Stenciling Fun on a Homemade Zippered Pouch

Today I have a hand-sewn little pouch to show you.  I started with some plain cotton muslin and just had fun using various stencils and acrylic paint to add color and design.  I stenciled the fuchsia flowers with a homemade stencil that I made using a flower die and my Big Shot die cutting machine.  When the paint was dry I used this tutorial from Pink Polka Dot Creations to help me sew and assemble the bag itself.  I always get nervous when a project involves a zipper.  But these directions were very easy to follow and now I think, 'a zipper . . . no problem!'  This little pouch measures 7.5" by 6.5" and is lined with a coordinating teal fabric. 

My next sewing project . . . well I'm not sure what I will sew, but I have this adorable owl fabric that I really want to use.  Any easy sewing patterns you might suggest for a backpack or bag of some sort??     Or maybe something that will help with organization??

Thanks for stopping by!

Some Help With Last Week's Documented Life Project Page

Last week's Documented Life Project planner challenge was to ask someone else to draw on your page and then finish it.  I asked my daughter (who's almost 16 - yikes!) to draw something for me.  She drew this face and treble clef.  I then had fun using some of my Deli Paper Flowers to embellish the page.  I layered some of the flowers on top of each other.  I also used my new Balzer Designs Mini Indian Leaves stencil to add some leaves around the flowers.  The music notes, butterfly and little mushroom are all from my new pack of Tim Holtz Ideology Botanical Remnant Rubs.  Around the edge of this page I used some Doodlebug Designs Baby Blooms washi tape that I absolutely love!     This week's Documented Life Project challenge is to write your name and embellish it.  Sounds like fun!  Time to get to work!  Do you have a weekly or monthly challenge that you participate in?

Thanks for reading!

Small Art Journal Page and Some New Stuff

Here's a small art journal spread that I completed a few weeks ago.  If you haven't noticed yet, I LOVE GREEN!!  I use many different shades of green and blue in my art.  On this particular page I decided to incorporate some red and pink as well.  I also felt the need to use one of my Dina Wakley Scribbly Birds stamps.  I love these birds!  I keep saying that I am going to practice and learn to draw birds, but then I remember I have bird stamps and stencils and, of course, I end up taking the easy route.

Do you have a stamping or scrapbooking store near you?  I live in a small town on the Olympic Peninsula.  We have a Joann Fabrics which I am grateful for.  But better yet, in the nearby city of Sequim, Washington we have a fantastic scrapbooking and card making supply store called Doodlebugs.  I love Doodlebugs!  They have almost everything for your stamping, card making, art journaling and collaging needs.  And what they don't have they are almost always willing to order.  They also have a great blog which you can check out here.  So, when I go to Sequim to go to Costco and run other errands I often cannot resist the very strong temptation to stop at Doodlebugs.  

Today was one of those days.  I had ordered a Julie Balzer stencil and it was in . . . so I had to stop.  Of course I came home with a lot more than that 6" x 6" stencil.  Take a look at what I came home with!

Tim Holtz Ideaology Botanical Remnant Rubs, Balzer Designs Mini Indian Leaves
stencil and Spice Market metal embellishments

Prima Bloom Collection Instachick cling stamp and Stampers Anonymous Distress
Damask stamps (Tim Holtz Collection)

It is amazing how getting a few new things really inspires my creative juices.  Let the creative fun begin!

Fun Deli Paper Flowers

One thing I love about the Internet is all of the opportunities to learn about creative and new techniques.  I love it even more when there is a video showing you just how you too can create what you've just observed as beautiful.  Sometimes it's an entire art journal spread that you get to see come together and other times it's just a small component or technique that you can use on a card, in a scrapbook or art journal.

Last week I stumbled across this Deli Paper Flower Tutorial posted by Sandi Keene on March 20th.  I couldn't wait to try it myself.  I used my Gelli plate and acrylic paints to pull some prints on deli paper, book pages and dictionary pages.

Then I went to work drawing flowers with a Sharpie and cutting them out.  I couldn't stop!  I just wanted to make more and more and more.  That must be a sign that I'm having fun.  Here are a few pictures of my cut out flowers.

I'm hoping to incorporate a few of these into my planner this week for the Documented Life Planner Project.  Thanks Sandi for the great tutorial and video. 

Thanks for reading!

Documented Life Project Planner Pages

Hello!  In this post I am sharing three of my Documented Life Project Planner pages.  You can read about this project/challenge here.  The first week of January the challenge was to incorporate your front door into your page.  My front door is bright and colorful so this was a fun one.  I also have three brightly colored birdhouses that hang just to the left of my front door.  Here is the page I created using a photo I took.  In addition to the photo I used some gelli printed deli paper, a stencil with green paint, some stickers, and some washi tape.

The second week of January we were given the challenge to incorporate a selfie into our page.  I swear I don't really take selfies, however my younger daughter says I do.  Well, she was right.  On Christmas day I downloaded a timer app for my iPhone.  I was having fun taking some pictures with this new app and got this shot of my dog, Yogi, and I.  I ended up sticking the photo onto a scrap of homemade wrapping paper that I made.  I added some washi tape and had fun with my white and black pens and a stencil.  I was determined over the holidays not to buy any wrapping paper so I kept painting and stamping on paper bags.  I really enjoyed seeing all those gifts covered in my homemade wrapping paper under our tree.

The third page you see is the page I made last week.  Last week's challenge was to cut something out of a magazine and incorporate it into your planner.  I opened up an old Real Simple magazine and cut out the hanging wicker chairs and then, from another page in the magazine, the beautiful sea glass in shades of my favorite color - green.  I added some stickers spelling out "Smile - You're in Paradise" and then stuck down some washi tape around the edges.  That was it!  No paint.  No stencils.  Super easy!  But I love it!  Maybe if I stare at it long enough I will find myself relaxing in one of those beach chairs at a quaint little cottage on the seashore.  I like how easy and simple it was to create a little bit of paradise right at home in my planner!  

Thanks for reading!  I hope that you manage to enjoy a little bit of paradise in your life whether it be through some art or in Bali!

Goin' Deep: The Power of Solitude

I thought it would be fun to occasionally dive a little deeper into a piece of art.  What does it mean to me, or do for me, on a deeper level?  About eight years ago I went through a divorce.  Having two daughters and sharing custody with my ex-husband, meant that all of a sudden I had a lot of time alone.  Every other weekend and one day in the middle of each week was very quiet without my children.  First and foremost, I needed to heal and recover from the stress and emotions that so often go with a divorce.  But as the months rolled on I began to see that I was going to survive the dramatic life changes and that I actually really treasured this time alone.  More than anything it gave me time to just be with my self.  I read many self-help books and began to feel emotionally stronger and healthy.  I think that those quiet weekends and hours of solitude greatly contributed to my recovery and my ability to be happy again.  So when I read this quote by Virginia Woolf I knew that it had to go in my art journal and that a lone bird perched in a tree should accompany it.  I still treasure moments of quiet and solitude.  Quiet time restores my energy and allows me to prioritize what needs to get done that day and what can wait.   Many things in life require our 'passionate attention' and making space in our lives for quiet and solitude can help us see where we most need to focus this attention.  How do you feel about solitude?  Do you love it and embrace it or do you avoid it at all costs?

The background for this page was created with Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glazes and the Hero Arts Wildflower Garden Cling stamps.  The bird was made using one of Donna Downey's foam stamps.  The branch was die cut with Tim Holtz Alterations Bird Branch die.  The green leaves in the upper corners are stamped with a stamp from the Dylusions Around the Edge set.

Flowers, a Feather and Some White Space!

I tend to want to cover the entire background of an art journal page with paint or color of some sort.  But more and more I am realizing that I really like the look of seeing some white space.  Okay, in this case, some antique white space.  The colors stand out better and everything appears brighter.  As far as I'm concerned, the brighter, the better.

With this art journal spread in my large Dylusions art journal, I started out by sticking down a page from an old ledger.  Then I used some stencils and spray ink to apply some color.  Along the right and left edges I adhered some brown paper bag pieces that I had stamped with an alphabet stamp and cut into large scallops.  The centers of the larger flowers are circles I punched out of some vintage wall paper that I ordered from Roben-Marie Smith when I first decided that I had to give art journaling a try. Then I went to work with some acrylic markers adding petals to the flowers and doodling along the scalloped right and left edges.  The feather on the left-hand page was created using a Crafter's Workshop stencil designed by Julie Balzer.  Her creativity and her blog are beautifully inspiring.  Some of the finishing touches included adding little white dots with my white uniball pen.  It is amazing how adding lines and dots with a black and/or white pen can really make some of the colorful details pop!  Thanks for looking!

A Round Gelli Print in the Small Art Journal

There is something so completely fun and invigorating when it comes to Gelli printing.  Each print is a surprise and as you layer more and more the print becomes increasingly beautiful and elaborate.  A few months ago I decided I must have the round Gelli Plate.  If you're not familiar with Gelli printing you can check out the Gelli Arts website or the Gelli Arts blog.  There are some great tutorials with videos.

For this art journal spread in my small Dylusions journal I used a quarter of a Gelli print which you can see in the bottom left corner.  I have done most of my Gelli printing on deli paper.  I like that it is fairly translucent.  I also used some Tim Holtz stencils for the background.  The word PLAY is in caps to remind me to play and create.  Sometimes I need to remind myself that it's okay to play, that creating and listening to my artistic urges is a healthy habit as is running or walking or eating well.

Thanks for reading! 

Documented Life Project: Last Week's Page

 I finally found some time this weekend to work on last week's Documented Life Project Challenge.  The challenge for last week was to draw, photograph, or collage a bird onto your page. 

I've been wanting to try out my new Grand Madison Window die and Grand Flower Box die (both by Poppystamps) so I decided to use these new dies and incorporate a bird onto the page.  I used some stencils and Golden acrylic paints to create the background on a piece of brown paper sack.  The tiles above the window were something I cut out of a magazine.  The flowers in the window box are from Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Flower Garland.  The green leaves in the window box are die cut using Sizzix Branch with Leaves.  The plant below the window is die cut using a Savvy Die called Leafy Branch.  The bird is a Martha Stewart Crafts Stitched Bird sticker.  I finished it off by putting little stick-on pearls in the center of the flowers and using some yellow striped washi tape around the edges.

                                                                             
This week's challenge is to cut up a magazine and add it to your planner.  This sounds like a fun challenge!  We shall see what I come up with. 

Here is a close-up of the flowers, bird and window.

Birdhouses and Butterflies

These are two of my first art journal pages.  More than a year ago I was really hoping to find a birdhouse die that I could use in my Big Shot die cutting machine.  I didn't have that die though, so I decided I could just create my own birdhouses.  This was actually really fun and felt great to create what I wanted without spending money on a new die.

I am in love with birdhouses!  They represent something important to me.  They are quaint little retreats.  I would love to have a human sized birdhouse (aka: a treehouse) that was my little colorful escape from the rest of the world.  I have three brightly colored birdhouses hanging outside the front door to my house.  I love them!  I hope that they send a warm welcome to family and friends who come to visit.

These pages were created using a few different Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations dies:  Bird Branch, On the Fence and the Movers & Shapers Mini Butterflies Sets.  The birds are Martha Stewart Crafts Stitched Bird stickers and the butterfly on the left page is a sticker.  The background for the page on the right was created using Dylusions Ink Sprays.  The background for the page on the left was made using Tim Holtz Distress Paints.

Is there something that you use in your art that represents something of importance to you?

To Blog or Not to Blog: My Final Motivation

Created using InstaFrame on my iPhone

A couple of months ago, while I was thinking about creating my own blog and searching for motivation, I stumbled upon Joshua Becker's post entitled 15 Reasons I Think You Should Blog.  This post is what ultimately moved me to decide, "I'm going for it!"  

I've wanted, for quite some time, to create a blog so that I could share my artistic endeavors and connect with other artists.  I know that I take great joy and find motivation in perusing other artist's blogs.  I learn new techniques, discover new products and often feel inspired to go create. 

Joshua Becker's 15 Reasons really proved to me that a blog could do more than provide me with a platform to share and connect with others.  It would give me the opportunity to hone my writing skills, clarify my values and organize my time more effectively.   I could gain more confidence, inspire others, live a more intentional life and maybe even make some money.  What really rang true for me was when I read, " The fullness of joy is not experienced until we have shared that joy with others."  (This sentence is sandwiched in the middle of reason #14: You'll find a platform to recommend.)  Yes, that's it!  I don't want to just share my art and creations, I want to share the joy and satisfaction that it brings me.  I want to share and discuss the mental dilemma I sometimes find myself in the midst of, when a voice inside me says, "Get all your work of various sorts done first, then go play and create."  Which, of course, often means that I don't get to play and create at all.  These are the juicy topics I would take great relief in reading if I were so lucky as to stumble on a post discussing such things.  

Do you have a blog?  What motivated you to go for it and create a blog?  

Projects I've been working on

I wish I could say that I stick to just one craft, such as art journaling,  but I can't say that I do.  I want to try it all!  I thought I'd use this post to share with you some of the projects I'm working on right now.

I started this canvas a while back and didn't really like it.  Just recently I covered it up with some of my new Golden Heavy Body paints and added these fun 3 inch origami squares of paper that I purchased in Port Townsend recently.  I did not cover up all of the black squiggly lines.  I wanted to still see those.  I also did some scratching of the paint and suddenly I'm liking it much more.  It's still a work in progress.  For whatever reason, it takes some bravery on my part to take on a canvas.  I think it is because a canvas is intended to be hung up on someone's wall, not just closed up in an art journal.  This pressure (that I put on myself) and expectation leaves me with some anxiety.  Do you get anxious when you think about working on a larger canvas?

Knitting is something I like to do but am not very consistent with.  I have hoards of yarn under my bed. (Please tell me I'm not the only yarn hoarder!)  While I was buying some wool felt in Port Townsend I wandered into the yarn store, Diva Yarn and Trim, looking for some wool roving.  The woman working there was nice enough to share a very easy pattern for knitting a cowl with just one ball of yarn.  So, of course I ended up buying one skein of Malabrigo Mecha, a 100% superwash wool yarn.  The pattern is simple:  With size 15 circular needles (24 inch) cast on 120 stitches.  Then simply knit 3 rows and then pearl 3 rows and just continue doing this until the yarn runs out.  Super easy!    Here's what I have so far.

    
Recently I was motivated to pull out my needle felting supplies.  I have been following Jane LaFazio's blog (which in itself has been a source of inspiration since I am a brand new blogger).  She works with watercolors, fabric, felt, silk and more.  I stumbled across some of her needle felting projects and directions and knew immediately I had to try combining silk and wool and other sheer fabrics in my needle felting.  I seriously considered buying a needle felting machine but decided that was kind of premature.  You can do a lot with the Clover needle felting tool and needle felting mat (shown in photo).  Here's what I have so far:

What kind of projects are you working on?  Thanks for reading!

Don't leave home without an art journal and a little paint!

In mid February my family and I boarded the Amtrak train in Edmonds, Washington and travelled to snowy Essex, Montana.  We were seeking snow and adventure and boy did we find it!  We cross country skied, saw a moose with a calf, celebrated my dad's birthday and watched the snow fall.  Whenever I leave home for more than just a day I realize I simply cannot leave without some art supplies tucked away . . . just in case I have time to create.  This trip I took a pencil box crammed full of supplies, my small Dylusions art journal and a few stamps.  Here is the page I created in our little cabin with a loft.  I have been inspired by the bright colors that Rae Missigman uses in her art journaling.  Here is a link to her blog:  http://raemissigman.squarespace.com