Sorry……..there is no blog today -i have had server problems….today and yesterday!

See you tomorrow

I created this mixed media painting yesterday and i’m not sure if i like it – she still needs a word and a tiny papier mache heart in the corner to be complete.

The journal page i created yesterday for a round robin swap (that began several months ago). 

Close-up of the spread.

Yesterday i worked on an art journal spread in one of the artist’s handmade journal.  Her very pretty book was created in the style of Mary Ann Moss’ “Remains of the Day” class.  This means it’s all handmade with signatures created with scraps of papers, photos, images etc.  To say that i was mildly FREAKED OUT to mess up this lovely book would be an understatement! I don’t really like working in other people’s journals (i have found out) – since i feel it’s very personal.  One thing i have learned though through this process is that art journals come in many difference sizes and flavours and that it’s good to open myself up to different ideas and ways of doing things. I’m used to painting a background page and maybe adding some collage elements but of course this had to be different.  As you can see there was a cow on one of the pages and i toned the image down a bit by using thinned gesso and then i drew over a face with a variety of media.  I added some collaged leaves, Virgin Mary image (given to me by a woman at Journalfest) and added a bird image in the corner.  I kept thinking it all had to make sense and be cohesive but then i thought if this is a “remains of the day” kind of book then it doesn’t really matter does it? 

I kept looking at the page thinking – there is something missing…..what is it?  I then spied the tin of arthichoke hearts on the counter and thought “What if i clip the label and use part of it as a tab for the book?”  And voila….i did and then the page said (well not out loud anyways) that it was finished!

The cradle boards i’ll be priming and prepping today!

Dawn Sokol’s Doodle Diary i bought and had signed by the author at Journalfest

Today i’ll be busy priming and prepping some cradle boards for the upcoming Studio tour i’m taking part in December 4^th and 5^th – it’s called Peninsula Art Tour – there will be 10 artists participating in this event. I have absolutely NO IDEA what these cradle boards will end up as – it’s as much of a mystery to me as it is to you! That’s the cool thing about the art process – often times as artists we set out making art with no idea what we’ll be creating – we allow the muse to move through us and show up on the substrate we choose. When we get out of our own way magical things happen. If art is forced, pushed and manipulated too much it ends up looking too contrived!

I picked up Dawn Sokol’s Doodle Diary at Journalfest during vendors nite. Dawn had a table there with her wonderfully whimsical books – you know i’m a doodle nut so I was instantly attracted to the book – plus Dawn has such a nice aura about her too. I have a teenager in mind to give this book to however it’s going to be difficult for me to part with it .

I attended Nicci’s Creative Finds craft fair over the weekend. Nicci’s son Duran had his very own table at the fair and was proudly selling some cute items artfully packaged in cellophane. Of course I had to buy a couple! While I was at the fair I met a lovely greeting card artist named Eva (as in the Walle robot cartoon EVA) and had a chat for over a ½ an hour on the business of art! Eva was asking me lots of questions. I realized that I have acquired quite a bit of information over the years attending the “Flying by the seat of my pants Business school” .

Well I must get to work now on the cradle boards……see you tomorrow! Ciao for now!

A mixed media Angel i created for a friend

I glued on a glittery dragonfly with foam dots

A friend of mine who i met online several years ago shared a mutual love of dragonflys with me. That’s how she found me online.  We became a part of a group we called “The Glitter Sisters” or GPS – Glitter Power Sisters. She’s been struggling with a major health challenge and one of our Glitter Sisters suggested we send handmade angel cards to lift her spirits during these difficult times.  Another Glitter sister suggested we add dragonflys to the mix since that is how she originally found us. So i envision an invisible thread of love connecting all of us as we create our gifts from the heart for our dear friend.  As much as i grumble about how much time the internet takes from my life it has connected me with so many wonderful spirits the whole world over. I am heartened by how much love and affection we can have for the lovely creative spirits we have never met in person.

In case you are wondering what media i used for this piece here it is: micron pens, water colour paper, water colour pencil crayons, fluid acrylics, copic pens, glitter and sticky back paper (from art glitter).

My artsy friend Nicci is having a wonderful craft show tomorrow and Sunday – she has unique vendors showing a variety of original arts and crafts.  If you live in the Surrey, B.C. area come and take a peek! I’ll be wandering over there tomorrow!

I’m having internet problems this morning so i better get off here before things crash again.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Love, Violette xo

It’s Remembrance Day today in Canada and Verteran’s Day in the U.S. It’s a day to remember those who lost their lives during the war.  We pause at 11 am for a minute of silence.  To this day we still buy and wear red poppies – the proceeds go to the Veterans.  I recall reciting the moving poem In Flanders Fields as a child.

And now for something completely mundane……Pardon the bad photo….i was holding the camera out in front of me.

The butterfly broach won’t be on there – i’m still waiting on Mr. G – he needs to cut out a large wooden disk to make into a button. As you can see my boho fanny pack is kind of large but it needs to hold a few items so it needs to be biggish. I’m happy with it.

Mr Princess Boy

My daughter Jessica sent me the link to this website called My Princess Boy . It’s a nonfiction book about acceptance.  The story revolves around a little boy who likes wearing dresses and jewelry. It’s actually based on a true story – i watched the video and was deeply moved how this entire family and the little boy’s teacher completely accepted, embraced and supported this boy who was different than the mainstream.  I believe this book would be a great addition to elementary school teachers repetoire – reading this book to the class would be a way to create a dialogue around accepting differences and allowing children to embrace their authentic selves.  Perhaps if children learned about this early on there would not be so much bullying happening in schools. 

Well that’s it for today!  See you tomorrow xo

We FINALLY got the dragonfly completed and back up on the magic cottage…..hooray! I hope you enjoy the video – it’s a big longish – 12 minutes. You can fast forward it if you like . I tend to have difficulties knowing what to cut out and leave in when i edit. I was so happy to find out that youtube allows us to make 15 minute videos instead of just 10 minutes. When i began making videos a few years ago the videos were only allowed to be 5 minutes long.

Sue Bleiweiss has a fabulous “Faux Leather Journal” tutorial in the recent issue of Cloth Paper Scissors .  I am lucky enough to receive CPS in the mail every couple of months – my son Ryan and his wife Kathryn have given me the gift of inspiration (last xmas) – thanks guys!  It’s so exciting to me to be able to have inspiration delivered right to my door.  If you’re like me and don’t really need any more THINGS/STUFF why not ask for a subscription to your favourite magazine? This issue of CPS by the way is AWESOME!!! Denise Litchfield and her fabulous papier mache creations are in it!  Oh my gosh……and there is an intriguing interview with Ruth Rosner and her earthy, primordial sculptures……do check her out…….her work is amazing!

Okay……that’s it for today!  See you tomorrow! xo