Category : Creativity

622 posts

201610/07

Sight and Sound of Fall

Since yesterday’s “art therapy” session went so well for me and left me in better spirits, I opted to book another appointment for myself in my artspace. I grabbed the second sheet of scrap, drip paper on my workdesk, cut it down to 7×7 so it would eventually fit in my scrapbook-turned art journal.

Fall, warm colors are my go-to palette. This could be part of the reason I love Fall so much. The outside reflects my favorites.

I layered torn pieces of my scraps until I was happy then added paint in layers over the top to blend.

I did a little bit of journalling off to the side about my love affair with Fall.

Two pages in two days…I like how they complement each other yet have a very different look to each.

Once again, linking up with Art Journal Journey for Autumn!

Art | Blog | Creativity

art journal, Art Journal Journey, scrapbook journal

12 Comments

halleday

201610/06

Wonderful Autumn Day

It’s been a couple of no good, rotten days. I decided that a little art therapy was in order.

I was starting to clear off my workspace when I noticed a paint splattered, stamped and ink stained piece of paper. I decided this should be the base of my journal page. It was a bit of a metaphor for me….turning something ugly and messy around.

As I was creating I was jotting down words on the page…feelings…thoughts…

A mind dump.

The amazing thing is that it helped. I covered my words as now that I’ve dumped them, it was time to make a fresh start. A better day. In the end…It’s a wonderful world….we just need to remember to look for the good and not dwell in the crap.

I’m linking up with Art Journal Journey again for the Autumn theme.

Art | Blog | Creativity

art journal, Art Journal Journey, scrapbook journal

11 Comments

halleday

201610/02

Sounds like Autumn

I haven’t worked in any of my art journals in quite some time. I’ve been kind of obsessed with sewing lately. But today I was inspired when I saw the new theme of Autumn over at Art Journal Journey.

When I think of Autumn, the rustle and crunch of leaves comes to mind. Memories of shuffling my feet through the leaves alongside the road and jumping into piles of raked leaves abound.

Warm colors and abundant texture dominate the landscape.

I love this kind of page… I used to be afraid of white spaces. Now I embrace them on my pages. Negative space can be quite powerful.

Art | Blog | Creativity

art journal, Art Journal Journey, buttons, challenge, ephemera, Gypsy journal, stickers

8 Comments

halleday

201610/02

A second look: Friendship

Today I’d like to share a second look at an assemblage I created a couple years ago. This is one of those pieces that I keep thinking I’m going to give as a gift or list in my etsy store but I just can’t seem to get myself to do it. In fact, it’s currently sitting right beside me on my desk.

Perhaps I need to make another similar piece so I can let go of this one.

Take a look….

6/4/2014

I spent some time on YouTube last week….likely sent there from Pinterest. (See why I try and stay away from the screens…I get lost…sidetracked…and waste oodles of time.) I often like watching “fast forwards” of journal pages, collage and painting. I’m most interested in seeing how people go from blank page to competed project. Not the particular products they use. Not to emulate what they did. Just the process. The stumbles. The bad choices of color or image and how they kept going and turned it into something amazing…or not.

I often search out new unique ideas in an effort to continue to use the stacks of book pages I’ve torn from my journals and salvaged books. Since I’d been using some paper flowers on my cards and other projects recently, I thought I should potentially make them from book pages myself. I found a rolled rose tutorial. The technique is very well explained yet I immediately deviated a bit from what she said. I’m not big on following the rules and directions. I prefer to make it up as I go along. 20140603_5026 This first one is made mostly like the tutorial states…so it’s a tightly rolled flower.

These are more my own style and lay much flatter…more useful in a variety of projects.

But the ones used in the project below are my first blossoms. I just had to see how some spray mists would look on them. Gorgeous! Now what…Well…I had picked up a bunch of embroidery hoops at a garage sale a couple weeks ago to add to my ever growing collection. I have a thing for circles. I can’t seem to pass them up. This hoop happened to roll onto my work surface and land on some glimmer mist splattered paper. The idea I had seen on YouTube popped into my head. An embroidery hoop as a frame. Of course, that video used 3 hoops and was a wall hanging scrapbook layout. Like I said…I use videos as inspiration…not copy.It’s a little bit vintage… a little bit shabby chic…and a whole lotta me. ;)

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Thanks for joining me today for Second on the 2nd.

Art | Blog | Creativity

assemblage, collage, embroidery hoop, friendship, mixed-media, paper flowers, Second on the 2nd

7 Comments

halleday

201609/23

2016 Summertime Photo Scavenger hunt wrap-up

The summer has ended and so has the hunt for photos. I like to wrap things up with a recap of the old and any newly snapped photos. This year I only missed one on the list but got an alternative to takes it’s place. In the past I’ve gotten every single one including the alternates.

1. A “wild heart” – a naturally occurring heart (like the rock above, but it doesn’t have to be a rock)Hostas in my backyard

2. A footprint or pawprint

Husky paw print

3. A skeleton, bone or x-ray

At the orthopedist

4. A book or magazine read during 2016

Lots of books…can’t stop reading…

5. A porch or deck

Trex Deck at the MN landscape Arboretum

6. A camper (caravan)

Camper trailer

7. A family gathering

Independence day gathering

8. A drawing, art project, artistic photograph, scrapbook page, greeting card, or art journal page created by you.Obviously this isn’t my only creation of the summer…if you’d like to see more just browse around the blog. :)

9. Someone playing with, in, or around water.4th of July waterfight….a tradition

10. A bicycleAt a parking lot next to a state bike trail.

11. Fresh produceBeans from my garden and CSA box

12. A windowThe broken remains of my drivers side window…you can read about it here.

13. The moonLucky low light shot of the moon over the house.

14. A buffet of food4th of July gather again…

15. A team logoSome of our beloved local teams…current and former.

16. A map showing a trip taken during the time period

Mini-me and I traveled to Alexandria over the summer for a girls weekend.

This close-up map has both lakes that we stayed on…if you look closely you can see my reflection.

17. TwinsI took a bit of liberty with this one just because it made me laugh.

18. A supermarket cart, basket or trolley full of groceries

Back to school stock up at Target

19. A seasonal cocktail or beverageMoscow Mule…favorite summer drink!!

20. Someone laughing

This is the one I didn’t get mostly because I don’t show faces on my blog if at all possible.

21. A photograph of you with a newspaper or calendar page from the time period covered in the Hunt. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.

I believe this one is self explanatory

Alternatives – if you’re having trouble finding any of the above, you may substitute from this list (but you may not substitute for item #21):
alternative 1: a lighthouse

No lighthouse either

alternative 2: a baby (human or animal)

Can you see the baby? Cute little “O”.

That about wraps it up. I’m not sure what happened to Rinda’s blog as it hasn’t been updated since June but I do know that the Facebook group has been active so I’ll be posting there. I do hope to continue with photo scavenger hunts…they are really fun and a real challenge at times to get creative and think outside the box.

Blog | Creativity | Photography

2016 photo hunt, challenge, photography

2 Comments

halleday

201609/17

Memory course

I had to take a break from sewing to work on and an art journal page. I definitely have to have more than one project at a time. My attention span demands it. A short browse on my workspace was all that it took to get the ideas flowing.

I grabbed a piece of cardboard, scrapbook paper and distress paints to get started. The scrapbook paper had an off-road motorcycle theme…I liked the colors but not the theme. That’s where the paint comes in. Just covered up what I didn’t want. I always have a small bin of words and phrases close at hand so I picked out a few that seemed to speak to me while the paint dried.

The page from an old math book seemed very fitting. It made me think of all those formulas that are so important that you have to memorize. I still have a few of those banging around in my brain that surface when I need them. I’m always the first to point out to my kids when I’m actually using some of that knowledge from school that I swore “I’d never use again”. I certainly don’t use it every day but I do use it.

I had a very unexpected result when I was heating the embossing powder around the edges of my page. The old, dry math book page started to burn…not flames but turned brown and smelled like it was burning. I’ve never had that happen. Now I’d like to try it on purpose. I think it could be a really cool effect for say an old letter or map. I need to do it next to the sink though, just in case. :)

Yes now that I look at my date stamp I realize that I read the 9 as a 6 when looking at it backward on the stamp. No, I did not make this page in the future and travel back to post it. If I had the ability to time travel I’d do something much more interesting than that!!!

I’m linking up today with Art Journal Journey with the Back to School theme.

Art | Creativity

art journal, Art Journal Journey, challenge, polka dot journal

9 Comments

halleday

201609/12

T Tuesday: scrap quilt edition

Thanks for joining me today for T stands for Tuesday with Elizabeth and the gang. I missed last week completely and for the life of me, I can’t even remember what kept me from my weekly post!!! Oh well…on with the show!

I’ve been sorting through my bins of fabric and separating out all the long strips and random shapes to be cut down for my new string quilt project. This pile is 70% blues as I was collecting them for a little boy quilt over a decade ago. After ironing, I cut each piece down to between 1.5 and 2.5 inches wide.

I am piecing the quilt using paper squares with a white strip down the center to serve as a design element in the completed quilt. I’ve used a gluestick to adhere it to each sheet so they are ready to go as I sew. I just eyeballed it so they won’t be perfect but I’m ok with that. It is a scrappy quilt after all.

I shortened my stitch length so that the paper gets perforated and is easy to remove from the fabric once trimmed.

I have a nice little stack of them already.

And look how fun they are going to look when sewn together.

Colorful and scrappy. The other really fun thing for me is that it will be sort of a memory quilt or perhaps fabric journal of previous projects, clothing I’ve salvaged and reminders of people who have passed on but a little part of them lives on for me in the fabric as a memory. Now just look at that, I’m getting all nostalgic.

Since this is a post about quilts on T stands for Tuesday, I thought it was a good time to share a bottle of wine my in-laws brought over. I remembered to nab a photo at the very last glass.

It’s called Barn Quilt Red. This winery is one of three in a small town west of here. The soil must be good for grapes out there. This wine gives a nod to the barn quilts of Carver County.

The barn quilts are really cool. I haven’t seen all 24 but the ones I have seen are really cool. In fact I think I have a photo of one here on the blog somewhere…hmmm….must look now….here it is!

This one can be seen from the MN Landscape Arboretum.

Anyway…more sewing, ironing and cutting,,,not necessarily in that order are in store for me as well as the standard household duties.

What are you doing today?

Blog | Crafts | Creativity

fabric, quilt, scrappy quilt, scraps, T Tuesday

15 Comments

halleday

Halle's Hobbies

A peek into my eclectic life

Category : Creativity

Sight and Sound of Fall

Wonderful Autumn Day

Sounds like Autumn

A second look: Friendship

2016 Summertime Photo Scavenger hunt wrap-up

Memory course

T Tuesday: scrap quilt edition