New Art Journal Pages

Happy Sunday Friends! How are you all doing? I am trying  my best to not melt in this heat wave we are having. I love a little sunshine for sure, but uncomfortable heat - NO thank you! :) But... it does give me some time for creating which is a definite plus in my book. I am so close to finishing up my 9x12 Strathmore Visual Journal!! I am determined to complete it this summer!! No excuses. I just need to keep my artsy mojo flowing and get to my studio table a bit every day. My creative focus this month: happy canvases for my shop, finishing my journal and keeping up with Project Life.

This last week I finished this little cutie. I had already glued down a bunch of extra little bits I had laying around onto the page. I like doing that because I have an immediate jumping off point. I open up my journal and I already have a page started. I threw down some gesso, got out a bunch of bright, cheerful acrylic paint, and I was off. Her face came out of the background after several layers. I didn't really plan to do a portrait (I can't seem to stop!), but she happened. :)

I love the swirly textured card on the right side of her dress. It was a piece of a small note card I had been given. The texture of the card really looks beautiful and the gesso I used lightly over top picked up the edges. SO cool! Of course I felt that my girl needed some words. "She found beauty anyway" fit the way I was feeling perfectly. This phrase was from an old print out from The Brave Girls Club Soul Restoration class I took a couple of years ago.

I really like the way my other page turned out too. It was another page in my journal that already had some color on it. I had used this page to wipe off excess paint as I worked on other things. As I was adding gesso and my favorite acrylic colors like pinks, aquas, and yellow...a bunch of interesting house shapes began to show up. I love that they were going every which way and had different shapes to them.

To add a bit more texture I used some modeling paste through a stencil and just wiped some on the page using a popsicle stick. I had some chipboard pieces that I painted with gesso and silver paint. I used some gray Staz On to bring out the raised design on each piece. I attached them to the houses using E6000. Finally I added the words...my home sweet home. I absolutely LOVE being at home with my family. It is such my happy place. My wonderful kids, amazing Hubby, and sweet dog make all things right in the world. This page reflects exactly what my heart feels. :)

I am looking forward to tackling my creative goals this next month. 

Can you believe it is already July! Yikes! (Grab hold because time is flying!!)  

What creative goals are you working on lately?