I am so ready for spring! I thought it was here but apparently it was just teasing! 

HAPPY EASTER ATC

HAPPY SPRING! ATC

Easter Bunny Again - on a journal page

Song bird singing in Springtime - journal page

playing with Dylusions - journal page

This is a collage I've been working on for a while. It's done on a piece of  heavy cardboard, 22"X29".  I enjoyed working on it and am starting another one soon. 

willow in the sunset

Thanks for looking.

October journal pages 3 - 4 - 5

I'm a little behind in posting these pages from my October Journal. I had them done on time (surprise!) but my scanner is a little persnickety so I waited until I had several pages to scan before I messed with it.

Last Wednesday we were to make a page to eradicate a fear. I had some trouble with this because I don't really fear something until it's pretty close to in my face. But here's something that I really watch for when I'm outside. I'm thinking this snake needs a cartoon caption. What do you think?

eradicate a fear

The background on Thursdays is a little "bleck" but I was trying out some dylusions spray and man do I need more practice! The lime green didn't show up very well. It's really much darker than the scan shows it to be. I did the background but this is a collage not a painting. Well, someone painted it, it just wasn't me!

Combine lime green, teal blue and plum purple

This last one was an easy one. I Praise my Lord so that's what came to mind for this one. My vision was of  real people but I don't do them very well so I opted for these. I think I need some work on lettering as well. And again the colors are somewhat brighter than they appear here. Maybe my scanner is trying to tell me something?

Praise

My Barney book turned journal is working out really well. It's probably the phone book pages and Gesso rather than Barney but I really like the way everything works on it. Watercolor is a little pale but I'll just have to figure it out as I go.

An October Journal

On one of my Yahoo groups we are doing an October Journal. A prompt for everyday of the month (except weekends). I used an old Barney book that has 16 pages or 32 back & front. Covered each page with a phone book page then gesso. It really made a great journal.

October Journal Cover

I realize this isn't an October look but I'm very fond of dandelion "wishers" we call them. I may re-do it but for now what you see is what you get.

October 1

The prompt for Monday the 1st was "I am most "me" when. . .  The picture speaks for itself don't you think?

 The prompt for Tuesday the 2nd was to use a collection of things from the day or the week. Normally  things like receipts and junk mail go in the shredder not in my art work. I also used mail from the dentist, a Koolade package and leftovers from a birthday card I made. I may have gone a little overboard on the black spots. What do you think?

Yep, you guessed it. I am behind on this as well. You know what they say - The hurrier I go the behinder I get. That's me they're talking about!

This last one is just a random page I did. It started as a mess. The sprayer had a clog and spit and sputtered all over the place. It even got a little paint on the paper it was pointed at!

Journal challenges

I got a little behind in my journal challenges. Just 3 weeks behind, Hey, it could be worse. But I got busy and got them all done. The first one has been done a while I was just too lazy to scan it.

Challenge #7 opposites

This challenge was to separate the page in half and draw opposites. I just let the book center be the dividing line and did day and night in ink. I'm thinking I should have made the night side darker somehow but I actually just thought about it so - too late!

Challenge #8 Template

 This challenge was to work from a template which I am not very good at. I decided rather than paint I would do a collage. I thought the page looked pretty good until I scanned it. I know, you're thinking "why did she use those papers"? well, I've never really matched. Anytime my sister and I were going somewhere together she would always ask, "Are you wearing that"? so I knew something wasn't going together. But, did I go change, of course not!

challenge #9  A am a Radiant, Glorious, Fabulous Woman

This challenge was a real stinker.  "I am a Radiant, Glorious, Fabulous Woman". I have never even thought those words in regards to myself and it seems that everyone else doing the challenge had the same problem. BUT Raeven gave us all a kick in the butt and we got over it! For all you ladies that don't feel good about yourselves, hop over to Raevens blog and read her thoughts on the subject (and as she's a great artist, there's also a lot of very good art to look at). This is suppose to be a self portrait but I'm thinking this woman is a stranger. The grey hair now that's mine.

The Gnarly Oak

I have been alternately staring at and working on my canvas. Finally, I am finished. At least I think I am. I could be mistaken. I usually am. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it.

I couldn't get a good picture so I hope you can see it okay. I would like some feedback on it so please be honest in what you think. 

19"X20" The Gnarly Oak

I also took a photo of the card I painted for my Mothers 82nd birthday. I think it came out okay. She likes it so that's what counts.

A steampunk challenge

This week we were given a challenge to do a "steampunk" page in our journals. I've never done anything 'steampunk' and started to skip the challenge but after some research I decided it might be fun. It was! I love all those gears and gizmos so I'm sure I will be doing more.

This is the finished page for last weeks challenge. I wasn't very happy with it.  Sometimes you just need a little help from friends. The ladies on the ATCFUN group are great at  that. It's better but I'm not really liking it. Well on to the next.

And another face. I think I'm doing a little better on the faces.

Barnyard critters

Going through my stash I found these cutesy barnyard clips from an old calendar. Now I have some cutesy barnyard ATC's. 

This is the picture on my internet page - sort of.

These next two are journal pages. Tried another face. Along with a really bad bird in an un-gilded cage. Bad mojo this past week. Oh well.

pfffttttt

She's only a bird in a gilded cage, a beautiful sight to see

You may think shes happy and free from care

She's not though she seems to be

Tis sad when you think of her wasted life for youth cannot mate with age

And her beauty was sold for an old man's gold

She's a bird in a gilded cage.

I don't know who sang this.I'm not quite that old! I believe it was from the 40's.

sleepless

I woke up at 4:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up and worked on a journal page in my collage journal. It didn't scan very well. Most likely operator malfunction!

Maybe I'm not finished with it, then again maybe I am.

Confidence and Art

In one of my Yahoo groups we've been discussing confidence in our art. Some of us seem to have the same problem, believing that what we create isn't good enough. I think maybe instead of not being good enough I'm just not serious enough or not patient enough. I want the end result RIGHT NOW! I am going to work on my patience when I create. (I think it's a little late to work on serious). 

It's so hot out I've been working on a few things inside. I added borders on the flower ATC's. they look more finished now. 

 I found this unfinished one in my stash so finished it. Kinda plain, I may do something else to it. 

Someone in my ATC Fun group hosted a Birds swap. It really pained me but I resisted, it was hard but I prevailed! So now there's an owl swap. Really? Like I can NOT join a swap with owls. I'm so weak. I only made seven owl ATC's.

I worked in my journal a little. Very little, but here is a page I did. Surprise! It's an owl!

 

flowers

I finally got around to making a couple of ATC's but they don't feel finished. Maybe they need. . . bugs? bling? I'm not great at doing collages so I will have to get back to them later. 

Here are a few of the things I've done this past week.

ATC

ATC

CELEBRATE YOUR JOURNEY

KARMA

I did the Karma page while listening to music, 'Kamelot'. I don't do many faces as you can see. I have been sketching a lot of faces but have trouble with eyes and hair and lips and noses and . . .