A Year in the Life of an Art Journal|one

I am happy to be taking part in A Year in the Life of an Art Journal challenge again.

This year the prompts are for photographers as well as art journalers. 

The challenges are given out on the 15th and 30th of every month.

Here is the challenge for January 15, 2013:

PROMPT: New Year's resolutions or ONE WORD. 

Do you make New Year's resolutions, or take part in the ONE WORD project? 

SHOOTERS: Shoot your mug with your word or something that symbolizes your word.
(Sharing on Monday Mugshots on fb also)

BOOKERS: Use watercolors on your page to emulate your word... (if you don't have water colors, watered down acrylic paint will do just fine.) use color to convey that word and what it means to you. While your paint is WET, sprinkle salt on it, and let it sit. When your paint is dry, brush off the salt.  (people taking part in the creative prompt can put their mugshot for this prompt on this page.) 

 I have been choosing a word for my year for the last five years.

I tend to over-burden myself about unnecessary things 

and this year, I've decided it's time to MINIMIZE.

 For these pages I used a double spread in my almost complete (YAY) journal that was already gesso'd and started covering it with a layer of mod podge and then random pages of vintage text from dictionaries, old scouting book, vintage hymnal, worn copy of Pride and Prejudice, etc.

I just mod podge'd away and didn't worry if there were wrinkles or anything.

Then I started painting on a water color wash of orange...my favorite.

(Make sure your page dries in between each thing you do.)

I added two pictures that I printed off quickly on my regular printer.  One is of my coffee mug that I wrote my One Little Word on.  I used a Sharpie Marker and free-handed on the mug. Then I placed it directly on the oven rack at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or so.  Won't wash off now. :)

The other picture is a little setting I made with some Scrabble tiles to spell out MINIMIZE.

   I added scribbles of oil pastels and gelato here and there.  Did some smudging.  Then I took some Bahama Blue acrylic and just let it drip down my page.  Just anything that made me smile and broke up the orange a bit.

 I began to write random words that represented things I wanted to minimize.  I used a Sharpie marker for the bold words.  Then around the word I used a Glaze gel pen to write how I would MINIMIZE those areas. 

I have found that the Glaze pens work great on top of any type of medium - even the waxy oil pastels.

 I may continue to add things to the pages that I want to MINIMIZE as I think of them, but this is it for now.  

To MINIMIZE fear:

Psalm 56:3~But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.

Colossians 3:15a.~Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

Do you art journal or like taking photos? You can join in on the fun twice a month too!  Just head over to Rachel Whetzel's page to play! 

ATC's, a couple good quotes and One Little Word

 "I did my BEST today and it was ENOUGH"  ~Oil pastels

 "Don't stumble over something behind you." ~acrylics

 My One Little Word for 2013 "minimize" ~watercolors

 My One Little Word cards for the last 5 years. (Click on photo to enlarge)

To read my post about my One Little Word - Go HERE to visit my other blog HE{ART}

Wooo Pig Sooie!! DIY Canvas

This was a fun project that I did for a friend.  I picked up a few canvases on sale at Michael's and had them put away for a while.  I decided it was time to get busy with them!
I used acrylic paint and gave the whole thing a layer of gray and let it dry.  Then I randomly placed several round stickers all over the canvas.  I then painted a layer of black over the whole thing.
When that was dry, I carefully peeled the stickers off the canvas.  I was a little disappointed that some of the paint bled through the edges, but I rolled with it.
I then printed off a picture of the beloved Razorback Hog.  You can trace this or draw it out on your own.  I carefully cut it out and then Mod Podged it down.
I used foam letter stamps and acrylic paint to add the Wooo Pig Sooie!!
My final step was to sand the canvas a bit on the edges.  I just prefer that look, but you don't have to do this.
I am going to be working on another canvas this week where I do a photo transfer.  I will try to remember to take pictures of the process as well.

Have fun and let me know if you try a canvas of your own!

Finding My Wings...

I guess you can see a progression here on the pages.  I didn't realize it, but I think I tend to turn to my soul journal more often during the difficult or confusing times.  I don't know, I think it may be because I don't have to betray myself with words that would not suffice.  I am not a complainer.  I don't like to be negative - even with my closest friends or family, so I turn to my books.  I do journal happy times to of course, but sometimes your heart is heavy and you just need to have an outlet.  I find myself praying as I play with the different mediums and textures.  I may not always love what I've created, but I always feel a little better in spirit.  You should try it.  Clearly, you don't have to be an artist.  Just do what moves you. 

A Beautiful Life...

This canvas has been re-purposed and re-painted several times.  It has recently just been a work in progress for me and I think I'm finally happy with it...for now.

So inspired...

I really, really am thankful for the world wide web. Seriously. I have been making more time for my art. I am definitely on a creative journey. I've started to see that all the doodles, painting, scribbling, pasting, .... there are other people that do it too!!

So, I found Sarah at Caspiana. I found her through a Yahoo group and now I am hooked. She posted a doodle challenge on her blog that I thought was really cool - so I gave it a try. Just to see. I thought it was a lot of fun. I made my first couple attempts at it in my art journal. I liked how the first one turned out, but I loved the second one. Read her directions here, but basically what you do is:

1. Take a thin black permanent marker and just scribble/doodle a pattern. Then take some time to look at your doodle and see if any patterns or shapes jump out at you. Like looking for shapes in the clouds.
2. Now, you darken the lines to pull your character out of the drawing and then run with it. This is what I got...

Found my shape...water colored it...

Tried out some Stampin' Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons (Earth Elements)

Finish off... I just got done doing the poppy painting, so I still had poppy fields on the brain. =)
I journaled that mommy was not a monster. Just 'cause she wants things a certain way, wants the best for her children, her family, wants the best for her home... She gets cranky or edgy sometimes when things don't work out - but she's not a monster. hahaha
This was my second try and I really like it. This is my SLUG BUSTER. I was getting pretty sluggish in my art room. I got to where I'd rather watch videos of others creating instead of me getting my hands dirty and instead of me feeling challenged to express myself...until the Slug Buster came along. She was not going to have any of that. I thanked Sarah for being an Inspiration to me. My boy has also been hanging out with snails lately...always bringing them in for me to see, so that's probably why both my creatures have slug tendencies. haha. Again, I used watercolor, gesso, acrylic wash and walnut ink.

The other place I've been finding lots of inspiration is at Donna Downey's blog. Oh.wow. I would really love to buy one of her journals, but it's a bit pricey for me right now. She posts an Inspirational Video every Wednesday and they are nothing fancy. Just her creating. I was inspired by one of her videos where she did poppies just like this (I am not hiding that my poppies were totally copying hers, but that's what I wanted to do.) - she used some text from a book (Eclipse, I think) and I used some text from Pride and Prejudice of course. =) That's what I made the flowers with. Then I chose words that represented areas that I felt I was growing in or in which I needed to grow...
The colors are super bright and I love it. Lots of acrylic paint, black beads, gesso...oh, how I love gesso...
You can see her video here.

Anyway, I am loving the journey. I am really, really wanting to change up my blog. I'd like to have one blog with tabs and maybe split up my week to talk about my interests more evenly. If you know of a blog or website or artist that you think I should check out - I'd love if you shared it with me. I am on a roll and I love it. Really growing...

Sneek Peek!

FINALLY!! Back in my studio...paint under my nails. Just having fun. Taryn asks what I'm making.

"I dunno."

I'm just playing.

I have an idea...but I don't know.

I just need to get in here and do...you know?

Stay tuned to see where this goes...