Life Book 2013 - Heart Sight

Week 32 of Life Book 2013 is with Effy Wild who taught us some fabulous layering and texturing techniques. This was a fabulously fast and fun page to create but very striking with a powerful message.

Life Book 2013 - A Series of Quirky Birds

 

Week 14 of Life Book 2013 is with Tamara Laporte, and she encouraged us to get a little quirky and create some funky little birds.  I really loved this project, and it ended up being a portrait of myself and my partner in a little love nest, see how where their beaks touch it forms a heart?  The nest itself is made from the printed lyrics from a song by the Dixie Chicks called Easy Silence.  See what I did there... birds, nest, chicks!

High School Memories Begin Soon

Wow, New Years Eve already!  I spent all of this year focused on my own studies and health.  This month I am proud to say that I have completed my Diploma of Counselling and have applied to University to continue forward with a Bachelor of Health Sciences.  This gives me a few precious months to relax and get some crafting done!

At the end of my school year I completed a project in anticipation of my son starting his first year at high school.  The pattern for this project comes from the talented Kathy Orta and is called A Year In Review.

This is a gorgeous pattern, creating a HUGE album that has plenty of pockets and large areas for big photos, school certificates and awards.

Inside are 3 different styles of pages, repeated 4 times, for a total of 12 pages. One for each month.

The thing that I loved most about this album is the massive amounts of storage. It can fit full report cards, drawings, pictures and awards.

The perfect way to document my little monkey's achievements during his first year of high school!

Life Book 2013 - Painting Over a Printed Image

 

Week 9 of Life Book 2013 is with Danita, and she taught us a simple technique for painting over a printed image, such as an image out of a magazine.  I chose an image of Drew Barrymore and was quite pleased when hubby immediately recognized her!  I love this technique.  When you look at the painting you can't tell there is an image undernearth, which makes this a fantastic way to incorporate faces and people into art journals without feeling self conscious about your skill level.

Life Book 2013 - Unstumpification

Greetings again!  Week 8 of Life Book 2013 is done with the marvelously talented Jane Davenport.  This is the most challenging lesson I have done to date, both emotionally and technically.  'Stumpification' occurs when you trace around a photo of person, typically the tracing results in a 'stumpy' version of that person.  By using the technique demonstrated we are taught how to 'unstumpify' the tracing.  The example Jane did took an ordinary photo and she created a very lithe and sexy fashion model, which is of little surprise as Jane has a background in the fashion industry.  The technique of 'unstumpification' is essentially using tracing and illustration to do on paper what magazines do in photoshop to make a woman 'more attractive'.

I choked.  With the average woman being a size 12, and with so many women on constant diets, so many women with eating disorders, so many women who hate their bodies and struggle with poor self esteem, I could not bring myself to be a part of that and call it art.  I know it's seemingly a small thing but we all have our lines I suppose and this one crossed mine.  Further, this lesson was about bravery, and I just couldn't reconcile what seemed to be two completely polar opposite ideals.

I did try the unstumpification technique using photographs of plus size models, but it was still elongating them, smoothing out their curves, essentially making them thinner.  In the end I used a plus size croquis, which is a line drawing used in the fashion illustration as a base for drawing clothing onto the human form.  The only unstumping I did was to create a slightly longer neckline to allow for the additional of all that hair.

I created the comic book cover in Publisher, printed it out on heavy weight paper and then transferred the croquis using wax transfer paper.  I decided to keep it monochrome and used a single shade of brown to keep with a sepia style look.  It took two frustrating weeks to create the final version and by the end I was so annoyed with my efforts that I gave up on doing hands and faces, so my comic book heroine is wearing a mask!  I am so glad this one is done.

Life Book 2013 - New Blooms

This week's lesson is New Blooms taught by the fabulous Christy Tomlinson.  The message of this lesson is to learn from flowers, to take what we have learned in the past (the good and the bad) and to use that to grow anew.

Last year someone told me a secret that was so painful and profane that it left me changed forever.  There's a scar on my soul that will never disappear and it's not something I can ever divulge, not even in my art diary.

So how do I express that?  The torn paper represents how I felt utterly ripped in two, and the splatters are there for the tears that felt like they would never end.  I visualized all that pain and heartache, all that negativity and 'crap' as compost, fertile ground in which to plant a new seed, from which has emerged a new way of looking at the world.  One that is less black and white, less judgmental.  One that is perfectly captured with the words of Rumi:-

Out beyond ideas 
of wrong doing, 
and right doing, 
there is a field.

I will meet you there.

Christie taught us a fabulous technique for making flowers from tin foil.  I didn't want the silver of the tin foil showing through, so I covered the foil with gold leaf before applying patterned rice paper and shredded gold cellophane.   I then used my Tattered Floral die to cut out the flowers.  Because the base is tin foil they are completely mouldable adding outstanding dimension.

The patterned papers in the background are by Kaisercraft and I have used Distress Inks to add texture.  This is also my first attempt at hand lettering!

Linking up with:

Simon Says Stamp:  Quotable
Make It Monday:  Anything Goes
Through The Craft Room Door:  Anything Goes
Creative Every Day:  Weekly Link

Life Book 2013 - True Intentions

 

The second lesson in Life Book 2013 is a bonus lesson with Monica Zuniga.  Her inspiration to us is to make a paper doll out of (rubber) stamps.  She says "Find a figure that represents yourself and then those words that represent what you will be working on throughout the year."

For this page I wanted to express my training and journey as a counsellor.  The core principles of person centred counselling are empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard, and these are the words I have chosen to use in my piece.

I chose a digital stamp by A Day For Daisies called Birds Nest, picking up on imagery of birds as both messengers and a symbol of freedom.  As a counsellor I will be in a position to listen to the deepest, most painful, most shameful secrets that burden a soul, and through empathy and unconditional positive regard (non judgment) I can help that soul to find peace and freedom from their pain.

The inner area is done with a rubber stamp by Kaisercraft, from the 13th Hour collection, branches with ravens.  Ravens are a sign of alertness and watchfulness, and Dr. Carl Jung deemed raven symbolism to represent the shadow self, or the dark side of the psyche.  The raven is a messenger too, so it symbolises keeping and communicating deep mysteries.

The raven is representing my own inner struggle.  One of the core beliefs of counselling is that we cannot take a client to places we have not been.  In other words, if I don't explore myself, challenge my own flawed thinking and beliefs (I'm ugly, I'm useless, I'm worthless etc)... If I can't turn the spotlight inward on myself, how can I help others to do the same?

An interesting note that I realized after doing this, is that I have on my back a rather large tattoo that incorporates several ravens.  I had the tattoo done years ago so I often forget it's there!

The background is done with Neocolour II watercolour crayons, washed and then spritzed with a water spray and enhanced with Distress Inks.  I started in the centre quite light and deepened the colour towards the edges so that I could see that there, in all that inner turmoil, radiates a light, my light.

When I first watched this lesson I was a bit 'meh' about the project, but somewhere along the way it became an incredibly deep and personal expression.  Thank you Monica :o)

Life Book 2013 - Celebration & Journey

 

This is the first lesson for the Life Book 2013 project.  It started in January, and I am only just joining, and with a lesson per week I have some catching up to do.  The purpose of this project is to celebrate the journey ahead of us while at the same time doing some mild goal setting.

The teacher (Tamara Laporte) suggested that we draw a landscape scene and include one means of transportation to symbolize motion and moving forward.  She also included flowers in which she wrote her current blessings and then in the clouds in the sky she wrote the goals and changes she wanted to see happen this year.

I took a slightly different twist on the theme, here's how I did mine.

I started by choosing my mode of transportation, a hot air balloon thanks to this sweet digi from A Day For Daisies.  I loved the image of the girl sprinkling love.   The next step involves a lot of water so I used a laser printer to get the image onto heavy weight mixed media paper.

I randomly scribbled over the entire piece with Neocolour II watercolour crayons, and then working quickly, liberally washed the entire surface with water.  While the wash was still wet I sprinkled with regular kitchen salt, which as it dries draws up the colour creating that gorgeous mottled effect.

I wanted to tie in the hearts that are being scattered with the flowers, so I created my flowers with heart shaped petals so that it appears she is tending the garden with love.  In the centre of the flowers I included my blessings, those things that I am grateful for and tend to daily with love.  These are the things that keep me grounded.  In the hot air balloon I included my goals, the things I want to work on this year, these are the things I can aspire too.

I loved this project.  I have always believed I am quite a crafty person, able to do many handi-crafts, but it wasn't until I started Life Book that I realized that I also have an artist flair and a creative mind that can come up with original and unique interpretations on a theme.  To learn more about Life Book 2013 follow this link.

Linking this project up with Simon Says Stamp and Show, whose theme this week is water.

Life Book 2013 - Fairy Art Mother

I have just signed up for a year long mixed media/art journalling course called Life Book 2013.  The course consists of 22 teachers delivering a lesson each week, and each lesson is downloadable for you to keep so that you always have it to refer to.  I am so excited about this course!

The warmup exercise is to create a "Fairy Art Mother".  The idea is that every time your inner critic sends you negative messages, your Fairy Art Mother is there to prop you back up and give you messages of love, praise and acceptance.

My inner critic tells me that I'm somehow less of an artist because I haven't spent hundreds of dollars on brand new supplies, or the supplies I have bought are budget conscious.  My critic pushes me to be perfect and is very rigid and controlled.

I did two very similar versions, one in my portable art journal and the other on loose paper to be bound later with all the other Life Book 2013 projects. 

The above version is done on mixed media paper.  The background is done with Neocolor II watercolour crayons which I layered with Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  She is coloured with a mixture of watercolour crayons and Prismacolor pencils.

The second version I did inside the cover of my portable art journal, so she goes with me everywhere.  She is coloured with Prismacolor pencils over an acrylic paint background. 

She says:  "Let go of control.  Make it up as you go.  Wing it.  Don't be afraid.  It's OK if you aren't perfect, you have permission to make mistakes and to get messy.  Laugh.  Relax.  Breathe and enjoy the process.  Listen to your inner child, she remembers how to be free."

I am linking this up with the following fabulous challenge blogs:
Make it Monday:  Always Anything Goes
Through The Craft Room Door:  Always Anything Goes
That Craft Place:  Anything Goes
Paper Crafting Journey:  Anything But a Card

Masculine Mini Album

My goodness it's so hot here in Adelaide!  The longest, hottest summer in record.  My craft room is an add-on to the original house with a tin roof, no insulation and no air conditioner.  Needless to say its awful in there at the moment!

Despite the heat, I have been working on a few albums.  This is one I did for my best friend's birthday.  He is an excellent photographer and I would love to see him take his photos from the purely digital format that he currently uses to actual printed photographs in a real album.

This album is my version of Kathy Orta's December Daily album.  If you are interested you can read my first post on how I reworked her measurements and come up with a slightly different style of album.

I used black envelopes and cards by Quill to make the album, and the designer papers are all from the Timeless Vintage paper stack by Kaisercraft.

As I mentioned in my other post I reworked the dimensions of the back and front covers to allow for a little extra space in the middle there.  Kathy Orta's project has all those envelopes and pages interleaving and overlapping in the middle and I felt there would be too much bulk.  You can see from the photos above and below how nicely that extra girth has worked out.  The pages and inserts butt up nicely against each other, without creating additional bulk.

Below you can see what the album looks like when opened up.  There is a phenomenal amount of storage space, not just for photos but for all the little bits of tickets, tokens and other ephemera that we collect that just doesn't fit in a regular album.

Inside there are also literally dozens of tags and pockets with inserts that can hold extra photos or journalling.

My friend was totally thrilled about the album, he loved the idea of filling it with photos and memorabilia and handing it down to his son with the hopes that it would be a little interactive journey of discovery that he could share.

Tin Man Treat Box

 

It's almost Valentines Day, and one of the biggest challenges I find is creating a project that is suitably masculine.  There's a lot more creative scope to create romantic themes when you use lace, flowers and other feminine accents.

For this project I chose another of Mo Manning's gorgeous images, this one is called the Tin Man. The image is printed on Kraft card, and coloured with Primsacolor pencils.

The treat box is a popcorn style box that purchased as a set of 10 from a bargain store.  The designer paper used to cover it is from Ruby Rock It.   I love the black and white contrast and it's speaks suitably of Valentines and love, without being feminine.  The edges have been inked with Pumice Stone Distress Ink and the project is finished simply with a ribbon and a metal heart charm.

I really enjoyed this project.  This would look great filled with those chocolate hearts covered in red foil... my man doesn't like chocolate so I will probably fill it with cookies.

Entering this into the following challenges:

Mo Manning's DP2 Challenge:  Anything Goes
Make it Monday:  Anything Goes