Letting Go

Lately I've been taking some e-courses in an attempt to get my creative juices flowing again. Jeanne Oliver's most recent class called, The Journey of Letting Go - Creating Beauty From Ashes, is the one I have immersed myself in lately. We've been making a variety of journals (the one shown here is a canvas covered saddle stitched journal) which is great for me because it seems as though the only "art" I've managed to do lately is journaling.

I love working with textures and various mediums, although sometimes I have to push myself to try using things that are not in my typical arsenal of tools and courses like this remind me to do that. It's good to leave our comfort-zone once in a while and discover new things, although going "outside the box' is usually a scary thing for me to do.

xo

jeanne

Letting Go

- Image by Jeanne Oliver - 

My head is filled with anticipation because this coming week I will be starting Jeanne Oliver's new art e-course entitled, "The Journey of Letting Go - Creating Beauty From Ashes." I'm not 100% sure what all it will entail, but I've taken all of Jeanne's e-courses and each one was worth every penny. If you think the class sounds intriguing, you can read more about it here or watch a video about it here. I hope you can join us in this four week adventure!

Altered Journal

The past few days I've been working on my altered journal from the Creatively Made class I am taking. I am finally finished....I think. Sometimes it's hard to know when to stop.

This is what the journal looked like before I began altering it. It's just a inexpensive journal I found in the $1.00 bin at Michael's.

I collaged the cover with lots of vintage papers, inks, paints and stamps, etc.

Next, I added more details to my girl.

And finally, I added some gold wire and beads to the spine of the journal to give it a little bling.

What you don't see is the entire box of neatly organized beads turned upside down on the floor of my studio after it fell off the edge of my work table! I spent the rest of the afternoon picking them all up from the carpet and re-sorting them back into their various compartments.

Journal Update

Not too long ago, I signed up to take a wonderful journaling e-course from Hope Wallace Karney called Nostalgic Musings. Since the class, I've been adding to my journal bit by bit and thought I would share a few pages with you that I recently completed.

The page above features a favorite quotation and a paper lace doily I tinted pink with Glimmer Mist. Then I added a pleated candy paper from one of my favorite chocolates - Frango Mints. The long tag on the right side of the page is a clothing tag from a Merona t-shirt I purchased from Target that I covered with pretty paper.
I found a rubber stamp with another favorite quote which I just stumbled upon, I think at Hobby Lobby - but I'm not 100% sure about that. The chipboard scalloped oval I cut from a cereal box using my Sizzix machine. It's that original red machine they made which I dug out to sell at a garage sale. I was playing around with it in between sales and I had so much fun I decided not to sell it afterall.
This page I just finished this morning. Hope likes to use a lot of cupcake liners in her journals and I like that look also. There are so many fun designs out there now. These two I picked up from Michael's, thanks to my sweet friend Elyse who told me about them.
I drew this little birdie free hand. He reminds me of the little wren that I told you about in this post. The "souvenir" card is from Olga's Designs, who sells the most beautiful digital art on Etsy. I attached a fabric tab to the bottom and hinged it with washi tape on the top so I can add "secret" journaling underneath.

Another cereal box scalloped oval with a graceful swan inside. The template for the swan came from the tag on a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans - the swan is the company logo.

{Did you know that Anderson Cooper is her son?}

Hope you're having a lovely day!

Weekend Getaway

We had a chance to drive up to our cottage this past weekend. It had been two whole months since we were last there. The photo shown above is not our cottage, but the "art cottage" of Pipka, an artist who has long been a resident of the area. Pipka began her career by making gorgeous hand-painted Santas. She continues to create them, but has also delved into the world of mixed media collage. The pieces she had on display and for sale were full of wonderful texture and dimension. Someday I hope to take a class here at Pipka's beautifully landscaped studio.

Her gardens are truly amazing! What glorious surroundings to create art in.

Such meticulously manicured planting beds.

The blossoms on this Horse Chestnut tree were HUGE!

The Siberian Iris blooms made quite a statement. I forgot to take my camera along, so all these photos were taken with my cell phone. Everything was even more awesome in person!

Two different types of Lilac bushes - my favorite scent of all the flowers!

Next time I'll share some of my vintage finds from the trip.

Monday, Monday

Wow, I just realized it's been a week since my last post! Where does the time go? I've been busy following along with the gals in Teresa McFayden's Freestyle Embroidery class making this spring sampler and I really, really am enjoying it. Hand stitching is one of the most restful, peaceful, types of crafts to do. You can do it anywhere; take it with you anywhere. So portable and so satisfying. I was re-introduced to it last summer in Charlotte's class at ArtFiberFest where I made this. We had a bit of a distraction in the class (those of you who took that class with me know what I am talking about) but it didn't even matter because we were all so busy concentrating on our hand-stitching.
Have you seen this magazine yet? It is officially due out tomorrow, but copies have been popping up little by little all over the place. Flea Market Style is a collaboration between the amazingly talented Matthew Mead and Ki Nassauer (formerly of Junk Market fame). Like me, many of you have been following along with Matthew and Ki during the entire inception of this magazine, which I liken somewhat to waiting for the birth of a new baby. Well let me tell you -you MUST get yourself a copy when you see it, because it is definitely worth the long wait.

And yes, Mr. ground hog was correct about the 6 weeks of more winter. And here's the proof - more snow! I was up early and snapped this photo. Everything looked so pretty with a fresh dusting of the white stuff. But regardless of it's lovely look I am still wishing for spring.

ROD Journal Swap

I told you that I have been making a new journal as a part of Mary Ann Moss' Remains of the Day class. These are some pages I made for a class swap. Everyone seems to have a different style, so it's fun to stir the pot and mix it up a little to add some variety to our journals.

I hope Janet likes these pages I made for her.

Longing for Spring

It's still January and I am already longing for springtime. I think January is the l-o-n-g-e-s-t month of the year! The weather here is cold and gloomy and gray. YUK! That's pretty typical for winter in the midwest, but please Mr. Sunshine ~ could you show your face every once in a while?
In an attempt to keep myself from completely going bonkers with cabin fever, I signed up for Teresa McFayden's Paper Romance E-Zine. Here is one of my completed projects ~ a shabby-glam notepad. Now I can't help but smile whenever I make out my grocery and To-Do lists. And the best part about this project is I didn't have to buy a thing to make it. I only used supplies I had on hand.

A Very Special Box

I finally finished the box to go with my Beautiful Life journal that I told you about here. At first I couldn't find a box that was the right size for the journal. Then I discovered that those photo inexpensive boxes that they sell practically everywhere fit it perfectly. I bought a plain white one at Hobby Lobby and then painted the outside a creamy color.
I embellished the lid with a copy of ephemera Heather provided in her class. The ink in my printer was running low and so it printed out with a pale pink tone - perfect! After that I added some beaded bridal trim to the side of the lid.

Vintage wallpaper, a page from a French novel, raffle ticket, vintage photo, satin ribbon, tulle, a coffee filter rosette and rhinestone earring finish off the lid.

The inside of the lid was collaged with vintage papers coated with glaze. The French flashcard says, "la belle vie" - (the beautiful life).
The bottom of the box was collaged just like the inside of the lid and then a wide piece of beautiful lace was attached to the sides of the box and then left to drape down to the bottom, forming the a billowy "nest" for the journal.

It's so nice to have such a lovely place to keep my Beautiful Life journal.

Art Journaling

Have you seen the new issue of Stampington's Art Journaling?

The premier issue of this publication was a huge, huge hit. I can understand why, because art journaling seems to have really taken off in the art community lately.  So everyone has been anxiously awaiting this next issue. The cover features the artwork of Dina Wakley from Get It Scrapped. I've taken a couple of online journaling classes from Dina - Art Journaling 102 and Masterful Art Journaling. Her classes are great and I especially like the videos she uses to teach her techniques. Below is one of my journal pages from her Art Journaling 102 class, which uses some of the same techniques she used on her cover artwork above.

The arrival of the new issue of Art Journaling really got my journal juices flowing, so I got out the various journals I'm currently working in and played in each of them. I even put together some new journals for a few special projects I am working on!  

Speaking of special projects, with my birthday coming up next week I thought the perfect way to celebrate would be to have a GIVEAWAY!  Stop by back here on Monday for all the details.