ONE LITTLE WORD....

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Welcome back to Travel Thursdays!   While reading a post on Pam Garrison's blog a week or so ago, she mentioned the One Little Word project with Ali Edwards, I was intrigued by the thought of choosing One Word for the coming year.  Leading up to this point, I wasn't planning to make Resolutions for the New Year, however,  I had a few things on my personal goal list for 2014 (and yes, a list IS different from a Resolution in my world); one of those goals was: Take a class and ask a friend to join me. 

After reading about  One Little Word class with Ali Edwards I just had this feeling that I needed to sign up for the class.  Why I don't know and I'm still wondering about my impulsiveness, not only did I sign up, I ordered supplies!!  Oh my goodness, now I feel committed and THEN I asked my friend Bonnie to join with me and she DID!  So there, two little things on my list were checked off within hours of making them.

 My One Little Word is RELEASE. I didn't meditate or ask the universe or anything that weird for a word, it just came to me.  As I mentioned a few weeks ago,  my daughter and grandson are coming for an extended visit and I need to get the guest room ready for them so,  I've been in January Declutter mode. It all started with decluttering the drawers and that's when it hit me what my One little Word would be: Release.  This lead me to think that it is not always the tangible things that need to be Released.  Looking back over the past year is something a lot of  people do just before the New Year. Some analyze their past success and sometimes their failures before venturing into the New Year.  Looking back to the past has its merits unless you tend to get stuck there, looking forward is fun, unless you forget about the present.  I sometimes have to remind myself that if I'm living in either the Past or the Future I'm not connected with the Present.  Living in the present is being just that, present in the moment.  That's one way to look at it, another is this: each day is a gift, that's why it is called the Present; open it up and receive the gift you have been given today.  Be grateful, be generous and let go of the past (Release).  Obviously letting go of the past is not always easily done.  I live a lot of my life in the past, mostly in memories. It's not all bad, in fact it is fun to travel down memory lane on occasion.  But what I am talking about is getting stuck there, mired down in the bad stuff.  We all have stuff in our past that we must deal with, we all have issues, but what I am saying is it bogs us down, sucks us in like quicksand and spirals us to the depths of.....well you know, right?

So..... my focus this year is more on the PRESENT than the Past....The Present, and receiving the good gifts that God has in store for me.  I hope you will join me in receiving the Present God has given to us today!

Come back and join me as we Travel  through my house One Room At A Time RELEASING the clutter. 

Suzy

LIGHTHOUSE AND REFUGES

HI Everyone!

Growing up on the East Coast of Florida and living in coastal areas most of my life I’ve a great appreciation for lighthouses.  There’s something about lighthouses that grab my imagination and appeal to the romantic side.  I imagine ships at sea and the bright beam from the lighthouses that keep ships from dashing upon the rocks, and I think about the hardy souls who were the light-keepers and what a life that must have been!

One of the first lighthouses I visited was in St. Augustine, Florida.  My best friend Bonnie and I went on a painting adventure and ended up at the lighthouse.  We unpacked our chairs and proceeded to sketch the lighthouse, all was well until people started to stop by and wanted to see our work.  It was too much for me, I closed my book and that was that. 

When I have the opportunity to travel, I’m always on the lookout for lighthouses! Here’s one that’s in my neighborhood so to speak, it isn’t a lighthouse like what you think but a House of Refuge.  There were many shipwrecks along this coastline and the House of Refuge is the only remaining one of ten Refuges built along the East Coast just for that very purpose.  You can read more about it HERE.  

Most lighthouses have great history and stories that go along with them.   I've found most historical lighthouses have a gift shop worth browsing in and the books they carry about the lighthouse and keepers are wonderful reads.  

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon as I will be sharing more lighthouse drawings and photos each week. 

Grab a pencil, get outside and sketch! 

Have fun!

Suzy

PEEK INSIDE STUDIO INTRO

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by and joining me for a new series of posts on Inside The Studio.  Maybe a little bit of background will help prepare you for The Studio.

I say, PREPARE because what you will see in the coming weeks may be a bit disturbing to some. The studio is NOT a very NEAT or TIDY area,  it is a place where I go to be creative and yes, messy. MESSY...that's right, I have my most used supplies out which enables me to work intuitively, but it does cause a great deal of mess and a bit of chaotic look to the space (and for an occasional visitor).  So, close your eyes to the chaos if you can't bear an untidy space and just focus on the other creative interests; there are many and they all live in this room called Brees Mimi Design Studio.


Here's a little sneak preview Inside The the Studio:

BMDS is where I work play with paint

work out designs

 sew

craft

collage and journal

And, Oh yeah, there WILL be plenty to see in this room that we will explore each week.  

So looking forward to sharing my creatively (and messy) space with you each week! Hope you will stop by often and join me for Inside The Studio.

Till then BEE Creative! 
Suzy

KEEPING A JOURNAL OF IDEAS

Hi Everyone! 

Some days I like to doodle and stamp random designs on my journal pages.  I dabble with watercolors in different color combinations and often the results sparks more creative activities, like the one below I used to make a birthday card.  

 I used book text to create a twisted stem and a leaf on the flower below.

 Another flower made with book text for the center of a hand drawn flower. 

 Gluing punched circles onto the page with a few squares and then some doodling.

 See how the design doodles above morphed into another design which in turn was used on a greeting card. 

 I jot down ideas to the side of the designs for future consideration. 

How do you process your ideas for different projects? Do you keep a journal or sketchbook to record them?  

Busy Bee-ing Creative!
Suzy

ANOTHER PEEK INSIDE.....

Hi Everyone!

Last week I gave a sneak peek into my new Moleskine journal and I've a few more pages to share with you today.  But first take a look at some pre-prepped pages I made at the end of the journal.  

 See that half moon shape on the right?  Using a glue runner, I stuck two pages together on the short edges of the book, then punched the half moon shape with my circle punch. This handy dandy little pouch stores my watercolor pencil palettes.








What you ask is a watercolor pencil palette?

Inktense watercolor pencil palette

 It's a palette that holds watercolor pencil blobs!  It's made by heavily rubbing watercolor pencils in a crosshatched pattern on watercolor paper (300 gram), building up layers of color. 

Neocolor watercolor crayons

 You can learn all about this by visiting Jenny's Blog and watching her Youtube video here.  
 

Ready for journal entry or sketching

  Here's another pre-prepped page (s) ready for a journal entry or a sketch or painting. I stenciled the edges and used watercolor pencils to fill in some of the design and not being happy with the pages, I used gesso to cover them over and leave a hint of color in the background. 









Some days I'm stumped for ideas and other days they just flow out of my hand easily, this particular day while eating lunch the design just jumped out at me! 

 I had pre-prepped these two pages with a bit of Dylusion spray inks and alphabet stamp and thought it would make a great background for my plate drawing. 

I painted the second plate the following day and journaled about my mother  because she was the inspiration behind this plate collection.  

This just goes to show the simplest every day items can inspire our creativity. Look around today and see what inspires you! 

Bee Creative,

Suzy   


LINKING TO: Jennibellie Studio ; Paint Party Friday; Art Journal Every Day

INSPIRATION COMES

Hi Everyone!

The “Design” notebook began when I wanted to replace mini blinds in the studio. 

With two windows in the room, there is a semi-need for privacy, especially with the window facing a neighbor and a partial view to the street. Researching Roman Shades on the Internet was slightly overwhelming, with SO MANY options for shades available. There are the How To's and Custom Made's and with each one you must chose style, colors and patterns, etc.  When I thought I might be at wits end, I came across appliqued pictorial landscape shades and the light bulb went off:   “hey, I thought, I’m a quilt maker why not make patchwork shades of my own”! I knew I'd never make the landscape appliqued shades (too much work, not enough time) but patchwork was certainly an doable option! Ok, with that decision made I can let it percolate in my brain for a bit, mentally working out patterns. A few days later, an email pops up from a quilt shop in the In Box offering a Kaffe Fassett Roman Road Quilt Kit. I'm a big fan of Kaffe Fassett, so I opened the email to see what was what.

 Ah ha, there was the idea for the “Roman” quilt pattern and the name (Roman Road/Roman Shade); well it was just meant to be!! Unfortunately, the cost of multiple (4 x $79.99) kits was more than I could afford for two windows. 

Still I loved the pattern Roman Roads and it just so happened to be the perfect piece of Kaffe Fassett fabric in my stash closet, just waiting for this occasion! Love when THAT happens! I worked out the color scheme, pattern and dimensions visually in the Design Notebook all centered around the Kaffe Fassett fabric!

Ta Da! Here's the Roman Road Quilt pattern (turned horizontally) on the side window facing my neighbor's house (it stays down for privacy). And the window facing the backyard stays up. See how the colors are illuminated when the sun shines in the morning? 

         In the afternoon, the larger shade lights up too! It is like having stained glass windows!  I fell in love with the Kaffe Fassett fabric!!!  

                        
                           I painted a page in my journal!

                          But that just wasn't enough.

                                                     

                                  Totally inspired!

                       I painted the flower shapes three times!                               


Three years later, I still love the Roman Road shades and these paintings inspired by Kaffe Fassett fabric!

Look around to see what inspires you today! 

Bee Happy! Bee Creative!! Have Fun! 

Suzy 

Linking to: Paint Party Friday, Sew Many Ways;Crafty Thursday Obsessions

COMPOSITION JOURNAL

Hi Everyone,

     Do you love or collect paper?  For someone who is not a scrapbooker, there is a large amount of scrapbook paper in my possession.  I love the stuff! The patterns, colors, texture all sing to my color loving heart!  So what to do with this paper abundance? 
     Since scrapbooking is out of the question for me, journals seem a likely solution to the paper problem.  I found lots of inspiration on YouTube when I typed in journals.  One in particular that appealed to the paper hoarder in me used a Composition notebook, the kind you find at the Dollar store.  YouTube has many videos on this subject to stir your creative imagination just type in Composition notebook journals and see what comes up!

      Now, all of you journal ladies stop cringing at the thought of using scrap paper, it was just a jumping off point.....

Paint over the paper, add stamps, rub ons, stickers, collage and other stuff to round out each page. Add as much or as little as you like. 

     The most time consuming process was the page prep: gluing the lined paper together (for sturdier pages) and cutting the patterned papers  down to fit the notebook pages and gluing them on the lined paper. Then the pages needed a bit of reinforcement: I used masking tape to reinforce the seam area of the pages.

    Then came the fun part!  I LOVED picking out each paper and finding another piece to work together and then the painting and decorating was an absolute blast! I could hardly wait to get home each day to play in my book!

    This project took about 1 month to complete, working only for limited time in the evenings.  If you have a stack of scrapbook papers, stickers and other bits and pieces that you don't know what to do with, try making one of these.  I guarantee that you will enjoy the process! Have fun and oh yeah, buy extra glue! 

Be Creative,
Suzy

Get Your Art On Project

Hi Everyone!

Catching up on my blog reading today I came across a little art challenge by Traci Bunkers. It's a 30 day challenge called Get Your Art On. That is make art every day for 30 days, starting October 1st.  Sounds like fun to me, so I'm in and I hope you'll consider joining me for this event. Just click on Traci's link over there to the right or here https://www.tracibunkers.com/blog/ if you'd like to find out more information on this project.  The goal is to spend at least 30 minutes per day making art using any method or media you like. Sounds fun and creative to me. Since I'm already in the studio most days working on the Li'l Journal Project, another 30 minutes to create something in my Art Journal will be just 30 more minutes of fun a day! It really is just a personal challenge to me to keep working on, improving and discovering my style. Like anything else, it takes practice. I'll be practicing for the next 30 days. If you decide to join in on the challenge let me know how you're doing! 

NOW GO!  GET YOUR ART ON!! 
Suzy

Verse Journal Tuesday-My Redeemer Lives

Hello Everyone! 

It's Verse Journal Tuesday again!  Just a reminder to click on Verse A Day Journal above and check out  Job 19:25.
Have a wonderful day!
Suzy

Verse Journal Tuesday -Heart & Hands

Hi Everyone!
It's Verse Journal Tuesday again!  Just a reminder to click on Verse A Day Journal above and check out  1 John 5: 14-15.
Have a wonderful day!
Suzy

The Hope of Glory

Hi Everyone!
It's Verse Journal Tuesday again!  Just a reminder to click on Verse A Day Journal above and check out Colossians 1: 27-28!
Have a wonderful day!
Suzy

Verse Journal Tuesday

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for joining me today for  Verse Journal Tuesday.  Today's  journal page is  Romans 12: 12.   Just click on Verse A Day Journal above to read about The Joy of the Lord. 


Blessings,
Suzy

Have Glue Stick, Will Travel

Hey Everyone! 


It is officially Summer when the temperature hits above the 90 degree mark in my book.  For some of you the official date begins sometime in June, here in south Florida summer has arrived. It's time to start thinking of vacation and travel plans.  We've been planning a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park for two years and this is the summer we are going!  I can't begin to tell you how excited hubby and I are to be going West, I've been to Yellowstone and Teton National Parks before but hubs hasn't and I can't wait to see his face when he gets the first glimpse of the Teton mountains outside our cabin and the first time we pull into Yellowstone.....priceless. If you've ever been there, then you know what I'm talking about! It is a stunningly beautiful and prehistoric, wild wilderness. Be still my heart! 

Water color palette, aqua crayons, paint tubes and brushes.

Getting ready for a trip in my world, means what art supplies do I take with me.  Most people think about what to pack, like clothing and other essentials but for me it is about the art supplies and the journal. I'm a bit obsessive about it too! We'll be doing some daily hiking, using a back pack and changing hotels frequently. That means packing and re-packing and schlepping stuff around.   Most times, I look like a Sherpa with all the stuff I am carting along. It takes me days to figure out what I need to take with me, especially if I must pare down the supplies, like this year. The least amount of weight I have to carry the better! Take a look at what I'm planning  to take and keep in mind, all supplies, except journal must fit into a small zippered pencil pouch.

Journal and zippered pencil pouch carrying art supplies. 

Here's the list:

• Cutter Bees (scissors)
• Glue Stick
• Dot Glue Runner (for the heavy stuff)
• Water pen/brush
• Water Color pencils
• Pitt, Micron & Sharpie pens
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Pencil Sharpener
• Bone Folder
• Journal

Here we go, all pared down to the essentials.

 I opted for the watercolor pencils instead of palette (above) or w/c crayons. This will reduce the need for water container, brushes,extra tubes of paint, sponge and paper towels. The pencils are lightweight and will fit into the zippered pouch nicely.  

And now that the supplies are ready I started preparing a few journal pages to get me started.  I like to spray colored inks or water color the background of the pages before the trip, stick in a few stickers  and add random stamps. Later I'll add journal notes or other memorabilia to each page. 

Map of Grand Teton National Park and Park Safety 

 The more preparation done before hand means less prep time at night and more time to cut, glue and journal each days activities. I've glued in several envelope pockets (used glue dot runner to secure) and stashed small pieces of paper ready for notes or quick sketches, etc.   

Notes on the fly. 

Decorative punched edge envelope for more notes. 

Ohh, I'm seeing a pattern here....the final envelope is attached to the back flap of the journal cover; it will provide a place for maps.  I also stashed some stickers in here to use later...go ahead, you can call me a bit crazy obsessed.  But before you do, please tell me what's your destination this summer? What you do to prepare for a trip? Do you take art supplies? How do you decide what to take with and what to leave at home? 

Let Summer Begin! 

I look forward to your comments and sharing the pages of our trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks with you soon! 

Adventurer at heart,

Suzy

Inaugural Journal Page Revealed

Hello there!

Today I am revealing Hosanna In The Highest, the first pages in my Bible Verse Journal. I'm excited about it and I hope you will be too!  Please click on the Verse A Day Journal above to see the journal pages. 

Be sure to come back each week on Tuesdays to see what pages I have added to my journal.   


Blessings,
Suzy 

Journal Sneak Preview

Hello Everyone! 


Thanks for stopping by today!  You're in for a big surprise as today is the day I'm giving a Sneak Preview to the Bible Verse Journal.  I've made a collage of my journal pages, just so you will have a little peep into what is coming.


Like I said before in previous posts, I don't claim to be an artist, just a wanna-be.  So, take it as you may, this is a very personal and humbling journey for me and I'm feeling very vulnerable just saying that and revealing this part of me. I guess that is why I am giving you my disclaimer up front!  Well anyway, here we go........
The Adventure begins...... 


I hope you will come back and check out the individual pages I will be posting in the coming weeks. 


Blessings,
Suzy

Linking up to: Sew Many Ways..., Polly-Wolly Doodle