December Journal page

Here's a new page inspired by Nancy's wrapping paper and our department's visit to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The Chihuly art is a color transfer on adhesive tape.

GPP - Girls on Film

Green Pepper Press, December challenge:

Michelle's challenge to get ourselves on film before the end of the year came at a great time. Here are some photos from a recent business trip to Southboro, Mass. I finally had the opportunity to meet my fellow co-workers who I've been working with since July. I enjoyed meeting them and seeing my old college stomping grounds -- Boston.

We took a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts -- another place I frequently visited in my 20s -- for a Degas collection and a Chihuly Christmas tree!

A perfect opportunity for me to get some photos! Enjoy! And Happy New Year!

Chihuly glass tree at MFA, Jacqui, Aaron and me.

The entire MarCom team: Aaron, Jacqui, Lorna, me, Nancy and Jacki, in front of the 80-foot Faneuil Hall tree.

The entire team at Mike's Pastry, North End, Boston. The best limoncello cannoli you ever tasted!

Jacqui and I work side-by-side everyday. It's truly a joy to work with her!!

I encourage you to get on film! Read about the challenge at Michelle's site.

Green Pepper Press Street Team - All The World's A Stage #57

This month Michelle challenged us to express the songs that make us Sing It Loud! I started creating a stage -- but switched gears to a disco theme since I am a girl of the 70's! I dedicated the page to all those songs that take me back to when I was singing and dancing in discos. I studied dance in college, and funny as it sounds, we all went out dancing to relax from all the ballet classes, choreography and rehearsals! I also remember going to some of my first discos with my older brother. You'll notice that I used the "Disappearing Act" page backgrounds. The swirls felt perfect for the expression of music and dance.

The second page represents a song that I sing constantly. As you can see, when I sing I dance - they are interrelated for me! Sway - by Dean Martin, Matthew Morrison or Michael Buble (I downloaded all three) - is one of my favorites right now. It plays in my head all day long!

I always play music when I am journaling, so just for fun, I opened my old journals and found this Disco page from 2003! I remember my daughter, much younger then, was watching a movie with a friend when she heard me blasting this song while journaling. She said, "Hey, that's a 70's disco song!" -- Yes, I answered, I used to be young!

I encourage you to try it yourself! Read about the challenge at Michelle's site.

Green Pepper Press Street Team - I'm a Believer #56

Michelle challenged us this month to journal what art and being creative means to us. I immediately created my believer page -- I'm a believer in art journaling, and those of you who know me, know this is very true. I inspire others to journal and can thank Michelle for introducing me to art journaling.

My second page is my creativity page which shows I've been expressing myself thru many types of art for many years. You may notice that I used the "disappearing act" pages from last month as the background for these pages. I wanted to include (but I ran out of room) that I only wish I had more time to be creative, but life's little necessities get in the way!

The page below was created on one of those days when I questioned who I was, and wondered if I was any good at what I do, and wondered if I was making a difference... (It's a watercolor crayon on gesso background)

I created this next page a few years ago -- but wanted to share: It was created to visualize all the compartments of my life during a time when I was feeling very overwhelmed. It symbolizes how therapeutic art journaling can be.

Thanks, Michelle, for all your talent and energy you put into the challenges. We love them!

Read more about the challenge at Michelle's site

Green Pepper Press Street Team - Crusade #55

Michelle's next challenge included background color and disappearing overstamping of bold stamps. I did some playing here. The second one was completed, but I felt compelled to cover with gesso and spray with more orange -- for more "disappearing"! I plan to play some more - this is very fun!

Stencils found

Due to the hurricane, storms and saturated ground, my dad's basement flooded. I visited in an attempt to help with some of the cleanup. In the process, I found an old box with my Mom's stencil lesson plans. In a way it was spooky, as I just put together a stencil class three months ago and it was almost identical to what I found in this box that is over 20 years old! Most of the papers were damaged, but I did save two hand-cut stencils and used them on a journal page. My dad and I took a stroll through the yard and went to my favorite apple tree because underneath it four-leaf clovers always grow. We found at least 10!! Even a five-leaf!

Green Pepper Press Street Team - Crusade #54

This month Michelle challenged us to think of words, phrases, song titles, etc., and then mix a color to match the name. This was an extension of last month, where we mixed colors and then named them. This was really hard for me, but I couldn't figure out why. Then it dawned on me! I never "think" when I journal, I just let my feelings flow onto the page.

Before I actually read the challenge, I felt the need to express "peace" in my journal. This is what happened:

After I read the challenge, I realized this was similar to what Michelle was asking us to do! Not quite the same -- but I was on the same wavelength!!

So, I got to work thinking about songs, words in songs, things around me and came up with this. The first page includes favorite words, phrases and Wind in Bamboo is the name of a song. I recently saw the Glee movie (yes, I'm a Gleek!) so page two features my favorite glee show-stoppers.

This was a fun challenge. Thanks, Michelle, for making me think!

Read more about the challenge at Michelle's site.

Green Pepper Press Street Team - Crusade #53

This month's GPP Street Team theme is Mad Scientist - when playing around with paint we often get mixes of color we love. These are old journal pages that started out with a fall color background with leaves stamped on it, but it looked too "cheesy" for me. The page sat there for months, then one hot summer day I covered it all with some red paint and got all these shades of pink, orange and peach! The heart tag was from a Lynn Perrella sheet and I extended the paint onto map pages - one of my favorite techniques. I call this color: summer heat.

A more recent page is shown below. For the background on the right hand page, I used ochre ink and then layered with violet chalk ink and then finally some fresco cream glaze. I love the colors created here - which I would call golden glow and warm violet! I used a watercolor crayon to accent the cut-out heart.

Join the crusade at:

http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/

Vacation mini journal

I never journal on vacation, because I don't know how to travel with my "stuff". This year I was determined to try it. So, I pulled out a mini journal I bought years ago and placed it in a plastic container with a few markers, watercolor pencils, a waterbrush, and some paper scraps from my art table. Then threw in 3 rubber stamps, some "cat's eyes" pigment ink pads and some rub-on letters. I am studying the five principles of Japanese reiki (a scrap on my table)- so these were included as well. I had to use what I had!

Here are a few of my favorite pages on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancingdrgnfly/5919681862/in/set-72157627155178820/

When I returned from vacation, I was inspired to purchase a pink "CRAFTSMAN" bag that I found. I love it - now I can take my journaling anywhere!

Koi in the pond

For fourth of July, Jay and I visited his family in the Poconos. It's a beautiful location in the woods with a beautiful pond. Many years ago Jay put seven koi in the pond. We've watched them grow over the past seven years - stunning colors of orange, white and black can be seen slowing swimming around the pond. Today, however, the largest, most brilliant orange koi died. We sensed something was wrong with him over the weekend. I started this journal page in the mountains (before I even knew he was sick!) and finished today in his honor.

Green Pepper Press -- Summer colors continues!

Ok, after all my experimenting with new summer colors, I had to do my favorite summer color - AQUA!! These pages were inspired by having coffee on my deck this morning. The birds were singing and the tree I planted years ago is so big!! Enjoy!

Green Pepper Press Street Team - Crusade #52

I joined the Green Pepper Press Crusade this month. Michelle challenged us to think about our color palette and if it changed during the seasons. I love all colors, but my summer palette is usually aqua with celadon, lavender and sky blue. If you scroll down and see the mermaids for Cat -- those pages pretty much show my summer palette. However, this challenge inspired me to try something new! I tried a different palette of pale ale (inspired by a new spray ink) combined with celadon and dusty plum. I sprayed the entire page with pale ale, spraying over wildflower masks. Then added the layering of colors, images and paper. There's very little contrast on the pages, but I'm glad I tried some new yummy colors for summer.

Find out more about Michelle's inspiration at:

http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/

Happy summer mermaids

This is the final set of pages for the skinny book round robin. It look me awhile to find mermaids images, which I normally don't have, for Cat's book! I feel like these kick off the summer for me! The backgrounds were created with some stencils and spray inks we played with in my journaling classes.

Happy Mother's Day

My favorite photo of Lauren and my Mom.

Happy Easter

Time to dye my eggs with onion skins! Here's this year's batch.

Green Pepper Press Street Team - Crusade #50

I joined Michelle Ward's Crusade this month. The challenge: create journal pages documenting your go-to people. I chose the slide holder page because I wanted to include all my friends I reach out to for encouragement, advice and fun! Many of the tags were dyed with Easter-egg dye -- a trick I learned from Michelle. I wrote my thoughts about each dear friend on the back of each tag. You'll notice I left some empty tags for adding more friends later!

Find out more about Michelle's Crusade at http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/

Poppies

Inspired by the Somerset Studio Poppy Issue. Paper napkins, pigment ink, watercolor crayons, rice paper and washi paper.

Rande's skinny pages

I finally finished these pages for Rande. I didn't have anything rusty to add to her pages, so created some rusty looks with color and a grunge tag. I layered the backgrounds with postcards, ledger paper and napkins.

don't worry... be happy - Month 2

Here's a continuation of my "Balance" Journal. Just wanted to be playful and happy because these winter months have been rough. Gave this a child-like quality with rough brush strokes and a heart balloon. I found a quote for this month's lesson, and while it didn't fit on this page, it's waiting for another journal page: "We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have" - Frederick Keonig. Enjoy what's left of the month! Happy Journaling!

New Year resolution - Month 1

I have been reading "Creative Awakenings" - scroll down and see it on my Shelfari, on the right. I vowed to make a 12-month commitment to live the artful life I desire. As a start, I created these journal pages. It's a large journal, which is out of my comfort zone, but I kept at it until I completed these pages to my satisfaction. I used some magazine clippings for the woman's face and the birds. I also started a "milestones passport"(See "Creative Awakenings") to record my monthly progress. Since January is over, I recorded my progress tonight which included teaching 3 new journaling students, creating and mailing valentine ATCs, creating Frida skinny book pages, registering for a photoshop course in Spring, and making an effort to spend a little time each day in my studio -- to not beat myself up for not having an idea, but to go in there and play around to see if ideas pop up - and they usually do! And if they don't, if I'm tired, I just turn off the light and say, "I'll try tomorrow".

Skinny pages for Trinka

I completed my skinny pages for this month - my partner, Trinka who likes women's faces, maps and numbers. I chose Frida Kahlo as the face, who inspired the rest of the page. This was a fun collage to create for her book.

Making valentines

It's time to make my favorite - hearts - for my friends. Here's a sampling.

Tribute to Link and Donna

My dear friend, Donna, will be celebrating her birthday this Friday! She also just added a new member to her household - a beautiful kitty named Linkovitch. Here's her card - now on its way in the mail. Hope she likes it!!