A Doodled Bag

The other day I noticed that an acquaintance of mine carries around a little bag of 'stuff' with her, but the bag was looking a little worse for wear.  Truth be told, it was falling apart!

Yesterday I was in the mood for some thread doodling so I used some of the marbled fabric that I had made back in December and made up a little patchwork bag (about 11" X 10.5").  I had fun doodling all over it with black thread, letting the design in the fabric inform my doodles.






I especially liked this little dragonfly that emerged.  There are also some flowers, a leaf and a bunch of random doodles.

I'll drop the bag off today, a little surprise RAK (random act of kindness), and hopefully it will bring a smile to her day.

 

 

I hope you're having a great day too!  :o)

Art Journal Calendar Cover

Last night, in the early evening, I finished the front cover of my Art Journal Calendar.  To quote Karen Ellis, it was in it's "ugly stage" for quite a while.  In fact, I'm not sure it came out the other side completely. LOL

Watching Karen work (you can watch some of her Ustream TV recording or watch her live on Friday evenings), I have learned that art often goes through an "ugly stage" before you get to where you want to go.  I used to panic and quit at the ugly stage but thanks to Karen I've learned to work through it and usually I can get to where I'm happy with the piece.

I started by putting gesso on the printed front cover of the journal to cover up the commercial cover and then I rescued an old map that my husband found while cleaning out the basement.  He was about to throw it in the recycling bin but my idea of recycling maps and his differ some what (he has now been educated and will save maps for me!).

That got a few layers of paint and some spray ink using various stencils, as well as a couple of strips of text printed gaffer tape down the front edge and beside the spiral binding.

 I didn't take pictures while I was in the really ugly stages...I think I was too lost in thought on how I was going to rescue it...

I used a Dylusions stencil with random dots on it  and some course moulding paste to add some real texture along with the perceived texture of the various layers of paint and ink.

Anyway, for this cover, I wanted to play with a bit more of a grungy look and I'm not sure I love it, but it told me it was done so I have put down the paint and backed away...

BJP 2012 and Best Wishes For 2013

My Bead Journal Project 2012 is complete, and just in time!  Yes, I finally finished the December piece of my BJP 2012 on Saturday evening.  Yesterday I stitched the pieces to the cotton velvet and then mounted them onto the wooden painting panel (18" X 24" panel).  I didn't want to use a stretched canvas because I thought the weight of the beads would need the support of the solid wood panel.  I like the cotton velvet because it absorbs light so that the beads are highlighted without having the more formal look of silk or viscose velvet.

The December piece includes many shades of blue and my beloved spirals.  I'm often drawn to blues and I seem to come back to spirals in my work so often, that I thought it was a fitting end to the year.

I've got the rest of today to further think through my idea for the BJP 2013 plan that's taking form in my head.  I have yet to determine if it will work but I may just have to jump in and try it!


I wish you and yours a JOYfully wonderful New Year and hope that 2013 brings you good health, happiness, inspiration and creativity!

Hugs,
          Linda

2013 Cover Page for Art Journal Calendar

I had to back up and do my cover page for the 2013 section of my Art Journal Calendar.  I had already finished the page spreads for January, February, March, April and May, but I had left the first two pages blank so I could do a cover page spread.

I cut the letters for the left side page out of an old dictionary page using a craft knife and then I adhered them to the page using matte medium.




I was surprised by how little they showed up on the painted background until I started doing the black and white highlights around them.



This is a repeat of the message I used for a photo image I did yesterday.  Joy is the word I have selected as my 2013 inspirational guide word!

I used molding paste and a stencil to get the diamond texture that frames the spread. I also used a very fine cursive text stamp to add more interest to the background.

Next I'll work on the outside cover of the journal...

I'm Choosing JOY!

Inspired by many influences, I've decided to choose an inspirational guiding word for 2013 to help frame my thoughts as I move into the new year.  As I said to a friend in an email this morning, it's so easy to slip into the bad habit of focussing on what is wrong but then we forget to enjoy and celebrate all that is right in our lives!  I have so much to be grateful for and so much JOY in my life.

I'm working on the title page spread for 2013 in my Art Journal Calendar, using these same words (I'll post that when it's done) but Kim's challenge in Beyond Layers today lent itself so well to this same topic that I wanted to use them on her sample photo as well.

For those of you interested, I used two of Kim's textures, kk_chalkmagic and kk_clarity, and the fonts I used are 1942 Report, Stamp Act Jumbled and aka Frivolity, respectively.

A Thank You Art Tag

I made a little Thank You tag using some of my spray inks and stencils, a bird stamp and some embossing powder.  I forget how much fun embossing powder is to play with!

These small tags are a great way to do a bit of art when you only have a little time to spend but you just have to have an art fix. :o)

Planets Triptych

This week, I've been finishing another UFO.  It's a piece that I started in the summer.  I started working on it after seeing a piece that my friend Diana did based on Carol Ann Waugh's Stupendous Stitching. Later, after signing up for Carol's online class, I had set this aside and I did the large colourful piece called Spirals, Lines & Serendipity.

In an attempt to finish up yet another of the unfinished pieces that I have lying around (thanks Tracey for your challenge!), I pulled this out and got back to it.

Each of the individual panels are mounted on 8" X 8" canvas squares, and the intension is to hang them vertically as shown here.

I've called it Planets because of the various spheres and the batik patterns on them.

Holiday Wishes...

And for those of my readers who may not celebrate Christmas, I hope you've enjoyed a wonderful day with people that make you happy!  May all of your remaining days in 2012 bring you joy and happiness and may you all have a creative and inspiring 2013!

Hugs, 
       Linda

May Art Calendar Journal

My May art calendar journal spread is ready for the journalling.  I started by using various spray inks to give the page a gently mottled look.  I then added a variety of old silk flowers and a few paper flowers to create masks for each of the days of the month and I sprayed over them with green.  I removed the flowers...getting my fingers all inky :o)...and let that layer dry.  When that was totally dry, I came in with my Micron pen and did the lettering and a bit of soft sketching around the flower shapes.  After stamping the leaf shapes and the birds, butterflies and dragonflies, I used my Micron again to draw in stems and swirls to connect the leaves.  Finally, I did a bit of colouring with my Peerless watercolour pigments...and you have May flowers to follow the April showers.