Enough …

here we have the last spread in a visual journal that I started working in back in 2009…

as finishing this journal this month has been a challenge I set for myself I am entering it in Susi’s Art Journal Journey May challenge…

lots of my painted pages began because of inspiration from a Julie Prichard online class that taught me so much (she is a wonderful teacher!)…

the first spread I completed above in this 1958 Funk & Wagnalls  Encyclopedia was inspired by a Pretty Paper Hearts challenge blog that no longer exists …

 links to several other spreads can be found here… 

below you will find a bit of my creative process for the last pages which got quite thick…

strips of my citra solv paper and torn vintage map (thank you Carmen ♥) blended in with some white gesso…

using some of my unmounted rubber stamps on pattern tissue paper…

and lots and lots of layers of Distress Stains (one of my favorite Ranger products!!!)…

using my hand to blend and smear the stains and YES it DOES stain your hands …

to finish off the gutter of the book I wet my hand a little and used a small paintbrush to gather enough color to finish off the center of the pages…

above you can see my pages before I found my tiny seashells and starfish from a trip to Florida…

I did try and not make the pages too bulky but you know how it is once you get going…

I am a big mermaid fan…

twenty-eight spreads (double pages) in the recycled encyclopedia that originally covered French Literature — Gothic Architecture and now all it needs is a cover…

“Enough is abundance to the wise.” ~Euripides

and a bit of extra fun with my mermaid and free Photofunia…

Kindness is …

not sure whose quote that is but it is a good one…

the Sweet Pea image is printed on fabric from here…

using more bits from my flower press along with lots of layers of paint, gesso and papers …

and another spread I created using a copy of a sketch of mine on the left and a photo from a garden brochure on the right along with torn shorthand book pages, some pressed flowers and greenery…

LaWendula’s handmade books (4.5 inches square … 11.43 cm) make perfect little canvases (I am working in the green one on the bottom right just now)…

this is my second quote spread for Dawn’s Journal Journey’s April “Quotes” challenge…

green …

inspired by the focus on Earth Day this week  (even though we try to make every day Earth Day at our house) I created two more pages in my art journal…

beginning with a photograph we took on the Italian part of a Swiss trip we enjoyed a couple of years ago…

mixing paints and recycling parts of a garden brochure from a favorite local garden…

 pressed flowers from our garden were the finishing touches for my pages along with stamping on tissue paper using my favorite B Line Designs Iron works stamp…

I am joining in Dawn’s Journal Journey’s challenge theme of “Quotes” for this month…

“Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises.” – Pedro Calderon de la Barca

sunlight and flower petals…

“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” ~Twyla Tharp

it has been a little while since I have gotten my hands into paint as I seem to have my camera in my hands this time of year snapping photos of the glorious Spring blooms arriving anew each day (sorry to all of my friends where Spring is long overdue!)…

wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do other than use some of my new dabber paints…

using a page from a large print book I let a few words pop off the page at me and was inspired…

my camera was downstairs so there is only this one photograph of my pages just about completed after lots and lots of layers of paint and rubber stamping…

being recently inspired by a talented artist’s beautiful creativity I knew that my pages could use some of this leaf trim…

often I find it good to step away from what I am creating for a bit…

it is easier to see where things might be added or not…

“Art is both creation and recreation.  Of the two ideas,  I think art as recreation or as sheer play of the human spirit is more important.” ~ Lin Yutang

“Landscape within me”

the Art Journal Journey April challenge theme of “Landscape within me” got me busy…

 sloshing paints and gesso on the pages of one of my encyclopedia art journals…

remembering to snap a few photos to show some before and after…

everything goes better with some gesso, lace and rubber stamping…

first time using a white correction pen (thanks to my friend Lisa for that recommendation) it flowed really well and dried quickly…

the lady is a citra solv transfer I did on tissue paper and I thought she looked pretty with the broken brooch that I attached with heavy gel medium underneath…

the monthly Art Journal Journey blog is a wonderfully talented and inspiring place to visit again and again…

‘Tea with Marie’…

my talented friend Susan created her first gorgeous altered book for a round robin in our mixed media art group…

you can stop by her blog to see her interesting post on how her book began here…

working on the plain French-English dictionary pages adding lots of layers and embellishments was such a delight…

I highlighted an old French ledger page from The Graphics Fairy with a piece of pretty German napkin that I rubbed with gold gouache…

tiny flowers from a vintage hat I collected decorate a French cocoa label also from The Graphics Fairy…

some French 7Gypsies tissue paper started the background for this page along with a piece of old blue velvet for the edge…

the oval portrait of Marie was from a free digital collage sheet The Graphics Fairy shared back in 2009…

 one of my golden flimmers and some delicate German scrap helped frame Marie…

white gesso, gold gouache, bits of my favorite gold patterned tissue paper, torn napkin, scraps of embroidered netting, pink silk rose petals (on the left page edge and behind Marie’s head) and a K & Company vellum border at the bottom helped put the finishing touches on my pages…

such a fun theme and a very beautiful book to work in…

… go in Peace …

the Art Journal Journey challenge for February is “Peace“…

this month marks the second anniversary of my Mother’s passing and I am still trying to make peace with not having her here to hug…

it was a really wet, windy and chilly day when we found the wooden heart and amber colored rock as we spread the remainder of her ashes…

the cold and rainy weather was okay because we had her special spot almost all to ourselves…

a childhood image of my Mutti inspired my journal pages …

her wings were made by tearing a heart in two and covering the pieces with embossed napkin that I rubbed  gold gouache on … 

her skirt is part of one of the many origami dresses I made last summer (my mother was a very fine seamstress which was just one of her many talents) …

I cut the top of the dress off and the pieces made a perfect border for the left hand page (waste not want not as I was raised) …

I added a strip of cigar box paper trim on the bottom right that says “Homemade” …

a piece of my pressed Queen Anne’s Lace flower tissue paper helped fill in the painted left hand page of this spread…

”[If you] go in Peace it makes the flowers sweeter along the path.” ~Mike Dolan

the saffron colored crocus are always the first to bloom in our sunny front garden which is a sign that spring is drawing near … 

my tea today is Yogi Tahitian Vanilla Hazelnut 

“richly luscious and soothing” …

think I’ll have another cup …