January finished

Happy February!

I finished the last of January's calendar yesterday. I used acrylic paints for the background of both pages and stenciled white flowers randomly. The white numbers for the dates are VERY old rub-ons - think they might have been Making Memories and must be from my very early days of paper crafting! The black tag on the right page is one I did from a recent video of Roben-Marie Smith. The black "x's" are hand-stitched and then I machine-stitched around the perimeter of the tag. What to do with it once it was completed? Put it in my journal of course!

Life Documented - January Week 4

We were in Albuquerque over this past weekend for our grandson, Grant's second birthday. It also was our daughter, Dana's birthday the day before, so it was a party weekend! My other daughter, Kelly, came from Austin with her two boys so it was great to have all the grands there together. Got back late last night and slept in today for much-needed rest!

Birthday boy (he's obsessed with trains)

Drew and Carl playing Pie in the Face
(note, no whipped cream but they still had fun)

The lollipop kids
(only way to keep them still long enough for a photo!)

Today I worked on finishing up my calendar for last week.  I used a printout for the days of the week and used the full spread instead of just one page since I knew there would be a lot happening to fill in.

Drawing a Face

Yesterday I played in my art journal again. I can't draw faces very well and need to practice, practice, practice.

So this is my latest face. I first collaged various papers in the background and lightly swiped white and pink paint around to unify it. Then I started drawing the face. I have seen several instructions that all tell how to draw an oval and divide it into sections to get the proper proportions, but my previous attempts have not been very good. This one, however, I'm more pleased with.

I kept it very sketchy and used a bit of my new flesh-colored acrylic paints from Jane Davenport to paint in her skin. I used the "Mermaid Markers" for the wisps of hair. (By the way, these aren't really markers at all. Rather they are water brushes filled with non-permanent water colors. Gorgeous bright colors and tons of fun to play with!) The photo shows a reflection in the black of the pupils which isn't in the original.

The flowers in her hair are just "blobs" of white paint with a bit of pink swirled in while wet. Then I added gray paint for the centers and scribbled white and black pens around.

I didn't shade much - that will be my next challenge...

Art Journal Page

It's been so-o-o long since I've done a page in an art journal! And I've been under the weather this past week with a bad cough and laryngitis (haven't been able to talk for three days!). Today my voice is coming around and I decided to try to get my muse up and running again!

 I was inspired by a blogger I follow (Tiare Smith) and followed along with her video to do a page much like hers. Mine turned out a bit different as I didn't have all the same supplies, but it got me creating! Loved getting all painty and messy!

I've missed you art journaling!

Busy week

It's been a busy, productive week! I am officially up-to-date on my four grand boys' scrapbooks, having finished the last of the fifteen Christmas pages last night! But wait, there's a second birthday coming up next week so I will have more to do soon.

Above is a photo of this past week's calendar page and journal page. I have been swept up in the tide of "gotta-have-it" Jane Davenport art supplies (if interested, check out www.janedavenport.com) that just debuted in Michael's stores this month. I purchased her "Mermaid Markers" (liquid watercolors in brush form), a few stamps, and acrylic paints.  I tested out the "markers" on these pages.

For the calendar I just created washes of color for each day, separating with strips of washi tape. On the right page, I scribbled some color and stamped two faces. Then I added more color in the faces and for hair. I had fun playing with these and have discovered I need lots of practice! But it is nice to have a stamp to start off the face!

It's been awhile since I've been excited about any new supplies so I'm really enjoying this release. I've admired Jane's work for a long time and am so happy that she has her own products.

Creativation (formerly CHA - Craft and Hobby Assoc.) is being held in Phoenix this weekend where art and craft companies will be releasing all their new products. I can't wait to see what's on the horizon!

Valentine Row House Swap

It's a new year with new swaps to join in my online group.  The first one I've joined is for swapping three Valentine-themed "row houses."  I made three similar ones and sent to three people. I will receive three from others in return. 

The houses had to be created on heavy card stock, chipboard or watercolor paper and were to be between 3.5-4" wide and 6-7" tall.  They are due by the end of January, but I finished mine a few days ago and have already sent them on - so happy to be ahead of the deadline!

These are in a mixed media style with lots of paints, stenciling, stamping and collage. It's hard to see, but I added drywall tape behind the corrugated hearts for additional texture. The scallops are hand-cut book pages covered with gesso and some doodling.

Can't wait to see what I receive!

Calendar/Planner/Life Documented for 2017

I can't believe it's been ten days since my last post! Where does the time go?

We spent last weekend in Austin with our two grand boys there since we hadn't spent Christmas with them. It was a quick trip but, as always, lots of fun and hugs and kisses. They are growing up way too fast! 

The Documented Life Project (Art to the 5th) gals are not continuing the project this year so I decided to do a mix of the last three years on my own. This will be much less structured. The part I loved most about the past few years is the memory-keeping aspect of the project, so I will continue that.

I decided to use a Traveler's Notebook (Midori-style) which I created out of plain papers with a kraft cover. I think I will be able to get half of the year in one.  I printed out monthly calendars to put in the beginning of each month for a monthly view and punched and stamped divider tabs for each month. I will use one half of each open spread as the weekly calendar and the other half as an art journal/memory-keeper. Some uneventful weeks will just have some art; other eventful weeks will be more "scrapped." I've also added various washi tapes along the edges of all the pages which looks so yummy.

Week 1

Week 2

So far, I'm loving this format and am enjoying the process. it's not as involved as last year and I'm hoping I will spend less time on the planner and more time working on other art.   Stay tuned...