catch your heart

i spent some happy time doodling in my journal today, using supplies that have moved to the top of my "heart" list......

*handmade journal made with fabriano artistico 140 lb. watercolor paper

*golden quinacridone gold acrylic paint

*golden quinacridone burnt orange acrylic paint

*uniball signo white pen

*4B graphite pencil

*burnt sienna pan pastel

click on image for larger view

thumb thanks

contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want,

but the realization of how much you already have.

thank you so much for your visits, your comments, and

especially for your encouragement.

i heart you.....more than i could ever express!

{and special thanks to my sweet bloggy friend anna over at lillalotta.....

she most graciously offered me an interview over at her blog....you can read it here!!

thank you precious friend!}

journal page finished using hand-carved thumbprint stamp, micron pens, watercolor pencils, pastel chalk, 6B graphite

inspiration monday

how about some organization inspiration?!

i was skipping through you-tube and found this quick and clever idea for storing all of those paper punches! what i really love about this solution is that each punch is visible.....unlike mine which are stored in a basket.....who knows what punches are on the bottom?!!

(and here's another idea using curtain rods here!)

watch this video in larger format here.

more information about the ikea bygel rails here.

discover

one of my favorite things to do is sit in front of the tv at night and doodle on a piece of graph paper......all of those fabulous little squares wait so patiently to be filled! and you would think that with a studio full of supplies i would choose something interesting to doodle with, but i've discovered that i absolutely love using a plain ol' pencil! maybe one of these days i'll abandon my fascination for graphite and move on into the world of colored pencils.....but i have a feeling it's gonna be a slow transition!

happy weekend to you!

p.s. our sweet bloggy friend becky shander has been one of the featured artists this week over at crescendoh......congrats to you becky!!

purple hearts

i was cruising the aisles of one of my favorite art stores the other day,

and this paper caught my eye. how could i possibly resist those charming little clusters of purple hearts.....

especially when i knew how sweet they would look alongside six rows of delightful little chain stitching!

more photos and information about this journal here.

breaking free

there's a beautiful heARTist inside of you

that dreams about breaking free.

let it.

the only rule is once you break free,

there's no looking back....

p.s. my sweet bloggy friend chrissie grace has featured an interview with me on her blog today.....you can read it here.

thank you SO much chrissie!! xox

artwork finished using micron pens, pilot g-tec pen, scrap papers,

4B pencil

less fat, more love

i picked up my sweet, adorable friend patty for lunch yesterday......and as she got in the car she handed me the most gorgeous royal blue bag containing these little bite-size nuggets of pure happiness!

but these little morsels aren't your traditional melt-in-your-mouth goodness......these have a spectacular, crunchy, salty, sweety crunch inside.....pretzels!! and i must confess to being so excited that the bag was open before i could put the car in reverse, and we had eaten the entire thing before we even got to the restaurant......where we both had salads to balance out the massive intake of sugar and carbs that we had just consumed......

and then later i noticed this little nutritional fact on the back of the bag......

so in my i-got-a-D-in-high-school-calculus brain, that probably means that i can eat 30% more............right?

more about these new m&m's here!

inspiration monday

our sweet bearded collie, molly

many times inspiration serves as a spark for a terrific idea.......and renee troy took the spark of her love and affection for our furry kindred spirits, and created wildfire! renee has designed and put the finishing touches on the most gorgeous handmade book......including almost 40 pages of beautiful artwork and calligraphy that has been donated by 29 very talented artists (more details here!). the final result is absolutely stunning......please treat yourself and view the slideshow here!

and the best part is this masterpiece is now up for auction, with the proceeds going to the very worthwhile organization "a place to bark"! please click here for details on how you can own this priceless treasure!

renee......it's been such a true honor to participate in such an awesome project! thank you, from the top, middle and bottom of my very grateful heart!

happily-ever-laughter

i'm still having a ball playing with the little thumbprint people......but after spending several minutes at the sink with some soap, water, and baby wipes to get the mess off of my fingers, i decided that i would carve up a couple of stamps to help keep my fingers a little less inky. i carved a thumbprint, and a pinky fingerprint.....

and then used them to create a page in my journal (that's me and my little dutch sweetie....can you see the resemblance? heeheeheee). this is waaaaay too much fun......makes me outright belly laugh!!

have a great weekend!!

click on image for better view

journal page finished with scrap papers, micron pens, 4B pencil, hand-carved thumbprint stamp, pilot g-tec pen

thumb giddiness

i was in the middle of a really messy journal page the other day, and ended up blotting my inky fingers on a random scrap of paper. later, the little fingerprints caught my attention and i was instantly taken back to a time when i was a kid.....and, boy, did i ever love, love, love creating little thumbprint people! i had spiral notebooks filled with boring calculus and history notes.....and fun, whimsical little thumbprint people dancing in the margins of the page (after all, how else does a girl ever survive calculus and history?!)!

and with such a happy walk down memory lane, i really couldn't resist picking up a blue ink pen and finishing out those random prints on the paper......a few ink marks here and there, and now i'm in total

thumb giddiness!

so the moral of my story is: make sure you check all of those little scraps of artsy goodness hanging around your workspace.....you may just have some creative happiness waiting to be discovered!!

patience and balance

there's something about the artwork of patience brewster that's so feel good......in a whimsical, giggle sort of way. this card illustrating how to keep life in perfect and delicate balance is one of my favorites.....and oh, how i'd love to have a pair of those jammies!!

but the cherry-on-top for any art-paper afficionado is the fabulous artwork on the back of the card, too. it's like finding a secret feel-good surprise!

check out the wonderful world of patience brewster here!

inspiration monday

here's a cool trick that i learned while taking mary ann moss' online stencilry class:

take a photo (i'm using black and white)......

and play with the filter>artistic options in photoshop......and eventually you end up with a stencil cut-out version of your photo!

{note: i may have played a little too long, because for some reason i ended up with only half of one eyebrow, no nose, and partial lips......please refer to previous photo to confirm that i actually possess these things.....}

while mary ann takes the photoshopped image and creates a stencil from it, i decided to do something a little different and carve a stamp (i had to draw in a chin and neck to keep myself from looking totally hopeless.....again, please see previous photo)

and then i used it to create one of my "15 minute" journal pages! total fun!!

(p.s. if you love to play with stencils, i highly recommend mary ann's class....it's loaded with great information, and she's a great teacher!)

piece by piece

my sweet bloggy friend kathy, aka paper pumpkin, has been creating some fabulous collaged journal pages......and in the process of sharing them with us at her blog, she's also been totally inspiring me! kathy has been taking kelly kilmer's "a life made by hand" class, and highly recommended it, so i decided to take the plunge and dive into the world of collage!

normally, my in-the-box-must-have-a-grid personality resists anything that has to do with collage......but kelly's easy going style makes this seem uncomplicated, even for someone like me. plus, if you get stuck, she offers "collage templates" and lots of journal prompts to get you started! and what i really like is the concept of spending just 15 minutes a day with it.....no over thinking, no over gluing.....just simple creative time!!

thanks kathy and kelly for helping me to think outside the box (even if it's for only 15 minutes a day....heeheehee)!

journal page finished using scrap papers, vellum quote, photo frame, stapler, and glue stick

restful realities

resting is a good thing......a very good thing. it gives you permission to put on your favorite pink mary jane slippers and put your feet up.....

and watch some of your favorite movies.....

and eat too many of these.....

which prompts you to take a quick spin on this.

the only downside to resting is eventually you have to get reacquainted with reality.....

and that mess that's been waiting in the studio.....yikes!

(i hope you had a great week....it's good to be back!)

listen

listen to your heart.

i hear my heart speaking to me all the time, but i must admit that i don't always listen to what it's saying. and i've learned over the years that if there's one thing about hearts, it's that they definitely know what they're talking about.

lately my heart has been urging me to take a rest......and i've been resisting because resting isn't something that i do very easily. but the truth is that resting is probably one of the nicest gifts we can give ourselves.

so today i'm going to listen to my heart.

and i'm gifting myself permission to rest.

and probably eat some chocolate.

(maybe this will be easier than i thought.....)

i'll be back next week.....and i'll miss you!! xoxo