Laura Kay's Place

Getting Back into Things

2011-01-12T09:04:00.005-05:00

Wow!! It has been a long time since I've posted!!!! Life threw me multiple curve balls & I have been doing my best to handle them correctly & not let them knock me down for to long.

Anyway, we have snow here today. Just a couple of inches & it looks pretty.

I have been doing some art journaling. My journals are such a safe place for me to get out all of that crap that replays over & over in my head & heart.

I have been doing Milliandes January 2011 prompts http://www.milliande.com/art-journal-january-2011.html They are fun to do!!

Have a safe, warm day! I'm going to go get a homemade Latte.........

Some Spray Paint & Journal Pages

2010-06-04T09:56:00.005-04:00

I am taking Mary Ann Moss's Stencilry & Stitched & Stenciled classes. This is one of the pieces I have done so far. I am working up to the silhouette stencils--making them & spraying them. I have learned how to layer the stencils for some cool effects. I have even made my own designs! A ray burst & a flower mask/stencil. I am having FUN with it!

These next two pages are from my altered book art journal. This page was fun to do. But it doesn't feel done yet. Any suggestions? She has been like this for a while now.

This page I just did yesterday. It's watercolor, gauche & alcohol spritz. It has quite a lot of texture. I put the paint right on the page from the tubes. Some of the paint is old & drying out, that paint left blobs behind. Mostly the yellow. I like this as it is. I think I will scan it so I can use it in other projects. I have never scanned a piece of my art & reused it before!! I'm not sure why I haven't. Probably that inner critic--Darn her!!!

So have fun & don't let your inner critic get to you!!!!

Hello Again

2010-05-12T09:03:00.004-04:00

Hey, Hows it going? Yeah I know. It's been a while. I was actually spending some time outside & enjoying the sunshine. But our weather here on the east coast has changed to cool/cold, windy & rainy. So inside days.

It seems odd to me that I have to force myself to get back in the Art habit! So I have been doing a lot of backgrounds or maybe they are just visual pages. I will have to see. I just read this great quote......

"Art may never be finished, but at a certain point you let it go and call it done"

by Julia Cameron

author of The Artists Way & many other helpful books

This page had some paint & ink leftovers wiped on to it. I added the rest as a listen to your gut (maybe I should refer to it as intuitive). I used what ever color paint, pen & pics my hands went to first.

This is my version of a shabby flower. It includes fabric, ribbon, lace & yarn. I used hot (low temp) glue. I watched a video on Vimo by Robin-Marie Smith. And she used a much better glue- fabric tack. I like this technique! You work with what you have & the results are a little different each time.

Journal Page & Remains Of The Day Journal

2010-03-26T12:47:00.004-04:00

This journal spread is in my small moleskin. The background is from me swiping the left over paint off my brush. I do that all the time, rather than rinse all of that paint off I swipe the brush on another page. It eliminates that blank canvas fear!

These are pages from my 2nd Remains Of the Day Journal from Mary Ann Moss. A very cool on-line class to take!!!!

The page on the left has an envelope pocket & on the right the kitty card flips out, for more journaling space, plus it has fabric & trim on the bottom.

The left page is a transparency I printed out. I had never done that before-it was fun! (ya, strange I know! but it was!). I sewed an envelope behind it to create a pocket to stash stuff & so the design was more visible.

This is where the above pages & many more are housed. I made this cover from an old (clean) place mat, some trim, ribbon, fabric scraps, flower is fabric & paper, plus free motion embroidery.

Signs of Spring

2010-03-20T11:12:00.004-04:00

Blue Sky's
&
Daffodils

Grandchildren Playing Outside
Wearing Hoodies

Bouncing Balls
Sidewalk Chalk
Warm Sunshine
&
Smiles

Happy Happy / Oww Oww

2010-02-25T09:55:00.004-05:00

When I sat down to art journal this is not where my head was that day!! But as so often happens, the page has a mind of its own!! I didn't like it when I was done with it. So I just shut the book and left it alone for a few days. That old saying is true, absence does make the heart grow fonder!

This was last night after I took something for it!

This was before I took something!!!!

I just wanted to create last night but my head just kept thumping & bumping!! So this is what spilled out of me!

I feel better this morning!

Helpful Critiques = Journal Pages

2010-02-06T16:13:00.007-05:00

Here is a more finished version of one of my "needs something" pages from yesterdays post. I think I'm happy with it.

I want to thank the ladies who commented on the last post. It was very helpful! By the way the rest of you should go check out their blogs & flickr pages. I was wowed by their work!!

This is another journal that I have. This was a kind of fun, playing around spread. To help me remember things about a book I'm reading Better Boundaries, Owning and Treasuring Your Life by Jan Black & Greg Enns
I haven't finished the book yet. It has a positive spin about it. Do you know what I mean?

At Christmas my sister got one of my grandson's a Memory game. After she punched out all of the cards she was left with these big square grid looking pieces. She knew I'd use them for art stuff. And she was right. That's what the grid is from on the above page. I tried stazon ink first - didn't work. Acrylic paint did though!!

On this page I did gel medium transfers of magazine pics. I wasn't sure how they would work because this is very textured paper. But I like how they turned out! I am liking playing with my dip pens & ink again. I want to get a smaller nib/tip though.

See what happens on a snowed in day. While my husband goes out and plows the snow I stay in and plow thru my art supplies! I make him hot chocolate when he comes in!!! Oh and I'm trying a new recipe. It's beer bread. I hope it's good!!!

Isn't It Odd.......

2010-02-05T19:07:00.004-05:00

I think it is odd that with both of these journal spreads I like the one on the right but the one on the left needs something.

NEEDS SOMETHING

I did these after watching Milliande's January journaling videos. I used a wax candle, crayons (kids kind & watercolor) pencil, watercolors,vinyl stickers, acrylic paint, black cat ink & dip pen, stamped some drawer liner with staz-on, my handmade papers, gesso & sharpie poster paint pens.

I just have been puttering around, not feeling creative. So I am trying to show up & work until I find "it" again.

We are getting the beginning of our BLIZZARD!!! It looks pretty but Oh my it's a lot of snow!!

See I Do Still Art Journal & An Ink Question For You

2010-01-25T08:49:00.004-05:00

I have been watching the wonderful Milliande work in her art journal. You can see her here http://www.milliande.com/Art-Journal-January-2010.html .

These 2 pages are done by putting masking tape on the page first. Then some ink & acrylic paint. Remove the masking tape. Which is the fun part, trying to decide which pieces went on last down to first!!! I saved the tape & put it in another journal. Then I sprayed the pages with food coloring (the blue). Then I used some Golden Interference blue (fine) on a stamp. Which shows up really well in these pics!? After all of that dried, I doodled with my black cat ink & dip pen. I still want to add more doodling to this.

This is also in response to Milliande. Her circle prompt. There's some security envelope, junk mail (that's where the heart came from), some painted pages, acrylic & gouache paint. Lastly some ink & my dip pen. This also needs some journaling on it! I like this first heart page better than the snowflake page. I ran out of the blue-grey mix of paint I used on the first page.

This is from an altered book. I love using books this way. The journaling "paper" on the right is a dried up baby wipe (a CLEAN one!!!) that I use to clean my brushes off on.
Does anyone have experience with the acrylic inks or drawing inks in various colors? I see Milliande uses them a lot. If you have used them is there a brand and/or color that you like? I was given a Dick Blick gift card for Christmas! I have a list going. So far I have Pan Pastels & the "knives" for them, sharpie poster paint pens in white (med & fine point) & maybe some Blick studio by Fabiano sheets of paper.

Scrappy Journal

2010-01-05T10:17:00.006-05:00

I took Mary Ann Moss's Remains Of The Day on-class. It is an EXCELLENT class with PDF's, video's, class blog, yahoo group, & flickr group. You can find info about the class & her other classes on her blog .

http://dispatchfromla.typepad.com/dispatch_from_la/

In this class the pages are from paper scraps that gather in your stash & can't bear to get rid of. They are then sewn on or together to make the signatures. There are places for journaling, tucking in receipts or goodies from your day, pockets & anything else you want to add.

The cover has a paper base with the fabric being a kind of slipcover. The idea for the cover is to again use the fabric scraps in your stash. Then sew it down "guerrilla" style. A Mary Ann Moss phrase.

My pics are in the reverse order that I wanted. Oh well. This one below has my first "ticket" from my new POGO printer, a Christmas present from Sam. Plus some fabric & painted paper scraps.

This is one of my favorites. The butterfly is a note card.

This has a clear pocket.

This is my first page. Mary Ann had a pic of herself on her first page. I did the same thing!! I found this in an old Smithsonian mag.

Here is my cover. All wrapped up & cozy.
I had made some journals inspired by Mary Ann's. But they just didn't have "it". Now I understand her methods. She has the amazing ability to make order out of chaos. I think a lot like her but am unable to break it in to steps like she does.

She's my Art Hero!!!

Teesha Inspired

2009-12-21T10:57:00.003-05:00

Well I figured that I would add my Teesha Moore inspired pages to the land of Blog. These pages are fun to do! They take a long time for me to finish. This one is in response to a prompt from Kim at Blissfully_Art_Journaling@yahoo.com .

I have these two pages to doodle on & then do the wording. I find that I can doodle on these while watching TV.

The Real Blanket Stitch Found & French Press Info

2009-12-03T10:36:00.006-05:00

This is what the correct stitching looks like!!!!!

If you want to know about sewing with the blanket stitch, my sister found this tutorial from futuregirl http://www.futuregirl.com/craft_blog/2007/09/tutorial-hand-sew-felt.aspx

It is so well written & even has pictures to show the process!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Freebird asks about my last post. I hope this clears up my mud! If not let me know!!!

A cozy is a "sweater" to wrap around my press to keep my coffee warm for a longer time.

This is a French Press Coffee Maker. I believe this one is made by Clover. (I got the pick off the web)

And here is a pretty good article on how to use one. I learned that if I stir the grounds & water, using a chopstick (I'll use my plastic ones) so I don't break the glass pot, it enhances the coffee taste even more! This one has pictures too!! http://coffeegeek.com/guides/presspot

So now on to better stitching & brewing for us all!!!

Cozy Coffee

2009-11-29T11:22:00.005-05:00

Wedding, Vacation, Family & Thanksgiving. That's what I've been up to. Oh and this....... A French Press Cozy.

It is made from an accidentally felted wool sweater, a button from my button box (given to me by my mom) & DMC floss. Decorated with my form of embroidery - see messy artist with everything! I have forgotten how to begin & end the blanket stitch so that it lies properly. Oh well. It was fun to do. This was one of those things that I kept saying I was going to make. So I finally did. Now I need to make one for my coffee cup!

Blog Award

2009-11-13T09:51:00.002-05:00

Tammy at http://bonsaihabits.blogspot.com/2009/11/blog-award.html?showComment=1258123885973#c702666929066576461 gave me this fun award.

I am sure there has to be an easier way to get the info from Tammy's blog to mine. But I don't know what that is!

I am supposed to pass this on to 5 other people & answer the following questions. Using one word answers!

where is my cell phone......upstairs
my hair.......messy
my mother.....snuggie
my father....humor
favorite food....pizza
my dream last night.....forgotten
favorite drink......coffee
my dream/goal.....peace
what room I'm in....livingroom
my hobby...doodling
my fear....snakes
where I want to be in 6 years.....uuuummmmm
where I was last night......bed
something I'm not......neat
muffins.....please
wish list item....supplies
where I grew up.....U.S.
last thing I did...typed
what I'm wearing...jammies
your TV....off
Pets.....yes
friends... yes
my life...interesting
my mood...ok
missing someone...grandkids
vehicle....elle
something I'm not wearing.....bra
favorite store...online
favorite color.....green
last time I laughed...yesterday
last time I cried....awhile
best friend....sam
1 place I go over & over.....bathroom
facebook.....yes
favorite place to eat...table

That is a long list!!!!!!!!!!!! Now to pass this on..........

Ok I will have to finish this later. I am getting so frustrated with this process!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stuff & Nonsense

2009-11-06T09:52:00.003-05:00

I realized that I haven't been posting much & am trying to fix that. I wanted to show you what I have been doing. I have been playing around with this little scraps journal. It has fabric, paper, paint, marker, yarn & trim throughout it. I saw that I had only a few pics of it so I was off with camera in hand to find it. Well, I can't find it!!! I think it knows that I fell out of love with it and is now hiding from me! I listened to that inner critic and thought that it was just another one of my failed experiments.

When I find it I shall finish it and post a pic or two.

A Journal Page

2009-11-02T15:29:00.002-05:00

This is my first spread in my journal for the workshop at ArtistsoftheRoundTable@yahoogroups.com . We are working on Lynne Perrella's Artists' Journals & Sketchbooks.

Is Your Ribbon Wrinkled?

2009-10-17T18:36:00.003-04:00

I am trying to do the whole reduce, reuse recycle/upcycle. So a lot of the ribbon I acquire looks like the ribbon in this picture.I found out that my flat iron is perfect for bringing this tired, wrinkled ribbon back to life.
Just a few seconds thru the flat iron and ta-da . Refreshed ribbon!!! Just thought I'd pass on this recycling tip.

See my shiny, happy ribbon!!!!! Now to find a project to use them in, hhhmmmm................

First Travel Journal

2009-10-06T12:03:00.003-04:00

I spray painted some brown paper bags, large envelopes & paper for this journal. The pics are in reverse order. So here is the back page. You can see that I used brads (can't think of what they are called right now) to "bind" this. The silver is a ribbon glued to cereal box strips. I had a stapler & glue stick to adhere stuff.

The first pages here. My sister brought some greek yogurt. Yummy! I ate both containers!
I love the topiary tree stamp I got for a quarter. I embellished it on this page.

This is the front cover. Oh I found some scotch tape for these. I am not totally done with this journal. I want to add the dates to the cover, maybe some shells.

Here you can see the pieces before assembling began. This was fun to make as well as play in. I learned that spray paint is difficult for a glue stick to adhere to. & I wish that I had some white spray paint. (On my to get list)

Words & Art

2009-08-26T12:24:00.002-04:00

I saw this picture and this journal page just over took my brain & I had to get it on paper! It is kind of funny that I reference holding glass crystals up to the light. We had just recently watched the movie Polly Anna http://www.amazon.com/Pollyanna-Eleanor-Hodgman-Porter/dp/1434609723/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251304316&sr=8-7#
The always look on the bright side little girl!
This is currently my favorite, favorite page I have done. This is my go to word. It works under any situation. Good,bad, happy or sad. It is always good to take a step back & BREATHE. If it is a positive situation this helps me to remember & savor the moment. If it is a rough situation it helps me to clear my head & think.

So take a moment & BREATHE today!

Comment & Following Love

2009-08-12T11:34:00.003-04:00

Thanks to those of you who are followers, those of you who leave comments & those lurkers (my sister!)

Pixie over at http://pixiesponderings1966.blogspot.com/ explains what Fat Balls are?!

Jackie over at http://lettersandjournals.blogspot.com/ left a comment on Abstract that led to a truly inspiring artist, Pamela Sukhum http://www.infinitevisionart.com/index.htm . I just love her technique. The way she uses her whole body to just flow with the paint as it is placed onto the canvas is mesmerizing.

Jackie has a survey for her upcoming magazine about letter writing and journaling. She has a love of pens & paper and finds all sorts of nifty links to such things.

Oh to be an Art Journal...................

2009-08-09T16:28:00.003-04:00

Where it is Beautiful to be Fat & Lumpy!!!

These are just some of my well loved art journals! I do the covers last. Need to do the cover on the larger red covered one, as well as my The Decorated Page workshop art journal cover. That one is falling off the stack in the bottom picture. As I look at the pictures I realize that I need to do more edge embellishments.
How many do you have?

Handmade Journal - Guerrilla Style

2009-07-27T13:34:00.004-04:00

This was inspired by Dawn at http://on-the-banks-of-bay-creek.blogspot.com/ check out her flicker site as well. There you will find the pics of her visual journal volume 10. I loved looking at that journal she made (as well as her other art). Dawn referenced Mary Ann Moss http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341bf79853ef011571f2345a970b And I found that Dispatch From LA is a great place to wander around! She gives classes on her techniques. I just found her so haven't taken any classes yet.

This one went together so fast for me. So maybe next time I will remember to take pics along the way!

For a base I used the "fabric" that I made ironing those pesky plastic grocery bags together. I learned how to do this on Threadbangers on YouTube. I started by gathering some papers I had in my stash & on my art table. That determined the size. I sewed paper towels to the inside of the front & back. Then I sewed the denim strip on the outside spine. (from my 15 yr old jeans that just got to thin to wear) Then the next black strip is from one of my husbands ties. The white is the plastic. I added ribbons to it. Took it outside and spray painted with a couple of stencils & then flipped over the stencils to use all of the paint!

The next step was to sew in 2 signatures of my papers. Folded each paper really well, assembled about 6 pages each & sewed them down the middle using a straight stitch.

This is my kind of sewing - guerrilla sewing (to quote Mary Ann Moss). Next time I will neaten up the edges. Oh and I added a pipe cleaner to the front edge to help keep it straight.

This is becoming a visual journal of sorts. I have added stickers off of fruit, tags off of a backpack for my grandson, labels off of a shirt. And I used Sarah Whitmires technique of claiming my journal on the first page. I am not questioning myself . I find a picture or anything else that catches my eye and glue, staple & stick it on the pages.

Art Journaling

2009-07-14T10:51:00.004-04:00

These pages are in my journal-altered book for The Decorated Page (by Gwen Diehn) workshop over at the

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArtistsOfTheRoundTable/

The first is just a silly doodle page. It started with pouring acrylic paint on one page and smooching the book closed. I guess this is a little like cloud watching.

The next 2 are inspired by the 4th of July (bet ya couldn't guess that). The flag is a folded flap & I have written about the fun I had on the 4th on the back of it. It also is a sort of experiment with black paint and working with a dark background. The page on the left is painted with artist grade acrylic - has sort of a satin look & feel to it. The page on the right is cheap craft acrylic - matte & has a chalky feel to it. I used watercolor crayons to draw on it. Next time I want to experiment with what pens/paints will write on the black background. Do you have any suggestions?

Abstract

2009-06-26T13:04:00.004-04:00

Abstract pretty much sums up me lately! Here is a pic of one of my latest canvases. I think it is done. It looks some what different "in real life". There is some mica powder in it. So it is hard to catch that shimmer.

Great Mail Day, Thanks Kim!

2009-06-16T10:31:00.002-04:00

I keep forgetting to post the wonderful goodies that Kim sent to me. Just for participating in the group. Hey I guess I get a gold star for playing well with others!!

Here is her blog http://ankira.blogspot.com/.

Remember Headstands?

2009-06-16T10:16:00.003-04:00

I remember how much fun it was to jump & tumble around. Carefree & laughing.
This is just a quick sketch in response to the prompt Headstands on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blissfully_Art_Journaling/?yguid=293415097 Kim provides some great prompts some are fun, some are deep thinking & some are globally thinking.

I really enjoy art journaling!! I have some canvases that are looking at me, trying to tempt me! I will have to listen to them soon!

A Little of This & A Little of That

2009-06-09T11:24:00.006-04:00

This is the large goodie bag I received from Sarah Whitmire. Visit her at http://www.souljournaling.com/

So I have been neglecting my blog. Maybe that's a good sign that I am enjoying life!? I have recently joined Facebook. I am not sure why. Maybe to get my artwork out there. I have a myspace as well and I have not signed into that in ages.

I am trying to become educated on the use of Photoshop Elements. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLatestTrendsinMixedMediaArts/ is where Cindy Powell is giving basic instructions.

I just got The Artist Way by Julia Cameron and am liking what I read so far. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blissfully_Art_Journaling/ is where Kim Owens is leading group discussions about this book.

Overwhelmed?

2009-06-03T13:53:00.003-04:00

This Art Journal spread is in response to Kathryn's prompt at True North Arts http://collagediva.typepad.com/truenorth/2009/05/creative-kindling-quick-easy-ways-to-get-your-creative-mojo-heated-up.html

http://christinekane.com/blog/ Christine Kanes blog is really interesting. Go on over and take a look. I have signed up for her emails. It is nice to get something positive in your inbox!

Scavenger Hunt Results

2009-05-29T16:52:00.003-04:00

Over at http://sarahwhitmire.blogspot.com/2009/05/soul-journaling-prompt-tools-and.html you will find the items needed for your own journal spread. There are 17 items to hunt for and use to create with. Here are just a few: something plastic, something shiny, something that starts with the letter A. Can you find those items in my journal pages?

For my Soul Journaling yahoo group journal I decided to use the binder clip & cereal box journal. I also use some of the junk mail to make pages. I will see where Sarah takes us this time!

Something Else

2009-05-21T15:59:00.003-04:00

Not feeling very arty lately. Let me see if I can find something else I did a while ago. HHHHMMmmmm...........................

This is one of the first things I altered a while ago. I think it held an AOL disk that came in the mailI put a scrap piece from a patchwork project on top of an outdoor photo and added beads. Simple and fun.

AAARRRGGG

2009-05-16T11:41:00.002-04:00

I lost my blog roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was messing around with trying to put a 3 column template, but that got rid of all of my widgets. So I decided not to do that. Then I started playing with the colors and now I don't have my blog roll. But I do have it on my dashboard. Is it because I changed the font size?
Well back to messing with this.

My True North Arts Map

2009-05-13T11:55:00.002-04:00

Kathryn Antyr, The Collage Diva, http://collagediva.typepad.com/truenorth/ has us making our personal maps. This is my interpretation of the prompt. Take the Freedom Ferry from Cape Fear on the Isle of Despair, to Port Hope in the Land of Creativity.

The Land of Creativity is defended from InnerCritic Air by Soul Armor Defense System. So you are safe to sip from the stream of techniques and ideas and swim in the pond of positive thinking.

Visit with your friends in yahoo groups ville or over at blog burbs. You can be certain that your creative muse will visit often. When you get hungry visit Just Do It Cafe. They serve large portions of what you are craving.

House on a Hill

2009-05-08T11:11:00.004-04:00

This is a canvas I finished a little bit ago. It's done with acrylics. It has had several other faces until I finally settled on this one. I am being lazy right now, I am not sure of the measurements but it is sitting on a desk chair in the picture. I had a lot of conflicting emotions while painting this piece. Let me know what you think.

Fun with Color

2009-05-01T09:47:00.004-04:00

Color is the prompt of the month over at Create Every Day (see the button on the left). My favorite color was blue when I was growing up. My sister and I shared a room. Her color of choice was orange. So my mother let us each have our own colors. So imagine, if you can, a small room with two single beds on either side of the room. Each bed was decked out with our choices. My side denim blue bed spread, I think it had patch work flowers on it, deep blue fuzzy throw rug, I had teddy bears and I remember a poster of running horses. Now my sisters side had an orange, yellow & green (flowers I think) bed spread, a bright orange fuzzy throw rug and psychedelic black light posters. She was(is) relatively neat. I was (am) relatively messy. I am not sure the name of the magazine that would have a picture of our room in it!!!

I favor the color green now days. My living room walls, one of the bathrooms & accents in our bedroom (mine & my husbands this time!). Now that I think about it I go for black & green in my wardrobe. I have been told by one of our sons "You need some color in your clothes!!" I guess paint splatters don't count!!! I do have the occasional urge to buy something in the orange family. I wonder what that says about me!

The colors I use in my art depend a lot on my mood. But my favorite color right now is acrylic phthalocyanine green! It seems to creep into a lot of my art lately.

Well have some fun and take some of these quizzes. Kate Smith's sites are a great reference tool for color info. Let me know what your colors are!

Take the Color Made Simple - True Value Color Quiz
http://www.truevaluepaint.com/content/Color/ColorQuiz.aspx to see which color matches your personality. The test tell me that my color is black. HHMM interesting.

BLACK

Nothing can stand between you and your demand for a calm environment. To be free of conflict and disagreement is the only way to live. In fact, it’s this philosophy that probably allows you to be comfortable in conditions that would normally bother others. Your ability to focus is undisputed, and while you enjoy attention, you still have problems understanding how to handle it. No other color out lives by the golden rule as much as you do

Take the Better Homes and Gardens color quiz

http://www.bhg.com/bhg/quiz.jsp?catref=cat740170&quizId=/templatedata/bhg/quiz/data/whatsyourcolorpersonality_10232003.xml

Your Results
Your color personality is: GREEN

It sounds like the hue you most relate to is green -- the color most evocative of nature. Adjectives such as kind, gentle, and contemplative likely describe you. You enjoy being involved with your neighbors and coworkers, but you also require plenty of time to yourself to recharge. You are social yet introverted, and modern but not trendy. Surround yourself with your signature color to create a restful, soothing environment. From sage to hunter, green can work well in virtually every room of your house. Use it generously to create a haven you'll love coming home to.

To learn more about my color or your color Kate Smith's Sensational Color http://www.sensationalcolor.com/color-messages-meanings/color-meaning-symbolism-psychology/all-about-the-color-black.html is a wealth of information about color!! Color in your home, your fashion, your life.

It is a very interesting place to spend browsing around. While you are there check out her blog as well. I took these color quizzes when I read her Squidoo page http://www.squidoo.com/colorexpert. I just learned about Squidoo today.

Let me know if these links work or not. This is a skill I need to improve upon.

A Little Spring on these Rainy Days

2009-04-21T09:52:00.009-04:00

Faces of Spring

the buds of the hostas

the curls of the ferns

the tulips say

farewell

to the daffodils

as that which is

spring

begins to stretch her wings

by

Laura Kay

4/18/09

Morris Dancers

2009-04-21T09:25:00.003-04:00

Click the title to get to the YouTube video. This is another spread in one of my art journals. The prompt is from Milliande at http://milliande.ning.com/ . As I watched this clip I was to think about form, movement, color, shape & emotional response. So this is my interpretation. The picture is my mom! She is so beautiful!

This book is almost full!! I like this size. I still have to get more books to journal in.

A Small Canvas

2009-04-12T10:35:00.006-04:00

This is my recent creation. I feel so-so about it. It looks best close up. It doesn't follow that 10 foot "rule" for landscape or still life painting. Oh well. Maybe the next one will. I had fun doing it. I don't have to many stretched canvases to work on right now. I have to find the good sales on them!!! There are a lot of textures in this. I attached the pussy willow branches with metal fasteners.

I am off to do a cover of my first soul journal altered book. It is almost full and Sarah W at
Caspiana and Kathryn at collagediva (see the links at the side, I can't paste the links right now?!)are creating their own place for prompts. So I want to start 2 more books. I have used altered books for the prompts and now I'm trying to decide on which to use. A stop at my local used book shop or at a craft shop? decisions---decisions!!

Birthday

2009-04-11T12:05:00.005-04:00

My 45th birthday was yesterday!!! Wooo Hoo!! My very generous family gave me a Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI/ref=sv_kinc_0 .

This is such a wonderful gift!!! It makes reading a book SO much easier!! I have been limited in the books I can read. Due to some health issues. I could only read the larger paperbacks. My husband cut World Without End by Ken Follett in half. So I would be able to hold the book. Hey I just realized he is now an altered book artist!!

The Kindle has so many great features! I can increase the font size, for those "crazy eyes" days. It even has a read to me feature. This is only a tad bit mechanical sounding. There are books, newspapers, magazines & blogs that I can receive. The photo images are good as well although they are in black & white.

I purchased my first book. It was about $6.50.
So now I will be able to go back to reading!!!! I am SO Very Happy!! Now I will have to choose between reading and creating. Oh no!
I will just have to remember what Margaret Atwood said:

" more of your brain is
involved when reading than it is when you watch TV.....
because you are
supplying just about everything......
you are a
creator"

Who Is This?

2009-04-10T16:15:00.002-04:00

I had a little fun today and put this in my recycled journal. I found this on the back of a cereal box. I tested some of my family and they weren't sure. Do you know?

Good Luck!

A Few Pics

2009-04-04T10:59:00.003-04:00

This is the first page of my Hell Yeah journal. I splurged and bought a watercolor book. I wanted one half the length and thicker. But AC Moore only had that size in sketch paper. I guess I'll look on the Internet or make my own that size. I have never made my own book.

Well my recycled journals are "bound" with note book rings.

My sister just gave me a circa set from Levenger. I'll play with that and see if I can use that for my Journals!!

AAAAHHHH !!!! I just lost the pic of my first page. CRAP!!! I just don't understand how to manage the pics.

Each time I play with the text the pictures move & I can't get them to stay in the order I want!!!!!

Anyway, these are some pages & parts of pages. I love how watercolor paper plays with the different mediums.

Thanks Aimeslee

2009-04-02T09:49:00.003-04:00

Aimeslee over at paper paisleys (click on the title up there) gave me a blogger award! ~smiling~ So now I have to tell 7 things about myself.......hhhhmmmmm.....

I love dogs & cats
I don't like snakes
I am frugal by nature & nurture
I love to ride on motorcycles
I eat very close to a vegetarian diet
I like dessert & a good cup of coffee
I am reading World with Out End by Ken Follett

Spring Skinny Book

2009-03-30T12:15:00.003-04:00

These are my Spring pages for the skinny book swap at arttechniques, a yahoo group.

They were fun to do. I used watercolor paper, the green square is a textured paper, the flower is made from magazine pictures with a button for the center of the flower.

I am trying to keep the upcycle-reduce-reuse theme in as much of my art as possible. As a personal challenge as well as for financial necessity.

Here's Another Pic

2009-03-25T10:54:00.003-04:00

I love this pic too! Look at all of those colors!! Yellows, greens, white, silver, rasberry! All in various shades.

I can see this as a painting -- hhmmm.. I'll have to print this up and put it next to a canvas. Then just Go For It!

First I have 2 obligations to finish and mail out. My spring skinny book and an earth day celebration ATC (artist trading card) swap.

Spring !!

2009-03-25T10:34:00.002-04:00

Take a look outside my front door. Yeah! Spring is here! These are miniature daffodils. So tiny and yet so hearty. These are always the first to bloom. Beautiful, bright yellow and garden green. Such a nice sight after the greys and browns of winter.

Happiness

2009-03-12T11:26:00.004-04:00

The Happiness Project is a very interesting site http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/. The author Gretchen Rubin successful lawyer turned successful author. Points out some very interesting "myths" of happiness. I really liked today's myth You'll be happy as soon as you............ I see myself in alot of these "myths". I think I found this site thru Kathry Antyr http://www.collagediva.com/. I think Gretchen points out alot of things that go along with the soul Journal group and other journal prompts & groups that encourage us to look inside ourselves. Take a hop over there and check it out. See what you think.

Happiness is a butterfly,
which when pursued is always just beyond our grasp
but if you sit down quietly
may alight upon you
-Nathaniel Hawthorne-

Some Great Blogs -- It May Change How You Journal!!!

2009-03-05T09:49:00.003-05:00

I just saw this link from theartjournal@yahoogroups.com Rice (I don't know how to do the 2 dots above the e) at http://voodoonotes. blogspot. com/ posted it. You should visit her blog as well. She has journal spanks and that's what she does, wakes you up and gets you going!!!!!

http://rozwoundup.typepad.com/roz_wound_up/2009/03/journaling-superstitions-2-it-must-be-profound.html Roz has some great insights. Points out the obvious. Just relax and journal about YOUR life. Hell yeah it's interesting enough. I like that she writes down snippets of the conversations she and her friends are having and what she hears from passersby. So when you read it years later you will be able to recall that day!!!!! Go look and read. It will make you smile.

I think I will go use my ac moore coupon and get a small spiral bound watercolor journal. One to carry with me and write down and draw MY everyday. Just think of all of those comments people make that make you smile. They can all go in that journal!!!

This is another way to create everyday.

Blog Roll Problems

2009-02-28T10:52:00.002-05:00

Maybe someone can help me. When I add new blogs to my blog roll there are some that don't appear on the blog. I can only view them while in dashboard. This happened before and I found how to fix it. Of course I can't remember how I did it. I have been checking blogger help, no luck yet.

Handy Work

2009-02-25T12:44:00.002-05:00

These are so enjoyable to do. I used some henna art http://www.hennapage.com/henna/what/lineart/index.html in them. It is amazing what a few little marks on some paper can add up to! Give it a try!! Let me know what you come up with! Have Fun!

Ready for the Beach?

2009-02-19T10:26:00.002-05:00

Just a silly page. The base is a cereal box. The rest is part magazine pics, part acrylics & colored pencils. Her legs are fuzzy yarn pieces. Mine are like that sometimes!! I may go back and doodle some more on this page later. Who knows ?!

Is It Spring Yet?

2009-02-19T10:19:00.003-05:00

This is another page in my recycled journal. I gessoed the page and added the scissors a while ago. I just recently added the girl and my bunny. Here's looking forward to spring!!!!

A Cheeze-it Page

2009-02-12T09:52:00.005-05:00

This is a fun page from my recycled journal. This is done on a cheeze-it box. The "back" of the page has a recycled envelope for a pocket. This bunny rabbit has a knack of showing up in my art work. He first showed up on some canvas wall hangings I made for children's rooms. So sometimes he looks happy and innocent. Other times (not on items for children) he grins very mischievously.

I Was Hungry

2009-02-05T15:25:00.002-05:00

These are two pages I did when ,yes I was hungry. I don't (didn't) have any pages using or about food in any of my journals. These pages just fell together. Not much thought or work required. It sure is weird how sometimes things just fall together and other times so much trial and error(or gesso) is required just to get part of a piece done.

Speaking of trial and error. I am learning how to use Photoshop Elements. I found some very helpful youtube videos. Oh yeah I learned how to put my name on photos. I'll have to do that with the next photos I post.

New Zentangle

2009-02-05T14:02:00.003-05:00

I treated myself and bought a 2 pack of dual tip sharpie markers! I didn't realize, until I used my new markers, how bad my old ones were. I have a tendency to want to get every last little bit of use out of them. I am like that with my razors. Oh, is that tmi? New markers make doing these "doodles" so much easier and more fun. I hadn't used the dual tip markers before. It is much easier than dealing with 2 pens. I was watching Millande, on one of her youtube video's, use the dual tips. But then she makes everything look like it has a gentle flow to it.

Works in Progress

2009-01-26T18:33:00.003-05:00

These are a few of the pieces I have been working on. I like to have pieces in various stages of completion. I flip through my journals and look for a page to work on or something to do during drying time. Sometimes an idea just jumps out at me and sometimes I just sit and stare at a page that I want to work on. When I am stuck I start doodling on a page torn from one of my books. And usually I can use these doodles later. I have been doing pretty good with my goal of creating everyday. I just haven't been good at taking pictures lately!!

Skinny Book Pages

2009-01-26T15:59:00.002-05:00

I have finished my 25 skinny book pages for a swap over at arttechniques@yahoogroups.com . Sherre is hosting this one. There are 3 groups of 25 participating. The theme is winter. This is the 3rd swap I've participated in. The first was the 2008 fat book swap of 120 pages (sherre hosted that one too!) and the other was a soul journal bookmark swap with Sarah W over at http://sarahwhitmire.blogspot.com/ .

Prompts from Sherre

2009-01-17T17:43:00.002-05:00

This is my version of a self portrait. And there is space for more. I am a never ending creation. The other page I used a piece of cardboard to make the lines to journal on. I had to search to find a piece of cardboard that didn't have the ripples real close together. These were from prompts over at arttechniques@yahoogroups.com .

She Danced

2009-01-17T11:12:00.003-05:00

This is something I have been working on. I saw this image in a magazine and felt it would be something fun to play with. I used it as a silhouette in one of my journals. I will play with this later. I used the silhouette again on one of my recycled journal pages. I had a whole other color scheme in mind. But I ended up with pinks, blues & greens. I am not usually a big fan of pink. She was fun to work on!! I am working on my lettering styles. I am finding that practicing can be fun. Aimee over at http://artsyville.blogspot.com/ has a lot of fun with her lettering.

Hopes and Dreams

2009-01-09T20:54:00.002-05:00

This is my interpretation of Kathryn's prompt http://collagediva.typepad.com/souljournal/ Dream Weaver. I wasn't real happy with the end result of my weaving. I didn't find any "sweet spots". I attempted to make it look like a basket. The top blue strips are part of the weaving. I added flower pics behind them. It is a pocket, but I felt that small items would be hard to retrieve from it, so I added the brown bag to the other page. In that I have some left over weaving strips with my "hopes & dreams" written on them. I backed them with a purple paper and added fuzzy yarn. I figure I can use them like bookmarks.
While working on this I got to use my new toys-water soluble oil pastels! I used them to color the "basket". New toys are fun!! My sister (my WONDERFUL sister, if she is reading this) gave me an AC Moore gift card for christmas. So I bought a few fun items! I found a water pen to add to my supplies. The one thing I couldn't find was glossy card stock!!! I wanted to try a technique from the arttechnique yahoo group's 08 fat book technique swap. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to find!!!

Happy New Year

2009-01-08T14:56:00.004-05:00

Well these pictures are placed strangely. I have been trying to arrange them but have had no luck. I learned a few things for next time. Life got a little, maybe a lot crazy lately. But I have had time to do some creating. The top pic is the soul journal prompt unmasking the soul. I started it along while ago. It took me a while to finish it. I think it is done now. The next pic is where I got brave and put a drawing in one of my journals. She isn't done yet. Also my writing practice. The next two pics were done the same day. They are the front & back of a page. I was hurting that day. The bottom was from what I could remember of looking at Jesse Russo's link. (which I didn't save so I can't link to it) . I will have to look around and find it. I like trying new styles, learning from them and taking bits and pieces from each one. So now it's time to catch up and look around at others blogs!! Oh yeah, I am working on my self portrait and my dreams page for the soul journal.

An Addition to My Recycled Journal

2008-12-30T16:36:00.004-05:00

I am working toward the create everyday way of thinking and doing. I have to remind myself that to create everyday does not mean I have to finish something everyday. I want to incorporate more of my drawings into my art. I usually avoid drawing in my altered books because then it would have to be permanent. (Yes I question this line of thinking too. The stable voice in my head says you could just rip the page out or gesso over it you know.) So I did this piece on another ripped out page of that yucky art book, to add to my recycled journal. I will do something else on the other side, hhmm what will it be? I am growing to like my green girl.

A Quick Doodle with My Grandson

2008-12-27T12:26:00.003-05:00

This was one of those pages that I prepared a while ago. My grandson loves to draw/write/color. He sticks to it for a while - he's 2yrs old. So in 2 yr old time I was able to write and doodle this much. I'll finish it up later. All of the border items seemed perfect. He loves kitties and the wording just seemed to flow.

More Painted Papers

2008-12-27T11:17:00.002-05:00

I have done a few more of these pages. I did notice that Kathryn used a red on most of her pages. I'll have to ask her if she meant to do that or not.
These are all pages from an art book. I didn't like his art work so I make mine over his!

The top pages are done with acrylics, gesso & bubble wrap. The orange one is torn paper, a little gesso that I scribbled in & acrylics. The bottom is gesso that I stamped into and then put the gesso filled stamp onto the other paper (I am sure this has some official art technique name), acrylics & bubble wrap.

What a creative gift that Kathryn gave us. I sure do appreciate all of the thought and work that goes into our weekly prompts. I look forward to what the new year brings.

HHMMM

2008-12-19T17:25:00.002-05:00

I finished what I was to do for the award. And as I am going through the process I had a thought (yes only 1 thought!) is this the cyber equivalent of a chain letter? I feel pleased to know that Michi reads my blog and wanted others to know about it. It was a good day to visit so many blogs. It is cold and rainy here. The rain makes me feel old. Plus it was dark and dreary all day. Now to create.... either art or cookies?

An Award !

2008-12-19T15:14:00.005-05:00

WoW !!! Michi at http://michirhymeswithpeachy.blogspot.com/ nominated my blog for The Marie Antoinette A Real Person A Real Award !! Thanks you so much Michi.

Here are the rules for this award . . .1. Please put the logo on your blog. 2. Place a link to the person from whom you received the award. 3. Nominate at least 7 or more blogs. 4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog. 5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them.

My nominations are:

Jeanne at http://femminismo.blogspot.com/

Aimee http://artsyville.blogspot.com/

http://nickisnook.net/

Lay at http://mescrap.blogspot.com/

Wendy at http://craftingcrazylady.blogspot.com/

http://kiwicarole.blogspot.com/

Toni at http://seaweedandgardenias.blogspot.com/

Painted Papers

2008-12-17T13:55:00.003-05:00

Well these are 2 of my painted papers to use in my Soul Journal. Plus a kitty tail. She usually has paint or glue on her somewhere. I enjoy doing backgrounds. I struggle with the composition part of a page. On my work table I have the torn out pages from a book to help protect the table top. (The table is already covered with an old shower curtain. So I guess I am protecting the shower curtain!) I use these papers as a place to glue, to check the color of a pen, to protect things when painting & to glue down the bits of paper that always accumulate. You get the point. These end up being background papers eventually.

I also like to do canvas work. Recently abstracts with acrylics & mixed media. Which, to me, is like making backgrounds. While doing backgrounds I have to remind myself that repitition is better and to try and create numerous "sweet spots".

Gesso, Texture & Shaped Pages

2008-12-15T09:41:00.003-05:00

This is the result from latest prompt at

http://www.collagediva.com/souljournal/ . I used cupcake liners. (side story - I have a lot of these because my youngest son used to work for a restaurant and they were getting rid to these. So my son brought home a box full because he knew I could use them!!!!) So cupcake liners, paper doily things & a net bag from oranges. I glued these down first. Let that dry and added a layer of gesso. When I was using the heat gun I found that it scrunched up the netting. It was pretty cool to watch!! Then a couple more layers of gesso. I shaped the edges of the pages. I left a section at the top of the first page because it looked unusual. I realized that I need to change the shape of more of my pages!!! I will most likely do that in my recycled journal first. I have found that I am taking more "risks" in that journal. I think because I know if I don't like the result I can easily remove it and even (oh no!) throw it away.

Fixed?

2008-12-13T14:27:00.001-05:00

Well I think I fixed the blog roll issue. I am not all together sure how I did it. But it is done.

A Problem with Blog List

2008-12-12T10:17:00.002-05:00

On my dashboard I am following 14 blogs, but when I view my blog only 9 are listed. Is this a common problem with Blogger? Can I fix it? I will go back to searching Blogger and then the web for answers.

My Advent Calendar

2008-12-06T20:51:00.002-05:00

This is my twist on the Advent calendar. You can see my twinchies peeking out from under there. I don't feel that this is completely done but I need to take a break from it. Any suggestions??
I was thinking about changing the edges of the flaps or adding .....something!! I think it may be to linear for me.....

Another page

2008-12-06T20:43:00.003-05:00

Here is another Teesha Moore inspired page. I like doing these!!! I want to do some more!!

This is in my recycled journal. I have a bunch of pages ready to be prepped and journaled on!! I don't have a notebook (yet) to put these in. I have been eyeing up those binding gizmo's so many of you have. But I told myself I was NOT going to buy anymore art supplies, especially the large ticket items, until I used some the stash I have.

2008-12-03T14:32:00.004-05:00

I finished my first attempt at a new style. eeaaah....it's ok. I will definitely be trying this again. I can see using this in my doodle journal.

Oh my ,I have 4 no, 5 journals going at this time!!

I have started a recycled journal. Similar to Christy http://averageamericangirl.com/blog/ and http://ingriddijkers.blogspot.com/. Now I have even more reasons to save things!!!

Gesso is the duct tape of the art world

2008-12-03T10:05:00.004-05:00

This is before and this is after!!!

This is the taped pages in Sarah's soul journal prompts. I had alot of trouble with this spread. It has been many things. I would work on it and not like it so I'd leave it alone for a while. Finally I pulled off most of the tape (which now included many layers of paint, gesso & stuff), gessoed (again) and used watercolor crayons and it was so easy this time!! The word love on the right was from what we were to write before the tape went down. The prompt was "I forgot to tell you....." http://sarahwhitmire.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html take a peek for your self!

I wasn't able to create over the holiday - family & not feeling well. I did finish my teesha moore inspired piece. (I'll post a pic later when I find my camera) And I have figured out how I want to do my version of the Advent calender!! Now to just start that!!

A Doodle

2008-11-29T12:10:00.003-05:00

This is one of my many doodles. I enjoy doing these. They can be satisfying when I'm not able to do other kinds of creating. There are a couple ways that I like to use to start. If I have a phrase or a word, I write that down anywhere on the page and in any style. Then I make one continuous squiggle around the words. If I don't have a phrase then I just do the squiggle. Then fill in with any design that comes to mind.

I find that the style of my doodles changes with my mood. The darker the mood the more angular the design. The lighter the mood the more swirly the design.

Thank You !!!!

2008-11-24T13:29:00.002-05:00

I would like to thank everyone who left comments for me!!! I smiled and got a sense of happiness as I read each one. I appreciate your input!! I often visit others blogs, some on a daily basis. I now know the importance of leaving a comment! Do others feel this way? Or is it because I am new to blog land? Anyway THANKS !!!

The Final Group

2008-11-24T13:21:00.002-05:00

Ffeewww, finally done with the 24 twinchies (on a side note, my husband asked me what the heck is twin cheese!!)

These are: Gift myself, gift I was born with, of forgiveness, The Gift of..., of prayer, admired/remembered, of happiness, of kindness, of service.

Now to find out what Kathryn has planned next for us to do with these!!!

A Different Style

2008-11-24T13:03:00.002-05:00

I recently "discovered" the art of Teesha Moore. I am so captivated with it. The more you look at a page, the more you see. I have her blog listed on the blogs I follow. This is the begining of my first attempt. I am finding that this is fun & very playful. I like to "try on" different styles and then do my own thing with them. Kind of like shoes!!

More twinchies!!

2008-11-21T16:52:00.005-05:00

Yes, more twinchies. There will be 1 more group and then I'll be done with this part of Gifts and Gratitude. These are, from the top to bottom: Gifts from other artists, from childhood, from nature, of time, of friendship, of prosperity, Peace, of lessons learned, of faith.

Twinchies

2008-11-16T15:06:00.003-05:00

These are my first ever twinchies. I am used to working on much larger backgrounds. It was a creative challange for me. It took some time and some great advice from the folks on souljournal@yahoo.com . I finally got my brain wrapped around the small canvas. I am following along the journey that the http://www.collagediva.com/ is working on.

First Post

2008-11-14T12:05:00.003-05:00

Well I set a goal for myself to start a blog this week. So here is my blog. I enjoy reading other people's blogs. There are many that I want to comment on and can't because I didn't have a blog address. Now I can comment!!!