Reminisce with Me

I tried uploading these pictures earlier in the week, but Blogger wasn't cooperating. This is the most recent art journal that I've worked on. I decided to use my family, as opposed to memories, which some of the other artists chose to do. My family, especially our daughters and my husband, is the most important part of my life. I'm always amazed at how quickly time has passed, whether it's how long my husband and I have been married (over 18 years) or how much our daughters' have grown up.

See Me

These are from the next art journal I worked in, "See Me". It was a tag book, that had a pink and brown color scheme. The first photo is the outside of the tag, followed by the inside of the tag which I also wrote a poem for.





An altered book from a previous swap that the owner, Sherry, had been involved in was sent along with her tag book. Working in the altered book was optional, but I thought it would be fun. The book was an old text book, called Art Appreciation. I chose the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry page to alter. I wanted to do something different that went with the tapestry more, then just paper and glue, so I did my spread using felt, beads, and free-motion quilting, using metallic thread. I know the picture of the tapestry looks off-center, but that's how it was in the book.

My Secret Garden

These are from the next art journal I worked in, "My Secret Garden".

Wow! Has it been that long?

I knew it had been a while, but it's been 4 months since my last entry. Where has the time gone? I have been very busy creating, at least it seems that way. Hopefully, over the next couple of weeks I'll be able to bring my blog up to speed with photos of my recent projects and maybe some of my quilts will even get posted.

Working from the oldest to the most recent work seems the easiest way to go. The following photos are from the Art Journal Round Robin that I'm in. This is the spread I did for the journal "Word Waxer".

PC4FUN4 - The Polka Dot Postcard Swap

These are some of the postcards that I made for the PC4FUN4 (the Polka Dot) swap. Of course the first batch that I mailed had some of my favorite postcards in it, but I was in such a hurry to send them off that I forgot to scan them. So, I have no pictures of those. The ones below are OK, but not as good as the first group. I made 28 postcards in all for this swap, my last with the PC4FUN group, it's time to move on to other things. I do have another 28 or so to make for another swap (Cancelled Art: Recycled-Resewn) before "officially" calling it quits from the postcard business.

September ATC Lottery

I just finished my ATC for September's lottery for the MN Altered Book group I belong to. I forgot to scan last month's ATC, but that's OK. I didn't win last month's drawing, but maybe this month?

I used Distress Ink in Old Paper for the background and stamped over it using a stamp from Stampington and one of my own hand made stamps. The image is from Artchix. I also used my Caran D'Ache Neocolor II, which I really like using, and some alphabet stamps that I picked up at JoAnn's.

Art Journal Pages

Last week I received the first issue of Teesha Moore's new zine "Art & Life", it's filled with lots of good ideas. The first issue is already sold out, good thing I got a subscription. Anyway, there's an article about creating playful journal pages which is what I tried to do with the pages I created below. My journaling needs a lot more work, but I had fun creating the pages following Teesha's suggestions. I only wish I had made colored photo copies of the pages before I started writing all over them. Maybe next time I'll remember to do that.



For this page the suggestion was to use squares, rectangles, and body parts.



The suggestions for this pages was to use lines and architectural images.



The suggestions for this page was to use triangles and fantasy images.



For this page the suggestion was to use circles and nature images.

All of the pages were made on 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper which I painted with liquid acrylics before adding the images. I also used water soluble oil pastels, Caran D'Arche Neocolor II wax pastels, and Derwent colored pencils to embellish the pages. For the journaling, I used Faber-Castell PITT pens, which Teesha said she liked to use. I found that I don't like writing with markers, so I'll have to find something more pen like to use next time.

Art Journal Round Robin

I'm participating in an art journal round robin with 10 other women. Our round robin theme is "Our True Selves", this is the title page from my journal entittled "Surfacing".



The second page. It's hard to tell, but the woman is standing next to a mirror. (Don't worry, I used an unbreakable locker mirror.)



Third page. Dimensional stuff doesn't scan well, that's why it's a bit blurry.





And the fourth and fifth pages.

My journal is now traveling the country, visiting the other artists in the round robin. I should see my journal again sometime in July 2006, if all goes well.




This spread of mine is in the "Window to My Soul" journal. It's the first time I worked in someone's else's journal. I think it definitely lacks spontaneity. I really had a hard time deciding what to do.





And this spread of mine is in the "Word Waxer" journal. Compared to the "Window to My Soul" journal, this one was easy peasy.

I'm back

I'm still trying to figure everything out, so bear with me.

Yes, that's really me. Can you tell that I wanted to be Mary Poppins? I'm told that I carried that umbrella with me everywhere.

It's up!

Well, sort of. I finally got around to setting up my blog, now to figure out how everything works. Anyway... Welcome!