sleight of heart-in-hand

one thing is for sure,

no matter how hard you try to keep a date with your favorite journal,

life will conjure up reasons not to…..

until you've completely lost your creative focus.

and just when you think you're gonna have to resort to seeking out a magic wand 

and shouting "abracadabra" at the top of your lungs to find it again, 

you notice this week's DLP challenge…..

and you tell life that everything is gonna have to wait...

because you're taking a nose dive into 

the middle of your favorite journal for some well-deserved, 

and long-awaited creative time!  

here's to putting life on hold, 

and pulling a rabbit out of your creative hat. 

not because of any hocus-pocus……

but thanks to good ol' inspiration and sleight of heart-in-hand!  

:))

{supplies for this week's DLP "focus" challenge:

wings journal, derwent inktense pencils, micron pens, 6B graphite pencil}

thankful hugs

we're celebrating Thanksgiving here in America today,
but no matter where you live in this big-while-small-at-the-same-time world of ours…..

please consider yourself thought of…..and thanked beyond measure…..
for all your visits to my little corner of blogland, and all of the tremendously kind comments you leave here.   your love, friendship and support of my artwork mean more than i could ever properly put into words, so please accept the enormous hug of thanks that i'm sending to you right this very minute!!

happy Thanksgiving to sweet, precious, wonderful YOU!
xox


{this was created in my wings journal using derwent inktense pencils, pitt pens,
white pilot choose pen, 3B graphite pencil}

inspiration monday

last year my little dutch sweetie treated me to a fabulous weekend in asheville, north carolina and we had a wonderful time visiting biltmore place.  not only is the estate magnificent, but the gardens are absolutely gorgeous, and several of the beautifully carved statues that adorn the grounds caught my eye.

and even though i tried to capture some of the details of the estate in my journal last year,

i find myself still inspired by everything i saw there, so i decided to get out my journal

again and start making some marks with a pencil.....

then i added some watercolor.....

along with some more marks using a pitt pen.

and now, not only does the memory of this spectacular place live on in my heart,
but it's in my journal, too!


p.s.  the recipients of thursday's inspiration boxes have been chosen and notified....
thank you SO much for your sweet participation, bloggy love and support!!!  
i appreciate all of you more than i could ever express!!  xox


{created in my wings journal using koi watercolors, pitt pens, and 4B graphite pencil}

inspiration monday

i had some fun playing in my wings journal
using a few of my hand-carved stamps, a versamark stamp pad,
and dina wakley's pan pastel technique
that she demonstrates in this tutorial!
(and she shares a couple of other great art journal tips, too!)


{watch dina's tutorial over at vimeo}
{supplies:  wings journal,  hand-carved stamps, versamark ink pad,
pan pastel, pan pastel tools, pitt pens, 6B graphite pencil}

inspiration monday

a few days ago i had a small chunk of creative time,  and i wanted to make the most of it,  but i had a tough time getting started.  so here are a few questions i asked myself to help get some creative juices flowing....

my first question was:
 "do i want to draw or paint?"

the answer:  draw - yes,  paint - no.

the second question was,
"what supply do i want to use with the answer to number one?"
the answer:  my favorite mechanical pencil.

question number three was,
"do i want to draw on blank paper, graph paper, or in my journal?"

the answer:  in my journal

and with all that decided,  now comes the tough part:  what do i want to draw?
this question will normally stump me for days,  but thankfully i've been thinking about
Easter coming up soon,  so my mind went to bunnies.  yay!  i'll draw some bunnies!

so i googled "bunny images" on the computer, and lots and lots of photos popped up...
definitely enough to fill that small chunk of time i had left to draw!  

sometimes getting started is as easy as asking yourself a few questions....  

and inspiration (along with google) will always be there to help you find the answers!


******

i'll be taking another "chunk of creative time" in late october
 to travel to new york city!
 michele at little bird creations has invited me to teach a workshop
at her manhattan studio, and i couldn't be more excited!!

if you're in the area, please join us for
"Creative Cursive"
(much like my "letterLAB" online class,
this is a one-day workshop focus on cursive lettering
for those who hate their handwriting!)

please contact michele here for all the details and registration.
i'd love to meet you and share some creative time with you!

inspiration monday

i've discovered that one of the quickest ways to find inspiration is to pick out 

three or four of your favorite colors, open your art journal,  

and just start making some marks!

because once you start doodling around,  fun things start to happen.....

and before you know it,  you're painting happy little blue flowers.....

and inviting sweet little blue butterflies......

to join you in your very own doodled-blue-garden!

favorite colors + doodling around =  journal page inspiration!
:))


{this little blue garden was created in my wings journal using
derwent inktense pencils, waterbrush, micron pens, and a 4B graphite pencil}

inspiration monday

now that all the pages in my "elvie journal" are filled,  it's time to create a new

journal!  but this time,  i'd like to do something a little different,  and the great thing

about putting together your own journal is there really are no rules!

 you can use any paper you like, and fold as many pages as you want......

you can add your own artwork to the cover

 (for mine,  i've taken inspiration from my "orange journal").....

you can sew it together however you like

using your favorite color of thread.....

and once you're finished,  you can add any artwork you want
to all those fabulous pages inside!
voila......your very own custom journal!


{this "wings journal" was created using davey board,  
scrapbook paper,  silvertone eyelets,  waxed linen thread,  
140 lb. fabriano artistico HP and CP paper,
pitt pens,  pan pastels,  8B graphite pencil,  
and winsor&newton workable fixative}


{if you'd like to learn how to create your own
coptic journal with a sturdy watercolor paper cover,
please join me over at creative workshops 
for my "life stuff" online class!  you can read more here!}