Wednesday, January 18, 2012

I Won!


I won a delicious box of ephemera from Mel Kolstad at Ephemeraology,  who held a draw on her blog.  (Do check out all the great art and "stuff" on her blog).  I also won a $25 gift certificate to an on-line store.  I chose Silver Crow Creations, but haven't made my purchases yet.

Mel is so generous and kind - she kept thanking me for following her blog.  I'm really blown away by her generosity.

This box contains all kinds of the most delicious papers to use in my collage projects.  I bought a book last year, (a lovely birthday gift from my sister, Dianne), called Scraps: An Inspirational Field Guide to Collage, and I was wondering how I was going to start a collection of ephemera they wrote about in the book.  I need wonder no more.


Thanks so much, Mel!

Monday, January 16, 2012

A Birthday Card

This birthday card is for a dear friend.

5" Square
Stamp by Inkadinkado
Pencil Crayons

I'm liking kraft card stock and square cards this week.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

More Vintage Collage

Here are three more Artist Trading Cards using images by Kelly Burton I made for my vintage swap:




Thursday, January 12, 2012

Happy Birthday, Sunshine!

My sister, Dianne, is the sunshine of my life.  Happy Birthday, Dianne!!

4 1/2" square
Stamps by Stampendous and Hero Arts

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Vintage Collage

I'm starting (finally) to feel more comfortable with the collage process, thanks to a  book I bought recently, Scraps: An Inspirational Field Guide to Collage.  The book contains a large section on composition, one of my weak areas.

Here are three Artist Trading Cards I made for a swap:




Backgrounds:  acrylic paint
Images by Kelly Burton

Friday, January 6, 2012

What Will the New Year Hold?

New Year's Day is what Effy calls a 'big calendar day'.  Other examples would be Christmas, your birthday, or  other days that you celebrate or are important.  These days get full spread in your Book of Days.


Pan Pastels
Heidi Swapp stencils
Octopede Factory images

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Letter to 2011

I'm still catching up on my 2011 preparation for my 2012 Book of Days.  Our instructions from Effy were to write a letter to 2011 and put a pocket or envelope in the front cover of our journal to hold it.  I decided to do a card; inside I'll write the letter.  My word for 2011 was BIGGER.

Masks by Tim Holtz
Spritzed Watercolor
Pan Pastels
Stamps by Hero Arts, Autumn Leaves, Making Memories, Rusty Pickle and ME!

My word for 2012 is "Inspired".

Monday, January 2, 2012

Do I Have Time for This??

Day Two, Book of Days.  Our instructions in yesterday's video were to do a full spread at the beginning of the week describing what is on our mind for the week.


Stencils by Tim Holtz
Stamps by Rusty Pickle
Pan Pastel

What is on my mind is whether I have time for this new program!  But I found if I keep the spread simple with lots of white space (which I'm interesting in experimenting with anyway), I can do a spread in an hour.

What's on your mind this week?

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Book of Days

Happy New Year!

In 2012 I'm going to re-energize my art journalling practice by participating in the Book of Days.  There are videos to watch and two or three weekly newsletters, but most importantly for me, the program will give me some structure, some prompts and a reason to keep the practice going.  I'm going to continue to experiment with different styles and mediums, I'm sure, as I continue my struggle to find my own style.



I hope to have some photos of my progress soon.  During the waning days of 2011, Effy made suggestions to pick your word for 2012, to decorate your journal cover and to write letters to 2011 and 2012 for the spreads on the inside front cover.  Earlier today, there was a 2 hour video about the 'big calendar day' spread for January 1, and an introduction to the rest of the program.  I spent the waning days of 2011 coming home from a great vacation in Hawaii, so I don't quite have any of this ready to show you.

What are your plans for 2012?