Possibilities and Ideas Are Endless

For Paint Party Friday I am sharing something I started last week.  A finished journal page, that I started last week. Once I added all those circles and embellishments I struggled with what to do next.  I think the struggle is the problem, let go don't worry about the outcome, just let it flow.  Sometimes I need to take my own advice.

These are Catalyst Wedges by Princeton.  After seeing them used in a video on mono printing I knew I needed some.  I only got 4 of them but after using I can see I'll be getting the 2 I didn't get before.  I can see myself using these on regular paintings too. They fit really nice in your hand. I also like that there is a short edge and a longer edge.  I really like them.

This was my first print. I love all the different marks you can make with these. The wedges are very flexible.  You can see video's of them in use at Catalyst or GelliArts

This one is a ghost print with several layers.

I love how this turned out.


On the gelli arts blog they have a new technique called  Thick and thin They do a step by step process with pictures or you can watch the video below. They are using the new catalyst contour tools that are smaller than the wedges.




They are using the new Golden High Flow Acrylics.  I noticed them on Dick Blick's site and I wondered what they were for.  They are very thin and you can use them in an airbrush, refillable markers, with a dip pen, paint brush and more.  The effect used on the gelli plate are pretty cool. I don't have any of these paints so I may try using a thinned down fluid acrylic and see if I can get the same affect.

I'm linking to Paint Party Friday, ArtJournal Everyday and August Colorful Gelli Print Party So check out all the wonderful work on these sites.

Getting Back in the Flow

This is my tag for this week.  Its a little bit dark, I am not sure I like it.  Maybe its too much black and white.  The theme was recycled materials. I used parts of old calendars and scraps from a catalog, in addition to paper scraps from many sources.

I have not spent much time in the studio yet this week.  I added some stamping to this page but not much else. I am stuck on where to go next with this, so I'll let it sit for awhile.




















I did some beginning painting on the black sheep portrait. I thought I'd do light layers at first but that is not what happened at all. This is turning out to be quite a challenge/

This is the reference photo I am using. I am finding painting something black is not that easy. I started using black, paynes gray and white. Mixing them has not given much of a variety. The next round maybe adding some purple or blues to the mix might help. Its all a journey after all.

This week I've started exercising again. A walk on Monday and then to the gym to lift weights on Tuesday has me more tired than usual.  It is hard to get back in the swing of things.

Great Basin Fiber Festival

I had a great time at the Great Basin Fiber Festival in Salt Lake City this past weekend.  I didn't take many pictures but I have a few to show you.

This is one of the treasures I bought. Its a blend of camel and silk in a color called Arcade.  I am thinking of using it to weave with/  Plus with all that color it will really be fun to pin with.

I was very excited to see this. Its naturally colored cotton from Peru in a color called Chocolate. It is really beautiful in person. There is a lot of color variation,  I think it will spin up beautifully.

I was in a class with my friend CJ so we got a pic of ourselves together.  We were learning techniques for spinning yarns on a drop spindle.

One of the things that is so great about attending one of these events is all the cool things you see just because you are sitting by someone.  I was right by the Salt Lake Knitters Guild Booth when I saw this shawl.  The colors were just lovely but I loved that you could wear it two way.  This of course is the traditional way.

In this view the wearer has turned it around so it like a scarf or cowl type garment.  I love the idea and found out the pattern is on Ravelry so I will be adding it to my collection soon.

Whenever I attend one of these events my head is always full of great memories and some wonderful new ideas that I want to try. New inspiration is always great no matter what kind of creative pursuit you have.

Beginnings & Another Adventure

 For Paint Party Friday, there is no finished art, so we will tour the studio for the humble beginning of many things.

This is what's on my desk. The beginnings of a journal page.

I started with collage by laying down old book page scraps, then came Inktense blocks and water for some color.  Then I drew some circles and painted around the background with Golden fluid acrylics and water.  I love how this Fabriano paper takes water. Not sure what is coming next as the process for me is just to follow my intuition.

On my big easel is the start of something. I am not sure if I like the pose so I am letting it sit for awhile before I begin.  Sometimes I like to let things percolate for awhile.

On the small easel the start of another sheep portrait.  I start by sketching in charcoal and then start adding paint. These all will have to wait for next week for some attention.  I am  headed down to Utah for the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair.  I am traveling with my friend Kate.  So yes two Kate's will descend upon the unsuspecting Utah fiber community.  All kidding aside, we will see old friends, take a class or two, see the displays and shop.  It should be a grand time.  Have a Great Weekend.

Don't forget to check out the other folks posting at Paint Party Friday

A New Find - At Last

I have been looking for one of these for years.  Its just a plastic doily but alas so hard to find.  I have a friend who works at a thrift store and she saved this for me.  The best 25 cents I have ever spent.

I used it in this background.  This was one of those pages that I hated so I kept putting things on top.  The last use of spray ink using the plastic canvas made the page look great. I am so excited to be able to use this.

Here is the tag I made for this week.  The theme was weather, so I just used raindrop paper. This was fun to put together.  It was the third tag I tried, sometimes things just don't flow. Art is like that sometimes you just have to keep going.

Challenging Yourself With Your Art

One of the things that taking courses with Connie Hozvicka taught me is that I can paint anything.  It doesn't have to perfect.  I always wanted to paint or draw my sheep but never really got the nerve to try. This is the first attempt and painting my favorite sheep Gabrielle.  Its not a true representation of her but it looks like a sheep and reminds me of her so that is all it needs to be. I used an old photograph as my reference photo. This is on an 8 x 8 gallery wrapped canvas. I am encouraged by this. I think that it would be fun to do a series of 3 or 4 of these, all the same size canvas but of the different sheep I've owned.

I often find it easy to work in my art journal or participate in small swaps or other similar things with groups. When I do this though it doesn't seem like I stretch much as an artist.  I am trying to break out of this habit.  I have a few more ideas in the works, I've started another painting that is long and narrow. I am using the size of the canvas as a challenge in itself. I initially thought I would paint something horizontal but now decided to turn the canvas and put a long figure on it.  It will be fun and expanding at the same time.

Do you easily try new things in your own art? Or do you have to push yourself to take that next step.  Tell me in the comments, I'd love to hear your experiences.

Sunday Sketches - A Simple Sketch

Here is my sketch for today. I decided to keep her plain and not add any words this time.The way her hair is I think I could have added word there.  Now she looks just like a drawing.  Its interesting to me how words do change the look of things.

Make sure to check out the other sketchers over at Alexandra's blog Blue Chair Diary. Its her birthday today so lets all wish her a happy day.

Paint Party Friday

Lots of different things going on in the studio this week.

Some doodling I did with markers. I wanted to start using my markers more and I think I used every kind of marker here.  Aqua markers, Sharpies, Copic etc. I got the idea for sea urchins on Pinterest.  I like the idea of just repeating an image in various sizes and form.

A face in oil pastel. I created this on Fabriano hot press paper with Sennelier oil pastels. I am trying to get better at profile views. So its practice and more practice.

A tag with the theme board games. I used papers, cards and Faber- Castell gelatos and embellished with a chines coin.

Some work in my art journal. This is in my new journal. I used gelatos, tissue paper, paper scraps and more.  It was a fun page to do.  I love the quote by Van Gogh.

"I am always doing what I can't do

 so I may learn how to do it."  

That is my art journey in a nutshell. I want to do something so I try try and try again.

Don't forget to check out Paint Party Friday to see what others are doing today. There are often over a hundred people linking. There is bound to be someone who can inspire you?

Some Fun Links

Since Link Love changed and I have gotten in the habit of sharing links I decided to occasionally do them on my blog. I've got 3 for you today.

Using a Map for your sketchbook  This is from Jane LaFazio and is really cool. I have a map from when I went to Europe and I think this is what I will use it for.

Make your own Glimmer Mist  This technique uses liquid watercolor.  It looks like it would work really well.

Using a Gelli Plate to print on fabric. I don't know why I never thought to do this.  It looks awesome.

I did some painting in my journal today.The background I did months ago with some inexpensive oil pastels.  The face I added using Golden fluid acrylics. I seem to painting redheads lately. They are a lot of fun.

If you are local and reading this I'd like to tell you about a class I am offering in September.  I be teaching a class on making Vision Boards.  Its a fun way to to set goals for yourself. You can find details on my website.

Three More Pages Make The Chakra Journal Complete

I finished up with that last 3 chakras so Ive now done all seven. I enjoyed making this journal.  It helped deepen my understanding of the 7 chakras. I knew a lot about them before but when you are focusing on them individually new insights often occur. I apologize for the images, I tried photos and scanning but none of them looked very true to life.  The colors are more vibrant.

For the 5th chakra I used lots of blues. The elephant makes another appearance.  Its such a strong symbol. The element for this chakra is sound so I add a musical stamp to symbolize that.

For the 6th chakra I used faber-castell Big brush markers for the purple shades. I filled in the background with PanPastel and the owl was rendered with Derwent Graphitint pencils. The owl is the animal for this chakra.

The seventh chakra Sahasrara or the crown chakra finishes out this journey I've been on. I used PanPastels for the symbols and all the other words were either stamped or created with markers. In addition to words associated with this chakra I added my own impressions.  I find putting in my own personal words gives it meaning beyond the traditional.

Do you ever have a journal dedicated to one thing? Or are your journals a combination? Let me know in the comments.

Collage Society

I am in a great group on Facebook called the Studio run by April Cole.  She has challenges every month.  This month the Collage Society is making tags.  They are a great way to get into doing collage.  They are small so are pretty quick to whip up. After making these I realized that we are making 4 different ones with 4 themes throughout the month.  We are going to make little books out of the tags. I think that sounds like fun.

For this swap the tags had to use words or letters in some way.

I used a base of collaged words on each tag, I used old book pages and music pages.

Then I added Faber - Castell gelatos for some color. I just slapped sever colors on and blended them with my fingers.

Then I added paper scraps and a focal image.

And lastly I added embellishments like doodles, ribbons and buttons.

Have you seen these at Michaels? It looks like Sharpie is making more of these pens again.  These are smaller and I really love them.   They are extra fine so perfect for writing and lettering on journal pages.  They are water-based.  So far I have seen this pack and a metallic one. I searched all over the net for other colors but had no success. I hope them come out with more colors soon.

Link Love - August 9

I woke up this morning realized I never posted my blog for today. I had one started and went to do the finishing touches on it when I discovered that the folks over at Link Love changed the rules.  You are supposed to post about 5 favorite topics.  I don't have the time to re-do my post so it will just have to do.  My links seem to cover three things that interest me though.


My first topic would be monoprinting or gelli plate printing is a favorite as you know I post tutorials a lot. These three have some awesome ideas that you will love.

Wipe Out Monoprinting  this one from GelliArts shows using those Princeton Catalyst tools to make some great patterns.

gelatin printing Linda Germain does some amazing thinks with prints.  You are going to want to look at a lot of her posts.  I loved what she did with silhouettes.

gelli plate tools MaryAnn shows you a multitude of ways to make tools to use in monoprinting, she has some great ideas.

Another topic I like is DIY, using what you have and recycling materials.  So this next one fits that bill.  Its how to make your own watercolor paints.  Home made watercolor paints

Another favorite is using materials in different ways. Alisa Burke's post is perfect for that.  I hadn't thought of using stamps in that way before.  stamp-rubbings 

You can see what others are posting over at Craftypod.

How To Give Your Creative Work Priority

How To Give Your Creative Work Priority

If you are like me you have a lot of things going on in your life.  There is your job and your family, friends, other interests. Often these things fill up your twenty four day. If you are very creative then often you have more that one creative thing that you do. You may be going along creating a lot of art but then you remember that book you started a while ago. You really want to work on it but it seems to be the last thing on your to do list.  It the one thing you never seem to get to.

I found myself in this situation recently. I am what I call a multi-creative person. I have several creative outlets that take up my time. I create art with paint and paper, spin yarns, weave fabrics and write.  I do a lot of writing online through my blog and other posting I do on social media sites. I am also working on a novel.  It really is hard to do it all but I do try my best. Lately I have found time to pursue most of it but I keep putting working on my novel till the last. If you have something on the bottom of your list, it doesn’t mean that you don’t want to do it, I believe that you just don’t give it priority.

I discovered this for myself the other day.  I knew I wasn’t getting to my writing, I easily put it off. When that doesn’t bother me then its ok. When it does I know something needs to change.  When it comes to long standing projects like writing a novel it is often hard to stay focused over the long haul.  When I am weaving a blanket, or painting a picture I have a product where I can see the end, I know it will be finished in a given amount of time.  Writing takes so much longer.

The other thing is that if you are going to give your creative work priority then you need to give something up.  There are only so many hours in a day. Often we have to make the time for our creative work. Of course this sounds easier than it is. You have to look at how you spend your time and look for small amounts of time or larger blocks if you can.  Some of don't really know how we are spending our time.

Here is a great exercise that I learned from my own coach. Make a pie chart of your time, it will help you see how you are spending your time. Color in the sections with colored pencils or crayons so they are visible. Some ideas to fill in are work, family, computer time, TV,  games, etc.  If you go into great detail you’ll find areas that pop out.  You'll be amazed at how much time you waste doing things you really don't want to do. Maybe you spend an hour on Facebook every night. You could cut that down to 1/2 hour and spend the other half hour doing your creative project.  When I was having difficulty getting to my own writing, I realized I was not giving it priority   I chose a day just to focus on it, I didn't let anything else get in the way. Once I made it important, I was able to get some real work done. I found that as soon as I made it a priority it became easier to do.

Some questions for you to think about:

If you were focusing on your creativity,  what small things would you be doing now?  

What could you let go of to spend more time on your creative project?

How can you make it easier to use the time that you have?

Chakra Journal - More pages

I've got more pages in my chakra journal to share.  Instead of the symbol I chose the element fire to place in the center.  Mars is the ruling planet and the ram is one of the anima symbols associated with this chakra.  Rang is the sound of the chakra.  I then added my thoughts and feelings about it.

The fourth chakra is known as the heart chakra. I resisted the urge to add a heart.  I went with the symbol instead.  Air is the element associated with this chakra so I added a feather to represent that.  I added Quan Yin in the corner and Venus up top as the planet associated with this chakra. This chakra is all about balance and love in relationships so I added those words. I am divine love is the guiding phrase here so I included that too.

So only 3 more pages and I will be done with this journal. Well actually I think I will have more pages but I think I will save them for something more spiritual in nature. I am not sure what that will be but I think I will be able to come up with something.

I've started reading Old Path White Clouds by Thich Nhat Hahn. Its the story of the Buddha's life. Its written really well and has these wonderful lino cut illustrations that are a delight to see. Its a big book that I will be reading a little at a time. I am sure it will find its way onto my journal pages in some form or other.

Sunday Sketches August 4th

Here is my sketch from Church today. Lots of typography on this one, I do love doing that. Rendered in graphite and pen.  Be sure to check out the other sketchers at Blue Chair Diary

August Calendar

For Paint Party Friday I thought I'd show the Art Journal Calendar I made for August.   I couldn't get the whole thing on my scanner, so this is a photo.

Some close ups.  The scanner seems to make the colors more vibrant. The I made bigger squares this month so there is little of the background showing through. I use portfolio oil pastels and stamps in the background.

I just wrote the letters on this time.  Last months calendar can be seen here. There is a tutorial here if you want to join in the fun.

To check out what others are posting for Paint Party Friday go here