inspiration monday

not too long ago, i confessed my love affair with letterfoms ......and i've since learned through your comments that many of you are enamored with these 26 little alpha-sweeties, too!  so, here are some great links to help create your own letter lovelies......

*my sweet friend martha lever has a fabulous online class that teaches you how to have some calligrafun with brush markers!  and if you want to learn something a bit more formal, check out her italic calligraphy class!!

* julie balzer has created a video featuring some of her favorite "lettering for your art journal" tips.

*and the fabulous teesha moore shares some great ideas for making some fun letters in your journals.....here and here!

*want to learn how to draw bubble letters?  click here!

*and if you've ever wanted to write like an architect, here's a crash course!

happy lettering!!

friday follow-up

here's an "after" shot of the mess i had going last friday......all of those dust bunnies are now officially homeless (or have probably moved to another area of the studio) and i have my work area back again!!!  

and that pile of original artwork that was laying on my table is now organized in plastic sleeves and playing happily together in this polka-dot three-ring binder!

 as long as i was on an organization kick (this happens so rarely that i have to take advantage), i ordered this clip-it-up system from overstock.com (unfortunately, i can't find the item link, so maybe they're sold out.....)

there's a bit of assembly required.....

but in a very short amount of time, i had this beauty put together!

and just like joyful little kids on a merry-go-round,  

all of my rubber stamps are spinning freely where i can see them!  

and now that everything is in its place.....
time to get it all back out and do some work!

i hope your weekend is filled with lots of creative fun!

let go

"we must let go of the life we have planned

to accept the one we have waiting for us."  joseph conrad

i always used to think that the life i had planned for myself was better than anything i could ever imagine.  then i learned to let go of things along the way (out of necessity, not necessarily because i wanted to), and now i realize that i have a life i would have never dreamed of......and it's SO much better than anything i could have ever thought of myself!  oh sure, i'm still learning how to let go.  and every time i do, i feel like i've been given a drink from that chocolate river where the oompa-loompas hang out in that willy wonka movie.......
pure choco-paradise-sweetness......just the way life should be!

journal page finished using acrylic paints, micron pens, pan pastel, 
graphite and uniball signo white pen

inspiration monday

several weeks ago, alisa burke offered her "color your world" online class, and since my total knowledge of color will fit on the tip of a pin, i couldn't resist signing up.  this class focused more on the simple aspects of color theory (there's nothing heavy here), and alisa gave us lots of  ideas of how to look at color in our every day lives.....and then apply it to our creative world.   

our first exercise was to make our own color wheel based on something that inspires us.....

and since these little thumbuds are my main source of inspiration these days, this is what i came up with. after i was finished, though, i wondered exactly where all the color was......there seems to be a lot more black and white on this color wheel than anything else!  and then i remembered that i already have two store-bought color wheels that are saturated with color,  but they don't have nearly this much personality, whimsy, or cuteness factor.

 so, this is the one that inspires me.  

this is the one that makes me smile.  

and this is the one that truly colors my world!!

color wheel created using hand-carved thumbprint stamp, micron pen, 
stamp pads, watercolor pencils, 2B graphite pencil

weekend projects

allow me to introduce you to my weekend project.

scary, isn't it?  

even the dust bunnies won't venture into the depths of those piles without laying down some hansel-and-gretel bread crumbs to ensure safe escape.

but what's even worse is that not only is this original artwork

(just laying out in the open for said dust bunnies to drop crumbs on), 

but it's actually my filing system for it.....yikes!!

what started out as horrifying is now terrifying....

my only redemption is that i've at least made an attempt to 

keep my scrap papers tidy.....by throwing them into this shoebox.

i'm thinking about using this same innovative idea to "organize" all of these security envelopes that i've been saving for months now.....with the hopes that i'll have an aha moment as to how to use them in a clever way.  

there's no more procrastinating......it's time to roll up my sleeves, play some zippy music really loud, and get started with a new filing system.  in my mind, this will probably take at least three months to organize (which has been my favorite excuse in not organizing it thus far!), but the reality of it is that it will most likely only take the better part of an afternoon.  which leaves me plenty of time to start re-organizing my new chocolate stash in the kitchen pantry.....

happy projects to you this weekend!!

p.s.  thank you SO much for your blog love regarding my interview with carmen yesterday.  you make my heart so happy with your sweetness.....many bear hugs to you!!  xox