Welcome December, I am not sure I am ready for you. We have had one snow fall the beginning of November and I hadn't even put my summer clothes away.  I'm hoping it does snow soon, I know a crazy thought but I am having a difficult time thinking that it is even the Christmas season.  Yes, there are Christmas lights in the neighborhood and people are shopping.  I am just not feeling it.

The one thing that has helped me this year has been finding my love of sketching.  Threw the classes The Art of Wild Abandonment 1 and 2, I have fought my inner critic telling me that I just can't do it.  Well, I don't believe her anymore, she is wrong.  Junelle Jacobson is such a wonderful teacher and leaves you feeling like you can do just about anything.  You can find out more about her two classes on her blog, once you pay you have a one year access to the classroom.  This helps you be able to go at your own pace which is wonderful.

 

I love fall it is one of my most favorite times of year.  So it only seemed natural to make sure that my art journal, received a little bit of my favorite time of year.  I collected a few beautiful leaves this year and each one of them just caught my heart.  With the leaves I tried to stay true to the pattern of colors that I was seeing in them.  These two sketches are a couple of my most favorites and fill me with great peace.  The little bird and his nest is just one that is in my house.  A proof that you can take something from inside your house and make it look as if you had seen in outside.

Be sure you enter my special giveway here and share your memory with me!

I finished my first layout for May in record time.  I am so happy with it!

I still have to do the journaling but I am just not quite ready for that yet.  The history behind the photo;  I have wanted this photo of me for quite sometime but my Mom would never part with it.  This past December when I traveled to NE to help my Dad go through her things I came home with a large suitcase of photos.  This was just one of them, me at about 4 to 6 weeks old being held by my Mom. 

This is one of my fun pages from my sketch book. My little family of owls, colored with Neocolor II watercolor crayons.  The wings are are layered and glued so they stick up a little bit.

Spring......

Spring is a time of new beginnings, cleaning out what has laid dead on the ground for months.  It is a good place to be, a time of change and of growth.  I truly had no way of knowing how my mother's death would effect me.  I truly hoped for the best, that with my grand babies here I would be kept from some pain.  That was wishful thinking.  Truth is it has effected me and I am finally feeling the clouds lift, finding my place again....pushing myself out of the ground like flowers in my garden.   Welcome to the front of my house!!

One of the best things I have done for myself this past month is to take this class with Christy and Junelle, The Art of Wild Abandonment.  I learned so much not only about myself but to how to watercolor with Neocolor 2.  I have been wanting to purchase and learn to use them for over a year.  They are creamy and so simple to use...nothing like I thought they would be.  I am so happy that I took the plunge!!  I purchased them online through DickBlick.....the set of 15 and then 16 other colors to fill in where my heart was taking me.  These will always be my go to colors now....again very happy!!

If you get a chance to take this class, do it!  Both these beautiful ladies share their hearts and it is so awesome!!

Best laid plans.....

I started this post almost two weeks ago!  Life is loud and busy right now.  It got busier when my handsome husband got a new job!  We are over the moon excited but he is going to have to do some more traveling.  He is my rock, supporter and picks up the slack when I just need to go to my corner.....or my square as my Grandson calls it.  I have been meaning to share this for months, hope it helps you.     

In December 2011 I traveled to Nebraska to help my family go through my Mom's things.  I knew it was going to be one of the most stressful things emotionally so I wanted to make sure that I packed my art.....art to go.  I searched online for people that had packed art for trips but only came up with a hand full of people.  I had intended to post this as soon as I got back from my trip but life was just busy.  I hope you enjoy and maybe it will help you on your next trip.

First I took a shopping trip to Ross which is similar to TJMax and I found this......a nice deep cosmetic bag that opens up in the middle.  The only bad thing is on my way home one of the handles popped out so I now have a little sewing project to do.

 
This is what I packed inside.......2 journals, one that I am already working on with Suzi and one that was given to me by a special friend.  One 6" ruler, a brush that I use only for Mod Podge, my box of colored pencils that I use for drawing faces and a tin that holds my loose alphabet stamp set from Martha Stewart.  Ziploc baggies make it pretty easy to keep things organized especially when flying.  So I started by picking out my favorite colored pencils and a couple of smaller watercolor brushes.  Three smaller bags(sandwich size) hold baby wipes, paper towels and 3 stamp pads.  There are two larger bags from the airport which hold my 2 oz liquids and watercolor pencils, my pitt pens in sepia and black, 2 rolls of tissue tape and a pod of perfect pearls.  I also took a empty mini mister so it would be easy for me to spray water or mix perfect pearl mists.  I did pack two quart size bags with collage things I thought I might use but they aren't pictured.

I would do this again in a heart beat.  I felt I had just the right amount of things to not feel like I would be missing something.  Having it organized this way made it simple to take out anywhere.  So moral is....don't be afraid to travel with your art supplies.  Take what you need and a few things you want.  Enjoy yourself and have fun!!

Finally.........

I'm figuring it all out, finally!  After 6 weeks of 4 extra people in our home, 3 of those being 5 and under....I'm rediscovering my creative time.  It is so nice!  I'm so enjoying the creative process of my altered book through the Book of Days.  Once you get past the nerves of what you are actually doing to a old book, you can really begin to have fun.


My cover, when I thought of my word for the year Peace, I knew I needed to have it on my cover.  This magazine clipping seemed to fit perfectly.  I've always found Peace at the ocean, it takes me to a quiet place and helps center me.  All the hearts are torn from pieces a magazine, inked, and covered in a crackle medium so it looks like broken glass.  The image of the woman on the front is covered in rock candy crackle.....Now let me pass on some advice....IF you do this do NOT put it on a vintage piece you care about.  The crackle turned so fine that it actually started to flake off the image so I had to go back on cover it with liquid glass which was a life saver.  I also took pieces of sea glass and shells from my times at the beach, then attatched them with liquid glass.  The spine is some beautiful gold wrapping paper crinkled and inked brown.  The shell photos were found off the internet. 

Inside the cover of this book are three names, two cousins and then my Great Grandmother.  Pretty awesome!  I printed off copies of original photos of my family members and put them next to their names.  Background is created with a walnut spray with a tree mask from Tattered Angels.

Things to remember to do in 2012, this page really speaks for itself.

It's a start and makes me pretty happy!  I was also gifted a place in Melody Ross's Body Restoration.  I am enjoying it and taking it slow just like I did with Soul Restoration.  I am more likely to stick with the program in the long run if I do.

Adjustments

It has been just over a month since my Mom's death and I'm not crying so much anymore.  I expected her to call on Thanksgiving, for us to catch up and go over what the kids wanted for Christmas.  It seems like life has been full of adjustments the last few months and this is just one of them. I am finding my peace in my art as always.  I've never had to push through somethings but that has helped me through my pain. I know I'm not at the end of it but at least I'm having more good days than bad.

The beginning of the month our oldest dog Arthur had a stroke.  It hit us all hard but especially my son.  I still expect to see him running around the backyard, doing his morning exercise routine.  Again more adjustments for us and our other pets.  It was a beautiful fall day when we had to put him to sleep.  We gave him a grave under one of the new trees growing in our yard, right outside my son's window so he can see him and think of wonderful memories.  I am so glad I took these pictures the days after his stroke.  You are missed Arthur!  RIP 1998 - 2011

I am taking a trip to Nebraska to see my Dad and brothers.  A celebration of my Mom's life and sorting through things that need to be divided between all of us.  I will be here as often as I can.  Please be patient with me.

Needed Breaks

I have found myself in need of taking more breaks this summer than I had planned.  I've given myself permission to be okay with it and I hope my faithful few can forgive me.  This year it has been about Me, it that can be said without it sounding conceded.  Taking care of Me has helped me refocus on the things that are the most important to me and letting go of things I just can't control.

Kristin's The Summer of Color was wonderful for me.  It helped me break into a Moleskin journal I purchased almost two years ago.  You can visit my Flickr page to see everything all in one place for what I did this summer.  Each and everyone of the pages hold a special meaning to me.  I am so thankful that Kristin took time out of her summer to make us all happy about color!  Guess what?  She already has plans for next summer!!  Yep, The Summer of Color 2 ~ Ice Cream Inspirations, coming June 4, 2012.  Plan on joining us, it will be fun.  I think it will be a hard summer for me to stay away from the ice cream!!

Come visit me tomorrow, I have a couple of things I want to show you that I am really proud of!!

Just a bit of sun

Our summer has finally hit Spokane, just in enough time to start thinking about school.  For our family, there is one more week off before our Marching Band life starts.  We hit the ground running and it really doesn't let up until the end of October.  I really can't complain at all about summer this year, it has only hit over 90* a few times and our air conditioner has only been needed maybe a half a dozen times.  My heart goes out to the states who have had record breaking heat.  Try to stay cool!

I have successfully been doing some type of art for over 30 days.  I have really been making the time.....a few minutes here and a few minutes there.  It has made me feel very accomplished.  Kristin has done such a wonderful job at keeping us all motivated about color, check out her blog with all the wonderful links to everyone in our group.  This last week it has been all about the color Orange, again not one of my most favorite colors in the world.  You won't find me wearing it, in less it is more on the lighter side with a more of a pinkish shade to it.  I've tried but it washes me out and makes me have that frumpy feeling.  That feeling is something I am trying to get out of with my clothes so I just stay away from colors that just don't work for me.  To my art journal I've added a couple of more pages.

Last November I looked out my front window and noticed that everything had this Orange glow to it.  I went to my back deck and this is what I saw, totally breathe taking.  I love it when God just takes His paint brush to the sky, it gives me so much peace to know He gives me beautiful things to look at.

Our bonus was to use a poem.  This poem was shared with me by a friend, we found it tucked into a few sheets of old music from her Grandmother.  I felt it deserved a special place, along side a photo taken by my friend Ajae, you can find her here and here.  I KNOW this page isn't completed but I'm okay with it.  I'll wait for the inspiration to come.

In my garden this year I only have one splash of Orange from my Lilies.  I've shared before how amazed I am of how my garden was made for me, full of flowers that I are at the top of my list of loves.  These are one of them and if you look close you can see again how God just takes His paintbrush adding all the little details.

This week at Kristin's blog we will be sharing what we have created over the last few weeks.  I'm going to also be sharing a few other things I have been working on, that I am pretty excited about.  Keep checking back in when you can.

First day of Summer vacation, with us not having very many warm days it is pretty strange to say Summer.  I just have to remember that Summer isn't actually offical until tomorrow.  I am ready for a few more non gloomy days.

This week in The Summer of Color class we are highlighting GREEN.  It is one of my most favorite colors.  There aren't many places in my house that don't have some type of green except maybe for my son's room....hhhmmmm....that gets me to thinking......lol.....wonder what he would do if a bit of lime green showed up in his room this week? 

I had this page done right away because I was so excited......

I'm also adding pages in my journal for the Three Hearts class that I took with Christy Tomlinson trying out differant backgrounds and loads of layering.  Things I need to remember.  Fun stuff!!

This week for me is all about getting ready for my oldest Daughter and youngest Grandson's visit, they will be here for 10 days.  I'm looking forward to loving on them which I don't get to do very often.

Better!

I am so glad to have a better start to a new week.  I feel like I have already had a productive one, it feels so good.  It is finals week for my children, they are home earlier than normal.  The evenings are spent studying and trying to get enough rest for the next round of tests.  I am looking forward to the weekend so there will be less stress in the house.

My first art journal.  I took my inspiration from Donna Downey.  I do believe I am in LOVE!  

I am journaling special truths, things I have learned over my life, things I NEED to remember.  The constant glow of Christ, leading to hope into the Guckpit with my Truthteller leading the way.  The Truthteller being my God.  I am so glad that I am NOT in this dark place anymore!!  Thank you God, you are awesome.