Letting Go

Lately I've been taking some e-courses in an attempt to get my creative juices flowing again. Jeanne Oliver's most recent class called, The Journey of Letting Go - Creating Beauty From Ashes, is the one I have immersed myself in lately. We've been making a variety of journals (the one shown here is a canvas covered saddle stitched journal) which is great for me because it seems as though the only "art" I've managed to do lately is journaling.

I love working with textures and various mediums, although sometimes I have to push myself to try using things that are not in my typical arsenal of tools and courses like this remind me to do that. It's good to leave our comfort-zone once in a while and discover new things, although going "outside the box' is usually a scary thing for me to do.

xo

jeanne

Altered Journal

The past few days I've been working on my altered journal from the Creatively Made class I am taking. I am finally finished....I think. Sometimes it's hard to know when to stop.

This is what the journal looked like before I began altering it. It's just a inexpensive journal I found in the $1.00 bin at Michael's.

I collaged the cover with lots of vintage papers, inks, paints and stamps, etc.

Next, I added more details to my girl.

And finally, I added some gold wire and beads to the spine of the journal to give it a little bling.

What you don't see is the entire box of neatly organized beads turned upside down on the floor of my studio after it fell off the edge of my work table! I spent the rest of the afternoon picking them all up from the carpet and re-sorting them back into their various compartments.

I Got My Mojo Back. . .

We had our first measurable snowfall of winter today which is very late for us here in the Midwest. I watched the snow falling from my window - I didn't even go outside to shovel the driveway because I was busy enjoying a steaming cup of French Vanilla coffee and looking at old magazines! Can you say L-A-Z-Y??? I'll probably pay for it tomorrow when the temperature drops and the snow is frozen solid. But being snowed-in has it's benefits, because I got a little creative urge. This is just a peek at what I'm working on.

It felt so good to be making something artsy again.

Happy September!

September (my birthday month) started out in a happy way. I received my comp issue of this year's Holidays & Celebrations from the lovely Jennifer Jackson Taylor over at Stampington Publications. My article, Walk on the Wild Side, is featured on pages 102-104 and I'm over the moon about it! Thanks so much Jennifer.

Something New

I've been working on this collage during the past week. Still have more work to do on it though. Have to wait for further inspiration to complete it.

Creating Again

Ok, enough with the wishing, hoping and longing for springtime and sunshine. It's still only February and the weather man is predicting 2 - 4 more inches for this afternoon. Ugh!

So I decided to take things into my own hands and create a little color surge in my studio. It really felt good to get my hands covered in paint and gel medium and play. It's been way too long since I've done that.

Thank you again (I just can't say it enough) for all your well wishes and sweet thoughts and comments. They have really and truly meant so much to me and are the very thing that has kept me afloat during these past 5 weeks. (Is that all it's been? It seems so much longer than that!) I'm taking baby steps to get my life back in gear and it helps to be surrounded by so much love.

These new creations are currently listed in my Etsy Shop and I hope to be adding more in the coming weeks.

I'm back....well, sort of

I've been spending a lot of time at home lately. Not doing anything in particular. Just trying to make sense out of the past couple weeks. The house is empty and very quiet. No doctor appointments to drive to. No chemo treatments. No walking every morning at the mall with my beloved. No spending quality time together. Instead I am going through the motions of day to day living and slowly trying on this new life of mine to see how it fits. I did spend a little time in my studio creating this little college. It depicts the place I am at right now - nesting and trying to heal.

I'd like to thank you all for your touching comments on the previous post about my DH. I can't express how much your sweet words have meant to me during this time. I treasure the written word. Probably because it comes much easier for me than verbal communication. But mostly because the written word can be read over and over again. The words console me and help to mend my broken heart. Thank you so much.

Weekend Getaway

We had a chance to drive up to our cottage this past weekend. It had been two whole months since we were last there. The photo shown above is not our cottage, but the "art cottage" of Pipka, an artist who has long been a resident of the area. Pipka began her career by making gorgeous hand-painted Santas. She continues to create them, but has also delved into the world of mixed media collage. The pieces she had on display and for sale were full of wonderful texture and dimension. Someday I hope to take a class here at Pipka's beautifully landscaped studio.

Her gardens are truly amazing! What glorious surroundings to create art in.

Such meticulously manicured planting beds.

The blossoms on this Horse Chestnut tree were HUGE!

The Siberian Iris blooms made quite a statement. I forgot to take my camera along, so all these photos were taken with my cell phone. Everything was even more awesome in person!

Two different types of Lilac bushes - my favorite scent of all the flowers!

Next time I'll share some of my vintage finds from the trip.

The Girls

Here's a collage I made a little while ago which was inspired by my mother and her two sisters. I remember my grandpa always saying he was so fortunate to have three beautiful girls. Most men want to have a son to carry on the family name. Come to think of it, years ago when we were expecting our only child, my husband told me he was secretly hoping we would have a girl. And lucky for us that's exactly what we had! {Vintage image from Lisa's Altered Art and some of the background papers are from Cathe Holden.}

A Little Spring Crafting

Today is my day! My day to post my Vintage-Inspired Basket Tutorial over on the Joli Paquet blog, that is. You can check it out by clicking here.

Heart In Hand

I'm sure many of you know about Rebecca Sower's efforts to raise money for the earthquake victims in Haiti. Many times when there is a tragic event like this, there is an immediate out-pouring of generous donations, which is so appreciated by the victims. And then as the news coverage fades and other news stories take over the headlines, the donations seem to taper off.

It's important to remember when catastrophes like this happen it takes years for a country to recover and rebuild.
While thinking about what I could do to help, I read that Rebecca was setting up a special Blog and Etsy Shop called Haiti by Hand to help those in need in that country. I let it stew in my brain for a few days and eventually came up with the Hope for Haiti collage above as my tribute to the people of Haiti. You can read more about it in the listing for it at the Haiti by Hand shop here.

There is a whole host of beautifully handmade items in the Haiti by Hand shop, as Rebecca shows in this mosaic she has made. I love that we are able to use our passion for art to help those in need.

Let Them Eat Cake

Do you remember this post? A swap group that I belong to exchanged our versions of Lace Cakes in a Marie Antoinette theme. {These cakes are truly fit for a queen!} These are 6x6 pages that will eventually be bound into a book, but before I bind it I thought I would show you the beautiful pages I received.

Terri Gordon

Rhonda Thomas

Terri Hadji-Gauthier

Rebecca Allison

Debra Abel