I have been waiting for today for a very VERY long time, and I still can’t believe it actually happened!! I will need someone to pinch me!! 😉
Today was our first monthly Soul Book Club meeting and man, what can I say?? I, for one, had so much fun!!! It was a small turnout, which was both expected since today is so close to Christmas, and much appreciated because it helped us figure out what will work and what won’t work in a small group!
I know I am completely biased, but I thought that there was the perfect mix of art journal techniques taught, personal stories shared, thoughtful conversations had, and laughter had by all of us! Matter of fact, I had so much fun that I completely forgot to take any pictures to share – doesn’t that just figure? Our time together, happily flew by!! 😉
Anyway, I will see if I can do a better job of remembering to capture those memories visually next time!! 😉
Today we learned more about what a Soul Book is and how to get started with different techniques to add color to our pages! It is fun to see how everyone translates all of that in to their own styles!! It is very inspiring!!! 😉
After our first meeting today, there is one change that we realized we would have to make right away! We would either have to get a larger meeting space or we are going to have to limit our groups to 5 instead of 8, which is what we had originally planned on! 🙂 We also, laughingly realized we may have brought a little bit too much in the way of art supplies…that is what happens when you put a bunch of art supply junkies into one room and tell us that we should bring whatever else we would like that might be missing off of the regular class supply list!! LOL!! We brought everything but the kitchen sink!!!
No worries! We had such a good time, I am so thankful to the lovely ladies who made it today!! I am sure I am not alone when I say I can NOT WAIT until our next get together next month!!!
Good times! Good times!!
Here is to living a BEAUTIFULLY CREATIVE Life every day!!!
If you want to have a different life, live differently!
I am happy to announce that my weekly Art Journal Video #12 is posted out on YouTube! 🙂
Here is a list of supplies that I used in today’s layout:
Book pages
Ranger Collage Glue Stick
Golden Acrylic Paint: Teal, Naphthol Red Medium, Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue
Liquitex White Gesso
Fineline Bottles: one filled with black acrylic and one filled with white acrylic
Black Sharpie, Fine Point
White Signo Pen
Archival Ink Pad
Ranger Dylusions Numbers Stamp from the Basic Backgrounds – DYR34568
Sentiment printed from computer onto regular printer paper
Scissors
When I set out to get started on this week’s spread, I really only had two things in mind, I had some pages from a specific book that I wanted to use, and I was really excited about using a new Teal acrylic paint that I had picked up from my local art supply store. The book that I had found was a 1915 encyclopedia that I had picked up for a few dollars from my local Goodwill.
Being a self-profession bibliophile, I have a very hard time ripping pages out of books, ESPECIALLY OLD books. However, this book was in such dis-repair with torn pages, a broken spine, and just an all around mess that I felt that by using the pages in some of my art projects would be a great use of this long forgotten little treasure! Plus the cover is a DIVINELY BEAUTIFUL leather that I have hopes for recreating my own art journal from.Anyway, back to today’s spread…In addition to my book pages, and my new teal paint, I really wanted to keep today’s layout quick and simple. With the busy holiday season upon us, we have so much that we are trying to do. I wanted to prove to myself that I could still make time for art journaling even when life is crazy busy hectic!
I love all of colors of this week’s spread, and I don’t usually mute my backgrounds down, but if you watched the video you might have noticed that it was done entirely on accident. I had made marks on my page using white gesso, and because I did not like it I used a heavily watered down brush to disperse the gesso, and in doing so muted the entire page down just a little. I really REALLY like how that turned out…I may have to do that more often!
On a side note, whenever I make a mistake, I like to call it an “OFI” (pronounced owe-fee). This stands for opportunity for improvement! This gesso incident was a perfect example of an OFI!! 😉
I also was having some trouble coming up with a sentiment for this week, so I started to look around my art studio and came across some “Truth Cards” that I had created a few months ago. When I came across the truth card that had these words on it,
“You already know what the answer is…Just trust it…it is right.”
I knew in a moment that that was it! I could stop looking!! I needed to hear this message in exactly that moment!!
So, what do you think? I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this week’s art journal!
Also, if you have any ideas, or techniques that you might like to see me try in one of my future layouts, please let me know in the comment section and I will see what I can do to be accommodating! Also, I really do LOVE answering any questions you may have about art journaling, mixed-media, or anything you might have seen me do here! Please feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I will try and get back to you in a timely manner!!
Well, Soul Book Club is an intimate group of women who meet every month to spend time learning art journaling techniques to help them create a Soul Book!
What the heck is a Soul Book?
A Soul Book is a personalized combination art journal/scrapbook/smash book/diary/planner etc. It is a fun and creative tool to help you remember what is important to you and your soul!
Why a group?
For starters this is a fun way to learn art journaling techniques, and share how your fellow Soul Bookers are using their Soul Books! My goal is that these groups will also become intimate groups of women who will become Soul Sisters who support each other as they go through the ups and downs that life has a tendency to throw our way!
How can I join?
If you want to join let me know by e-mailing me at beautiful.creatives@yahoo.com!
What about cost?
The cost is $10 per month. This will help with the cost of art supplies, but this is not a group that is meant to make any money – this is a group solely for the purpose of supporting each other as we go through the process of creating and living with and through our Soul Books!! 🙂
When?
This first Soul Book Club meets the third Saturday of every month, from 1pm to 4pm. As more people sign up, more classes/times/locations will be created to keep the groups intimate!
Where?
The first Soul Book Club meets at the Broadway Coffee House, which is located at 1300 Broadway Street Northeast #100 in Salem, Oregon
What do I need to bring?
I will make sure to provide oodles of decorative craft paper, craft paints, paint brushes, and glues, but I would recommend bringing the following items:
Magazine images
Any copies of pictures you might want to include, make sure to have at least a few of just yourself – it is YOUR Soul Book after all!
Any miscellaneous ephemera you might like to include (book pages, maps, old letters, etc)
A pair of good paper cutting scissors
Your favorite black pen (preferably permanent ink)
Your favorite white pen (optional), but I am bringing my white Signo Broad pen
Anything else is completely optional! 🙂
What else do you need to know?
Broadway Coffee House has requested that I let all attendees know that beverages, besides water, is not permitted, but we are more than welcome to bring up any food or drink that we purchase from their coffee house!
Also, space is EXTREMELY limited, so this first Soul Book Group will be limited to 8 attendees! As more people sign up, more classes/times/locations will be created to keep the groups intimate! I am also hoping to have Soul Book Groups in cities such as Portland, Albany, and possibly Eugene – I am up for suggestions!
If you have ay questions, comments or concerns, please let me know by either leaving a comment on this page, or your can e-mail me at beautiful.creatives@yahoo.com!
I hope to see you there!!
Here is to living a FABULOUSLY CREATIVE life! 🙂
If you want to have a different life, live differently!
I am very happy to announce that my Weekly Art Journal #11 video has posted out on YouTube!
The supplies I used on this week’s layout is as follows:
#2 pencil
A couple of different kinds of erasers
Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Tissue Paper – Postale
Uhu Glue Stick
DecoArt Acrylic Craft Paint: Tropical Blue (DCA102)
Premier Prismacolor Pencils: Sepia (948), Burnt Ochre (943), Dark Brown (946), Peach (939), Beige (997), Yellow Ochre (942), White (938), Greyed Lavender (1026), Blush Pink (928), Lavender (934), Process Red (994)
Black Fude Ball 1.5
Black Uniball Signo 207 pen
Ranger Distress Stains: Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain, Black Soot
A scrap of map paper
Faber Castell Gelato: Dark Green
Black Ranger Archival Ink Pad
Recollections Chevron Wood Mounted Stamp
Plastic doily stencil
Ranger Texture Paste
Palette Knife
Sentiment printed out on regular printer paper
Brown Stabilo All Pencil
Water Brush
Unlike most of my weekly journal pages, I started out with an idea on how I wanted this week’s spread to appear. I knew that I wanted to draw one of my cute long neck girls, I wanted to use the Ranger Postale tissue paper, I wanted to use my favorite Tropical Blue craft paint, and I knew that I wanted to use my new Ranger texture paste!
So the hard part was just going to be drawing my long neck girl, in it’s entirety, in front of the camera, so I challenged myself to see if I could keep the camera going the entire time, and not cut away, like I had done the last time I drew one of my girls for Art Journal Thursday. And you know what??? I TOTALLY DID IT!!! WHOOT! WHOOT!!! 😉
I was extremely proud of myself that I didn’t chicken out and cutaway, but because I didn’t, it made for a very, very, VERY LOOONG video!! EEK!! So although I thought that the drawing of my long neck girl would be the hardest part, the hardest part actually turned out to be editing my video down to less than 15 minutes! WHEW!! 😉
That combined with doing the voiceover, which you may know I am extremely new to, this was probably my hardest video to date, but I must confess I really LOVE the way this spread turned out! 🙂
During filming, I did have some issues while drawing my long neck girl! Eyes are always rather tricky for me, and this week I see that her left eye is too far left for my liking, so I will have to keep working on that! I also had some trouble getting her lips to look just right! I have recently changed how I draw lips, and I think it is not working for me. I had better keep looking for a whimsical lip shape that makes me happy! 🙂
Practice! Practice! Practice!
As for the background, I really LOVE this one! 🙂 The tissue paper, the messy chevron stamping, and the texture paste used throughout the round doily stencil all came together better than I could have hoped for!!! I am just LOVING all of the yummy patterns and textures!! 🙂
I also love that I snuck the word “Courage” onto my long neck girl’s neck! Courage is something that I am consciously working on using more of, so this will be a gentle reminder to myself!! 😉
As for this week’s sentiment, as I have said in past posts, I usually have a tendency to do my art journal pages in silence so I can hear any messages my soul might be trying to tell me. This week was no different. I have some hard choices to make in the next few weeks as it pertains to work, and I realized, during this week’s art journal time, that I have a distinct vision in my head about what I want to see in my life. Where I am living, what I am doing for a vocation, etc, and I realize that I am the only one who can take the necessary steps to make that vision come to fruition!
Life is not about finding yourself, it is about creating yourself, and not only that, but it is up to me to get out there and start creating it!! No one is going to do it for me!! So this sentiment summed that up for me, perfectly!! 🙂
So, what do you think? I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this week’s art journal!
Also, if you have any ideas, or techniques that you might like to see me try in one of my future layouts, please let me know in the comment section and I will see what I can do to be accommodating! Also, I really do LOVE answering any questions you may have about art journaling, mixed-media, or anything you might have seen me do here! Please feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I will try and get back to you in a timely manner!!
Until next time!
Here is to a BEAUTIFULLY CREATIVE week! 😉
If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!
My Weekly Art Journal #10 is now up on YouTube!! 🙂
The supplies I used today:
4 different wash tapes of different sizes, 2 were Scotch brand, but I don’t know the other two
Dylusion Spray Ink: Squeezed Orange, Lemon Zest
Acrylic Paints: Folk Art Medium Yellow (455), Ceramcoat Pop Pink (02646), DecoArt Tropical Blue (DCA102)
2 Studio G Stamps: I am unsure of what their names are, but they were both 2010 stamps. One is dots, and the other is 2 different sized circles
An XOXOXO Stamp from Delafield Stamp Company
Black Pilot Marksall Pen
White Sharpie Water Based Poster Paint Pen
Uhu Glue Stick
Sentiment printed on regular printer paper using my computer
Scissors
As usual, I went into this spread with no real plan whatsoever, except that I knew I wanted to keep some white space on my layout! I have been noticing that I have been covering almost every square inch of my pages leaving very little white space, and this week I wanted to see what white space would feel like if it was done on purpose!
Oh, and did you notice??? I actually speak??? I thought since this video was so short, this week, that would be the perfect, and unscary way to dive in and give my new microphone a go! I was pretty happy with that!! Let me know if you like these videos with speaking or without! 🙂
I found a bunch of wash tapes on sale at my local Staples so, with the encouragement of my sweetie, I ended up buying at least one of every pattern!! YEAH!!! Is there a simpler way to add color to a layout???? I LOVE THAT!!! 😉
Of course I am still on my Dylusions Spray Ink OBSESSION, and could NOT imagine not using some on this layout!!! 😉
Plus add oodles and oodles of texture stamps and doodles!! I LOVE THIS!!! 😉
I didn’t even mind the occasional wrinkle, fold, or tear that the washi tape might have ended up!! I am really learning to not only embrace the messy, but I am really LOVING the no pressure-ness of it!!! 😉
Overall, I am ABSOLUTELY in LOVE with this week’s spread! It is so bright, and happy, and it was so quick and simple to do!! What could be better???
Also, I wanted to make sure that I share that this week’s spread sentiment was totally inspired by a video that I had stumbled on that morning, by Melody Ross from Brave Girls Club:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRC1GGOgMTM
This was a message that I really, REALLY needed to hear this week! 🙂
What do you think?
If you have any ideas, or techniques that you might like to see me try in one of my future layouts, please let me know in the comment section and I will see what I can do to be accommodating! Also, I really do LOVE answering any questions you may have about art journaling, mixed-media, or anything you might have seen me do here! Please feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I will try and get back to you in a timely manner!!
Until next time!
Here is to a BEAUTIFULLY CREATIVE week! 😉
If you want to have a different life, live differently!
Oh my, I just realized I still haven’t posted my detailed post for my weekly Art Journal #9, which was actually posted last week! So, you will get two posts from me today!! 😉
Well, my Weekly Art Journal #9 is ready for your viewing pleasure!! 🙂
Materials I used for this spread:
Dylusion Spray Inks: Fresh Lime, Pure Sunshine, London Blue, Vibrant Turquise, and White Linen
Ranger Paint Dauber: Black soot
A magazine cutout – used as a stencil mask
Cardstock for printing my sentiment on
Pentel Arts Color Pens (fine point): Yellow (S360-105), Teal (S360-110), Medium Blue (S360-136), Dark Blue (S360-103)
Molotow Acrylic Premium Paint Pen: Black, and White
Hero arts French Script mounted stamp
Ranger Archival Black Ink Pad
Black Pilot Marksall pen
My motivation for this spread was hands down my weekend with Dyan Reaveley, learning from her in her EXCELLENT, and ABSOLUTELY FUN art journaling technique classes!! 😉 If you missed out on that, you can read about that here!
This was a completely different kind of technique for me, so I was a little nervous to see how it would turn out!
Something I didn’t think about when I created my mask out of a magazine image: If you see the magazine image, it is a very happy looking woman, but when you only see the silhouette of that same image, it is reading as a very depressed woman!! OOPSIE!! Not what I was going for!! But I won’t be too hard on myself about that! 😉
I really love all of the different color variations and textures that come from using the Delusion sprays through stencils!! I am going to run out and invest in every color!! 😉
I really loved the look of the script letter stamp showing through the background of the masked silhouette!! I think I would have liked it even better if the words were larger! 🙂
I also had a lot of fun doodling on this page – the white on black and the black on the colorful section! I may have to do that more often! 🙂
Overall, I am very happy with how this spread turned out!! What do you think?
If you have any ideas, or techniques that you might like to see me try in one of my future layouts, please let me know in the comment section and I will see what I can do to be accommodating! Also, I really do LOVE answering any questions you may have about art journaling, mixed-media, or anything you might have seen me do here! Please feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I will try and get back to you in a timely manner!!
Until next time…er…later today! 🙂
Here is to another FABULOUS week! 🙂
If you want to have a different life, live differently!
YEAH!!!
