day, white puffy clouds in an intense blue sky, the breeze gently blowing the palms, the inlet waters were several shades of blue, dazzling sunlight. 

Veined White Butterfly

    Just as I came to a stop at the traffic light there was a sudden swarm of white butterflies crossing the lanes of traffic.  It was a huge swarm...I've never seen anything like it, delicate white wings fluttering and swooping, weaving this way and that.  I wondered if anyone else notice this phenomenon.  All the way home I notice there were white butterflies everywhere I looked, fluttering here and there. It was the strangest thing, yet one of the most beautiful amazing moments. As soon as I got in the door, I ran for the studio to try and capture the moment in my journal. 

A large group of butterflies is called a lek, swarm, rabble

     How would I depict the swarm of butterflies? Embossing came to mind. I used embossing powder to stamp the butterfly shapes, gesso to fill in the outlines and added a bit of Dazzle to give the body dimension. Cerulean Blue seemed to be the perfect color of the day and would help the white butterflies stand out on the background, watercolor also seemed like the perfect solution for media. 

      

     Kinda wish I had planned the journaling to meander through the butterflies but that thought didn't occur to me until later in the process.  Well, maybe next time. 

     Keeping your eyes open, look for the unexpected and be prepared to capture the moment! Have fun!

Happy Journaling! 

Suzy

The Ordinary Life

Hi Everyone! 

It's been awhile but I found myself playing in my art journal this week between working and caring for my grandchildren.  In my Monday night theology class we were discussing the spirituality of vocation and the fact that God is in everything we do, our work, our relationships, in our ordinary life. I was thinking that my vocation and ordinary life intermingle and sometimes it seems that my life is mostly the same day after day.  Maybe you feel that way too. It's not a bad thing, the ordinary and I'm not complaining, I'm just saying there is comfort in living the ordinary life. Looking around and seeing the blessings of each day, in the ordinary. So this week I suppose I was recording ordinary life in my journal pages. 
You can check out this ordinary life by clicking on the page tab above: ART JOURNAL. I'll share my personal art and stories behind the art with you. 

I

Tell me, does your art imitate your personal life, your vocation and your relationships? 

Happy Painting!
Suzy

Linking to: Paint Party Friday, Art Journal Every Day,

NEW TRAVEL JOURNAL PAGES REVEALED!

Hi Everyone!

So this week I'm going to share something with you that I have been promising for awhile: my travel journal pages. The journal pages started as a way to avoid carrying tons of brochures and collected mementos home from vacation. With the cost of flying, baggage weight restrictions and extra cost to check baggage these were definite reasons to pair down extra goodies brought back home. Know what I mean?  This also forced me to cut down on art supplies, narrowing  down to (what I consider) the bare minimum, they fit into a pencil pouch (you can see a list HERE).  I take a journal and glue stuff into it as I go along, tearing images  from the brochures, painting or handwriting the days events onto the pages. I suppose you could relate this to a form of Smash Book if you like, only I was doing this years before that term or product was developed.

I hope you will click on the TRAVEL JOURNAL tab above and check out the first of my journal pages. I'll be sharing some with you weekly on Thursdays (OK, let's give it an official name like TRAVEL THURSDAY). You can check back each week to see what I've posted and I hope you will come often to visit and see where my journal has been. 

Happy Travels and Journaling!
Suzy

Link to: sewmanyways

Attitude of Gratitude Challenge Wrap Up

Hi Everyone!

Well, here we are the first day of December and I'm wrapping up the final week of An Attitude of Gratitude Journal Challenge for the month of November.  You can see the expanded stories and photos by clicking on the tab above marked Attitude of Gratitude Journal. I hope you will check out the pages in my journal and give me some feedback and comment love. Thank you so much for supporting me through this challenge, it truly was a challenge to complete during this busy month! 

I'd like to say Thank You to Bernice Hopper for putting together An Attitude of Gratitude Challenge. You can click on link above to see other participant's work too or check out the Flickr group.
You are sure to enjoy the variety of styles. 

Thanks again for joining me on the art journal adventure during the month of November! 

Bee Creative
Suzy

Linking to: Bernice Hopper:An Attitude of Gratitude; Paint Party Friday, Carolyn Dube: A Colorful Journey

A THANKFUL HEART

Hi Everyone! 


It is with a thankful heart we celebrate this holiday for God's merciful bounties and for bringing our family together to share. It is not the material things of this earth that bind us together rather it is our God, our family and friends. 

On this Thanksgiving eve I am thinking about those are suffering the after affect of Hurricane Sandy. My heart goes out to them for their loss of home and neighborhoods, of dear ones and the devastating effect on each persons life. The amazing thing I see on the news each night is the attitude of gratitude, determination and a willingness to go on despite the challenges. 
When tragic events happen people pull together in their communities and support and love one another. While we can't be physically there to support the families and communities affected by Hurricane Sandy, we can pray for them and offer our assistance by donating to Relief funds or through our churches, etc. that offer assistance. 

Happy Thanksgiving.
Suzy

Week 3 Attitude of Gratitude Journal Pages can be seen in more detail by clicking on Attitude of Gratitude Journal tab above. 

Week 2 Attitude of Gratitude

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by! Today I'm sharing my Attitude of Gratitude Journal pages with you. You can see the entire post by clicking on the above tab marked Attitude of Gratitude Journal. 

You might remember in the last few posts about my journals that I have been trying to make a dent into my supplies by using up what I have instead of purchasing new stuff?  Well, I had a little breakdown the other day, a moment of weakness when I was online checking out a "tutorial" and went over to the link to Ranger Ink http://rangerink.com/ . Oh MY Goodness! I should have closed that page right away but being curious about some of the products and watching the "demos", I got sucked right in.  Not a bad thing mind you but a rather expensive one. Here's how I justified the purchase to myself: I've been out of work for the last few years and have had limited income to purchase supplies. My husband said I should spend some of the money on something I liked.  So....art supplies here we come! LOL! Well it's a good rationalization until I get the bill. Here's what I got: Spray inks by Dylusions in Squeezed Orange, Fresh Lime and Vibrant Turquoise. Don't you just love those names? For some time now I've wanted to try Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Paints http://claudinehellmuth.blogspot.com/: Modern Red, Altered Orange, Dab of Yellow, Classic Teal and Landscape Green. Can you see the color scheme going here?  Yes, I ordered those too! My biggest splurge was the Inkssentials Non-Stick Craft Sheet http://rangerink.com/?product=non-stick-craft-sheet%E2%84%A2; it is just the greatest thing! Have you seen them? Do you use one?  They resist every medium you can put on them and they are heat resistant too! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!  If you don't have one, put it on your Christmas list! 

Supplies

I'm so excited to have these products to work with and you will see them incorporated in the next journal pages. 

Thanks for stopping in today and I look forward to sharing more journal pages with you next week! 

Bee Creative!
Suzy






Linking to: An Attitude of Gratitude Journal anattitudeofgratitudejournal.blogspot.com
Paint Party Friday:http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/
Julie Balzer Designs:http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/
Sew Many Ways-Friend Friday:sewmanyways.blogspot.com
Gratitude Friday:http://dryadajournals.blogspot.be/2012/11/gratitude-friday_16.html

Art Every Day Month

Hey Everyone!

It's been a very busy week trying to cope with the new job (and the old one) and keep up with hubs, family and the two art challenges. I'll admit it is a bit much but I am having a great time with the journal pages for both challenges!  Maybe you have been following along on Facebook or perhaps you have found the Flickr account but I promised I would post my  Art Every Day Month (AEDM) journal pages here on Tuesdays and An Attitude Of Gratitude (AOG) on Thursdays.  So here's a sneak peak of my pages for AEDM, if you want to see them up close and personal just click on the tab above for more detail.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are inspired to come join us in making art journal pages everyday!

Bee Creative!
Suzy

LINKING TO:http://creativeeveryday.com.; http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/art-j.html; www.marywalkerdesigns.com;

TWO NEW ART JOURNAL CHALLENGES BEGIN

Hi Everyone! 

I'm off on not one but two art adventures for the month of November! Yes, they both coincide this month but I'm going to give it a shot! Check them both out!  Art Every Day Month (AEDM) and is hosted by Leah over at http://creativeeveryday.com.  I hope you will join me as I start this very special challenge of making art every day! I'll be posting it on my blog once a week during November on Tuesday. An Attitude of Gratitude (AAOG) is hosted by Bernice Hopper over at http://www.anattitudeofgratitudejournal.blogspot.com. I'll be posting here on Flicker http://www.flickr.com/groups/2100586@N21/and also on my blog on Thursdays.  This is a very busy month for me between starting two new jobs, care for my grands and having family in for the holidays. Really, is this too much??? 

The process of making art is something I feel compelled to do, on a daily basis if at all possible.  We'll see how it goes during November. I need your support in cheering me on, especially as the time for the holidays starts to draw nearer! 

Thanks for your support and I appreciate each comment and read them all! I hope you will also be inspired to try a 30 day challenge yourself! It is amazing to make a series of art journal pages and to watch your creativity blossom when you step out of your norm and into a world of creativity that is within you.  I encourage you to try it! Just go for it, do your own art and find what makes your heart happy. Experiment with new colors, new ideas, try a new product and enjoy the process! Have fun! And if you are so inclined, please send me a photo of your work! I'd love to see it! 

Happy Creating (with Gratitude) Every Day! 
Suzy

Linking to: http://creativeeveryday.com;http://anattitudeofgratitudejournal.blogspot.comhttp://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

WRAPPING UP 30 DAY CHALLENGE

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to the final days of the Get Your Art On challenge! Here's are some journal pages I've been working on this past week. 

Day 23 Oh Happy Day 

Day 23-Oh Happy Day!  Having a great day plastering on papers and adding a bit of ink, water color pencils to this page. 

Day 24-Groovy

Day 24-Groovy:  This isn't my favorite page but it is what it is. I was out and about this day having a great day adding to my Distress Ink collection. I found acrylic paints on sale so I treated myself to a few bottles in bright tropical colors and came home and played with them. 

Day 25 Tropic Winds

Day 25-Tropic Winds: The winds began to pick up from Hurricane Sandy as it was approaching off shore near the Bahamas.  I started with scrapping pink and blue acrylic paints vertically on the page, adding spiced marmalade and mustard seed Distress ink to the mix. I cut palm branches from text and inked them, also leaves were zentangled for fun. 

Day 26 Baby Girl Loves Pink & Purple

Day 26-Baby Girl Loves Pink & Purple: Yes it is true, my 3 yr. old grand daughter is in love with these colors. She will hoard pink and purple crayons too! I threw in a bit of red gelatos and yellow acrylic paint for a bit of variation on the Pink and Purple theme. Added the zentangle scalloped border for fun. 

Day 27-Gator Chomp

Day 27-Gator Chomp: I'm a Florida Gator fan. I had this great gator stamp but thought it looked a bit weak on the background so I decided to make my own Gator from newsprint! I really like this page. GO GATORS! 

Day 28-By Grace

Day 28-Reformation:  Romans 3:23-24 "It is by grace we are saved. ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus". 

I sure had a great week experimenting/playing with my new colors! I hope you had a creative week too!  For those in the path of Hurricane Sandy in the North East, please stay safe and know that our prayers are with you! 

GO MAKE ART! 
Suzy

Linking to: Get Your Art On www.tracibunkers.com; Paint Party Friday http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/;Art Journal Everyday http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/2010/12/art-journal-every-day; Show Me What You Got www.marywalkerdesigns.com

BOOK AUTHOR'S WORDS INSPIRE JOURNAL ART

Hi Everyone! 

Something really exciting happened the other day! I fixed my PB&J and sat down in my favorite chair to eat  and read as I normally do during lunch (unless I'm working or watching the grands)most days.  I recently downloaded some free books on my Kindle www.amazon.com.  One of the books I downloaded was Midnight Marriage by Lucinda Brant. This is a Georgian Historical Romance based on a true story and the first time I have read this author's books. 

 I was munching on my sandwich and reading along when I came to this: "She was sure if she swung higher her toes would touch the clouds".* Ok, let me ask when you are reading a book, do you have a running movie going in your head? Picturing the scenes, the characters, what they are wearing and how they look??  I do. You might remember, I've got "watercolor eyes" and so my mind immediately went into journal/painting mode. I tried to ignore it but I couldn't concentrate at all on the words, my mind keep conjuring up the images so I ran back to my art room and got busy with painting and cutting paper to make the scene in my head! 

Day 22 Touch the Clouds

Afterwards as I was writing the author's words onto the page, I thought I need to contact the author and ask permission to use this quote! (Big Gulp! First time ever contacting an author!) I immediately Googled: Lucinda Brant found her contact information and emailed her, including an attachment of my journal page with the quote on it.  I really didn't think I'd hear back but within hours, I had my answer! Lucinda had graciously said yes! I was over the moon with excitement because she said yes! AND she was asking my permission to pin this painting on her Pinterest board http://pinterest.com/lucindabrant/ for her fans to see! I hope you will all go over for a visit to Lucinda's website http://lucindabrant.com/midnight-marriage.php and download (Kindle & Nook) the story of Deb and Julian! Tell Lucinda I sent you!  

A special thank you Lucinda for inspiring me and graciously allowing your quote from Midnight Marriage to be a part of my art! And thank you for the pin on Pinterest!  

Thank you my family, friends and followers for your encouragement and kind comments each week! I look forward to hearing from you soon! 

Have a blessed weekend!

Suzy

*Quote used by permission from author.

Linking to: http://www.marywalkerdesigns.com; www.tracibunkers.com/blog; www.sewmanyways.blogspot.com;http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/;http://creativeeveryday.com/

LI'L JOURNAL PROJECT WEEK 6

Hi Everyone! 

I'm so happy you dropped by to check out my LI'L JOURNAL PROJECT post today.  This is Week 6 in the series, so if you have been following along during the process you've seen a lot of art work in the past 6 Weeks! It's been a blast to make art journal pages from the daily prompts that Ashley Hackshaw over at Li'l Blue Boo presents each day! Ashley started Week 6 by asking "Where does your inspiration come from? What inspires you"?  Good questions, huh?  And she asked that we make a list of inspirational materials, blogs or whatever inspires us to create. You know how I feel about list making, so here is "list" in art form. LOL! I had such a blast doing this page that I carried it over to my Get Your Art On journal pages and expanded on the Zentangle idea. 

Day 26 Inspiration

To view Week 6 journal pages, please click on the Page Tab above Li'l Journal Project.  I'm so happy you have stopped by and I hope you will find  something to inspire you today! 

Bee Creative!! Linking to: http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/ & www.sewmanyways.blogspot.com
Suzy