Thriving Art

 It has really been cold and raining here, all the mountains around us all covered with snow, some places are quite low. If our temps drop about 10' it will snow here in the valley.  I haven't heard the weather report, but I sincerely doubt if the main freeways are open.........this is California and about 99% of the people DON'T know how to drive in the snow.......so they just close the roads....LOL!!! I have been playing along with the Art Journal Journey challenge : yellow brought to us by RIKE at  Rike's Art .  I just haven't taken the time to scan and get them posted, so today you get a twofer!! Still trying to use up that stash of Graphic 45..........I never dreamed it was such a large pile!!  These papers are from The Secret Garden collection.  I do like yellow and powder blue together.  "The Secret Garden" was a favorite book when I was a young, young, girl!  I even bought the movie at one time. This page was  demons...

Well, we've landed on the first day of February and the horizon of the weekend. A new challenge, for this month, at  Art Journal Journey  it is the color Yellow , which was chosen by our hostess   Rike  from  rike's art  .  Yellow is a wonderful, cheery color, but not many people use it as a base color.  It usually takes "supporting actor" instead of  "actor of the year", so this, IMHO, is going to be a great challenge. I started with a couple swipes of yellow paint, then being determined to use this stash of Graph 45, I started pulling things already cut, adding a little Washie tape here and there. As you can see, even Graphic 45 uses yellow tones as highlight colors. Want to see more ways to use yellow?   Hop on over to  Art Journal Journey

Have I lost my marbles.......this is the second post today! Since I have Bible art journaling this afternoon I didn't want to start a painting, but I wanted to "PLAY".  I grabbed one of my art journals, and behold, the page was already gessoed!!! I love these little surprises, don't you? I pondered ( not puddled) on what to do.  I was looking around for a medium I could experiment with and saw that little stacked drawer set with my alcohol markers all divided nicely in colors. HUMMMM! I took out a few and just scribbled on the page........it was a good start!   Next came the fun stuff........I sprayed it heavily with alcohol and let it run, first down and then up. WA-LA! perfect background.  Art Journal Journey  has a challenge this month ........ geometric shapes.  BINGO! I traced around the inside of a roll of Washi tape, and drew a line down the outer edge of the page.  I added shadows and enhanced some of the colors, in the circles, wi...

Hellooooo Monday and Blogland friends.  Just popping in to share a journal page I did last week, but didn't have a chance to share it till this morning. (the date on the page is wrong LOL) I am joining the group over at  Art Journal Journey  , where the challenge is Poetry in Motion. The background is simply tissue paper and paint.  The poem is from my electric hoarding on Pinterest...........couldn't pass it up!  I created this page to remind myself what I am NOT...how about you?

Finally, taking some much need craft time, I decided some art journaling was called for!! Jo of  Lets Art Journal  is the hostess for  Art Journal Journey  this month and she chose Poetry in Motion and challenged everyone to use their favorite poems, quotes and sayings to inspire your art. HELLO PINTEREST Ok, so I'm an electronic hoarder over on Pinterest, and actually have a file that is labeled "Says It All".  This is where I save all sorts of sayings and quotes that speak to me, so that is where I looked for some inspiration for this challenge.  I kept coming across this quote, in different fonts and pictures.......yeah, I REALLY do like this quote! I chose this one with the girl and her wings behind the quote, then printed it and trimmed it out. The background is tissue paper, butterfly napkin, in, paint, half a paper Dollie and a stamped image of a butterfly.  I did go around the girl and the quote,the next morning with a Pit Pe...

Art Journal Journey  still has the Out and About challenge going.......all the way to the end of the month. This month it is Yvonne (  Meggys Way ) who chose the challenge,and it has caused quite a stir of creativity....but you have to check it out to see what I mean. Today I am sharing my latest journal page.......guess I was day dreaming about shopping.  It is mostly acrylic paint, the background being a mop-up from finger painting flowers.  The image of the shoppers is from Art Impressions......I thought they were Park Avenue worthy. The highlights on the Park Avenue are  a metallic gold, but scanners just don't like to show anything shiny. :(( The weather has turned nice here, getting a little warm in the afternoons, but settling down to cool evenings and nights.  The kind of weather where you sleep with the windows open.....LOVE IT!  Although the temps nearly hit 90' (F) this week.....not Quite ready for THAT yet!  They are predi...

  Art Journal Journey  started the challenge for March with  Yvonne  as hostess for Out and About. I am finding this challenge to be a lot of fun.  Just imagine going out and about and what you might do or see. Since we are having our second day, in a row, of sunshine, even though it is still a bit chilly out there my mind has gone out and about ,wondering west to the beach Just a quick acrylic painting over a mop up page, you can see around the edges and even spot here and there of the under painting. Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Bloggers, we are off on the start of a new week.  Last week  Art Journal Journey  started the challenge for March with  Yvonne  as hostess for Out and About. There are already quite a few entries to see. This is one I did at the end of last week, but just didn't get it posted :(( "She steps out and about dressed in her strength and dignity" Paint, stencils, ink, stamps and collage pieces for the background. Prima Doll stamp, then painting over the background.......marker for all the lettering.

Hello everybody!  Around here ( so. CA) March is sneaking in like a lamb, all sun shine and mild temperatures...........now we will wait and see how it exits........hopefully not like a lion! With a new month starting an new challenge is up over at  Art Journal Journey  .  This month Yvonne, from  Meggys Way  is our hostess and she chose "OUT AND ABOUT" With the mid weather, and sunshine my flowers bulbs are sprouting and starting to bloom, so I tend to go out and keep an eye on them everyday. With that in mind I created this page. I used my large journal 9" X 12" for my first entree, lots of mixed media going on with acrylic paint, Gelatos, stamps and inks.  The flowers and leaves started as news print cut out.  The sentiment is one I found on Pinterest and thought it was perfect for the Out and About challenge.  Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday my inner muse came out to play in my art journal.......I sometimes think she a bit childish, and this page proves it....LOL!  Little die cut and stamped houses all in red for the  Art Journal Journey challenge  this month of 50 shades of red.  The paint can and paint brush were cut with my Cricut and little flower stickers just to make me happy! I was curious to find out just what "Painting the Town Red" meant.  I found a lot of discussion about it on the internet, but this one kept popping up over and over........and I think it might be closer to the truth. The expression is American slang meaning to go on a reckless debauch, to be wildly extravagant. Originally, the metaphor applied to bonfires painting the sky or scenery red. An old Irish ballad contains the lines: The beacon hills were painted red/ With many a fire that night. The immediate source of the phrase may be traced to the times when a Mississippi steamboat captain would want to defea...

Hello everybody, hope this Saturday is being good to you and providing lots of creative time.  I'm back with a page I actually just finished for the  Art Journal Journey.......fifty shades of red challenge . Lovely layers of paint and ink, using stencils, and bubble wrap.  The wine and the glass I painted with acrylic paint.  A fun way to spend the morning. join the challenge HERE

Art Journal Journey challenge: Fifty Shades of Red  started on the first of February and will run the whole month.   Linda, of heARTfully Inspired blog  is our hostess this month, and the fifty shades of red was her choice.......and I think it was a really good one for this month.  Think love, Valentines , flowers ........oh, and don't forget chocolates!!! I chose to go with flowers , for my first entry, not that I'm NOT romantic.......but I've been keeping an eye on some of my flower bulbs that have broken through and are growing quickly.  Sadly they are not tulips......I might have to buy some this year. Okay, so I just gathered up a handful of red implements, Gelato, watercolor pencils, markers and watercolor paint and started, using a baby wipe to blend with.  The flowers were done in watercolor pencil and then blended with a damp paint brush, adding a bit of red watercolor to the bulbs, then splattering red, dark red and white. Well, that'...

Only a scant few days left in the  Art Journal Journey challenge: Light and Darkness  , so this will be my last entry for this challenge. It has been a very interesting challenge, and if you haven't been over to their blog, NOW would be a great time to go and take a look at all the interpretations of Light and Darkness.  I would give you a few examples.....................but that would spoil it!  This started as an old "mop-up" page of acrylic paint. Tinkerbell is a stamped image I just colored it all black.  The rest is a combination of just about everything on my desk...LOL!.......or maybe it was just an excuse to try out some paint pens I bought "on sale" while Christmas shopping! So Happy New Year to all the AJJ crowd, looking forward to all the great challenges you have up your sleeves for 2017!! check out the challenge HERE

I was still in the creative mood, yesterday, when I saw this saying and thought it would be a good one to use for the  Art Journal Journey challenge . It is all acrylic paint with black sharpie lettering, and a Washi tape boarder. Do you create first...then add a saying or sentiment? OR Does a saying or sentiment inspire you to make the art? Kind of like what came first the chicken or the egg.......LOL! Thanks for stopping by. Inky Hugs Krisha

  Just finished this journal page, inspired by Valerie's  blog post.  She has photos of the most amazing sun rises on her blog.......and she is the hostess for this month's  Art Journal Journey  challenge: Light and Darkness.   I wrote the sentiment, then traced it with a black sharpie. Then I covered the words with Washi tape and painted all the negative space black, since Washi tape is slightly transparent you can still see the letter.  Once I got all that negative space painted....phew! I painted the sun rise over some mountains. To make the words pop a little more I went around them with a white Gel pen.......now writing over the texture the tape left was a little tricky.....as you can see.....LOL! Thanks for stopping by..... Inky Hugs Krisha

  Art Journal Journey  has a new challenge for the month of December: Light and Darkness.  This is my first attempt at the challenge, stamps, ink, marker and Gelatos.....and a white gel pen. There are some really, really great journal pages for this challenge.  I hope you take a moment out of your busy holiday schedule to drop by and take a look........and don't forget to leave a little LOVE when you do!!   Inky Hugs Krisha

  Hello T-gang, and new followers and anyone else who has just dropped in.  I started Monday morning with coffee and then switched to a bottle of good clear water, as I was anticipating a new journal page.......thinking "collage" for the Art Journal Journey challenge I've been going on about all this month.......but also something for T Stand for Tuesday . The white line across Betsy is the sun shinning through the blinds......it was a very pretty day today.   Here is how the page eventually turned out.  So here is to all the T-gang !!   Next week I will be MIA as it is time for our annual Thanksgiving trip up to the desert......can you believe Thanksgiving is already upon us??  Who is having traditional turkey?  We usually have both ham and turkey ( because we love the leftovers) and of course all the trimmings......even though we have cut the portion sizes way down as non of us eat as much as we used too. Sorry about the fla...

  Years ago I put "collage" work back on the shelf and forgot about it......then, Art Journal Journey put up a challenge.......COLLAGE but with the 3 NO, NOs........no faces, no wings, and no leaves. Plus I have joined a group of Mixed Media Madness, over at The Inspiration Place  ......GAME ON!!! I have pulled all the collage materials back OFF the shelf and have put them in motion again.  I forgot how much I really enjoy collage.....AND mixed media! Please forgive the horrible photo today, I'm trying to use up all my Mod Podge........which glares with a flash.....and move into a matte medium. A little closer look so you can see the designer paper I used for the hearts and the script tissue paper I recently purchased ( but I don't remember where). This challenge runs through the whole month so there is still time to join in the fun.

  Hello Blogging Friends......what a fine day this is!    I have been working on a two page layout in one of my smaller journals and finally finished it last night. I have really been enjoying the theme over at Art Journal Journey this month......No faces, No wings and No leaves.....But COLLAGE. I found the pattern for the ballerina feet over at The Art Sherpa Website On the right side of her page there are a number of patterns she offers for free.  I printed it out and transferred it onto watercolor paper.  I chose Inktense Watercolor pencil to color it in.....then a good coat of sealer........then trimmed it out. The background started as a mop-up page of paint, from there I went in many directions....Gesso, Gelatos, Pitt pens, Spectrum Noir pens, Washi tape and more paint..........always more paint...LOL!  Once I had the background and the boarder pretty much the way I wanted it I added the ballerina feet and painted in the sentiment. Thi...

  I hope everybody is having a delightful and crafty day, thanks for stopping by. Like the title of this post?  Yep! It is a double entry for the Art Journal Journey  challenge of No faces, No, leaves and No wings.....BUT COLLAGE, .brought to us this month by Susi......an art journal master....or is it mistress?  So I had a grand "playtime" yesterday.  I was really working two journals at the same time, and got a little carried away with the paint on this one and covered all the collage.....LOL!  I do love to muck about with my paint and inks.  I knew "what" I wanted to do before I got so carried away, so a different avenue I had to take.  I chose a sheet of vellum, very thin and as transparent as I could find....tore the edges and then sprayed the back with spray adhesive.....then plopped it on the page.  A little Washi tape for the boarder and then the time piece was added.  Since it is a NO face challenge, I put the hand...