HeART Journal Finished

Finished! I met my goal of keeping this one "unchunky". This little book only measures 6" by 8 1/2" and I didn't think the binding would hold up to very much bulk. Sure enough I had to repair at one point. Oddly enough, the tissue paper seem to add strength.
Twenty-two page spreads about a list of 60+ things I HeART. I posted the first one on July 7th (I think). It really didn't go as fast as I planned but nothing ever does. It is nothing like I first envisioned either. It is what it is.
When I discovered tissue paper, well I couldn't stop using it. I love the way is melts into the page.
More later,
S

HeART Journal Ends

OK, here it is the last two pages. I guess I got a little silly in the end but hey it's about me and I do sometimes...get silly. I just needed to do a pink flamingo or two. I don't know why. I guess they are on my list and I didn't realize it. The end of this little book had two blank pages. I knew all along I would do a little journaling about something. As soon as I got that chore done, I picked up a piece of pattern tissue and glued it down and then did a little more altering with the tissue flower and a little bit of paint as I Love to do.
More later,
S

HeART Journal and Humor

Sometimes humor is in order and so there you have it. The Queen of Hearts and Tissue swingin with no hands.
More later,
S

HeArt Journal and Creative Prompt

Michelle didn't know she was giving me a "creative prompt" when she posted this picture Sunday, August 20th. I just really like the reflections from outside her window onto her red wall. I also really liked the turquoise and red combo. The beautiful red skeleton leaf and the little turquoise square was in the ephemera swap that we did. My friend Susan brought me the heart-shaped oak leaf. She found it on her car and thought of me.
Friends!
More later,
S

HeART Journal

My weekend was very productive. I made time for ART and also blessed my floors!
Here I did something with the yellow page mentioned in an earlier post and also finished the painted page shown way back in the beginning of my HeART Journal. This was the very page the book begin to come apart. I had to do some repairs and used the cheesecloth to reinforce it.
More later,
S

Gutted Book

Excited! Had to show.

More Later,

S

My Granny and Ashley

This morning I just want to show this. Oil on Canvas that I did several years ago after a 20 year hiatus with oil painting. We had a five generation photo session back in 1990. This one spoke to me, haunted me and inspired me to try it in oils. Granny was 91, her great great granddaughter, Ashley was 9 months. They really didn't know what to think of each other.
More later,
S

Ephemera

We swapped real stuff and ephemera and look what Michelle sent me. She showed hers earlier in the week. I just now had a chance to photo mine. Actually, I have already started using mine and I'm just about to use more.
If I have learned anything during this new ART adventure it is that I can rip up books, pictures and use my stuff. I am one of those who bought really neat stuff and then hoarded it unable to use it because aaaahh ... well I guess because then it would be gone. Not anymore. I can do it.
I worry that Michelle got the short end of the stick here. Just look at all the wonderful bits and pieces of ephemera she sent me. There is a post card from 1908. I think I will do a whole book/story with it. And the red leaf, watch for that this weekend. I am so excited about all of it. It is one of those times I just have to tell my self to chill! Breath! Take a deep breath and do it one thing at a time.
OK, so I'm off to do it.
Hope you get to make time for ART this weekend too. If you do, show me.

Just a Chat

Not much going on here. I had a mid-week crash and burn. That happens sometimes. This old lady just can't keep up with herself. Do you have the feeling that there will never be enough time to do all the thing that you are inspired to do?

Well I do and so I have to edit. The only way I know how to edit is to combined two or more things that I want to do into one project.


I've got a new project cooking on one of my many front burners. I've nearly completed my HeART Journal so I will be telling you about this new project very shortly. A little hint ... True Colors

I'm hoping to play ART this weekend and of course will share it with you.

Who are you?

HeArt Journal and Creative Prompt

click on picture to enlarge

I don't know if anyone likes to hear "the rest of the story" about my HeART Journal pages but well I guess I like to tell it. Christi Snow gave a creative prompt a few days ago. Sorry, it was a really cool picture and I liked a lot about it but it just didn't prompt me.

Now I'm getting down to the nitty gritty of my journal and have only five or six pages left so I'm thinking I will include more from my list on the next page or pages. Then in this post Christi showed what she did with the creative prompt and since it had been several days she repeated the lovely picture. BINGO! I was prompted, inspired and knew exactly what to take from it. Home I went. Grabbed a piece of yellow tissue and covered the spread. Did my thing with a little Lumiere paints and ummm NO. Turned the page and picked up a piece of floral tissue that my friend Susan had given me. I knew this page was going to be real angular and really needed floral to soften it. And besides that, I have to do flowers! Oh, before I left the office, I printed the words and photo-copied them so I could try a packing tape transfer. I have tried it before but then didn't want to use it because I didn't like the glossy look. This layout would be perfect for the glossy look. So my boxes are not perfect perspective. Who cares?

Now about the three little butterfly transfers on the boxes. I did a favor for a friend that is about to be a new grandmother. I'm ashamed that I really wasn't in the mood to make the beautiful little bassinet skirt but I did. She rewarded me with this beautifully tarnished sterling silver butterfly pin. The first thing I did was put it on my shoulder and then when I went home I got the camera out and took pictures of it using an old document for the background. It has already found it's way in my journal on Ashley's forehead. So I went to bed pleased but knowing it wasn't finished and not knowing what more to do.

This morning I got up and went straight to the studio to pack my to go ART bag. I guess in my sleep I thought to do a little cluster of tags so I grabbed a few of those. I only had two sizes. I had been wanting a little turquoise for another page that is coming up next. And realized that was the color I needed for these tags. Well HELLO, there it was my little bottles of Lumiere. Pearl Turquoise would be perfect for both pages. Off I went but I gotta tell you I went back to grab a little butterfly punch.

Then before I had a chance to play ART at my desk, the mailgirl came. My e-friend and I exchanged some "real stuff" and ephemera and OMG how blessed I am to have this new friend. She sent me the beautiful Italia postage stamp that holds my cluster of tags. The large tag at the bottom was in her pack and a sheet of music that I tore a little snippet of for the tag. There was also a piece of orange paper that I used to punch the little butterfly.

Inspiration is all around you. My friends inspire me and I am blessed. I didn't mean to go on and on but I guess you don't have to read. Make time for ART.

Confessions

Misty Mawn is asking for confessions of silly or maybe stupid things you have done. So here's mine. Saturday morning I impulsively picked up my camera and started taking photos of my porcelain dolls. I use to make them. The jester was my last sculpture and I only made one doll from the mold. So anyway, as you can see, I posed him sitting with legs hanging out.











Here is the stupid confession. When I finished I turned and walked away and shut the door as I left the cabinet. I heard a crack and I could not believe what I knew I had just done. A leg crushed! You can't see it because he has stockings on. That was just the beginning of a day full of stupid mishaps. I haven't been ready to do dolls in a long time. I don't know. I guess I must repair him. You know, nothing happens before it is time. I don't remember that I ever gave him a name but the lady behind him is Editha Achsah.

I HeART Grandchildren

This page spread was meant to be about 4 grandchildren. I used vintage fabric from a friend and first altered it by stamping with acrylic paint. Then I added a piece of lace and stitched over it freestyle. I used fabric because I wanted a pocket across the bottom to hold the tags.
I really love the page with this one tag so I'm thinking I will make a couple more picture cards of Ashley for the pocket on the right. I "found" words on a page that are about her.
On the back of the tag I printed an edited picture of Ashley onto printed scrapbook paper. Then used a butterfly transfer. I absolutely love the effect of printing the black-line photo onto printed paper. You should try it.

More HeART Journal

(click on photo to enlarge)

This is another Tissue paper page. I just gotta say I am totally taken with tissue paper. I am the tissue paper queen. This is a photo that I took while chasing a butterfly earlier this summer. I tweaked it with a photo editing program and then printed it on pattern tissue. Then I did my thing with a little paint here and there. Doesn't everybody love Butterflies, Bird Baths and Bluejeans?

Reflections and Layers

I am absolutely frayed. Whatever that is. My head and stomach is swirling in the best awful way. I am in some kind of overload. Nothing is going well today. Everything I try fails. I shall get a grip and Chill.

I won't even try to tell or show the things I have tried. I will just tell why there is swirling in the pit of my stomach. This type of anxiety is new to me this year and I have noticed it comes on when bouncing from blog to blog and finding the most incredible inspiration and it feels like it is going to burst me wide open like a water balloon that is filled and stretched until the color is faded and then ... bang!

That's it, True Colors A palette of Collaborative Art Journals, a Somerset Studio Publication. Thursday my friend, Susan invited me to borrow her copy of True Colors and Transparent Art for weekend reading. I started looking at True Colors Thursday evening and knew immediately that I couldn't just look at the pictures as I usually do most magazines. I had to read every word and then I tried to devour the photographs of each artist work as fast as I could because I felt compelled to hurry to the next page. I knew there was more and more and more. But I didn't even dare thumb the pages for a little glimpse. I didn't want to ruin the surprise as I turned each page and I couldn't let it get out of context. As I have just discovered art journaling this year I kept thinking who has been hiding this from me. Why am I just now seeing this wonderful book. And why am I just now discovering this wonderful art form. These artist started this project five years ago! Five years of my life have been wasted without seeing this and doing this. Yes I have seen it mentioned in blogs and I knew it had to be a wonderful publication but I never fathomed anything could make such an impression on me. I thought about how each of them open the treasure every couple of weeks to find a bit of art growing with time. And how they must have wondered how their treasure would be when it returned to them finished.

I haven't even dared peek inside Transparent Art. Oh yes I want to and I'm going to but this swirling has got to stop before I do. And to calm me I will try again some of the earlier failures of the day.

Announcing......

Hey guys, remember my friend....the one who has so many more toys than me. Well...she has joined the blog world. And here she is.

I Made Time for HeART Journal

At last, today at my desk. This one has been cooking in my head since I haven't had time lately. Photo is printed on pattern tissue. The branch and leaves is a combination of a little stamp I made and tissue leaves and paint and Sharpie. Yes, I Love it.

A Weekend Without Art

No time to play ART this weekend so I'm showing what I did last weekend playing ART. This is fabric and acrylic paints. One leads to another by blotting and adding more paint and elements.
This was my first time to do this and it was lots of fun. This is the second piece of fabric which was blotted from the first.
I was really just trying to get a feel for this technique. It is very exciting because I think the possibilities of use are limitless. This is the work surface paper which I can also use. I also blotted and printed tissue paper as I went.
these last two are a little different technique. As you can see I just grabbed a piece of scrap fabric. They are stamped with my original homemade stamps.
I think this is my favorite. Now what to do with them? I'm not sure yet. You know I will show you when I do.

Happy Birthday....Melissa

Today is her day. Isn't she beautiful?
I made her a tissue paper card with a little inspiration from dj pettitt.
Inside of card shows pockets, tags, layers, and even the little blue "Happy" is a pop-up/tag of sorts.

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY

she is 35 today

I HeART Fun Socks

Another page in my HeART Journal. After the black and white page I just had to do RED. This was a quick one...I think. Maybe not the best but it was an exercise in printing on tissue paper. Remember the fun tissue paper in my last post. I used freezer paper as a carrier for the tissue and printed the sock picture on it. The sock picture is my girls' feet at a Christmas some years back. The process worked great. Wait! I take that back. The first time through the printer it jammed. Then I had a bit of trouble getting the tissue off of the freezer paper. I never know what results I will get printing on anything other than paper so I was a little disappointed with the picture. No problem. I just altered it with gold pen. Also altered the tissue paper with a black pen. The red background is red tissue stamped with gold.

Following My Impulse in Black and White

I am really having a blast working with tissue. Look at this great supply that I found yesterday at one of the dollar stores. Cheap. It doesn't say it is acid free so I don't know about using it with scrapbooking but I'm OK with it in altered books and cards. It works well in my HeART Journal because it doesn't add bulk and I am trying to keep this one unchunky.
So my starting inspiration today was Black and White. I don't know where that came from and I had no other inspiration but I wanted to follow it because I really am a color person and I need to get out of the box sometimes.
I immediately reached for my new assorted silver tissue. Ummm...yes that will pass for black and white. Notice that I glue the whole sheet on and then tear it off at the edges. I like the way the edge looks. I'm really struggling at this point about what to do so I think to photo the process. That's fun.
I've added more layers of tissue paper. I have had another inspiration...Words. You know, what's black and white and read all over. Flash back...kid joke. Well glory bee! Words on some of my new tissue.
Fun words! This is about how I "HeART" going to sleep with the TV on. See? It says sleepy, quiet, happy. It says grumpy too and that is what happens when I can't have the TV on to go to sleep.
Yes, I'm using words...but how?
Piddling and fiddling....make a tag. Want to us my diamond stamp. Love the flowers on it and love that it makes a black diamond. Tags? Maybe I should make some tags. When stumped I always occupy myself making something that I think I might use.
No space on the work counter so I get off my stool and use it as a table. I do that a lot. As a matter of fact I work standing up most of the time. OK, I'm getting sidetracked here just like I did....Hey, forget the tags. I like the holes. Yes. TV. Hey, sleeping...black lace...(a long time ago, I might have) I used it earlier on another page. I moved it around and couldn't make it work anywhere other than following the angle of the tissue design. I have some really cool feather stamps. I want to use. I play a while trying them. Doesn't work.
The page needs more solid black. It needs Hearts. Black hearts. Write on the hearts. Look at my list of things I HeART. OK, walking in the rain, collecting seeds and of course Wheat Chex. It doesn't have to make sense. I'm playing.
So here is the finished page. My first impulse was to line the three big hearts up. I didn't. Also, notice the ends of the black lace. I used the heat tool to speed up the glue drying and when I noticed the ends beginning to shrink and melt, I liked it, so I didn't cut it off. Ummm that lime green or pop of red???
Good night.

Tissue Card

I've made another card to say thank you to a special person who influenced and inspired me to Dream. The big envelope which will hold a special goody wouldn't fit in my scanner so I just scanned both sides separate. Just as soon as I write my thank you, it is on the way.
Oh, and it sure is nice to sleep with the boss...wait, I am the boss. Because I did this sitting right here at my desk. I made a little mess on my desk and had to stop a couple of times for customers. Fun!
Make time for ART!

HeART Journal

My new page in my HeART Journal is about treehouses, digging in the dirt and watching chickens. I have chickens and they give us eggs and I love watching them do their thing. They put on a very funny show digging and scratching in the dirt, something I love to do as well.

All of the collage on this page is tissue paper, pattern tissue and postage stamps. This tissue tree was a practice run for another secret project that I have in the works. I'm pleased.

Hey, somebody....tell me what you HeART.

Thank You...My Friend

Last week when my house was full of company, and I loved that, I wanted to send a thank you to my friend who gave me a wonderful belated birthday present. I just couldn't send a store bought card and I was so inspired by d j pettitt's colors, style, art...well all of it. So I used tissue paper and Lumiere metallic paints to make this card. I scanned it before writing my "thank you" and I'm sure she will not mind that I share. This was really really fun and I will be doing this again.