Polka Dot Letters and Words...

Here are a few of the fun pages I've been doing while taking Joanne Sharpe's latest online class, Letter Love 201.  It's a great way to get into an art trance and just doodle!

The word collage was done on an old dictionary page.  The coloured border/background is done with pan pastels.

The lettered page below, on the left, was just not popping for me, so I added some polka dots to all of the letters in my first and last name (I had to add an extra 't' because initially there was only one) and then I gave it a bit more of a colour pop too.

If you need something to pass the time, figure out where the extra letter was squeezed in on the second image.  It shouldn't be too hard since you already know it's a polka dotted 't'.


















And finally this last piece for today...I think I'm getting a bit carried away with all the polka dots and the 'bee' is just way to cutesy for my usual style, but oh well...

As I look at the bee here, I don't think those little wings are going to support a bee that size. :o)

The jumbled letter piece was definitely my favourite of these three activities.  I can see some potential for variations on that idea.  I love the dimensionality of the layers of letters.

Artful Lettering and My January Art Journal Calendar

As some of you have long figured out, I've become a bit of a Joanne Sharpe junkie.  I enjoy her online classes and the inspiration they give me to make sure I'm doing some art every day.  

In addition to all of the machine work and hand stitching and beading I'm doing on my fibre art pieces, I've really come to love doing quick little pieces (as compared to weeks for some of the fibre pieces) of art in my journals.  And so, I am signed up for Letter Love 2...

Here are a couple of shots of the first day's play...sort of a title page for the class 'work' to come.  I had a funny sized journal (6" x 12"...not sure why I bought this size but...) so I decided to use it for this class.

And the page below is from the second lesson.  I love the transformation from the black and white version to the colour.  I used my Tombow markers and my water brush to add the colour. It would appear I like bright Towbows!  (Nothing monochromatic about this Leah! LOL).

This has me well caught up on my "TV listening" of all the shows I had PVR'ed for the last week.  Now I've got to get back to my sewing machine for a bit...

I've also included a shot of my January spread of my Art Journal Calendar.  Some of you questioned how much I'd be able to fit into those little circles.  Well, it turns out that with my tiny printing I was able to cover the highlights of my day without any difficulty. Keep in mind that the journal is a 9" x 12" book, so each 2 page spread is bigger than it might appear.

Until next time, stay inspired and make sure you make some time to play with your creative self!

March Calendar Journal

The March calendar page is ready to go.  I decided to play with the technique I learned in Joanne's Colour Love class using my Tombow markers.

I love the bright, vibrant colours they give you!...perfect for March when the world still seems to be a bit dull and dirty as winter lingers on and you're yearning for the bright colours of Spring.  The transition from the flat black and white page to the coloured page where all of a sudden those triangles seem to float above the surface is just so much fun.

 I was inspired by a comment left on my February calendar journal post by Danielle, in which she said she was considering using triangles for one of her calendar pages.  I loved the idea (since I tend to gravitate toward circles) and thought they'd be perfect for March.  They sort of remind me of little kites and that image seems to remind me of March winds.  Although, any kite flying I've ever done has been in the warmer summer months...



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