2014 Journal52 - Week 8 - Found Poetry

The prompt for week 8 for Journal52 was to do a page with Found Poetry. You were to find some words from a page in a book or any other written work, and make a poem. I chose to do mine with book spine titles.
My poem reads, " Toxic Bachelors, Night's Gift, Sweet Everlasting, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Morning, Noon and Night.
I stacked the books and took a photo and printed it out on regular printer paper. Then I made a frame for the photo with some black textured paper and rubbed gold metallic acrylic paint on it. Then I marked where the photo would go on my page and collaged some patterned papers around the edges. I added some paint with my fingers and with some bubble wrap on the patterned papers. I then collaged some pictures from a magazine and drew around the collaged papers with a black marker.
I then added the title and drew around that with a white gel pen.
This whole journey of following some prompts with Journal52 is really helping me try new things and making me think outside the box and taking me out of my comfort zone. It's quite fun!
Take care! :D

Art Journal - My First "Houses" page

My friend Linda came over to do some art journaling and showed me her page that she had done of some houses. I loved it! Her inspiration was Cathy Bluteau who does awesome "Houses" art journal pages and has some videos on youtube.
Linda wanted to do another one so we both got to work and this is my first attempt at making a page of houses. It was so much fun adding all the different little details. I put some things in there that make me laugh. If you click on the above picture, it will enlarge and you can see more of the details. I know I will be making more little villages in the future. I have already started my second one.
The houses on this page are all patterned paper cut free hand into house shapes and collaged onto the painted background on the page in the art journal. Then I added some paint and doodling and stamping and rub-ons.
This was too much fun. Give it a try! :D

2014 Journal52 - Week 7 - When I grow up...

Our Journal52 prompt this week was "When I grow up". We were to think of all the things we thought we would like to be when we grew up or interpret it any way that we wanted. Because my career as a teacher is over, I chose to do my page on how I'd like my retirement to be. I found I could have filled many pages with things I like to do, but I narrowed it down and tried to keep it simple. I used the mind map technique for my composition.
I stamped the background randomly with black ink images, then scraped some paint onto it with an old credit card. I added some texture with bubble wrap and white paint. I sprayed three colours of Dylusions ink in spots and let it drip down and sprayed it with some water to disperse it.
I made the main figure by tracing a model from a magazine and cutting it out. I then stamped some black ink images onto the silhouette and drew in a few details and then the word "Retired".
I made the framed word cards for my subtitles and then added a small picture of something from each topic by each card. I grounded the figure with some washi tape.
I then stamped a handmade border stamp a couple of times and inked the edges of the page with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
If you want to see more detail, click on the above photo and you will see a larger picture.
Thanks for stopping by! :D
I'd love to hear from you.

2014 Journal 52 - Week 6 - The Lost Art of Love Letters

I found myself getting emotional as I made this page. My Dad passed away 18 years ago. Making a page with my Mom and Dad's wedding picture on it brought back many memories of the times when Dad was still with us. I am blessed to still have my Mom.
I used several stencils on this page. The church window was from a stencil by Finnabair. I sprayed white ink through the stencil onto black paper and then cut it out. I copied a photo of Mom and Dad onto plain paper, glued it to cardstock and cut it out. I added some colour to them with pencil crayons.
I made the envelope with my We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board. I added white paint to a red heart doily. I used acrylic paint and markers for the background.
I wrote the love letter and put it in the envelope. I'm happy that I'll get to show it to my Mom.
Why don't you write a love letter to someone you love? They will  cherish it.
Happy Valentine's Day! :D

2014 Journal52- Week 5 - Abstract Art

The theme for this week's Journal52 was to make abstract art. I chose to do an abstract cityscape by the river with the reflection. I didn't know that's where this would end up when I started out though! Lol
First I took an old credit card and scraped several colours of acrylic paint onto deli paper for the background. I let that dry and and took a couple of days to figure out what to do with it.
I  took a stencil by Ronda Palazzari called Urban Landscape and sponged black paint through it to create the cityscape. Then I flipped the stencil over and sponged a lighter paint through it to create the reflection. I wiped some of that paint off to give it a hazier look.
I painted the windows and some of the details on the buildings with white paint. I did the same on the reflection and again wiped some of the paint off. I then glued the deli paper to a page in my art journal.
This was an interesting theme and I am pleased with my attempt at abstract art. What do you think? :D