One of my goals for 2011 is to art journal more. I love watching Donna’s Inspiration Wednesday and looking at journal pages of many of the artists I admire. There are so many art journalers that I admire and I want to make this more of a regular practice in my life. I think it will go a long way in helping me expand my art.
Here are few things I want to use art journaling for:
– explore new techniques
– try different mediums
– practice drawing
– play around with different color combinations
Here are some artists whose art journal pages (or just art in general) inspire me:
– Donna Downey
– Pam Carriker
– Dina Wakley
– Tam Laporte
– Misty Mawn
– Rebecca Sower
– Alisa Burke
– DJ Pettitt
– Judy Wise
– Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
(many more coming)
Here’s what I did to prepare for this project.
First of all, I bought a journal. I wasn’t sure what to go for and I might want to do stitching so my first hunch was to not go with anything bound but I did anyway. I went with a Strathmore Visual Journal in 5.5×8 watercolor paper. I wanted to make it personalized and have it represent my word for the year so I altered the cover with some fabric and put a bird and the word Free on the front cover:
on the back, i made a birdcage and wrote “no more cages”
so here’s how the whole thing looks:
The second thing I did was start a list of art journal pages that inspire me so that I could have ideas to pull from. I am not intending on selling or publishing any of these pages. They are for me to explore, experiment, and have fun. So it’s ok to try to recreate other people’s ideas. I find that this helps me get started and it also gives me the push I need to eventually develop into my own style. I used pinterest for this so here’s my board and I will add to it continuously and also I note what part of the page spoke to me so I can remember what idea I wanted to try out.
And finally, I plan for most of my themes to revolve around my word. So I collected a list of quotes on letting go of the past, being free to be anything you want, that you can accomplish anything, etc.
That’s it. Let’s see how it goes.
If you have art journalers you follow, I would love for you to leave their names/blogs in the comments. I really love discovering new artists!!
ps: I also wanted to add that if you’re interested in even going farther, Julie is doing an amazing project called Art Journal Daily in 2011. I highly recommend checking it out. Julie is amazing.
Here’s the promised waffle shot from yesterday. Today was another day of “just sit around and do anything you wish” for me. I spent most of the day reading my book (third this week) while the kids played with their new toys.
David gave me a wonderful smile but sadly I didn’t catch it in time.
After exercise (me) and nap (Nathaniel) time, they played some more and I scrapped. Daddy tried to get some work done. David and I played some legos while Nathaniel watched his Thomas.
When Jake came back, he set up to play with David and Nathaniel sat at the table too and started grabbing David’s legos. Which David didn’t appreciate.
So he watched while David and Daddy played.
And played with the few legos I gave to him. (Looks so sad, doesn’t he?)
I finished my book and my scrap page. Now we’re all sitting on the couch, on the computer, and the kids are almost ready for bed. Which means more snuggling up with books for me. I am truly enjoying this downtime and wish it would not end.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for all these fun books I’ve been reading this week and that I get to start another one tonight.
2. I am grateful that I put all the Christmas scrappy stuff away and cleaned my desk. I am reading for some non-holiday scrapping.
3. I am grateful that got to play with David today. I love watching his excitement as he plays and even more so when he wins.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that i played with my daddy {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I got to play a little wii and win some new games
3. I am grateful that I played lego games with my mommy
I love this photo of our table so I wanted to make sure it ended up in our book.
for the back, I ended with a photo of all of us on Christmas day.
And that’s day twenty-five. And that’s also the end of the book for this year. I must admit I enjoyed it less than usual this year but I am still so glad I did it. The book ended up quite big.
But I am glad I used a binder book because it’ still much more firmly held together than the previous years’ books.
Love this project.
This is another project I did in 2010 that I loved. I really enjoy the arts and crafts, too but reading has a special place in my heart. So for 2011 I decided to continue my “a book a week” goal. Some weeks I won’t get to finish it and that’s ok but I know that I will read a whole lot more if I set this goal.
Here is my current list of 2011 books. They’re alphabetically sorted and you’ll see most of them are fiction. Some are young adult. Some are nonfiction. Some are from last year and some are new. I might only read a few on this list or many, it doesn’t matter, the idea is just to have a starting point.
- Ape House
- Before I Fall
- Before You Know Kindness
- By Nightfall
- Catching Fire
- cutting for stone
- Department of Lost & Found
- elsewhere
- Empire Falls
- Fly Away Home
- Flying Lessons
- Freedom
- Good Omens
- Graceling
- labor day
- Let’s Take the Long Way Home
- Linchpin
- Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand
- Man in the Woods
- Mary and O’Neill
- Mockingjay
- My Name Is Memory
- Ozma of Oz/Road to Oz
- Private Life
- Raising Jake
- Room
- Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk?
- stiff
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- The Big Short
- The Castaways
- The Coral Thief?
- The Devil in the White City
- The Distant Hours
- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
- The Imperfectionists
- The Magicians
- The Maze Runner
- The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz
- The Sea
- The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
- the unit
- the unnamed
- the whole world over
- the writing circle
- What I talk about when I talk about Running
- What I Wish I Knew when I was 20
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson
- World Without End
Here’s to another year of high quality reading. As always, if you have suggestions please leave comments. Last year, I read a lot of the suggested books and loved them.
Last night, right before I went to sleep, I set the table. Christmas breakfast is one of my favorite traditions and I love this table. Simple but beautiful to me.
In the morning, I filled the containers with fruit and got down to making the pancakes.
After breakfast, David got to open his stockings. Let’s just say he was excited.
Nathaniel didn’t really get the concept but once a few presents came out of it, he was fascinated with the stocking.
And played with his cars immediately.
Then it was time to open presents and we always start with the youngest and go in order. So Nathaniel started.
And then David.
Within minutes everyone was playing with their new toys.
Nathaniel didn’t really understand how he got to have more and more toys. David was quite a bit more excited than he was.
But he did love each toy. (especially this camera mommy got him.)
Daddy snapped some photos of me, too. Here I am holding one of my favorite presents, Karen Walrond‘s The Beauty of Different. David was delighted that her name is the same as mine.
I tried to get Jake to take a photo of me and the little boy, but he wasn’t having any of it.
Then we opened David’s present to us. A little candle holder he made and decorated at school. Even the bag was beautifully decorated.
There was some choo-choo watching in between as Nathaniel is completely addicted to Thomas now and cries and begs for it.
After the present-opening was over, I used my brand-new remote to get a photo of all of us. The light was low and it’s not the best quality photo but I still love it because we’re all in it.
And there came and went another Christmas. The kids are eating dinner now and David and I are about to make one more Christmas dessert and then it’s time to get settled down for the night.
I hope your day was wonderful and you were with the people you love. A very merry day to you. And see you tomorrow!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for another wonderful Christmas. For a simple day with my family.
2. I am grateful that we’re lucky and blessed to have many presents today and more importantly a safe place to be warm and together. I do not take that for granted. I am grateful.
3. I am grateful that I can now cozy up with my new books and just enjoy my time off.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. grateful that i get to open all my presents {* his pick for the journal}
2. grateful that I opened the presents in my stocking
3. grateful for my Christmas waffle (photo tomorrow)
4. grateful for my spiderman megablock toy
5. grateful for my new wii game and playing it with daddy
I have so much to be grateful for today, Mommy, he added.
Since this year is a lot about getting in the photos, I decided to put this photo of Nathaniel and me for the front page today. The colors matched a page I had slated for day 27 so I switched them around.
for the back, I put one of each of the kids opening their Christmas eve presents (they each get one the night before).
And that’s day twenty-four.
I normally take this album to day 31 but this year I decided to go with 25 days. I want to spend the last week planning and preparing for 2011 so having this project completed and my table cleaned will help me with that. So tomorrow is my last page. I’ve taken it very easy this year and have loved putting this album together even if it’s one of my simpler ones.
If you’ve been reading Karenika with any regularity, you’ve already noticed that I do a daily post each night that has these four components:
1. A random photo (might or might not be taken on that day
2. Photos + words of happenings around our house – my kids, hubby and me – from that day
3. Three things I’m grateful for that day
4. Three things my older son, David, is grateful for that day
While this takes a little bit of my time each night and I often worry that it scares away my blog readers, I love doing this project and it’s my version of Project 365+. So I decided to continue them for all of 2011. Depending on how the year turns out, I might or might not add some more to it. Maybe a feeling of thought of the day or something. Any ideas?
I love having a daily record of my life, even if it’s just a few words. And I’ve learned that I can stick to projects much better if they are frequent and consistent.
Here’s to hoping I can stick to it in 2011 as well.
Today was all about sitting around and doing nothing. I spent most of the day reading. I did exercise and I read to David. David spent most of his day on the computer.
And he finished his advent calendar which Nathaniel checked out with great interest.
And he was also busy being cute.
He watched Thomas while I read and he was very busy being super super cute sitting with me.
I asked Jake to snap some shots and we got these.
And then Jake and David skyped with Jake’s parents. They celebrated Christmas today since Jake’s brother is flying to Oregon early early tomorrow.
Then we lazied around a bunch more. And then finally got up and went to get some fruit for Christmas morning breakfast. By the time we got home, it was almost bedtime, so the kids got into their Christmas PJs and we opened the one present. We always start with the youngest so Nathaniel went first. He didn’t really get it at first and asked for help. But a tiny tear by David got him clear and he got right down to business.
David was next. He got a remote controlled helicopter.
And I got some beautiful penguins. Then it was Jake’s turn and he got a power tool which excited Nathaniel almost as much as it excited Jake.
After a while of charging, they all flied the helicopter. Nathaniel was super scared but he was also terribly fascinated.
Meanwhile, I did a little sketching and some watercolor.
And thus ended our Christmas eve. I am now wrapping the stocking toys and then back to my book. I do still have a few nagging todo items and some emails that need returning. But I promised myself that 24 and 25 would be no obligations, no self-nagging, just doing whatever I feel like doing. So here we are.
I hope you’re having a wonderful time and enjoying this great time of year with your loved ones.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful to see the joy in my kids’ faces as they open presents.
2. I am grateful that I got to sit, relax, and read so much of today. No guilt, just fun.
3. I am grateful that tomorrow is Christmas!!!
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. grateful that i get to open one present {* his pick for the journal}
2. grateful that I played on the computer
3. grateful that i watched TV
I loved that I had two wonderful photos of my kids so I sized them small and put them in the front. I added a sticker for each so I could journal a bit about what they did that day.
for the back, I put the presents photo.
And that’s day twenty-three.
Journaling Reads:
We lived in San Diego from 2003 to 2006. We didn’t live in Pacific Beach but, for me, PB will always be the quintessential San Diego. It is the perfect example of the breathtaking beauty and nature that city has.
At the time we were there, I remember missing New York. Not appreciating most of what I had. But now, when I look back, I am immensely grateful for our time in San Diego.
We recently took a family vacation to Pacific Beach. We stayed right on the pier and got to watch the sun set every night. We got to smell the fresh sea air. We got to play in the sand. We heard the waves crashing and saw fish being caught and the surfers. Of course the surfers.
There are many reasons why we left San Diego and many reasons why I wouldn’t want to live there again. But I am so very grateful for the time we spent there. Grateful that we got to call this breathtaking city our home, even if for a short while. And I am really grateful that we live a reasonable drive from there because I plan to visit many, many times.
I wanted to make some holiday themed journaling spots to use on my holiday pages so I thought you might want some, too. Here are the six journaling spots I’ve made:
You can download them by clicking here.
I hope you enjoy them! You are welcome to play with these as much as you want and use them anywhere you’d like. You are NOT allowed to sell them ever. You don’t have to but I’d appreciate a link back if you do use them.
These spots were originally posted at writeclickscrapbook.com
I couldn’t get this photo to look the way I like but I am too tired to mess with it. Will try something else tomorrow.
A quiet, uneventful day here. David spent a little time on the computer in the morning and then played quietly while Nathaniel napped. During then, he found this baby sock of his and wanted a picture with it.
Nathaniel was kind enough to wake up at 4am this morning and would not go back to sleep. He’s been sick with a runny nose so I am trying to be nice to him but I am so so so tired. When he woke up from his nap, David played some wii (in lieu of Saturday since it’s Christmas on Saturday) and Nathaniel played with his toys..
And David’s batman car.
he played and played quietly.
he and I went to the garage while David played wii and we finally wrapped all the presents. It’s finally looking like Christmas here.
On an impulse, I bought a new lens yesterday so when it came today, I used it to take this photo.
and this one.
It’s a zoom lens. I haven’t used one of those in a long long time. It’s 24-75mm though and a 2.8 which means I have wide range and relatively good light. So for now, it will stay on until after the holidays. I also got a remote for my camera so I can take photos of all of us with it. I am very exhausted now but I also feel so blessed and thankful for my life, my family and that I get some wonderful time off from work so I can be with the people I love so much.
I hope you’re safe, healthy and warm.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I have so much new equipment lately. I love and use each and every single one.
2. I am grateful that I finished my book and started a new one that appears to be a lot of fun. Right now I only want to read fun books, not sad ones.
3. I am grateful that we a few more days off. I cherish this time of year so much and want each of the days to go slowly.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. grateful that I have some more presents {* his pick for the journal}
2. grateful that I played wii
3. grateful that mommy and i finished our first book
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projects for twenty twenty-six
projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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