Collage Exploration

I recently purchase this book from Amazon:

It has some fabulous ideas that have sparked my imagination!

Such as this collage exploration:

It was inspired by the recent “winter storm” we got over the weekend!

Yesterday, I did some organizing of my art supplies.  It inspired me to create these three collages that I glued in my art journal:

Each collage above has hand-stitching, can you find it?

Cheers! 🙂

New Year Inspiration

Happy New Year Friends!!

Have YOU put on a your creative thinking cap(s) for 2019?

 

I purchased this art book a few years ago…

It is just the daily inspiration I need in the new year!

I made a book-marker for it… You can see I have a square as part of my design (see yesterday’s post).

What inspiration will YOU use in your creativity in the new year?  I hope you share it with me!

Cheers to new creative discoveries! 🙂

A Mixed Bouquet

Perhaps you are looking for a gift for yourself or someone who loves flowers…

I recently purchased this book of creative floral inspiration, Botanica from Uppercase Magazine:

It includes a mixed bouquet of art mediums and artists who are fascinated with all things floral.  The colorful art and articles are truly inspirational! 🙂

When I give a book as a gift, I like to include a handmade bookmarker with it.

They are easy to make, like this one below:

I decorated white cardstock with a simple pattern, glued a paintchip sample from Home Depot, stamped a face from a rubber stamp onto white tissue paper and glued the tissue paper to the paint sample with a glue stick.  I finished it by punching a hole in the top, adding some colorful yarn and a wooden bead.

Bookmarkers make great gifts – with or without a book – and can be personalized with a special handwritten note on the back.

With a bookmarker, you don’t need to purchase a greeting card… It is a treasure like a good book!

Do you have a favorite book that you like to give as a gift?  Please share!

Cheers! 🙂

Read Any Good Fiction Books?

I always enjoy hearing what fiction books YOU are reading!

• What is your past favorite book as a child?
• What did you read recently?
• And perhaps… What you just started! 🙂

Below are my answers to these questions (highlighted):

And my goals for reading books this year – I hope to read at least one book a month:

I enjoyed this assignment from Carla Sonheim in the 365 Daily Creative Practice online class.  It made me pay attention to the first sentence of a book of fiction.

After all, I do believe it IS that first sentence that truly grabs my attention!

Happy Reading!

Cheers! 🙂

 

White Out

I was excited to see that Evelyn Flint was completing one of the 50 Creativity Exercises each week from Randel Plowman’s book, The Collage Workbook:

This is one of my favorite collage books!  Check out Randel’s blog at www.acollageaday.com

I asked Evelyn if I could join in the fun and she said, “Yes!”  Thank you, Evelyn!  🙂

I wasn’t able to start until this week so I did the first two assignments.

The first one was to do a 5-minute collage.  I decided to create with warm colors, mainly yellow.  (I was in need of a little sunshine…)

It helped me to gather my papers before I set my timer:

I used scrapbook papers, my own hand-painted papers, a sunflower image from an old calendar, my own drawings (color photocopied), old book pages, an image from an old magazine and old postage stamps.

Setting a timer on my phone helped me to stay on track.  This is my first one, on a 4×6 inch index card:

And my second one:

Do you have a favorite?

Yesterday, I did the second assignment titled, “White Out,” using various shades of white only.  This one took me a little more time to gather my supplies.

I used a variety of old pages from books, sheet music, a shorthand book, etc.  The first one I made is 9×12 inches:

I was surprised how interesting variations of white could be!  I also did one that is 4×6 inches:

I really enjoyed both of these exercises.  I hope you enjoyed seeing them. 🙂

Please take a moment to look at Evelyn’s collages on her blog – she does AMAZING collages!!

It is so fun to see how each person interprets the assignments with their own artistic touch.

Thanks again, Evelyn for allowing me to join in the fun!

Cheers! 🙂

Mistake Or Possibility?

I recently purchased  this children’s book, “The Book of Mistakes,” by Corinna Luyken on Amazon:

I must admit, the book TITLE grabbed my attention!  And I wasn’t disappointed! 🙂  This is an excellent book for everyone at any age in my opinion.

We all make mistakes – I know I do, especially in art!  Yet, I have learned that how I perceive a mistake in art making can make a difference…

Do I give up and throw away the art project or see it as an opportunity to learn something new?

Do I figure out how to make a mistake part of my design?

Or do I take a step away and later return to see possibilities instead of failure?

I hope you will google this author – Corinna Luyken.com and look up her Q and A for writing this book.  Her drawings are wonderful too in her Portfolio!

What do you do when you make a mistake in art?  I’d love to hear from you!

Cheers! 🙂

P.S. In tomorrow’s post I will show you how I changed a mistake into a possibility!