A quick look at new weekend art, done with a few supplies and tools thrown into my pool bag. Loved being able to combine some family time with being creative!
The quote from e.e. Cummings really spoke to me. I’m finding my courage…but hope that I’ll never truly grow up!
Some paper embellishments glued down and painted and marked. Love how these add depth and fun.
The bird was a magazine cutout that I embellished.
Enjoying the hand-lettering.
Have a good week!
I’ve been doing the Documented Life Project over at Art to the 5th Academy. Every month the challenges have a theme, and then each week, the challenges have a different focus…mediums, tools, etc. I have been loving it! I got started a bit late, but try to do as many weeks as I can. This week’s challenge was to use inks in your journal. Dyan Reaveley was the guest artist, and she has a great blog post on her interpretation here.
I decided to ink my background and then use my Speedball pen and India inks for the lettering. I’ve been trying to practice my hand lettering. I really enjoy it…but need to learn more. More on that later.
To finish my page, I decided to zentangle the anchor. I haven’t zentangled in a while, and I forgot how much I love it. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I mean, I only stopped for dinner. I may have even been working on it while I made dinner. Luckily nothing burned…
Did you do something creative this weekend?
I’ve been crushing on art journaling. Getting my hands dirty and just mixing colors, papers, textures until I find something I like. But I’ve noticed that sometimes, I create and I end up with something that didn’t quite translate what was in my head. And I finished, thinking, “done is good.” But as the day went on, I just couldn’t let it go.
And that’s ok.
I went back and changed things, and ended up with a result that I’m much happier with. So here’s how it went. I finished the first time, and here’s what I had. I like it alright – but there was something about the bottom that just didn’t work for me. I letters weren’t what I wanted.
I liked how the top turned out. I even liked the background on the bottom, but the letters – nope. The sentiment was what I wanted, but I felt like it lost some of the impact.
Later in the day – I decided to go back to it. See if I could make it more what I felt. So I added some gesso to the bottom, and let it dry. Walked away to think about it.
And I already liked it better. But, ya, I wasn’t done.
I added some rubber stamps to some old book pages, and embellished them a bit, and then added some water colored flowers I had made as a trial a few days ago.
So much better! I’m much happier with how things turned out. Now it’s done.
Ever since I heard this podcast from the Paperclipping Rountable, I’ve been so excited to get my own planner. See, I love paper. No, really, I love it. I am quite possibly a paper addict. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love technology, and use it for tons of organizing, but there’s just something about the act of writing something down. Something about opening a book that’s all mine and putting my thoughts, my plans, my “stuff” in there. After the show was over, I started looking at what kind of planner I might like. I don’t like traditional “by the week” or “monthly” calendars. And I kept thinking I just wanted a place to doodle. To brainstorm. To have a place to document this journey I’m on.
And then I found the traveler’s notebook. It’s just basically a cover – with elastic – which allows you to put in whatever.you.want. And that’s when I knew that’s what I wanted! I saw leather ones, vinyl ones, fabric ones – and they were all so amazing, I decided I need to try to create my own. Because that’s what I do.
So I found some fabric – just scraps really, to give it a try. I got some elastic and some stabilizer to give it some
weight. I measured, I cut, I ironed and punched. And it turned out really great! For my first one. I definitely want to do some more. Hone it – you know, make it more mine. But here it is, the first one.
I also created some inserts for it, little booklets to hold dreams and doodles. That was fun too – probably because it involved more paper. I want to 
make some more of those too – maybe even some envelopes, pockets…I can tell this will be addictive.
Do you like paper? How about journals or planners? What’s your favorite kind?
I’ve been wanting to document some of the projects I’ve been working on – so I’m starting a weekly peek post into my artful activities.
Today’s I Spy is a look into my Art Journal. I’ve been using the Documented Life Project as prompts for my journal, and it’s been great exploring new techniques and getting into a creative state of mind.
This page was based on the March 21 prompt, “Art as a focal point”. The theme for March is “making your mark (doodles and mark making)”.
I started the page by using some old scraps of paper, torn and pasted down, then began adding layers of paint and using bought stamps and some home made stamps (in this case, made from cardboard) to mark the page. I also used cotton swabs to add some of the dots on the page, and a white pen to detail them. I used some letter stamps to add the quote “today is a time of great change”. I’ve been really feeling that lately – I need a change. Still working through what that means – practically, but it seems change has been on my mind, in my soul. I’ll have to see where it leads.
I used india ink and a calligraphy pen to add some words from the book “The Moonstone” by Wilkie Collins, which I’ve started reading. I also added some additional color and interest by putting some strips of washi tape about the page. I like how the butterflies look a little like stamps.
My focal point is the flowers – which I cut from pages I had gelli printed (this is a new technique for me – and I can’t wait to do some more. After pasting them to the page, I added some shadowing and then some more marks to help them stand out.
I don’t think this page is done, I believe I’ll go back to it later and add some more marks and doodles.