April 2013

Between distractions and work I’ve been updating links,buttons and editing photos.

Now I will work on updating some of the sidebar content and maybe I’m back in business – YAY!

Do not dispair or give up on me – I will get this blog transitioned and back in action. I miss it.

The Bad News…I need to figure out a different photo software or learn more of GIMP to make a new banner/header.

The Good News! I can do that!

The Bad News…It all takes time – I’d rather be painting, collaging, drawing, talking on the phone, traveling the world…ah well

Stay tuned…

My blog was beautiful yesterday – when I went to shut down before bed last night – it was wrecked! All my personalization is GONE! My banner of art, my links and logos in the sidebar – everything that makes it mine is GONE!

Well standby friends – I am on the line to WordPress tech…should be back in business soon.

The above page spread is one that I used for all the mistakes and tests that I needed a place to put…I tested ways of coloring hearts at Valentines day. I was testing out gluing on tea bags and collage images and papers with various adhesives. I tested the size and color for the bubble-wrap stamping. I had glue on the couple and then they didn’t fit on the original place I meant to put them. I like the page! I will find a journal prompt that fits what is going on here – maybe Everlasting Love…something.This is my favorite of the three. Maybe because of the lighter colors or maybe just because the boys in their giant shoes, pushing the cart, are so sweet.  I also got to doodle on the plant so that made it lots of fun. I will probably have more journaling for this one too.

This week I am starting the Mermaid Circus with Teesha Moore and Jane Davenport and I am more excited about this class than I have been since I went to Journalfest. It will be soooo fun. It will be online for 8 weeks with two of the best Art Journalists in the world!

The kids had an extended Spring break and then March was over! I can tell from the number of days I didn’t tangle – or didn’t manage to finish a tangle – that we did not chill out together at the end of the day. This is good and bad – good because it meant that we mostly dropped into bed and conked out at the end of an adventurous day…bad, well not bad, but I didn’t do as many tangles.I showed you March 1 through 3 at the end of February, so here I started out strong, trying out several new patterns. Kept going into the second week – tracking new patterns and trying to ‘string’ several squares (or tiles) together – still having fun. Then we ran into a performance with a couple of extra rehearsals leading into it…great performance, but I missed several days.I didn’t have time to look up new stuff, but carried the tangle-a-day calendar and a pen with me so I could still do bits at a time.Tried to make a Shamrock out of hearts for St. Patrick’s Day and then didn’t do much again until the following week. Then I ran away with a girl friend to a Tai Chi workshop – we did a lot of Tai Chi – and we did a lot of other things too.  Sadly…the tangle-a-day wasn’t one of the things. Hmm, well one thing I’m getting is that I did more tangles than I thought I did. I guess the press to make one a day makes what you didn’t do – more significant than what you did! No Zen there. Sheesh. Again no time for looking up patterns, but these were pretty fun and just came together out of my head (and hand).I got caught without a good pen so was reduced to lots of spaces…but I liked it in the end.  On Easter we went on our annual First Hike of Spring and were gone from dawn to dusk…nothing left over for drawing.

Hope spring is making you feel happy and rejuvenated…thanks for reading.

Maybe because of the longer daylight evenings or maybe because I can see warmer weather on the horizon – whatever the reason – I’m making more art! Marvel Your Precious Life  an online class with Kelly Kilmer has suddenly come to life for me and I can’t stay away from it.

As an unexpected bonus Kelly has a contest up on her blog today – Tuesday – just click on her name in the paragraph above and follow her directions to win! I’m going to as soon as I am done here.

I’m working in a home made book and all the pages are different sizes, none of them very big. I find myself flipping through looking for the bigger pages, which leads me to think that the next one I make will have a larger format.  The picture above is my page from class #9 and it has that ‘almost too busy’ feeling again. When I was trying to figure out why it bothers me I came to the conclusion that I just need more space to express myself, whether it is a page or a stage…hmmm.

This page feels better. More space, room to say more if I want and and overall feel of lightness and freedom. This was from class #10.

I have 21 more lessons/worksheets  in this class. I found myself packing a small bag to take in the car yesterday. It’s been a long time since I’ve carried any art supplies other than my zentangle pens and some ATCs. This makes me happy.

Way back when – in January – I started this class with Kelly Kilmer, Marvel Your Precious Life.  Then life, my marvelous, precious life intervened and I have been proud just to keep at it. Tiny bits at a time, fit in between the carpooling, the deadlines, the clients, the family and a few fine and marvelous moments.

Now that I have the photo of the page (above) up – I can see what to do with the bird. I will get some white ink outlines and feathers and hopefully lighten up that whole block of dull darkness.

Lesson #8

This page – Lesson 8 above – was really fun. The focal of the mouth holding the pen seemed such an elegant rendition of my harried facade when I am trying to get something written on the page (in the midst of the MPL) that I wanted to use it.  Then I wanted to put the rose in her teeth…and somehow my whole life lightened up with the silliness of the whole significance of me…sigh.

Even though I just get quick sips of this journal and this class, it is getting me through the winter, slowly and surely.

The last January tangle - one of my favorites

Last month I promised to post the last day of January this month so here it is –>

Feb. 1-3

I started out strong in February but by the time  I’d done three days I was tired of my own company and finding my tangles uninspired and in a rut.

So what to do? Google of course.

Feb. 4 – 6

I found some fantastic tangles and started testing them out – I especially liked the rope patterns on the 4th – and the loopiness on the 5th.

Feb. 7 -9

I didn’t have a lot of time during these 3 days and in fact filled in the 8th a week or so later when I started trying to figure out linked hearts for Valentines.

Feb. 10-12

I had time on the 10th but just could not get into the daily square. I started in on the numbers and could not stop.

Feb. 13-15

I started thinking about making valentine cards using the tangles and couldn’t figure out how people link images vs. stacking images. So back to Google to find some help. The woman who makes and sells this calendar, Carole Ohl,  was my first stop and she had a simple and beautiful tutorial that had exactly what I was looking for.

I really hated this after I added the color – so I went back to a blank square on the 8th and did it better.

Feb. 16 – 18

I was still struggling here and looking at other blogs for inspiration and ideas. I was determined to not give up so tried a number of different patterns that didn’t really do it for me. But I was determined not to give up. Then on Monday – I decided for some reason, to make a design outside of the boxes (actually) and it jarred something loose.

Feb. 19 – 21

From somewhere I stumbled on a banana/sail/bowl-stack shape and started fooling with it. Of course then I had no slow time or very little so I couldn’t play as much as I wanted.

Feb. 22-24

Also on the 21st I saw someone drawing lines holding two pencils side-by-side to get another pattern going.  I loved how this looked so after trying one on the 21st – I stepped out of the calendar and made some ATCs to carry in my pocket when the calendar is too bulky. I found this and many other ideas over at “I am the diva.”

I was also  introduced to the “String,” where a doodle or a tangle runs through several other tangles tying them all together.

Make sure to notice the little pearl tucked in at the bottom of the 24th.

Feb. 25-27

Trying out many new tangles here – especially liked the star-type tangle that looks kind of like dragon wings.

Can you see dragon wings?

Feb. 28

On the 28th I tried to mimic a tangle that was one in the calendar as decoration.

So I worked my way through all the winter-blah of February and am again engaged in full play mode while Waiting for Kids! And since I have another full page done – I can’t wait until next month to share it – so as a March Madness Preview see March 1 – 3 below.  Thanks for reading and looking.

Class 1 - Bird Stamp Focals

However when I do get a few minutes I LOVE doing my art journaling using this class. For the above two page spread I was trying out several different lettering styles in addition to the writing prompt.

Class #2 Bold Color

I had so much fun with class number 2. In addition to the class prompts I was pushing myself to use colors I don’t normally use i.e. pink, along with my favorite colors – green and orange!

What you can also see is that I am using a journal that I made about a year ago and wish to fill up. Many of these pieces are being done on painted backgrounds that I made months ago in order to try out different texturing techniques.

Class #4 Is it Vanity?

When I came across these images (above)I was struck by the fact that both women were dressed in their very best for the camera. It is a biological imperative? Is it a survival method – to be attractive? What is it that has us primp?

Class #5 - Wonder

Here I was trying out new ways to use transparencies and commercially made decorative papers.  There is still more to be done on the “Wonder” page, but I love it so far.

Class #6 Candy Love

I used candy wrappers for the theme for this lesson. The top pink/red wrapper comes from a boutique candy bar that my man gave me on my birthday. The larger bars have a love poem printed on the inside of the candy wrapper.

The transparency on this page is a candy bag on which I wrote out the Shakespeare  sonnet from the Pink wrapper, I am looking for a certain flat candy to keep in the candy bag…might just put other candy wrappers in there.

Behind the transparency I have silver hearts cut out of Hershey paper-foil wrappers which adds a beautiful blingy effect.

Having this class sitting on my table allows me to just stop by and putter for a few minutes and I swear it has saved my sanity more than once in February. I will probably get through another five lessons over the next month and then I will share them with you. Thanks for reading.