Watercolor Journaling Cards for Week in the Life

I am participating in Ali Edward's Week in the Life. On Facebook I shared some images of 3X4 journaling cards, for which there was a request to share them. So I created them for others to download. I am not sure it's going to work, but let's give it go, shall we? Click on the link below the image to access the files.

One note: The frames in these images I got from Gossamer Blue.

Yellow and Blue watercolor 3X4 journaling cards

 Purple and Green Watercolor 3X4 cards

 Blue Watercolor 3X4 journaling cards

Brown and Blue Watercolor 3X4 journaling cards

Cards for Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday Challenge

I can never have enough cards for teachers. Between my two kids' teachers and the many teachers I work with, I often have a need for a card to thank a teacher. These cards will likely be used to welcome the new teachers to the department I work with. 

I was really inspired by the Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge: using die cuts for water-coloring. Once I made one card, I couldn't stop. So much fun!

One glitch I ran into is that the die cuts left adhesive on the final product. I used the temporary spray adhesive. I don't know if I used too much adhesive or what. I think it will be okay, but I definitely have to store these in a closed space so that dust doesn't start to stick to the remaining adhesive and make the cards look dirty.

Guitar mixed media piece

For the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge, the challenge for January 2015 is to use something new to you. I was a little stuck on this, since I am in a (happy) groove making pieces using a very similar pattern, but then I remembered that I purchased some aquarelle sketching pencils that I hadn't used yet, so I dug them out and started sketching on top of a background I made yesterday.

Media: collage, Dylusion sprays, acrylics, aquarelle pencils, and charcoal.

Celebrating the new year with some painterly hands and some family time. How are you bringing in the new year?

Wait! The Buddha's a girl?

I spent some more time creating. I did not intend on The Buddha looking so  . . . female, but as my husband says, "Who says The Buddha has to be a man?"

My word for 2015 is Thrive. Below is my inspiration image to keep my word visible.

Happy New Year and happy arting!

Trying to hone my art skills

As an educator, I am lucky enough to get two weeks off for the holidays. During this time, I usually spend time with family, nap, and hone my creative skills. I have decided this time around to work on my painting skills. Instead of working in my art journal, I chose to work on loose-leaf watercolor paper.

In the interest of being brave and sharing more of my work with the world, I have decided to make an effort to post my work here more often. (It helps that Santa brought me a scanner/printer, which makes it a lot easier to get images in a digital format and uploaded.)

Anyway, here are two pieces I worked on. As you can probably tell, one came developed more successfully than the other.

I worked on the two pieces simultaneously, painting a layer on one image and then working on the other while the paint dried. Media: collage, acrylics, spray inks, and charcoal.

One last update of household items

Okay, so I need to work on my photography of my projects, but this will have to do, as time is running out. I created this page for the July Mixed Media Monthly Challenge, for which we were challenged to use household items.

For this, I used a note I found in our junk drawer and old piano flash cards for the first layer. I also used a jar lid for the circles and sticks from the yard. This proved to be lots of fun to put together, and I promise you it looks much better in the real world.

May we all be brave.

Some other attempts at the household items

Well, I have been busy all month making items for the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge, but apparently lax on the posting, so I have a couple here to add, each in a separate post. This was created in my Dylusions journal using the July prompt of incorporating household items.

This is one I am particularly fond of only because the eagle is made from a homemade stencil. I love it when I can incorporate my own design into . . . well, my design. The household product used was a sewing pattern. Plus, the stencil was made from a plastic file folder.

Journaling reads: The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice; it is conformity. -- Rollo May

May we all be free from the desire to conform.