The Road to Success + Free Printable and craft idea

 

I looking and perusing the internet for quotes to add to my work and ran across this one....

So true isn't it?

 

My work AND my studio is ever evolving...always under construction.  That's a good thing.  Good to me is never good enough....I always want better. 

 

Even though I've just begun my art journal journey, I've found it's really boosted my creativity and my soul searching as to what I want to accomplish this year. But, there's only so much artwork one can have in a binder or on the wall...and you know me, I love to repurpose

 

So why not make your artwork part of your organization?

 

 

 

 

 I've now collected LOTS of cans and they're the perfect way to organize all sorts of things.  Super easy, just decoupage your artwork on, let dry and STUFF! (I put a little handle on mine so I can hang it from a cute knob)

Enjoy your free download - it's sized to fit a standard can 11.5 x 5 .5 (click on image, then right click "save as") Here's a tip because it's so wide you may need to rotate the image to fit on a sheet of paper.

 

 

 

Soul Garden Week 1 - When your Soul knocks + free snowman bookmark download Craft idea

Good words - the best art comes when you create from your soul - even when you feel a little less soulful. 

Get more out of your art, by making art with your art.  Enjoy this snowman book mark on those cold icky days where you just wanna snug in with a good book....or those days you wanna craft and you need a place to hold your spot in a book you're inspired by. 

Click on the photo - right click - "save as" or "save photo as"

I hope you 2013 is starting out on a great creative foot!  Dream BIG!

SOUL GARDEN - Words & Journal Prompts + Free EPHEMRA Download

I chose the name soul garden because gardens take lots of time and nurturing to produce beauty.  Sometimes our souls need the same, sometimes they're broken and sad and droop...sometimes we need to look hard to see our good attributes....our soil is like the dirt in a garden...what you put into it...is what you get out of it....

Here's some word prompts that I wrote down that kinda describe who I believe I am.  I am all these things...not all at once...and well...I left off some of the really ugly ones! lol....

This is how I see myself...maybe not as others see me...
I don't think my journal can have enough words....I'm also going to include some pictures....

No-thought...plunk it down very simple page.  I had a paper doily at my work table from another project so I grabbed it and used it.  I upcycled an older envelope and just had fun doodling!

quote at the bottom reminds me "nothing can dim the light that shines from within - Maya Angelou"

It's up to us to make ourselves radiate light and positive thoughts.


Here's a fun grungy style doily that will give your art journal some texture - use it digitally or print it out and cut around it.  To download click the photo - right click and save picture as  (it's a PNG file)

The Soul Project - Week 1 - Soul Inspiration + FREE Digital Download

My weekly inspiration board 

I always find tons and tons of inspiration on Pinterest.  Do a search for the word "SOUL" and lots of goodies will come up.  

This week these are some of the things that inspired me for different reasons.  I love Christy Tomlinson's work because it is always sooo cheerful and her colors are bright happy colors.  I love Suzi Blu's work for her whimsical pretty faces {{and by the way her online classes are wonderful}}And I gathered pictures I liked for color and texture and phrases...

I keep all kinds of things in a binder too, tear sheets from magazines, photos from the internet.  I surround myself with these things and then decide what it is I like about each of these pieces.  Is it the color? the texture? Then I set a theme....and take those bits and pieces of inspiration and arrange them into a new piece of art.    

To get my creative process started, sometimes, I create a page with these things in my art journal.

Here's the first page in my art journal....You can see that I've been inspired by Suzi Blue and her Faries Class - love love love it!  Especially since it gave me the springboard from which to work from.

It's not that pretty of a page YET....and I'm sure that I'll add texture and layers...but it's a start and it's full of all the things I love at this given moment....

Things I treasure are on this page.....some of them are just words describing them.

I literally spent like 30 glorious minutes on this page...I wasn't concerned about composition, just cutt'n and pastin'....and jammin to 70's disco....

I'm using the above inspiration board to create a Pretty Girl Canvas that i'll photograph and also put in the journal.....it's in the process...so check back later to see how it develops...even I don't even know yet.

Techniques:
  Create your own paint spritzer thingy by mixing water and paint and put into a spray bottle.
   Create your own foam stamps with craft foam
  Ordinary notebook papers make great backgrounds and journal areas

Download this digital version by clicking on the photo - right click and "save picture as"

Please share with me your pages - I'd love to highlight them here!

The Soul Garden Project - WEEK 1 - SOULFUL ART

The word I've chosen to begin my project is SOUL!  Our soul is our identity. Who we are, our beliefs, our values, our personality..... Have you taken time to walk thru a garden and just take in all the fragrance of the flowers, look at each petal in detail...look at the beauty of everything around you?

Soul Garden is like that walk thru a flower garden....only it's our own personal life garden we're taking a look at.  What makes me...me? What am I good at? What can I improve on? What makes me happy? What are my favorite things?  What are the details of me that make be beautiful??? It's okay to compliment yourself...I just gave you permission!

I'm more sentimental now than I have ever been, I cherish anything that is handwritten or touched my my grandma's or other members of my family....and these mundane and everyday things, are exactly what I'm putting in my Soul Garden book, because hopefully one day, future generations will get a glimpse of their past and why they are the way they are....

I love the word *dream* {{yeah I know sometimes its overused...} but if I don't dream, I don't go anywhere!!!

Butterflies and dragonflies are what I think of when I think of that word.  Sometimes it's as though butterflies fly with no intended purpose...they just kinda whisp along wherever the wind takes them.  And so it's a reminder for me to not always be so rigid...not to be totally freespirit without a purpose...but allow my self to experiment in my art and say to myself it's okay if it's UGLY... and just so you know...there's a cover under this one - AN UGLY ONE!

If you think I don't make ugly art...WRONG I do!

Paste away!...... :)