Circles for Paula

So why does JournalArtista like circles so much? Because they're fun!

Win Crafter's Workshop Stencil's from Journal Artista

Journal Artista aka Paula is having a contest, so to speak. All you have to do is use a stencil, any stencil, in an art journal page, add a link to her blog and there you have it! She's giving away some Crafter's Workshop Stencils, and if you've ever used a CW Stencil, you know just how neat these are! I have three of my own (yes, I said three!! lol! If you saw her Ustream video on CW Stencils you'd know why this is so funny to me), and I love them!

I picked this page to show the use of a stencil in my journal, but you know what? It's not a CW Stencil! The flowers are from a child's little stencil book and I loved how they turned out, so here it is. I might make another one using my CW Stencils just because the one Paula shows in her blog post is soooo pretty! Yep, she's quite an inspiration!


So really, if you're not familiar with Paula you need to get familiar! Join in and watch her Ustream programs every Wednesday and Saturday evening. You'll be glad you did!

I've been busy...

but I haven't scrapped a thing! I've done some art journaling though. Almost have a whole book done, another one started, and then there's the ongoing/neverending junk journal. My goodness have I learned a lot just by doing it! Over and over and over, I've watched videos on YouTube, Live Shows on UStream, I've taken this workshop and that workshop, and I never really felt like I GOT it. Really, truly, GOT IT! This person says believe in yourself, that person says just do your own thing, they all say "you're an artist because you (pick one...or two) say so, I say so, you create art, you took art classes, you drew this, you painted that". Well, guess what?

I'm NOT an artist!!

I never was and I never will be. I can't draw a thing, the only painting I ever did was by numbers, and if I were graded on all of the workshops I've taken.....ohh, a dismal failure...I can't even doodle.

But I'm having FUN trying, damn it! Yes! I like playing with paint and paper and stamps and colors and cutouts.....sounds like scrapbooking doesn't it? To me, it's very much like scrapbooking, I'm just not adding family pictures and trying to make them look pretty. Don't get me wrong, here....just because I don't consider myself an artist doesn't mean art journalers aren't artists, because most of them are. They're fabulous artists. People like Kelly Rae, Christy Tomlinson, Traci Bautista, JournalArtista, Inkwell, all fabulous Mixed Media Artists that I admire and have learned from.

Geez, my pages wouldn't hold a candle to what these women do. If a page looks good, I had a lucky day....or several days, as it takes me a while to "create" anything. The good news though, is that I'm finally seeing some improvement in what I'm doing. Maybe I'm getting it afterall because it feels like a light bulb went off, or it's the wonderful workshop of Christy Tomlinson's that I'm taking now. It's making a lot more sense to me.

More about these artisans and some of the workshops I've taken later.