Serious Bad

Me. I've been seriously bad with my blogging. Can't explain it either. I guess, I just haven't had much to say? Not true. I do. I guess I have just been lazy. Well enough is enough, I must get a grip and show up here to do some writing.....I actually do have things to talk about and show.

What I have been doing with my time is journaling. I began this journaling journey last year around this time and have been plugging away at it ever since. Its something I can take to work and do over lunch, in the morning while I enjoy my first cup of coffee or at night as I listen to the t.v...I am really enjoying it. Its just nice being involved in the creative process and in a different area other than what I normally do. I really think it helps me with my glass work....it lets my mind drift into other colorful areas where new glass ideas are born. Its been so fun.

Now, don't think I haven't been doing any glass work! I have, really. But this time of year is my time to slow it down and enjoy some "free time" and to build my creative mojo. I have been making lots of "pandora style" beads.......I've posted many in my Etsy Shop and have had customers stop over to pick up a few here and there too.

I'm thinking of doing a little tutorial on how to core beads. What do you think?? Interested in that? I'm looking to post more of these either in video or written/photo form. Let me know what you'd like to see.

Happy New Year! Resolutions Anyone?

Wow. Its the New Year again! I hope you all enjoyed your celebrating last night.....I spent time with family  over a great dinner, conversation and watching the ball drop in Times Square on television. I love our traditions no matter how simple they are. Its the time spent with one another that is important.

I think its the age my sister and I are at that we realize the importance of family. Last night as the adults gathered to celebrate over dinner, my nieces and nephew began preparing for their night out on the town.......parties and friends..... this is what is important to them at this time in their life. I remember those days and have great memories. Last night I enjoyed watching my eldest niece get dressed and ready....she is just such a pretty girl....I was so happy that she let me do her make up for her. Years ago I was a make up artist and still love designing a face. I must say, she looked great! So off they went to their parties and friends and us mature family members ate, played games and laughed.

My first page of my new art journal. 

I will be journaling everyday this month and posting what I've done.

So, resolutions....do you have any? The New Year just makes you think of making changes and I see nothing wrong with setting out to do better. As always, I'm keeping it simple:

Personal Life:
:: Be creative everyday. No matter how small, do something creative. I'm thinking of my Art Journaling.
:: Be focused. Whatever it is that is deserving of my attention, I will focus on that thing completely. Multitasking to a minimum. Being present.
:: Practice Kindness. Of course we all try to be kind most of the time right?! But I'm really thinking of those times when you don't want to be kind....maybe its a bad mood your having or maybe it means being more understanding of someone.
:: Be of service. I am a big believer of serving others. I don't do this as often as I would like but I do try and help and serve the needs of others when I can. This year I'd like to focus a bit more on this.

Business Life:
:: Take time to experiment.
:: Limit the number of shows I commit to.
:: Practice, practice, practice all those new techniques I've learned last year with the many classes I've taken.
:: Be better with my Etsy Shop!!

Nothing Fancy, Just Thursday

My sister gave me this book for Christmas and I've thumbed through it at least a dozen times now. My Non was a seamstress and her back room had her sewing machine set up.....buttons, threads, scrap fabric...this is what I remember of her back room. At a young age I had an interest in learning to sew most likely because of her. I've sewn a number of things here and there over the years but never with the skill of my Non. One of the things on my "bucket" list is to make a quilt. Now, I've made simple quilts such as rag quilts and totally love them but I want to make a traditional quilt.....I'm not up to that challenge yet but the simple projects in this book will get me motivated in that direction.

Today I'm going to make pillow cases. Yes, these are very simple but these pillow cases are leading me into making a duvet cover for our bed. 

Fabric scraps will be used on a canvas to create a background for a painting that is brewing. Today I will also work on my Art Journaling. I am challenging myself to Art Journal everyday in January.....good or bad, I will be journaling! Lets hope I can keep to my challenge :)

Holiday Spirit

November was a very busy month with shows every weekend. December has been busy too but in a festive way. I've done fun holiday things with family and friends. I took a Holiday a arrangement making class with my sister at a local garden store and an Italian Holiday cooking class with my niece at our area culinary institute and met a good friend for dinner just the other night........ I'm looking forward to seeing A Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve with my sweetheart,  our After the Holiday Open House party in January and the Ornament quickie class I'm doing at work this week for co-workers.  Always a lot going on!

Along with all the Holiday fun, I've been slowly working on creating a Handmade Ornament tree for our home. Each year at our Holiday party I have guests paint ornaments as a gift that will hopefully remind them of a fun party at our home. I've created some different ornaments this year so my guests will have a choice of ornament they would like to make.

This year at our party I will offer ornaments decorated with Graffiti, scroll work, glitter, marbling, and paint & patterns. I have a few other examples to prepare but I think it will be a nice selection. I'm doing a quickie class at work for staff on Tuesday also........I thought it would be fun to get my crafty co-workers in the Holiday mood too.

Another artsy endeavor I'm taking is to once again focus on my Art Journaling. Last winter I really began to experiment in this area and I've continued here and there since then. I have a few new Art Journals waiting to be decorated so I'm contemplating doing a Page A Day starting in January.  If I do a page a day for a year..... thats a hugh commitment......it would be a challenge........I'm seriously thinking about it. But I could also do A Page A Day for the month of January....that is more reasonable.......something I might be able to do.......not without a struggle however since I know I won't always be inspired by anything.

I've been happily enjoying the Holiday spirit by being involved with family and friends. I'm already thinking of the new year by planning on whats next this January.  I hope you are enjoying all these days before the Holiday doing festive fun things with your family too. Time spent with family & friends is the best gift I could receive or give. We often don't give people in our lives enough of our Time......Time is what memories are made from......Christmas Eve and Christmas Day go by in a flash......I hope you will enjoy each day before the actual day arrives!

Sketchbook Sunday!

Happy Easter! I think spring has finally arrived here in the Northeast. Yesterday the temperature was in the low 60's, the buds on the trees are ready to burst and my forsythia bushes are in bloom! Today the weather was just okay but I know the good stuff is right around the corner.

I constructed this pendant the other day and I'm showing it on Sketchbook Sunday since the idea originated in my sketchbook! A few weeks ago I had an idea for something like this and then began making components. I made a silver birdhouse, found a nice piece of drift wood, and made what I now call Lollipop headpins. To me, this really says "Spring"!

I guess I've really been on a "house" theme as of late. This is a small 6 x6 mixed media painting I've done and will be submitting to the 6x6 art exhibit. This too has origins in my sketchbook....my Art Journal book to be exact....and was a fun diversion to work on. I hope to make more 6 x6 paintings early this week...at least one more....before I deliver them to the gallery.

Well, I hope you all had an enjoyable Easter Sunday! Looking forward to the Royal Wedding on Friday and then the Kentucky Derby the first Saturday in May!!

Sketchbook Sunday!

Its hard to believe that a week has gone by and I haven't posted anything! Where does the time go?  I made it back here today however, for my Sketchbook Sunday to share a page from my journal. 

I enjoyed working sketchbook idea to bead so much that I thought I'd try it again. Remember, this is not my typical method but am starting to wonder why it isn't!

My painted rainbow and little bird in the corner show up in these beads........Still working on one of these beads and hope to be able to share the finished piece.

These are the back sides.....not totally crazy about them but oh, well. I think once I make them into something and show the side I like it might work.

I took a week long Art Journaling class online and will show my work here next week. I'll also show some journals done by others that I like.....this art journaling thing might be a keeper!

Art Journaling- Day 3

Smile. This is my prompt for both the art and the writing today. I created a cartoon like character of myself and then left space to do some writing. The video that shows my process is posted on my facebook page....I'd love for you to leave a comment.......I know there are a few people doing this Art Journaling journey with me and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

So far I've really enjoyed the Art Journaling process. I was a bit intimidated with starting but now that I'm into Day 4 (I'm a day ahead of my posts) I am beginning to feel free-r in my approach. Tomorrows demonstration I think will show that.

Okay. I'm feeling a little guilty for not posting any jewelry/ bead work so I'm going to show a few things.....

I like enameling these days...........everyone is doing it :)

This is a bitty little lock I made.....awesome element for bracelets.

Art Journaling- Day 2

On to day 2! On this page I'm using the circle as my springboard and making a mandala. Circles or wonderful color........you can see the colors I selected but certainly use the ones you are most attracted to.   As you can see, I've titled this page, The Circle of Life. The text is a passage from Black Elk, a Native American speaking about life being like a circle.

To create this page I used:

1. watercolor crayons

2. Pitt pens

3. Acrylic paint

4. Aqua pen

5. Oil Sticks or oil pastels

Because Blogger hasn't been allowing me to upload video for some reason, I've posted the videos on my facebook page. Also, please become a member of our Art Journaling Boot Camp flickr group. You can post you work there during the week and afterwards. This flickr group will stay up even after the bootcamp has ended.

Art Journaling- Day 1

Wow. The video part has taken much longer then I had anticipated but I DO have one to show. I have posted it on my facebook page and linked it here since Blogger was giving me a problem.... Thanks to my husband who helped me with the video and editing. He learns by reading, while I learn by doing.

 The title to my first journal page is, The Alphabet of Life-

The picture below is my finished page. I'm actually doing 2 sketchbooks...one is my "practice" book and the other is the one I use for my video or photographs. The text for this page is based on a sign I have on a wall in my living room titled, Alphabet of Life. It has great affirmations for each letter. I've used these and then added my own personal text too.

Here are the supplies that I used to make this page....I used stamps for the lettering and also for embellishing the background.

Here is the link to the newly started, Art Journaling Boot Camp flickr group.

Art Journal Boot Camp~ Get Set!

Hi Everyone....not sure who all will be taking this Art Journal journey with me but I'm excited to start!! As I have stated, I journal daily (write) but I really want to take my journaling efforts to a more artsy level where my approach is creative first and then on the text....A shift in journaling for me.  I can tell already that I will have many journals going at once to serve different purposes.....there are many types of journal approaches .........there is no wrong way here folks so don't get caught up in doing things the "right" way.

So, to be ready for Saturday morning, get yourself the following items:

1. A sketchbook. I really wanted to use my nice bound sketchbook but the paper is thin and really best suited for dry materials. So I am using a spiral bound mixed media sketchbook instead. I could use the nice one but my pages would soak thru and get wrinkled in what I expect to be some painterly processes.

2. Your favorite paints, markers, pens etc... I will do my best to list the products I have used on each page but always feel free to jump in and post what you've used or done.

3. Light tack masking tape. My first page will be an exploration in to Masking Tape so I figured you might want to get some ready.

Thats really it for now.....

I have a new video camera....much like a Flip but mine is called a Blogger. I would like to video tape myself working on these pages but might have resort to photographs occassionally. I'm going to try and be one day ahead too..............gosh, I sure hope I can pull this all off!

Tomorrow night I will set up a flickr group for anyone who wants to share their work. It will be an open, on going group where anyone can jump in at anytime.