Art Journal- Weeks 3 and 5

I have been working diligently on my piece for week 3 during the last week- taking it to TDC instead of my computer- and I finally finished it up at home this evening after several hours of working on it at while sitting at dance rehearsals. Week 3’s inspiration was the art of Ann Wood. One of her specialties is taking vintage clothing and making original bird sculptures from them. I fell in love with her cute little birdies and the owls that have so much individual character. My favorite owl from her store was Pecksniff. So I made myself an owl template based on him and set out to make a little scene stitched together from felt. I could have just made it all digitally- it would have been much faster- but oh no, that is just not the way I do things a lot of the time LOL That’s OK, I went into this Art Journal project with the point of taking some time just for me and it was fun to feel the felt as I cut it out and stitched it all together to make the scene. I had so many people ask me what I was working on this last week at the dance place. It’s not easy to explain an art journal to someone though! Here’s my “Nightowl” page for week 3.

 

The background is made from a muslin sheet 8.5x11 inches that I painted with navy blue and black acrylic paints, and then I added a glitter paint (Roseart) that gives it a starry shine. The felt pieces were hand-stitched with a basic blanket stitch to the muslin- no glue whatsoever was used to put this piece together. The tree shape I used as a template was from Flergs and Kaye Winieki’s Fright Night kit at scrapbookgraphics. All other pieces of the project are my design.

Week 5’s inspiration is the art of Cori Dantini, and given the complexity of my page for week 3 I also chose to focus on the verb of the week: simplify. It seemed fitting LOL! So, I stuck to a digital page  that I dressed up quickly by adding a few self-stick rhinestones, Glimmer Mist (I can see I’m going to be going through lots and lots of it as it is just so pretty and easy!), and  punching a quick border with a new punch I bought with birthday money. I had to tell myself to leave it be a few times after that though ;)

 
journaling: Why do I make everything so darn complicated? Even the simplest of tasks can take on a whole new dimension for me if I haven’t done them before because I want to get them right, without mistakes, the first time around. Sometimes mistakes are good- you learn from them in some way. Just go for it and quit over analyzing everything already!
credits: at scrapbookgraphics.com: Art Journal Caravan Provisions {Parcel #5} and aqua background paper (recolored) from Field Guide by Tangie Baxter, Ultimate Staple Stash by Maya; doll and flowers from Reflections of Me by Christine Honsinger at scrapartist
fonts: CK Becky
paper credits: Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pearl, rhinestones by Darice, paper lace edge punch by Fiskars

and here is one more piece not specifically related to the weekly AJC Itineraries. It’s another lyric-based piece from the Glee album. I think I’m going to end up with a whole series of pages based on the songs that I’m loving at the moment. This one is based on the song ‘Defying Gravity’ from the musical Wicked, which I haven’t seen yet but would love to. It came to Denver last October but it just didn’t end up working out for Mark and I to get away to see it. I’ve read the book now, and found it thought-provoking even though it wasn’t an engrossing read for me. I love the song’s soaring melody and the words that encourage you to give your dreams a try even when no one else believes in them.

credits: Soaring by Ztampf! at scrapbookgraphics; vintage lady from FairyDavis.com
fonts: Cezanne, CK Heritage

More January School Happenings- Honor Choir and a Penguin Project

I showed you Bryce performing in the District Honor Band a week ago, and now I have some things to show off for Beth & Carissa and Brenna.

Beth and Carissa have been participating in Honor Choir before school since nearly the beginning of the year. Twice a week they have rehearsals starting at 7:15A. Most of the kids in the Honor Choir are also in the regular choir, but there are a few who aren’t for various reasons. Beth & Carissa aren’t able to take the regular choir class during the school day since they are taking band this year as their art elective. It’s been a good opportunity for them to learn more about music in general, singing as part of a choir, and they have begun learning to sing parts. Some of the kids were selected to learn the Star Spangled Banner as part of a smaller group, and they have had a few opportunities to sing the song as the opening to basketball games at UCCS. We missed the first time (not sure why), but another chance came up Saturday evening Jan 23. It was a small group that showed up- only 7 girls- but they all knew their parts and sang very well together. Beth and Carissa were the two girls singing the second soprano part. They did a great job. The first video is them actually singing in the gym. They weren’t miked, so be warned that you will need to turn your volume up once they start singing (and be prepared to quickly turn it down at the end of the song when the crowd starts clapping and cheering LOL). Beth is right behind Ms. Depew in my line of sight unfortunately. I’m also including a recording of them going through the song during their warmup beforehand. You can see both of our girls in this video and since it was a much smaller area the sound is a bit better.

direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEjQ0ltIrwQ

direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj37ubiPdTI

Brenna has been learning about the arctic and the animals that live there in their science unit. She was assigned a project on penguins; she had to pick a penguin- she chose the macaroni penguin- write a small report about it and then make a diorama. The macaroni penguin is the one with the bright yellow feathers on their heads, which is where they get their name from as they resemble the large feathers that young men in the 18th century wore on their hats- they were known as ‘macaronis.’ Most people are familiar with the song Yankee Doodle Dandy: Yankee Doodle went to town a-riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni….. I know you were singing along with me! We made penguins out of Crayola Model Magic dough and then used bits of yellow pipe cleaners for the yellow feathers.

 
journaling: January’s big project in first grade was to pick a penguin to research and then build a diorama about it. Brenna chose the Macaroni penguin. The macaroni penguins are the largest of the plumed penguins. The bright yellow feathers on their heads are where they get their name from as they resemble the large feathers that young men in the 18th century wore on their hats- they were known as ‘macaronis.’ The live in the Antarctic, they eat krill, fish and squid. They need to stay away from seals, sea lions, Orca whales and shore birds such as gulls.
credits: Chilly Charm by FruitLoop Sally at catscrap; Scruffy Stitches by Amy Hutchinson at After5Designs; Grungy Month Brushes by Michelle Coleman at LittleDreamerDesigns; Date Stamps by Amber Clegg at Scrapartist; Cookies 4 Kids template by Sue Setiadji at SweetShoppeDesigns;
fonts: Tom's New Roman

Recent Scrapbook Layouts

This LO was inspired by a cute little Valentine decor canvas on an easel that I bought at Target a few weeks ago.

 
credits: at scrapartist.com: Set My Soul On Fire by Pixel Works, Shmootzy Alpha 1 by Nancie Rowe Janitz; fonts: Snowshoe

We had our 4th annual year-in-review layout exchange among my group of local scrapping friends Friday night at our monthly crop. Funny story: I was running a bit behind and didn’t get the layout done until Friday afternoon, so at 2 o’clock before the crop/exchange that evening I was uploading my pages to the Copy Store to have them printed. I got a call about an hour later saying they were ready and I was able to pick them up on the way to TDC for dance class. Once I got to Trinity later that night, I find Bonnie on the phone with the gal at the copy shop telling her that Becky is on the way with her files to have them printed too and that she can send her prints with Becky- it’s just a few minutes before closing at this point. After Bonnie gets off the phone she tells me how when she went in to the store to drop off her files earlier the gal starts to ask her what sort of paper she wants it on, etc. and then she says ‘the lady this afternoon wanted them on glossy cardstock’, and Bonnie replies that yes, she will take whatever Melinda wanted LOL! This was the same gal that printed up my huge pre-Christmas order in December, so I think she has my preferences down at this point ;)

Here’s my LO that I gave to them:

journaling: 2009 was made up of lots of little things that kept us busy nearly every day. Bryce continued playing trumpet in Jazz band. He fills his spare time perfecting his gaming skills. Beth, Carissa, and Brenna continued their dance educations in several disciplines joining the competitive companies at The Dance Center. Sarah finally got to start dancing too over the summer. Beth & Carissa helped their school’s Battle of the Books team to their best-ever finish in the city-wide competition. Melinda played oboe for the Steve Green concert in April and stretched her photography skills with the Project 365 (a photo a day) during the year. We spent time with Grandma and explored some of the local sights in Colorado including the Great Sand Dunes, Picketwire Canyon, and the mountains in the fall. Mark wrote lots of programs for analyzing the GPS capabilities throughout the world.
credits: Every Life Has A Story, Chapter 3 by TheDigiChick.com designers; Template 167 by Yin Designs; staple by Jessica Bolton; fonts: Snowshoe, CK Journaling Condensed

This one is for the ‘Natural Wonders’ playday on the SBG blog today. My most favorite nature photos from last year.

 
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: It's Only Natural Bundle  by Veronica Spriggs, Project 365 Jumpers  by Crystal Livesay; globe from Guy Thing by Dianne Rigdon and Aja Abney at scrapartist
fonts: CK Carbon Copy, CK Becky

 
journaling: Sarah loves to play games, and often comes to me during the day carrying one and saying “play with me!” it’s not really a question, more of a forceful request. It’s easier to take a few minutes and play the game with her than to say no. Who can resist those big eyes and grin? not Mama, and she knows it!!
credits: by Tania Shaw at FunkyPlaygroundDesigns: Layered up in You vol. 5, Just For Fun 1, Funky Sampler Digital Scrapbooking Day, Puffy Stickers Primary Alphas ;
fonts: Jayne Print

Art Journal LOs – Week 4

One of the assignments in an art journaling book that I bought for inspiration (so this particular page is not related specifically to the AJC) is to scrap your inner critic and then tell him off! LOL Some of my favorite scrapping music lately are the soundtracks to Glee, and when I heard the song "Don’t Rain on My Parade" one night and saw the whimsical animals in Tangie's Journal Anthology kit I knew just what I was going to do to tell my inner critic to quit being so judgmental about my artistic abilities. I can scrap what and however I want as long as it makes me happy, and if it is singing, dancing and juggling farm animals, so be it!
 
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: Painted Art Journal Backgrounds, Big Top, and Ultimate Staple Collection by Maya, Journal Anthology, Ultimate Art Doll kit, and Marker Doodle Doo by Tangie Baxter, Clouds and rain from Heavenly by Ztampf!, Golden Accents by Veronica Spriggs ; Fishbowl by Scrappin' Cop; Water splash from Sea Oh Sea by Jofia; umbrellas: orange from Summer Solstice by New Life Dreams & Edeline Marta at shabbypickledesigns, black from Scaredeedoo by Irene Alexeeva at scraporchard, red/white tiny umbrellas from The Big Balloon and blue/yellow from Rough to the Touch by Lorie Davison at scrapbookgraphics; Wood and wood stars from Ragtag Cowboy by Dani Mogstad at SweetShoppeDesigns; Wood Cirlces from Amy by Tania Shaw at FunkyPlaygroundDesigns; Wood button from Outnumbered Girl by Jessica Bolton; Ol' MacDoodles Farm by Patricia Christensen at WeedsandWildflowers; font: Horse Puke

This next one just came about because the digital designers are starting to put out the Valentine/lovey-dovey type kits and that got me to thinking about DH and I’s courtship and how much I loved playing in the orchestra and singing with him at church while we dated. During the months of our engagement when he was in Germany and I was still in Pullman, one of the things he did was record a tape of himself playing and singing his favorite songs and then he sent it to me in the mail. I still have that tape tucked away in a safe place ;) 
credits: Altered 365 by Something Blue Studios; at scrapartist: Reflections of Me by Christine Honsinger, Set My Soul on Fire and Autumn Dreamscape by Pixelworks, Stamped Hearts 2 by Amber Clegg ; fonts: MA Sexy

and the week 4 art inspiration for the AJC is the art of Traci Bautista, and her wonderful use of color. A couple of the pieces shown on her blog that I loved on first sight were pages with brightly colored and stitched hearts, so I had fun duplicating the essence of them in my main piece for the week. Sarah shorten the phrase ‘I love you’ to just ‘love you’ these days, so that is where the wording came from.
  digital supply credits: Art Journal Caravan Provisions {Parcel #4} and Scratchy Paint by Tangie Baxter at scrapbookgraphics.com; at scrapartist: Stamped Hearts by Amber Clegg and Fraying Fabric Templates by Rachel Young;     
paper supply credits: Ranger Distress Ink in Dusty Concord, Glimmer Mist in Pearl, Moon Glow's Starburst Stains in Black Orchid Silver, muslin, thread, Marvy Silver Glitter Decofabric pen

I designed the main background on the computer and then had fun embellishing it with real stitching, ink and glitter mist sprays, paint, and glittery silver pen doodles. I was reorganizing the hybrid supplies on my scrap table Friday and came across an empty Pepperidge Farm Pirouette cookie tin that I had saved- probably for use on a Prima project at some point. I decided to use it for a pen tin and opened it up to find that the corrugated paper they use as packing material was still inside. On a whim I decided to keep it and put in the box of goodies I’m saving for possible use in my art journal. I was happy to get to making use of it right away today and had fun dressing it up for my heart. I was hoping for it to be a bit more purple on the muslin fabric and corrugated heart, but oh well, that’s the way it goes since the shimmer mist stuff I bought a while back and finally got out to use wasn’t the color I was expecting. I also used a bit of Tattered Angels Pearl Glitter Mist on the background paper and oh boy, is that stuff pretty! It doesn’t take but a squirt or two to give everything a nice shimmer.

Yes, I know I skipped posting about the week 3 assignment… I was very busy last week sewing a hippie dance costume for Brenna and while I got it started, it isn’t finished quite yet. I will post it later when I’m done with it!

District 49 Middle School Honor Concert, with videos!

Bryce was invited to participate in our district’s honor band this year. Their concert was Saturday evening. After snapping a couple of pictures when the band started playing the first song I remembered that I had thrown my new iPod Nano in my bag of sewing stuff I was working on; Bryce had to be there an hour early, and with the concert all the way out in Falcon the rest of the family got to be there early too so I figured it would be good to have to entertain someone while we waited ;) One of the things that I thought would be cool when I was picking out my Christmas present (yes, I bought my own present in 2009! LOL) was that it came with the option of a built-in video camera. So, I dug it out of my bag and started recording so that I could share the band pieces with distant family members who don’t get to attend these sorts of things. I was very impressed with the kids’ playing- they were pretty darn good for 2nd and 3rd year band students! We talked with Mr. Lawrence after the concert for a few minutes and he said they did very well- the best he had heard from our honor bands in several years.

I’ll start with a picture or two, and then I’ll put in the videos I made. Please pardon any shaking, tilting and such- the nano is tiny and I was hand-holding it for about 15 minutes (thank goodness the chairs had arms! LOL). I have to say that I’m quite impressed with the audio on the recordings for such a tiny little microphone.  The director of the honor band this year was Linda Shea.

The band coming on stage; Bryce is in the middle looking towards the left. He plays the Cornet (or trumpet, as he has one of each LOL). The kids standing in this picture below are the ones from Horizon. I pointed Bryce out way in the back with the red arrow for you.

In case anyone has problems with the embedded videos, here are the direct links:
Dorian Rhapsody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpjWdyj4MiA (I only recorded the second half of the song)
Bell Tower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF2aJF5bOUQ
Medieval Legend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUYgpii8MTo
Fire Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GcnNx_E04w

and just to be fair, I took a couple of pictures of the honor choir too even though we didn’t have anyone from our family in it (6th graders weren’t eligible). Our choir teacher, Ms. Depew is doing the introductions over there on the far left in this photo. Beth and Carissa have really enjoyed going to the choir practices with her, even if it does mean having to go to school an hour early two days a week.

Let me know how you like the videos, and enjoy the music!

P365 Photobook Finished and Printed

I finally got my P365 album all put together and completed. There are several companies that print custom photobooks- the two  that I have always heard good things about for both quality of the printing and customer service are Shutterfly and MyPicTales. A year ago, the Christmas gift that The Crew was given by the Studio Girls at scrapbookgraphics was a photobook with layouts made by everyone on the Crew and a layout made for each of us by one of the designers. I ordered mine through MyPicTales (MPT) and was very pleased with the quality of the printing and the book itself. So, I decided to use them again for my album this year. The book software, Taleweaver, that they provide for putting together the books is pretty easy to use; I had watched a video from my local copy shop that is now printing photobooks in-house that uses similar software so I it didn’t take me too much fumbling around at first for me.

I can’t say enough about all of the help that Wendy gave me while I was working on this, particularly when I was trying to get the cover to look right. Her templates were a huge help to make sure everything was in the right place to not get cutoff during the printing and assembly process. I didn’t really have to worry about bleed on my pages inside the book this time because of the page design I used throughout, but I have used them in the past for other projects where that was important. Wendy, who also works for MPT as a customer service representative and printing consultant, spent a lot of time with me answering my questions and helping me get the cover looking just right. Thanks, Wendy!

I ordered my book Monday afternoon, it was printed and shipped  by Wednesday, and in my hands Friday afternoon. Even better, it was just like I wanted it! :)

Here are some pictures of my actual book. Those who have been following my blog for a while know that this isn’t the cover I originally designed for my book. I liked the other one, but after putting the whole book together I decided it just didn’t flow with the look of the pages. So, I made a new one using the awesome “Snapping and Scrapping” kit from The Daily Digi. I started with one of the quick pages that came with the kit, and dressed it up to use as my cover and the altered it a bit for the back cover and the title page too. credits: The Daily Digi Scrapping & Snapping at TheDailyDigi.com; MyPicTales Toolkit: Templates Only by Wendyzine at scrapbookgraphics

title page credits (shown below):  The Daily Digi Scrapping & Snapping at TheDailyDigi.com;  Clipping Masks Vol 1 by Natali Design at scrapbookgraphics; fonts: Carpenter ICG, FO Empty Wrapper Lowfat, FO Howie's Stamps Lowfat

The monthly pages are first up at the beginning of the book, and then the weekly pages are in order after them.

Here’s a link to all of my P365 blog entries over the last year, if you want to see all of the pages closer. Or you can view all of the pages in my P365 photo album at facebook HERE.

MyPicTales was looking for books they could print and use as samples at trade shows they would be attending, and I decided to submit my book to their call. I got an email yesterday saying that they had indeed picked it to use- does that count as being ‘published’? LOL! I got a small credit towards another book, and an entry into a drawing for a much bigger credit. Maybe I’ll get lucky and win that too?

Taking a picture of yourself taking a picture is always an interesting production. This one was the best of that day's bunch- and despite it being a bit blurry I think it turned out OK. Thank goodness for Photoshop where you can correct a lot of photo mistakes (or at least reduce them a lot)! I did this page with the same photo that I used on the title page of my book.  
credits: everything at scrapbookgraphics: Darkroom by Tangie Baxter and DeCrow Designs, frame from Warm Wishes by Peta Boardman, White Space 4 by Hillary Heidleberg, Ultimate Staple Stash by Maya; fonts: Snowshoe

Scrapping

I haven’t had time to do much scrapping so far this month since a lot of my creative energy is going into the art journal pages, but here are a few pages I’ve done in the last couple of weeks.

 
journaling: Brenna made me a book yesterday with all of these random statements about herself right now.
*I am six years old.
*I am a girl.
*What I want to be when I grow up is a teacher.
*My favorite food is macaroni.
*My favorite shape is a star.
*My favorite color is purple.
*I can make a piggy sound.
*I like the flute.
*Here are the things I like to play with: video games, the computer, teddy bears and snowmen, dolls.
*I don’t have a pet.
credits: Random Moments by Kim Jensen at scrapdish.com; Jumpers 21-24 by Crystal Livesay at scrapbookgraphics.com; fonts: Fulton Artistamp

 
journaling: I was looking out the front porch window watching the storm outside, and I noticed this little robin sitting on the porch trying to hide from the wind and blowing snow. He looked so cold sitting there on the wet concrete. He only stayed long enough for me to take a picture or two, and then he was off looking for somewhere else to shelter. March 26, 2009
credits: by Dianne Rigdon at scrapartist.com: Feed the Birds Papers and Feed the Birds Elements, Fade To White Alpha; fonts: SP Toby Unleashed

 
Beth and Carissa's tap group for the 2009-2010 year.
credits: She Knew collection and Spooktacular Alpha by Dianne Rigdon at scrapartist.com; All Worn Up In You by Lauren Grier and Penny Springmann at sweetshoppedesigns.com; fonts: SP Toby Unleashed

 
journaling: We had our own little new years eve party at home this year. We watched movies, ate pizza rolls and cheese stuffed peppers, wore silly party hats, toasted the new year with sparkling grape and peach juices, and exploded party poppers on the front porch.
credits: Party Central by Flergs and Eva Kipler at scrapbookgraphics; Photo Overload 5 by Hillary Heidelberg at scrapbookgraphics
fonts: Bookman Old Style

 
journaling: Sarah’s favorite day of the week is Thursday- dance class with Ms. Cindy day!
credits: by Tania Shaw at FunkyPlaygroundDesigns: Dancing By Myself, Layered Up in You Vol. 2; at SweetShoppeDesigns: Bad Sewing Machine 12 - Don't Be Square 2 by Traci Reed, Stick It Dates by Darcy Baldwin; fonts: Arial

Art Journal Caravan Week 2

Oh, I just loved the inspiration this week! I did two 'projects’ based on the images found at Geninne’s blog, and more specifically the January pages of her 2010 journal that she showed in this post.

Inspired both by Geninne's lovely 2010 journal and this week's word, accept. I liked the long, 2 pg spread look, blocks with journaling (which are various phrases/statements about things I need to accept), and of course all of the birds. The pages are about 4x10 and double-sided. Thank goodness for inking to hide the edges where the printer didn't feed the second side quite straight! I imagine that some bits of ribbon and buttons and such will eventually end up on the pages, but nothing I could get my hands on easily this week coordinated. I'm sure something will turn up as I rummage around in my stash in future weeks;) On 2 of the pages I used a few bits and pieces I’ve collected from an artist I discovered a little while ago, Valentina Ramos. Her art really appeals to me right now and I was happy to find a use for a couple of the digital pieces she has freely shared on her blog.

  credits: Art Journal Caravan Provisions {Parcel #2} by Tangie Baxter at scrapbookgraphics.com; Super Klean Krafts by Pixel Works at scrapartist.com; Doodled Calendar by Pamela Donnis at TheDigiChick.com; Woodland Whimsy by Kate Hadfield at The-LilyPad; by Valentina Ramos: flower from "Be Good to Yourself" list, and Fall picture
fonts: Vaguely Repulsive
paper credits: Ranger Distress Inks in Weathered Wood and Tattered Rose

Geninne’s diary pages also inspired me in another way. I loved her icy doodles, especially the polar bear with his scarf flapping in the wind I could most certainly feel blowing at our house for several days last week when we had some extremely cold temperatures. So, I made some cold weather inspired projects too. Alana McCarthy at scrapbookgraphics has a new kit out this week called Frosty Wings that was fun to play with. I looked up the temperatures for last week on the web and used those as my main focal point of the page since I really didn’t have any photos that depicted how cold it felt (I stay bundled up inside whenever I can when it is freezing cold like that! LOL).

I wanted to do a page for my art journal too, so I got a little more creative and hybrid with the elements and personal with the journaling for this one. there are quite a few layers of glitter and fuzzy things on this page, so I was working on it over about 3 days once I got the digital base printed. Sarah and Brenna were often hanging about watching me as I worked. I had to endure the never-ending "why are you doing that, Mama?" questions from Brenna and Sarah. "It's my paper, and I want it that way." was finally the answer that got them to be quiet one evening when Sarah didn’t like the colors I had chosen to glitter the felt scarf with LOL

 
journaling: I’m not a fan of hot weather, in fact I’d much rather just put on an extra layer if it is a bit chilly than have to deal with cooling off because it is too hot.On the other hand, I don’t like to be cold all of the time either, feeling like I can never quite get warm. Give me a happy medium, please! A nice change of seasons, but not have temperatures too extreme in any direction.
credits: Frosty Wings by Alana McCarthy at scrapbookgraphics; notebook paper from Hello School by Baers Garten at scrapbookgraphics
fonts: CK Crazy Cakes, CK Chocolate Sundae
paper credits: glitter pompom, white pipe cleaner, glitter glue by Sulyn, Liquid Applique by Marvy, metallic rub-ons by Craf-T Products, Inc., cellophane glitter I got years and years ago from a company called Magic Scraps- I don't believe they are around any longer

 
and in true artist fashion, Brenna decided that she wanted a girl to color too, so I told her she could draw one and color it the way she wanted to since she kept telling me what colors she thought things should be. She said OK and got right to work, even going so far as to cut it out just like mine. I’m not sure where the party hat comes in with the ice skates she added back since she didn’t like that fact that I had taken the skate blades off of my girl, but it’s her drawing and that’s the way she wanted it LOL! Sarah informed me this morning when I was taking a picture of it to share that she was the one who colored the dress purple and gave her ears, earrings and eyelashes- also in purple, of course! LOL

The Art Journal Caravan

With the end of 2009 come and gone, so had the P365 project I worked on all year. In 2010 I’m going to try something a bit different (I haven’t decided whether I will try and do another P365 project too). Tangie Baxter at scrapbookgraphics has a year long journey into the craft of art journaling planned and she has invited everyone who wants to come too to join her. It is called the Art Journal Caravan.

Since the Journey didn’t officially start until 1/1/10, our first assignment was to think about what we were going to do for a journal and design a cover of some sort. I’m not really sure what I will do for a journal, but I’m leaning towards a ‘do it yourself’ sort with office rings, kind of like the Halloween album I did a few months ago, so that I can mix different sizes and play with hybrid when something strikes me. A LO I did before Christmas with Sarah peeking through a door into Wonderland sparked an idea for me and here is where it led. It ended up in my typical crafty, messy style. The doors open to a new world where I can explore my inner self. I used a second copy of the door to make an elevated door frame and I also elevated the topiaries above the door frame with more foam mounting tape.

  digital credits: by Tangie Baxter at scrapbookgraphics: Steamer Trunk (Art Journal Caravan 2010 exclusive kit), Ultimate Art Doll kit, Hollie Day Dollie, Studio Remnants Collection, Wonderland Collection; Doors by Jen Ulasiewicz at scrapbookgraphics; Topiaries from Steampunk by Maya at scrapbookgraphics; scissors by Adrons Catherine from Once Upon a Sewing Room (Teacher's Pet competition at FPD)
paper credits: Scotch Foam Mounting Tape used to elevate the door frame and topiaries. Distress ink and Zig markers.

If this does end up on the cover of the album it might just end up with a few real odds and ends stuck on it as well. Then again, it might just end up somewhere inside the album if I come up with another idea for the cover- time will tell. I’m just collecting my pages in a box for now until it is a bit more obvious what the format of the actual album will be.

Week #1’s assignment was to choose a word for 2010, ala Ali Edwards, and to make a page for it. Here is what I came up with last night. Like the cover page above, this one is a hybrid page too. I needed somewhere to put my journaling, so I turned the large frame into a flap with the journaling hidden on the underside. I toyed with the idea of actually using a transparency inside the frame and really stamping my word on that, but then there wouldn’t have been anywhere to put my journaling still :P Digiscrapping to the rescue- I ‘faked’ the transparency part on the computer and still had room for my journaling! Digiscrapping is awesome ;)

 
I've chosen the word enjoy for 2010. I spent almost 2 hours on Jan 1 putting together the family calendar for the next 6 months. It is amazing how incredibly busy the kids are, and my personal schedule revolves around it all. I want to try and remember that these days with the kids are precious. It won't be long before they don't need me to taxi them to and from their activities, they won't want mom hanging around all of the time, and they will start leaving home. It gets incredibly noisy and chaotic at times, but these are times to enjoy and savor- the fleeting moments of my children's lives as they grow up. I also need to remember to make time myself to do the things that I like to do, just for me. Making time for myself helps me keep a better attitude during those periods where I don’t get to do the things that I want to.
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: Art Journal Caravan Provisions Parcel 1 by Tangie Baxter and Amanda Sexton, Palais Royal by Ztampf, The Inner Path by Wendyzine; Handstamped alpha by Michelle Coleman at LittleDreamerDesigns
font: CK Becky, Ticket Capitals Impressed, Myriad Pro
paper credits: Vintage Photo Ranger Distress Ink, blue dotted ribbon by Michaels, Red Felt Ricrac by Offray

and as we were putting up the Christmas decorations and cleaning up the house this weekend, this page just had to come out. It was better at yelling at my family to “TURN THE VOLUME DOWN!!!!!” and some other less polite phrases like I really wanted to. Between the talking, TV and Wii, computer, vacuum, and who knows what else I was getting a serious headache. It’s no wonder I stay up so late- it’s the only time the house is quiet and I can hear myself think!

 
credits: by Pixel Works at scrapartist: Jan 10 Artist 2 Artist- A Beautiful Mess Papers, Watercolor Solids, Elements, Crayon Scribbles, Finishing Touches, and Leather Lovelies; Ultimate Art Doll kit by Tangie Baxter and Sherrie JD at scrapartist and scrapbookgraphics
font: LD Letterpress

P365: December 2009

I can’t believe I made it all the way to the end of the year!

credits: Mistletoe Magic by Dani Mogstad at sweetshoppedesigns; 365 Project Templates by Amy Pearson

 
credits: Party Central by Flergs and Eva Kipler at scrapbookgraphics; 365 Project Templates by Amy Pearson