for those afraid of lettering...

This is such a great video about how easy it is to create interesting lettering for your art journals and canvases.

Lettering for Your Art Journal from Julie Balzer on Vimeo.

I'm a big fan of her blog too... there's tons of inspiration and she's very generous with her "how-tos" as in this journal spread. So interesting to see how it transforms in the process.

You will love this!

I happened on Christy Tomlinson's first online workshop - She-Art - signed up on a whim, and have been thoroughly enjoying it for the last few weeks. She has such a warmth that you just want to grab a cup of coffee and hang out "with her". (Watching her videos). It was a three week process, with new videos of inspiration and techniques uploaded each week and lots of time to watch - I think they are up through April.

I'm taking the next one and thought you might want too, too. It's worth every penny of the very inexpensive $35! Sign up here. Plus I think you'll like her site. Be careful, though, I got a little carried away in her online store.....

some help in making creativity part of your daily life

Every January I wonder how I can be more creative in the year ahead. (And keep it up past January). Fit more projects in, make journalling or painting or sewing more of a priority as opposed to letting it sit on the back burner - as it often does - while I race around attending to all the other "priorities". Fortunately, there are artists out there who understand! And who've, either on their own, or in groups, have created projects and challenges for people just like me - to provide daily, weekly or monthly inspiration to make the time and enjoy the process. I've discovered three sketching/art journalling ones so far and have put their badges on the right side of this blog so that you can check them out. I love that each of them is a mix of inspiration, technique and support. Now to find the time to fit them ALL in!

And... if you have lots of time and really want to go down the rabbit hole, check this out! What a fantastic art journal reference post... Rhomany's Realm.

Lori

What a Start to 2010!

(If you click on one of the above images, you'll be able to see the journal pages more easily.) January's kick off evening was such a blast! We chose a project that we plan to be adding to over the course of the year - an art journal. There were a couple of guidelines but no real plan - as you can see from the photos. Just an opportunity to fool around with paint, ink, stamps, collage, whatever! I love how vibrant they all are. We finished with a new twist - some downtime to use the journals and record whatever you felt like recording.

Our plan is to either bring the journals to each session or we will provide you with paper that you can add in later so that we can continue to journal about the processes, ideas, insights or whatever else is on your mind that evening.

If you were unable to join us, we'll have kits available each evening for a nominal fee so that you can catch up at home. It's easy, messy and very fun!

Our next gathering is Thursday February 11th. We had to make some changes to accommodate various kid activities this weekend. Sure hope that you're coming!