a few holiday glimpses

some of my favorite things, a couple of ornaments on my tinsel tree,

my african violet is blooming and i have started some paperwhites as well but they aren't blooming yet

and then a few pages in my notebook of pictures and recipes that i like during the holidays

Happy Holidays everyone 

I have been asked recently by a few women who read my blog if i would make them a finished journal and i just thought that sounded so fun so i have made another one and have it for sale if any one else is interested in purchasing a finished journal. i have it in my shop here

 This journal is made out of a variety of decorative cardstock that vary in size a little with pages peeking through. It has 20 pages in it with layers of images and words and some of my favorite quotes and other little decorative bits.

                                                            sold
     

some things this week...

some sketchbookery again and i'm enjoying adding washi tape to the pages for added color, i think washi tape is one of the best things that have been invented and i am so addicted to buying new ones whenever i can.

some little flower drawings in a new large sketchbook that i bought

 

and i am adding images to my smashbooks i like that the paper is already there to be layered upon with my favorite images from magazines

this week...

a new rectangular journal using the cover of a vintage book that i was so happy to find.

some new pages just adding various things to the pages while i set my timer for 20 minutes.

thanks for stopping by :)

making some collaged journals...

 for the past few days  i have been collaging some paper and turning them into blank journals with pink ribbon tying the pages together and i have just put them up for sale in my shop.

a few pages in my new doodle book...

i was published in a chinese magazine...

I am so excited about being contacted from a really beautiful and unique chinese magazine, they asked a variety of art journalers and sketchbook artists to be a part of this issue and i was so excited to look through it when it finally arrived in my mail box, i tried finding any links or website for them and all i could find is a facebook page, but it would be fun to see past issues.
So here are my pages...

more visual journal pages...

i'm having a lot of fun in this journal and wanted to share some old and new pages from it

what i liked doing as a kid...

summer always makes me think of childhood favorites what i liked to do and how to incorporate those things now if i can. so my list that i was able to come up with was cutting and pasting pictures, i always loved making collage boards, so i decided to gather some favorite images and some cardboard and created the one below....

another thing i loved was daybook organizers and papers even at a young age when i didn't really need one so i am going to use this one to organize some lists and ideas, i like the grounding and calming color of brown, so i'm really happy with this one.

   some pretty pink additions and hopefully i can stick with using this one, i seem to always be switching ideas

I also loved doodling so i'm incorporating more of that , i loved swimming so i need to make time to go to the pool this summer, i really love it. and rollerskating, i'm not really sure how i could incorporate that one, unless i get up the nerve to try rollerblades. and one more thing is candy i just love candy and i think i will indulge a little this summer

It was fun seeing what i still do now that i loved as a little girl especially collaging and doodling which i get to do in my art journals only now there are so many fun supplies to work with.

Maybe this will help you think of what you have always loved :)

how i create a page....

a few people have asked about my process so i wanted to take photos and talk about favorite products and processes.

first i gather together my images, for this page i picked an image from Vintage Garden magazine, a bird from a sabrina ward harrison card and a piece of embossed pink paper.

I lay out the pieces in a way i like and glue them down with elmers or lately i'm using Coccoina glue that smells like almonds. I use a gift card to smooth down the pages.

  in a used rose book i decided to add a simple rose...

then  i start adding washi tape and other little bits. i used a piece of turquoise washi tape and then stamped the date onto it.

i cut out a sentence of inspiring words from a self care book

 

then one of my favorite steps, these stencils from martha stewart that can be found here on amazon. they are really good stencils that stick and peel. I think that make the page pop.

 then in my tool basket are pens and markers and i will write over images and add doodled words and then i see if there are any last minute things to add, then its finished.

new art journal...

I have been too tired lately to make my own bound books so i had a new idea of just using a thin molskine. The paper is thin and it gets a little wrinkly, but i don't mind that. I am trying to do one page a day which is also different for me, i use to collage a few pages at once and then go back and add other parts when i felt like it.

But know it feels like a ritual and i like the feeling of finishing a page. I strive for everyday, but i probably end up with 4 or 5 days which is still good for me. I don't put too much thought ahead of time, i just start and its been a lot of fun, so here are a few of my first ones and i will probably be sharing here more often as a result of getting more pages finished.

a couple of up close shots...