Is It A Piano?..And Some Journaling

So yesterday, I just HAD to do something in my art journal and while I was busy playing with art supplies, my son was busy finding a new use for my piano...

Isn't that the cutest thing? Every single big space between the black keys has a car parked in it. I just had to let them stay until my daughter had to use the piano to practice. I honestly have NEVER thought about the B-C and the E-F spaces as the perfect Hot Wheel parking stalls. I am finding that much of the learning that takes place in Mommyland is really just the mommy saying, "Well, gee, I have never thought of it that way." Plus, the adventures in Mommyland are way more exciting/bone rattling/exhausting/comical than anything that Disneyland could come up with.

On that same note, here is a little something I have been working on in my altered book journal.

I even convinced a little finger to hold it open for me so I could take a picture. Truly I am grateful to be able to be a stay at home (or car...whatever) mom. Even though some days I feel like banging my head or screaming into a pillow (and I would if I wasn't just so dang tired), I really am blessed to have this opportunity. I have the 2 best kids. LOVE THEM!AND...Don't you just love this quote? I had glued the top of a paper bag into my book a month ago and yesterday it occurred to me that it would make a great fence. I also received a sheet of address labels from the good folks at St. Jude's and since I really don't use them on mail, I stuck them all together into strips. I then wove the strips together as I stuck them to my book despite having no real reason to do so. After I gessoed and painted over them, I really liked the texture and I didn't have to feel guilty about throwing away the gift from St. Jude's, although I will have to feel guilty about not sending them a donation. I know they do great things but my philanthropic budget is a little tight these days, and since, I guess, mom's are supposed to feel guilty about something, that will have to be it for me. But, thank you for the new collage fodder, St. Jude's. I really do appreciate it.

Thank You Kate

Well, lately I have felt a little like I'm drowning. I haven't spent much time doing anything creative, and that gets me into a funk. The funk makes me just feel tired and uncreative, which causes an even bigger funk. It's a vicious circle. I needed an out and the other day my good friend KATE provided me one with THIS post.
She posted about a blog she found called peonyandparakeet and she makes these most amazing doodle backgrounds. Kate found her tutorial and posted the LINK. Holy cow! These papers made my heart pound, my head spin, and the paint fly. I had to try it out at the first possible chance. Here's my first try.
It is basically layers upon layers of watercolors, Sharpies, gel pens, colored pencils, correction pen, and black Pitt pen. It was such an adventure! The hardest part was knowing when I was finished. I think that you could just doodle on this forever. It was nice to just experiment and now I have a background paper that have scanned into my computer. I can print it and manipulate it any way I like. As I was doodle-ling along, I thought of all kinds of ways to use this technique with other paints and supplies and I am excited to try it. So thank you Kate! I am now excited to do some more art experiments and I couldn't be happier! I owe you one.

Another Snowy Spring Day

Well, here where I live, it has been snowing off and on all day and all I can say about it is: BLAAAHHHH! I am so sick of cold, wind, and brown grass. I need spring to come to my neck of the woods. So I had to break out a few tricks to boost my happiness level and I thought I would share them with you. Maybe they would help you think spring (even if it is snowing).

First up, THIS video by the incredibly awesome Pam Garrison. She posted this over a year ago but I must have watched it at least a dozen times. It just makes me SO HAPPY!!! All those stacks of her amazing journals. The colors. The shabby fabric. The vintage images. It is just happiness to me. I LOVE THIS video (so much so that I posted the link twice). If you love art journals (and maybe even if you don't), you have GOT to watch it!

My other little trick today was making some "springy" cookies. I actually made them for my super cool friend Kandice. It was her birthday over a week ago and I finally finished a little something I was making for her and I wanted to bring cookies too. I made these:

These are the Orange-Kissed Cookies from Our Best Bites. You can find the recipe HERE. These are ridiculously yummy and taste like spring. And while I'm on the subject, I must say that I love ourbestbites.com. I have yet to make anything from their site that hasn't been delicious, especially their Chicken FAJITAS. They might, in fact, be my favorite thing to eat. Make them. I'm not kidding. Do not try to add things or omit things. Make them EXACTLY as they direct. I have not met anyone who doesn't love them. While I am not being paid in any way by the girls at Our Best Bites, I can tell you that I also bought their cookbook over the weekend and I must say that it is really good. I had sworn myself to not buy another cookbook again but when I saw theirs, I decided it was good enough to break my self imposed rule. My only complaint was that they neglected to include the chicken fajita recipe (did I mention it was awesome?), but I've made it enough that I almost have it memorized. I'm sure it was just an oversight. Between Pam Garrison's video and the Our Best Bites Orange cookies, I'm feeling pretty good despite the weather. And now I'm off to deliver some joy to Kandice.

Looking for Balance

I'm sure I'm not alone in this. It seems that we all have times when we feel all "out of whack". When we have to take some time to reassess, refocus. To DECLUTTER. Well, that has been where I have found myself the last little while and why I have been lost to the blog world. I haven't been completely uncreative, just finishing up all my unfinished projects. Well, OK, maybe not ALL my unfinished projects, but I take pride in the fact that I have finished a few. When the organizing, finishing, decluttering feeling comes along, I just have to ride the wave all the way to the shore, especially since it doesn't seem to come along all that often. When I do, I find that it makes me so much more creative in the long run and definitely more balanced....AND isn't that what we are all searching for in the long run...a little more balance! So, don't give up on me, I'll be posting something artsy soon, but first I've got to get a few more bits and pieces of my little world organized and then the paint will be flying! Thanks for hanging in there with me. See you soon!

You Wanna See the Cutest Thing?

Remember Halle and Og the Frog from THIS post. Well, this is the "thank you" that Halle sent me. I did a little happy dance when I saw it. I love the frog, the fish, the seaweed, the bug, EVERYTHING. Halle's mom said that she spent 30 minutes studying each step in the frog drawing process and she drew nothing but frogs for a few days. Thank you Halle. I couldn't be more proud.

I am finding through teaching art to my daughter's class that the kids really love these step by step doodles. They start by saying, "I can't draw a frog." and end up wanting to show the whole class their drawing because they are so proud that they can draw a frog. The more doodles that I show them, the more confident I see them become. I hear a lot less "I can't" than when we first started.

The other day, while doing some on-line research for art class, I found the coolest little card game. It's called Pick and Draw and we have been anxiously awaiting the mailman since I ordered it. You have got to check out the website for Pick and Draw HERE. It was made by a man named Rich Davis and the funnest thing was when we checked out his BLOG. He has a bunch of step by step drawings posted, like Ekey the Running Robot, Doodlebugs, Ralph the Dog and other treasures. My daughter and I spent Sunday evening going through tons of doodle tutorials there. So fun! In fact, my daughter has been doing quite a few Doodlebug drawings. We have Doodlebugs everywhere!

I cannot believe the impact of these simple little drawings, not only on kids, but also on myself. Speaking of which, I have got to go check the mail...hoping for our Pick and Draw!

Happy Valentine's Day

January 14, 2013 Update: A free print and color PDF is now available for some of these Valentines.  You can find it on THIS POST.
 I am a huge fan of Alisa Burke. I'm sure I have mentioned it before. Her sketchbook posts especially amaze me. The other day she posted THIS on her blog. She used simple, cheap construction paper to make some cool doodle valentines. I loved her post and set out to make my own doodle valentines, Jolene style. It was easy to get right to work since I had everything I needed. I used my favorite white cardstock (110 lb. smooth from Office Max), black Pitt pens (or Sharpies), watercolors, AND since Alisa is into dimensional paint, I thought I'd try some too. My mom happened to have a ton of it leftover from a "grandma sleepover" and let me have it.
I have a little notebook in my purse that goes with me EVERYWHERE. I keep random quotes, notes from church, cool color combinations that I see, phone numbers, blogs I'd like to look up, ideas that come to me, and doodles (tons of doodles) in it. So if you see me standing in the middle of the mall, staring at a store window and writing in a little notebook, don't be concerned. If life was a cartoon, you would see a little lightbulb above my head, because something, somewhere has given me an idea and if I don't write it down immediately, I know it will be gone before I ever even make it to my car. Also, you might see a cute girl patiently waiting for me to finish up some sketch and silently hoping no one notices. I almost NEVER go to the mall without my daughter's cute persistence.
Most of my doodles are flowers it seems but there are a few other things in there too. Some of them I have really liked, so I opened up my notebook and used some of those doodles for inspiration on my valentines.
I doodled along with my Pitt pens and then used my watercolors to paint the colors. I then used dots of dimensional paint (mostly the crystal sparkly kind) and glued it on a piece of colored cardstock. I like them a lot. They were easy, inexpensive, and fun to do. How I wish I could send one to each of you. I have been so grateful for the blogging friends that I have made and the kindness that you have shown to me. Sometimes, the little things that you leave on my blog for me, are exactly what I need when the days are tough, and the boost I need when they are not. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
My love to each of you and Happy Valentine's Day!

Broken Things

Do you ever feel like this little flower? All tired and bent over and broken? Yeah, me too. Sometimes life just feels so heavy. Like you will never be able to straighten out. Recently I came across a little quote that made me feel a little lighter, helped me stand a little straighter, and reminded me of how much I am loved. It made me feel so good, I wanted to hurry up and paint the words and feelings, so I could share it with you.

"God Loves Broken Things"

18"x14" mixed media on canvas board

Sometimes it's good to remember that when you're feeling a little broken, that's when God shines his light on you the most. We just have to look up and feel the warmth to remember that we are loved more than we can imagine.
So remember..."God loves broken things....because God is in the business of fixing broken things."