Art Journal Page - Friendship

Here's an update on what I've been up to on my other blog. I've challenged myself to work in my art journal and post my progress once a week. To help me along, I joined a weekly art journaling group.


This page was a challenge for me. The groups' directive this week was to use tape as a design element on your page. As many art supplies as I have, believe it or not, I do not have any decorative tape. So I used what I had--masking tape.

This spread started out over a year ago as a color experiment. I used a paint chip from the hardware store as inspiration for my color scheme. But of course, the page needed MORE!

I found a quote I liked by George Washington about friendship, which became the theme for my page. Then I looked for an image of George in my magazine clipping files and found this reproduction postage stamp.

I started taping and gluing and then went over my additions with a light coat of unbleached gesso.

I haven't decided if the page is done, but I worked in my art journal! Yay for me! :)

Caribbean Themed Art Journal

I haven't had much time to do any art journaling lately, but I can show you some themed books I've done in the past. This one was inspired by a few trips my husband and I have taken to the Caribbean. Now that the weather has turned chilly I'm once again dreaming of sunny beaches to warm my cold toes!

I used a paper sample book and decorated the pages and the covers. I took an old paint sample strip and glued it down to use as a pocket for my three little bird tags.

Hubby and I posing on a rock with the cruise ship behind us.

A scrap of batik fabric and a polymer clay tile I made.

A tribute to some of the people I've had the honor of calling friend
who have since gone on

It was nice to relive moments spent in the Caribbean on this nippy autumn day. Unfortunately my feet are still cold. Time to get out the heating pad!

Art Journal Spooks

So I'm a few weeks late getting this Halloween book posted, but better late than never, eh? ;)

Here is a Halloween-Gothic-Spooky art journal I made from a paper sample book.

I love working in these books because of the different textures, sizes, and weights of the papers inside.

Unfortunately, these little sample books are hard to come by if you don't know someone in the printing business. I'm working on making some myself and will put them in my shop as soon as I get around to it (and you know how THAT goes!!).

I burned the edges of the "bewitching picture" with a lighter to get a ragged, darkened look. Take care when doing this technique that you don't burn the house down! I keep a fire extinguisher in my studio just in case.

I used a lot of hand carved stamps to decorate this book. The flies, bats, and thorny briers in the photos above are all stamps I carved myself.

I'm not sure what happened to the black cat paper...it bunched up there. It looked fine when I glued it down but it must have shifted when I closed the book. The glue must have still been slightly damp.

Another reason I like these little books is that they're great for themed journals because they're just the right size. If they had too many pages I'd run out of ideas for the theme before I got to the end of the book!

I hope you enjoyed viewing my Spooky Art Journal! It was a lot of fun to make and I can hardly wait to get started on another themed book! I'll let you know when I get some blank paper sample books of my own design listed in my shop.

Art Journal Page

"Even the saddest things can become, once we have made peace with them, a source of wisdom and strength for the journey that still lies ahead."
--Frederick Buechner

You've been warned...this one's a tearjerker, but it does have a happy ending!

I don't usually post many personal stories, but I'm long overdue for an art journal page and this is on my mind.

My little niece would have been nine years old this month. This is the only picture we have of her looking at the camera with her eyes open. Within a few hours she was unconscious, never to open her eyes again.

She was a perfectly healthy baby, full term, but due to a tragedy during delivery (and a good dose of medical negligence) we lost her. The placenta ruptured and the baby lost 75% of her blood volume during the birth.

It's been a long hard road since then, trying to understand why, then trying to understand that I'll never know why, and learning to accept it. Just this year, after nine years, I am finally making peace with it.

Which makes my newest little niece's birth so sweet! I would not have the deep joy of seeing her healthy and strong had I not experienced the bitter contrast of her sister's tragedy. Now I never take life for granted and realize what a miracle life is.