Ink and flowers

Hi!  You might have wondered about my lack of posts lately.. I went on medical leave from work a couple of weeks ago.  My pregnancy is complicated and I could not work anymore.  The baby is healthy, but physically I need to lay down as much as possible and it is really hard to sit or stand without a lot of pain.  I have only about 3-4 weeks left to go and I'm ready!  I haven’t felt much like doing anything except sleeping and mindless activity, so I haven’t kept up on blogging. 

Image via Buntis

You know how people say art heals and art journaling is what they do when they don't feel well or whatever?  Well, that is not true with me!  It takes a lot of effort to do anything when I'm not feeling well and I feel like doing anything substantial is overwhelming.

This page is from several weeks ago.

I have some good art-related news though!  I LOVE Stephanie Corfee's artwork and splurged on an online course she was offering.  It's open all year so I will be able to catch up on it after the baby is born and throughout the school year.  I needed something to cheer me up after feeling horrible so much!

So, then, after deciding to sign up for Stephanie's class, I received notice that I had won a giveaway on Alisa Burke's blog for a SEASON PASS to her online art classes for the Spring/Summer.  It pays to subscribe to lots of blogs!  These also are open for a year after the launch date so I will have plenty of time to work through them..

So, yay!  I'm looking forward to watching their videos to get some creative ideas.  


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Butterfly Art Journal Page

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Fruit and Flowers, a Mouse and Me!

Fruit and Flowers:
I colored in the sketch that I showed you here.  I mostly used colored pencils, watercolor pencils and watercolor paints. 

A Mouse:
My 5th/6th graders are painting animals and my go-to demo is always a mouse or hamster.  I love cute rodents.  The kids are always astounded when I show them how to make furry texture with a fan brush!  So fun.

Me: 
Here I am at 33 weeks pregnant!  Time is ticking away.  Hopefully the sooner the better!

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Day 5 & 9 from One Drawing a Day

 **I joined an artsy book club on Facebook.  It was started by another elementary art teacher but there are other artsy people in the group who are not teachers.  You should come join us!  We are just starting to work through the book One Drawing A Day: A 6-Week Course Exploring Creativity with Illustration and Mixed Media.**

Day 5's assignment was to create washes with diluted ink and pen on top.  The subjects were people or animals.  Here is what I came up with.

Happiness is...

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One Drawing a Day

I joined an artsy book club on Facebook.  It was started by another elementary art teacher but there are other artsy people in the group who are not teachers.  You should come join us!  We are just starting to work through the book One Drawing A Day: A 6-Week Course Exploring Creativity with Illustration and Mixed Media.

The 2nd assignment was to draw with pen and dip ink.  The lines were supposed to be more loose and free, but I was having fun drawing the detailed butterfly.

** If you haven't already voted, please help me out!!  Many of you know that I have another blog, called Art is Basic, which is all about my teaching in the elementary art classroom.

I’m happy to announce I’m in the running for the top 10 art ed blogs of the year over at The Art of Ed.   I would be so honored to have your vote for Art is Basic. ****


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One Drawing a Day Book Club

I joined an artsy book club on Facebook.  It was started by another elementary art teacher but there are other artsy people in the group who are not teachers.  You should come join us!  We are just starting to work through the book One Drawing A Day: A 6-Week Course Exploring Creativity with Illustration and Mixed Media.

 

It seems to be work-at-your-own-pace, at least I know I won't be able to keep up every single day.  The first assignment was a pen drawing of a still life set up of stuff you find around you.

Drawing right with pen is harder than it seems.  I was so worried about drawing a line wrong it was hard to loosen up.  I pretty much always use a pencil first when drawing, so I feel a bit more free with my lines, knowing that I can erase.


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Vote for My Art Ed. Blog!

Hi friends!

Many of you know that I have another blog, called Art is Basic, which is all about my teaching in the elementary art classroom.

I’m happy to announce I’m in the running for the top 10 art ed blogs of the year over at The Art of Ed.   I would be so honored to have your vote for Art is Basic. You can vote for multiple blogs and I think you can vote every day this week..  

All of the other blogs are great ones too and I'm happy just to be nominated.


http://www.theartofed.com/2014/02/03/finalists-announced-and-voting-open-2013-art-ed-blog-of-the-year/


Thanks for your support!

Ready Steady Go Art Journaling

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Whimsical Girl Drawing

From my Instagram... a sketch of a girl.  I got a few DVDs from Interweave (there was a really good sale close to Christmas) which I looked at over my winter break. 



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Organic Shapes, Dots and Doodles

What is your definition of an art journal page?  Do you consider mixed media collages (even without words) to be art journal pages?  

My students at school saw me making this and they were so excited.  "Wow!  Can we make something like this?"

The Molotow Paint Marker in white is my new favorite marker!  It wrote over all these paint layers really well.  When I ordered it through that link above, I received a box of 6 markers (I think).  I don't know if that was a mistake and if it was only supposed to be one, but I was only expecting one marker. 

Linking to Paint Party Friday and Art Journal Every Day.

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Backgrounds in My Art Journal

I made some fun and funky backgrounds in my art journal that I have not shown you yet.

If you are getting ready to do some crafting for Valentine's Day, I have some digital collage sheets in my Etsy shop with vintage Valentine's. 

I also have a few sets of vintage Valentines where the actual Valentine will be mailed to you.  These have been going FAST!  Most people on Etsy are selling these for $1-4 per card and I decided to just sell them in groups for much cheaper.  So, these are going for 25 cards for $18.  I also have a couple sets left that are in smaller quantities.

And for you, my blog readers, I have a coupon code that will be good through the end of February for 20% off everything in my shop.  Use the code "BlogReader" when you check out. 

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New Art Journaling & Project Life Cards in My Etsy Shop

I ordered some new designs for scrapbook cards.  In this previous post, I explained how I made the cards. I like to have little pieces of collaged paper to use as backgrounds in my art journaling and Project Life scrapbooking, so I photographed sections of collages that I made and printed them off into the perfect size for Project Life sleeves.

I really like the quality of how these cards turned out.  When printing these, there are minimum quantities to order and I don't think I will ever use all of them, so I put some of these in my Etsy shop.  Hopefully if I earn some money from these, I can print off more designs!  I'm also open to trades if you have your own homemade Project Life style journaling cards (or homemade stickers, I love stickers.)

Here are some pictures from my shop:

"The cards are meant to bring a colorful burst to your projects. You can use these as a layer in:

• greeting cards

• Project Life books (the cards are sized at exactly 3.94" x 2.88" in order to fit into Project Life sleeves)

• art journals

• traditional scrapbooks

• or just flip the back over and write an uplifting note to a friend.

I like to use these by gluing a small photo on top and outlining the photo to make it stand out against the colorful background. Another way to use these is to glue a smaller piece of light paper on top (or stick a label on it) and add some writing.

You can buy a set of just one design or you can buy a set with all 5 designs.  Check it out at my shop.


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"Count the Stars" Lettering with Paper Scrap Background

After a two week winter break from school, we are having another 2 days off from school!  The wind chills are down to -55 degrees F and the actual temperatures are around -20 F.  This is the coldest it's been in about 10 years.  They've already called off school for tomorrow too.  

Daria and I played a lot of My Little Ponies, made some scones, watched some tv and I practiced some image transfers and painting while she played with my art stuff.  I thought today would be a good day to catch up on some blogging.

A few weeks ago I made this "Count the Stars" picture in my art journal.  I liked the strips of colors in this pin and decided to make something inspired by the background.  

1.  I started by sketching out the letters with a pencil.

2.  Then I outlined them using my Pilot Varsity Fountain Pen (my favorite pen ever.) 

3.  Next, I filled in the areas around the words with strips of blue and turquoise scraps.  Some pieces of patterned tape were added too.  I cut out the hexagon shapes and added a little colored pencil on the edges to make them stand out.

4.  The letters are colored in with colored pencils and white paint markers.  I looked at areas within the background that I thought could use little patches of watercolor paint and added in some extra color.

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Starlight Whimsical Girl

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