L♥ve Always…

we are in the process of having some home repairs and improvements done…which means lots of upheaval with workmen in and out of the house…

it will be nice when the dust settles in a few weeks…

escape to my art room is always a good thing and now more than ever…

I created two more pages in one of my gesso journals playing with my favorite super heavy gesso…joining Art Journal Journey once again for Yvonne’s IN MY GARDEN THERE IS theme…

“In his garden every man may be his own artist without apology or explanation.”   -Louise Beebe Wilder

all roads lead home…

a TAP swan transfer that I ironed directly onto a book page was the inspiration for my latest journal spread…along with a bit of local Virginia map and stamping on peeled tissue paper with heavy gesso highlights…

a favorite lady from my vintage postcard collection also made the page…

some shredded map paper sticking off the page made a nest for my swan…

I am joining the fun MAPS challenge over at Art Journal Journey…

“As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise you will miss most of your life.” -Gautama Buddha

let the Light guide your way…

words from this special song along with a digital image of one of my photographs of bare winter trees layered with a photo of some of my artwork were the inspiration for these journal pages (see the lady above) …

lots of layers of gesso and paint applied with a plastic palette knife (the girl below is from a gift catalog)…

  this is my first time joining Paint Party Friday and I am also linking to Art Journal Journey’s Winter Wonderland challenge (my other entries at AJJ are #30, 42, 61, 85)…

like the moon…

two more pages in one of my gesso journals inspired by the Artchix girl…

paper punched trees with layers of gesso and pencil and the winter moon…

joining with Art Journal Journey’s Winter Wonderland…

“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.” -Yoko Ono

finding my way…

my art journal page began with the beautiful free image of the girl with antlers which is a gift when you sign up for Jeanne Oliver’s blog…

I added the fleur de lis brad and rub on stars as extra decorations along with some other ingredients…

one last page along with my other Collage/Journaling entries (#111, 157, 165 & 183) for Art Journal Journey…

you are the sky…

collage and quotes and paper and gesso and paint…

are just a few of my favorite things…

postage stamps speak to me too…

two more pages for the Art Journal Journey Collage/Journaling challenge this month (my other entries are #111, 157, 165)…

pinkies up…

 

there were days when it seemed like hot summer weather might go on forever…

and then just like that cooler air moved in…

the sun tracks lower in the sky and glows warmly in our windows…

there have still been some lovely days for sitting out on our back porch…

giving me the chance to empty saved tea bags while collecting the pretty papers…

our houseplants are inside now safe from the frost with a top dressing of dried tea leaves…

I made some time to play with some of those tea bag papers joining in Conny’s Mix it Monthly challenge of  CUPS/BOWLS…

I would also like to join everyone over at Elizabeth’s Altered Book Lover for T Stands for Tuesday…

thank you very much for your visit…I hope you are enjoying the season you are in

morning rays of sun…

gesso and painted pages in one of my gesso journals with bits of torn book page, map, tissue paper and plaster paper scraps…

the village on the right was something I had stamped onto tissue paper and found on my work table (I have a lot of treasures/piles in my work space…I find it helps me to be spontaneous when I am creating using what is close at hand)…

some super heavy gesso helped tie the bits of paper together…

then I added some paint and color wash (I wish that 7 gypsies product was still available)…

looking at my pages I came up with some words and resisted the temptation to add a person as I am often drawn to do…

making marks with a soft pencil is always a fun finish and adds a bit of patina…

this is my fourth entry for the Art Journal Journey THROUGH MY WINDOW/DURCH MEIN FENSTER challenge…

“Throw open your window and let the scenery of clouds and sky enter your room!” -Yosa Buson

dawn was breaking…

a couple more pages in one of my gesso journals for Art Journal Journey’s THROUGH MY WINDOW challenge…

the found poetry on the left and the veiled bust of the lady on the right hand page had been patiently waiting for attention…

the PSX (K-3565) collage rubber stamp that I stamped on white tissue paper led me to searching through my postage stamp collection and the first stamp I found was the 1956 U.S. Children’s Stamp about “Friendship – The Key To World Peace“…

the masking tape like border at the bottom was torn from a lint roller and too good to throw away (I was raised in a waste not want not household and still practice that!) so I stamped lightly with a Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection border stamp and embellished it with a bit of gold paint…

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”  -Oscar Wilde

à travers ma fenêtre …

inspired by Corrine’s theme of THROUGH MY WINDOW for Art Journal Journey this month I created a cover for one of my gessoed magazine journals…

using a blue Stabilo pencil scrubbing with white gesso on a torn piece of heart shaped paper…

I also glued on a scrap of cheesecloth that was handy on my work table using soft gel medium…

I tore out the French word for window from my little dictionary inadvertently covering the “f” with the Golden’s Bronze paint that I added as embellishment…

as much as I use my blog for photo storage I also enjoy using favorite quotes in my journals to inspire and uplift me…

here is a peek at the inside pages that I have done individual blog posts on in the past (I used a new to me free photo editor called FOTOR to make the photo collage..it has different templates than my other favorite PixlrExpress)...

this handmade journal is nice to hold and turn the pages as the magazine and gesso foundation give integrity to the paper along with the layers I have added with my collage work…

 

Black & White

feeling a surge of creativity around the full moon this month I am joining in with  Moo Mania and More BLACK & WHITE and Mix it Monthly MIXED MEDIA FLOWERS challenges…

the lovely girl with flowers in her hair is a favorite image that I’ve had for a long time from a magazine and the black bird, butterfly wings and roses at the bottom are from a collage sheet that Misty Mawn shared in one of her on line workshops…

lots of layers of gesso, black Stabilo pencil and white Signo gel pen along with a little honey comb stamping around the edges (I really wanted to give her rosy cheeks!)…

“Love is the soul’s Light” – Rumi

Time is the longest distance…

a spread in another one of my gesso journals for Art Journal Journey’s TIME theme …

I have more ideas but I am running out of time…

this beautiful Dutch girl came to me while I was poking around in one of my image files so I created a TAP transfer on a little child’s dress adding some white highlights with a favorite SIGNO pen …

my other inspiration was the Tennessee Williams time quote…

the dotted scrap book paper spoke to me along with bits of fabric trim and cheesecloth…

Forever…

the crowned skull image from a magazine along with one of Seth Apter’s new rubber stamps helped inspire these art journal pages for Art Journal Journey’s TIME challenge…

I added the wings and used bits of netting and paper scraps along with paint and gesso and a bit of pencil scribbling…

the unmounted thorn stamp was given to me many years ago…

“I always think everything is going to last forever, but nothing ever does. In fact nothing exists longer than an instant except the thing that we hold in memory”-Sam Savage