Journal Post 11/30/12

Here is a way to use a page in the back of the journal where I test or clean off stencils (I got a new one! I think it's a chain link fence, and it's very cool).

Also, a colour I don't use often - black!



I drew orange swirls with a watercolour crayon and scribbled them into poppies with a pen. I can still see the pattern of the stencils right through them.



The black is another watercolour crayon. I actually don't have black in my regular watercolour set. It DOES have white though, which I never use. I'm sure one day I will discover why there is a white watercolour pan, what it's used for, and that it's amazing. Or something. 

Liquid Pearls

There is a set of these "pearls" at Michaels which piqued my curiosity, but were priced a little too high for me (like most scrapbooking toys). I found some single bottles and decided to splurge on one.



This one works way better than the 3D paint I bought at the dollar store. This one does seem to hold its shape much better (though it does shrink a bit after drying). It takes sooo long to dry, that even after 8 hours the tops got a little dented after closing my journal page.



It makes for some fun detail work, though. :3

Refresh Your Surroundings

For a while, this blog layout was feeling a bit "dark" so I finally came around to redecorate. Now it looks a bit more like my website, and consistency is good.

PLUS! It's almost winter where I live. It's already dark by 5pm most days, and it really puts a damper on my spirits. Who wants to go out or do errands when it's dark?

Not me. I'm a day bird. My apartment walls are bright yellow. I paint butterflies and flowers all winter long to remind me of nicer, drier days. Keeping an art journal is also a source of comfort; there's nothing like a little colour therapy!

So this winter, why not take 20% off of anything in my shop with this coupon code: WINTER2012

What do you do to fend off the winter blahs?

Journal post 11/24/12

I haven't taken much advantage of the absorbant surface of the pages; these are the last few layouts of the book where I clean off the stencils and they end up sticking together and tearing. So I'm using up more of the many many many scraps of things hanging around. I love the colour scheme, though.

Inner Turmoil

"Negative thoughts, grudges, unfinished business planted in our hearts and suppressed there. They grow and mature and eat away at the flesh until there is nothing left, when they suddenly burst forth and expose their wrath to unsuspecting witnesses."



Available Here.

When You Feel Flightless

This weekend, before I left for day two of A Piece of Work, a Varied Thrush hit our window. At first, I thought the sound was our cat Milo's paw hitting the window, as he happened to be looking through the glass and naturally tried to catch it. When I looked outside to see what was the matter, I expected it to be a windblown leaf, not a bird frozen in shock!



It seemed to be in good shape (just a little woozy), so I paused to marvel at its pretty colours. It sat in the dry bucket with an old towel for nearly an hour before taking off.

I thought about the bird periodically throughout the day, so naturally I was drawn to Shannon's little paintings she'd brought to the show that morning. 



We made a trade!

I chose this particular one because it really is terrifying to take a chance and fail. And there is a lot of failure, don't get me wrong.

A lot.

Of failure. 

But I think once you fall down a few times, jumping just doesn't seem as scary as it once did. There will be bruises, and embarrassment... but there is also exhilaration!

That's one of the nice things about collecting art, in that it is an in-your-face reminder of something lovely. When I look at this painting, I will remember the pretty bird that visited us that morning. I will remember all of the people I met at the show and all of the lovely things they all said. And I will remember it everyday, instead of only on the odd chance I flip through my scrapbook. 

This is good, because when I'm not thinking about this potential, I do feel a bit flightless. I hope that this will continue to remind me of things that truly matter :3

Post Fair Bliss

Ohhhhhhh I am floating on cloud 9 right now! I am resting up from the weekend show in White Rock which was a ton of fun! While there was not much profit to be had from this craft fair, I got to meet up and chat with some cool people!



Finally got to meet Violette Clark in person, and traded goods with Shannon Ganshorn. I got to taste some pretty amazing wine vinegars (I think I have more wine vinegars now than actual wine - oop!).



And now I'm totally poooooped and relaxing on the couch with a hot meal (after a day of nibbling on dry crackers) and a yummy iced mocha.

mmmm.