Free Your Mind...Journaling with Julie 12

Today I'm posting the next lesson that my sister, in New Jersey, and I, in Ohio, each worked on from the Create Your Life Book art journaling book by Tamara LaPorte. While life took some twisty turns, we took a break from art journaling together/apart, but we're back, baby!

For this lesson, you were to write something in pencil that was bothering you about your art and then you bury it on the hill and move on. Julie chose the belief that her art wasn't good enough and then buried that thought under decoupage, paint and stamping. She used watercolor on her angel/girl face and a micron pen for the outlining. The collage pieces were acrylic, watercolored and alcohol ink painted papers. After that, Julie added scrapbook papers and a little waxed paper for texture.

After adding Tombow markers for the dress and tights, Julie added the Wonder stamp on the dress. Additionally, Julie added more stamping, stenciled the air swirls for movement and used dabs of acrylic paint with her fingers and a cotton swap. She added white acrylic paint to tie it all together and Micron pen doodles finished it up. I think the stamping and the swirls are the perfect touches. And I like the dark paint on the bottom, it really grounds that part and makes the air look lighter.

My girl took a bit of time too, though I did no stamping or stenciling. I wrote my belief to bury—that creating is essential to my well-being but feels more like selfishness—and collaged and painted the heck out of it.

I used pre-printed papers, music sheets and some text paper for mine and then added some gelato crayons over the papers. 

I used white thinned down acrylic paint over all the colors and papers to unify and then used a Pitt Artist Pen big brush marker in yellow for her dress.

After a ton of doodling with white and black pens, I also added the words I Matter to her dress. At first, I outlined the flowers on the hill but then decided it took too much attention from the angel girl, so I repainted them.

Now I can't decide which is better. But once I put a project away, I don't revisit it, so this is how it stays!

Hope you can bury the negative thoughts that get in the way of you making art...'cuz art is important!

Happy Friday!

Chark

A Pocketful of Hearts—Journaling with Julie 3

My sister, Julie, and I have been art journaling together at a distance. We found out we have the same book with lessons and decided to do each lesson at the same time. Today's lesson was about creating a pocket of hearts.

The idea is to fill each heart with things you love with photos or names. I used washi, inks, stickers, stencils and gelatos to decorate mine and added phrases about what I'm grateful for and beliefs I have. I used a hole punch on them at the bottom and made a kind of fan of hearts. 

Then I created a pocket on a previously painted art journal page to store the hearts. I added stickers and a quote I had lettered to the front of the pocket.

I found this fun and fairly quick to put together...but I did break it up into a couple of days because I wasn't sure where I was headed. I added some gold washi around the page as a frame for the very last touch.

Julie planned to put names of loved ones on hearts but as she has four kids, three of whom are married with their own kids, she would've had to make something like 18 hearts just for them! I like what she ended up doing and making a heart for each family and adding initials to represent them.

These are the backs of the hearts.

These are the fronts, with collage and stickers and markers. 

And this is the final project, pocket and hearts. 

And guess what? Today, April 24th, is Julie's birthday! So Happy Birthday to my big sis, who's making my quarantine fun and something to look forward to! Here's a cute pic of her and her hubby.

Happy Friday!

Chark

Baby Love—Journaling with Julie 2

My sister, Julie, and I are art journaling each week long-distance. We each have the same project book and each week we work on a lesson on our own and then share the pics. She lives about 9 hours from me so this is the closest we've come to actually doing a class together. It's been fun and I'm having a blast. You can see our first lesson below if you scroll down one post. 

This lesson was to do an image transfer of your picture and then add art media and some words or phrases to it. I suggested we use our baby photos (you'll notice I look ornery and she looks sweet and innocent—don't buy that).

I felt like this lesson wasn't detailed enough in general, because I wasn't clear on the photo transfer process...but it was probably my error. My first attempt was on a page I pre-gessoed and that didn't take. So I did it again and it helped to use a plain page with more tooth.

Here's the start of the process. First, just the photo.

 Then the photo transfer.

Then the first layer of gelatos and black pen.

                                

                                                 

Then the finale after layers of gelato, Pitt brush pen, white acrylics, collage and added words and phrases.

I ended up coloring over some of my face as I worked, so it doesn't really look like the original, but it's not really supposed to be a self-portrait. 

Julie did one of her baby self and I love that it still looks like her. It's adorable. I wonder if that little dress was really pink. 

So far, I'm enjoying this book and the lessons. You can dig a little deeper than we are and do the self-reflection and explore your past and your relationship to art and more. It also has different teachers for some lessons so you get a variety of instruction.

That's it for today...hope you're out there finding some solace and joy in crafting or baking or writing or whatever makes you feel happy. I'm doing all these things and just trying to find the little things to be grateful for—my family safe and sound, the sun shining, the daffodils peeking out, the noisy birds, the texts from my daughter and from friends, the 80s trivia contest my hubby and I had, the fact that my adult son baked muffins with me, my mom in good hands with her caregivers, love. It's all good. Wishing you peace.

Happy Friday!

Chark

 

I Can't Wait Forever to Get Those Shoes

This line is from The Wizard of Oz and since I didn't celebrate the movie's 80th anniversary in August, I figured it was high time to put the spotlight on my fave movie. As I've mentioned before, it was a family favorite when I was growing up and my sisters and I always watched it with a bowl of popcorn. It was one show we could all agree on and with them being 11 and 7 years older than me, it was a rare thing. So, the movie itself enchanted me with all the singing and dancing, the beautiful and poignant Judy Garland and that pink sparkly ball gown of Glinda's. Oh, and those fabulous ruby slippers! But I also associate family time with the movie and a feeling of nostalgia.

Here's a link to some fun facts, and there were a few I didn't know! Like that Glinda's dress was first worn by Mary Blake in a 1936 movie. What?!

What I did know was that there were multiple directors, actors and directions they wanted this to go, along with accidents and injuries during the filming and it's amazing the movie came out with any cohesion at all. But they did it, and although it lost Best Picture to Gone with the Wind that year, it was up for 6 Oscars, winning one for Best Original Music Score. And I double-dare you not to sing along with it when you watch it. It only had minor box-office receipts, it's now the most watched movie of all time!

Here's a look at some of the Oz things in my house. A ruby slipper ornament from my buddy, Lupe, that I just keep on my desk (near a pic of my cutie bitty daughter who is now 25).

A McDonald's 2013 toy that I got by buying a kid's meal for myself...and it was the only one I managed to snag. Sadness but also yay, I got one!

My calendar with things my kids have gotten me and a locket that looks like the book that matches the ones I got my sisters (with pics of me and my hubby as teens smooching it up and about 12 years ago).

My current bookmark that I made with red glitter washi and a Dorothy sticker from Kindred Stamps. 

And here's a look back at a couple of projects. This first one is by me and is a canvas board that I collaged, stamped and painted and had the most fun making. 

I knew I had to put a rainbow in here somewhere, so I did a light painting over some cloud paper and the sentiment is a stamp from Graphic 45/Hampton Arts.

The red cellophane flower is die cut from my favorite Valentine candy, Russell Stover, that my hubby gets me every year.

The poppy, key and Dorothy are all from the Graphic 45 Wizard of Oz paper line that they reissued recently and that I just bought again. 

This next project was made for me by an online friend, Adele, that I used to hang out with on Creating Keepsakes site. She did a fabulous job and I use the album to put in notes and pics about my love for Oz. She used the same Graphic 45 paper that I bought at Scrapbook.com. They don't have it anymore but Funkie Junkie does.

It was such a generous gift of time that I will always treasure...I think crafty people are usually generous at heart. We share ideas, support and even gifts. I love that about our community. I'd better run along now, before someone drops a house on me!

Happy Friday!

Chark

A Magical Read

This stamp is from A Day for Daisies and I looovvee it! It's so sweet and reminds me of my daughter, who would rather read than almost anything. She taught herself to read at age three, by saying, "point to the words" as we read to her. So we did. And I remember her getting the little words, a, an, and the right away in a Berenstain Bears book. It wasn't long until she cracked the whole code and I could get her books from the library that she could ready by herself at age 3 and a half.

I made this notebook over by tearing text from old books (painful and yet a great way to upcycle stained books), and adhering them with Mod Podge. Then I used distress inks to smudge color about. I colored the image with pencils, trimmed and adhered with more Mod Podge. Then I added white gel pen accents and a sentiment and use some sequins to make a galaxy.

My darling daughter is twenty-two now and still devouring all the books...and gives me recommendations along the way. I'm so glad she found the same magic in books I did. There are worlds and people and ideas you've never dreamed of found in the pages of those books and I learn so much each time I pick up a new one. I remember my husband saying he only read superhero comics as a kid until about 16, when he discovered Stephen King. Now he has a special limit from the library on how many books he can have out at a time. The limit is 50 and his is 75. And thanks to Thor comics, he knows his Norse myths history when we play Jeopardy.

So, whatever your kids are reading, let them read. Our son loved Captain Underpants and I seriously disliked it. But it got him reading and he ended up starting Harry Potter books in the 4th grade. That would never have happened without Captain Underpants.

So, yeah, we love books here and believe in the magic of reading. If you want to get this Magical Read digi stamp, head to ADFD.

Happy Monday!
Chark