I love Butterflies...

I wanted to show you parts of some pages that I did for a swap that I have signed up for. Soon I will show the whole pages but here they are for now.

Each of the participants has set a theme for their pages and then we do a round robin so that we do a page for each participant in their chosen theme. I really liked the way that we are doing this one as we are not posting the whole journal all around the world (which can be very cost prohibitive) but we have taken our journals apart and are just sending a page at a time. Over the year each recipient will receive 16 journal pages which we will then re-bind (that is the beauty of spiral bound journals) and have a finished journal. We are using a Strathmore visual art journal 300gsm.

I then found a post about a page that I did late last year that I thought I had posted but was sitting there as a draft. So here it is..

I was inspired by Paula over at Journal Artista when she showed a ghosting technique on her you tube channel. Paula used Alcohol inks under the white but since I didn't have any I tried with ordinary paints mixed with Atelier Liquifying Medium so the paint would thin in consistency but not in strength of colour.

I started with Jo Sonja Carbon Black

 .. then used a butterfly and flower stencil with Jo Sonja Napthol Crimson and Pthalo Green to pattern the background. I had quite a bit of water in the sponge so there would be the bubbled pattern as below.

 ... here it is dry

 .. with a stencil I sponged on shapes with Titanium White

 ... then misted with water

 ... and wiped away excess with a baby wipe. I like the ghostly moon-like appearance I ended up with. Until this stage I didn't know where the page was headed but the moon gave me some direction

 I found some ribbon and butterflies I had die cut out of red cardstock

 ... stuck them down with Mod Podge

 ... and floated Napthol Crimson around the outside edges of the flower shapes with an angle shader brush

 Next I chose a stamp and the Cloud White Vera Magic stamp pad and stamped over the top of the ribbon and in some other places

... I then found some other butterflies I had die cut and embossed with the Spellbinders range, rubbed black paint over them to distress them, and doodled on them with a silver gel pen. I stuck them down only by the body part so they would be 3D.

I then stamped the word butterfly on the right hand page..

 and journalled around the page about transformation, freedom, change and the colour red. I also rubbed silver paint around the outside edges of the pages to frame them.

A butterfly is the symbol of transformation, change, soul and transition. You can go here to read  a bit more about butterfly symbolism.

My quote today

"Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you. 

But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder"

- Thoreau

Have a lovely day everyone, tomorrow is the Melbourne Cup which means a nice day relaxing at home with friends and family watching the race that stops the nation,  so pretend we are all together and have a glass of bubbly with me.

Namaste

Lee

Buddha's influence

Thanks everyone for coming by

I've been out and about this week but now have another journal page to share with you.

I was inspired for this page by a serviette with a Buddha and some other lovely serene photos on it. I started with another page of leftover paint. I think it is Jo Sonja Yellow Deep. I then got out a new Crafters Workshop stencil called Tie Dye and rubbed Impress Chocolate ink over it and let it dry. I softened it a bit with a baby wipe and gesso.

Then i used Stazon Timber Brown stamp pad and a flower stamp to stamp randomly, then added more gesso where needed.

so this is the serviette which i cut up and then stuck to the page

once it was dry I rubbed Titanium White around the edges with my finger to soften and help it blend into the page. I love also how the paint picked up the rough creases of the serviette to add some texture.

 I then stamped a script background stamp over the page with Impress Spring Green

 at this stage that green was looking a bit bright and gaudy but it is one of many layers so I knew it would be alright in the end...

so out came some stamps......

and some papers....

my trusty White Signo pen and an orange Staedtler fineliner....

to outline some of the stamps

more stamps, can you tell I have a fetish for stamps?

I needed some softening of the page but with a bit of colour and I remembered I had this set of soft pastels in earth tone which are perfect for my page so i rubbed them around the piece of paper that I had stamped the saying on

journalled with my fineliner

I also doodled a bit of a loose border and ended up with my finished page. I really like how it turned out and will have to get those pastels out more often I think.

I am always drawn to Buddha's and I do love reading about the beliefs, philosophies and, as you know, from meditating daily, I find my peace and serenity from this practice.

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Namaste

Lee

A friend is celebrating and you're invited....

When I first dipped my toe in the water of blogging I was unsure of myself and wondered if anyone would be interested in what I had to share. I was encouraged by a friend of mine, Anna, to try a new art journal course that Kerryanne from Shabby Art Boutique was running and the rest, as we say, is history. 

Through Kerryannes tutoring and encouragement I was soon hooked. I have never met Kerryanne face to face but through our internet contact I feel like we could chat for hours, sitting on the beach with a latte or champers.

The exciting news is that Kerryanne has just released her first book called The Creative Mumpreneur .

Creative Mumpreneur

I have just finished Kerryannes book and I must say that it is a darn good read. I emailed Kerryanne and said that I was nearly finished and would get back to her on Sunday but I couldn’t put it down. It is so full of useful, practical information that is written like you were talking to her on the phone or face to face. I know that I will be referring back to it again and again.

Kerryanne is celebrating her 20^th birthday in this business and in this book she has shared her knowledge, wisdom and experiences that have made her so successful. If you are having any thoughts of starting a home based business and you don’t know the first steps, if you are in any stage of that business and have run out of ideas, have stagnated or just lost your way on your business path then this is the book for you.

I cannot praise it highly enough and hope that you will visit Kerryanne and check it out for yourself. Congratulations Kerryanne and Happy Birthday.

Hope you are enjoying your day

Namaste

Lee

This is Friday isn't it??

Hi everyone

I know I said I would come back on Friday but somebody stole the last few days so here I am on Wednesday and also realised it is still Tuesday for some of my friends (thanks Janet :).  Oh dear now I am really on a whirlwind. lol..

Anyway, last Saturday I taught my second art journal class and am happy to say that we had a full class and am now running two workhops in November. I am so excited and am having a ball with the students each month. Here is the page we did.

So on to one of the two pages I promised you. This is called Life's a Beach. 

I started with some blues , I think Jo Sonja Prussian Blue Hue and Prussian Blue Hue + White. These were leftovers from a previous page.

 I stamped a flourish all over the pages with Midnight Blue Staz On

I then painted Titanium White over the pages and while wet used a technique that I saw Paula use which she called reverse stenciling.

I laid the crafters workshop stencil over the top and wiped off the excess paint with a sponge.

Scraped on some Yellow Orange and wiped again with a sponge

because this colour is somewhat transparent, it gave it a nice glaze.

 scraped again with Ultramarine Blue Deep

 used the same stencil called Flower Shower and my trusty white Signo pen to outline some flowers

 

 cut out and stuck on some papers, doodled on them with the Signo pen

coloured in some of the design with my Derwent pencils

 I love the different blends of colours which gave it more of a 3D look

 stuck down a journaling square and did some more doodling

 Stamped my title on some masking tape, rubbed some orange ink over the top and stuck it down. Stamped a row of beach houses along the bottom of the pages....

 To come up with this. 

In my journaling square, I wrote how I feel about the beach. I have a strong connection with the beach and gravitate to it whenever I am near.  

If I could live right next to the beach I would.

Tomorrow I will show you the next page and some other projects I have been working on. 

 I hope you are not loosing days like I am and enjoying this week.

 Remember it is a full moon today and time to let go of all the things that are not serving you.

Enjoy the day....

Namaste

Lee

And the winner is..............

Thank you to my dear blogging friends, it is time to annouce the winner of my first ever giveaway.....

Gina (Tyggereye Art Love)

Congratulations Gina, a little parcel of artiness will be on it's way to you shortly.
 I am just putting the finishing touches to the prize so will be able to show some pictures of it this weekend.


Meanwhile I will show you a couple of other photos of what I was up to in the last few weeks.

 My husband and I went into the city on the Sunday afternoon after the footy match for some retail therapy ..

..and then a lovely dinner at a restaurant on the Yarra River.

It was a perfect time to do some shopping as it was a bit quieter and the weather was perfect for a stroll. I just love coming into the city and looking at all the old buildings. This one is Flinders Street Railway station.

In the photo below you can see the MCG in the background looking up the Yarra River. I do love the harbour of my home town of Sydney but after 24 years here I am a Melbourne girl now. 

Wouldn't it be nice to have a little apartment in the city so you could spend the weekend enjoying all the sights and sounds of the city and then back to your suburban sanctuary the rest of the time?

Ah to dream..... Oh, and that also goes with the dream of my little beach house for total relaxation as well. A girl can dream can't she??

Overall it was a lovely end to a great weekend.

Well there is no art here but I do have two pages in my journal to show you, I just have to get the photos in order so will be back on Friday to show you.

Hope you are having a lovely week everyone.

Here is a quote I came across this week

"You must find a place inside yourself where nothing is impossible"

- Deepak Chopra

Here's to infinite possibilities.

Namaste

Lee