New Sketchbook! and What's On My Workdesk

This is what is on my work desk lately:

Work desk, kitchen table, art studio, couch... wherever!
To make my new sketchbook, I took a variety of painted papers, scraps and blank paper and cut them to size. Then, I cut a piece of thick black board to fit the sketchbook.  I bound the book on either side, so it opens up to a four page spread!

Did you know there is a weekly blog feature by Stamping Ground where people share what is on their workdesk?   There are lots of artsy craftsy things going on with those participants.



I bought a spiral binding tool!  I was like a kid at Christmastime with this thing. It is the Zutter Bind It All.  I bought mine from Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon, so it was only about $38.  I figured it was a good investment, considering I've been taking stacks of papers to the copy place to have them bind my things for about $5 or $6 each time.  So, if I bind about 8 books it will be worth the price of binding them at a store.  Plus, it's just so much fun!  It took a little finagling to figure out how to punch the holes quickly and evenly.  But, now I think I have the hang of it.  I thought if it was easy I would take it to school to bind kids' sketchbooks, but it is too time consuming to punch all the holes and bind a book together.  It is not a quick process, but the punching and binding is a satisfying process.  So, it will be for home use.


This was an old (like 10 years) greeting card I made that I cut in half and bound in the book.

I added some fun ephemera into the book.  These two I bought from Etsy.

Paintings cut up and bubble prints on the right.

I cut up this painting and added it to the book.  It was just sitting in my closet anyways.  Scrapbook paper in the middle..

The page on the left is from a very old book about creativity.

Cut up ink painting on left and creativity text from that same book on right.

Painted backgrounds and cute illustration.




These papers were made by laying fabric, ribbon and doilies on a color copier. 
Julie Balzer has a weekly blog feature called Art Journal Every Day which you should check out if you are into art journaling.

Just Journals Link Party


Just Journals Link Party


Do you keep a written journal?  Do you create colorful collages or paintings in an art journal?  I'd love to see all of them.  Are you a scrapbooker?  I think all of these count as journals.  Let's share them with each other.

It's time again to show off your fun art journal pages! Add your link to the list below.  If you are reading from a blog reader, you might need to pop on over to the actual blog post.

Grab a button for your page:


Here is one of my most recent pages:

Linking also to Random Journal Day!!  Pop on over there to see more journals!

 

Etsy Sale-- 35% OFF

I'm trying to clear out some of my inventory in my Etsy Shop for the end of this cycle of goods.  Would you be interested in some vintage ephemera?



Or maybe a collage pack?



Or maybe you would be interested in some of my ACEOs?


To receive 35% off your order, type in coupon code:  JulySpecial at the checkout!  There won't be another sale like this until Black Friday.

Anonymous


Check out Art Journal Every Day to see other art journal pages!

Project Life


I have actually finished the Disneyworld scrapbook.  I will show you more pages later.  As I progressed through the book, I decided to color coordinate the pages and I think those look better than just assembling the pages randomly (which was how I started.)  My favorite spread is the page above, where I used oranges and yellows to match the color of Tigger and Pooh.

more color coordinating.. pinks and reds

Blue color... I picked out blue to match the blues in the castle and sky..  That's Daria's hand.  she loves to see the pictures.

And reds and pinks.  That top picture is the day we all wore our red Bucky Badger t-shirts (University of Wisconsin).  Yes, kind of silly, but also it was cool because we had about a dozen groups of people come up to us to tell us they were from Wisconsin too and we randomly had all kinds of little conversations with people.



Collage Journal Pages











Extreme Page Makeover!

This first page was one I drew while in a long car ride. I was just sketching little characters and coloring. After it was finished, I decided I did not like it. too cutesy.. tthe characters just looked kind of boring, and the page looked too chaotic. So I did an extreme page makeover.
BEFORE

I painted over much of the picture with white paint and added an image printed on tissue paper.  I added some pink spray ink as well.  Messy, but I like it a bit better now.



AFTER






Video of Sketchbook





Hello all! I hope you are doing well. I had forgotten about this sketchbook I had finished. What I did was create various paintings and collages on papers and in different sketch pads. Then, I cut out all the ones I liked and had them bound together at a local UPS store. Enjoy! Florence and the Machine is my new favorite band. I did hear of them first on that commercial, which you will probably recognize when you listen to this song on the video! Their other songs are awesome too. I'm linking this to Paint Party Friday because there are a lot of paintings in here.  Also, It's a Hodge Podge Life and Art Journaling Every Day.

 You can see many of these pages in my flickr photostream!

More Art Journaling with Stamps






Treasure Hunt

Seth Apter, from The Altered Page, is challenging his readers to re-post "hidden gems"... blog posts from the past that you may have missed.

I originally started a blog that combined teaching elementary art and my own personal artwork, but I decided to separate the two out.  My other blog is called Art is Basic.   This is some artwork I made 4 years ago for my nieces.

What to do with all those family photos? Want to make a special gift for a holiday or occasion? These family photo collages are so fun to make. Using scrapbook paper, ribbons, photos and other bits and pieces of ephemera, make a montage incorporating a family photo or two. Add paint on top to tie the whole piece together.

Sonia, 2008 My niece, Sonia.

Lucy, 2008

I was inspired by and used techniques from Corey Moortgart's book.  I have purchased 100's of art books over the years and I end up reselling a whole lot of them.  This is one I've hung on to and enjoyed over again.

What's on My Bookshelf?: Jesus for President

I am starting a new blog series called "What's on Your Bookshelf?" 


When I post a "Bookshelf" blog post, I will share what I am currently reading.  It might be

Fiction or Non-fiction
Art related or Not

Whatever currently inspires me or I am enjoying...

I will give an honest review of my thoughts.

I will invite you to create your own blog post revealing what's on your bookshelf.  Tell us what novel you are reading, what you think about it... give us a glimpse into the book... in a few sentences, or in a longer post.  Pictures are always nice too!  Maybe we will all find new books to add to our "to read" list.  Add your link here. If you are reading from a blog reader, you may need to go to the actual post to add your link.


Grab a button for your page:





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What's on My Bookshelf?

Currently I am reading In Her Shoes, by Jennifer Weiner.  It is a "chick lit" book and an easy read.  I am almost finished with it, and while it is not my favorite book ever it was enjoyable.

 I just finished Jesus for President.  I loved it.  With the upcoming election, I would encourage all who are interested/believe in Christianity to read this book.


Words and images are woven to tell the history of Jesus and the Christian church.  Approximately the first half of the book is about Jesus and the church history.  The second half (approximately) continues with current applications and ideas.

What is the way of Jesus?
from page 100, " But Jesus' revolutionary patience claimed that another kingdom is coming-- one that you can participate in, but not cannot build, a see you can plant and water but cannot make grow.  You can't drag the kingdom of God into the world.  But you can't stop sowing the seed either.  Sow them everywhere!"

from page 290, " .. But we are convinced that Jesus came not to prepare us to die, but to teach us how to live.  The kingdom of God is not just something we hope for when we die but something we live "on earth as it is in heaven."  And we're not willing simply to promise the world that there is life after death when the world is asking, "Is there life before death?"  We are thankful for heaven, but we are not willing to stand by and watch people live through hell to get there."... page 291... "Hell is not just something that comes after death but is something many are living in this very moment:  1.2 billion people groan for a drop of water each day; more than thirty thousand kids starve to death each day..."
Can war ever be "just"?  Is there another way?  I found myself nodding along in agreement on nearly every page.

Can or should Christians be patriotic?  As Christians, shouldn't we break down the borders and raise every countries' flag because we are ALL brothers and sisters in Christ?

I love all the illustrations the authors chose to accompany their pages.


Republican?  Democrat?  Does it matter?  How should I vote?  Should I even vote?  

The authors remind us that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and this book reaffirmed my anti-war viewpoint.

from page 178, "The US arsenal is the largest stockpile of nuclear weaponry in the world, equivalent to over 150,000 Hiroshima bomb (www.warresisters.org). The US military budget is over 450 billion per year, and it would take the combined budgets of the next 15 countries to equal that of the US (Russia is the next biggest spender at around 70 billion, China at 50 billion and the the entire "Axis of Evil" is less than 10 billion (truemajority.com). 


So there you have it, my first entry in a new blog series (monthly?  every other week?) titled "What's on My/Your Bookshelf?".  Please join me and create a blog post sharing what you are reading!

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesdays




What's on my workdesk this week?   A couple in-progress collage paintings!


The size of this painting is only 18"x24".. maybe it looks bigger in the picture? Linking to Paint Party Friday!