Tag Archives: art

Sep 4

Day 4: Sweet Love

It’s simple Sunday. I like simple. Simple’s the word!

That’s an Instagram photo. Isn’t Instagram great?

Something I discovered yesterday that I didn’t mention (because I knew I would do it here  ;-) is a new place for scrapbook/art/craft inspiration: Studio Calico‘s Pinterest boards. I love Pinterest, and I pin there occasionally and do look around, but something on Twitter caught my eye and it was a link to one of Studio Calico‘s boards on Pinterest…and my mouth dropped open in amazement! It is filled to the gills with incredible talent, art, crafts, ideas, everything! I now have it bookmarked on my desktop to check out any time I need an idea or two. Check it out and be prepared to be amazed yourself!

Apr 26

A new photo-art collaboration to tell you about!

I am trying to feel better. Feeling less than normal just really sucks, and although I do not like the “H” word, when it comes to illness, I’ll just go ahead and say it. I hate it! Well, today, sitting here at the computer is not quite the torture it was yesterday, so I’ll talk a little bit about a new project Hubby and I have come up with. He has a new exhibit at our local art museum coming in August. He will be showing a large selection of his black and white photography, from his pinhole series, to Lost Lake and the surrounding foothills. It will be amazing. Then, several days ago, he approached me about an idea that I am really excited about: printing out smaller versions of his exhibit pieces, and creating a hand-made book, for sale at the museum. Since I love making journaling and notebooks, I have begun to explore hand-stitched books, particularly Japanese stab binding, and other forms of hand stitching pages into hand-sewn covers. This should turn out incredibly, if we can pull off what we imagine it to be. We will create one book for ourselves to be a sort of prototype to show, and then when we are perfectly happy with it, we will continue to go on to create maybe six more to display and sell at the museum. I am so excited! Each book will be quite an undertaking; knowing that we are both perfectionists, I’m guessing one book will take several days to complete, being that every detail will be done by hand. I know it will not be easy, but I am so happy we will not need to rely on third party red tape, or publishers. It will be a local, hand-crafted endeavor we will enjoy doing together; a collaboration of love that I know will make us feel proud and feel good! More details and progress notes when the times arise!

Apr 22

Evalicious!

Evalicious. I love the name of the blog. I love what’s in it, too. I know, I’ve been on a jag, lately, loving this person or that, but the truth is, there are so many awesome individuals out there with such admirable artistic qualities, I feel I must give credit where credit is due. And today, it is Eve Johnson, who runs Evalicious, a creative art company who happens to have big talent for wonderful scrapbook supplies. She is the creator of a unique “Destination mini art journal”, and it is so popular, it was on back order. I preordered mine, and received it today! Yipee! It’s gorgeous. I was in awe when I opened it. OMG, I can’t wait to go somewhere and fill it up with photos and journaling. Here is a snippet of what she has to offer:

this is a handmade envelope on the right

that's an ID tag! Genius!

Notably, I have been really into mini journals lately. I think there should be events in one’s live that deserve a book. Celebrities have biographies written about themselves all the time, right? Why shouldn’t you? Write it yourself, which has been my mantra, all along. There are many out there who are creative and good with words; I, however, am not. I applaud anyone who can write; you have a gift. I just have my scrapbooks;  that’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it! Happy journaling!

Mar 28

Art Hop!

Our town has a local art scene not enough of the locals really know about or appreciate, except for those who create art, or are married to those who create art. I’m in the latter category, Hubby is the former. Twice a month, a group of the artists get together for what is called “Art Hop”; traveling from one gallery to the next to see what is new and happening, engage in conversations, and maybe have some wine. Hubby and I decided to have a little “art hop” of our own last Sunday (minus the wine), visiting three local galleries to see the new exhibits. We really had a good time! We took our cameras, and just like I’ve mentioned before here, it got my creative juices flowing, and I couldn’t wait to do some art work of my own once we got home. This is the art I like to create:

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Happy trails!

 

Mar 21

Finding a new home for old photos…

Going through my supplies in the studio, I recently found some older photos thrown into an envelope. Oh, shame on me, I thought to myself! Every once in a while I will have an extra photo that just didn’t make it into a layout, but I can’t bear to toss them. Some, I have to admit are old originals that have been scanned into my computer, and I didn’t have a good place to keep them. I gathered some up, and decided that today is the day to do something with them. They need a home, and I just happened to have a Cindy Ruijgrok scrapbook kit purchased on Etsy a while back. Now, I have a cute new mini album, with fewer disorganized photos, and my library tray is a little fuller, as well.

I Want To Remember book

I  have only just begun to start filling the tray, but I know right now that it is going to be very enjoyable. Anything goes, and everything will! The index cards have patterned papers covering both sides with the tabs left alone; I will be adding more embellies to these, and to the many photos that will be going inside. I will show more photos as this progresses.

Also: I received an email from Big Picture Classes about a new self-paced class by a new instructor named Amy Tangerine. I haven’t heard of her before, but I quickly signed up for the class since it is discounted for a short period of time, since the synopsis sounded so good. I’ll be making more mini scrap journals; I watched some videos provided in the class and Amy has lots of tips and tricks for making them truly unique. It should be exciting! Here is the link: http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/creativejuice.php Check it out!  Happy crafting!

Mar 7

Inspiration strikes again…

Today I made a little book about inspiration; let’s just say I used the inspiration I found for a good cause. I talked yesterday about how stress can sap the creative juices out of me or anyone else for that matter, and reading Ali Edwards’ blog got me back on track. With permission, I printed out some of my favorite pieces of artwork she has posted, and put together a little something to help me in the future.

Thank you, Moirai compositor!

I am posting this in the hopes that anyone who is having, or has had a creative mental block can look at this and also find a way to get that groove back. The kit itself is from Cindy Ruijgrok (www.etsy.com/shop/CindyRuijgrok), and I basically just used the stickers that came with the kit, plus just a few things of my own. I wanted this book to be simple, highlighting Ali’s work. I think that finding inspiration is one thing, acting upon it is another. The key for me is not to try too hard, but to have a mindset that allows inspiration to find me, and having an open, peaceful mind, for me, is important. I find also, that the more I create, the less stress I have, and the more peace and happiness I feel in order to create more. It’s a cycle, and I have to have somewhere to start. Thus, this book. I hope it inspires you as much as it inspires me. Oh, and one more thing: One Little Word is the class I am taking with Ali Edwards’ at Big Picture Classes, and registration is still open (http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/onelittleword.php). You will notice the word “imagine” in the book, and that is my word for this year. I believe the class is also inspiring, and as you may have seen on a post from a few days ago, I have used my word to help me in so many ways. I encourage anyone to at least look into the class, or see Ali’s blog (http://aliedwards.com/) for even more creativity. She is also putting on a class called “On the Road”, which is a wonderful way to get started on learning how to make a beautiful travel journal. I’m taking this self-paced class as well, and I’ll have more on that at a later time. Thanks for joining me today, and happy scrapping!

Mar 6

Finding the elusive groove…

I’ve been trying to lift my spirits, lift my co-workers’ spirits, my moody preteen’s spirits, and keep my dear husband’s afloat. Work has been chaotic, my husband has his issues, and my child’s selective hearing makes me want to pull out my hair. Ugh. Life has not been exactly conducive to creativity…until now. This evening, I saw an image on Ali Edwards’ blog that suddenly gave me a push. She does artistic journaling, and looking through past blogs that showed different pieces she’s created really motivated and inspired me. I needed that. Etsy and ArtFire have not been exactly good to me, lately, but I can hardly blame them. My art, my projects and my craftsmanship have not been exactly inspiring, as Ali’s are. I think they rather produce yawns instead of comments, let alone profits. What’s a girl to do? Get inspired, and get down to business. How, I am not quite certain of…I feel inspired as of this evening, but any other ideas as to how to get those ideas to inspire others is another matter altogether. I am hoping to do some different kinds of projects, and I am hoping that more scrapbookers stumble upon me in the future. That will mean more work, and dear God, more patience on my poor family’s part. Wish me luck!

¶ As an aside, here is my retrospective on the month of February.

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Feb 24

Fun with photos

My husband is a photographer, and he’s currently preparing for an exhibit of his work to be shown at our local art museum in August. I get to reap the rewards of his “mistakes”; as he fine-tunes his images and prints them out; some he doesn’t like but instead of tossing the photos, I take them off his hands. I have made book covers with them to fold around books I have, as well as scrapbook extras and homemade notebooks out of them. He only works in black and white, and prints on matte paper, so they’re fun and easy to work with. This evening, I decided to make a scrapbook page out of a reject, just for fun. We always joke that while no one may pay attention to his work right now (save for some friends and the museum) , I say he’ll be like a Van Gogh and reap the rewards posthumously. One day, I tell him, his little “rejects” alone may be worth thousands, like the notes of Picasso discovered in an attic! Anyway, I appreciate my husband’s photographic work for more than one reason (notice my banner?), and the most important may be that I love him so darn much! Thanks for tossing your mistakes to me, honey!

Feb 13

A trip to the museum…

a contraband photo...sssh!

A few times a year, my husband and I enjoy visiting our local museum on a Sunday afternoon. Here’s a shocker: I live in Fresno. Yes, Fresno does have culture; it does in fact have artists, a museum, and even an arts counsel! Who knew?! Anyway, I think there’s no better way to get my artistic juices flowing than to visit a museum. I come home feeling jazzed about creating some art (for me in the form of scrapbooking), and having an overall heightened sense of inspiration. I am motivated to get down to business in my studio, and later in the day I will blog some more with new layouts. 

But more than that, I believe visiting a local museum or art gallery is good for one’s soul. Art doesn’t just have to be a pretty picture; if you are so inclined, look a little deeper and find a message, a political commentary, a satirical pun, an expression of one’s soul. I often find myself thinking, “Man, how did they think of that?”, or sometimes, “Genius!”, and, “That took a lot of work…” My husband and I always look to each other to compare opinions. We agree, we disagree, we see different things, etc., and it’s fun and refreshing to be so honest without any hurt feelings involved whatsoever. So, on this or any other Sunday, my recommendation to anyone reading this: visit a museum. Soak in the beauty, let go of preconceived ideas, free your mind and let yourself be mesmerized by art. You won’t be sorry! 

Two links to Fresno’s cultural oasis:

http://www.fresnoartmuseum.org/

 http://www.fresnoarts.net/

Enjoy!