Christmas Bookmarks

Christmas papers mean Christmas paper scraps.  And Christmas paper scraps mean mosaic bookmarks

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Talkative Tern

Reference Photo by Sandy Scott, Paint My Photo

Crafty Experiments and Using Up My Stash

Like most stampers, I have a stash of embossing powder, which is used for heat embossing.  I don't do as much stamping as I used to and I rarely emboss, but things seem more sparkly at Christmas, don't they?  Crafters too share the desire to bring light into this dark time of year.

This crafty experiment combines brush lettering with heat embossing.  First, I wrote "heart" with a Pentel waterbrush dipped in glycerine, and then I sprinkled on the embossing powder.  The heat was provided by a heat gun.

The Gift of Music

Stamps by Magenta and Clearly Wordsworth

Music is one of the mysterious gifts we have been given, like sunsets and rainbows.  Earlier in December I went to the Westcoast Calligraphy Society's Christmas Tea.  I'm an introvert, and not a very social person, finding casual chit-chat difficult.  But I very happily spent an hour singing Christmas carols and I'm very grateful to the people who made this possible.  We had a talented pianist and carol sheets for all who wanted to join the fun.

Stamps by Stampin' Up

The added bonus from all of this was that I found myself in the Christmas spirit!

A flurry of Christmas card-making ensued.

Stamps by Stampin' Up

It seems that I couldn't get "Joy to the World" out of my head:

Sketch with Sue Kemnitz

Reference Photo by Sandy Scott, Paint My Photo

Hubby gifted me a wonderful on-line sketching course for my birthday.  One of the lessons encourages us to draw a bird - I didn't need much encouragement.

I'm loving the course - you can watch a preview here.  Sue's style is very whimsical and fast, both of which match my approach to drawing.  

And then this crazy, wierd thing happened

While I was painting gouache flowers in my art journal, I found a background done in acrylic.  I drew some flowers and added some gelatos and more acrylic and the background became a foreground.

Using Up Gouache

Often my inspiration comes from practical projects like "using up journals".  I'm currently trying to clean out all of my paint palettes, so I've been painting in gouache.  This little piece is in my sketchbook.

The Trees Keep Reappearing

Can you tell I live in the North American west coast rain forest?  No matter the color scheme, the coniferous trees are a constant source of inspiration.

Making "Guy Cards"

Making cards for the men in my life is always a challenge.  

Hand painted paper

Gelli Print

Stamp by Tim Holtz

A Burst of Card Making

And using up some papers from my stash - always a good thing.

Bird Stamp by Inkadinkado

It Only Takes One or Two...

It only takes one or two successful prints to make me happy.  

And I usually only get one or two. LOL

Thoughts on Unfinished Journals: You Don't Have to Finish the Way You Started

Gelli Print

The second journal I'm working on finishing began its life as a sketchbook.  Most of the pages are kraft, and a few are cream.  I stumbled upon a You Tube video by Robyn McClendon in which she prints in a kraft journal and a light bulb lit up in my head.  I may change my mind again, but so far, I'm having lots of fun!

Each day I work with a different color palette.

A few trees are making an appearance.

Magenta Stamps

Here are a few more ATC's that I made recently and forgot to post.  The stamps are by Magenta, colored with Prismacolor pencil crayons.

Thoughts on Unfinished Journals: Why My Brain is Tired

Zeigarnik

Sprayed Ink Accordian Journal

Zeigarnik is the psychological fixation on unfinished tasks.  Zeigarnik explains why I spend so much time thinking about my unfinished journals.  You can read more about it and see some beautiful sketchbook pages here, on Laurie Doctor's blog.  She talks about how this is linked to procrastination, productivity, and multi-tasking.

Although I feel better knowing why I think about it and how to solve it, getting at the solution is harder than it looks.  (I already knew what the solution is - just finish them!)  Even before I read Laurie's article, I began to take the unfinished journals off my shelf and work on finishing them.

I'm trying to do them in the order in which they were started.  This is the first, an accordian journal just waiting for a few small entries to complete it.  

Now it is done:

And on the reverse:

Here's a close-up of a few of my favorite pages:

Snow Day

Monoprinting is a perfect way to spend a snowy day.  You can see how it influenced my prints too.

Christmas Already?

Pencil Crayon

Stamps by Magenta

When you're a card maker, you start thinking about Christmas quite early.  I've seen a few Christmas cards and tags around my blog hopping, and they inspired these.

Pencil Crayon

Stamps by Clearly Wordsworth

Although they are Artist Trading Cards, they can be made into a card quite easily.

Oh, Canada!

ATC

Pencil Crayon

Original Photo at Paint My Photo

I guess there was one more bird in me!

I'm thinking about drawing faces again. 

A Different Viewpoint Means A Different Challenge

Elegant Writer, Inktense

Strathmore Watercolor Journal, 5.5" x 8.5"

Photo by Steven Meister - Paint My Photo

Spoonbill

Elegant Writer, Inktense

Strathmore Watercolor Journal, 5.5" x 8.5"

Photo by Angeline Rijkeboer - Paint My Photo

Just a Goose

Elegant Writer, Watercolor

Strathmore Watercolor Journal, 5.5" x 8.5"

Photo by Sanne - Paint My Photo

Blue Crane

Elegant Writer, Watercolor

Strathmore Watercolor Journal, 5.5" x 8.5"

Photo by Mariaan Otto - Paint My Photo

People on Instagram have said that these would make good hooked rugs or children's jigsaw puzzles.  I love it when people take time to make a comment; I so rarely get any feedback and it is very encouraging.

I Love Birds With Attitude

Elegant Writer, Watercolor

Strathmore Watercolor Journal, 5.5" x 8.5"

Photo by Angeline Rijkeboer - Paint My Photo

Roseate Spoonbill

Elegant Writer, Watercolor

Strathmore Watercolor Journal, 8.5" x 5.5"

Original Photo by Susan Mulno Paint My Photo

Definitely a Series

Elegant Writer, Watercolor

Strathmore Watercolor Journal, 5.5" x 8.5"

Photo by Nicola B, Paint My Photo

Yes, these birds are definitely becoming a series.

Forest Fires

Alcohol Ink

Artist Trading Cards

Wildflowers

Alcohol Ink

Artist Trading Cards

Another Bird Series?

Elegant Writer and Watercolor

Strathmore Watercolor Journal

5.5" x 8.5"

Photo by Angeline Rijkeboer - Paint My Photo

I think there might be another bird series coming.  Of course, that's only until I get distracted by something else.