{Art Journal #2 Let Your Beauty Sing}...

I've completed the covers of Let your Beauty Sing Art Journal.

This is the back cover.  I just love this new stamp I got.

I will be using it a lot.  It's a bit fussy though

not always coming out very clear on fabric.

 And the completed front cover.

 Below the inside front and back covers.

I still need to add  the signatures but will add them all

at the same time when all of the journal covers are completed.

      Another new stamp.  And still not happy with how they are stamping onto fabric.

Perhaps if I used paint rather than ink they may work better.  But that's for another time.

So, in the meantime I decided to stamp on paper and then using gel medium

turn it into a "leathery" type surface to stitch onto.

I like how it came out.

  Below yet another stamp which I colored in with colored pencils.

Then I quick stitched frame and Ta Da!   It's beautiful.

Ready to be completed by it's new owner.

{Let your Beauty Sing}...

Experimenting with some of my paintings and PSE for

Art Journal covers.

I thought I might give a go at collage layers as

covers for Art Journals rather than just using

a single print of the original painting.

It's a bit "blocky"  But all in all good

for a starter.

{How Much Snow does It Take}...

for 2 brothers to have a snowball fight?

Not much I will tell you.  My sons are now 27 and 34 and if there is

snow to be found they will find it.  Here in Arizona we don't always

get much snow at Christmas time.  But it snowed a bit a couple nights ago, here in the mountains,

 and we had about this much snow left on the shading side of the hills.

But that's all they needed. The snowball fight didn't last long.  Not even long enough to

run and get the camera.  But it was long enough to bring back wonderful snow filled

times when they were younger.  I do have pictures of that.  Which will be apart of the

forth coming Christmas Family Art Journal.

May your Christmas be Merry and Bright

{Journey Toward Yourself Art Journal}...

Blank art journal cover finished.  I will be in the Mezzanine of  the Tis Gallery

for the entire month May.  So I hope to spend

as much time as possible creating pieces for that show.

I've decided to start with Art Journals.  It's hard for me to

switch between different types of art.  I am more focused and productive

when I am doing one thing at a time whether it's quilting, knitting, working in PSE or making specific

mixed media items like Art Journals.  I don't know why that is.  I can do multiple items of the same media at one time.  But switching between them is not easy.  So it's Art Journals for the next few weeks.

The first is an original face painting I did a month or so ago.

Her hair didn't come out as well as I was wanting but through the magic of

layers I now really love her hair.

The inside front cover has a sheer-ish pocket.  Something I always like to include.

And the book title theme ~ Journey Toward Yourself

The inside back cover.

Includes a new stamped background fabric.  I will be using

this in a lot more of my journals.  It's pretty neutral and I think it will be easy to

use as a base for almost anything.

And the outside back cover.

I want to include more thread stitching motifs.

Trees seem like a good subject as they can easily

be done freehand and have endless possibilities for styles and shapes.

I will leave the inside pages blank for the new owner to complete.

{Echo} Week 28 ~ White

There are so many things that White can be, daisy's, clouds, animals,

cars, stars, even surf but for me I could only relate to

White during December, as Winter White.

I came across this white dress in the winter snow

a few years back and have always wanted to do something with it.

This was the first photo idea that popped in my head when thinking about

this weeks theme - White

Marty's photo also ties into the winter season with it's Christmas holiday theme. Marty and I both being

art quilters would naturally be drawn to this

quilting. I think it's so beautiful and magical.

I'd love to give it a try sometime.  I may try something like this

in my Christmas Art Journal.

{The Days of Christmas}...

Continuing with PSE Christmas photos.

 As I think back on the PSE photos I did last year at this time working

towards creating photos for my Christmas art journal I feel

I have gotten soooooooooo much better at it.

 I now have several which are lovely enough to last hopefully,

for generations.  So I can beginning to assemble the journal.

 In some cases it will be hard to pick which one to use

as is evident with these 3 photos of the same Christmas

tree my sister sent me last year

I will start by creating the front and back covers

before moving on to the inside photo journal pages.

While not forgetting the reason for the season

I think I would like to have a Christmas tree

on the cover.

These are definitely apart of the auditioning

group.

{Saturday Morning Photoshop Play}...

A couple of before and after photos from my time in PSE this morning.

First a little Christmas tree sprig I picked up in  

Colorado last fall  on the road trip my sister and I took.

I've been practicing using repeated layers of the same textures

in different blend modes and placements in the layers panel.

I like this version as it looks a bit like a layered quilt I might do.
The results are so numerous it can be hard to know when to stop.

The before shot.

 Using all but a couple of the textures from the Christmas tree photo

above I repeated the same ideas for the paint brush photo below.

What I really like about this photo was that I used a Vivid light

blending mode.  That's not a blending mode I have used with much

success very often, if ever.  But in this case it really popped the photo

and gave it an ole world look.

 I think it came out really splendid.  And really very different from the

original.

I've got another Christmas photo to try some of this out on but it's enough for today.

It's going to be a really wonderful day outdoors here in

Arizona so off I go to spend some time in my yard before

too much winter weather sets in.

{Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus}...

I wish I had been in this mall when this happened.

What a wonderful expression of Christmas Giving, Love and Joy.
here is the link.
"May we all enjoy each note of surprise in our lives, and may those moments provide us with love, peace and joy during this holiday season and always".
~L. Steven Sieden
Merry Christmas to everyone.

{Sunday Afternoon Painting}...

Life is slowly getting back to a quieter pace.

So after getting out the Christmas decorations

I found a bit of time this afternoon to paint.

I am starting to be more relaxed in my paintings.  Feeling more confident

in my ability to complete a painting.  Hair is still an issue for me. 

I my still add a bit here and there but she mostly ready to become an

art journal.

{Echo} Week 27-Branches...

Yet another two Echo posts in a row !!!!

Honestly, I am getting myself back to a simpler days.

I hope.   Yet tax season is just around the corner.

Oh well, we'll see.

In the meantime...

Branches. 

I've been working with several branch and tree photos for upcoming

fiber projects.  The photo above is one that I have printed on fabric along with

 a second one printed on sheer fabric.  So they are ready to go.  But into

what?  A quilt, a journal, a scarf?  I for one look forward to seeing what I do with it.

And my partner Marty's.  Which you can read more about on her

blog here http://martysfibermusings.blogspot.com/

I really like the photo.  There is something about it's

composition or some unspoken quality that really

captures my imagination and draws me into it.