I’ve been spending most of my art time in my journal this week. This page was created by taking a white paper bag I got while “art” shopping earlier this week. I crumpled the bag and used Mod Podge to adhere it to my journal page. I LOVED creating on a crinkly surface. I used a decorative paper napkin for her dress, leaving the layers on the napkin makes the dress look like fabric. With the use of stencil and stamps I created the floral background that mimics parts of her dress. I dug through some of my crafty goodies and found 3D flowers to add to this “bag-lady.” Journaling is a great practice. I had given it up for about a year but came back to it after I broke my ankle. It helps exercise your creative muscle, and gives you an imaginative means for practice. It’s also a fantastic way to apply experimentation to your art. You can be “brave” in journals… we all know how when we prepare a piece for sale or presentation that we want certain elements to shine. The one’s we’ve practiced on forever! Er-go…. grab your journal… practice outside the box and soon you’ll be making pieces that are more unique, more polished, and more from your heart. Happy TGIF to you all. I hope you have an awesome weekend. I plan to have a great one myself! And… I’ll be starting mine off by finding some yummy treats at the local grocers to share with my hubs. Cheese, Chocolate, Cherries, Chianti, & more!
♥ Cats ♥
We get this wonderful newsletter in the mail bi-annually from a local pet establishment. They do a news-type magazine very similar to the ones you might be getting from Trader Joe’s. I keep each and every copy. Even though where we are living now won’t allow us pets… one day I’ll have a small dog to take on walks.☺For this journal entry I used a page from the almanac as a background and drew a cat. I then circled every “cat” word on the page. I added bling, stickers, collage papers, glitter, rhinestones, and anything cat-like, and/or pink I could get my hands on to complete this recycled style art journal entry. I used pencils, pens, chalks, and charcoals to complete this… along with inks and stencils. This was fun, messy, and therapeutic! One day I’ll have my pet! I promised to share my shopping adventure from Tuesday with you. So here we go! Here’s a snapshot of my “loot.”
Stickers, rub-ons, tissue papers, spoons, paints, skulls, swirls, notebooks, stencils, paintbrushes, rhinestones, metals, rubber-stamps, napkins, and oh so much more! Does this not look delicious? You can bet I’ll be diving in soon. As for the spoons… I think I’ll be putting wood burned patterns on them and using them for decorative purposes. Stay tuned to find out just exactly what happens to those buggers. And.. happy pre-TGIF! God Bless! I hope to see you back here tomorrow for a journal entry that I’ve been playing with today! Until then, please share what’s in your journal or on your easel!
♥ Coraline’s Garden ♥
After mulling over this painting for a week I finally decided I wanted to paint Coraline in her garden, where she was happiest. I added button centers to the flowers strung with metallic threads to add sparkle and punch. I used stenciling, stamping, flowers cut from paper doilies, confetti circles, tiny fingernail art stickers, and finger painted some glitters about the garden. I think she turned out pretty sweet. And since it’s summer with flowers blooming all about it’s also quite appropriate. Thankfully our heatwave has taken a vacation and we have a nice overcast day with gray clouds so it looks as though the flowers will be getting watered by Mother Nature. I played late last night in my art journal before watching a few episodes of The Dresden Files… thanks to Netflix! We’ll watch the final episode tonight. I wasn’t quite ready to get up this morning when I woke up but I did so anyway as I knew that painting awaited and that always lures me up as does the smell of coffee perking, I’ll be pouring my first cup very soon! ☺ Happy Tuesday, it’s time to take a peek inside the toy box again this week.
◄Tammy’s Toys►
Yep! We all need a button like this on our keyboards. My keyboard is packed with keys, but this one is the one I wish I could make work. I haven’t yet decided where to put this… it’s got a sticky back that you can peel off so you can put the button where you want. I’m sure I’ll find someplace very creative to put this clever guy. Not quite the same type of button that Coraline has but a button nonetheless. Once I decide this guys final resting place I’ll be sure to share it with you. Until then it sits on my keyboard and I “pretend” to use it when necessary. Get out there and have a great day and I’ll be back here tomorrow to share last night late journal play with you.
◄ Some Days it’s the Pits ►
Especially on Mondays! I LOVE this gal. I sketched her out so fast on the wooden canvas that I was amazed at what came out of the pencil. My first thought was to go completely “Goth” with her… but I kept pausing when I tried. Then I looked at the new collage papers I bought and I saw the cherries! YES! I knew right away what was going to become of this mini 4×4″. What a blast! I love that she looks like she’s got the biggest tude’ going on…. and yes some days it really is the pits. Those are the days you want to crawl back into bed and read, sleep, cry, eat peanut butter out of the jar, and cover your head with a blanket. Thankfully those days don’t happen too often so when they do the peanut butter isn’t too much of a guilty pleasure.☺This is a great piece to give a friend who’s going through a “pity” time. It’s cheery enough to bring a smile, and attitude-ey enough to get the message across letting her know that “yep”… I understand! I hope your Monday isn’t a bowl full of pits! I hope you have a cherry of a day! See you back tomorrow for more creative cherry juice!
I’ve been playing a lot in my art journal lately and glued a piece of this paper onto a page and instantly saw faces… I started off making little “dot” people. Each one has their own personality and attitude. Or could each one be the same person showing off all their different sides. We all have a lot of different “people” living within us and we show many of our “moods” each day. I had fun drawing the faces of one’s many selves. I titled it “Be Yourself” and I’ll let you decided whether this is a plethora of people or simply one person.
Then…. I got the idea (as I have 2 large sheets of this paper) to use the dots as flower centers. That was great fun! I used watercolor pencils and drew around each “dot” and created a virtual garden in my art journal. I think it turned out wonderful and it makes me smile each time I look at it.
I have more of this paper…And I plan to use all of it in my journal creating something different each time. What do you see when you look at the “dots?” I have a few ideas but I’d love to hear what you see. Dot’s it for today! I hope you have a relaxing and joy-filled Sunday and I hope to see you back here tomorrow. God Bless you all!
▼Blame it on the Rain▼
She makes me think of puppy dog hair. When it rains it pours. Especially here in the Pacific Northwest… and I love it! ‘Most of the time.’ This whimsical approach to getting caught in the rain is a mass of messiness that has everything from tin foil to melted crayons on it. I let the colors flow together and look water-soaked on purpose. I just had “fun” with her. All that’s left now is to varnish and add a picture hanger. I finished her this morning and worked today on a pretty pink painting which I will share tomorrow. I have 3 more works in progress going on my desk now along with a fun journal entry I’m playing with. I’ve got steaks marinating for dinner and will be grilling some veggies for supper. I hope everyone has recovered from the mayhem of the 4th of July and that your neighborhoods have returned to being “quiet” again. It was fun while it lasted but it’s always good to have things return to normal. Until tomorrow, I hope you have a very relaxing 2sday evening and that your creative juices are overflowing!
*Tammy’s Toys*
Today’s toy is a sarcastic book of quotes. Some silly, some unmentionable, some cute, and some extremely redneck. Here’s a few I feel safe enough sharing. “That adhesive’s so good, it’d hold a bad marriage together.” ~~~ “That makes about as much sense as a screen door on a submarine.” ~~~ “If brains was dynamite, he wouldn’t have enough to blow his nose.” ~~~ “He’s a few sandwiches short of a picnic.” ~~~ “Beatin’ a dead horse don’t make it taste better.” ~~~ And so on.
