my scrapping style evolution-

I've been scrapping for at least 8-10 years (I don't really know for sure), and my style has evolved and changed over the years... it's pretty interesting to look at the difference from some of my older pages to more current ones! 

I started out using Creative Memories strap-hinge albums, and scrapping my pages in the 'Creative Memories' style... little or no patterned paper, white backgrounds, lots of stickers as embellishments, and borders / blocks for embellishing and journaling. 

Don't get me wrong; I'm glad I took the photos and scrapped them... but looking at them now, I don't really think there's much 'design sense' on these pages; they're just blocks of photos, etc. placed sort of randomly on the page. On the page above, I used letter templates to make my titles; I traced the letters and numbers individually, then colored them in with marker- talk about time-consuming!

Like so many scrappers of that era, I also cut some of my photos into shapes- luckily, I usually stuck with ovals or circles, rather than going crazy with stars or other shapes, like some scrappers did! And of course, every photo had to be matted (another 'talk about time consuming' thing). I did use patterned paper sometimes, as you can see above. I vaguely remember the scrapbook store I used to shop at, back in Illinois-- all the paper was separated by theme (baby, travel, birthday, etc) and the growing trend was to use themed paper that matched your photos. 

I also got into a new trend in page layout design in the early 2000's, with color blocking templates. (I think I even still have some of these templates, although I don't know why I kept them, since I haven't used them since at least 2005!) I do like how this particular layout turned out, actually, but color blocking like this required a lot of photo cropping and measuring (which I'm not all that good at). 

I went all out on this page and made an origami bird to go with the theme of this layout, which was a visit to a Japanese garden with my parents. (although you'd never know that, since I didn't leave any blocks on the page to include journaling!) The origami bird gives a tiny bit of dimension to the page, but my pages were mostly flat when I first started scrapping.

Here's a page I did last year-- it's sort of like the color blocking layout above, although it's much more loose and collage-ish in style, and even includes dimensional things such as ribbon, brads, and charms. I think the fact that I do art journaling has influenced my scrapbooking style; it's not quite so rigid any more. (in addition, this series of pages documents an art retreat I attended last year, so I wanted to emphasize that quality in the page design.) 

I also stopped using the 'strap-hinge' style album, since it was pretty rigid in terms of the page order- you had to glue the papers right to the pages, and couldn't rearrange them once they were in there. This was way to restrictive for me since I now like to scrap 'what I want, when I want' and not feel 'forced' to scrap what was next in order chronologically. I switched to 3-ring binder style albums so I can slip the pages into page protectors and re-arrange them however I want them.

I think the fact that I now take digital photos has also influenced my scrapping style- before, I somehow felt I 'had' to use all the photos I took since I paid good money for the film and for developing them. (Or at least to use a lot more of them than I do now, anyway!) 

Now, I take so many digital photos, I couldn't ever hope to scrap them all-- this has been helpful, actually, because now I can pick out the few (or the one) that best captures the feeling, mood, or event, instead of trying to cram all of them onto the pages just because I took them. On the page above, I actually used a photocopy of my own artwork as the background paper, and tried to capture the colorful, chaotic feel of the photos with the papers and colors I chose.

I also scrap things other than 'events' like birthdays, holidays, or special events... the photo above is one page of a layout I did that with photos of graffiti I took on a day out last summer in downtown Phoenix. I wanted to echo the graffiti-feel of the photos with the page layout, in the ink splatters and the gray / cement colored paper I chose. This layout was done for no other reason than to showcase the photos, and try a few new techniques.

While I don't love some of the details on this layout (I fussed with it longer than I should have), I think I did the photos justice with the layout I made, I learned some new techniques that I like, and found some that I don't like so much. And it taught me a lesson that sometimes, I should just 'leave well enough alone' with my art. But it also showed me that I can get over my sense of perfection and that 'not-perfect' is perfectly fine.

I still do 'event-based' layouts if the photos call for it; the 2 pages above are from a trip we took to Las Vegas in September 2009. I just scrapped these pages a month ago, actually-- yay!! for scrapping out of order, and for only scrapping the photos I feel capture the moment the best. I'm also putting my opinion and feelings onto the pages more than I used to (they're my scrapbooks, after all!) so these pages record my feelings about Las Vegas, not just the where-what-who-when type of things. 


I can see a change in my scrapping style over the years, although I don't think I really have a 'signature thing' that defines my style-- I still do color blocked layouts sometimes; I sometimes still do who-what-where-when journaling; I still use page borders and stickers occasionally... I may even cut a photo into a shape now and then, although I'm not exactly sure about that one! 


Thanks for taking a walk down my scrapbooking 'Memory Lane' with me; has anyone else's scrapping style changed over time? I'd love to hear about it!

more paper and glue!

paper and glue is so much fun... the things you can do with it are just endless! (if somewhat messy, however...) Another thrift-store rescue plate, this time a really cute one with a scalloped edge. The rose was cut from a vintage gardening book I found in the "For Sale" section at the library, and the red polka dots are hole punches that were each placed one at a time (very fiddly, but I like the look). The background was going to be pink, but the rose just didn't stand out enough against that, so I went for contrasting with yellow tissue paper, instead-- very bright, and not my usual style, but I like it. Now,what else can I cover with paper?? (the cats would love to help, but that might be a bit too messy... lol!)

some crafting has been going on...

I just haven't had much "crafting mojo" lately, but I have done a couple things. (I've got a lot of things half-finished; it's completing them that's the issue, as usual, but more so lately.)

I got out my collection of cigar bands again, and decoupaged them onto a glass saucer I scored at the thrift store. The saucer is only 6 inches across, but it still took a fair number of cigar bands to fill in. I stuck with a more limited number of cigar brands, to make a fairly symmetrical design with a somewhat more subdued color palette.

I started by printing out a clip art image from my computer for the center design, but our printer ink isn't water-resistant, so I had to change my idea. I like what I ended up with, though: two Indian Tabac cigar bands that I trimmed to fit the center part of the plate. These plates take a while to decorate, and are actually quite messy to do (I get gel medium all over everything while I'm working on them!), but I really like the way they turn out when they're done. This plate is for sale in my Etsy shop, so if you know a cigar aficionado who needs someplace to put paperclips on their desk, or something to corral their loose change on their dresser, this is a perfect gift for them!! (another reason to check out my Etsy shop: the site recently changed the formatting for individual shops, so it's been redesigned a bit to make the format wider, with larger pictures... the design isn't quite final yet, but I think it shows off the items nicely! And of course, all sales right now will go towards my 3-Day for the Cure fundraising for breast cancer!!)

These tags are part of a huge pile of manila shipping tags that I hand-dyed over the last couple weeks... I have a somewhat limited choice of inks to use, but these were made by mixing butterscotch yellow and a barn red, to come up with a nice fall-ish orange color. I stamped them with Pumpkin StazOn ink, then added a couple touches of vintage dictionary paper.

I love the glowing orange color; it reminds me of autumn. (Which isn't here in AZ yet, unfortunately- it's been hot and humid, with very infrequent monsoon storms. The storms don't even clear out the humidity.) These tags are also for sale in my Etsy shop- check them out, along with others, in the Tag and Bookmark section of my shop. Look for more crafting soon. if I can remember to post the pictures, that is... :D

weekend photo round up

usually weekends are reserved for relaxing, but the last couple, we've been busy. This past weekend we worked on our patio ---> screened porch conversion. The framing is all up, and needed to be painted before we can install the screen. Turns out there was a lot more wood there than we thought! Tom stayed up all night (!!) on Friday, getting most of it primed... I started on the finish coat when I got up Saturday morning. The two of us worked most of the weekend on it, till it got too hot to work, and finally finished the painting around lunchtime on Sunday. Whew!! Now, we just need to put up the screen. And cut the trim to length. And paint the trim. And install the trim.... okay, so it's not as far along as we'd like to think, but it will definitely be done by fall, which is okay, since it won't be cool enough to sit out there till then, anyway.

After working outside in the heat all weekend long, THIS is how we both felt!! Ariel is so funny- she has that kitten energy, tearing around and bouncing off walls, then konking out all the sudden...

The pic above was taken this afternoon; Tom grabbed the camera and snapped it quick, before anything happened to upset the status quo-- Butters and Ariel, sitting next to each other, with no hissing or swatting of paws!! It's amazing what hunger can do, hmmm?? Really, it's been going pretty well, all things considered; I've actually seen Butters playing chase with Ariel a few times, till she gets overwhelmed, hisses, and stalks off to sulk. I don't know whether they'll ever snuggle together like Pandora and Butters used to, but getting along together is a good start, after only a few weeks.

These last two photos are some of my latest art/craft projects. The pic above shows two 8x10 inch mixed media canvases that I've made recently. The top one features a Buddha-patterned napkin, layered acrylic paint, gold details, and an inspirational quote. The bottom one features rubber stamping with heat embossing, acrylic paint, hand-dyed cheesecloth for texture, glitter, beads, and another quote (this one from Willa Cather). They're both currently for sale in my Etsy shop, and the net proceeds from the sales will benefit my 3-Day for the Cure Walk fundraising efforts.

These pendants are also currently for sale in my Etsy shop. All proceeds from these will also go towards my 3Day fundraising, and even better, all these have FREE shipping! These pendants are lots of fun to make; the dominos are a fun shape, and not quite as small as the scrabble tiles. I've found it a bit difficult to find patterned paper on a smaller scale that looks good when trimmed to these sizes (1x2 inches and 3/4 inch), but that's what makes it a challenge!

Kelly Kilmer weekend fun!! (edited)

last weekend was such a great time- Kelly Kilmer was in town, and taught her first two-day class!! it was so much fun!! Two whole days of paper, glue, ribbons, fabric, and creative inspiration mixed in with a lot of catching up, jokes, and laughing! (oh, and a Sprinkles cupcake was in there, too...) We made a journal from scratch, then worked on collaging some of the inside pages. I didn't take a lot of pictures-- I was too busy making things-- but Debbie has a few more on the Frenzy Stamper blog. This was the "before" pic of my workspace-- it's pretty clean, there! (it didn't stay that way for long...)

This was towards the end of day 2, when we started cleaning up-- you can still see Jeane and Jane doing some last-minute touches to their journals across the table, and Kelly's journals off to the left. The woman at the right (I don't remember her name, unfortunately) came from Santa Fe to attend; she said she'd only found out about Kelly's work a couple months ago. It's always fun attending classes; you get a lot of inspiration seeing what everyone else is working on, and although we all started out with the same basic journal and page concepts, the completed books and pages were all really different. I'm always interested in seeing Jane's work, too, because she adds fabric and sewing to her pages, which gives them a different dimensional aspect. (I haven't gotten that brave yet with my own pages, although the fabric and ribbons is a good start, which I don't usually do in my journals.

We decorated the covers inside and out before sewing the journal together, which is such a simple idea, and it made everything so much easier! This pic is the inside back cover of my journal-- I was drawn to lots of pinks on Saturday, and Kelly has a great collection of ribbons and trims! I also used some of her great collection of paper tape, and a piece of (pink) fabric along the edge.

More pinks on the inside front cover!! I never get around to writing my name and address on the inside cover, but I really should, so I left a space for it. The "bliss" ticket is actually covering up a mistake (I snipped the fabric right on the edge), but it turned out good, I think.

The front cover and the spine-- even more pink!! I love this Japanese paper with the gold accents. I'm going to add something more to the cover-- just don't know what yet. I love this journal!! It turned out really nice (I did a pretty careful job with my gluing and trimming), and it's a nice size- not too large, not too small, and the square page format is different than any other ones I have right now. The only problem is, I really want to work in it right away, but I have another journal I also need to work in-- I guess that would be a good incentive for working in the 3-ring binder journal, so I can finish it up!

edited to add: The woman from Santa Fe is Krista-- thanks for commenting, Krista! I'm glad you had a good time!!

image borrowed from Debbie's Frenzy Stamper blog (since I was too busy to take pictures!)

crafting crisis!

okay, so I wimped out on the Crafting marathon... I don't even remember what I was doing that weekend, but it wasn't crafting. Today, though, I have a crafting crisis. (My crisis is that I have to pick all this up before Tom gets back from his business trip tomorrow night... haha!!) I decided to see if my sewing machine still worked, and hauled it out of its cabinet a couple days ago...when I mentioned the sewing machine, Tom said, "didn't we sell that ages ago??" I guess that means it's long past due for some use, hmmm? Pandora can find a comfortable place anywhere... but why does it always have to be in the middle of my stuff?!?

the hallway between the kitchen and the laundry room is doubling as my ironing station.

I couldn't find just the right shade of green fabric, and then I opened up the pantry where I saw the set of green napkins sitting on the shelf-- unfortunately (for the napkin, anyway!) it was the perfect shade of green. (there's still three left to use-- as napkins, I mean-- or maybe for something else.) This photo of the kitchen island shows you that I follow the law of crafting physics which says "crafting supplies expand to take up all the space available."

the kitchen table: Tom says that before he left on his business trip I promised I would clean this off by the time he gets home-- I don't remember saying that at all! I probably did, though... unfortunately, my crafting inspiration didn't hit till the last possible minute-...which means my crafting has to be kicked into high gear so I can follow through on my promise by tomorrow evening.

Butters doesn't want to be left out, either... she had quite a fun time playing with all the dangly fabric threads that were flying everywhere! This photo is a sampling of proof that my sewing machine does, indeed, work! The photo colors are terrible, but the mini-quilt on the left is really a nice shade of pink. Upper right is an ATC base, and the lower-right thingamabob will hopefully turn into a sewn and embellished necklace pendant. (notice that I also sewed a couple pieces of paper into them!! Probably not the greatest for the sewing machine needle, but I wanted to sew paper, and now I can say that I have. And this won't be the last time, either-- it was pretty fun!)

This is another mini-quilt base that will eventually end up embellished with tons more paper, buttons, stitching, beads, and whatever other fun bits and pieces I can find to go with it. I saw these mini collage-quilts in the latest issue of Stampington Art Quilts magazine... (I also saw the sewn pendant in the same magazine issue). Now that I have the major machine sewing done, I need to get out my buttons, embroidery floss, ribbon, and all the cigar boxes of interesting "stuff" in my craft studio. I better pick up the kitchen table first, though. (...but before that, I think I'll sew a couple more pieces of fabric together...)

Lee, at the Do Stuff! leethal blog is talking about having a 24 hour Make-a-Long! event this Saturday... I'm not sure I'll be able to stay up for 24 hours (especially since I'll be getting up early to go to class and won't be starting my 24 hour countdown till the afternoon) but I'm definitely going to participate in some way. This will be a great way to work on some not-so-usual projects, and maybe get a few things done, even!! (that would be wonderful!) Of course, one of the things I'll have to work on beforehand is some cleaning in my art room, but that's always a given.

notes on creativity...

I love this post from Ali Edwards' blog on "Working Through Creative Fear." I have it permanently bookmarked on my favorites, and read through it again today. It's worth clicking the link and reading the entire post, but the first part of the summary (wording taken from Ali's post) is:

What are we afraid of in our creative lives?

1. Messing up

2. Thinking this is the one and only chance to tell this story so it simply must be perfect.

3. People not appreciating what we create.

4. Being seen as selfish or extravagant for indulging yourself in your creative endeavor.

5. Not getting anything done because there is simply not enough time.

I've also been thinking about a couple other posts on Ali's blog, one being Shimelle's Tuesday Tutorial about her travel journal, and Ali's original thoughts on art journaling, posted back in April 2005. She wrote some things about art journaling that are really resonating with me lately- about how she was obsessing over them, reading about them, thinking about them, but not creating them...

I totally relate to these thoughts, but for me it is for the opposite reason- lately, I have been reading, thinking, and obsessing about scrapbook/photo albums, but not creating them. I started out "scrapbooking" years ago in a pretty simple, geometric style, stopped that, then recently got into art journaling. My art journals are a place to just be creative: a place to cut, paste, collage, and paint, and sometimes for adding written journaling, but they are primarily for me, not for anyone else- I like sharing my results sometimes, but it isn't important to me that anyone else like it; for me, the creative process of the pages is the thing.

The photo albums will be "for public consumption" so I think I'm still stuck in that "will they (whoever they are) like it" and "are the photos good enough (for them)" mode... one of the other things I get stuck on sometimes is "taking part in the action" vs. "documenting the action thru taking photos" thing- I get caught up in having a good time and stop taking pictures- having a good time is a good thing, I know)- but then later I spend tons of time thinking "that would have been a great shot" or "I wish I had taken a photo of XXX." It's interesting how different people have creative issues with different things- I'm stuck on photo albums and photos, but other people (Ali E.) get stuck the other way about art journaling... no particular point to this post, other than I just wanted to get this written down- it was really interesting to see Shimelle's travel journal in progress (I'm interested in seeing the finished product including the photos, after her trip in September) which combines artsy, photos, and journaling.

a whirlwind weekend in Weston!

it was a fun few days in Missouri! Friday morning I left for a spur-of-the-moment weekend visit (to use up a plane ticket before it expired) with my older sister Jackie, who lives in a small town north of Kansas City. We did lots of catching up, relaxing, and of course, some sightseeing and shopping. Journaling on my tray table on the plane- yes, it can be done!

I checked one bag, and carried one onto the plane- I worked really hard to stuff everything I might want into my laptop bag (since I also had to carry on a purse). It was difficult, but I did it! I had two gallon zip-top bags: one with paper, and one with gluestick, pens, markers, scissors, and watercolor crayons). The people near me on the plane might have thought it was strange, but it really did make the flight go quicker. (For more journal pages made during the flight back, go to my Flickr page.) The minute the door of the plane opened, I knew I was back in the Midwest- it was warm, and humid!

Encaustic/Mixed media piece by Daniella Wolfe

Saturday, we headed down to Kansas City for a day of sightseeing- we started at the Blue Gallery, to see an exhibition of encaustic/mixed media work by Daniella Wolfe (I found this place thru Suze Weinberg's blog), and fiber/printmaking work by Theresa Cole. (more of these pictures on my Flickr page)

After the Blue Gallery, to get out of the rain, we headed to the Hallmark headquarters to their Visitor's Center, which has exhibits of the company's history, along with other interesting things. (did you know that Winston Churchill paintings have been on Hallmark cards? neither did I!) The photo above shows a few of the Christmas trees that Hallmark employees made every year as a gift to JC Hall, the founder of the company. There were four or five more, decorated with everything from handmade angels and wooden folk art ornaments, to a crazy-quilted fabric tree. My sister Jackie used to work for Hallmark; she said it was kind of strange to walk thru the exhibits. There were a couple videos playing with employee interviews- she recognized a number of people in them from when she worked there, and she found a couple of her ornaments on the Christmas trees.

The cute appliqued quilt above was made by Hallmark employees to raise money for the local children's hospital... (Jackie sewed the crayon square!) There were also exhibits with some of their collectable Christmas ornaments, and even an exhibit showing Hallmark cards from countries around the world. There were even a couple people showing how the die-cutting process for cards works, and a bow-making machine that makes those cute little gift bows for the tops of packages! (mine is in my bag somewhere- it will eventually go in my journal, of course!)

We did more shopping later, after the rain cleared up, including a really fun home decor store, Curious Sofa (click on the store name to check out their blog), an antique mall where I picked up some toile wallpaper, Anthropologie, and the Paper Source, where I did just a bit of damage. I got some of the new papers from their India line, and couldn't pass up some of the handmade Japanese papers with really cute bunny and fish designs. (Jackie, the paper made it just fine in my luggage wrapped in the corrugated cardboard- and bonus, I can use the cardboard, too!) After, we were going to have KC-style barbecue, but when we saw the wait was 30 minutes, we headed to Jackie's favorite Indian restaurant instead... it was very good, and another bonus- I can combine the menu and paper placemat (yes, I brought them home- artists can use anything!) with some of my new India papers.

Sunday we were going to hit Urban Arts and Crafts, but it was closed due to Father's Day- bummer- it looks like a really fun store! After finding that out, we headed back into Kansas City to another antique mall; I had to take a picture of this toaster, which was like nothing I've ever seen before. It is a "Toast-O-Lator;" apparently, the bread was put into the toaster on the left side of the toaster, traveled thru it, and came out the right side as toast... ?? I haven't been to a big antique mall in years- there was so much stuff to look at that I think I'm good for another couple years! The flight back on Monday meant more journaling to pass the time, and then I was back to the wonderfully dry heat (yes, it really does make a difference!) of the Arizona desert- tired, but it was a really fun weekend at the little pink house-- Thanks, Jackie!! (and thank Mary Ruth very much for me, for the loan of the inflatable mattress-- it was really comfortable!)

ideas!! the artful alphabet

I haven't made ATCs in quite a long time, but the link below might just inspire me to start a new series... this squidoo page has lists of themes, colors, and techniques for each letter of the alphabet... ATCs, postcards, journal pages, you could do anything with these lists as a jumping point of inspiration--

Trish Bee's Artful Alphabet- squidoo page

A: alcohol inks or acetate?

B: beeswax or bubble wrap??

C: crayon resist or chipboard?

D: dry embossing, or doodling??

E-Z... just as many great ideas!

...so many ideas... so little space in my art studio!! lol!!

the gift of friendship...

The importance of friendship and relationships are things I’ve been thinking about more lately, and these comic strips struck a chord when I saw them in my e-mail recently (click photo to enlarge):

I know they’re related to Thanksgiving, but I thought they were particularly fitting now, since we’re in the midst of the Christmas holiday season and friendship is totally in keeping with the holiday spirit… It’s difficult sometimes, when the hustle and bustle of “the daily grind” gets in the way, to focus on the good things instead of the guy who just cut me off in traffic, but I do try to be positive most of the time. Someone suggested recently to fit “gratitude” into my daily life: every day, think of three things you’re grateful for- no matter how small they are, or how bad of a day you’re having, they’re there, if you think about it.

So, lately, I’ve been thinking about how grateful I am for the gift of friendship…

I’m grateful to have found an extended network of artists and creative people (both on the internet through the wonderful world of blogging, and in the "real" world by attending Art Unraveled the past two years) and to continue expanding those relationships. Over the course of the summer, I’ve become part of a group of artists who meet once a month to work on projects, teach and learn new techniques, and socialize. Early on there were times that I couldn’t attend, but I now make every effort to fit it into my schedule because I’ve realized how important this creative community camaraderie and companionship (how's that for alliteration?!?) is to my “inner artist”.

Plus, it’s just plain fun to hang around with a group of like-minded people! People who get just as excited as I do about vintage photos of strangers, a beat-up old textbook, or a “new-to-you” back issue of an art magazine, because we have a different mindset about the “untapped possibility” inherent in these things that other people sometimes can’t quite grasp.

I’m also fortunate that Tom understands how much this aspect of my personality means to me, and that he does what he can to accommodate it. He's even gone so far as to arrange his out-of-town business travel to be home when these meetings are scheduled (if at all possible) so I can be away from home and the dogs in the evening. (Having dogs is just like having kids, you know, when it comes to scheduling things- the only difference with dogs is they never ask to borrow the car keys!)

Tom and I have been through a lot in the (almost) five years we’ve known each other (including moving across the country, and the passing on of my two beloved kitties) but that’s a post for another time, because there’s way too much to say about the last five years for this post- for now, I’ll just say that I’m continually grateful that I share my life with my best and closest friend.

So, if you’ve read this far, thanks for sticking with me!! And think about what you’re grateful for today, or maybe call up an old (or new) friend and let them know how important their friendship is to you.

thankful 2008

okay, so this is a Thanksgiving weekend post, not a Thanksgiving Day post, but I'm still just as thankful...

for my family- for my Thomas (I can't put it into words without sounding sappy, so I won't even try); for the furry companions we share our lives with, both canine and feline; for my family members all across the midwest (even though we don't get together very often any more); for my friends, both new and old... companionship of all sorts makes this journey through life sooo much more interesting!

(Bisbee is sacked out on the couch next to Tom... she's the funniest dog ever!) Sedona, patiently waiting for me to take her picture, so she could get up... I never knew I was a "dog person" before we got her; I'd only ever thought I was a cat person, but dogs are so much more sociable than cats... one's not better than the other, it's just different. Plus it's just a riot, watching Sedona and Bisbee play together (there's no way I could get pictures of that, though, so you'll just have to trust that it's hilarious)!

I'm thankful that we have a comfortable home, decent jobs, medical benefits, and the means to have the things we like in order to to be comfortable... (this is the "Before" picture of our Thanksgiving Day spread, which included roast duck, a wonderful bottle of Shiraz wine, sweet potato casserole, a relish tray, and homemade bread). I'm also thankful we live in such a beautiful (although seemingly inhospitable) part of the country, and that I have a chance to see Nature's majesty every day when I drive through the desert.

I'm thankful that I have a creative personality, and an outlet for all the ideas that float around in my head... every once in a while I talk to people who have pursuits that aren't creative/artistic at all, and they give me a weird look when I tell them that I like to spend my time painting, cutting, and pasting. I can't imagine NOT being like this!!

(I'm also thankful that both our employers gave us a 4-day weekend, and that we don't have to get up early tomorrow!)

what next??

art continues, on and off... I paint lots of backgrounds, and they wait until I'm inspired to finish them. I'm okay with that; some of them get finished, and some may not ever be "finished" but the painting and background collage is theraputic in and of itself, even without the "journaling" on the page. I have done a few more introspective layouts lately, though; below is one of them. The layout started with layered acrylics and drybrushed gesso. I added glitter glue to the edges, along with some black Staz-On stamping. (don't expect stamping over glitter glue to work very well, because I found out, it doesn't!) The theme of this layout was "The Meaning of Artist" to explore what I think about the word "artist," because I'm uncomfortable calling myself an artist... It was done as homework for something I've got going on right now... homework, you ask??

Why, yes, homework (or better yet, fieldwork- I don't like the word homework, it sounds too much like school). Anyway, this all started at Art Unraveled, when through a sort of complicated course of events, I won a gift certificate. It was for four free sessions with Reva Solomon, who gave the keynote speech at AU this year- she's a writer and professional life coach based in Los Angeles. She works with all sorts of professional and creative people, has written plays, books, and has worked in television for many years.

I was hesitant about it at first, but we just had our fourth session, and I've gotten sooo much out of them!! I've been exploring how my creativity fits into all aspects of my life and personality, and am starting to work on what "direction" I want to go from here... do I want to teach classes? get published? sell at shows?? I have no firm ideas yet, but I'm okay with that- part of what I've realized is that a creative life isn't only about the results, but it's also about the journey you take to get there. And speaking of creative journeys, I started some journal pages last night that need some paint, I think... it's nice not having to worry about getting up tomorrow morning; I can work on them as late as I want!