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GPP Street Team – Crusade 37

Remember last month when I did my first GPP Street team challenge and tried to cut snowflakes?  That was a disaster.  This month the crusade is to create a journal page (actually I think it said spread, but I misread it and only did a page) with X’s and O’s.  Here is my page.  I’m not thrilled with it, but I rarely ever am when I know people are going to be looking at it.  But I’m really pushing myself this year to share my art whether I think it’s “good enough” or not, so here it is:

36 221x300 GPP Street Team   Crusade 37

Three Arty Things

I carved a couple of stamps yesterday.  It reminded me of a few I had carved a few years ago, so I stamped them all to show you.

I carved them out of thick rubber.  I don’t know what it’s called but you buy it at craft stores.  There is a section that sells these rubber blocks, carving tools, brayers and ink for printing.  I used a carving tool, but all I have is the small one, so when it got to cutting out the larger areas I used an exacto knife.  Basically, all there is to it is to print out the design you want, color it all over the back with a pencil, then trace it onto the rubber.  Then cut away everything that isn’t in the design.  Of course, you could draw your design on if you want to.  The two I did yesterday are the winged heart and the little journaling block with lines. EDIT:  Since I posted this Melanie Sage was kind enough to send me a link for the rubber to carve. It is called EZ Cut or Mastercarve.  Here’s the link.

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It’s hard to tell what this picture is the way I took it.  These are four coasters/tiles laying on my dining table. So the wood grain is the table in the background.  These are tiles, like white bathroom tile, I bought at a home improvement store for 16 cents each.  I coated them with the blender solution for alcohol inks.  Then immediately dripped alcohol inks on them.  It is hard to create a specific look because sometimes they ooze out a lot and sometimes not as much.  But they’re pretty, I think with the bright colors and abstract kind of floral look.

coasters 300x285 Three Arty Things

These are my two drawings for the past two days.  I’m telling you – I am not liking this.  I am trying to push myself out of my comfort zone and it is, indeed, very uncomfortable.

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Drawing Every Day

Since Jan 31st, I’ve been doing a drawing every day.  I’ve never really learned to draw, and I know the only way to improve is to do it.  I’m going to post my drawings here, not because they are so great, but because it keeps me accountable.  I’m trying to draw different types of things each day so I get different experience than just focusing on type drawing.  I’m finding some things a lot scarier than others, so it may be later that I tackle the tougher stuff.

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Jan 31st

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Feb 1

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Feb 2

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Feb 3

Art Supplies I Use for Art Journaling

Paint

Heavy Bodied Acrylics – these are paints in a tube and they are creamy and cover well.  They are quite expensive but occassionally I’ll splurge and buy a tube.  The brand I can get here that’s least expensive is called Amsterdam.
Liquid Acrylics – Golden has a lot of colors but they are expensive and they are slick and sort of shiny once they dry on a page.
Craft paints work well for me and they are very inexpensive.  There are several brands: Delta, Americana, Apple Barrell and others are available at craft stores and even Walmart.
I like having a lot of colors and don’t like to worry about wasting paint when I’m playing in my journal so I use these.  They sometimes get gobs in the paint, but you can just pick them up and get rid of them.
Gesso – Again, Golden has some wonderful, creamy gesso but it’s very expensive.  I buy the cheapest I can find.  The brands vary, but they are all offbrands.  I buy a large jar or tub then take a small amount and put in a jar so that the large tub doesn’t dry out from opening it often.

Brushes

I have tons of brushes, but here are the ones I use the most.

1 in flat brush - for applying paint or gesso to large areas.
1/4 in. flat brush – the one I like is rounded.  It’s good for shading and filling in smaller areas.
Round brush - I don’t know what the size is, but the bristles are a little longer than 1/4 in.  It’s good for filling in smaller areas and doing details.
Liner brush - this is a brush with long bristles that’s good for writing with paint or painting lines.

Paper

My favorite paper is 120 to 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper.  It’s usually expensive but I buy  it when it’s on sale or when I have a coupon to Michael’s.
For journals I usually use a sketch book with regular drawing paper.
For printing images to paste in my journal, I use regular copy paper.

Journals

I cycle through using different type books to journal in.
Sketch books – the 9 x 11 spiral bound are the easiest to use.  I usually get the ones on sale or the cheapest ones which sometimes don’t have real sturdy paper.
Sketch books- right now I have one by PenTalic called the utility book.  It have wonderful paper but is bound like a book so it’s hard to write on areas on the page since it won’t lay flat.
Old Books - these are my favorite except that they wont’ lay flat.  But if you get one that isn’t too thick and has been used a lot, it will lay flatter than most. I like them because the text on
the page makes a wonderful background for painting and for writing.  I like to put a watered down coat of gesso on so the text barely shows through.  I have used science books that
have photographs or drawings that can be incorporated into the design of the page.
Comp Books - These are the cheap books you can buy at dollar stores or discount stores.  They usually have a black and white marbled cover.  If you gesso the pages first, they work great.
Magazines - If you find a well bound magazine that has nice paper it is fun to use.  You can use whatever is on the page for a prompt for that day.  Pick a picture or a headline and then gesso over
the rest of the page and create whatever you’re inspired to do.
My favorite paper for journaling is watercolor paper.  But I have found that it is always in those tear away pads.  I found one that was spiral bound and it was about 5 x 14 inches.  It was fun but an awkward
size to use for journaling.  I keep thinking I’m going to bind my own journal with w.c. paper but haven’t done that yet.

Transfers

Gesso – you can paint an image with gesso then lay it on your page and rub the back and it wil transfer the image to the page.  I’ve found that the cheaper the image in terms of ink, the better it transfers.
Gel medium – the one most people use is matte gel medium and it does work well.  But I have also used mod podge and decoupage glue with some succcess.

Two surfaces coated -
1.  coat the image with medium and coat the surface it’s going on.
2.   Lay the image on the surface and rub with a credit card, spoon, bone folder or something similar
3.  Leave it there  a couple of minutes (you will have to play with this time, because it depends on the humidity in your environment).
4.   Spray the image with water – get it pretty wet.
5.  With your fingers, rub the paper away.  Rub gently so you don’t remove the image itself.   The idea is to remove the paper from the back
of the image, leaving only the ink.  You will need to spray water again during the process – keep it wet.

One surface coated -  This method doesn’t lay down a complete image.  It only leaves part of it so it makes a cool, grungy look.

1.apply gel medium to the image only.
2.  lay the image on the surface
3.  rub the back of the image with credit card, spoon or bone folder
4.  leave the image only about 20 seconds.
5.  pull the paper up gently.

T-shirt transfer paper - This is paper you can buy at craft stores, office supplies and discount stores

  1. Print images that will look cool with the background showing through.  I always print several images on one sheet so I don’t waste the page on one image.
  2. Cut the image out
  3. Pull the paper backing from the image
  4. Apply gel medium to the surface where you want to place the image

DO NOT rub the top of the image, because the gel medium will lift the ink off.  Once it’s dry it will be okay.

“I value …[choose one to three values]… because …[reasons why these values are important to you]. Accordingly, I will …[what you can do to live by these values].”

“To develop and cultivate the qualities of …[two to three values/character traits]… that I admire in …[an influential person in your life]… so that …[why you want to develop these qualities].”

“To live each day with …[choose one to three values or principles]… so that …[what living by these values will give you]. I will do this by …[specific behaviors you will use to live by these values].”

“To appreciate and enjoy …[things you want to appreciate and enjoy more] by …[what you can do to appreciate/enjoy these things].”

“To treasure above all else …[most important things to you] by …[what you can do to live your priorities].”

“To be known by …[an important person/group]… as someone who is …[qualities you want to have]…; by …[some other person/group]… as someone who is …[other qualities]…; …”

Pens

Ahhh, any journaler is always on the lookout for pens that write over paint and elements.

Jelly Roll by Sakura

I love these pens!! The regular ones write so smoothly and write well over acrylic paint, and over gel medium. The regular white one is very opaque and write great on dark colors.
I bought a set of the Souffle ones.  I don’t know if they come in different sets (colors), but mine has two teals, two pinks, purple, yellow, orange, white and gray.  The white one isn’t
nearly as opaque as the regular Jelly Roll white.  But the gray is awesome!  It looks just like pencil. It’s flat and works so well for shading letters.
There are metallic ones that have very bright colors for writing on dark backgrounds, and come in lots of colors.
They also have some shadow ones.  They come in colors and when you use them on absobent paper each letter is outlined with either gold or silver, depending on what pen you buy. For
example, if you buy green/gold, when you write it’s green letters outlined in gold.  If you use them on a painted surface the gold (or silver) overcomes the color.

Uniball Signo 207

These are clickable pens that come in about six colors.  They have a fairly fine point but will write well over acrylic without skipping.  The way you can recognize them in the craft or discount
store is the package says something about preventing check fraud.  When I write with black, this is the pen I always use.  The pink and green ones are vey light colors which I dont’ care for, but
the blue and purple are nice dark colors.

I have tons of pens, but those are the two I use the most.  I use Sharpies a lot, and any opaque pens or markers I can find, because I like doing dark journal pages and regular pens don’t show up on dark colors.

Adhesives and Sealers

Gel Medium - this is an expensive product but works very well for gluing papers in a journal,  doing transfers, and sealing pages.
Liquid Medium – this is similar to gel medium but is liquid.  It is fine for gluing and sealing but not as effective for transfers as the gel medium is.
Liquid Decoupage Glue – this is like Mod Podge or other brands, sometimes called decoupage glue.  This is less expensive and works fine for
gluing paper on pager and sealing, but isn’t very effective for transfers.
I buy the gel medium just for transfers, and use the less expensive glue for gluing and sealing..

Other Supplies

Watercolor crayons – I have NeoColor II crayons.  They are very versatile.

Color with them and then spread the paint with water on a brush or with baby wipes
Dip the crayon in water and paint with it
Rub a wet brush on the crayon to pick up the paint
Rub wet crayon on a rubber stamp
Use them without water, just as a regular crayon

Watercolor pencils – There are several brands and all work well, even the cheap ones.  I have a large Derwent set that I love.  If you like them , you might want to also invest in a set of Derwent Inktense pencils. They have very strong pigment and when water is added the colors are truly intense just like ink.

I mostly use these pencils to color and shade my drawings.  I’m better at drawing with pencil than painting.  With these you can draw then use a small brush with water and get the effect of painting.
You can use them to color a background, or color in blocks on a page.
Anything you’d do with a colored pencil can be done, then if you want to smear the color around, use water.

Oil Pastels – These are similar to crayons but are creamier with more pigment.  They are short and stubby so you don’t have as much control as you would with a brush.  They come in water soluble type too that are used in a similar way
to using the watercolor crayons.  I don’t remember the brand of my oil pastels but my water soluble ones are by Portfolio and they are sold at Staples and Office Depot.

Pastel Chalk I like using chalk because it gives a subtle color.  You can buy the little sticks at craft stores rather inexpensively.  But the new thing is “Pan Pastels”.  They come in yummy colors but are expensive. I don’t have any yet, but am
dying to try them!

    • Backgrounds in pastel are very soft and subtle
    • Outlining images or areas to make them shaded
    • Going over a page or area to make it look distressed

There are all sorts of things I might use at different times such as credit cards to scrap paint, rulers, compass, rubber stamps and the like.  But the supplies I’ve listed are what I use day to day in my art journal.

Oh My Word – February Activity

ohmywordlogo 300x136 Oh My Word   February Activity

Are you ready for a new activity for this month?  I hope you are beginning to really focus on bringing (fill in your word here) into your life.

This month we are going to write a personal mission statement about bringing our words into our everyday lives.

I found these great guidelines for writing a personal mission statement at http://timethoughts.com.

Writing a Personal Mission Statement

A personal mission statement is a brief description of what you want to focus on, what you want to accomplish and who you want to become in a particular area of your life over the next one to three years. It is a way to focus your energy, actions, behaviors and decisions towards the things that are most important to you.

Personal Mission Statement Guidelines

While there is no unique format or formula for creating your personal mission statement, the following guidelines may be helpful:

  • Keep it simple, clear and brief. The best mission statements tend to be 3 to 5 sentences long.
  • Your mission statement should touch upon what you want to focus on and who you want to become as a person (character) in this part of your life. Think about specific actions, behaviors, habits and qualities that would have a significant positive impact in this part of your life over the next one to three years.
  • Make sure your mission statement is positive. Instead of saying what you don’t want to do or don’t want to be, say what you do want to do or become. Find the positive alternatives to any negative statements.
  • Include positive behaviors, character traits and values that you consider particularly important and want to develop further.
  • Think about how your actions, habits, behavior and character traits in this area affect the important relationships in your life.
  • Create a mission statement that will guide you in your day-to-day actions and decisions. Make it a part of your everyday life.
  • Think about how your mission affects the other areas of your life. Is it consistent with your other personal mission statements? Will it conflict with or contradict something else? Is it balanced?
  • Make it emotional. Including an emotional payoff in your mission statement infuses it with passion and will make it even more compelling, inspiring and energizing.

Remember that your mission statement is not cast in stone. It will continue to change and evolve as you gain insights about yourself and what you want out of each part of your life.

They also offer examples that I have changed to meet our purpose.  You might choose one of these to formulate your mission statement.

“I value  (word).. because …[reasons why this word are is important to you]. Accordingly, I will …[what you can do to live by this word."

"To develop and cultivate the qualities of ...(your word)..  so that ...[why you want to develop the quality this word represents].”

“To live each day with ..(word)… so that …[what living by this word will give you].”

“To appreciate and enjoy …[what your word will bring to you] by …[what you can do to appreciate/enjoy these things].”

“To be known as someone who is …[word]“

I am working on a new class.  It is all videos.  One every day for a month.  I have had trouble getting the camera positioned right, so I asked Mister to help me.  He volunteered to film all of them for me!  I am so thankful he’s willing to do that.  It’s a huge help because we don’t have a flip screen on our camera so it’s hard to know if I’m getting everything in the shot when I do it alone, and I can’t zoom in on anything if I do it myself.

What I didn’t realize when he offered to help me is that it has brought him into my world of journaling.  He sees me painting and writing in my journal all the time, but I don’t know if he understand what I’m actually doing.  By filming the videos it is like he’s taking the class and I think he is beginning to “get” it.  We messed up the sound on one video we filmed, and had to re-do it.  Before we started the second one, he gave me some great, creative suggestions for making the video show more possibilities.  I’ve always known he is creative but he denies it.

He was looking at his boat longingly while we stood on the back porch this evening.  He said, “If I journaled I’d put a picture of my boat,  draw some waves,  cover it all with gesso, then write I wish I was on the lake.”  I guarantee you that before he met me he didn’t know what gesso was!

It’s nice to have someone to share my life with.

Old Book Images to Download

These are images from old books.  I like using this type of image on my journal pages. They make good background images.  Or you can use them as transparent images by printing them onto tshirt transfer paper.  Click on each small image to go to the larger size and download.

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Fun Buying Art Supplies

Trip to Michael’s

I don’t have a Michael’s where I live so when I get to go it’s a real treat.  I had a few copies of the 40% off coupon but you are only supposed to use one per person per visit, but I forgot something and went back to pay for it, and the nice lady let me use a second coupon!!  Woo hoo!!

I got a white Jelly Roll pen!  Actually I bought two because I knew I’d use them up quickly.  It’s the plain old Jelly Roll Medium, and it works great in my journal.  It’s very opaque and writes a normal size like any regular pen.  It flows smoothly and doesn’t gum up or run.  I think it cost $1.39 which is a great price for a white pen!!

51XTnQFM1oL. SL500 AA280  Fun Buying Art Supplies

I also found these great markers!  They are called Opaque Stix by Marvy.  This picture I found is of the metallic markers.  I didn’t get that set.  I got the regular set which has black, white, green, blue, pink and purple.  They are just like a regular marker, like a Crayola marker.  But they are opaque!  They are water soluble so they don’t have a strong odor, and they write very smoothly.  They aren’t completely flat in color like Sharpies are.  And they don’t bleed through the page.  I am very impressed and hope that they will come out with more colors.

I paid $5.99 for the set at Michael’s.  I found them at this site where you can buy them individually, including the metallic ones for $1.09 each.

weekly calendar 300x228 Fun Buying Art Supplies

Click to enlarge

I got some cool stuff in the dollar bin, too.  For 50 cents I got this cute weekly planner.  I’m inspired to actually look at it and use it since it has such bright colors!  I scanned a page and plan to print some out after I’ve used all these up.  I got a neat background rubber stamp for 50 cents also.  And I got a huge tub of gesso.

It is so fun to have new supplies.  Nothing like opening a fresh container of gesso that isn’t all dried around the lid.  And, since I’ve actually been painting and collaging, I don’t have to feel guilty about buying new supplies.

New Class Begins Tomorrow

The Personal Symbology class begins tomorrow.  If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s not too late. It doesn’t require any special supplies.  If you do any type of art, you already have all you’ll need.   It’s a four week class and it’s only $25.  Read more about it here.
I am excited about this class beginning.  I haven’t taught any of my classes in quite a while, so I’m looking forward to the interaction and fun.  This class is a lot of fun, because you always learn something about yourself that you didn’t know before, and it’s fun to see where symbols show up.

Oh My Word – Update on My Word

ohmywordlogo 300x136 Oh My Word   Update on My Word

My word for 2010 is acceptance.  Focusing on this word has brought so much awareness to me already.  I am surprised at how much I’ve learned about myself through thinking about accepting myself, and journaling my thoughts and emotions on this idea.

Today I had quite a breakthrough about one area where acceptance has been a struggle for me.  Since I chose the word acceptance I’ve also been thinking that I want to accept myself so that I can be authentic.  For such a long time I’ve wanted to be as free as others seem to be.  I’ve felt that I should change and be like others, but a revelation came to me today that makes me think maybe this is not something I need to change.

In general, I feel that before I just say something right out, share something, respond to someone or answer a question, I need to read the atmosphere or the people/person’s body language.  I feel odd that I’m this way because it appears to me that most people, unless they are shy, say what they want and don’t worry as much as I do about how people will react.

I’ve been striving to accept myself since we started this On My Word mission.  In striving to accept myself I have thought that if I do accept myself just as I am, then I will say whatever I want without being concerned how anyone reacts.  So my goal has been to say whatever I want and not care what anyone thinks of it.

This revelation, though, has given me two new perceptions.  One is that rather than accepting, once again I’m asking myself to change. To say “don’t worry about what people think”  is saying I need to change.  Acceptance means nothing has to change, so my thoughts on this has been counter-productive.  The other thing is that I’ve never allowed myself to believe that being concerned with people’s reactions is okay.  The places I’ve lived most of my life, that was a prudent thing to do.  I had to be vigilant to protect myself  from harm.

Some would say that I should give up the vigilence now that I’m no longer in that environment.  But living in fear mold a person the same way living in a house filled with books mold one.  Or the way one is molded if two languages are spoken in their home.  It gets woven into who you are.  You can’t undo it and become someone else.  I will probably never be able to interact and have no care about the person I’m interacting with.

The beauty is that this “flaw” has given me a gift.  Being so in tune to others has given me empathy, made me a good listener and made me good at paying attention to people.  I don’t want to change, i.e., get rid of my vigilance and thus lose these gifts. I think I can finally accept that my hypervigilance is just a part of me that has served me well in the past and has given me gifts that have benefited others, too.

If I become ready to let it go, I will, but I’m no longer going to criticize myself for being who I am.