29 Faces in September

And here I go again! At some point in my future I WILL finish this challenge. Will it be this time? Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see, huh? I think I'm ready, prepared. But it is in my nature to always feel ready for a challenge. I will, however, keep joining as long as she keeps hosting. Rain or shine. Win, lose, or fail!

A quitter never wins, right?

Quote Love #1

I love quotes! I love songs with lyrics that mean something to me! I have scraps upon scraps of paper in my ephemera drawer with quotes and lyrics on them. The problem with that? I can never find anything when I WANT it. EVER!

I am truly a disorganized mess when it comes to "micro-organizing". Sure, all my art supplies have a place and I am pretty good at keeping everything in its place, mostly. But it's the little things that get me, the words, letters, and pictures cut from magazines that I want to work with. My scraps of quotes in a drawer.

So, this is my attempt at organizing my favorite quotes. I am adding a few here and there to this post until it gets big enough and then I will make more. Once I see what I have, perhaps I can move onto organizing them by topic, but... baby steps.

So, my first quote...

Life is not about learning to survive the storm, but rather, learning to dance in the rain.

-Author Unknown

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Time Away

I know I have spent some time away from my blog. Life sorta piled it on. There was a family reunion, a passing of a dearly loved one, the anniversary of my own father's illness, hospitalization and ultimate passing, and there was a smattering of other familial issues and ongoings.

I was around but not "art blogging" I was also making an honest attempt at getting my business blogs off the ground and organized. Sill working on that, actually. But I expect to have a little more creative time now, well, hope. I HOPE to have a little more creative time to myself now. One of my two littles started school this year and I only have one more left at home, she is a handful though! But I hope to be starting school next week. Should I get he money to pay for school then I will become a (hopefully full time) student for a few  semesters and get my degree in creative media! I plan on focusing on web page design (which I already largely know how to do, but my knowledge is, admittedly, a little dated) and photography.

So, that's where I have been. I hope to get back to arting for myself really soon (as in this afternoon!)

Arting My Heart Out!

I have been keeping myself busy trying to catch up on a couple projects I have taken on. Yesterday was a particularly bad day that put me in a real low place, since I have been trying to stay away from drama of any and all sorts. I have taken my muses advice and spent more time disconnected from the awesomeness of the interwebz and cell phones.

What have I done with my time you ask? Well lemme tell you!

I took on the ICAD (index card a day) challenge for myself and I decided that I would make my official start date the 1st of July. That means I need 8 cards as of tomorrow! From there I will do one a day, unless I fall behind or something, which would never happen. Riiight.

These are what I have so far...

Tangles used in the double Zendala on ICAD #2 are Echoism, Cracked, Trentwith, Bales, Nipa, Strircles, and Eke.

Cracked & Strircles being some of my very favorites. First attempts at Trentwith & Nipa.
This is not my first try at Eke, but it isn't one of my favorites, it never looks right to me.

ICAD #1

I started my ICAD (index card a day) Challenge today and had a ton of fun with it. I combined my ICAD with 31 Hearts, and tossed in some Zentangle and this was the result:

The Zentangles used here are Cockles -N- Mussels, Cracked, Jax, Munchin, Sanibelle, and Ving. I had room for more, but I really felt it was done and looked nice once I had gotten this far. Cracked is one of my all time favorites, so is Jax. This was my first ever attempt at Cockles -N- Mussels, Sanibelle, and Ving.

You can find a whole database of Zentangles at TanglePatterns.com, if you're interested in learning how to Zentangle on your own, or you can look up a Certified Zentangle Teacher in your area at Zentangle.com!

Unfortunately this ICAD, a couple backgrounds in my Gratitude Journal, a Tea with the Muse entry, and an entry into my BoD was all I got done today.

31 Hearts Challenge

Ok, let's try this again...

In May I attempted the 29 Faces in May Challenge put up by Ayala Art. The challenge came at a bad time, I had some bad comments come at me regarding my art and it really unlocked the inner critic and let her run rampant through my head for weeks, throwing up blocks here and there, willy nilly. It also brought out some of my most despised flaws about myself and I let myself fail at it. I thought I was prepared for it, I wasn't. But hearts, I can handle hearts. THIS, I can do!

So, with that I am joining the Ayala Art 31 Hearts Challenge! I would take it a step further and say that I would film my daily heart making, but I have yet to get a good tripod for my phone.
: /

Soon.

I am also challenging myself to an Index Card A Day (ICAD)! I don't know for how long. Maybe 1, perhaps 10, or possibly 30! I know in the Art Geeks FB group they started it a while ago, many ladies are already on 35ish. I didn't start with them, but I have been contemplating ICADs for a while! And with the hubby back at work I have a little more art time to myself, I am definitely going to use that time to my advantage!

Man, I sure wished I had that tripod...
It is on my list of first things to buy once my art budget returns!

MDS in a Day Planner?

I haven't finished my Book of Days, volume 1 yet. It's actually sitting in the kitchen about 1/3 filled. But I kept missing weeks so I decided to try something a little different  and I have moved on, for now. I have moved my Book of Days, my main Art Journal into a daily planner. I did this because I have gotten pretty good at keeping a daily journal, even if it's just a word to describe my day. But I am BAD at keeping up with my book of days. I really don't know why this is, and I really don't have time to sit down and figure it out. Wisest advise my Muse imparted to me is - Just to do what feels right and good! And so, I did!

Below are the pictures of the evolution of my Multi Day Spread (MDS) for this week, week 1 in a day planner!

 I started with the idea to just do something everyday and also keep up with my normal daily journaling.

 No sparks, no ideas, no plans. I just do what I feel like when I feel like it.

At this point in the week I am not sure this "do what you feel like when you feel like it" is going to work as this page just looks like I bled all over it. : /

And this is week 1 finished. Now, I wouldn't say I have a theme, or that it represents anything. It's just what I felt like. I am not... pleased... No, my inner critic is not pleased with this page. Inner critic says it is a hot mess! But my muse says "It is what it is meant to be. Moving on!"

Ah, and P.S. the "lonely" on the neck of the girl on the right, doesn't really pertain to me actually being lonely. The daily entry reads something like (without quoting) - Hubby is going back to work and I have become used to his presence around the house on a daily basis and his help with the baby, so I expect there is going to be a little lonliness showing up in the future.

So, that's last week. I started this weeks MDS yesterday and normally I wouldn't share as I like to save it for a cohesive blog post once it's finished, but hey! I enjoyed creating this page so much yesterday, the act of laying down the bright colors of paint and coming across the girl in my magazine clippings was just pure therapy, joy, and peace!

So here is what this weeks spread started out like!

Creative Spark

There wasn't much art to be had around here yesterday as it was a day filled with preparation for my husband to return to work. He's been off work for over almost 5 months due to an injury that he got while working. He's had surgery and  was ready to get back to work. Unfortunately it's his birthday, what a day to return to work, huh? But he has tomorrow off for the 4th of July Holiday, so that counts for something, I hope. PLus, we have ice cream cake in the freezer, that's enough right there to make anyone's day!

This morning, I woke up and felt that spark. That need to fling paint. No specific ideas, just wanting to work. It was a super productive day all around, I got quite a bit of chores done around the house and I got all kinds of arting done therefore I have stuff to blog about! I am one happy girl!

I started off with working in my Gratitude Journal. I am really making some headway at getting it caught up!

I had gotten as far as a couple layers into the background late last night as I was washing after dinner dishes.  And this morning I finished my mom's page!

 

Moving out of the family part of my list I am moving on to more things that I am thankful for. Back in February our hot water heater died for a day. My husband was crafty enough that he got it working again (and it is STILL working *knocks on wood*) but not having something you use every day and take for granted really makes you notice how important it has become. I am DEFINITELY thankful for hot water!

 

I know, I am using the punchinella  on EVERYTHING! I don't have any stencils right now as my craft budget went out the window while hubby has been off work. So, I was lucky enough to receive some punchinella in Happy Mail a few months ago and I use it on almost everything!! Ah well. : /

Next I took a sketch I had done last week (seen below).

I knew what I wanted to do with it but I don't have the drawing skills for it. I tried drawing flowers for her hair and that went to the dogs in about 3 minutes! So, then I had another idea...

I looked up some beautiful flowers and printed out pictures, cut them out, and voila!
This is one of my most favorite pages ever!! I don't even think it needs words on it! I thought briefly about painting her, but I really liked her like she was. And now I love the flowers because they give it a 3-D effect because they aren't glues flat, most of the edges are lifted some so it just comes off the page.

My muse really came through for me today and is pretty happy with all we did!

I also finished off last weeks MDS (Multi Day Spread) in my Book of Days, and started this weeks. I will blog that tomorrow!

With that I am going to go watch Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World with my babygirl. 18 months old and she watches that movie like she knows what's going on, she LOVES it! :)

Soothing the Soul

Yesterday I worked on something that completely soothes my soul when I do work on it, but something that I don't work on nearly enough!

My Gratitude Journal.

I have not worked in the Gratitude Journal for some time, since April, in fact! I haven't even added to my list since around that time! You can see the last time I worked in my Gratitude Journal here, in my old blog.

Wow! That was a while ago. I always spend a few moments a day thinking of my blessings and what I am thankful for and I always think to myself that I should write some of this down. I don't, of course. I always say I will remember it later, I never do. But there is never a shortage of things I am grateful for, so I guess I had better get to work!

So this is what I completed yesterday...

Lukas' page. I used layers of red and blue acrylic paints and masking tape. This was a really fun background to do work on. Cut the letters from a magazine and used Opaque markers for the lettering. The red bleed a little into the sun and it doesn't want to cover very well but that's ok.

Lukas is my middle child, but he is my sunshine. He is the sweetest and most well behaved boy I know, always an angel. He was born 8 weeks early after a particularly rough pregnancy and didn't get to come home to me for 2 weeks. I am blessed to have him in my life.

 Arianna's page. The baby of the family and totally the trouble child. At 18 months she is my mischief maker. Always into everything she shouldn't be in, but I love her. The purple paper in the bottom left with scribbles on it is her "art". She loves to have her own paper and pens when I am sketching or painting and after writing all over herself she usually gets to the paper eventually! If there is going to be an actual artist in the family, my money is on her!

And lastly, I plopped down with my sketchbook last night while watching TV and this came out. I am particularly proud of it because I am really working on shading and I think it is a pretty good attempt. Maybe I will paint it tomorrow. Maybe not. I may leave it like it is and just do something fun with hair, I have a couple good ideas.

Doodling doodles for fun

Yesterday was doodle day, apparently!

It was Day 6 of Shiloh Sophia McCloud's Tea with the Muse, in which I let my Muse choose a music station on Pandora, then I just listen and doodle, filling a whole page. Afterwards I am to try and decipher what it is that she is trying to tell me. (P.S. Tea with the Muse, or the Divine Spark 90 Day Practice is another free program and TOTALLY awesome!)

I coupled this challenge with one from Motley Soul. Mika's been posting weekly mixed media challenges in her free challenge group. I haven't had time to participate since it started, about three - four weeks ago. So, yesterday I started with number one! To find your doodle! Mika advises that the white page is the ENEMY of creativity! I agree, so I mixed some acrylics with water and went to work in my Muse Book. Once it had dried out, my muse chose a New Age station that had some AWESOME new age/oriental style music (it was TOTALLY relaxing) and I grabbed my trusty Micron 08 to commence the doodling!

And this was the result:

Upon looking back over my page and thinking about what my Muse said to me these were my revelations regarding my Muse:

• My Muse said the squiggly line is my doodle and I should use it and turn it into other things, like the flower, and the butterfly. She says it has SO many uses.
• My Muse is happy! Happy with the page, happy with being used (for lack of a better term).
• She says I need to disconnect from media and look inside for inspiration more often during this time of growth and learning. And you know what?! It works! It's really there!
• My Muse has made it clear that she is happy with my new Book of Days idea, for now and says we have to see how the book stands up to what we are going to do to it since it is simply a daily planner.

And I come away from yesterday's challenge feeling full of creativity but not like I have to use it OR lose it. It's a content fullness, it says it isn't going anywhere. IT? Is there another muse in there?

Please tell me your name(s)?

And to close, here is a photo of my current art journals. I call them the Fabulous Five!