positive thinking every day 3

the "gratitude" page. instead of a list i put my thoughts on the action or attitude of gratitude on here. i keep a gratitude list in a small notebook so i did not think i needed to put it here also. i have played with the Dina Wakely type silhouettes before and they are fun. this is a representation of me shading my eyes and looking to the future which is very bright!

positive thinking every day 2

the things that make me smile page. i already had some backgrounds done in a moleskine journal and decided to just go with the flow for these exercises. i always have scraps and such on the table and that is how the bird and the heart ended up here. it is not like i had to search high and low for them. the papers for the banner/bunting thing were near the desk also. i am loving the sort of muted colors here.

positive thinking everyday 1

i am taking a year-long class with Dale Anne Potter right now. it started on august 15th. this is the "i am" page. i have not finished the doodling part of it. i am not inclined to doodling, but i have some doodle-type image rubber stamps. the fact that these stamps exist lets me know i am not the only one who loves the look, but lacks the gene!

this list made me realize that when doing a project like this i tend to put down the things i see myself as in the most positive terms. right around the time i did this i had done a couple of things that are not positive or nice or loving or many of the words/traits here. i wondered if i should be putting down the negatives, too. but this is a POSITIVE THINKING workshop. and my blahblah journal contains plenty of examples of my negative actions, thoughts, and words. thankyouverymuch.

hair!

it was getting long and i wasn't happy with the way it looked, so i cut it! i lost a bunch of hair a few months ago so now i have to 'artfully' arrange it so the spots don't show. good thing i'm an artist, yeah? sheesh. i just started taking evening primrose oil, biotin and a big dose of super B complex. hopefully some of the hair will grow back fast. i have a bunch of shortie ones that are there, but don't help the style much since they are shorties. such is life...

hair!

and the after shot. it has some layers and when i let it go a bit curlier it has some flippie parts that i like. i am happy with it and the difference in how hot it is without hair sitting on my neck is absolutely amazing.

Vale's cj June 2010

my first foray into the GPP Street Team realm. this is still in Vale's journal, but it also qualifies for the Grid Lock theme Michelle Ward put on the Street Team page this month. since this bunch of 8 tags, i have made 17 more of this size and 9 of a size i hand cut to fit in a local partnership journal i am doing. last night as i was telling my non-artist sister how many tags i've done lately i was sort of wondering what i am going to do with them all. a few minutes ago i was walking past the pile (which i found fibers for last night) and realized that i could totally use it as a journal. i can use an O-ring to put them together and journal on the backs of them. i am/have been pretty rigid in my what-is-a-journal-and-what-is-not-a-journal thoughts for a loooooooong time. i am 51, i can branch out now and not be considered a crazy, rash youngster, so i just may do it. woo! anyway, these tags had their bottoms cut off so they would fit in the grid background and, of course, i have the pieces to be used in other stuff or maybe make tiny tags out of. these tags are glued down and not easily removable from the spread. it was fun fun fun. i've been having a blast using up snippets of 'stuff' i've been collecting for-ev-er.

Vale's cj June 2010

Vale says she loves my blah blah pages so i did one just for her. this one was more planned than the gray one. this one is sort of about someone else, but since i did not use names and Vale will not ever meet the subject of the spread, i don't feel like i betrayed a confidence. also, the subject does not look at this blog. just some background stuff and the writing. an example of what a lot of my personal blah blah journals are FILLED with.

Vale's cj June 2010

i've been watching a LOT of youtube vids lately. loving it. not loving how youtube subscriptions don't seem to be deletable, but that could just be me. i don't know. or care very much. anyway, i am trying to do better backgrounds. i did this one with dictionary pages and paint and squares cut from german napkins (serviettes). then i used stencils and hand-carved rubber stamps for the black parts. i punched a couple of hearts and glued them down and then covered them with crackle accents. i found out that heat setting crackle makes it not crack. or not for me anyway. so, i am not sure what this page is really about, but i like it and decided not to force anything more on it.

Vale's cj June 2010

i mixed some white gesso and black paint and ended up painting a spread or a page in every art journal i had in the house at the moment. for this one i cut out some circles i had painted with watercolor paints and then coated with Golden's glass bead gel. they are cool, i like that gel. i got it as a freebie with a Dick Blick order one time. anyway, i had something on my mind and spilled it onto the page. the sentiment is not arty, but it is what was on my mind when i did the spread...

Terry's calender journal

spread four. i have had alice in wonderland on the brain for a while now. and as i was playing around with ideas it occurred to me how well Zetti goes with the feeling of the story. so i went with it. i think this one came out really fun.

Terry's calender journal

Terry's journal. i was trying to channel samantha kira on this one. i just doodled a little bit. i do not doodle. considering that, i think it came out pretty nicely. the background paint was applied with a credit card scraping method. the circles were stamped with acrylic ink using the end of a pen. i also played a bit with my left hand to see what would happen.

Terry's calender journal

second spread for Terry's calendar journal. just some colorful stuff and a bit of journaling.

Terry's calender journal

the first spread in Terry's calendar journal for march 2010. i am trying out new things to find a method or style that i like. this one started with masking tape all over the thing, then i used ink for the circle stamped things, water soluble oil pastels for shading, some cut out circles of various coordinating papers and the little bird from a collage sheet. i like it. it is not my usual look, but i don't want everything i do to be similar.

i am taking 4 online classes right now in hopes of finding some new techniques and maybe what my 'style' really is. Journal 365 with Pam Carricker, Color Beyond the Basics with Julie Prichard and Chris Cozen, Extreme Collage with Julie and Chris also, and watercolor pencil techniques with Marilyn Harris. i think i am going to come up with some good stuff out of these.[Photo]

Birthday 2010

this is my cake and loot at Celina's house. the cake was completely a dream. the whole thing was like a 3 year old's fantasy cake and i so loved it! it was a carrot cake under that frosting. i at almost half of it. i did that knowing that i was going to start Atkins two days after that. it was so worth it. so, i am 51. how did it happen? it just completely boggles my mind that i could possibly be that old. boggles, i tell ya. it was a very good day. Tony bbq'd brats and burgers, we had salads and beans and it was amazing and delicious. best birthday since the single digits i do believe. i am so lucky to have the bestie that i do. she loves me and she did this for me.

Word of Intent swap BAJ Group

My word of intent to focus on and keep in mind this year is 'heart'. It means many things to me and those things have been explained elsewhere. Since this blog is for art, I just wanted to share the cards I received from the swap members in my group. Starting upper left and going clockwise these were made by Anne, Carolyn, Jenny, Valerie, and Mary. They are wonderful and this swap now becomes the best one I have ever been involved in for quality of work. Just beautiful.

CJ 2010 my work/my book

a little ditty about where inspiration comes from. an an ink blot. what do you see? only kidding. but then again, it is kinda a profile of a butterfly in flight, right? what does that tell you about me, doctor? and i made up a silly thing on the left-hand page. because i am a dork. and i live alone and sometimes i have to make myself laugh since there is nobody here to do it for me. eh, hem. so, these are the pages i did in my 2010 calendarjour before mailing it out into the world for other pepole to play in. i love doing this stuff! bon voyage, little book. be safe. come home full of stories and art.

CJ 2010 my work/my book

i belong to milliande's ning group. she did a bunch of art journal prompt videos in january. one of them was to make some collage houses. this is my take on her video prompt. i really like how it came out. i did a lot more pen and ink work than i usually do. well, really, ever do, and it was fun and i like it. the writing is real, but not real. they were words about living on cat street if i remember correctly, but i wrote very loosely and funky so you can't actually read it. it wasn't meant to be anything but decorative. and i believe i succeeded.

CJ 2010 my work/my book

this spread tells a little story about my niece when she was around 3 or 4. i think you can read it so i won't print it here. it is just one of those kid stories that makes me smile. i don't have kids of my own, so i really cherish the memories i have of the kid stuff my niece and nephew did. she, my niece, was a precocious little thing. love you, taytay!

CJ 2010 my work/my book

i don't remember what i was googling for when i found this bird (yes, i modified her eye, don't freak out!), but i printed her and she was sitting on my desk and ended up on this page. i am obsessed with dictionary pages lately so i've been using them in quite a few things. i suppose i could/should prove that statement by putting more here, but whatever... the blue circles were made with both ends of a cough medicine measuring cup thing. the hearts are punched with a martha stewart punch out of starbucks cup protectors (or whatever you call them). i am also obsessed with hearts punched out of cardboard, go figure. i am also feeling a little bit broken-winged and need to remember that i can still fly. it just takes some practice, some determination, and getting OUT there. maybe i'll see YOU out there!

CJ 2010 my work/my book

i don't know why this one is so blurry. or maybe it is a loose nut behind the camera. whatever. this page is about the fact that my chosen word for the year is 'heart'. i am trying to live with more heart. to come from a place of heart/love. to find a romantic relationship with a wonderful man. and to figure out what is physically wrong with my actual blood-pumping heart. so, yeah, 'heart' for 2010! oh yeah, i love pink.