And now... ve do the dance of joy!

I confess, the last week has been a bit trying.

"Mom, can you tell him to stop LOOKING at me?!"

"She was lookin' at ME FIRST!"

Etc.  Ad nauseum.

By last night at 6pm I was seriously gritting my teeth.

I decided to get a little bit lost in my art journal and let the whining and complaining swirl around me but not actually get into my ear-holes.  Also I plunked them in front of the tv with cheese and crackers; that works sometimes too.  I call it "parenting by neglect."

On pinterest recently I spotted an art journal technique using canvas and Golden acrylics, and it looked really fun, so I started with the sun and then went from there.  It's not the fanciest page I've ever done but I still like it.

And guess what??

I MADE IT!!  They are on the bus on their way to school even as we speak.

Let fall begin!  I'm ready - so very, very ready.

Love Shelley!

Just a doodle

I figured something out and I was pretty excited about it - so I started doodling in my regular journal.  This isn't even an art journal, just the plain old paper I write on every day.  I used Copic markers, so it went right through the paper, and now the back looks cool too.  I debated covering it up with some other kind of paper so I could still use that side of the page, but decided nope, it's staying.  

But who knows.  I'm notoriously fickle.  I could change my mind AT ANY MOMENT.

Okay, I better go.  Can't make art if I'm sitting here staring at the screen, right?  Right.

Kbye.

Love Shelley!

Ever have one of those days?

I don't - not often, anyway... but today is definitely one of those days.  Don't worry, it never lasts long.  In fact, doodling like this and getting really involved in the lettering has already lifted my mood quite a bit.  I MADE ART TODAY!!!

Love Shelley!

Happy colours

WOW, it's summer already!!  I've been trying to keep making art but things like this are taking away some of my attention:

We have two dozen chickens that are almost six weeks old.  It's not that they're high-maintenance, just that they're rather hypnotizing.  They're pretty friendly, for chickens, and they have big personalities.  The kids and I have been spending more time than we need to with them, just watching their behaviour and how much they're enjoying their new coop.  We should be collecting fresh eggs within a couple of months!

I've worked on a few journal pages here and there.  Yesterday I brought a bag of fun stuff to my parents' and worked on a couple of pages while we all visited together.  The ones that I'm showing you here are started but definitely need some more work.  But so far they're working out so I thought I would share them, to let you know that I'm still alive and still making art! 

I'll tell you more about these pages as they develop.  In the meantime I hope you're all making stuff too. I'm going to see what other trouble I can get into this week - don't worry, I'll report back!

Love Shelley!

Making some good stuff over here

So I was digging around in my stash yesterday and I was finding so many cool things that I decided to put together a couple of journals for my etsy shop.   It's been really empty and lame for far too long.

You never really know what you have until you start exploring... at least that's been my experience.  No wonder this room is such a mess!

These books turned out so great that if they don't sell, I'll be more than happy to keep them for myself.  Hee!!  That's a win/win situation.  They fit perfectly in the hand, substantial enough to feel like you have something important yet small enough to tuck in your bag and take on the road.

I love the watercolor paper, and the different kinds of blank sheets, but probably my favourites are the bits of goodies that are stuck in, just begging to be doodled on and thickened up with souvenirs of the day.  I purposely used bigger rings than necessary so it has room to grow.

I'd love it if you would check them out.  Let me know what you think!  If they turn out to be popular I'll make a couple of bigger ones next time.  I still have plenty of stash left.

Here are a couple of sneak previews that aren't in the listings:

I hope you're having a fantastic weekend... I'm off to do all the chores I neglected while I was playing working on these.

Love Shelley!

The blooper reel

We all have them: duds, train wrecks, mistakes, boo-boos, and the occasional "What HAPPENED?!"

I have LOOOOOOTS of those.  Want to see some of them?  You can laugh at with me!

Come, take a look:

Here's where I was trying to sketch my husband Mike, but he wouldn't hold still and I accidentally made him look like a hillbilly.

Just terrible.  And this:

What the heck IS this, even?!  Nobody knows.  Maybe a herd of red blood cells?  It's a mystery.


Also, the comment of the week comes from Heather, who said:

"Are you secretly playing a game about how many times you can say "boobie" on your blog?"

I wasn't.... but now I might start.  Heh.


Okay, I'm going to go try to make something that doesn't suck.  You guys stay warm, we'll talk later.

xoxoxo
Shelley!

Octo-Lady!

Sometimes I wish I had eight arms (and some coordination).  Then I could REALLY get things done.

I found a library card that I had liberated from a used book store in my stash yesterday, and since 2012 is the official Year Of Using Up All The Good Stuff, I started doodling on it.  I know you're as shocked as I am that it's another octopus.  I don't know why I have them on the brain lately, but I predict that you might see one more yet.

I coloured her in with Inktense water-soluble pencils and a water brush, then went over the lines with a Staedtler pigment liner.

Then I thought how nice she would like (and how beautifully she fit!) on the back of this tag in my current art journal and voila!  A little bit of messing around on the top of the tag and I called it done.

Bonus photo, because I love these and I know you do too: the journal on my messy, messy desk.

Smooches!!

Love Shelley

Note to self.

Because sometimes I forget.

Love Shelley!

Oops, I did it again.

Last week we spent a few days in Edmonton and visited the West Edmonton Mall.  There's lots there to do and our fun didn't depend on the weather.  We did lots of cool stuff, including a quick 18 holes at the mini golf course.  I fell in love with the scenery - someone did an amazing job of designing all this whimsical scenery, so I took a bunch of pictures and later drew this... marker with pencil while the kids were swimming.  I tried something new (I had very limited supplies with me but that only seems to make me more creative!)  I used a red Inktense pencil to do the shading on the drawing before I added any water-colour to the drawing.

As I was doing it I wondered why I don't do this more often.  It makes sense, because once the Inktense is dry it's waterproof and won't move around.  Then I added the yellow and really liked it.

So around the marker, I added a very pale wash of blues and greens, thinking I would add some text later on.  Now it's a week later and I really wanted to finish it tonight.  That light wash seemed way TOO light, so I started adding darker watercolour with abandon.  Then I discovered that the word "MINI" was actually done in a water-soluble pen, although I can't for the life of me remember what I used.  A fine liner?  Must be.  Anyway, it smeared all over the place, so I added more dark blue and purple to even it out.  In for a penny, right?

Now, even with the white outlines, I know I overdid it.  Again.  When will I learn?  

At any rate, it was an interesting game.  My 7 year old son took WAY more than the 1 mulligan per hole we agreed on, and somehow still "won".  My husband, meanwhile, kept giving me suspicious looks when I got par or lower on a hole, and now I'm pretty sure he thinks that I'm secretly golfing when he's not around.  I guess it's not the worst thing I could be doing behind his back - wait till he sees me bowl!!

Until next time...

xoxoxo

Shelley

I have a good feeling about this year.

I don't believe in the Mayan prophecy... after all, if the Mayans were so smart, there would be Mayans.

So I think 2012 is going to be a really epic year.  I feel like in 2011 I was just warming up, just testing my wings.  All the big things I did last year were actually just medium things. This year I'm planning on taking off and amazing everyone, even (especially) myself.  I don't think there are any limits to what I can do.  

This is a small (actually tiny) example of what I'm talking about.  I have lots of art journals and I've messed around in all of them.  Then a little chunk fell off the back of one that I cut in half (don't ask - you would be horrified at what I did to this poor book). But instead of chucking those pages, I decided that it would be kind of a starter kit. Since then, I've just been taping a new page onto the back of it every time I decide to work on it.  I'm breaking EVERY RULE over here, you guys.  HAHAHAHA!!  Okay, so that's a super minor example, but you get the idea. I'm keeping an open mind and doing things the way I want, not the way they've always been done.

I've also added some tip-ins and fold-outs.  Because I love a book that's interactive, that you have to touch to find the secret hidden bits.

I glued two of the tags I had back-to-back and taped them in.

In these two pics you can see the fold-out open (up) and closed (down).

Also, this "page" is actually an envelope I taped on with masking tape. Right now it's the back of the journal but I'm pretty sure it won't stay that way for long.  I'm also dreaming up something interesting to put inside the envelope. Maybe blackmail photos or something.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks for visiting!

Love Shelley!

DOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEEEET!

Hi guys!!

So are you all signed up for Nathalie's Creative Jump Start 2012?  YOU'RE NOT?!?!  Well GO!  GO RIGHT NOW!!!!  No really, I'll wait.  It's free, and it's amazing.  It's amazing, and it's free!  Some of your very favourite artists have put together tutorials in various formats that will give your creativity a kick in the pants.  It's possible that I'm raving prematurely, because to be honest I've only watched the first video - but you can see by the impressive lineup of artists that this is going to be an EPIC series.

The first artist featured (and wow, did this start with a bang) is Dina Wakley.  I've been a big fan of hers for a very long time; her style is very free and inspiring and COLOURFUL!  And we all know how much I like bright vibrant colours.  Her Creative Jump Start is a warm-up exercise that she does before she starts creating for real.  Although you may agree with me that some of her "warm-ups" are cooler than some of my finished work!  But that's neither here nor there.

I followed her example, and this is what I came up with tonight.  Unfortunately it's a bit too late to start any "real" art, but I really like these the way they are!  Check them out:

These tags are basically finished.  I'd probably stick them on an art journal page as is.  OR cut bits out of them to use on something else. I used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists on them, Staz-On black ink for the stamping, and Sharpies to do the writing.

The next three.  I'd probably add to these, possibly with some words on Dymo tape; and then use them on art journal pages or in letters to my pen pals.  Especially the one that says "Do not look inside."  That really has to go on the outside of a cool envelope, don't you think?  I like to keep the mailman on his toes.  Hee!

The final three.  The middle one is the only one where I changed up the technique a little.  I got out a stencil and some Mr. Huey's white spray, and gave it a spritz.  However, the dark blue ink underneath wasn't dry yet, so the white turned light blue.  However, I really like how it turned out.  I fiddled a little extra with the one on the right.  Dina's work is really organic, her stuff just seems to turn out right away, but I liked the red on the edge so I purposely added more, even though it totally felt like cheating.  I was trying to get some yellow in there too but my yellow wouldn't spray so I was just dripping it everywhere and making a colossal mess.  SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Just to give you an idea of one reason why this jump start grabbed me so instantly: Dina mentioned that she often does her warm up exercises on manila tags, and I just HAPPEN to have a drawer full of them.  That I organized just last week.  Serendipity?  I think so.

Want to see some close-ups?  Well, okay!
 

On this first one, I loved how the two colours ran together; you can also see a hint of the shimmer that the spray leaves behind.

Better view of the shimmer/glimmer; kind of strangely focused though.  I only have my iPhone for taking pics at the moment, but these did turn out surprisingly well!

This one is almost too simple; it definitely needs something.  But I so love how the red blends into the orange that I couldn't bear to cover it up yet.  

And finally, this one is much more messy-looking but I love the distressed effect that I (accidentally) got.

Now, I just hope that all this mojo lasts until the next time I get a crack at my art supplies.  Stay tuned!!!

Love Shelley!

Let's Wrap This Up.

Hey guys!  

I haven't been making as much art as usual in the last couple of months, but I'd love to show you what I DID manage to finish.  Wanna see?  

This little guy is an ATC.  It's a little 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" card, made from some very soft watercolour paper. The little critter is a Blue-Footed Booby. I did him for a swap I was involved in, and he's off in the mail to someone in the US. Safe travels, little buddy!

I waited for what seemed like FOREVER for Jill Berry's new book about maps to come out, and it was worth the wait. I've had a map obsession for years, and now I'm actually starting to make some maps on my own. I started with this phrenology doodle in one of my art journals: 

You might see more noggins in my work. I liked being able to pin down everything that was floating around my head and causing me to procrastinate. 

Next, I did this compass rose, inspired directly by Heidi LaMoreaux (she's one of the featured artists in Personal Geographies.)

I had so much fun making this. I actually got out my compass and ruler and spent a very peaceful evening creating this from scratch on watercolour paper. Then I used an X-acto knife to cut out all the blank areas. The page is now mounted on vellum, which is that cloudy white behind the compass rose. I have lots of ideas to make more of these, in different shapes and forms. We'll see how many of those actually materialize.  : )

 

And then last night, on a total whim, I stuck five shipping tags together and drew the road I live on. I wanted to capture the stories of all these homes and families on the road I've lived on for most of my life.  It's not as colourful as some of the stuff I've been doing, but it does have a certain charm.

After I had an argument with my 7-year-old about which house was ours (he strongly disagrees that we live on that side of the street); I dragged out the old typewriter and typed up a couple of sentences about each house on the map. For me, half the fun and charm is the fact that you can't erase your mistakes; but my kids thought this was horrifying. They both tried their hand at typing after I was done, but beach left the room in tears because they couldn't get it just right. They are definitely children of the technological age!  Oh yeah, my 9-year-old also wanted to know "what are all the little poops" on the page. *sniff* It is SO nice to have a family who's so supportive of my art!!

Finally: this is one of my favourite things that I've worked on recently. It's pretty big; 19 1/2" across and 6 1/2" tall. It's on a piece of black heavy-duty paperboard? I'm not sure what it's called. I think you could use it as book covers, it's certainly thick enough.  I was totally inspired by this Halloween costume I saw on Pinterest.  Pretty sure I like my version better though!  HAHA!

That is all for now!!  I hope that you have all had an EPIC year, and that 2012 brings health, happiness and lots of art to all of you.

xoxoxoxox!
Shelley

Whew.

So it's been a while.  The short version of the story is as follows: 

Things have taken a turn for the awesome around here.  I predict amazing things to come.  The end.

I'll probably expand on that one of these days but for now, here are a couple of things I worked on this week:

There is more to the address than just "SWARTZ" but I can't just go around giving away peoples' addresses all willy-nilly.  The font, called "circus" is one I downloaded from a free font site, printed out, then sat and painstakingly wrote out with a 0.1 Copic multi-liner.  I wanted to go for a circus feel, and I really liked that font.  The biggest compliment:  my son thought the letters were rub-ons.

The envelope is actually the main event - it's meant to be sent empty.  I put a piece of cardboard inside to stiffen it, but sending a decorated envelope was the whole point of this swap.  It was based on this book, called Mail Me Art (you can click to see samples inside the book); and I've been captivated by this project ever since I heard of it.  This isn't for the same project, it's a swap through swap-bot.  

My kids also bring me little bits and pieces of neat things because they know that I like to decorate the pages in my journal.  (See?  Awesome.)  They gave me this piece of cardboard, so I attached some bits and pieces I had lying around, then did a bit of random meandering journaling on it, and cut notches into it so I could slip it into the coil binding inside my book.   I hadn't worked in any of my art journals for a while, so this was more of a warm up than anything else.  

That's all for now, but stay tuned.  More awesome to come.  

Love Shelley!

Laid Bare

This is the cover of my new eight-dollar art journal.  I wanted something a little bigger (9x12") so I can make a bigger mess.  First I went through the book and tore some pages out, made fold-outs and stubs, and just generally made it a lot more interesting than it was when I brought it home.  This is what I've done with the formerly-plain-brown-and-boring cover, and as you might guess, the object of the game is to get right down to the bottom of some stuff that's been bugging me.  I have a couple of pages started in it, but nothing ready to share just yet. 

But don't worry; there will always be enough silly to go around... after all, this is me we're talking about.  This guy was speaking to me so I added him into my book, by gluing him onto a piece of cardboard and then punching holes to make him fit into the book. 

This is the back of that piece of cardboard.  Sometimes my favourite things are made from things that have no value whatsoever!  I guess I should take that to heart and quit buying expensive paper. 

HAHAHAHAHAA!!!  That will never happen.  EVER.

Love Shelley!

All Serious and Stuff

Okay, first of all that first page says "worth less" not "worthless".  I was having some pretty intense feelings when I was working on that page, of, well, being worth less.  Not as important, not as worthy, not as accomplished, not as interesting, not as attractive - I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever felt that way.  It's a self-portrait, but to make myself feel better I made my nose smaller.  HAHAHAAAA!!  Also my eyebrows aren't really that scary, I just got carried away when I was drawing them in.  The miserable look was real that day though.  (Don't worry about me, this was very temporary.  Working it out in my journal really helped.)

The second page - well I love the badass quote, and to be honest, this is how I feel 90% of the time.  My heart is guarded, my feelings are well-protected, and most people can't see past that to the vulnerable person inside.  Which is just the way I like it.  It keeps me from having too many of those "worth less" days.  Don't tell anyone, ok?  I'm trusting you.

Love Shelley