Doing Stuff

The prompt for DOCUMENTED LIFE this week was "Trace a Hand On Your Page".  And I did that...kind of:

"It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little.  Do what you can." -Sydney Smith

Actually, I traced my hand on a different piece of paper (twice) and cut them out and used them as stencils to spray Dylusions.  This way I didn't end up with the Dylusions all over my hand.  ...just half of my hand and a little bit on my face...I'm really bad at spraying in the right direction.  It should not be that hard...

After I sprayed on the Dylusions, I drew my little worrying bunny, who was not meant to look worried (it just happens that he does...) and added the quote. I think I may go back and outline the quote, because it looks a little too light for my comfort...but we'll see where laziness factors in to that equation.

I'm pretty happy with the bunny, because I didn't copy him, he just came out of my head.  Usually if I try to draw anything without a reference, it comes out...not good...  But the bunny is pretty darn cute if I do say so myself!

Thanks for the well-wishes for my nephew!  I wanted to mention that Remy got to come home yesterday, with doctor's orders not to fall off the bed anymore...which I feel is good advise...  That little turd scared us all...and I'm fat, and fat people can't take being scared...we have heart attacks WAY too easy for all that...  So, fingers crossed that he waits till he's sixty or seventy before he has any more accidents!  

And on that note, I am off into the wild blue yonder to do what little I can before work today.

Smooches to you all!

Darn Skippy

I feel like a bit of a cheat for this week's JOURNAL 52 page.  I had already done the background...it was one of my attempts at the sky idea I had in my head for last week's prompt, but they just refused to work out how I wanted them to, so I figured I'd just use them for backgrounds for some other project.  I didn't think I'd use one quite so fast though...

In addition to having an already done background, I just did a sketchy girl on the page with a plain old ink pen...all in all, I might have spent fifteen minutes on her...  Recently, I've been going gangbusters on my pages and they take me a long while to finish, so this quick gal feels a little bit like a rip off...but then again, I like her so much that I think she's perfect exactly how she is:

"The sign of intelligence is that you are constantly wondering.
Idiots are always dead sure about every damn thing they are doing in their life."
-Vasudev

The prompt for J52 this week was "create a page in your journal for someone in your thoughts this week who needs a little love, hope, and encouragement – even if that person happens to be yourself!"

I just felt too awkward to make an encouraging page for someone who would never actually see the encouraging page...or else I am just awfully self-centered...I'm not sure which.  Either way, I ended up using a quote that makes me feel better personally...especially with that sassy gal giving me that funny look...

I got the quote while scrolling through Pinterest, my one-stop inspiration shop, and it really is something I needed to hear.  Whether it's true or not, it made me feel better.

I spend a lot of mental energy plotting different options.  I question everything...and then question those questions.  I sometimes wonder if I'm alone in this...because most people I know don't seem to be that way.  I think a lot of people see the surface of things and accept them at face value.  I am not that way...probably to a fault...I tend to need more information before I accept anything.  And even then, I suppose, my opinions are subject to change...so maybe I never really accept anything fully.  The funny thing is that I will also stick by my opinions and defend them relentlessly.  

A friend of mine told me that I always have to be right...but that's not really true.  I just need someone to show me why I should change my mind.  I like to think that I am not one to blindly follow...no matter how much I like a person, if I think they're wrong, they're wrong until they prove otherwise.  And being like that kind of goes back to the fact that I question everything.  Most of the time, I've already thought of the other side of the discussion...so I know what the problems are with that other side.  I don't like to argue, but discussing things...well that's a whole different kettle of fish...

Sometimes I wonder if there's something wrong with me because of my constant questioning and need for information.  I know that everybody is different and that the world would be boring if we were all the same, but when everyone around you is one way and you are another...it's easy to feel weird about your quirks...and I do have quite a few of those to feel weird about.

My sassy, sketchy gal pal and the quote on my journal page are to remind me that maybe it's a good thing I'm not so sure about what's going on in my life...

But then again, I could be wrong...

  

Tabs

I've had one of these weeks...the yuck kind of week.  One of the kittens passed away very unexpectedly and without warning.  Apparently, it's not uncommon for that to happen between 3 and 6 weeks for kittens, generally from birth defects, often related to their hearts.  But it's still very sad and makes me worry about the other kitten, who we've officially renamed Mortimer, because he just couldn't be "Fat Tony" without his brother Pauly, so now he's Mortimer and it suits him much better.

In addition to that sadness, I said goodbye to yet another tooth yesterday, in an emergency yanking.  For the record, if at all possible, try to avoid the emergency yankings, because they cost about 3.5 times as much as a yanking at your regular dentist.  On the opposite side, it was the most pain-free yanking I have ever had, so it was almost worth the extra money, because that sucker just popped right out and I looked at the dentist as he walked away and said "Was that it!?!"  It was a glorious moment for dentistry, let me tell you.  Also on the positive side, I'm running out of teeth to yank, and since they don't grow back, I'll very soon not have to deal with the tooth pain ever again!  And I can get dentures and be able to actually chew things again.  The prospect of chewing things is very exciting for me...

Also on the sad side of things: my walks had to be suspended due to stupid Daylight Savings time.  I am kind of in a funk about that.  But my friend Gayle and I have decided to have dinner once every two weeks until we can get back out on the trail.  And that's a good thing!

Also, weird emotional stuff keeps popping up for me this week and last.  I'm trying to avoid going down to blue funk town, but the waa-waa's have been kind of pervasive.  And you can see it in my JOURNAL 52 page for the "Stencil" prompt:

"You are terrifying and strange and beautiful, something not everyone knows how to love." -Warson Shire

I really like this page, despite the line backer body I seem to have given her.  Let's call it a metaphor for how we hold so much inside of us and not the fact that I wasn't paying attention to the scale of things when I drew the shoulder area...because it makes me sound so much more artistic the first way...

For DOCUMENTED LIFE this week, the prompt was to "Add a Tab" and this is what I came up with:

I used acrylic paint, scrapbook paper, modeling past with gelato added to color, dylusions, image transfers, and metallic foil embossing/rub-ons.

This is not one of my usual color combos...it's so...girly!  I think the only thing that saved it for me was the black Dylusions...  Once I added that, I really liked how it looked!

Here it is with the tags removed from the pockets.

I was really enjoying the foil embossing...can you tell?

"I got my own back." -Maya Angelou
"I was never one of those girls..."

One side of the tags ended up matching the page pretty exactly...the other side is brighter and bolder for sure:

"Look for the answer inside your question." -Rumi
"Very few of us are what we seem." -Agatha Christie

I think the girl with the Rumi quote is my favorite one...I really like the frame around her head.  Also, in happy accident territory, this is what happens when you are impatient and you don't let your gel medium dry completely during an image transfer...shame on me, but I also think it looks really cool!

I really like the "Tab" prompt, because it led me to do the pull-out tags.  I like that there's an interactive part to the page, most of my pages are not like that.  I think I am going to make it a goal to make my journals more interactive in the future.

Speaking of the future, are you as excited as I am for the new sessions of J52 and DLP?  The fact that I've stuck with two year-long projects is really motivating me to try to do even more, so I've also got some other plotting going on in my mind for projects next year...nothing concrete just yet, but the plotting is abounding! 

Have you heard of any other year-long weekly or monthly challenges in the works?  I'd love to have another thing to include in my plotting... 

Risk and Reward

Done with today's post over at Alternate Amy.  You can check it out HERE, or just sit back and enjoy the extreme brightness of this journal spread...Take that black and white SmashBook page!

Making Sense of the Chaos

 The prompt for Journal 52 this week (HERE) was to create a page about the things you do each day or your favorite part of the day.

I'll be honest, my days are pretty much the same.  Wake up, go to work, come home, make art (which, in my book, includes blogging), go to bed...repeat.  Throw eating and showering in there, and you've described my basic day.  Art is definitely the highlight for me...although eating probably runs a close second...I do enjoy eating...

I don't have a lot of outside excitement in my life...I'm married (so no dating...that ship has both sailed and sunk to the bottom of the ocean), I don't have kids, I don't go a lot of places, I don't have a lot of in-person friends...so my days are pretty much spent in hum-drummery.  I've slowly learned to like most of the aspects of my life as it is...I don't have the stress of dealing with dates/kids/drama...and I'm usually pretty content to be a homebody.  So hum-drum works well enough for me.

Most of the interesting things that occur for me happen internally.  I have an exciting imagination.  Reality tends to be overrated in my estimation.  

The funny part about that is I am one of the most realistic people I know...possibly because my life is full of delusional people...but still...  

Maybe the difference is that I know the things I think about generally won't happen...and other people have hope or fear that they will.  I don't know, I guess I do too...but my mix of pessimistic doubtfulness about good things happening and nonchalance towards bad things happening (worrying changes nothing, so why worry?) keeps my hopes and fears to a mostly hushed whisper.  

But I think about things.  A lot.  All the time.  Over-think.  Sometimes about things that happen (or have happened) in my life, but I think a lot about other people.  I wonder at other people constantly.  What makes them tick?  What are their motives?  Why are they the way they are?  And I play out lives in my head, trying to cipher out just how it is that a person got to be a certain way. 

I do this for my own life too.  I think out the angles of decisions as far into the future and in as many directions as I need to in order to get satisfied.  What if I do this?  What if I don't?  What if this had happened instead of that?

In a way, it makes me feel like a scientist...constantly coming up with new ideas, forming my hypothesis, testing my theories.  I've gotten good at figuring people out.  I think it's part of the reason I find it so devastating to be wrong about a person...because I put a lot of effort into cataloging them.  I want to be able to put a label on people...not in a way that limits them to being one thing, because each person is made up of a million billion different facets (The subtle nuances that make people unique individuals is endlessly fascinating to me.)...but I need to label them to make them something I can understand.  

The more I learn about myself, the more I see that I need a why.  Why am I this way?  Why are you that way?  Why does she do this?  Why won't he do that?  If I can't figure it out, I get very frustrated.  

It's a difficult thing for me to accept, but sometimes the why is not for me to know.  Sometimes there are no labels, nothing to name it, no way of identifying with a situation.  That kills me.  That's the point when I become a little obsessed...because it's not that there isn't a why, it's that I don't get to know it.  And I feel like if I just think a little longer or harder, if I just play out one more scenario, then I'll get the answer.  But that's not always true.  

I have come up with  reasonable theories about things, but the time for proving those theories has passed...and there's not a second chance.  I despise not having my proof.  I loathe not knowing.  

My goal is to understand, to make sense of the various aspects of life...and life is not that way.  Life is mysterious and never as clinical as I'd prefer...life is chaotic.  But I still analyze and I still hypothesize and I still test my thoughts and look for proof...  And somewhere out there, if they knew how I am, I bet there's a person who'd look at me and wonder why it is I do that...and they probably wouldn't understand, because it's part of what makes me mysterious and chaotic and alive.  But, just like me, they'd still try to understand...because, just like me, their favorite part of the day would be when they were able to sense of the chaos. 

My favorite part of the day is when I can make sense of the chaos...

Fun Foam Stencils

Someone on Facebook asked about how I did the Fun Foam Stencils I mentioned in the last post, so I thought I would do a little tutorial.  Honestly, it's pretty self-explanatory but maybe it's a new idea to some or maybe I have a tip that you didn't know about...so here we go:

Supplies:

• Fun Foam (you can get this at craft stores or online, I'm pretty sure Walmart carries it as well.)
• Scissors or a craft knife/Xacto
• Self-healing mat or a surface you don't mind gouging (if you are using the craft knife) 
• Sharpie or pen

Ooh...Supplies!  Fun foam, scissors or a craft knife and cutting mat, sharpie or pen

The first thing you do (if you so desire) is draw your pattern:

You can get all fancy and use a ruler or circle templates or whatever...or you can just wing it.  I'm a fan of winging it...

Next take your knife and cut out your design:

I would tell you to be careful with the knife because it's sharp, but you should know that and, besides, I'd feel like a hypocrite..."Cut away from yourself!"  You're not the boss of me logical thinking!  *she says as she cuts herself for the fifth time*

Don't throw away the pieces you cut out; they make great stamps!

This is me giving you permission to become a hoarder...
You can glue your foam stamps to things like cardboard or clear packaging (which is awesome because you can see exactly where you're putting your stamp) but you don't have to...as long as you don't mind getting your hands dirty...
You can see that I don't cut on my lines...mostly because I'm too impatient...I draw them in (quickly) to get an idea of placement and then I go back in with the knife and fix what wasn't working for me.  But that's just me...you do it how you like to do it!

You can use your stencil with sprays and paints, just like any other stencil:

Perhaps that was kind of a given...

With sprays:

With sprays, if you reverse the stencil, you can get a really good stamped image from your left-over ink...that's right, two toys in one!  I find that the spray ink stays put a little better on the fun foam than it does on store bought plastic stencils...so you get a cleaner image when you do the stencil flip technique thingie...

With paint:

I use a make up wedge and pounce in the acrylic...it gets the paint into the pointy bits pretty well.  You can also use a brush and go in to each space, but it's kind of a pain if there are a bunch of small places.

If you're not a fan of the craft knife, you can also just use scissors and cut out a design...I know you've done this a million times in your life:

The best part of this is you have a stencil AND a mask...plus you can stamp with both of them...so hooray for multi-taskers!

Here's what we have so far:

You can see the spray in purple from the picture above.  Then the blue acrylic diamonds...you can see your shapes aren't super exact with the acrylic pouncing (or else I'm just out of practice).  Also, if you use a make up wedge to pounce your paint in, don't forget that it has paint on it and will make a cool mark...that's what the marks lined up at the bottom of the picture are.  And you can also see, sprayed in pink, the heart stencil  (on the left) and mask (on the right).  A stencil lets you put color on the inside of the design (so the design is colored), a mask lets you put color everywhere except the inside (so that all around the design is colored and the design stays white).

And remember to try stamping with your left-overs:

For the stamps, you can use an ink pad.  I got a light imprint, even with black ink...I'm not 100% sure if that's because I need to re-ink my pad or because the fun foam just doesn't take the ink well...

Or use paint with a brayer (or just dump out a paint puddle and do it that way):

I should have used a different color so that you could see it a little better in the picture, but you can (possibly) see that I  got better prints with the paint than I did the ink pad...

And if you do use your brayer to 'ink' the stamp:

Don't forget that you will get some really neat images from your brayer!  The stamp takes off the paint only where it makes contact with the brayer...so you are left with another cool pattern on your brayer that you can use!

You can use all the 'left-overs' (the ink or paint left on your stencil/mask/stamp/brayer) and start another page...some people keep an extra journal just for that purpose.  It actually is pretty helpful if you are low on time to have that left-over catcher...because you will have a background ready to go next time you want to create and don't have the time to do the whole shebang.  Plus, you are not wasting any of your *PRECIOUS* supplies!  So, it's a time and money saver...Multi-tasking at it's best...

A word of warning...it's kind of addictive to do start cutting your own stencils...this isn't even the tip of the iceberg...

Just a few other thoughts:  

Thin lines are totally doable, if a little tedious.  I used a regular size Sharpie and cut on either side of the mark it made (instead of on the line), and that's about as thin as I could cut it with the craft knife without the foam tearing or me going crazy...ok, crazier...  Also, if you are cutting thin lines, don't pop out your left-over pieces till you are done; it helps the foam be more stable (learned that one the hard way...) and easier to cut. 

 

This stuff cuts pretty easily, but if you find a place that's still attached, cut it with your knife or scissors...don't be tempted to pull it...because it will tear and you will make the sad face... (learned that the hard way too...)  You can make curves for sure, but go a little slowly for the same reason...it will tear/you will sad face...

If you make something and don't like it, think about keeping it anyway.  I cut a feather that I didn't like but was pretty small, so I kept it and just went back to it later and made another design a little bigger around the original feather (so that the original just got cut away completely) and it ended up being pretty awesome.   And if you keep cutting bigger and bigger and just end up with a big empty square, look at it like you have a frame stencil!  You can also cut up ugly stencils and make good 'background noise' stamps.

Keep in mind that if you don't leave a border with the foam around your stenciled image (like the flower in the picture above), you will have a wobbly stencil...BUT it may be worth the wobbly to have an image that seamlessly flows into the background...  Full disclosure...I find it irritating because I have to keep adjusting the stencil to get the stem space on that flower.  I will be cutting another flower like the one above but with a foam border...that way I can have the best of both worlds...

If you don't have fun foam, you can always just use paper or cardboard or a million other things...the ideas are pretty much the same.  The fun foam is nice because it's a little more sturdy than paper, so your stencils will last longer.  BUT if you use paper, you can fold it up and do paper 'snowflake' type designs (I know you did that as a kid too!)...the fun foam will fold, but because it's thickier, you can't (or it would be extremely hard to) get those intricate designs...I found you could fold the foam twice (one horizontal, one vertical) and still cut it, but again, it's not easy to get detailed designs that way...BUT you could always cut the paper and use it as a template on your fun foam and get the detailed design that way...

So, ta-da!  Tutorial over...  I hope I had some helpful info and wasn't just being Captain Obvious...  I bet there are a million other ideas out there involving fun foam stencils or cutting your own stencils...or other uses for fun foam...so if you have anything to add, I'd love to hear your ideas!

A Piece of Work And A Work of Art

This week's prompt for Documented Life was "Make a list of the things that make you YOU." (You can read more about DL HERE.)

One of the things that make me ME is the fact that I am not a natural list maker.  Seriously.  It took me FOREVER to come up with my list of attributes.  But I finally ended up with some good ones:

"I am a piece of work and a work of art.".

Just for the record, that poor girl's face looks seriously wonky...but her head is supposed to be tilted.  So if you tilt your head to the left just a little, she's not quite as wonky looking...still a little wonky, but much less Quasimodo than she seems to be at first glance...see:

Not quite so deformed now, am I?

Also, as a personal pat on the back to myself, I would just like to say HOORAY for the nose on this girl. I think I made her look like somebody punched her in the face or something...that was an accident...I just wanted to try to use some different colors for the shadows...I think it works on the forehead area, but her eyes look a little bruised... So, as a whole, she's just ok, but I am super mega ultra happy with that nose.

Nasal perfection.

So anyway, back to the dreaded list... 

 Here's what I think makes me the person I am:

General hilarity (obviously... haha)

Gappy Teeth (one day I'll have to post a picture of them, but trust me, once you see them, you'll never be able to think of me without thinking of my glorious gappy teeth)

Insightful

Artist 

Randomness

Going Off On Tangents

Look For Motives

Practical Dreamer (that counts as one thing)

Questioner

Aware

Flux (The only thing that never changes is the fact that everything changes.)

Constant Learner

Music Connoisseur

Literary Genius (hahaha...that's in my dream world, but it still counts!)

Deep Digger (I like to know what's beyond the surface of things...)

Firm Believer in Practice (it doesn't make perfect, but it makes us better than we were before)

Awkward Segways (Not the scooter thingies...I mean the transition between topics thing...)

Foreteller of Trends (I swear this one is true...if I start liking something today, a few months from now, you will start seeing it EVERYWHERE...I need to figure out how to make money from this fact...)

Wordy (I know, you have a hard time believing this one...*eye roll*)

Understanding

Things that make me the person that I am...

One thing that really stood out to me as I was reading over my list of me things was how I don't think that I included any negative things.  This is a HUGE difference from the what I would have thought of myself in the past.  I know I'm not perfect, but I can actually see the good stuff in me now.  I've come a long way, baby!  

"I know who you are."

I just wanted to point out some art related coolness going on in this spread.  I've been cutting my own stencils out of Fun Foam.  I'm so excited by this technique it's not even funny!  In the picture above, the green square in the background are from a foam stencil I cut myself.  The blue squares are from stamping with the fat end of a makeup wedge and the pink lines are from the thin edge of the same wedge!  I also cut my signature Red Clover design from some foam; you can see it stenciled in white in the picture...it's BIG ..I love it!

Do we share any similar qualities?

The blue rectangles on this page are also a stencil I cut...it was supposed to be a brick pattern...I think I am going to make another one with thinner 'grout' lines...but I do like this one too...not what I intended it to be, but a happy accident nevertheless...  

The foam stencil cutting is making it's way toward becoming a little side obsession of mine...

What about you?  What are some of the things that make you YOU?  Do we share any qualities?  Or are we different (and complimentary) as night and day?  Do you have any new artistic obsessions of late?

Self-ish

So...I said I wasn't going to do any more 30 day challenge thingies...but I'm not the boss of me (...wait a minute...)...so I shall be doing the Kickin' It Old Skool (KIOS) blog-a-thon.  Maybe I'll last the whole month, maybe not, but in the last post, I talked about wanting to take risks and learn to dive in, so I'm at least going to try...

Don't click the picture...click HERE (for more info)...because I am technologically inept...

The first prompt they had was to do a self-portrait...take a picture of yourself.  A 'selfie'.  Just for the record, that word (selfie) is on my list of terrible words that I hate...not for what it represents, just for the word itself...

Anywho, I was looking through the other ladies posts and have discovered that I'm not the only one who's attitude toward having their picture taken is all BOO.HISS.HISS.  I'm in good company on that front, so yay.

In an effort to steer you clear of looking at my giant melon head, please look at the owls on the wall...or the green girl in the background (that I did for the monochromatic lesson in Pam Carriker's Creating Art At The Speed Of Life book.  I have done several lessons in it...I'll share them eventually...I really need to get back to that book!)...or the horrible wood paneling...or crochet samples...anything but my gigantic melon head...

You've been warned:

Remember: avert your eyes...owls on the wall...green girl in background...inspiration cork board...anything but the girl with the melon head!

I'm so sorry we had to go through that!  But we did it together...and now that it's over, we will never speak of it again...

In order to take your mind off of that horror, please look at this mediocre art journal page:

Sorry I'm so mediocre...but it's better than melon head girl up there...

This page is part of my effort to use up the original art journals I started in...the ones with the less-than-desirable paper.  Not my best page by far, but I do like the colors together...even the pink...*insert shocked gasp here*...I think it's the 'coffee' splotches on the pink paper that make me like it better.  And I totally dig that silhouette washi tape...I've had it for a while, but I never seem to use it.  I don't know why...that's a lie, I hoard the really cool stuff... 

I got that quote off Pinterest, but I messed it up...I think it's supposed to say "You are still hidden somewhere deep in my heart." ...or brain...or foot...I don't know, I can't remember...it was something...but for sure it wasn't soul.  But whatever, soul works too...  It's my art journal, I can misquote if I want to...  That's a lie, you can tell it's irritating the crap out of me...  But also, I'm lazy...and I don't want to un-stick the tag and redo it, so 'soul' will just mean heart/brain/foot/whatever in our heads...

That's all I got for tonight.  I'll be interested to see what tomorrow's prompt will be.  I can promise you this: no more pictures of my melon head...you are welcome in advance...

Till tomorrow...

Inner Excavations...I Open My Heart...

Poor Inner Excavations...with all the shiny things that distracted me, I let this work fall to the wayside a bit.  But I did not forget it entirely...I just had to circle back...the long way around.  But here we are...

Chapter 6 in IE is called "I open my heart..." and deals with community and encourages collaboration with another artist(s).  Which are awesome things!  

I've said it before and will say it again...I would not be where I am if it weren't for all the dear friends I've been lucky enough to get to know because of the art journaling, through Facebook groups or here on the blog.  I love each and every one of you gals!  I wish I could smooch all your faces and give you gigantic real life hugs!  I can't say enough about the encouragement and wisdom I've received.  

I love art.  I love art journaling.  I like to think I would feel the same way even if nobody ever saw my work or cared about it or thought it was good...even if everyone else in the world thought art was stupid.  BUT I'm so glad that I've met people who share my love.

I think community encourages growth.  For me, the lovely friends I've met turn my head...you guys help me to look at things in a new way.  I can't count the number of times I've made something I thought was REALLY bad and shared it with you all and it never fails that someone will look at it and point to something about the piece that they liked.  It makes me look at my work with new eyes!  Or somebody will use colors I might not pick and it will turn out so wonderfully it makes me want to try those colors.  Or when someone finds a new technique or thinks of a really unique prompt and they share it...you guys get my wheels spinning all the time!  You give me a gentle push to try things that are a little out of my comfort zone...and that's a big part of progressing as an artist!

So with that in mind, here is what I made for this chapter's spread:

Look at all the fun stuff!

For this, I used a lot of goodies from care packages I've been lucky enough to receive.  I also used some ephemera that I had in my (not so) little box of random stuff.

The clover image is a tag made by my friend Jana.  The crackling I did on it by covering it in UTEE and then cracking the UTEE coating.  The scarf on the lady is also from Jana, it's a piece of a tea bag.  The cool envelopes are from Anna (even though on the black ones I just used them flat and not folded up like envelopes...) I love the map one!  Anna also gave me the washi tape (except the polka dot one and the birds on wire...they're from my stash) and the big number ones.  The picture in the middle with the stones on it is from Laura, as well as the orange bus pass.  And then the blue dress in the bottom right of the picture is from my Pamikins.

On this side, there are things from my friend Rose (that 7, which I adore!) and my friend Rachel (the chevron paper and the green sparkly flourish and (I think) the yellow tickets) and my friend Christina (the sheet music, and the two die cuts that look like plants).  And the sequin waste stencil in the background was from my friend Jackie and my sister Marian!  

The thing I really like about this spread is that it reminds me so much of my friends!  The bright colors of the background remind me of my friend Boo...she likes bright colors.  The face in the middle I made during the 29 Faces challenge, so when I see it I think of all the new people I got to meet by participating.  The collage aspect reminds me of others friends I know who have collage work as a special talent.  And then all the bits and pieces were sent to me by my friends and fellow artists!  The more I look at this spread, the more I love it!  All those interesting pieces "shouldn't" go together, but somehow they work together to make a cool image.  I like that you can look at the spread as one piece, or that you can look at each individual element and it's interesting either way!  And this spread made me realize that I like collage...as long as I don't have to cut out the pieces!

On and on...

Words can't really express my gratitude for all the kind and beautiful comments from yesterday's post.  Every single on of them made my heart swell  with love.  You can't imagine how much you all lift me up and make me want to just give you gigantic smooches and squishes.  Thank you all so very much.

I was thinking about all the kind comments I received yesterday while I was trying to work on the spread for my BOD (Book of Days) journal.  I also had some music going on in the background, as I always do.  There was this serendipitous moment where I stopped working and looked up at the computer, still having the comments from yesterday's post on the screen, and my eyes landed on my lovely Pamikins comment where she wrote: "please understand, your legacy will live on Your art speaks volumes, it will always live on" (What a HUGE compliment!)  and the song in the background was playing and the lyrics were "She's still got infinity ahead of her".  And I stopped in my tracks, poured some gesso over the page I had originally started and began working on this:

"She's still got infinity ahead of her..."  napkin, Dylusions, stencils, die cuts, Silks acrylic glazes, glittery border stickers, Aquamarkers, and shimmery (I wanted to call it pearlescent...but spell check is telling me that's either not a word or REALLY not spelled right) acrylic paint

Also a moment of awesomeness is that I used a napkin that my darling Pamikins had sent me in a care package...I didn't realize it till after I'd glued it down, but I do believe that paisley napkin came from her!  So Paminkins, you get a whole heap of credit today!

And, to a lesser extent, this song also gets some credit:

Really, all the comments from yesterday and every day before share the credit.  I know I wouldn't be where I'm at know if it weren't for the loving and the encouragement and the keep-at-it's that folks have been kind enough to bestow on me.  I guess what I'm saying is that it takes a village to raise a Sweet Red Clover...and you all are my village.

I'm not dead...

I promise I'm not dead...seriously!

Last weekend I went to Ohio to visit my family.  I had a great time, even though it seemed like I was barely there at all (much too short a visit)!  I am happy for the time I did get to spend there though.  I love to see my brother's and sister's families and catch up a little.  Being with them reminds me of the good parts of my growing up.  We have a fun time doing absolutely nothing but talking.  I wish I could get up there to see them more often.

Since then I've been on MASSIVE overtime at work, which I'll appreciate on payday, but until then, I will grumble about with a serious amount of grumbling.  Urg.  My sincere desire is to one day be independently wealthy instead of exceedingly beautiful.  Then I wouldn't have to work at all and I could go see my family whenever I wanted and stay as long as I liked.  So if the universe could work that out for me, that would be great.  GET ON THE BALL UNIVERSE!!!

In the tiny amount of spare time from the past week or so, I have managed to get some artsy stuff done.  I'm taking Effy Wild's Book of Days (BOD) workshop online, thanks to her generous sale.  Let me just say, the boot camp alone is worth the full price of admission.  I try really hard not to promote anything because I don't want someone coming back to me all 'you said this was great and that is not how I feel', but seriously, I am loving this workshop.  LOVING IT!!!  

The first thing I did was to use her tutorial video to make my BOD journal.  Super fun and pretty easy!  I've made a journal before, but hardbound.  This one is cloth bound.  I used some cheap muslin I had, and coated it in gesso for the cover.  It's what I had lying about, and it actually worked pretty well:

The outside of my BOD journal.  You can see where some of the color from the first page is popping through.  I'm ok with that.  It's why I like to save decorating the cover of the journal for last.  That way my cover won't get ruined if any artistic over-spray happens.

Here's the first spread of my BOD journal, this is where the color on the cover seeped out from:

"There is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique." -Martha Graham
That comes from a larger quote that I think everybody should read:
"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique.  And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.  The world will not have it.  It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions.  It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.  You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work.  You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you.  Keep the channel open.  No artist is pleased.  There is no satisfaction whatever at any time.  There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."
I think Martha Graham, who was an influential dancer and choreographer, really hit on the truth with that statement.  Whatever it is that we do, especially creatively but otherwise as well, is singular and special.  We have a unique view and a unique statement to make in the world.  It is our intrinsic right, our privilege, and practically our duty to get it out there.  There has never been, and there will never be, another person exactly like us.  We shouldn't deny ourselves to the world, because they'll never have another chance to appreciate who we really are and what we do and think.  We are singular, special, unique, and wonderful.

This is the second spread in my BOD journal:

This page is full of texture and layers, which is something that's pretty new to me and something I am learning a lot about in BOD for sure.  I am pretty happy with the textured outcome, and I am super excited about the crackle I got going on in areas of this page!  I've never done crackle paint so successfully before!  So huzzah!!!

This page has a little flap that flips open for hidden journaling as well...although I realize as I look at the picture below, it's not really so hidden if I take a picture and don't at least blur the words...  Oh well...it's more hidden for the fact that I didn't want my super messy handwriting to show up on the page instead of it being something I don't want people to read...so you can read it, it's not a super secret or anything...

Flip open flap!  Fun stuff!  The lyrics on this page are from the song "The Wrote and the Writ" by Johnny Flynn, which you can listen to below if you'd like:

This is the third spread I did for BOD:

Without breaking my arm from the back patting, this is one of those rare moments where I love something I did so much that I can't believe I made it.  I love, love, love this spread...LOVE IT!!!   

This is how I feel when I look at this spread: 

*fits of maniacal laughter*

Crossed with this: 

*whispering "I love you" in creepy voice*

This spread also has a flip:

"Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, doubters do not achieve." - Gordon B. Hinckley
LOOK ALWAYS FOR THE GOOD

The point of this (amazing and beautiful and fabulous) spread is to remind myself to quit being so pessimistic...even when I try to cheat and call it realistic...the point is basically the same.  I think it's true that you tend to see what you look for, so I'm going to start looking for the good a little more often.  Even in stinky situations, there's always something good to find, and that's what I want to see.  Anyone can find the bad parts, it takes a unique person to find the good...and I want to be that person again.  

One good thing I've come across is that Michael's is now carrying their store brand's (Artist's Loft) version of Twinkling H2O's!  Yay!  That's a lot of colors for something like $5...and if you have a coupon (ALWAYS HAVE COUPON!!!)  that's like $3 after tax!  I don't know if the shimmery comes across in the picture, but trust me, they are SHIMMERY:

Fabulous faux Twinks!  I used them on the girl in the awesome 'look always for the good' spread above...she's the perfect amount of shimmery.  (Did I mention how much I love that spread?)

One last good thing I've got to share for today:

O.M.G. !!!  I got this SUPER AWESOME Olivetti Underwood Studio 45 typewriter for $10 when I was in Ohio.  I lugged it  (in it's matching case!!!) all over this humongous flea market that they have in Rogers, OH and I would have carried it to Hades and back if I needed to.  (And it is NOT light...)  This thing is in GREAT working condition, it just needs a new ribbon because the one that's in it is almost used up.  I knew $10 dollars was a steal for a working typewriter, but I Googled it and the cheapest I saw this particular model selling at online was $125 + shipping.  So for TEN dollars, (in my eyes) I got the deal of a lifetime!  I love it so!!!  

I have a plan involving the use of my pretty new/old typewriter...but I'm not ready to share it just yet...you will have to wait in terrible anticipation!  In the meantime, just imagine me hunched over my typewriter like Snoopy... "It was a dark and stormy night..."