The Game Changer

I am lovin' all the gratitude vibes permeating the blogosphere this month!

Just a few little "blisses" on my mind this morning...

Choices...I love that I get to choose every day what my attitude will be.  I get to decide how I will respond to my experiences and emotions.  This is huge.  It means I am in the driver's seat.  

Beginnings...Every day I get a fresh start. Everything I put my hands to has potential. Beginning something affirms that I have hope.

Community...Being connected to creative, kind individuals keeps me centered and makes me more courageous.

As I was perusing the link-up for Art Every Day Month yesterday I came across a tutorial for a painted paper mosaic by Marcia Beckett.  Marcia is an art teacher and a very gifted mixed media artist and her blog is full of beautiful journal pages and inspiration.  Her paper mosaic really caught my eye so I decided to do my own take on it.

After "scrubbing" some gesso onto an old book page I picked through my little pile (okay, it's really a big pile) of paper bits and came up with these.

The fun and relaxing part was the doodling...

In a way these two images illustrate how practicing gratitude can change our experience. Sometimes life is like the first image...just a bunch of bits: unrelated and sometimes chaotic. Like the pen lines and colors in the second image, gratitude connects the bits, creating a vibrant, complex composition where each element relates to and supports the others.

Gratitude is a game changer.

A grateful life is alive with hope and possibilities.  If I can manage to be thankful for something, then I can trust it is somehow going to be used for something good.  The really great news is that gratitude isn't something we have to strive for, it is something we choose to allow into our lives.  When we allow it, gratitude flows just as creativity does, washing away strife and leaving peace in its place.

Choosing gratitude = Choosing to let your heart rest

I can't believe it is Friday already.  I hope you find a little time to celebrate, rest, create, or do whatever brings you joy this weekend!  

I'm linking up today with:

Art Every Day Month, Little Bliss List, and Joy Jam.

These link-ups are a great way to connect with other artists and creatives and see a lot of inspiring work.  If you have the time, it is great fun to check them out and follow a few rabbit trails!

And Now for Something Completely Different...

Yesterday was a day for art journaling.  The windows were open to the fall breezes and I felt oh-so-very inspired.  At first I just played with watercolors, laying down some autumn hues with no real plan in mind. Orange and red against blue make me super-happy.  The random strokes really started to remind me of two columns of trees and with a bit of sky showing between, but the page needed something more... 

As luck would have it, this lovely lady caught my eye as I flipped through the book I posted about yesterday.     Aha!  Inspiration!

According to the poem that accompanies the image, her name is Jenny.  Now I want you to really look at this scene.  There she sits, sketchbook in hand, watercolors on the table next to her, stopping to stretch maybe?  But wait...that's a rather sultry pose...she looks pretty fetching with that paintbrush perched atop her head.

And who is that man lurking in the background?  Better read the poem...

(The words in parenthesis are mine.)

(I promise this is typed just as it appears in the book.)

Jenny Kissed Me

by Leigh Hunt

Jenny kissed me when we met, jumping from the chair she sat in.

(whoa!)

Time, you thief! who love to get sweets into your list, put that in.

(huh? absolutely no idea what that means but that's what it says...promise)

Say I'm weary, say I'm sad: Say that health and wealth have missed me;

Say I'm growing old but add - Jenny kissed me!

The guy in the background creeped me out so he didn't get to be part of the final composition.  Jenny, however, looked like she could use a change of scenery...perhaps the watercolor trees would be a nice backdrop for her artistic adventures on this beautiful fall day!

And there you have it...the story of how Jenny made it into my art journal.  Do you keep an art journal?  Where do you find inspiration for your pages?  What are your favorite materials to use?  I'd love to hear about it!

BTW - Hello to all my visitors from Art Every Day Month.  I'm so glad you found me!

A Very Special Day

Today I'm excited to share my latest journal page and wish my little sister a very happy birthday!

I have three sisters and all of our names begin with J.  Anyone who knows us even a little knows that we are j's 1,2,3 and 4.  I am j3 and Jill, whose birthday is today is j4.

Jill came into my life when I was just two years old so I don't remember this world without her.  The picture I used for today's journal page was taken as I was leaving for my first day of kindergarten.  I wonder if Jill wanted to go with me that day.  We would have had a blast in the kitchen center!

My little sister and I did everything together when we were young.  We laughed, we fought, and we put on countless "shows" for our big sisters and our parents.  Every summer morning we made mud pies for our playhouse bakery and we spent entire afternoons pretending we were being chased by "the robbers" who were trying to harm our twin baby girls (our matching Baby Tender Loves).  Somehow we always made a narrow escape in time for dinner.  It was really quite magical.

Life was simple and beautiful.  We had no idea how complicated things would get as we grew up. We had no idea I'd get married and move thousands of miles away.  We had no idea how many months of her life Jill would spend in hospitals because of a respiratory condition.  We had no idea how hard so much of it would be but looking back I see how rich it has been as well.  The hardships have helped us treasure the good times and we've learned to look for beauty in unexpected places.

The most beautiful people I've known are those who have known trials, 

have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.

 -Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Recently Jill and I amused ourselves one night in her hospital room by drawing left-handed portraits of each other.  As you can see, we are both most definitely right-handed.

I have to say, it is amazing that she captured such a great likeness of me since she had an oxygen sensor on one of her fingers at the time.  We laughed hysterically.  We laughed because the drawings were so silly, then we laughed even more because we needed so much to feel joy and to be okay with life as it was just at that moment.  Laughter is such a powerful weapon. 

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. 

The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. 

Nelson Mandela 

Jill,  I want you to know it is an honor to walk through life with such a brave and daring girl.  I am amazed at the depth of your strength and courage and the way you come through every trial with your humor and your generosity in tact.  You will never know how much it inspires me when you continue to look for and celebrate the beauty that is in this world.  Thank you for being my cheerleader and for always being able to make me smile.  I am proud to be your sister and oh, I do love you so.  -j3

Lil Journal Project Part 3

I am excited to tell you I am still keeping up with the Lil Journal Project!  Following the prompts from Ashley at LilBluBoo has really helped me stay stay faithful to my journal.  The change of seasons also inspires me greatly (as I'm sure it does you) so I've been journaling en plein air (in the open air) as much as possible.   

Here's a recap of this week's prompts:

On Monday we drew a map of a neighborhood (other than our own) that we remember from childhood.  I drew the neighborhood where both of my grandmothers and several aunts and uncles lived.  It was a magical place to me.

We made a list of our favorite childhood reads on Tuesday.  I revisited some of the books I still have and practiced drawing characters just as I did when I was a little girl.  It was a fun exercise.  The world would be a better place if we all read children's books instead of newspapers once in a while.

Wednesday was a day to collect little scraps of interesting paper to use as embellishments here and there in our journals.  I also used this day to finally decorate the cover of my journal.  My inspiration came from this:

which I turned into this!

I added a sari silk ribbon to keep my growing journal closed.  It is getting pretty hefty already!

I'm going to spend this weekend with my family back home and my journal is going with me.  I hope my mom will help me work on Thursday's prompt to make a family tree. 

This weekend's exercise is to draw something with our non-dominant hand...always a fun exercise.  Why don't you try it, too?  Let me know how it goes!  You don't have to post pictures ;-)

Have you checked out the site that sponsors the Lil Journal Project,  LittleBlueBoo.com?  This amazing blog is worth a look...lots of tutorials and inspiration.  Be sure to read Ashley Hackshaw's story....she is one talented, amazing, beautiful girl.  

Enjoy your weekend! 

Ten, Nine, Eight...

“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.  Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”  - Goethe

Every action we choose starts a ripple effect in our own lives and in the lives of others.  Every word we communicate changes the world for better or worse.  I want to be someone who makes things better, who shares hope and peace.  I believe this is why we were given the gift of creativity in the first place: to help the world remember that whatever else is true, beauty is all around us if we only have eyes to see.

I'm counting the minutes to the beginning of a grand new adventure...today is the day I begin my first ever e-course, Flying Lessons with Kelly Rae Roberts.  (I will head to class as soon as I click the "publish" button here!)  Among many other things, in the weeks to come I will learn more about communicating and interacting with a bigger audience.  A bigger platform means more responsibility.  What I communicate with my words and my art is crucial.

If you are one of my new friends from Flying Lessons, welcome!  I am so looking forward to making this journey with you!  If you're not signed up for the course but think you might want to join us, click on the link above or the button to the right to learn more about it.  This is the last time Kelly plans offer Flying Lessons, so hurry and jump on board!

Lil Journal Project Week 2

Yay for the Lil Journal Project at lilblueboo.com!  The journal prompts Ashley posts each day offer such fresh ideas for my art journal.  Every day she takes us in some totally new direction.  It's so much fun!

We began this week by drawing a map of our childhood neighborhood:

I wanted mine to fold out so I drew it on an old paper sack and glued it into the book.

Tuesday's assignment was to draw and write about different cars we had when we were growing up.  Well, okay, everyone else probably wrote about cars that day.  I woke up thinking about buntings that morning (go figure), so on Tuesday my journal page looked like this:

I told you before, I don't always follow directions :-)

I also created a Pinterest board that day named "Buntings, Pennants and Flags".  Click here to see some gorgeous images and fun tutorials.  I am a bit obsessed.

Okay...back to the journal...On Wednesday we created color palettes so we could give each color a name.  This was maybe my favorite project this week.  I'm fairly certain my color names would never make it onto lipstick tubes or paint samples with names like "Used Motor Oil" and "Mountain Home Countertop".  (I promise it's the same color of tomato red used in the kitchen of the first house the huz and I rented as newlyweds.  Those countertops were out of control.)

Thursday we wrote memories prompted by a group photo we pasted into our journals.  It could be any group at all.  I chose a picture of my mother's family taken several years before I was born.  It was nice to spend time honoring the memories of some of the beautiful people that were such a huge influence in my early years.

There's just one more assignment this week.  Over the weekend we will sketch a few things that we treasure, taking note of where they came from and why we keep them.  I'm just looking around now to see what I might sketch...
I know my journal entries thus far have been a little labor intensive.  I guess I'm just so excited to have a little inspiration and focus that I've had fun losing myself in the process.  Sometimes our creative energy gets so bottled up inside of us it just needs permission to bust out!

Click on the link below to read today's journal prompt and see links to other journals.  Better yet, grab a pencil and paper and join in!

Adventures in Handwriting

Following the journal prompt offered on Lil Blue Boo this weekend was great fun!  (Click the button below to learn more about the project.)  Being challenged to work specifically on handwriting helped me stretch a bit and it is great to know that others are thinking/creating along the same lines.

My inspiration for my latest journal entry was this piece I created a few years ago.

Lots of words on that background...why not try out some different handwriting styles on them?  While doodling and sketching I revised  my original wording and explored some different font styles I found at KevinandAmanda.com. The creators of this site turn handwriting samples into fonts and make them available to you and me for free! They call it Fonts for Peas and you can check them out here. Download a few fonts or just enjoy studying the different handwriting styles...the slant of this one, the loops in that one...just looking opens our minds to creative possibilities.

Now for my favorite part (I never seem to be able to leave things simple)...

I created a background by drybrushing brown and then orange acrylic onto the prepared journal pages. I also added some brown "spatters" with a paintbrush.  I love the texture of the underlying words showing through the paint.  I chose orange because a.) it's one of my favorite colors and b.) it contrasts nicely with the aqua blue used in the lettering.

I added a title by outlining letters in permanent marker and filling them in with acrylic paint.

  

Unfortunately I had to actually rewrite my text on a new page as I was unhappy with the starkness of the white looseleaf paper against the warm values of the background. The loose leaf paper was also a little thin.  To help keep my writing somewhat consistent I photocopied a lined sheet of paper onto a sheet of tea-stained card stock. The lines came out very light...just right.

After trimming the calligraphy pages down I rounded the corners and used a brown inkpad to "antique" the edges. (I use this technique a lot. It gets rid of that white edge and anchors the object to the background.)

My first few entries in this journal have been heavy on the cutting and pasting, so tomorrow I'm challenging myself to actually write in the book!  There's something about writing in a bound book that intimidates me a bit...always has.  Hmmm...I really need to let go of that.

I hope this is the beginning of a great week for you! 



New Journal Project!

I started a new art journal today following a tutorial posted some time back by Ashley at Lil Blue Boo.  She transforms everyday composition books into beautiful colletions of lists, images and all sorts of things worth remembering.  (See her tutorial here.)

I, of course, immediately veered away from the directions, skipping the cover and going straight to work on some pages.  (I promise to show you the cover when I get around to that part.)

I incorporated some burlap a friend gave me and definitely had to use some heavy duty adhesive for that.  Matte gel medium did the trick.  When in doubt always use gel medium for collage!

I hope that as the pages of this art journal begin to fill, I will branch out a bit...try new things. I'd like to try some stitching and more hand drawing and calligraphy in this journal.  Today, though, I felt like I was just "limbering up" since I haven't done any collage work in a while.  My, how I've missed it. 

Stay tuned...I'm really going to try to stay faithful to this project and I promise to post pics along the way.  There I said it...Now I'm committed!

***News Flash!!!!***  I just took a look at Lil Blue Boo and Ashley is posting daily journal prompts!  She's calling it the Lil Journal Project and it looks like fun.  It's great timing for me as I just started this journal today and really want to stretch.  If you post your pictures you can link up as well and guess what!?!  This weekend's prompt is to explore different handwriting and lettering styles.  (Did I not just say I want to do more calligraphy?)  Oh, I am so there!  (Check out this weekend's prompt here.)  Don't worry about it if you don't post your work...just have fun using the prompts to get those creative juices flowing!

Woo Hoo!

I am very excited to announce that Blue Star Trading in Hico, Texas is including Taproot Studio artwork in their spring inventory!  I have been busy, busy getting their order together and some really fun projects are on their way to the store today.

There are more altered cigar boxes...

matchboxes...

lots of collage eggs...

and loads of stamped spoons in pots!

 The tiny seed packet at the base of the spoon was a last minute addition that I love.  It has me thinking of all kinds of projects using seed packets.  I'll let you know where that rabbit trail takes me.

Have a great weekend!