Remember the angel page i created the other day?  Well i thought i would create a tab for the art journal page. I drew a tiny head (about 1 1/2” high) on a book page, coloured it in, cut it out and adhered it to a piece of cardstock.  I then cut out another piece of cardstock the same shape for the backside………

I then drew a small heart, coloured it and then clipped around the bottom of the heart and glued it to the back.  This formed a tab on the other side but using the same shape as the face tab. On the other side of the page i drew a big heart on a separate piece of cardstock which i adhered to the back of the angel.  The book page was pretty flimsy and needed backing. 

Here you can see some tabs i used in the Teens Dream Journal.

I sometimes use paint chips as tabs as you can see in the above art journal

You can also make a tab of sorts by having the face jutting off of the page making the edges of your journal book all the more interesting.

Check out this fun video by Jennibellie on Making an art journal by recycling greeting cards.

Bucket list idea

Virginia from Zebra corn.com said she liked the bucket list idea i had the other day and was going to transcribe her list (which used to be in a pocket in her art journal) onto pieces of card or wood and but them in a bucket or maybe a clear pocket sheet and hang it on the wall so she can be reminded of her wish list.

Today is the last day of Jennifer Lee’s Right Brainers business Video Summit – Jennifer Louden is the guest speaker – should be a great show.  If you aren’t able to watch it live you can get the replay later!  It’s happening in a few minutes.

I was afraid he would spit on my records

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend?  As you can see i did – i actually created a journal page!  I am on the mend from the flu and conjunctivitis.  I knew that i was coming around the corner when on Saturday i actually started to draw some pictures – the doctor and me.  This journal page is all about a doctor’s visit on Friday.  It occurred to me that this kind of art journaling is Narrative Art Journaling I’m actually telling a story.  Often you will see journal pages which are focused around a quotation, lists, shapes like hearts or random ramblings.  For example some people will create backgrounds and borders with a focal point ahead of time leaving space around the image for journaling later on.  Later while at a cafe the artist will journal what is on their mind. The image and journaling often have nothing to do with each other. The above journal page is really a story – it’s all about my journey with the flu.  I often find a bit of humour in it and decide to share that along with my frustration on a journal page. 

As you can see on the above page i wrote my story on the background – some of it is obscured by the image of the doctor. The story is about finally going to the doctors on Friday for conjunctivitis and to ask if my flu symptoms were normal.  I went to the walk-in clinic, the receptionist was grumpy and so was the doctor.  The doctor barely said two words while examining me – i told him my ears were plugged from the flu so i could not hear him.  The doctor checked my throat, chest, eyes then began to write a prescription.  He handed it to me and said “put two drops in your eye every 4 hours” and then he began to leave.  I shouted after him “HEY!!!!!!!  Do i have conjunctivitis???” and he said “Yes”.

Needless to say i was very annoyed with the doctor and the receptionist and thought about writing a letter of complaint. I told Mr. G about it and as i did i thought out loud “i could get into trouble with them and maybe they would be mean to me?  What’s the worst that could happen?  They could spit on my records!”  I was just riffing on waiters and waitresses who spit on their customers food when they have complained too much. When i said this Mr. G burst into gales of laughter and afterwards it was all good .

Here is how the page began – remember the other day i only had the energy to do an experiment with tea and coffee stains?  Well i used that as a background as well as the face drawn on the painted book page – they were both to be incorporated into the composition.

I drew the central characters on a piece of cardstock with micron pens.

The background is painted with a few colours – scrapped them on the page with a credit card.  The image of the face is glued down and a bit of green paint is added to the face to blend it a bit into the background.

I coloured the characters in with coloured pencils.  As you can see i had to swirl some gesso over the face and the background to push the bright paint back a bit.  I wanted the attention to be on the characters.  What i often will do at this point is stand up on a stool while looking down at the composition to see if it looks okay.

Before gluing down the characters i wrote my story in pencil.  I also fancied up some letters with a white signo pen, micron pens and pencil crayons.

I hope you have enjoyed my little step by step journal page tutorial and create your own Narrative art journal page!

It’s my son Ryan’s birthday today!  Happy birthday – i love you!

I created a little DIY tutorial on making your own Christmas Gift tags – they are simple and whimsical and quick to do as you will see!

If you want to download some gift tags i created last year click here.

Enjoy!

The journal page before the journaling happened.

After the journaling – notice i have collage fragments of food labels – garbanzo beans and lentils.  Don’t ask me why – they just wanted to be included.

Mary was crying out for glitter on her halo.

This weekend i had lots of fun creating a 2 page journal spread.  I began by preparing the papers so i didn’t have to stare at a couple of blank pages.  First i gessoed the cardstock and then cut the papers to the size i wanted.  Then i collaged a few pieces of joss papers, book pages and some food labels (i have to quickly save the food labels as Mr. G is constantly throwing out things which i think are perfect collage fodder.  Sometimes i even have to fish things out of the garbage).

Then i added several layers of acrylic paints and scrubbed some off with a baby wipe until i achieved the look i wanted.  I thinned down some fluid acrylics and dribbled it on the top of the page.  Don’t you just LOVE drippage?

Next i found a spot of sunshine outside and sat looking at my pages and wondered what was next.  I was thumbing through an art book aimlessly when a fish caught my eye.  Since i had already told myself that i was NOT to draw a face I thought a fish could be the central focus. So i drew the fish to extend beyond one page and onto the other.  I continued colouring and painting the fish with copic markers and acrylic paints. Then – you won’t believe this but a Head wanted to be underneath the fish.  Who was i to argue? So dutifully i drew a face with a micron pen and then painted it in.

I asked Fish head girl what she was all about and she said she was thinking “stinky thoughts”.  So from there i thought – “Aha!  Thoughts are things! You had better choose good thoughts over stinky thoughts!” – this is Law of Attraction stuff.  So next i created a whitish area to do my freeform journaling in and fashioned a fancy border around it. A collage sheet of Marys was lying around so guess what?  She wanted to be included in the page too.  So i stuck Mary down, edged her with water soluable oil pastels and added some glitter and white accents with my brand spanking new Uni-ball Signo white pen (thanks Kym for the gift!)

So there you go – that’s how these pages evolved!

Inspiring article about my nephew and the Lokomat

Three years ago my nephew Adam was paralyzed in a tragic Ruby accident.  Adam’s father has been educating himself about spinal chord research and the latest developments and technology that are available.  He recently imported the Lokomat – a cutting edge technological machine which hoists the patient into an upright position.  Read the article here – It’s very inspiring.

Well I’ve just run out of steam – I will chat with you tomorrow!

You may have seen this caddy i created a while back with recycled items – discarded plastic wine glass, sour cream tub, pop tin and old wooden bowl.  Can you imagine how fun it would be filled up with Easter Eggs and Jelly beans? Well over at Celebrate Green i show you how to create your own caddy with a tutorial!  Thank you Lynn for posting my project and for the good work that you and your daughter have been doing educating as all about the importance of recycling and for putting “meaning in the greening”! 

This is what the blog says about Lynn:

Lynn cares about what happens to her grandchildren and future generations of her family, but also, like most moms, she is concerned about the survival of all children and of the planet. Working with her daughter to make a difference by encouraging people to celebrate green is tremendously rewarding.

Together, Corey and Lynn are opening the eyes of people around the world to the importance of re-visiting traditions in the face of environmental challenges, of re-thinking how they celebrate, and of putting meaning in the greening.

I met Lynn years ago when i created a caricature of her for her coaching business.  I love how Lynn has re-invented herself!

While you are at Celebrate Green you can check out Lynn and Corey’s book!

ARTinspiration Studio

Suzana over at ARTinspiration Studio for posting pictures of my pendant and goodies she bought!  Thank you Suzana!  She calls her amulet her ARTinspiration Amulet – I believe she is using the pendant as her touchstone for her latest venture!  On the back of the pendant it says “Follow your Bliss” – which is precisely what Suzana is doing!  Hooray!

Women and Words Conference

I just wanted to give you all the heads up on a Conference coming up soon that I’ll be presenting at – it’s called the Women and Words Conference.  This is going to be AWESOME!  If you love to write, would like to get published one day – this is the conference for you!  You’ll receive strategies, tips, tools, inspiration to help you realize your writing and publishing dreams! The Conference is coming up soon – April 29th and 30th so register soon to secure your spot! I would love to see a friendly face in the audience as i sketch away my ideas………that’s right – you heard me – i’ll be sketching away since i don’t like to just stand there and speak.

Well that’s it for now – I’ll chat with you tomorrow!

Trust your Vibes Candle

Candle Grouping

Watch the Intention Candle video on youtube or watch below:

Yesterday i shot this video for creating your own intention candles. I can’t believe what a goofball i can be at times (you’ll have to watch the video to find out what i mean).  Here is a hint though – I’ve been reading Jack Canfield’s The Aladdin Factor so was influenced by the exotic story of Aladdin! I created a tutorial for it a while ago here. We all learn in different ways so i thought a video would be a nice addition – plus my friend Tina put a bug in my ear about it! I hope you enjoy it!

Guess what?  I’m so thrilled – the pendants are up for sale now in my store!  Mr. G updated it for me.