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?

What to do With All Those Scraps

You know that I love paper. So, being enamored with all kinds of paper...I find it hard to throw any scraps away. I am always thinking, "Wait, I know I can use that for something." What do you do with your scraps of paper? Of course being a mixed media artist allows me to create all kinds of interesting backgrounds from a mixture of papers. Some fab paper, some Mod Podge, and canvas (or journal, or cardboard, or scrap wood)...what more do you need? :)

So, right next to my studio table I have a basket that I keep as a collection bin for the various bits of paper. Whether I am working on pieces for the shop, getting crafty making some DIY project for the house, or creating pages for Project Life - there is always oodles of extra paper. I toss them into the basket in hopes that they will make their way onto another project. I also keep a larger plastic bin (the inexpensive ones - shoe box size - from the organizational section of Target) that I keep small pieces of paper in as well.

Every once in awhile, when the bin is getting close to max capacity, I decide it's time to do something with them. I take all the little pieces of paper and glue them down in my journal or another surface. I don't pay much attention to where I put them because I know much of it will be covered up in layers. All the little papers together make for an interesting background.

Now I have some backgrounds ready to be layered up with paint, stamps, stencils, pen and more. I have cleared out my little basket and have pieces ready to start. Love it! Little pieces of paper would also be perfect for making cards, bookmarks, journaling cards, or a creative stash for your kids to art with. The 5x5 wood panel directly above, got some artsy attention and made it's way into my store. Here it is all finished.

You could also use the left over paper pieces to collage darling pieces like the one below. Look at these fun, colorful flowers. Little bits of paper goodness are perfect for pieces like this!! Wait until you see some of the new patterned paper I got too. It is just divine!! See, I needed to get rid of my scraps to make room for more. Ha! I have a serious paper problem. :)

Happy Creating!!

Practicing Creativity

 Happy Weekend my Lovelies! 

 I hope your weekend is restful, full of laughter, 

and creativity...no matter what that may be.

Maybe you are a gardener, a chef (sorry to say, not this girl - my poor family! Lol!), a writer, a baker, a crafter, a renovator...whatever it is. I hope you are carving out time 

to get that imagination flowing...

letting that little creative diva out to shine. :)

Yesterday I was working on a 12 x 12 canvas for my art studio wall and found the best quote to add to it. Perfect! This canvas happened to be an old one that I had painted about two years ago. It was a piece I had never finished because I just couldn't seem to get it "right." Now, I completely believe that there are no mistakes in art...just, lets say, "happy redirection" - so this angel that I didn't like was simply meant to be covered up. She is now at the bottom of some fabulous layers of paper & paint, representing where I have been and my artistic growth over the past two years. How perfect are these words for the studio wall?

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."

Maya Angelou

Oh my gosh. So simple, but so true. Right? Lately, I have spent more time at my art table, hands messy with paint, then I ever have before. Finding the time is always hard - of course. For me it was about making time for the practice of being creative. Daily... Yes, daily. There are days when the time might be shown in hours and other days in minutes. There may be days when I am bellied up to the art table at dawn before my family is scurrying about or after they have drifted off to sleep at night. There may be days when laundry is piled high, floors are a mess, and kids are swinging from rafters (OK. no. just kidding about that last one). The important part is to make that time. For you. I know I need it. 

 Making things a daily practice or daily priority opens up a flood gate of ideas and keeps me sane. :) What is keeping you sane 

with smiles on your face this weekend?

XOXO,

Aqua & Orange

with a bit of yellow and pink is my new color combo obsession.

It is so bright and cheery. It just makes me smile.

I painted these two the other day, while cleaning out my studio. Holy Cow! This was MUCH needed!. I was sorting, moving things around, separating, organizing, painting (preparing for the re-opening!), washing, tossing, running to the table for more painting, discovering forgotten items , dancing (sometimes I can't help myself), hanging things, and getting things done! 

It felt so good to get the studio clean.

This one was painted on a 6 x 6 cradled wood panel. I adore painting on wood. Plus, I love painting things that are ready to hang. So these are perfect! BTW, where do you get your panels if you paint on wood? I had the background painted a while back and it had just been sitting there waiting for me to finish it. It is all paint. I didn't use any paper except for the words. I used a Gelly Roll, black Pentel pen and some Faber-Castell pens for the details. Now she is ready for some varnish and a photo shoot. She (total female this one - see those colors! Ha!) will be headed to the shop very soon.

Loving happy colors!

This little scrumptious cutie is a 4x4 canvas panel. The flower on the right side is from the collage sheets I made the other day. So fun! I also really like using motivational quotes, words, or saying in the pieces I create. Just positive reminders that we all need. I know I do! She will be making her debut in the shop on the 22nd. :)))

What colors are making you happy?

Oh, and don't forget...

Inspired Collage

Hand painted collage sheet

 One of my favorite teachers in the art community is Mystele. She has a wonderful Ning group called Community Thrive. This last month the very talented Roben-Marie Smith (LOVE) was a featured artist and provided us with tons of inspiration. Each month Myste's community hosts different art challenges. Of course I had to join in on this one because I don't have anything else to do. Total sarcasm right there. Lol. I am so glad I did though. It was super fun, and I really like how my painting turned out.

In her video, Roben-Marie encouraged us to use our own artwork as collage pieces for our pages. I love that idea! Right? The only problem - I can scan my work into my computer...but, my printer is not very good. So getting a nice copy of one of my paintings wasn't going to work. I know that I could have it printed somewhere else, but who wants to spend extra money. My solution - beg my hubby for new printer grab a couple of the 500 notebook sheets of paper thrown across my bedroom floor and paint some collage sheets. (Yes, thank you my sweet 3 and half year old who found joy ripping a notebook apart and redecorating my room. Don't leave them alone for a minute I tell yah!)

The notebook paper worked out really well. I chose a color palette and started painting. It is no surprise that flowers popped up.  They are showing up everywhere! I am definitely going to continue painting more sheets to then cut up and use in other pieces. I mean, I still have 498 sheets left from my little paper monster. ;)

 
I added pen, water soluble crayons, used stencils, and doodled with some Faber Castell artist pens. Once this page dried I started cutting it up to use on my journal spread. OK, now don't be too shocked again. What do you think I ended up painting in my journal?? You guessed it - flowers.  I think it is pretty funny that I painted flowers to then cut them up and make more flowers. I get obsessed. :)

This technique is really fun and it is a great way to get more out of your artwork especially if you can print something that you have already created. If you haven't tried it - you should!! Now I am off to work on...well, probably more flowers. :)

Yes it is!

Summer of Color - Green

Now green is a hard color for me. Only because I don't typically paint with it as often as other colors. I do really like green though & found it around my house quite a bit. So I apparently like to decorate with it! :) When I do paint with green, I tend to pull out my Americana Hauser Light Green - not to bright...not too dark. When Kristin chose green this week, I thought, "Hmmm, WHAT can I do?" But that is what I will enjoy about this color challenge...it forces me to use a color I may not typically. 

Funny thing is...I decided pretty quickly what to do. Since I like decorating with green...why not combine the two. My son's room has a safari/jungle theme in it & I have been wanting to paint something to hang in his room. The bedding is mainly white, brown & a really nice green. I wanted to pull some more color into his room since it has tons of brown. I used his cute comforter as inspiration & created two animal pieces for his wall above what will soon be his toddler bed. (Thank goodness he has continued to sleep in his crib & has not discovered how to climb out....yet!)

Bedding inspiration

Getting started

I used green mainly in the background. I was basing the color scheme of the animals off the bedding. I think they turned out cute, they were super fun to make, and they look darling hanging in my little LoveBug's room.

The Tiger - WIP

I created the background, then used patterned scrapbook paper (another addiction!) to make the animals as well as the border. Once it was dry I added acrylic paint to the paper to give it a more "painted" look. After that, I just used my black and white pen to add detail. 

Hanging on the wall

I made an elephant too. :)

 

And there you have it. 

Some much needed color added to my toddler's room.

I am glad the Summer of Color challenge was green this week. Otherwise this project would have sat on my mile long "To Do' list longer! :)

I am looking forward to seeing all the other green creations.

Do you like creating with green?

XOXO,

Jen