little mountain house

i have become quite intrigued by this sweet little house nestled in the mountain trees.
and while i don't know who lives there,  i would imagine that one thing is for certain.....

that such a cute little house surrounded by such tremendous beauty
surely must be filled with lots and lots of love!

{created in my moleskine journal using koi watercolor, pitt pens, 
a waterbrush, and a 5B graphite pencil}

inspiration monday.....and a giveaway!

when you go out searching for the perfect journal,

what do you look for?

one that lays flat when you open it?  

one that's not too small.....or not too big?

one that has the perfect paper inside?

well, i think there's no better way to get exactly what you want than by creating it yourself!

so, let's make a journal.....in my new online class, offered over at creative workshops!!  

i'm super excited to announce my new adventure....

life stuff:  a coptic journal project

.....and it starts on october 29th!!  woo hoo!

i've got lots of videos and printouts to show you how to create your own
40-page watercolor journal with those

gorgeous coptic chain stitches trickling down the spine......

and we'll even put some artwork on the covers!

(i'm providing this artwork design for you to use, 

but if you'd rather create a more personalized cover, i'll share some tips on that, too!) 

and once we're finished, you'll have your very own coptic journal

with lots of blank pages inside to create all that happy-life-stuff-artwork
you have swirling around in your head!

for more information and registration,
please click here!


****

to celebrate, i'd love to give away a seat in the class!
all you have to do is leave a comment (just one, please!) on this post by 
wednesday, september 19th at 10:00 p.m. (EST)!  
once the comments are closed on wednesday, i'll randomly choose a name 
and announce it on thursday, september 20th!
please make sure your comment either links back to 
your blog, or you leave your e-mail so i can contact you if your name is chosen!
(this giveaway is open to all those who are 18 years of age or older.)

and.....if you've already registered for the class, please join in the giveaway!
if your name is chosen, your registration fee will be refunded to you!

****

edited:  comments are now closed.....thank you to all those who entered the giveaway!!

{this class is hosted by creative workshops.  once the class opens on october 29th, all those who are registered will receive an invitation to the class and all of the videos and printouts will be available right away.    the class is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you can work at your own pace and you'll have access to the class whenever you want.  this class will be offered for at least one year (and most likely longer), so you'll have plenty of time to finish viewing all of the videos.  for more information, please click here!}

things i ♥ about Christmas

there are just a couple of empty spots left in my Christmas journal......

i'm really glad i left some room for the gingerbread house!

and my all-time favorite thing:  santa!!

now the only thing left to do is put some finishing touches on the inside covers.

i decided to keep it simple and just paint some lines of watercolor.

then i could add some thoughts and doodles 

to the inside front cover.......

along with my list of materials onto the inside back cover.

and here's the final accordion journal.....
just in time for Christmas!


i hope you have a beautiful Christmas holiday,
and a very artful 2012!!

{i'll be spending some time with my family, 
so i'll be away from my blog for several weeks.
thank you SO much for your sweet encouragement
and support this year..... i'll see you in the new year!  woo hoo!!}

back to the books

i've been so excited by my stamp carving lately that i've missed sharing some of my new journals with you!  this first one is a revisit to some of my favorite "circles on blue" fabric...you can see the first book using this fabric here.

and, this journal may not look like much....but, that's because it's been left blank intentionally! created especially with the artist in mind, this blank journal is filled with 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper, and the covers were finished with arches textwove paper...perfect for most wet and dry media.  and, the binding is a 4-needle coptic stitch, so the book will lay completely flat while you're creating your next masterpiece!  you can see more photos and information about both of these books here in my etsy shop!

also, there's still time to put your name in the hat for my give-away...click here to leave a comment before thursday, midnight!