Tag : art journal

267 posts

201602/21

Never doubt your instinct

My focus as of late has shifted from art journals and papercraft to 3D items such as button stack pendants and of course, all the 3D printed goodies that just keep on coming. As much as this variety feeds my art ADD, I find myself missing paper and mixed-media. I start to second guess myself…will I still be able to create? What if I fall out of practice? Self doubt is an evil thing.

So a few weeks ago I dropped in at one of the bigger libraries in the system and got myself an armload of inspiration. Nope still didn’t do it for me. My altered books, journals and one off paper crafts sat idle. I even enlisted Mini-me to help clean and organize our art space. Notice I said our art space. She is taking 2 art classes this trimester. One required and one elective.

After finishing painting a couple 3D printed models, I had extra paint brown and gold on the palette. Not being wasteful I grabbed a journal and wiped it on to a random page. I guess that was all it took. The simple act of doing and not thinking to much about it.

The page quickly came together. As I went looking for words I found this series that really spoke to what I felt at that moment.

Do you hear or listen to that little voice inside? Is it the evil one or the one that lifts you up? Or do you just try to shut her up with cookies?

Art | Blog

art journal

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201602/01

T Tuesday: a second look edition

Welcome to T stands for Tuesday AND Second on the 2nd…both hosted by Elizabeth. Hmmm…I wonder how she’s planning on keeping these links straight. :) Anyway…lets get on with it, shall we…

long shadows tea | Halle's Hobbies

First I have to take care of a bit of business. I apologize to my T Tuesday friends for not getting around to visiting. I had to abandon sitting at my desk with the exception of short bursts. Sitting for long periods just does a number on my body. I need to stay active or everything sort of cramps or gets stiff or all crunched up. I’m sure it’s my posture at the keyboard. I’ve started doing yoga every morning and stretches throughout the day. It’s really helping. Of course, since I didn’t get up early enough do my yoga over the weekend (I’m too embarrassed to do it in front of my family since I still really suck at it) I’m a little stiff today.

vintage button stack pendants | Halle's Hobbies

I also wanted to show the pendants I posted about last week. They turned out quite nice. I’ve a bunch more set aside to create more pendants. I’ll be listing some in my etsy store soon.

Now on to Second on the 2nd… I looked back through my blog and realized that I started what I would call an art journal now way back in 2007. I considered it a “no theme” altered book then. Really they are sort of interchangeable terms to me unless you are literally journalling in one. This post kind of cracks me up. I was very critical of myself. Looking back I still know which pages I wasn’t find of but now I can appreciate them all and truly like them!

Take a look at the post from November 10, 2007…

I picked up a this book at a local thrift store the other day. I had originally intended it for something completely different but decided since it was small that I should just dive in and play!!

I really like 3 of the 5 pages. The other 2, I am not so pleased with. I don’t actually hate them enough to cover them up but may go back and revisit them later to see if I can make any good changes.

Can you guess which ones I like??

I still have plenty of room to play some more in this book. It’s very freeing to work without a theme…at least for today. :) Sometimes I need a theme to get me started. In fact this book was planned to be a book in which each spread dealt with one of the senses. Yeah…that changed pretty quickly.

Art | Blog | Crafts | Creativity

Altered book, art journal, jewelry, necklace, pendant, Second on the 2nd, T Tuesday

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201601/11

Order in Chaos

I’m giving a new challenge a whirl today. Perhaps I’ll make a habit of it.

Try it on Tuesday has the theme of Letters and Numbers for the first challenge of 2016.

I will admit this is not my favorite page but it does reflect the chaos in my quote. I believe that I got carried away with the sprays. I should have stopped several squirts earlier.

I was able to use up a bunch of number stickers that I thought would never get used.

I have another idea in mind…if it ever warms up enough to hang out in my basement art space.

Art | Blog

art journal, challenge, TIOT

3 Comments

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201512/27

Time warp journal

After a little post-Christmas cleanup, I rediscovered my worktable. Sad but true…it had been buried under things I was setting there “just for the moment”. I should know that means weeks around the holidays.

Never being one to leave an open space open for along…I grabbed my Gypsy journal and began this new journal page.

I used some of my favorite techniques. They are my go-to whenever I’m feeling the creative bent but not knowing the direction I’d like to go.

My go-to formula is drywall tape for the background, a focal image of a person and found text to end it off.

I really enjoy creating little tales such as this one. Even though it may not make any sense to others…it makes me smile none the less.

Do you have go-to techniques that are seen in your work over and over? I used to think this was a bad thing as I wasn’t growing artistically. I now see that that for me, using similar techniques over and over actually help me grow creatively.

What is your favorite technique?

***I’m linking up with Art Journal Journey today with my time warp journal collage. ***

Art | Blog

art journal, Gypsy journal

7 Comments

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201511/24

T Tuesday: upcycled can project edition

For several years I’ve had a boring tin can on the counter for a pencil holder. You’d think that I’d have made it a bit more visually appealing before now…but no….I’ve mostly just hid it behind other things.

As I was working on a completely different project I noticed a scrap of burlap from my wreath project appeared long enough to wraparound the can. I had to trim it a bit but was very pleased with the look. I added a torn fabric strip around the middle then used hot glue to attach some paper flowers. It looks nice enough to have out in front now.

I have a mini office space on top of the recycling cabinet in our kitchen. Keeps the essentials close for list making, homework, wine sipping… :)

I also have to show you the art journal page I finished up yesterday.

The orange flowers and words were cut using my Silhouette Portrait. They were started out as sage green cardstock.

I used spray mists to alter them more to fit my page. The bunny was cut from an envelope. He looks like a happy bunny to find such yummy flowers.

The page used more of the green fabric used on the burlap wrapped can.

I’m off running errands this morning but look forward to dropping by and visiting my T stands for Tuesday friends later on.

Art | Blog | Crafts

art journal, fabric, recycling, scraps, silhouette, upcycling

14 Comments

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201511/17

T Tuesday: organized edition

Don’t let that title fool you…I’m not yet organized but am working towards making it a habit.

I’ve seen a lot of talk about bullet journaling lately and am intrigued. Rita @ SoulComfort’s Corner keeps an awesome bullet type journal…so organized. I do like some of the concepts and having it all stay in one place…permanently. In the past I’ve always kept my list on random paper that would get misplaced or recycled before completing the tasks. I’m only about 10 days into this so far. I did skip this past weekend as we were planning on a very ~~lazy~~ laid back one.

Mini-me loves to organize. She’s got a lot of her dad in her with that one. But she also has a lot of me. She organizes when the mood strikes…otherwise it generally looks like a tornado swept thru her room. I was the same way at her age…at least with the messy room part.

She was inspired to organize our paint drawer. She even weeded out the dried up containers…now there is room for everything! Thanks sweetie!

Last week for T stands for Tuesday, I posted the beginning of an art journal page that used a scrap of junked up paper.

Here’s the completed page….

I loved these words and am trying my best to heed them.

This also struck me as funny as I was photographing the page.

See my name along the edge? I must have used this page to try out my typewriter as well.

I’m going to try and catch up on things here at home today. I had some training yesterday for my job. And with the ~~lazy~~ laid back we just had, I’m definitely behind around here.

What are you doing today??

Around home | Art | Blog

art journal, Gypsy journal, recycling, T Tuesday

13 Comments

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201511/10

T Tuesday: waste not edition

Here I am, once again, at dark thirty writing my T stands for Tuesday post in between getting kids up and making lunches. Perhaps of these days…weeks…years…I’ll get the habit of preplanning these things. I think it’s my personality though to wait and see where life takes me.

Today I wanted to share a couple of things I did this week to repurpose items that would have been thrown away or in this first case, composted.

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making apple cider vinegar. I’ve read numerous posts on this old fashion technique. Usually this time of year we have apples coming out of our ears from our neighbor’s trees. This year happened to be a poor production year with their trees.

I did have a couple organic store bought apples that we’re definitely past their prime. Not wanting to completely waste expensive apples, I decided to experiment. The recipes or tutorials I read used peels and cores but I’m certain that using the whole apple will work just fine. I sterilized my quart mason jar in the dishwasher then filled it with the chopped apples. I used spring water to completely cover the apples. A scrap of cloth was placed under the ring to allow it to breath. I placed it in our basement storage room while it does its magic. Hopefully by Christmas, I’ll have some homemade apple cider vinegar.

The second waste not piece of this post was using a paper scrap in an unexpected way.

The scrap started as a misprinted Christmas letter from last year. Then it protected my journal from paint and sprays, glues and inks.

t tuesday waste not edition | Halle's hobbies

Now it’s the base of a new art journal page. Who know where this page will take me.

Do you use any “throw away” items in unexpected ways? I’d love to hear about them…

Art | Blog | Kitchen

art journal, kitchen, scraps, T Tuesday

15 Comments

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