Winds of Change Are In the Air

First I want to say, unfortunately, I lost my last post! It was about the latest Ancestry.com discoveries which led me to an adventure in a pennsylvania cemetery that I promise to share more on later!

Back to more personal stuff. Lately, I feel a soft wind is beginning to blow in my life and I've been experiencing a loosening and breaking free of "debris" in several areas..

(1) now that summer has finally arrived, i've been able to take over a section of my summer kitchen table out on the porch. This has me feeling extra P.L.A.Y.F.U.L. as it's allowed for a constant flow of creativity.

my happy place!

(2) in June, i began my morning walks again and this weekend i experienced renewed determination to get healthy/lose weight.

only a bicycle ride away!

(3) I decided that I can no longer postpone an interstate road trip with my sweet mom to pay a visit to my favorite aunt laura. She is 95 and my mother just turned 89! We leave next week and will take a brief detour for an overnight in our favorite south jersey shore resort.

sisters-in-law

(4) I am thisclose to booking my first out-of-state art journaling classes.. hoping to pull it off! If I can, it will be at ink about it in westford, MA with the one-and-only kelly kilmer.

page from kelly's "New Directions" journal

(5) i just activated my first iphone!

(6) there is so much more life out there for me to sample, I'm not going to wait another MINUTE!



Art Journal Page 2Dec11

A few weeks ago, I decided to prep a few pages in my 8x5 moleskine sketchbook to help jump-start the journaling process. I started with a light application of white gesso, used a babywipe to blend in neocolor II wax crayons and stamped a repeating image with black staz-on.

Next I glued the photo in place and covered the left side with clear gesso. This helps to remove any sticky residue left behind, protects the 1st layer of color and adds texture, or "tooth."

Last night I finished this simple spread with a few doodles, a mhendi-style mandala and some random thoughts on my love of LETTERING. These finishing touches were inspired by Samantha Kira's cool, new email-based class, called Journaling Deep! This is a year-long class which costs only $10/month... and you can opt out at any time... or not! So, please be sure to check out a few of her (57) videos, here.

Sakura Pens used:
Gelly Roll MED White
Gelly Roll Metallic
Gelly Roll Souffle (kind of a mint green)

Bic Pen

the uglies

we all have 'em... in our Art Journals, that is! "let the inspiration flow" - guess it wasn't flowing MY way, that day, lol.

I've read both sides of the keep it or paint over it discussions, and truthfully, only you can make that call. For me, I got depressed every time I looked at it. About 5 weeks passed, I bought a few alphabet stencils in a Thrift Shop and had an "AHA" moment. Next, I simply pulled the tape off -used a little red acrylic paint and a spouncer to re-do the title. (luckily the old one was on masking tape!!) And... SCORE!

Art Journal Page 18Jul11

painted a wash of green paint over a self-portrait,

"crackle" rubber stamp cube, in brown ink,

torn pieces of vintage wallpaper,

new fave color duct tape,

deco tape,

pink porfolio oil pastel,

applied molding paste with corrugated cardboard for texture.

Update: LK Ludwig

Archive Assignment #1: Resonate

My first 2 pages from the October "Point & Shoot Journaling" e-class.

More info here.