What I have been doing...

Well I have still been trying to take things easy so cannot spend
too long bent over my art desk, had to do these in stages. I am
really happy with the fact that I have about 5 different art journals
that I am working in at the same time. They are different shapes
and sizes so if I want to work smaller then I get my small journal
out, if I want to have a background already painted then I have a
journal that has pages already painted just waiting to be worked
on. This makes it more flexible and more fun.

The page above was in my journal that already had backgrounds
painted. I added some background stamping, some tapes, my
focal image, border sticker, title word and then finally added in
my journaling. I really like how this page all came together.

Now the page above is in one of my journals that is blank, just
waiting to add collage elements, paper, tapes, stamps etc to it. I
had found the image of the girl and knew I wanted to use it, just
took me some time figuring out how to do the background. I got
the fortune the night before and knew it was the perfect thing to
add on my page. I just love this page, sometimes I have pages
that I think are OK and some I just love, this is one of those pages.

CCC Week 33...

Well here we are at challenge #33, hard to believe it is almost
over. For all the details please go and visit Linda.

Well even though this seemed like a simple technique it was a little
frustrating. We needed to use alcohol inks and I always have a
problem with the felt on the applicator tool.  Does anyone else find
little stringy threads from the felt laying on their project stuck
there with the alcohol ink, or is it just me? The good thing is that
you can wipe it all off and start over but this week it happened
every time, I ended up just pouring the alcohol ink on the metal
heart and letting it dry. Took a while to dry and I can still see those
pesky little threads!
I was going to do more metal but decided to leave it as is before I
had enough. I used a Gelly Roll Stardust pen on the card but it
really does not photograph well. I love using it as it does look ever
so shiny and sparkly in real life.

CCC Week 32...

Just a quick post for the challenge over on Linda's blog. I finally
found time to work on it today. Has been a strange week here,
still trying to take it easy due to my back and had to take my
boys to a couple of appointments this week.
Yesterday my oldest son had to go in and have his wisdom teeth
out, it was a long day yesterday! Poor thing has never undergone
anaesthesia before and then had a bad reaction to the pain
medication so was in quite a lot of pain until we got that sorted
out. Fortunately he is feeling a little better today but hardly eating anything.

Well as for this week's challenge, this is actually my second
attempt at it. I did have time a few days ago but absolutely
hated what I did to the point that I tore it into pieces! Thought
if I left it for a few days I may have another attempt, I definitely
like this a lot better. I have to take it slowly and can only do so
much bending over my desk at a time. As you can see I am still
using tapes - tissue tape, washi tape, you name it I like it!
Hoping for a better week next week:)

A good art day...

Even though I am still trying to take it easy with my back I still
managed to get together a couple of times with my very good
art friend, Lisa. I managed to get over there for just a couple of
hours last Friday and started the art journal page above. I did
spend just a little while finishing it off over the weekend and
then had to rest up for a while.

Yesterday we had a longer play day and I was able to get a good
start on some pages in my newest Kelly Kilmer journal. This is a
smaller book with lots of flaps and fold outs so a new direction
for me. It is definitely going to be a challenge to figure out how
to use those pages. The page above is the front page when you
open up the journal. Not sure if I will add anything else to it, I
really like it like this.

This page is one that I had mostly done and just added the the
2 items in the middle. A fortune from a fortune cookie on top of
a clothing tag. See you can use just about anything in your art
journal, after all it is your journal so you make the rules:)

This is the last page I worked on yesterday, I just loved this little
guy and found this piece of background paper with elephants on
that was ripped out of a catalog. The sticker at the top was actually
already on the page and it just made me laugh so had to use it.
One of the things that Kelly tells you to do when you first make
your blank journal is to just add random stuff to your blank pages
so you will have something already there when you go back and
start to work in it.

I am so happy that Lisa has started art journaling with me, it is
really fun to get together and make our own art. She even feeds
me lunch, what more could you ask for:)

CCC Week 31...

Well I am feeling quite a bit better today, still limiting the amount
of bending and stretching that I am doing, it just feels so good to
not be in constant pain right now.
Anyway down to business, I felt so much better I was able to do
part of this piece yesterday and the second part today. If you want
all the details for the challenge head on over to Linda's blog.


I used the wonderful Wild Honey distress ink as the main colour
for this and then used some new stamps that I just got, they are
designed by Melody Ross for Unity Stamp co. I was also back to
using my favourite tissue tape and washi tapes, boy those tapes
are just addicting as they are so versatile. I am embarrassed to
say I have quite a collection of them now. I have not tried this
week's technique before but am very pleased with how it turned 
out. Sad that I didn't do last weeks but maybe when the challenge
ends I will go back and do it so that I have the complete set.

No Compendium Challenge for me this week...

Just a brief note to let you know what has been happening with me
this last week. Last Friday 28th January I had quite a severe back
injury, wish I could say I did it doing something exciting but no
it was just a normal morning. I was in excruciating pain, could not
sit down, lay down and could barely stand. I had to call my
husband home from work and could not get into my doctor,
there was several hours wait at the emergency room and so we
tried going to a Chiropractor. I was examined, x-rayed and given
a very painful back massage then sent home to rest and ice my
back. Nothing much changed over the weekend and so my
husband got me into my regular doctor Monday morning. She
gave me lots of different medicines, some heavy duty painkillers
and again told me to rest but now I could use heat on my back,
thank goodness! those ice packs are not for me:)

So I have been pretty much out of it and out of commission for the
week, just totally exhausted and trying to move without
re-injuring myself. No laundry has been done and I am taking this
weekend to try and rest more so hopefully I can do a little more next week.

I have heard this week of so many people who hurt their backs so
severely doing just normal everyday things, it is just amazing that
this can happen and how it can affect everything you do. My
husband and family have really been tremendous this week, I
cannot imagine being like this with no help. Looking forward to
a better week next week so I can go and make some art!

One Little Word Blog Hop...

Hello and welcome to my blog, I am hoping you got here from the

link from Amy at http://reflectivesnapshots.com. We are all doing
this little blog hop to see how we are all doing with our own
One Little Word so far this month. The blog hop is starting at
8am PST today, 1st February. This is a project that Ali
Edwards has been doing for herself for several years and has
created the class, which you can link to from the button on my
sidebar, to help reinforce the word throughout the year for her
and anyone else who is choosing a word. Above is my title photo
for the month of January.

 

The page above is our prompt for January, this explains all about
our word and why we chose the word that we did. I am still not
sure if I am finished decorating this page, I thought I would leave
it for a while and see what I thought later.

I have written a little about my word choice on an earlier blog
post. I chose the word "BE" as it really can mean so much for
me to get through some changes that will be happening in my
life this year.

I found that this word has been popping up in other areas and so I

know that this word was the right word for me to focus on this year.

An example is this quote above, I had pulled this page out of a

magazine a couple of years ago and filed it in my inspiration file.

Strangely enough I was looking through that file just last week and

saw it. I am going to include it in my binder for the class to remind

me of this great quote.

Now you know a little about me and my word please go and visit
Maureen at http://cookingmylife.blogspot.com.

In case you have got lost along the way or do not know how to visit all of the
people participating in this, here is the list of blogs to visit:

1) Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com

2) Jill Conyers http://jillconyers.typepad.com/life_as_i_see_it/

3) Monica http://scraplifters.blogspot.com

4) Lynn W http://crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

5) Miranda http://mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com

6) Mandy http://captureandcreate.wordpress.com

7) Kathy http://katswonderings.blogspot.com

8) Lisa http://makeyourownescape.blogspot.com

9) Donna http://donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com

10) Abbey http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/

11) Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/

12) April http://capturethememories.blogspot.com

13) Nicky http://seejanebake.blogspot.com

14) Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/

15) Relly http://rel.ly

16) Nancy http://goshery.blogspot.com

17) Cynthia http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/

18) Kathryn http://katlodesigns.com

19) Nikki http://inkyart.com.au

20) Heather http://scrappyhare.blogspot.com

21) Gayle www.lifeonlilypadlane.blogspot.com

22) Kristina http://ciqis.blogspot.com

23) Debra http://blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com

24) Becky http://beckyandjames.com

25) Amy http://reflectivesnapshots.com

26) Marlene http://moore-fun-in-the-sun.blogspot.com/

27) Maureen http://cookingmylife.blogspot.com

28) Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com

29) Monica Scrapmom http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

30) Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com

31) Junelle http://yesandamenblog.blogspot.com

32) Margaret http://www.gutsymom.blogspot.com

33) Sharyn            http://www.analteredlife.com

34) Tere http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/