More art journaling for February.

Julie over at Balzer Designs has asked if we would like to participate for another month of Art Journaling and I am definitely in for more of the same. I don't get to it everyday but I've certainly done more than ever before and am enjoying it tremendously. It's slowly sinking into my mind that I don't need to do a whole page at a time. It's fun to just do little bits here and there and see where it goes from there. Before, I felt that once I got started I couldn't stop until I'd completed a page and it was hard to find the time for that. So I'll continue to explore with my art journaling for another month at least.

Oh, it's time for the One World One Heart event over at A Whimsical Bohemian. It's an amazing event where you can meet many wonderful bloggers and have a chance to win too. Check out her site for more information. It's her last year she will be holding the event so don't miss out. I will have my give away posted tomorrow some time. So come on back to check it out!

Theme Thursday

It's Theme Thursday over at Sheila's blog. This is the last week for January's theme which is inspiration. So as I went into the studio this morning the first thing I noticed that inspired me was this word canvas that I did last week. I've made 2 other ones that sold at shows last year so I thought I'd try some more. Maybe I'll even get to keep one for my own wall to keep me inspired all year long, LOL!

So what's inspiring you today? Head over to Sheila's to see what's inspired her today and share your own inspirations.

Early Valentine's...

It may seem early for Valentine's but that's the theme this week over at Kard Krazy. I pulled out a stamp that I've had for a few years but have almost never used. When I first got it I didn't know much about the different kind of inks and when I tried it out the image didn't work very well since it was so detailed and I was probably using pigment ink, so I put it away and kind of forgot about it. So when I was leafing through my binders of stamps and came across this one I thought it was time to try it again since it would work so well for the theme. I used VersaFine ink and was amazed at how well the image turned out. It definitely won't be so long until I use this stamp again.

I'm also entering this tag into the Compendium of Curiosities challenge over at Studio L3. I've been wanted to try this since I got the book for Christmas but just haven't been able to squeeze it in. The theme was Weathered Wood Grunge on page 50. I know it doesn't look like I made any weathered wood but I used the technique on the hearts. I hadn't used this technique yet and I think it turned out pretty good for a first time.

I actually made a few more Valentine's tags today but I'll share them with you another day. I'm making them for Laura who is going to be bringing them to a few seniors homes on Valentine's Day. Isn't that a great idea!

Playing with metal scraps.

Yesterday found me pulling out my Ten Second Studio metal. I haven't played with it in a while and was really just looking for something to add to another project, but I got the inspiration to use up some of my scraps on a mirror. Once I got started I couldn't stop until it was finished. Well almost couldn't, I got called away to go out for dinner with Mom, Dad and sister Nancy. Oh yeah and the Tin Man. He was lucky he got to come with since it was too cold to be away working! What's a girl to do, I have to eat too right. So I didn't get back at it until today but finish it I did. I now have at least 2 more ideas for metal mirrors. I do that a lot. When I'm working on one piece I'll have ideas for other pieces or variations of the one I'm on. I usually want to try it in different colour or style variations. I seem to be in the altered art mode and I'm just running with it. What mode are you in this week?

Winter tag.

This weeks theme over at Kard Krazy is Winter. The first thing that came to mind was blues and snowflakes so I rummaged through my stash and found a tag with some blue inks already started. Once I stamped and embossed the snowflakes white I added a few more blues with inks and glimmer mist. I cut out the buildings and then realized they needed something in the open spaces so yellow was added for that warm winter glow.

I'm heading over to check out this other tags now. See ya soon!

Work in progress

I'm finding it very helpful to think about what inspires me and I love to take photo's, so Sheila Theme Thursday has been easy and lot of fun this month. This morning the first thing that came to mind that inspires me is my work space. I think it's even more inspiring when it's messy because I'm in the middle of a project so I went down into the studio to see what kind of mess I had left it in last night. Actually it wasn't all that bad, at least not for me. Well I'm not going to show you the whole table so you can just guess what kind of messy worker I am! I finished a word canvas yesterday and was just starting to decide what letters I was going to put on this mirror when my brain told me to go to bed. So I did. I couldn't even remember this morning how far I'd gotten with finding letters. Isn't the mind a strange and wonderful thing. Well maybe mine is a little more strange than most, at least that's how it feels lately. These are letters I made for my Metal Exemplar but didn't end up using. I'm not sure if they will end up on this piece either. I'll try to post it when I get done.

Don't forget to check out what's inspiring others over at Theme Thursday.

Bloom...

I've done a couple of Art Journal pages this week but this is my favourite. I started off with text from an old book for the background, continued with layers of gesso, paint, ink and glimmer mist till the background was finished. The flowers were already almost made from a previous project and the words were stamped on.

Now I'm off the my ATC meeting this afternoon. I'll try to remember to bring my camera so I can share everyones cards with you later.

Tag Tuesday

Yes I know I'm so off my days but such is the creative movement this week. I have such great intentions to try more challenges this year but the time keeps slipping away. Oh well such is life. I did get my tag done this week. The theme over at Kard Krazy this week is "a bit of fabric". I had visions of making an all material tag but then I realized that would entail using the sewing machine or a needle at the very least and that just wasn't going to happen this week. So I pulled out some scraps of material and used my die cutter to make my bird. Wow how easy is that! It cut the material really well, definitely something I'll be trying again.

Go check out some of the other amazing tags over at Kard Krazy. I'm off to finish an Art journaling page.

Inspiration...

Okay I'm a little late for Theme Thursday but I thought I'd share anyway. The Tin Man has had to listen to me for months, going on about wanting to get a disc cutter and not being able to find one in stock any where. If it was possible he would have gotten it for me for Christmas but alas it was not. So finally it has arrived and this is definitely been my inspiration for this week. As you can see I had to hurry and cut out one of each of the 11 sizes of discs that it cuts. Oh, my mind is spinning with ideas to try out. I'm hoping to get some jewelry creating time in the next day or so. I'll share my creations with you ASAP.

Go check out what Sheila's inspiration is this week and share yours on her linky. It's so interesting to see what other's are inspired by.

Journal page

For this page I used scraps of paper for the background. Stamped letters for the Direction. Then I did some journaling about having more direction in my life this year. It's probably not very legible but it was just for me anyway. I then dumped an almost empty bottle of white paint here and there on the page and used the opening to make the circle. A few Distress inks blended things together and I finished it off with some grunge arrows.

So my word for the year or maybe just for the time being is DIRECTION.

Check out some of the other art journals on the flickr Art Journal Every Day to see some of the other participants amazing work.

Mosaic tag.

Almost didn't get this posted before the next tag Tuesday challenge over at Kard Krazy! So this will be a quick post. The theme this week was "mosaic". The first thing that came to mind was some kind of paper mosaic. Then I remember a technique I did a few years ago on some cards. I cut up lots a different sizes of paper and used embossing powder for the "grout" . Lot's of fun and a great way to use up scraps.

Now on to some journal pages!

Theme Thursday

I've been checking out a lot of blog challenges in the last few week. I seem to be drawn to them for some reason(I'll have to contemplate that later!) So I'm trying to choose a few to start with but it's been hard because their are so many great ones and I'm trying to get some peace and balance into my life right now. Although I think these challenges will start me on my 2011 Journey nicely I don't want to forget my other obligations...okay maybe I do want to forget them but it's not an option! Okay maybe I'm thinking too much again LOL.

Any way when I saw my friend Sheila's new challenge over on her photo blog, I was inspired right away, which is her theme for this month. So I looked around at what has inspired me this week and within minutes I had my photo ready to post. I just got these colourful Sharpie markers the other day and was working on my Art Journal front page while watching TV that night. I don't think it's finished yet but it's coming along. Last night I was reading this great book I picked up at the library called "Scraptastic!" by Ashley Calder. It has all sorts of different mixed media techniques for scrap booking. I think these techniques could be used for so many different kinds of project though. I don't know if you can see it but the book on the bottom of the pile is Rose Reisman's Family Favorite cook book that I received from a friend before Christmas. It's a great book. I've tried one recipe so far and have a lot marked to try. So this is what is inspiring me at the moment. So how about you, what's inspiring you?

Digital Magic

I just found this great contest to win an online class called Digital Magic. Check it out here for a chance to learn how to collage with Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. I enjoy playing with Photoshop Elements but oh do I need to learn so much more. Imagine the possibilities!

First journal page of 2011.

Here is my first Art journal page for the year. The background is some scrap paper that was left over after doing some print making on gelatin with Christian over the holiday. This was the paper that Christian was wiping off his ink roller, stamps and stencils after using them. It was too cool to throw away so instead of putting in the drawer with interesting scraps I thought I'd use it up right away.

Does any one have a good way to use up some of all those scraps of paper. They seem to be building up here and I can create fast enough. The drawers and boxes are filling up around me with wonderful bits of scrap paper of all kinds. I keep telling myself I'll use if making cards and such but after spending a few hours making cards there doesn't seem to be a dent in any of the piles. What's a girl to do? Any suggestions? Something wonderfully creative that uses up lots of odds and ends of paper? Any one?!!

New visions...

Yes I'm still here. Sorry I've been so neglectful of you blogger friends. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and happy new year. We had a wonderful time here with the boys home for a while.

My energy level at the beginning of the holiday was low with some old shoulder and neck issues bothering me along the way also so we kept things pretty quiet. As a result very little creativity was happening around here for the last few weeks and no energy for blogging. The Tin Man helped me de-Christmas the house and do some tidying over the weekend so today I was able to start my week in the studio. What a wonderful way to start the year. I have many new ideas and visions for this year. The lists are started. How about you? Any new ideas or visions for the new year? I'm not much on resolutions but I usually find myself writing many list this time of year. Luckily January is a pretty quiet time of year for me so I can work on my lists and new ideas. I've been checking out a few new blogs lately and found some new challenges for this year. I'm looking forward to sharing them with you through out the year. My first challenge is going to be to do an Art Journal Every Day with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer at Balzer Designs. I've signed up for the month of January. I don't know about doing it each day but I'll try. So far I have one done. I'll share it with you later this week.

I'll let you know about a few of the other challenges I'm thinking of doing later this week also. For now I think I'll go and play with a few of my new toys I got for Christmas as you can see above.

Get creating!