Blog (re)Discoveries

I am too often guilty of happily existing within my own little blogosphere of long-time blog friends.  So, I think it's good every once and a while to cruise around and find some new blogs.  One of my favorite ways to do this is to visit the recommendations of blog friends or to visit the bloggers who post artwork or submissions to some of my favorite sites, especially if the art catches my eye and seems similar to my own.  I can usually tell after an initial visit if it's someone I want to add to my google reader.  Today, I wanted to share the two most recent adds to my google reader and invite you to share some of your new additions.
Shortly before Christmas, I discovered Maria's blog "Bubblegum and Duct Tape," which features a wide variety of craft tutorials, cards, etc.  I think many of you would find her blog interesting. I became more intrigued because we have the same name and she now lives very close to where I grew up, so we have very similar back stories. But what really sold me on her site is something she participates in called "Microfiction Monday," hosted by the Stony River blog.  Each Monday, a picture is posted and readers are invited to come up with a caption/story to go with it.  The catch is that it must be 140 words or less.  Here's the photo for next Monday, if you want to give it a whirl:

The other blog I added was actually a rediscovery of an old art friend.  Traci Bautista of CreativityUNLEASED is a terrific artist, author and teacher who I used to run into at classes in the bay area.  She's doing a whole series of art journal prompts this year, including some cool videos.  Her style is very much her own, but it's fun and definitely adapatable to lots of different approaches.  My art journal page at the top of today's post uses an inky paper towel left over from making my journals last weekend. I adhered it with gel medium and added some paint.  It's a very Traci background. I finished off the page with some images and journaling about my resolution to travel outside the U.S. (and, for good measure, I did some actual follow-up to see if our trip to Puebla, Mexico and Belize is in the works or not).

I'd love to hear about your recent blog (re)Discoveries - what they are, how you found them, and why you like them.

2011 Intention: Fifty and Fabulous

I've already blogged about my one little word for 2011 ("health") and my resolutions for the year.  Today I wanted to share a bit more about my intention for the year: to be fabulous at fifty.  I have a friend and former colleague named Susan who discovered her photography muse in her 40's.  She takes stunning black and white portraits.  Several years ago, she did a series called "This is what 50 looks like." to celebrate her 50th birthday and the 50th birthday of some friends.  And the idea has stayed with me.  That fifty is creative and empowered.  That fifty is health and strong. And smart, too. So, as I am entering my fiftieth year, my intention is to celebrate being fifty and fabulous.  I thought about all that as I was creating this art journal page this morning.  The stamp is from Stampotique.  It was a prize from their fabulous design blog, which you can see here.  I decided to use it as my "something new" for the Drunken Stampers challenge, posted here. The girls are sitting on a piece of rusted grungeboard dock, which is based on this weeks Compendium of Curiosities challenge, found at this blog post.  I used to be afraid of my age.  I'm not anymore.  Are you? If not, please feel free to post it in the comments.

The Artists' Daughter (altered book spread)

For the altered book round robin in which I participate, I needed to create a spread for a book called "The Artist's Daughter." I changed it a bit and began with this page and the thought, "If I were the artists' daughter,".  When you flip up the baby portrait (painted by Frida Kahlo), it reveals this two page spread:

The journaling reads: "These two would be my parents, I think. Diego Rivera with his political art for the working class.  Frida Kahlo with her color palette and symbols of Mexico." Diego Rivera painted the pictures of the hands on the right.  Kahlo created the rest.  I kept the background bright and fairly simple.  You turn the page to find this two page spread:

The journaling continues:  "But that could never be, of course.  But I can still honor their work, as if I was the artists' daughter."  The picture of Frida on the left flips down and there's some more journaling: "We have other things in common.  Poor Frida could not bear a child.  Nor could I."  The woman on the right was painted by Diego Rivera.  All other art work was done by Kahlo.  I know the journaling is a bit emotional and personal, but those are two things that I have always admired about the artwork of both Rivera and Kahlo.

If you were "the artist's daughter" or "the artists' daughter," who would the artist(s) be?

My Resolutions and One Little Word Art Journals

{I had a few technical difficulties posting this weekend, but I did complete my art journals and wanted to share them with. My apologies for not posting sooner. Thank you for your patience.}
As part of a year long, on line sharing project called "Art Journaling Intentions and Resolutions" that I will be hosting, today I am sharing the art journals that I have made to record my progress toward completing certain resolutions and toward focusing on my "one little word." I will also make a journal that will help my track my intention to be "Fabulous at 50," but that will happen later this month.  My plan is to pull out these journals once a month, update them, and share them with you.  My hope is that you will do the same.  My plan is to host the share on mid-month, on whatever weekend falls closest to the 15th.

To make my journals, I started with 11x15 pieces of heavy duty watercolor paper.  Each journal required four pieces of paper.  I folded three of them in half (to 7.5"x11") and cut one in half for the cover.  I decided to make my "Resolutions for 2011" journal square, so I trimmed the three interior pages to 7.5x7.5. I decided that I wanted my "One Little Word Journal" to have a horizontal orientation.

The next thing I did was to decide on a treatment for the covers.  I decided to add gesso for texture and then paint them using Michael DeMeng's color wash technique. I decided on this treatment because it makes the covers sturdier than the plain watercolor paper and because I like the way it looks.  Other approaches would be to color with watercolor paint, acrylic paint, cover with patternerned paper, etc.

I decided to go ahead and create backgrounds for all my interior pages before binding the journals. I did them all using variations on Dina Wakley's watercoloring with spray ink technique.  For my resolutions journal, I picked stencils that had various nonspecific geometric shapes (but that I mean they weren't related to any specific resolution).  You can see some samples above.

For my "one little word" journal, which focuses on healthy, I chose to use botanical and nature images throughout.  You can see some of the pages above.  Remember that I'm working with three pages folded in half to make a total of 12 pages, so sometimes I've working on two facing pages at the same time and other times I'm working on one side/page at a time.

The next step is to bind all the pages together.  You have lots of optins, since it's such a simple journal - three folded pieces of paper and two covers. You could punch three holes and tie fiber, twine or ribbon through the holes or use a bind it all or probably even staple it! I chose to use a basic coptic binding technique because I like the way it allows the pages to lie flat.  If you google coptic book binding, you'll find a variety of tutorials.  I kindof like the abbreviated but well illustrated one here or you can check on a longer one at this link. Since this is such a small book (without book board covers) and just one folio per signature, it doesn't require the fancy equipment in the links.  You could also find coptic binding videos on you tube.

The next step is decorating your cover and deciding on a journaling strategy.  You can see my covers at the very top of the post.  For my resolutions journal, I titled it "To Do:  My Resolutions for 2011 and stamped the numbers 1-12 in stayz on ink.  I wrote a quote from T.S. Eliot on top with a white Sharpie poster paint pen.  It says "For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."  I wrote my 12 resolutions in white poster paint on the inside cover of the journal.  I decided not to do anything else on the inside pages for now.  I plan to treat them as backgrounds and create art journal pages (one a month) about whatever resolution I have accomplished.  I just choose whatever background calls to me at the time.

For my "one little word" journal cover (at the top of this post), I stamped health in brown paint using foam stamps because I thought it went along with the botanical/nature stencils I used inside the book.  On the back cover, I wrote the following quote by Terri Guillemets, which I found through Club Scrap: "My own prescription for health is less paperwork and more running barefoot through the grass."  The internal pages (directly above and below) are different than in my resolutions journal.

For each page, I wrote out one of the specific things I want to do around "my little word" this year.  Since many of these pages already seem somewhat complete from an art standpoint, I may simply add journaling to each page rather than adding more visual stuff. We'll see. I was also only able to come up with 8 specific things to write, but I'm sure I'll come up with four more before the year's over.
So, there you have it.  My art journaling plan for my resolutions and "one little word." With a promise that an art journal for my intention to be "Fabulous at 50" will be coming.  What do you think?  Are you willing to try anything similar?  If so, let me know and post a link.  I'll come check it out.  And I'll be returning to the project the weekend of Jan. 15th to show you what I've done and nudge you along your way!

2010: Some Favorites

I'm totally loving all the Top 10 Blog posts, so I decided to add my Top 10 Blog favorites from 2010:

1.  Four People Twelve Times.  I started this project back in May.  Once a month, I make the family pose for a family snapshot.  I got the idea from Tara Whitney. I missed November, but I've been pretty steady otherwise.

2.  Telling Stories.  I have used my blog as a vehicle this year to tell a lot of stories, and I've loved each one.  Several things have pushed me in this direction - Shimelle's True Stories class, Sian's Christmas Club, and a continuing feature I call "Pictures to Scrapbook," which started as an idea in Shimelle's Blogging for Scrapbookers Class. 

3.  House Party Blog Hop. I loved organizing this blog hop, I loved writing the tutorial that went along with it, I loved sending out packages all over the world, but most of all, I loved seeing everyone's completed Altered Houses.
4.  Debbie Hodge's Building Pages Scrapbooking Class. I didn't do that much scrapbooking this year, but the best scrapbooking class I took for motivation and content was this one. 

5.  Art Journaling. I probably did more art journaling than any other papercraft in 2010.  I mainly have the amazing Dina Wakley to thank for that.  Of all her classes that I took this year,  AJ 101 was my favorite.  I also started teaching Art Journaling classes this year, and I have loved each and every one of them.
6.  Challenge Blogs. I enjoy finding artistic challenges to get my creative juices flowing.  My favorite this year have been Linda Ledbetter's Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities Challenge, the Gingersnap Creations Challenge Blog and the Something Completely Different challenge blog, which sadly just closed.  I'll miss that one

7. Plaster. I think of this as my signature media. There's not that many other people out there working in it.  My work in plaster got a huge boost from this summer's Creativity Boot Camp which I thoroughly enjoyed.
8.  Photography. Second only to art journaling, 2010 was a huge year for me and my photography. I learned a lot through some self teaching, but also from a short-lived series called Develop on Friday (now gone); the BPS class "Get out of Auto"; the Shimelle class "Love Your Pictures, Love Your Pages"; the inspiring blogs of Tammy Bradley; and the content-rich blog Digital Photography Studio.

9. Mixed media and assemblage.  Love this art form and was lucky to take many classes this year with Connie Andrews and one with Michael De Meng.
10. Blogging.  I love having the opportunity to share my work with you each and every day, and I love getting to know you all through your comments and your blogs.  Looking forward to another great blogging year in 2011.

Journaling Your Resolutions, Intentions or Word of the Year

This is the second post in an online sharing project I'm running this year called "Art Journal Your Resolutions and Intentions."  Yesterday's post (here) discussed three common approaches to setting goals for a new year. Whether you decide to create a list of resolutions or intentions or choose one little word, the real challenge can be figuring out a way to record them so they can be revisited throughout the year.   In today's post, I'm going to discuss two different year-long approaches to journaling your resolutions, intentions or word of the year. Athough both of the approaches discussed here assume a twelve page journal, you could change the number of pages or use a different format entirely (such as a twelve page mini-album with photos and journaling or twelve blog posts). This weekend, I'll show you the art journals I'm creating using these two approaches.

Approach 1:  Monthly Pages
One way to keep track of your little word is to check in with it once a month.  If you have a twelve page art journal, you can pull it out once a month and create a page about your word.  I made the art journal page above about my word "horizon" when I felt like I needed to focus on my intentions a bit more.   Although not as intuitive, this approach can also be used for intentions and resolutions.  For example, you could create a journal page each month about all of your resolutions or choose to highlight your progress toward a specific intention. You can even label each page with a month if you choose, but you don't need to do that.

Approach 2: Topical Pages
An easy way to keep track of a list of resolutions or intentions is to create a journal with one page dedicated to each resolution or intention. Last year, I created the page above about a very meaningful and revealing talk I had with my brother that matched up with my intention about becoming a better sister. You can pull out your journal once a month and create a page about what you have done to accomplish your resolution or keep on track with your intention. You can add the resolutions/intentions to the pages at the beginning of the year OR choose one intention to work on each month when you pull out your journal. If you like the topical approach but also like the one little word approach, it will be useful to come up with twelve sub-topics for your one little word.  For instance, for my one little word, "health," I could create topical pages about finding a doctor, doing yoga, finding a gym or exercise class, creating a food log, getting on the scale, getting tests done, going to the dentist, etc.

So, what do you think?  Does one of these approaches call out to you more than the other?  Are you having trouble visualizing the actual journal?  If so, don't worry! Come back this weekend and check out the art journals I'm creating.  Tomorrow's post will even have a description of how to assemble a simple 12 page art journal! And Sunday's post will talk a bit more about art journaling and how I plan to work our online sharing.  Let me know in the comments if you plan to take this journey with me and also what your current thoughts and questions are about these journaling options.

Resolutions, Intentions and One Little Word

The week between Christmas and New Year's Day provides a perfect opportunity to reflect on the year just completed and to look forward and plan for the one just about to arrive.  Today, I am starting a year long, on line sharing project called "Art Journaling Intentions and Resolutions."  This post will cover three popular options for making these plans:  resolutions; one little word; and intentions.  Tomorrow, I'll present some ideas for recording these ideas, and over the weekend, I'll show you the art journals I'm making to do just that.  My hope is that you will join me and that, once a month, we can share our progress on line.  I'll post more details about the sharing part this weekend.

 Many people have a tradition of making New Year's Resolutions or a list of specific things to accomplish during the year.  This is probably the most traditional approach and one which I have done before.  In fact, in December of 2004, I made the layout above with by 2005 Resolutions.  Resolutions can work because they are like a year long to-do list. If I were to make twelve resolutions for 2011, they would be:
1. Travel outside the U.S.                                     2. Record the books I read.
3.  Create an email list for classes.                       4. Learn Photoshop Elements
5. Figure out white balance on my camera.                6.  Try portraits
7. Complete estate plan                                            8. Transfer house
9. Submit book proposal.                                          10. Figure out ipad for research
11. Figure out car computer.                                     12. Finish Espinoza project.

In 2007, Ali Edwards started a phenomena she called "one little word," in which she encourages readers to select a word upon which to focus during the upcoming year.  I've been doing this every year and have really enjoyed it.  In 2007, my word was "Open," and I used it to remain open to new experiences and not be too fearful. I created a series of Artist Trading Cards to illustrate my word and to keep it in the forefront of my mind.  In 2008, I chose "Flow," but I never did too much with it. In 2009, I chose "Accomplish," and in 2010, my word illustrated above, was "horizon."  You can read more about Ali's approach in her blog post here. If I were to choose a word for 2011, it would be "health."

Last year, as I was working with my word, I changed paths a bit.  I began to think about all the different horizons I wanted to travel towards during 2010, and I began what I called my list of intentions.  These were action words for various areas in my life, and they included parent, travel, write, network, pray, artconnect, thrive, sister, create and love. I really loved how my one little word morphed into something different that worked for me.  If I were to choose the intentions route for 2011, my overriding theme would be "Fabulous at 50" and there could be a myriad of ways for me to be fabulous. 

What do you think?  Have you tried any of these approaches before?  What has worked for you?  Which of these approaches appeals to you for 2011? What would you put on your list of resolutions or intentions? Is there a word (or words) you are considering? Please share your thoughts in the comments section (to the extent you are comfortable). And come back tomorrow when I'll discuss a couple of ways to record your thoughts and how to keep them part of your creative life throughout the year.