Animal Wednesday: Journal Journey

I've been a bit quiet on the blogs lately because I'm trying to instill some self-discipline towards working. Today I painted this journal for Etsy.

I scooped up a couple of these at Michael's Craft Store knowing right away what I would add. I think any one of you could have guessed!

Yes indeed, my raven friend! I painted him with an acrylic paint base and then detailed him with colored pencils.

And then I added this to the back. So true, don't you think?

So here's my Animal Wednesday post for this week, a journaling journey!

xo♥

Thankful Thursday: My Traveling Journal Has Found Her Way Home

Well here she is! My book from the ArtySoulSisters project has finally come full circle.

I'm having an awful lot of trouble with my computer today (and my stiff neck from my fall) so please click on this link to see the entire project, page by glorious page.

This will be a forever keepsake. I admire each and every one of these women that helped me put together a book with a "journey" theme, whether spiritual or physical.

Thank you ladies! You sure do rock!  

Please click to enlarge the beauty!

This was a labor of love from the start.

xo

Marianne's back pages by Lolo

What I love about this patterned paper is often times it can be as it is. For instance, this little bluebird is sitting in the middle of a mandala shaped design. All I did was write this in the middle..."This little birdie brings a message of love from lolo in Rhode Island to Marianne in the Netherlands."

The larger piece of paper (because it overlaps the first) is filled with these wonderful organic shapes like flowering branches. I wanted to put a raven in there but I think a Red-Winged Blackbird is quite a better choice this time. Besides, he's such a hopeful sign of Spring!

I colored in some shapes here and there to give this side more color.

There you have it. Now tomorrow it will go to Joss!

More Journal Pages for :Lynn & Mim

I had two journals in front of me this week so I tackled both of them yesterday.

This is Lynn's page. As you all know she sews, quilts, paints, does fabric assemblage and many other things. I can't keep up with her! My first thought was to paint her under a "Dream Quilt" and to have her wonderful cat Henry V napping with her. The poem came later.

I used watercolors (mistake!) to paint on loose canvas. The paint kept beading up but I worked it in with a lot of patience! It needed some pizazz so I added glitter here and there. It didn't scan well but it sure shines in person.

For the back page I used my greeting card program and chose a quilt background. Then I chose a shape to place the poem in. Just a quick little diddy I wrote in a few minutes.

I'm no Emily Dickinson! Anyway, there you go. A tribute to Lynn and her sewing talents!

Now for Mim's pages...

Mim asked us to make her journal about women. Strong women, magical women, etc.

I went through my archives and found my Wallflowers and Bagladies that some of you may remember. The Wallflowers were named so because of the patterned paper I painted them on which resembled wallpaper. The Bagladies were all drawn and painted on brown paper bags.

I love that there are nine of them and nine of us sharing this journal. Kismet!

It took me a while to scan them and print them the right sizes for the collage but it was fun putting them all together.

The poem on the back is what I came up with after looking at all of 'my girls' together.

Wallflowers and Bagladies,

Strong.

Independent.

Thinkers, dreamers, doers.

Conquering fears,

persuing dreams,

rising to the top

like the sweetest cream.

So there you have it! I hope you ladies like your pages ;)

My Artysoulsisters Journal Pages

There are nine of us artysoulsisters from around the world collaborating on nine journals. We each begin one and then we all add a page or pages to one another's book. Some of us have themes, some are freestyle.

I was going themeless at first, but as my pages evolved I realized I'd like my book to be about journies, physical ones or spiritual ones.

After all, we're all on one great big one!

I started out with our cross-country move. The snail represents the slow way home, driving vs. flying. My belongings and loved ones are on the snail's back, Emma and Bliss trying to find balance in the chaos, and of course my raven guide is along for the journey!

It wasn't too far into the trip that I realized this was more than a physical move.

I drove every single mile myself, nearly 3,800 because we detoured for a visit to my sister in Colorado. There was a nasty spider bite I had to contend with and two very scary near-misses on the highways. There were guides with us for sure!

The snail gets us to our destination leaving her glittery trail along the way. No slime in my journal! We open the doors that are clearly marked 'home' and find an envelope inside.

There are keys in the envelope welcoming us home. Little did I know that this journey would be this hard. I have come back to old friends and loving family but I deeply miss California and the life I had there.

I'm hoping when I emerge in the Spring I'll feel renewed with hope and happily settled into my new life and fill my studio with new art.

Luckily, nothing keeps me down!

Please check out the other fantastic journals at Artysoulsisters blog and follow our progress!

Animal Wednesday: Caroline's Journal Page

Many of you know that there are nine of us ladies from around the world making art journals in a group started by Soulbrush. We call ourselves the Artysoulsisters! We pass the journals along so each one of us does a page in each book, some with themes and some without but all are fun and challenging.

Caroline's theme is about colors and textures but somehow a raven snuck into mine. Go figure! He looks very content, don't you think? Well, there's a good reason for that.

This is what Raven found in his search across the globe.

What can it be?

And so it is.

May we all continue on our journies with passion and purpose.

Please click here to see the other journal entries. They're so much fun!

Happy Animal Wednesday everyone!

Journaling Coast to Coast

Years ago I met a lady through the mail when I joined a postcard group that she started. We really hit it off and are still friends today, many years later. She has a journaling blog and I keep promising her I'm going to start one. I finally had the idea that we should each buy one, do an entry and send them to each other for the next entry. At the end we'll have 2 journals that we've collaborated on and we'll each have a nice keepsake!

Here's the journal I started. The cover was just the stripes and I added the design. And here's my first entry, a two page spread. Now it's winging its way to New Jersey from California for Em's entry which I know will be fantastic! I'll post them all as they are created. Thanks for looking and sharing our journey!