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!

Trumeau Inspired Bezel

Yesterday I found inspiration in this beautiful vintage book of poetry I bought at a rummage sale for 25 cents.  Yep, that's what I said...twenty-five cents!

I don't even know the title of it.  The cover is missing and there's no title page but the illustrations are absolutely stunning.  Every page turn reveals a new gem.  The artistry and attention to detail in the images in truly amazing.

My last pendants were so full of color, I thought it would be nice to change things up a bit and create something in a more neutral palette, using one of these beautiful illustrations as a springboard.  I've had this idea in my head for sometime...a little rectangular bezel shaped something like a trumeau mirror.

I love creating bezels.  I'm always amazed at the amount of creativity you can pour into forming sheet silver and wire into a tiny treasure.  Like the gallery wire embellishments?  I think the pattern compliments the elegance of the book illustrations.  (If you're wondering what gallery wire is, there's a quick description on this WireSculpture.com forum.)

I found that most of the elements in the book illustrations are too large to use in jewelry pieces.  I may scan and re-size them in the future.  I did, however, spot an intriguing little bird that was just right.  It looks to me like he's just about to land, maybe after a long day of soothing the souls of the world with his beautiful song.  The forms in the background remind me of Monet's poplars.  It's a rather quiet and mysterious image, don't you think?

I'm Linking up again today with Creative Every Day and finding so much inspiration in the work of other artists linking to Art Every Day Month.  Pop over and take a look for yourself if you have the time or, better yet, join in!

Thanks for taking a peek into my little world!  (Seriously...I've been working in tiny detailed things all week.  I may have to paint a wall or something today!)  Have a very great, very creative day!

Playing with Paper and Silver

For some time now I've been thinking of making some bezels for mounting very small paintings and collage images.  I think this would be a nice marriage of my new love of art journaling and the silver work I started doing a few years ago.

So today I pulled out my slightly neglected silversmith tools.  In my perfect life I have a separate area (heck...since I'm dreaming, why not make it an entire room?)  for each of my creative loves, but the reality is that when I switch gears I have to rearrange things a bit, pull out different equipment, etc.  This is one reason my studio generally looks like someone picked it up, turned it over and gave it a good shake.

Below is a bezel in the rough stage.  I actually love the way these pieces look before they're cleaned up.  The pink discoloration you see is called firescale.  It's formed from copper that "cooks" out of sterling silver when it is heated.  This has to be removed with chemicals or with abrasives.  (I use a little of both.)

Here a a few pendants ready for resin.  At this stage you can see the brush marks in the gloss gel medium that covers them.  I apply several coats (front and back) so the paper elements don't soak up the resin and become transparent.

You can definitely see the look of my my journal pages creeping into my jewelry designs these days.  I'm still just playing...seeing what works, what doesn't, what I'd like to develop further.   

The pendents will look a little different once the resin is in place and cured.  The brush marks from the gel medium will disappear and the design will look sharper.  I'll post more pictures when they're done.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to.  I'm linking up again with Creative Everyday's Art Every Day Month.  Be sure to take a few moments and check out some of the amazing artwork that's being shared there.  It's so inspiring!

Enjoy this beautiful day!

Art Every Day Challenge

I did it!  I took the plunge and added my name to the list of participants in Art Every Day Month at Creative Every Day, a website that encourages its readers to "be an everyday creative and be creative every day".

/

For the rest of the month of November I will try to create and share something with you every single day. No joke...I'm really going to try to do this!  (I might post about it on weekends...haven't quite decided yet.)

During the weeks of my Flying Lessons course I was so focused on learning from Kelly Rae Roberts how to build a creative business that I didn't have time to actually create much.  Now I'm ready to get back to making art and I hope this challenge will help me stay focused and productive!

Since I like to work on blog posts first thing in the morning I will post each day's project the morning after I create it.  So, without further ado,  I give you yesterday's project...a chandelier crystal collage necklace.

I was in the mood to do a little wire-wrapping, so I put this piece together using a mixture of stone and Czech glass beads, leather, and hand-made findings.

To make the pendant, I antiqued a blue butterfly image with a brown ink pad and affixed it to the back of a chandelier crystal using heavy gloss gel medium.

After forming the connectors and clasp from anodized steel, I hammered them for strength and polished them for a little extra sheen.  The steel looks a lot like oxidized silver to me.  It's a little harder to work with, though, as steel is not a very pliable metal.

It seems that I've focused my studio time mainly on collage and art-journaling lately.  It was great to make jewelry today.  The pliers and wire felt good in my hands.  Sometimes I think my favorite medium is simply the one I am using at any given moment!

Thanks for having a look.  Hopefully I'll get a few pieces together and reopen my Etsy store in the next few weeks.  I will definitely let you know when that happens.  This necklace may be the first new item I list!

Have a happy, creative Monday!

Lil Journal Project...Still Having Fun!

Thank you, Ashley Hackshaw at Lil Blu Boo for helping me keep up with my art journal for almost a month!  This is monumental!  I love Fridays, when we link up and get to take a look at what everyone else has been up to. 

It was a busy week, so most of my entries were doodled while I waited in pick-up lines at school or sat with the fam at night.  I put together a bag of supplies to carry around with me...makes me feel like a school girl! 

This week we made a timeline and listed all the jobs we've had over the years.  Since I stayed at home with my kids for so long I also made a list of all the "Hats I've Worn".  Whew...it makes me tired just to look at it!

Tuesday's prompt was to list magazine subscriptons we'd like to have and on Wednesday we drew a map of a route we travel often.  I decided to have some fun and let one entry randomly spill over onto the other.  I really love this page.

Yesterday's descripton of my favorite vacation as a kid looks like a page straight out of my high school binder.  I really got in touch with my inner teenager!

Finally, I just needed to remind myself of some truth one day, so I sketched out a bit of scripture and this wise little owl...just a reminder to be still and know.

If you have a few minutes, head over to The Lil Journal Project and check out some really fun journals or better yet, pick out a prompt or two and do a little doodling of your own this weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

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!

Ready?

The challenge, posed in the form of a question, is this:

"What would happen in your business and life if you set aside the question, “Am I ready for that yet?” and instead followed your creative impulses and your heart’s desires?"

(Read the full article, 3 Big Lies That Could Be Holding Back Your Business by Tara Sophia Mohr, on designsponge.com*)

Well, ouch... and yikes!  How many times have I heard myself say, "I'm not ready yet", not just in my small business but in my artwork and in many other areas of my life?

Maybe I am ready...and maybe you are, too.  Maybe that's what scares us so much.

*designsponge.com spotlights ingenious and innovative products and ideas.  Each Tuesday the site features Biz Ladies, a series of posts written to encourage and inform small business owners.

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!