A Post--Can you believe it?

I have finally be able to do some journaling worth posting. I started taking an on-line class from LK Ludwig [ http://gryphonsfeather.typepad.com/the_poetic_eye/ ] and I have created a couple of finished pages that I really like. We were to take an existing photo from our stash and then take a current photo that echoed or reflected some same character as the original photo along with some techniques applications that LK shared with us. Here are the two I created:

Yesterday was really the first day of cool temperatures here in southeast GA. I took some photos of the change in the weather...

Yep. Looks pretty much like it does the rest of the year. The marsh grass takes on more of a yellowish hue instead of a bright green but that is about it. Not too many trees around here that loose their leaves or turn bright colors. Just the same boring green all year long... However, the temperature was in the high 40's (deg F) and it was a bit crisp for a little while. The high got around 70 which is pretty chilly here for this time of year. That is more like December weather. I enjoyed the break from the heat. Hope you are enjoying your weather where ever you are.

More "Tools"!

OK. I had a request that I show you all the art supplies that I purchased while away at Artfest. I paid a visit to Akamai (a local art supply store in Port Townsend) and it was very lucrative for both me and the store! Here are some of the things that I purchased:

These are some lovely handmade papers. This photo doesn't really do them justice as the colors are much more rich that what is shown here.

I love Micron Pigma Pens! And in all sizes, too! They will write over acrylics (dry) and are permanent when dry, too. I love them in my journals.

I saw someone at PLAY who was using the Inktense pencils. They are pretty cool. They are soluable in water and they look kind of like ink in intensity when they are dampened with water. However, once they have been made wet, when they dry they are permanent--which is a pretty cool quality if you are wanting to work with layers in watercolor.

I don't know anything about the Graphitint other than I liked the way they went on the page and I had all the other ones so why not buy these, too, to complete my stash??!!!! Yes! I hear you cheering for me! :-)

The small box of pencils are WAY cool! I took them to the Journaling Bonfire night and let my friends use them. They agree that they go on really soft and creamy--much like Prismacolor but not as waxy. They aren't too soft or too stiff. I think they are one of the best colored pencil sets I've ever used. They are woodless so the whole barrel is pigment. Pretty awesome, huh? They are made by Koh-i-Noor and they are simply called Woodless Colour Pencils. Very simple. As you can tell, I love pens and pencils!

I also purchased and assortment of Sharpie Poster Paint Pens. I just HAD to buy the black and white jumbo pens. If nothing else they make a great conversation piece! I also purchased some of their regular paint pens (oil-based) and I like them pretty well, too. They don't really have much of an odor and I haven't used them on thinner paper to know whether they bleed through or not. I liked the gold one I used on my 140# watercolor paper over watercolor and it worked just fine.

I love the poster paint pens, too, for working in my journals. They come in all sorts of colors including flourescents. Many say they are being discontinued but I don't know for sure. I've heard both yes and no from the company. Just to be safe, I bought several of the extra-fine black and white pens so I could have a little stash. The are just about the best pen I have ever used to go over acrylic and the white is truly opaque on even the darkest of colors. Love them!

The Copic Multiliners are new for me. They say they are permanent--even if colored over with another regular Copic marker. I love the fine tips and they write in my journals well so I'll pronounce them a keeper.

It is difficult to find a REALLY fine-tipped colored pen but Prismacolor has made one. The actually come in a few different small sizes but I chose just to purchase all colors in the 0.05 mm size. The color in this photo is a little off as the pen on top is actually a light purple. There is an aqua, couple shades of brown, black, blue, red and a carmel-y orange. If you like to write small and in color this could be the pen for you.

OK. There is a lot going on in this photo. The paint bottles at the top are a VERY fluid, metallic -- almost ink consistency -- and I plan on using them to splatter highlights on my pages. I'm sure they can be painted with or written with but I'm going to use them as spatter. I got this idea from my new friend Leslie Hale.

I picked up a few little and skinny Moleskins at Borders on the way to Port Townsend. I had ordered the Jellyroll Gel Pens from jetpens.com. The tape I got from Akamai. The yellow roll is actually "ruled" up to 12 inches and then repeats. This ought to be a cool journal addition. (I love tape, too!) The little boxes are the best little pen/pencil carrying boxes I've ever used. I got them from Akamai. I had bought one last year just to try out. It is the best travel box I've ever used so I bought some more to have this year. I think I have 4 now!

Well, this should about do it for supplies! (Lisa, this post was for you!) Next I'll get around to posting some stuff I made in my classes. My teachers were awesome and I'd do it all again given the opportunity.

Spring Day

It was too nice today not to post about the great weather we are having here today. About 80 deg F, breezy, low humidity and VERY sunny! Here are some pics of the backyard and some of the driveway. I just love all the lush greens that are out everywhere.

I hope you are enjoying your day where ever you are!

Back Again...

OK. So I am not a HABITUAL poster but it is because I am traveling and so busy with other things going on in my life. I just got back from Artfest 2009 in Port Townsend, WA but more on that in another post. Before I went to Artfest, I had to do some business travel to southern Alabama. Boy, that was and experience! And no, I WON'T go into it. (Most everyone was very gracious and nice but there were a couple of on-road experiences....I digress...)

On the way back from Mobile (my last stop on my business travels) on Friday, I took a layover at a friend's "cabin" on the Suwannee River in northwestern'ish Florida.

It was a great time catching up and then on Saturday we may some art in our journals. Mine isn't much but hey, I FINISHED another set of pages! Yay! I also found that I like adding pattern tissue to pages and writing on it. I like how it looked on the page. The blue hash patterns were made with a fork!

I love the way Suki created such luscious circles on her pages.

February Journal Page

I got so worked up about all of the politics and wasting of money going on that I had to journal about it. I had a page partially started (see post June 5, 2008) that spoke to me that I needed to write about my frustrations on it. I sure felt better about it all after I vented on those pages! I think venting can be healthy as long as it isn't hurtful to who ever you are venting on!

Any way, I was finally inspired to finish a page so yay! Have a nice day!

PLAY!

The last weekend of January I attended an art journaling retreat called PLAY. It was a wonderful experience for me this year. I attended last year (the first year of the retreat) as well but I think I enjoyed it even more this year than I did last year.

In 2008 I had a lot to learn about techniques and generally relaxing and enjoying my own work. I spent most of the weekend getting used to my surroundings and feeling intimidated by the work of everyone else. I took lots of photos of other people's work and of many sites around the Fort Worden campus where the retreat was held. I made several blank journals and struggled to put anything in the first one. It was a good trip and I learned a lot about me and what I really needed to start doing to enhance my journaling.

This year I was much more relaxed and I really enjoyed myself. I already knew almost half the people attending because they had returned from the previous year. The new attendees took from our excitement and contentment and I think it helped them to enjoy themselves more as well. Several of us had bought flowers for our tables and it was just wonderful.

Tracy and Teesha made us all feel at home comfortable with our style of journaling. They told us about new tools and techniques they had learn since our meeting in 2008. Here are some of the items I purchased for myself from them as well as Akamai Art Store in Port Townsend.

(Sasha has to check out and approve EVERYTHING that comes into the house...)

I found this really cool colored artists' tape that is like masking tape. The colors are bright and are really cool.

A new tool that I actually bought some of last year but didn't really know how to use it was the PanPastels. They are like a chalk pastel but they must have some kind of fixative in them or something because if you smooth them out enough over your pages they don't smear or transfer too much.

I used some on these journal pages that I started at the retreat and have been work on intermittently since I've returned. All of my friends can tell you that I am NOT a speed demon at working in my journals...

Steve made us all a small handmade journal and also gave us a really small moleskin-like journal and a wrap around closure that kept them together. He had printed "PLAY" and "2009" on the covers and what we all voted was a very close likeness of himself on the covers.

Teesha had included some cool information and a small cardboard-cover moleskin in our packets and several others distributed some cool trades intermittenly throughout the weekend. The "play" work on the green journal page above was received in a trade someone placed in my work area.

Here are some of my journal pages that I have started working on but have a way to go. "Darwin" has a "door" over his face that opens and closes. The inside has an egg on it. When it closes he has "egg on his face". There are fold over flaps on several of the pages. Some of them are smaller and some are a full-sized page.

Here are the junk journals that I made during the retreat. I have nice watercolor paper in the big one and cut up paper bags in the small ones. The journal pages I did above are in the big Cheerios one.

I had a great time and I hope I get to go back again next year!

Back Again

OK. I know. It has been a while since I've entered anything in here. And to be quite honest, I've not done a lot of art projects since the last entry. I am going to try to do better this year... I attended "PLAY: the retreat" in Port Townsend, Washington--a journaling retreat organized by Teesha and her husband Tracy Moore. It was a great time. I don't have time at the moment, but probably tomorrow I will give you some more details. For now, here is a photo of a small entry I did in Catherine's "get well soon" book (that also is a story for another day...) It was a fun weekend. Can't wait to share more with you soon!