You Are Right Here

I just wanted to take a minute to show you all what I have been working on this week.  It is a canvas that my niece wanted made for herself and her husband.  She wanted to be reminded that, "You Are Right Where You Should Be," and she wanted to be reminded of it in gray and yellow.
It started as an old map that hung on the bulletin board of his office.  I used gel medium to glue it down to a 2" deep gallery wrapped canvas and guess what, a ginormous spot in the middle didn't adhere...grrr.  So I removed that and put another piece of the map on and, as often happens, while I was smoothing it out, I found "Lake Preston" (my niece's husband is named Preston) and I knew that this was the map for them, which made me feel a little better about having to scrape off the first map. 

In order to save Lake Preston from being painted over, I had to alter my original design a bit but here is the background after several layers.

 I painted stacks of book text and sheet music to hand cut the letters from.

 I also hand cut the petals, stem, and leaf.  I added more layers of paint to the petals after I glued them down and used a script liner and white fluid acrylics to line it.

I added depth to everything with charcoal and a blending stump and when it was all said and done, I applied silver leaf randomly around the edges.  And after all of that I still managed to save Lake Preston.  If you look closely at the point of the leaf, you will find it.
Given my extreme dislike of cold and snow and the fact that I had to march out in it to take the final pictures, it was nice to be reminded that I am right where I should be, even if it is in the cold and snow.  So maybe I'll grumble less about the white stuff today and accept that I am where I'm supposed to be...but just today.

"...How Honest Do You Want To Live?"

I love this quote by the remarkable Robin Williams and in light of his tragic death, I have been pondering a few things.  Scary things.  Things that I would prefer to never let out.  Things that are sensitive and raw to my soul.  Things that I feel are important for me to share, even though I desperately want to keep them hidden, but the question is, "...how honest do you want to live?"  Because I believe that when we live bravely and honestly, we help each other get through our tough spots.  I also believe that we are given tough spots in order to develop understanding and compassion, so that we can share with those in similar situations as our own.  So I'm going to be brave and share something that is difficult in the hopes that my perspective will give hope to those who are struggling and understanding to those who have different struggles than mine.
If you ask anyone who knows me well, you will learn that I am a non-fiction reader.  I will choose non-fiction over a novel any day.  I love true stories and learning how things work and my subject of choice is learning the power of the mind.  I love it and I believe in the power of positive thinking.  I have read them all.  I am surrounded by inspirational quotes and I use positive affirmations.  I was raised from a young age, being taught that the mind is where it's at when it comes to creating a satisfying life.  I am a walking encyclopedia of positive thinking. 
I am also a very blessed woman.  I have a loving, understanding, and supportive husband, who I know would move mountains for me.  I have two amazing kids and even though I recognize that I am biased because I am their mother, they really are AMAZING!!  They are both miracle babies and I'm grateful everyday for the opportunity to be their mother.  My parents are incredible, as are my siblings and their families.  There isn't a woman on the planet who has better friends than I do.  The people in my life are the best.  Really, truly, the BEST.
I am also a spiritual person.  My deeply held beliefs are a treasure to me and I know that I am loved by a Heavenly Father who wants the best for me and provides me experiences to learn and grow.  I pray.  I study.  I sit in a pew on Sundays.
If you simply look at my photo albums on Facebook or look at my artwork, you might think that you have a complete picture of my fabulous life.  You might even want to live my fabulous life instead of your own, but behind the smiling family pictures and bright colored paintings, I have a secret.  I am a master at keeping my secret.  There are people close to me who don't even know my secret and I've kept it a secret because there is a stigma attached to it.  I have cautiously let in a few people but they were frightened by my secret and couldn't understand and a distance was created.  I have heard comments, felt judged.  I reacted like I had been burned and backed away, keeping my secret.  Plus, I really like giving the impression that I have it all together.  I don't like having to admit that THIS is my secret.  But here goes..
...I suffer from depression.  Not just the loss of interest in fun things, Eeyore feeling, suppressed appetite, kind of depression, but we're talking deep, dark, suicidal depression.  Which, when it first reared it's ugly head, caught this positive thinking, bright colored, completely loved, art girl by surprise.  "How can this be?," I would think.  "I have it all."  "How did I end up here?"  "This is NOT who I know myself to be!"  And yet, according to my doctors, this is how my body chemicals and brain are wired.  Do my thoughts enter into the equation?  I believe that, yes, they certainly do, but I also know about the depths of despair and how your thoughts betray you there.
Now, I don't presume to know what thoughts have gone through Robin Williams' or any other's head as they travel through dark places.  I can only tell you what thoughts go through mine and I tell you this not because I am looking for sympathy but because it is my desire to promote understanding and help someone else who is in a similar struggle.
Since the beginning of April, I have found myself back in the dark place after struggling for months with depression.  So far into that space that it scared me.  After doing everything that I knew to do, I sought out help.  It was all I had left in me.  I was unable to eat, unable to even decide what to make for dinner.  I had the focus of a fruit fly, which made reading, rational thinking, decision making impossible.  My typically well run home was chaotic and I had no clue how to get myself out of this spiral.  And that's when I found myself in a place that I didn't want to be...the couch of a therapist.  I wanted to do this on my own.  If I just thought some more positive thoughts, set some goals, painted something, prayed harder, I could get myself out of this mess...why can't I get myself out of this mess?  I begrudgingly sought help and I was MAD about it!  I felt like I was taking money away from my family to pay for a therapist.  I felt awful for not being able to come up with a dinner plan or remember that I put laundry in the washer TWO DAYS AGO.  I hated that I felt so distant from my husband and kids and I worried that because I couldn't feel their love for me, that maybe they couldn't feel my love for them.  I began to feel like a burden to those I love most.  I began to have visions of myself in a boat rowing towards the island that was my life, and the harder I worked, the harder I rowed, I only became further away.  I was completely alone while being surrounded by people who love me and would do anything to help me.  I began feeling that the kindest, most loving thing that I could do for my friends and family would be to end my life.  I would do anything for them, including sacrifice my life, even my eternal happiness, in order to make their lives better.  This is, of course, a ridiculous thought, but rational thinking isn't exactly a trait of the severely depressed person.  So in a fleeting moment of clear thinking I called the therapist.  
My therapist is great, but there just aren't enough of them in the world, so they are incredibly busy and there can be long stretches in between visits until you can get into the regular rotation.  So in an effort to do whatever I could do to help my situation, I started walking.  I took my dog to a beautiful path in my city and we walked it.  In the beginning, I focused on putting one foot in front of the other because that was all I had, but there is one teensy little obstacle on my walk...actually two of them...and they are called bridges.  These two bridges I crossed every day go over the Snake River and each and every day that I crossed them, I pondered jumping into the current that I knew to be unsurvivable.  I would have to remind myself that I was not doing my family a favor by jumping, so I kept putting one foot in front of the other, following my dog...every day...Every. Single. Day.  My dog would drag me out of bed, I'd put on my shoes and we would walk.  He was my therapy dog.  We became well known on the path.  My dog is like Norm from Cheers...everyone says "Mick!!!"
I also have become a regular on the couch of my therapist and am very grateful for her.  She is a good fit for me.  I still don't like the stigma of having a therapist and I fight against it but my therapist told me a little something that has made seeking help easier for me.  She told me that when she was in grad school, in one of her classes, the professor asked them to create a blended family.  They had to decide what issues each of the imaginary family members came into the family with and they came up with quite the combination of obstacles for this group...drug addiction, divorce, alcoholic, trauma of all kinds, jail, the WORKS.  This was one catastrophe of an imaginary family.  If there was an issue, then this fake family had it.  Then the professor asked the class, "Who's the healthiest person in this family?"  The class was stumped.  This was an imaginary family.  They didn't have enough information.  There was no way they could come up with the "healthiest" person in this mess of a family.  Then the professor said, "The healthiest person in the family is the one with the phone in their hand."  The person reaching out for help is the healthiest.  "Huh," I said, "I would have thought that they were just the craziest."  My therapist insists that that is not true and I really don't think she says that just because I pay her.  It is a story that I find helpful when I am ticked that I have to have help.  So much so, that I had to include it in my journal and I share it with you in the hopes that you, too, can be "the healthiest person in the family" if you find yourself in the dark place.

Often when I leave my therapist's office, she asks, "Who's the healthiest person in the family?" To which I respond, sometimes through gritted teeth, "The one with the phone in their hand." 
A few weeks ago, after putting at least 250 miles on my walking shoes, I walked across the bridge and realized that, for the first time, I didn't ponder jumping.  It's getting easier to focus.  I was able to read a non fiction book for the first time in a long while.  The lies my head tell me are becoming less and less frequent and are being replaced with rational thought again.  Do I think that I won't go back to the dark places?  I wish I could say that I won't but the fact is, I just don't know.



What I do know is that when a person ponders suicide, they are not necessarily looking for "the easy way out" or "being selfish," or any of those other catch phrases that you hear people say when the subject comes up.  They may actually even WANT to live but their thoughts betray them.  They may just believe that they are helping those they love.  They may think that they are doing the courageous thing by sacrificing themselves for their families.  The fact is when a person ponders suicide, rational thought has already left the building.  Someone else cannot begin to know how they convinced themselves that suicide was the best option...even someone who has been there.  All that we can know for sure is that a person with a clear mind would never even begin to ponder the things that pass through the brain of a suicidal person.
My hope in sharing this in such a public way, is to remind us all to just be kind to each other.  Try not to see another's situation through eyes that cannot possibly begin to understand.  Try not to judge.  Just love each other.  But really my greatest hope is that if you are reading this,  and you find yourself somewhere that you don't want to be, that you will do the courageous thing and reach out and just keep reaching out until you can begin to find the best way for you to heal.  No two people have the same path but I know there is always hope, even when your mind is not convinced.  And remember, "Who's the healthiest person in the family?"  "The one with the phone in their hand."  Be the one with the phone in your hand because you are so loved and worthy of the help you need.

Hunting Again

Lately I've been doing some sketching.  I'm almost done with my large Moleskine sketchbook, so I am focusing on filling it up and putting it on the shelf.  I absolutely, positively, LOVE the feel of a Moleskine sketchbook in my hands.  I love everything about Moleskine sketchbooks except for one teensy litttle thing...I absolutely, positively do not love the paper in the Moleskine sketchbooks for painting with watercolors and that's a problem, because watercolors are my first choice for on the go sketching.  I'm also not crazy about the Moleskine watercolor sketchbooks.  I'm not a fan of the perforated pages and they are only available in a landscape layout.  So, once again, I find myself hunting for the perfect sketchbook.  I know that I am not alone.  As I read about the processes of many sketchbook artists, I have learned that we are all searching for the perfect sketchbook.  So my hunt will continue but until then, I will just keep filling up the last few pages of my Molly with sketches like this.

We had some visitors at our apple tree last week.  There were dozens of Cedar Waxwings eating the blossoms.  For two days they stayed and passed blossoms between each other and then they moved on.  Our family enjoyed watching them but they are fast little things, so I painted the apple blossoms while I was standing under the tree but I had to paint the bird from a photo reference.  They were just too speedy.

Just A Thought

Life is Like That Sometimes

Sorry for the long absence but you know how life sometimes just pulls the rug out from under you?  Well, I was traveling along just fine, when not only was the rug pulled out from under me, but life then rolled it up and bashed me over the head with it!  I hate it when that happens!  We have been living life moment to moment around here and I have been missing in action since October.  Haven't worked in a journal, haven't posted to Facebook, haven't twisted open a single tube of paint!  In fact, as I logged into the computer I noticed that I have 357 waiting e-mails.  357!!!  What am I going to do with 357 e-mails?  It's a bit overwhelming.
The last few days, I have finally had the oportunity to paint in my journal and it has been like coming home!  I have missed it.  Here are a couple of my more recent journal pages.

"Looking In Awe"

It's been a crazy couple of weeks around here.  Hopefully things will start to fall into a routine and ease up a bit.
So, a few weeks ago, back when I actually seemed to find my way into the outdoors, I was feeling a bit discouraged.  I went outside to sit on my porch, for a few minutes, to catch my breath, and as I sat there a hummingbird flew up to the day lily next to me.  He stayed there long enough for me to get a good look at him and then he left.
I have a friend who, when she sees a sand dollar, sees it as gift from God...a reminder, just for her, of His love.  Well, that's how I feel when I come across a hummingbird.  It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, I stop and pay attention to the gift that is just for me, at that very moment.  Time freezes and I just sink into the feeling of gratitude and love.  Of course, I had to make a page in my journal to mark the occasion.

The background is mostly just palette cleanings.  I drew the hummingbird with a Stabilo pencil, on a gesso covered book page, and then painted it with fluid acrylics.  Then I stuck it on the background with gel medium and washi tape.  Lettering and details were added with some foam letter stamps that I've had around for a long time, pens, and charcoal.
Well, I'm off to clean my fridge before it is listed as a bio hazard.  There are some containers in there that have gone from "past due" to just plain "lab experiment".  Ah, the life.  It's times like these where the memory of that hummingbird will help to see me through the challenges...even if it's just a fridge.

Big Changes & Priorities

Tomorrow begins a new chapter in my life.  22 years after graduating high school, I am heading off to college.  I am excited, nervous, and already unsure of how I will get everything done, so I'm certain that my art time will be drastically reduced.  I'm sure I will still find time to play with my paints, but my priorities lie with school and family.  So my already irregular blog will likely become even more irregular, but not totally forgotten.
I have been playing with my markers a bit and doodled one of my favorite quotes.

Well, I'm off on my new adventure!  Wish me luck and I hope that happiness finds you today!

Lucky Girl!

Here's a little fact that is just unbelievable to me:  When Art Journaling magazine publishes an article, they PAY the artist!  PAY, like with money!  Don't tell the good folks at Stampington, but I totally would have put my journal in their magazine FOR FREE, so this idea of being paid had me more than just a little giddy!  They give you the option of having them cut you a check OR giving you a credit at The Shoppe at Somerset for supplies.  If you choose the later, you get paid a little extra and since I fully intended to spend every dime on art supplies anyway, that was my choice.  In my mind, that's a WIN-WIN!! 
So I turned on the Pitch Perfect station on Pandora, clicked that mouse, and went shopping!
I chose things that I either cannot find in Idaho or that I would have NEVER have kicked down the money for, had I not had a credit, because in my mind, not using "real" money makes it easier to shell out exorbitant amounts for a supply that I have always wanted.  I know, it's a bit delusional, but when it comes to buying art supplies, sometimes it's just best not to think about the net worth of your art supply arsenal.  Plus, you forget all about that kind of thing when the UPS man shows up at your door with a box full of awesome!

That's right!  I bought myself not one, but TWO sets of Copic sketch markers and a set of Copic inking pens.

Here's my test run in my Dylusions Journal (which I pretty much LOVE, by the way.  More about that another day).  By the end of this little experiment, I felt that maybe, just maybe, I could fall in love with Copics.  Then the very next morning, when I went to church, I ran into a friend of mine who is a very talented artist and she opened up her church bag and there, next to her hymn book was a bag of these...

Spectrum Noir markers.  They, like Copics, are alcohol markers with dual tips.  My friend had decided that alcohol markers were not for her and GAVE me all of them.  How cool is that?!!  I used both the Copic and Spectrum Noir markers to make this little doodle.

 I've been really missing the ocean lately.  I'm not sure exactly how or why a ocean loving/needing girl ended up landlocked, but one day, maybe, I'll live near the sea....ahhhh....sorry, sidetracked.  Anyway, as I was saying I used both brands of markers together on this doodle and I learned a couple of things.  1. Spectrum Noir markers are bleeders.  I'm not talking about bleeding through the paper to the other side (all alcohol markers do that).  These bleed out from the point of the pen.  They spread quickly and you have to be VERY careful in detail areas.  2.  Spectrum Noir markers do not play well with others.  When they came into contact with the areas colored with the Copic pens, they caused the normally clean Copics to bleed into them.  The Copics, however, did not do that.  It could have the potential to be a fun effect to work with but it is NOT fun when your crisp black doodle starts running into the other colors.  Not fun at all.
After all my experimenting, I came to the conclusion that I like the Copic markers a little better.  That's not to say that the Spectrum Noir pens will sit idly on my desk, I think that with a bit more experimenting, I can avoid some of their obstacles and I'm ALWAYS happy to have a reason to play with new art supplies.  I am a LUCKY girl!

 



Treasure Found

I am a HUGE fan of Sharpie water based paint pens.  I love those things.  I love their ability to write over almost anything, their opacity (how's that for a word?), their ability to just keep on working, and that they are so accessible.  They're in every store.  In fact, the ONLY two complaints that I had about them was that I couldn't get a smaller tip than "fine" in my neck of the woods, nor were there many color choices.
And then I walked into Michaels....
It was as if a beam of light came down from Heaven and fell upon them...

Choirs singing...

That's right!  Water based Sharpie paint pens in EXTRA FINE and pastel colors.  Peach, blue, aqua, lavender, and PINK!  Not neon pink!  Just plain, old, regular pink!  I slapped down my Michaels coupon without hesitation!

Oh, how they make me happy!  I had to take them home and test them out immediately.







I love this quote by Twyla Tharp and if ever there was a week I wanted to run away from home it was last week.  The house made from the tag that the mechanic put on my keys as I left my car with him is just one of the many souvenirs left over from a tough week.

I have some amazing 140 lb. Fabriano hot press watercolor paper in this journal and it was calling for me to just play with watercolors, pens, and my "fancy" crayons (Caran D'Ache Neocolor II's)...oh, and my spiffy new Sharpies!  I LOVE them.  I thought that I couldn't love a pen more than these and then, as I was finishing up this page, the UPS man arrived....and THAT is a story for another day!

All War Belongs On Paper

So, during my long blogging absence, I have been dealing with some tough things.  Most of them are still fresh and precious and I'm not really ready to share too many details, but I will say that I am learning to allow myself to be a little more vulnerable (slowly) and trusting.  Vulnerable and trusting is NOT my talent.  I am (and I'm sure that I'm not alone in this) my own worst enemy.  Between learning to manage my fibro and breaking down my very well built walls, I end up feeling a little banged up sometimes.  It is during those times that a bit of divine intervention shows up and the basis for this page is no different.  This quote and the words of Byron "Katie" Reid came into my life at exactly the time that I needed it.

How GREAT is that quote?!!!  This quote sums up in five words why I journal.  Sometimes it is happy and bright.  Sometimes it is just, well, NOT.  Either way, it is part of me and my expression of whatever battle I am in at the time and it's ALL okay.  In fact, this page is from a journal that I lovingly call my "Welcome To Bolivia" journal and there is a good possibility that I will have to BURN it at some point.  There are things in there that I'm not sure I will ever be comfortable with them seeing the light of day!  Only time will tell.

Love and Fear

What's this?  Two posts in two days?!!  Shocking!
I thought it might be nice to share a little bit of journal art that I have been experimenting with.  I was looking to try something new to me when I saw THIS tutorial on Pinterest by Nine Scrap.  Her awesome blog is in French, which I don't speak, but her work is GORGEOUS.  Fortunately for me, her photography broke through the language barrier and I was able to follow along.  Here's what I came up with.

I don't own spray ink (yes, dear husband, there are art supplies that I DON'T own), so I just watered down some Golden liquid acrylics as a substitute.  I actually love using liquid acrylics in place of inks because they are permanent and won't move around when I add subsequent layers.  Layers moving around when I don't want them to is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, you know.

After following along for the first few layers, I sort of started down my own path and used gel medium to attach a heart torn from a Japanese book.  I added color to the heart with Gelatos and then blended it all together with gesso and my finger.  When the heart was totally dry, I sanded it a bit to reveal the layers.  After the whole thing was dry, I used an Inktense pencil and a waterbrush, to shade the heart and the letters, because, apparently, I just can't help myself. 

While I was finishing up the page, the neighbor girl was looking over my shoulder. She said that it was "so cool".  I thought so too.  So thank you Nine Scrap for the inspiration.  Both myself and the neighbor girl are impressed with your skills!



Still Around

Wow!  This is one neglected little blog! 
Well, I'm still here and I'm still throwing paint around every now and then.  I'm just not awesome at keeping my blog updated, but I did want to stop in and share a bit of AWESOME news to anyone who may still check in on this blog.  If you remember, back in December, I sent in my little art journal to Art Journaling magazine and I am happy, honored, excited to announce that it can be found in the current issue.

 

See??!!!  That's MY name right there!  It's just so exciting for me.  I love Art Journaling.  It's one of the tools that helped me the most on my art journaling path.  I studied each issue to glean every technique, style, and supply I could learn.  It's so amazing to think that now, maybe, someone else is out there learning from my journal.  It's a "full circle moment" for me and I'm SO GRATEFUL for the opportunity!

Doodle Valentines

A couple of years ago, I made some doodled Valentines for my family.  Maybe you remember them.  If you need a refresher you can find the original post HERE. 
Well, the other day, I was going through my blog stats and found that those Valentines are, hands down, the most popular thing I have here on this little blog of mine.  Thanks to Pinterest, that page has been viewed nearly 1000 times and I've seen it pinned EVERYWHERE!  I think it is so cool to be searching around Pinterest and see something that you have created.  I'm so grateful for all of the support.  So in honor of Valentines day, and in gratitude to all of you who like the Doodle Valentines, I have made a little gift.

I made you your own Doodle Valentines.  All you have to do is print and color them.  Now since I gave away the original Valentines to my family, I had to doodle new ones and while they are not exactly the same, they are pretty close.  You can find the PDF HERE.  I used watercolors on the original Valentines, but I wouldn't recommend using them if you print the PDF with an inkjet printer.  Use a dry media, like colored pencils.  If it were me and I wanted to use watercolor (which I would), I would print the page and have it photocopied on 110 lb. cardstock.  You can read more about the other supplies I used on the original post.  I hope that you enjoy coloring them and giving them to your loved ones this year.
Disclaimer:  To say that I am not technologically savvy is an understatement, so it is likely that making this PDF has taken me ALL DAY.  Also, it is highly likely that this link won't work and if that is the case, let me know and I will try banging my head on the keyboard again!

Just Can't Let It Go

How can you NOT love the day when the new Dick Blick catalog arrives in the mail?  You know, the BIG one.  How can you NOT cancel all plans and items on your to-do lists on the day that a catalog that states, right on the front cover, "over 70,000 art supplies inside" finds its way to your mailbox?  How can you NOT love when that day rolls around each year?  It is an absolute joy!  (By the way, I think I should mention here that I have not received the new catalog yet.  I can actually hear people yelling, "What's going on?  I didn't get mine!") 
I crazy LOVE the Dick Blick catalog, which is why I think I have such a hard time letting go of the old one.  I have (almost) no trouble getting rid of the old phone book but, while the phone book IS full of good collage fodder, it only has a page or two that are really interesting to me.  Not true with Dick Blick.  Nearly every page contains something that I didn't even know existed, but now must have.  The Dick Blick catalog represents POSSIBILITIES to me.  Beautiful, colorful possibilities.  So, in an effort to make myself feel better about discarding the old catalog, I've been trying to use it up.

See all of these itty, bitty, color swatches?  Well, that's what's left after I used about a bajillion of them making this:

This entire page is made from bits and pieces of the 2010-2011 Dick Blick catalog.  I'd like to say that making use of my old catalog has made it easier to get rid of, but no, I think it has made us even better friends.  Now I am just thinking about even MORE possibilities!

Progress On All Fronts!

Here's what has happened to my "bleeding canvas" since my last visit here.

You may ask yourself, "Why, oh why, is that thing covered in little circles and then big circles, just circles?"  The answer to that question is, as usual, "I have no idea!"  It is always such a big surprise to me to find out what will happen when I start painting.  That is why I do it.  My painting method leaves me with one of two choices...I will either like it and it will stay, or I won't and I will just keep adding layers upon layers.  This isn't finished so I can't tell you which way it will end up yet.  The next time you see it, it might just be covered in gesso!  Who knows? 
I also got the first page in my new journal finished.  Wanna see?

My son wanted to work in his art journal, so I helped him tear out some pages from his book and glue some together.  As I was cleaning up my desk, I saw this picture from his book.  It's a mom putting away dishes, a boy drying the dishes, and another one rooting around in the fridge.  Now that it's Thanksgiving break, it looked just like my day.  It was a picture I could relate to!  I love having my kids home on school breaks (I know, I'm weird) but the thing about having them here is that they are always hungry and neither of them seem to be hungry at the same time.  All day long it's, "I'm hungry." "What is there to eat?" "Do we have anything 'good' to eat?"  "Is the dishwasher clean or dirty?"  AND my absolute favorite question..."What's for dinner?" 
Just as I was taking a minute from my feed child/clean up after routine to glue this image onto my page, my son came in and informed me that he was hungry.  True story.  I cannot make this stuff up!  At least I never find myself sitting around waiting for gel medium to dry. 
By the way, for all you English buffs out there.  I totally know that the hyphen should go after the "S" in "Thanksgiving" but I just ran out of room.  I tend to ignore such rules in my art journal.  The visual is more important to me than the proper use of hyphens here.
This last little project was something that I haven't done in FOREVER.

I did this for the November Sketchbook Challenge.  The theme was the "Spice of Life".  I've pretty much given up on pencils and erasers.  If I use them I can make a drawing take approximately FOREVER.  I just don't have the time (see above feeding routine) to sketch unless I make it fast.  I've just decided to be brave and go for it with a Pitt pen and let the cards fall where they may!  I sketched this in a Moleskine sketchbook and used watercolors to add the color. 
As you can see, I've been a busy little bee.  I sure hope my busy streak continues!

Housework Schmousework!

I don't know if I've mentioned it before (maybe only approximately 1,000 times) that winter is my LEAST favorite time of year and around here winters are longgggggggggg.  So the other day I woke up to a day that could probably be best described by the word (if it even is a word)...BLAH.  It was gray, cold and of course, windy.  I had a "fabulous" day of housework planned but when I saw the "BLAH" I found myself highly unmotivated!  Then someone posted this on Facebook or Pinterest or something and BAM!!!  We have a day changer!

That was all it took for me to forgo housework and get some coloring done!  What can I say?  I obviously don't require a whole lot of convincing if some e-card on the Internet can cause me to make a big mess instead of cleaning one up.  I traded my bed sheet fort for my trusty green vinyl tablecloth (that thing has been with me longer than my children have), my coloring book for a big canvas, and my crayons for my Golden Acrylics.

Here is my "couch cushion fort" on my kitchen table!  This day is looking brighter already, well other than my 6 year old told me that my painting was bleeding.  I'm not sure that's good, but hey, at least it is "bleeding" bright colors.  AND right beside me ready to catch any extra palette paint, was this:

It's my brand new art journal.  Hand bound with a fabulous stitch I learned from  Mary Ann Moss' class Full Tilt Boogie that you can find HERE.  It is my first hand bound journal with 140 lb. Fabriano hot press and let me just say, that painting on it is an absolute joy!  I now know what all the hullabaloo over 140 lb. Fabriano hot press was all about.  I'm sure the cover of this will evolve over time but for now I just LOVE my "Second Easy Drawing Book" journal.  It turned a BLAH day into Happy. Happy. Happy.  (I suppose I should mention here, my love and slight obsession, of all things Duck Dynasty, including, but not limited to, the use of Happy. Happy. Happy.  I'll have to elaborate on that another day.)

Silly Me

So, when you send off a journal to Art Journaling, you can include a self-addressed, stamped postcard for them to mail back to you when they receive your submission.  I took this little opportunity to send myself some happy mail and a reminder to be glad that I was brave and sent something in.  I made myself this little postcard and yesterday, it came back.

It got a little banged up in the mail (which I kinda like) but it made me happy when I opened my mailbox and that was the point.  I also may have taken the liberty of writing myself a little note from Art Journaling (I hope they can forgive me).  I'm a little silly that way.  It's just that I am usually a bit hard on myself (like, ridiculously) so I thought I'd try giving myself a little pat on the back for a change.

 

That was nice of me, don't you think?



Warm Thoughts

Well, I did it!  I bravely boxed up my little journal and sent it on its merry way.  I went with UPS and have been faithfully (obsessively) tracking it along its journey.  Right now, according to the UPS website, it is "on time" and in Las Vegas.  I am kind of wishing I was in Las Vegas myself.  It's not that I am a big fan of Las Vegas...I don't gamble (well, unless letting my family talk me into a dog counts as gambling).  I don't drink.  I'm not really into Wayne Newton and I have a years long distaste of Nevada (a whole other story), but I really, really don't like COLD and winter is starting to set in where I live and it's making Las Vegas look a whole lot more appealing. 
Anyway (kinda got on a tangent there), here's another little page from my journal.

Doesn't it look warm?  I think I was fighting against cold when I did this.  Here's hoping that you are staying warm (at least in your journal).

I'm Finally Finished!

I've been journaling now for several years and all though I have done many journal pages, I have to tell you, I have never actually FINISHED a journal.  That's right never!  Unbelievable, I know, but true.  Well, until now, that is!

Play Book is FINISHED!  Wahoo!
I have completed pages in spiral bound journals, sketchbooks, a Moleskine, and altered books, but for one reason or another (paper issues, book size, exploding bindings, etc.), I haven't finished the books (yet), so I set a goal for myself.  Here's my goal:  I was going to finish a book and when I was done, I was going to submit it to Art_Journaling.

So here's the last page on the inside back cover.  I'm pretty proud of myself for completing a big goal!  It's taken a bit more than a year to finish up my book and there is a labeled package on my desk just waiting for postage.  Sending off my beloved Play Book is a bit nerve wracking but doing the safe thing and letting it sit on my shelf would not accomplish the final little bit of my goal, so I'm going to be brave and have faith that it will come back to me safely!  Don't let me down USPS!!!  It's also a little scary to send away a little piece of yourself and have to put yourself out there, but I am quieting my "not good enough" demons and sending it anyway!  For me that is a WIN!!!

M&M's! It's What For Dinner!

I've been on a bit of a sketching tear lately...and boy am I rusty.  I was watching this video posted by Jane LaFazio of an interview with Danny Gregory and Danny made a comment about how easy it is to get out of the habit of daily sketching, but when you start again, you wonder why you ever stopped.  That's exactly how I feel!  So even though I'm rusty AND I'm using a Moleskine sketchbook with watercolors (FRUSTRATING!), I'm trying to get a sketch in every day.

This was a sketch of my dinner while on a 3 hour drive, on a very bumpy road (might need to lodge a complaint with the Road Department, sheesh!), using a Pitt pen, waterbrush, and watercolors.  AND while I highly recommend the Mint M&M's, I will concede that they are probably not the healthiest choice for dinner!