OMG I MADE AN ART JOURNAL PAGE!

I KNOW I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT MYSELF!!!! 

I signed up for a swap on swap-bot and got super-lucky - my partner ended up being someone I'm already BFFs with, so I immediately knew what kind of pages I wanted to do for her.  Happy, ridiculously bright, totally experimental ones!

I started with some fairly random 4"x6" pieces of cardstock from my overflowing collection, slapped a little paint, gesso and collage stuff on them...

... then started adding bits of bright colour.  I also darkened up the colours around the edges using some Inktense blocks and a water brush.  GOD I LOVE THOSE INKTENSE COLOURS!!!  They go on like watercolour, but then when they dry, they're permanent.  So you can keep layering without ever losing the work you did underneath.  Perfect for if you're not a talented watercolorist.  Ahem.

Some drips here and there, more random splashes (I wore a beret and tilted my head thoughtfully to one side while I did this)*

Some watered-down white paint to push the background into the background...

Ohhh, now we're cooking.  A few more layers of that juicy Inktense colour really brings the whole thing together.

Then a bunch of random marks and doodles with markers and paint...

A quote on happiness... (that was the theme, hence the bright happy colours)

And finally, I thought the balls of weirdness looked a little too floaty so I attached them all to long spires, as though they were alien-like eyeballs on stalks.  Nice imagery, hey?

Some detail shots:

Making these two pages brought me such feelings of peace and joy.  I definitely gotta keep doing this stuff.

But first... sleep.  Goodnight.

Love Shelley!

* I totally didn't.  I don't even recall wearing pants, now that I think of it.

Oh, right... the round robin

I guess you want to see MY book too, right?

I started with a small Field Notes memo book, and collaged used postage on the cover.  I wanted it to be really light to mail so it wouldn't cost everyone too much.  In a swap like this, you want to make it as easy as possible for people, so your book doesn't get held up.

It's traditional to put your contact info inside the cover in case it should get lost; and the sign-in page is optional but most people do it.  Otherwise you end up with really cool pages that are signed with an inscrutable mark and later you have no idea who worked in it or when.  And then how do you go about stalking your favourite artists?!  So clearly we need a sign-in page.

Also traditional: do the first spread yourself.  It sets the tone, plus lets the other participants know that you're willing to do some work, that you're not just sending out an empty book to scam art from other people.  (It happens.)

I don't imagine I'll see this book again until around Christmas.  I'm fine with that - it will be a nice juicy surprise when I do receive it!

Okay, now go step away from the computer.  You should get some fresh air.  I'm going to go see what the chickens are up to.

Love Shelley!

DID YOU MISS ME?

Because I sure miss making stuff to post here.  Lately there hasn't been too much creative stuff going on, but today I stole some time from the "should-do" conscience-type stuff and did a page in my art journal.

I started with this handsome fella.  My daughter is completely grossed out and wouldn't come near me the whole time I was working on this page, so now I'm going to make a photocopy of him and put it on a popsicle stick and hold it up when I want to be left alone.

Collage, spray inks, some tape, Inktense pencils and some Sharpie paint pens...

Then a regular brush marker, more Sharpie, and some Warm White gouache...

But then it was too light, so I went back and added some more colour with the Inktense pencils again.  Oh, and a shirt.  Dude was looking a little freaky just hanging there in the middle of the page.

Totally thought about stopping right here and letting the rest go unsaid.  Nice clean areas on the page, could possibly come back later and add to it... but no.

Why stop when you can give him a Where's Waldo t-shirt and then wildly overshare with the internet?

Anyway, the next page is already planned out and it's pretty much a response to this page.  Yes, I know.  That's dumb.  How does one respond to oneself?  Well, stay tuned and you'll see.

Until then...

Love Shelley!

Reunited, and it feels so good...

I got down and dirty with my art journal this weekend.  

Things got downright sloppy.  Like here, where I thought the lines were too dark so I just finger-painted over them with the nearest bottle of paint.  For the record, it was a whitish colour called "Parchment" but it mixed in with the sprays I had put down earlier.  Awesome.  (My internal monologue: "Needs covering up, ooh, white, yeah, OH SHIT, oh wait, yeah, I like it!)

The title wasn't dramatic enough for my liking so I outlined it in black.  Much better.

The door actually started off as a tombstone (don't ask) which is why the colours are so dark.  In the end I decided a door was a better idea.

This corner of this page perfectly shows you just how messy this page is.  Spray, paint, marker, splatters, random stuff everywhere.  It's not the prettiest thing I've ever made but it felt GREAT to just throw down some colour and words.

 It's art, Swedish-Chef-style.  Just flinging stuff around, singing to myself, having a really good time.

But now it's Monday and time to get back to the serious issues at hand.  Like this public service announcement:  DO NOT CARRY AN EGG IN YOUR JACKET POCKET.  It will only end in heartbreak.

Love Shelley!

Building up to something... just not sure what.

GUESS WHAT I GOT!!!  

I technically don't "need" another journal (pfft, I totally do), but the other one like this is filling up fast and I REALLY love the weight of the pages.  They can seriously handle anything I throw at it.

Buuuuut..... it's kinda boring.  I decided I wanted to change this one up a little.  So I cut all the pages down by 4 1/4".  I was envisioning a long skinny book this time.

Side bonus: Enough sheets to make a whole other book - or two, if I cut them down even further.  OR I might tape some of these back in to make random fold-out pages for the book.  Or I might get an even better idea.  Anything could happen.

I cut the covers down too; but left them 3/4" wider than the sheets of paper inside so I could leave stuff hanging over the edges of the pages once I'm ready to work on them.  Messy is good.  I'm not exactly known for my perfectionistic tendencies.  I HAVE OTHER GOOD QUALITIES, OK?  Don't judge.

Kinda cool, don'tcha think?

The leaving-the-covers-bigger was an afterthought, and I had already scored the cover in preparation for cutting it... leaving it looking pretty ugly.  (Thinking things through - also not a strong point.)

So I dug through the stash and found this piece of 12"x12" scrapbook paper with a vintage photo of a ferris wheel... cut it down and poof.  I used it on the inside covers - I guess you would call it endpapers, if you were feeling fancy.

Hmm.  Now the front cover.  I already tore off the paper announcing what kind of book it was, but the cover is this shiny faux-snakeskin or something.  Pretty hideous.  (Sorry, Strathmore; other than that little detail I really do LOVE THESE BOOKS!)

The book (covers included) now measures 5 1/2" x 12".  The papers inside are 4 3/4" x 12".

I had a seriously old envelope that I hacked up and stuck to the front of the book.  If you look carefully you will see that I took the flap off and glued it underneath the envelope.  I figure I can keep scraps and ephemera and secret stuff (art supply receipts, for example) in it.

I used those wee skinny magnets on the flap and inside the envelope so it will actually stay closed.

So far that's it.  It definitely needs some more work to jazz it up but it was a nice break from the boring stuff I was supposed to be doing.  However, as much fun as this was, I'm going to need to get my hands on some COLOUR soon.  I can feel that urge to get my hands dirty, building up, making me flare my nostrils and squint my eyes and stand in the doorway of this room, looking around for something to mess up.  Something fun might happen around here tonight... I'll let you know.

Love Shelley!

Lightbulb Moment

"I'd love to hang around a guy like Tony Stark or even Robert Downey Junior. No romantic stuff* but just to be around that kind of brash energy, fast-talking funny dialogue that's intelligent and actually makes you think. I'd love to be challenged by someone like this. Someone who is smart and confident and doesn't dumb it down for the people he's hanging around with, and in fact doesn't depend on feedback from anyone or validation, who just puts it all out there in a take-it-or-leave-it-I-don't-give-a-shit way.

You know what?  I don't want to HANG OUT with someone like that... I want to BE someone like that.

*unless he wants to, of course. : )"

As I was writing out my wish list of characteristics I'd love to have in a person-to-hang-around-with (friend or otherwise), I suddenly realized that I can actually BE that person.  And just entertain my own self.  HA!  My problem is that I keep a damper on a lot of what I say and do, lest I accidentally offend or allow someone to see me for real.  And that's fine when I'm talking to the principal at my kids' elementary school... but that's about it.

I'd still love a friend like this - how much fun would that be?!  But I think maybe instead of looking out there, I'm going to look right over here.  At me.  Time to let the cat out of the bag.

Look out... it's on.

Love Shelley!

Oh, the fury

I know this journal page probably looks all happy and cheery but really I was in the grip of a horrible rage when the writing just flooded out of me.  (That's why I blurred it all out, for your own safety.)  (Please note the high-school-like use of repeating 8s to blur it out.  I never said I was mature.)

Other than the ugly feelings that spilled out, I really like this page!  It's a fold-out in my journal and I'm especially partial to the "June" tab.  And of course the bright colours.  Even when I'm thoroughly pissed off, I still have that magpie eye for radiant, lively colours.

The megaphone was just clipped out of a magazine, and the rest is ink, gesso, stencils and stamps, with some washi tape for good measure.  You just can't go wrong with washi tape.

Today though: it's gonna be a shiny happy day.  Just watch me go.

Love Shelley!

Pink, and yellow, and green, oh my

Holy crap, do I love this month.  It's not even my birthday, or Christmas, or anything, I just love the change in the season, the feeling of brand-new possibilities, the fresh start that the school year brings.  Everyone is back to school and work with a new determination, and it feels GOOD!  I love the change in the weather most of all.  Fall has always been my absolute favourite season, and this year is no different.  It really puts me in my happy place.

I can tell I'm still not back in the groove yet though, art-wise.  This page was a collage of pieces from a very old math book, covered with a light coat of gesso.  Then a bit of stamping at the bottom, then some Dr. Ph. Martin's radiant watercolors on top.  The colors surprised me a bit.  The gesso came up through the watercolor, the daffodil and cyclamen blended to become a beautiful orange, and then once it all dried, a lot of the orange changed back to a pink colour.  Very strange, and unpredictable, but I have to say I still like it.

Turns out, even with a generous coat of watercolors though, that Sharpies do not like to go over top of gesso.  I only ruined one this time before I caught on and switched to a paint Sharpie instead.  Then things got fun again.

That's it for today.  Maybe tomorrow my mojo will come back.  If you see her, could you send her home?  I really miss her.

Thanks.

Love Shelley!

Still calling it in, I'm afraid

Right now I'm still feeling a little dry and boring and un-adventure-y, but I'm looking HARD at things I can do to change that.  The bright colours are helping, and I'm just going to keep pushing until the inspiration comes flooding back.  Right now I'm doing the fake-it-till-you-make-it program.  : )

And that's all she wrote... for now.

Love Shelley!

A colourful bit of nothing

I loved this background but as it turned out, I didn't have much to say on Friday.  I did play hooky and go see the new Bourne movie with my sister-in-law, but other than fuelling some new Jeremy Renner daydreams, it wasn't ... well, it wasn't a very adventurous week at all.  I was disappointed that I didn't have more to say, but that just makes me want to do something a lot more daredevilish this week.  So it's great for motivation, but not so hot for art.

I may come back at a later date and re-do this page.  I don't want to let this background go to waste, but for now, it's just a reminder to get off my duff and get out there and make some shit happen.

I'll report in; stay tuned.

Love Shelley!

More ideas than time

Any of you guys have this problem?

My mind is always bubbling with things I want to do.  I'll do a journal page and think of a whole series I could spin off from there. 

Brains!  Octopi!  Watercolour crayon on black backgrounds!  

Or I'll get a new cookbook and find twenty new recipes I want to try.  

I should totally be baking my own bread!  I bet we would all like panini sandwiches!  Why don't I ever use my waffle iron?  We need to eat more quinoa!  

Or I'll look around the yard and see sooo much that needs to be done to make it look nicer.  

Weed whack over there... the garage needs a new door... should probably clean up the junk behind the garage... need to buy grass seed for the edges of the driveway...  the front door has a lot of dirt on it...

I'll try something new (like putting canvas bits on my pages) and think of a bunch more ways that I could play with it - and want to explore that idea.  Or I'll look at the kids' bedrooms and think of all the decorating things I want to do for them to make their rooms ultra-kid-cool.  And omg don't even get me started on Pinterest.

But then reality kicks in and I remember that I still have to keep up with the dishes, the laundry, and even sleep now and then.  (Actually I'm a champion sleeper, so don't worry about me on that account.  Ha!)

Still, it could be worse.  I am NEVER bored.  Scattered? Mmm, yep.  But never, ever bored.

I'm not the only one who's like this, I know.  What do you guys do to get the most out of your day?  Please, share.  I could use the help.  : )

Love Shelley!

The same thing we do EVERY day, Pinky.

My plan for today, and every day:

This is one of the fold-out pages I have in my art journal.  I love the extra bits and pieces I've stuck in there - envelopes, fold-outs, tabs... all kinds of things that make it more interesting than just flipping pages.  This half-page is 4"x12".  This size was REALLY fun to work with.  I might add more things this size!

Here's a close-up of the top part:

I had originally sprayed some stencils for the background, and I liked the brightness but wanted to do something else with it.  I drew the tree-thing with a charcoal pencil and smudged and set it with matte medium.  Then I painted gesso on everything that WASN'T the tree-thing.  The colour underneath came through even though I slapped on two coats, and I really like the messy effect it created.  You can tell something is hidden underneath but it's not clear exactly what it is.

My motto for the day and possible tattoo idea: carpe diem.  I like to keep things interesting, try new things, have lots of good stories to tell.  The bottom half of the page was covered with a piece from a bag of chicken feed, which is where those cool scallops on the edge came from.  I LOVE the texture that it added to the page.

The tag on the bottom of the page is from Elle's Studio, by way of a local scrapbook store.  There were 12 in the package and I LOVE them.  The white lines are made with correction tape, and the "Wednesday" tab is from a sheet of stickers from the 9to5 line from October Afternoon.  I don't scrapbook but I sure love me some scrapbook supplies.  All those paper treats... be still my heart!  The rest is just the usual junk I have lying around... paint, pens, stamps, ink, and trash-to-treasure stuff.

So are you going to carpe some diem too?  C'mon, let's go kick some ass!!

Love Shelley!