Playing Catch-up

You would think that with the extra day we had in February due to the leap year that I could have finished my Bead Journal Project piece on time.  But, as you can see I have barely started it.  I was so busy playing with lettering in Joanne Sharpe's Letter Love 101 online class that I neglected a lot of other art projects that I have on the go.

Well, for the next few days my focus will be on beading.  I hope to be able to post about the finished piece in a few days.  Wish me luck!

Art is the Answer

 I'm still working on my final journal for my Letter Love 101 class.  Joanne wanted us to do a page with this particular quote, and I decided that since it summed up the class so well I'd put it on the back cover.

Because I love using recycled book pages to achieve that extra layer of text and texture, I wrote the quote on a piece of such paper which I had first painted using watercolours.

I'm especially excited about the flower petals on this piece. Months ago I had used round stickers (cut from a sheet of address labels, using a circle punch ) as masks on fabric when I was doing some surface design.  I loved the random colour that ended up on the paper circles so I stuck them to a piece of freezer paper to keep them for "some future project".  We'll, that day had come! I added a bit of sketching with a Pitt pen to draw in the leaves and stems.

This wonderful quote came from Pippa, one of my Letter Love classmates (and a new follower of my blog).  Thanks Pippa.  I love it.

Take a look at the second line of text on this page.    I had made a mistake so I covered it with another piece of that painted, recycled book and rewrote the words.  When an eraser won't work, figure something else out. There's always a way to 'fix' a problem!  And, because I can't let anything go, the grid lines on this page are the tiny bits of torn off paper left because I had wanted torn edges on the page in yesterday's post.

Thanks for your visit today.

10 Truths About Me

In Beyond Layers, Kim has challenged us to share '10 Truths' about ourselves.  What a perfect fit for the Letter Loved journal.  Here are 10 truths about me:

 1.  I am married to the most amazing man! So true.  He is loving, thoughtful, considerate, supportive, understanding...the list goes on.  I am truly blessed!

2. I am committed to doing art every day.  Whether it is a long time in the studio or a few minutes in a journal, this is my personal therapy...my happy place.

3. I am incredibly proud of my son and the man he has become.  Sure, there are still moments when he makes me crazy, but he is truly wonderful. 'sigh'

4. I am passionate about my art.  (see #3) Whether it is fibre art, journalling, beading, photography...my art brings me joy and allows me to focus on all the positive things in my life.

5. I am a bit of a loner... I like quiet... I find it challenging to interact with others.  (see #2, #4, #6, #9, #10) I am comfortable in my own company and sometimes crave 'alone' time to help me heal.

6. I am an avid reader... hooked on my iPhone Kindle app. Who ever thought you could carry an entire  library in your pocket?  Heard about a new book that you want to read?  There's also a huge bookstore in my pocket that delivers in seconds no matter where I am.  And I can read the first chapter for free to make sure I really want to buy the book!  Awesome!!!

7. I love my coffee and my amazing husband's thoughtfulness in bringing it to me every morning. (see # 1) What more can I say?

8. I have just learned how to bake my own gluten free bread. Fresh, hot from the oven breads that don't leave me in excruciating pain.  And the variety is endless:  breads with nuts and seeds; classic French bread; sourdough... (If you're on a gluten free diet, check out Bette Hagman's Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes) [Thanks Sue and Kay for telling me about this great resource!]

9. I love to cycle (30 km/day ideally).  (See #5 and #10) Cycling helps me heal body and mind.  When I can't cycle outside I use my trainer indoors.  Talk about going nowhere fast! LOL)

10. I struggle with depression and work hard to see the JOY in life. (See #2, #5, and #9) And I struggle with the stigma of admitting this fact but know that we all have to see it for what it is - a physical illness (because the brain is part of my physical being!).

Bonus:  To quote Joanne Sharpe, "I am a letter dork".  And I'm proud of it!!!

Colourful Lettering: The Journal Continues...

 Today's post is a short one (did I hear a sigh of relief???).  I just wanted to show you the first few pages of the journal I'm working on.  This is the final project in Letter Love 101.  It has been such an informative and inspiring ride.  I highly recommend that you check it out.  It's the best online course I've ever taken!

I love the contrast of the bold black and white duct tape and washi tape with the bright coloured papers.

 My moto for keeping my sanity...make art every day!













I wish I knew who first said this.  What a wonderful quote.  Right now I still feel like I have two left feet (maybe even three because I keep stumbling!) but I'm working hard to learn to dance in the rain!  One step at a time...

Thanks for visiting!

Things Are Blooming in the Studio

Yesterday I was back in the studio playing with some of the hand dyed fabric (read 'wipe up rags') I made the day before.  Hanging to dry, they look pretty messy, but there are so many wonderful treasures within that mess!  

I had prepared these backgrounds a while ago, and was planning to create some floral quilts similar to the one I did last year, but when I saw these pieces of fabric I was inspired to use it to make some flowers and leaves. I started with simple, rough circles (randomly cut by hand to avoid that perfectly round look).  

I drew one line as a guide for the stem and then went to the machine to start thread sketching.  I love how the black thread sketching just makes it pop.  I still have to quilt the background and then finish the edges.  This is the first in a small series of four.   

This morning, I finished another page in my 'Letter Loving' journal.  I really like the torn paper edges on this page.  

Make Art Everyday

Today I've been journalling about my new philosophy of making art everyday, while continuing on in the Letter Love 101 course.  As you can see, I've used some of yesterday's wonderful papers to create this page.  I love how that white correction pen made this page come to life.  I'm sorry to say I forgot to take process pictures today, but when I had finished the journalling I was disappointed by the dull, dark appearance of the page.  Then I started to add some white and it just made things pop.  As an artist, I know the importance of contrast, and I guess this is a great illustration of just how important it can be.

On another note, I now make all of my own greeting cards.  They are generally little pieces fibre art or paint and mixed media, but I needed to make a birthday card for my little great nephew so I thought some bright marker and doodles would be fun.  Here's hoping the little guy doesn't read my blog in the next week or so.  :0)

Messy 'Play' Day

Today has been a wonderfully messy art day.  I was up in my studio playing with a variety of homemade spray inks to create some backgrounds for my journalling.  Joanne from Letter Love 101 gave us a fabulous assignment of playing with colour and texture to create some backgrounds.

She 'required' us to do 5 or more and laughed at herself because she knew once we got started we wouldn't be able to stop!  I've done this sort of thing before, but I really had fun trying a few different ideas that I hadn't done before, and the more I played the more I wanted to do!

I used bristol board, watercolour paper, mixed-media paper and some old pages that were left over from an altered book.  I did have two colours of Ranger 'Colour Wash', but I made other spray inks by mixing a variety of India inks with water (about 1 part ink to 10 parts water).  I also experimented with some silk paints (also 1 to 10 ratio) and Ranger alcohol inks.  I love the vibrant colours I got with the silk paints and the alcohol inks.  As you can see, I had a lot of fun letting the ink run down the page.  I imagine myself journaling on those grid lines later!

I also used some stencils and sequin waste in my play today.  Aren't the numbers wonderful?!

Do you see the heart.  Don't you just love happy accidents!

On this page I used some of the left over pages from my altered book to tear strips for a resist.  I think I'll play with this another day and create more jagged edges with the torn pages.

 These look like a whole bunch of helium balloons that have been released into the air.  Can't wait to journal on this page!!!

 The rest of these are the smaller pages in my mixed media journal.  These were drops of alcohol ink that were allowed to run.  Notice that they don't run as much as the other inks.  The alcohol evaporates so quickly that they're dry a lot faster.

I love this page.  I had put white gesso on the page first and there are some brush strokes that give it a really neat texture.  I spritzed on the ink while the gesso was still wet.  Love everything about this page!

Check out these wonderfully bright little drips.  I let the alcohol ink drip on the page and then dabbed them with a cloth to pick up the excess.

 And now for the bonuses that resulted from today.  Look at these wonderful bits of coloured papers I'll be able to incorporate in my journalling.  I had used these bits as resists by now I'll be able to up-cycle them into another piece of art.

 And then there are the wonderful wipe up clothes.  I can't wait to use these in some fibre art. I have an idea blooming already so check back soon to see the art quilts that are forming in my mind as I type this.  Maybe that's what I'll do tomorrow...

 Needless to say, no studio time can go by without Inspector Cat (aka Arbour) checking it out.

 

Did I mention it was a messy day in the studio today?  :0)

A Thank You and More Marker Play

Today I started out my 'art every day' session by making a little 'thank you' for a special person who brings a little smile to my day once a month (and yet I'm not sure she even knows it).  I'm loving all of the new lettering ideas I'm learning and just had to play with this little tag to continue practising my skills.

Then it as off to the web to check in with Letter Love 101 and find out what we were doing for lesson 19. What fun!  I can't believe all of the wonderful ideas that Joanne has.  As soon as I finish this post I'm going to do some more of these.  

Who knows, maybe I'll actually write all of the words in the next one.  Do you see the error?  Yes, I'm missing the word 'away'.  Has that ever happened to you?  As you're writing, you say it in your head, but somehow not all of it transfers onto the page! LOL.  And, why is that second 'e' in keep  coloured in???  It's a good thing I can still laugh at myself :0)

Black Backgrounds=A Whole New Look

Today I decided to combine a couple of the lessons in Letter Love 101.  I used black gesso to cover the pages in my Letter Love journal and then I pulled out all of the pens I had that would show up on the black.  The first page page uses the coloured pens (mostly Sakura Gelly Roll pens in metallic and glitter, and Sargent Art Liquid Metal markers).  I love the colours of the Sargent Art Liquid Metal markers and they were only $3.79 for the box of 6 at Curry's.

On this page I used only white on black.  My favourite white marker is the Sakura Gelly Roller (med) because it gives a great line and flows really well.  The Pentel Correction pen is good too, but it's harder to get as consistent a line as you get with the Sakura pen.

Playing with My Name

Today I've been playing with my name as part of the Letter Love 101 online class.  I don't think I achieved the abstracted image I was going for, but it was good practise.  I did discover that I don't like the  Crayola Tempra discs I was using.  I just couldn't get the wonderful bright, clear watercolour look that Joanne demonstrates in her pieces.  I think I may need to invest in some better, brighter watercolours. However, I used the Tsukineko inks to colour over the dull watercolour I had and it helped to brighten it up.  I also added some platinum Tsukineko ink which is more opaque but has a great shine.

Better Late Than Never...

With Valentine's Day being on Tuesday and the Letter Love 101 course, I wanted to play with hearts and a 'love' message.  I started by making a large heart frame using zentangle type doodles.  Inside I wrote the quote and drew a few 'heart flowers'.

The next step was to add a textured background, again falling into the Zentangle style to create a sort of quilted effect.  I added a little shadowing with a grey Copic.

Finally I added some colour.  I lucked into a great deal yesterday when I went to visit my Mom in Kitchener.  I stopped by the Creative Sewing Centre and discovered that they were going out of business.  As such, they had everything in the store on sale.  My best find was the All Purpose Inks for Fantastixs by Tsukineko.  They had all sorts of wonderful colours all for 70% off!  I bought 22 different colours!  I used pinks and reds to colour this page, along with using Copic marker and Le Plume II markers. 

Doodle Letters

Still loving my Letter Love 101 course, I've been doodling some fun letters.  Instead of doing my name or a particular word (as the assignment suggested) I decided to create a few letters to play/practise the technique and then I made a full sized letter B and wrote a message inside it.

The message was inspired by something that someone said me today.  I'm probably not alone in this (often a pitfall of women as we feel we need to take care of everyone else and we forget about ourselves).  I should post this in a prominent place and read it daily!

I used my Inktense watercolour pencils to add the colour.

The final step was to add a few accents with my trusty correction pen.  I love the pop you get from that little bit of white over top of the colour!