Works in Progress and New Books

Unfortunately, I haven't had much time for creating....even over the short holiday break. Life has just been busy and it seems like every time I turn around I'm sick with some virus or another. This school year has just been that way. I guess that is part of the deal when you work around 800+ students a week! I've been working my way back from sickness this past week/weekend. Lots of vitamin C, probiotics, and rest. I'm starting to feel like a permanent extension of the couch. Times like this definitely make you appreciate wellness.

Last weekend, before I was sick, I started one of the lessons from my Life Book 2014 classes. While I haven't finished the entire lesson, I did make a nice start....

Beginning of a new journal page. This lesson is taught by Tamara Laporte. 

I have taken two years of the Life Book classes and loved them, but didn't sign up for LB 2015 since I wasn't even able to finish last year's lessons. My goal this year is to finish my 2014 classes and experience various activities in a couple of new books I purchased with gift cards over Christmas.

 Drawing and Painting Beautiful Faces by Jane Davenport was just released and came recently in the mail. It looks fantastic! I'm looking forward to starting the lessons inside this title. I've starting reading it today and have been learning a lot about different types of supplies. I took a moment to flip through the book and was amazed at the step by step process that Jane uses to show students how to create whimsical faces. Not only does each facial component receive a detailed explanation, but there are also tips on keeping things symmetrical, in proportion, and various types of shading. In addition focus is given to skin tones and various hair styles. Wow. I'm amazed and I haven't even started using this book yet. I think it is going to be one of my new favorites! Looking forward to sharing some things from this one very soon.

Jane Davenport's new publication, Beautiful Faces

I've had my eye on 20 Ways to Draw a Tree, by Eloise Renouf, for quite awhile. It's actually a workbook  that provides various things from nature to illustrate with blank pages for practice throughout the book. I've done a little doodling of mushrooms, birds, and flowers so far. There are several other titles in this series as well, such as 20 Ways to Draw a Tulip...a Butterfly....etc. It's a fun book to get the creativity up and running!

Time to Doodle!

Finally, I also purchased How to Draw Cool Stuff by Catherine Holmes. It's actually a guide for students and teachers, as well as hobbyists and self learners. The guide provides step by step instructions for drawing a variety of things from shapes and forms to animals and even a few lettering techniques.  I think this book will provide some fun sketching opportunities...not to mention I know I will be learning some new things.

Let's DRAW!!

Hopefully it won't be too long before I can share some of the great things I'll learn from these titles. Looking forward to doing some creative work very soon!

Mixed Media Journal Pages

This past year I participated in the Life Book 2014 class with Tamara Laporte. It was my second year to take the class and as always, I really enjoyed it. I'm very behind on lessons, so I'll probably be downloading them and working on them into next year! The middle two photos below were inspired by a class from Flora Bowley. I have two larger sheets that I've started as well...I just haven't had time to work on them lately! (I've been creating bath and body treats for the holidays!)

The flower pages were just exploration and play! I'm looking forward to more of this over the holiday break from school.

Practice with lots of layers....there were quiet a few different
looks prior to the final page!
Flower on watercolor paper, acrylics

Practice using found objects for making prints: cut potatoes, ruler edges,
plastic card edges, dandelion and other out door objects.
Watercolor paper and acrylics

More practice with making prints with found objects. 

Practice with layering and texture. Even though it's tough to see
in this photo, there's quite a bit of texture on this page. Collage pieces,
gesso texturizing with plastic card....lots of color exploration too! 

Hopefully, in the next day or so, I will be able to share my DIY ink tile coasters project. I started it last year as a gift for my parents, but never completed it.

In the meantime....HAPPY CREATING!!!

My Imaginary World

It's been several years since I created something crazy with Keri Smith's book titled, Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes. Her book was SO MUCH FUN and I always hoped to start another one. Just recently, The Imaginary World of (fill in your name) was published. So...I bought it!

Today I did the first project! To get started in the book, I needed to record some of my favorite things...books, weather, artists, landforms, and so on. I completely filled the page in a short amount of time. After I recorded my favorites, I spent some time just doodling on the page. I had some new colored pens that I wanted to use and couldn't resist brightening the page!

Building the database for my future Imaginary World.....

I decided to personalize the front cover by using collage and and a few Posca Pens.

I couldn't resist decorating the cover with my Posca Pens!

I'm looking forward to creating and exploring MY IMAGINARY WORLD!! 

Update and Return to Blog!

Wow....it took me a long time to get back into writing and posting on the blog.  The summer was enjoyable but very busy and the start to the school year, well, it's been a challenge as always. I've pretty much put everything creative on hold as other things were more important. I feel like it is time to get back into doing some of the things I love, so I'm putting my words into action with my first post in a very long time.

Much has happened since my last post...even prior to that post, so I've chosen a few of the highlights, some of my favorite things, amongst the last several months to share.

In June, we traveled to Sequim, WA (xoxoxo) and decided we were close enough to Seattle to run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon. Well, it actually wasn't that close, as we had to get up at 3:00 AM...(YES 3:00 AM!!) and drive to Seattle. Even with the long drive and challenging course, we had a blast! It was the first time that we signed up for the VIP tent and it was definitely worth it. We met fellow runners while there and enjoyed hanging out before and after the run. The day was absolutely beautiful!

                                        

                                                 Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon, June 2014

Rog and I hanging out after the run...

After the run, we enjoyed many things in Sequim. There's so much to do! We visited two different Lavender farms (Purple Haze and Victor's Lavender Farm), ran along a trail to Port Angeles one afternoon, hiked to waterfalls, spent time on the beach, visited Hurricane Ridge and Dungeness Spit...and so much more. I could probably write a blog post about each day and what we saw along the way. I always love visiting the Pacific Northwest and this was definitely another amazing trip. There's nothing better than the ocean, the mountains, and perfect weather....

Purple Haze Lavender Farm. Lavender ice cream, lotion, spray, just about anything you could
dream of...made of LAVENDER! I would love to work here. 

My favorite running trail....right beside the ocean. It was incredible listening to the waves
and the rustle of the leaves in the trees (along the side not in photo). I wish I could run on this trail every day! 

Running along the trail to Port Angeles....we stopped in town and shared a
Dairy Queen float before running back!

Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park

Located behind the rental we stayed was a beautiful rocky beach and amazing views...like Protection Island. There's a really interesting story behind this island if you'd like to read it. I loved sitting on the porch and listening to the waves. I also loved watching the wildlife. During our visit we saw a killer whale the first day! We also saw bald eagles, seals, and a variety of other birds.

Ocean view of Protection Island one evening...I'm in love. xoxo

Leaving all that beauty behind was hard! I often wonder if people who live in such beautiful places take the nature for granted or if they truly enjoy it each day.

After arriving home, "Project Declutter" began. It's always a long process, but I did clean out and reorganize a closet and several drawers. We even did a little decluttering in the garage. I'm still not done with this project and hope to work on it more next summer as we have a lot of clutter!! 

Everything pulled out of the closet....

Two very cute beagles, but not such good helpers. ha!

We also had an extra job or two that we worked during the summer. Seems like there was something to keep us busy every day! 

It wasn't long before it was time to start back to school. I'm thankful for the time we had to journey to other places and get some much needed maintenance done around the house. I was also thankful for a little extra time with family.

The days since August have flown by quickly and I'm in denial that it is nearly November! A few things to look forward to in the coming months....Tulsa Run, Tulsa Half Marathon, a new book adventure with Keri Smith's The Imaginary World of ___________,(remember Messy Book?) and more of Life Book 2014. I'm looking forward to sharing each of these and more!

Take care and have a great weekend!

A Little Quiet Time

A Little Quiet Time...

Where have the last several weeks gone? I can't believe my last post was over a month ago! The last month has been filled with half marathon training, overcoming some health issues, keeping up with the never-ending "to do" list, and squeezing in moments of art here and there. This afternoon, I'm thankful to have a few minutes of quiet time to get back on track. Well, mostly quiet, except for Abbey's cute snoring.

It's the perfect afternoon for napping....I think I should join her!

I was able to spend some time last night creating some cute Easter cards for my mom, dad, and sister. I used the ideas I learned from one of the Life Book 2014 lessons to create two "Quirky Animals" cards....a bunny and an elephant.

My sister chose to keep the pink bunny, while my mom and dad wanted
the purple elephant.

The Quirky Animals lesson..it turned out very cute!

Well, my quiet time is coming to an end. I need to get some house work done, make some body lotion bars as gifts, finish some laundry, get lunches ready for tomorrow, and sneak in an hour run at some point. Too bad the weekends can't be 3 days long! 

I hope each of you had a blessed time with family over the holiday weekend! Have a great week!

Posca Pens

I love getting new art supplies. After hearing so many wonderful things about Posca Paint Pens, I decided to give them try. They aren't easy to find, so I was happy to see them on Amazon. I ordered a set of 8 fine tip pens and received them within a few days.

The pens are amazing. They easily glide over a variety of surfaces such as wood, canvas, paper, and glass. So far I have only used them on watercolor paper and canvas. The colors are vibrant and the ink flow is smooth. Even though they are "fine" tipped, I think I would also like to have the extra fine tip for writing words....adding them to my wish list now!

Here are a few of the mixed media journal pages I've completed using the pens....

Posca Pens used for outlining flowers and drawing symbols. I
used a Sharpie pen to do the writing at the lower left corner.

On this page I primarily used the white posca pen for highlighting
and details. 

Both pages were created based on lessons from the Life Book 2014 class (lessons by Alena Hennessy and Tamara Laporte). Since I am still working on the 29 Faces Challenge (even though it is finished!), I am counting the girl on the swing as face #10.

Work in progress on canvas...posca pens used for outlining and adding
shapes...I'll post the final pic when it is completed. 

I can definitely say that if you are thinking about purchasing Posca Pens, they are well worth the investment. I love mine!

A Few Sketches

Last weekend I completed a few sketches for the 29 Faces Challenge and I'm finally getting them posted! The challenge is over and I am no where near finishing the faces....not even halfway. Still, I plan on completing the challenge, even if it takes me a little longer.

It's tough to post these faces without color. At some point, I'm looking forward to adding paint, collage, and watercolor to each of them!

DAYS 6-9

More faces are on the way....along with some fun with my new Posca Pens!