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.

We didn't forget...

Friendship Tag Swap

This is the tag I made for Patti, at Your Paper Pantry. I love how this turned out, and YPP featured one of the pics on their site. Pretty cool!

And LOOK what I received from Patti!! I'm crazy about the goodies she sent me! Take a close look at the thread on the front of the tag (1st pic), and the thread on the back of the tag (2nd pic). They're two different colors! I thought Patti had actually colored the thread after the tag was sewn....Ha! (That tells you how much I've sewn in my life.) It's that kind of detail that makes her work look so perfect!

Loving the bird's nest with the two little eggs inside, and the little nest tag, the beautiful flower. The larger tag is from a swap Patti was in and she was good enough to see that I got one of her cards. And then she included the paper with the butterflies on it....it sparkles like crazy and I love the colors! This will definitely end up in one of my journals.

These are my initials fastened to the little envelope. I love these....they're too cute for words! I would normally put something like this on my bulletin board, but I'm toying with the idea of adding a magnet to the back and using it on my fridge so I can show it off!

You can visit Patti's blog here and see more of her lovely creations. Then stop on by Your Paper Pantry and join the fun!

Another Collage?

Sure enough! I've heard that if you collage subjects that you like, and use colors that you like, you'll enjoy collage more, or be better at it, or something like that. Anyway, this one kind of happened on its own because I love roses...especially pink roses. I would change a few things if I did this one again, but for now, it's done.

Collage Inspiration

Her name is Dede aka Inkwell and she makes the most fabulous collages with pictures torn from magazines and some craft paint. Yeah, craft paint, the cheapo stuff you buy for $.97 at Michaels. She's such an inspiration to me that I've been playing, and playing, and PLAYING with paint and paper to the point of total frustration! Honestly, you'd think that someone who can scrapbook and put together a journal page or two would be able to collage! Well, I've got news for you....it ain't that easy! My first collage came out okay after hours and hours of painting over everything I hated and starting again. Collage #2 is a frightful mess and I don't think I care anymore if I save it or not. But Collage #3....well, I'm downright proud of it.



Visit Dede's blog at Inkwelland watch her ustream programs at Inkwell Ustream

Art Crap!

I'm SO bummed! I probably shouldn't have taken these pictures because now that I see what I've done to the originals, I want to cry...or throw something...! I was really proud of myself for piecing together these two collages. I liked them, but I wasn't finished. I had to start smearing the paint...I just had to. I think I broke my own heart...so much so that I can't post the end result until I've found some way of making it look better, which may be never.

I think this might be a sign from the art gods that says "stick to scrapbooking, you idiot!"

I was attempting to make collages a la Inkwell. Been watching her Ustreams and I think she's very talented, and she makes it look so easy, but easy it isn't. Check out her blog for some great pictures of her work, or view her videos on Ustream. It's worth it!

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4/4/11 Update

I've totally destroyed and trashed both of the above collages. Onward.

Another Journal Page

I liked it...until I posted it. The colors are a lot more vibrant than they look. The page started out green and it was too dark, way too dark. I finally caved and tried to save it, ended up with this. I like it. The original that is. I like it.