Win A FREE Spot on Life Book 2015!

"In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love."

- Marc Chagall

Hellllooooo & Welcome . . . .  

I can't tell you how happy I am that you're here! And, thanks to the generosity of our lovely host Tam, how excited I am to be able to offer ONE FREE SPOT on Life Book 2015!

What is Life Book? Um, only the most amazing, year-long online course featuring Tamara Laporte & 25 mixed media artists who'll share their tips and tricks with YOU beginning January 1st, 2015. 

Wanna know more? Here's what you'll receive when you win:

◙ 10 In depth Mixed Media Art Lessons by Tam of Willowing Arts

◙ 22 In depth Mixed Media Art Lessons by Spectacular Guest Teachers (see below who the 2015 guest teachers are)

◙ 20 (Smaller) Bonus Activities like: extra PDF prompts & step by steps/ artist interviews/ ATC swaps/ give aways/ audio meditations/ writing prompts etc by Tam & Guest Teachers

Speaking of Spectacular Guest Teachers, check out this line up!

Pretty amazing, right?! (I'm incredibly honored to be among them). For more information about all of the teachers, just pop over here. I think you'll agree that this is one opportunity not to be missed . . . .

NOW, to the business at hand! How do you win that ONE FREE SPOT from here? Well, as the host of The Summer of Color, I thought it would be fun to talk color.

So, here goes: simply leave a comment below & tell us your favorite color combination to play with. That's it! You have until next Saturday, September 27th (10:00 PM Pacific Standard Time) to do so. One winner will be chosen at random and announced here the following day. 

Of course you have many more chances to win by following the blog hop. Here's where we are now:

8th September 2014 – Tamara Laporte -  http://www.willowing.org

9th September 2014 – Jane Davenport – http://janedavenport.com

10th September 2014 – Joanne Sharpe – http://joannezsharpe.blogspot.co.uk

11th September 2014 -  Jenny Lee Wentworth – http://jennyleewentworth.blogspot.co.uk

12th September 2014 -  Violette Clark – http://www.violette.ca

13th September 2014 -  Chris Zydel – http://creativejuicesarts.com

14th September 2014 -  Danielle Donaldson – http://danielledonaldson.com

15th September 2014 -  Effy Wild – http://effywild.com

16th September 2014 -  Flora Bowley – http://braveintuitiveyou.com

17th September 2014 -  Alisa Burke – http://alisaburke.blogspot.co.uk

18th September 2014 -  Rachael Rice – http://rachaelrice.com

19th September 2014 -  Jeanne Oliver – http://www.jeanneoliverdesigns.com

20th September 2014 -  Andrea Gomoll – http://andrea-gomoll.de

21st September 2014 -  Kristin Van Valkenburgh – http://www.kristinvanvalkenburgh.com

22nd September 2014 -  Jill K. Berry – http://jillberrydesign.com

23rd September 2014 -  Alena Hennessy – http://www.alenahennessy.com

24th September 2014 -  Juliette Crane – http://www.juliettecrane.com

25th September 2014 -  Jenny Doh – http://blog.crescendoh.com/crescendoh

26th September 2014 -  Mati Rose McDonough – http://www.matirose.com

27th September 2014 -  Patti Ballard – http://www.pbsartstudio.com

28th September 2014 -  Lynzee Lynx – http://lynzeelynx.com

29th September 2014 -  Roben Marie Smith – http://www.robenmarie.com

30th September 2014 -  Andrea Schroeder – http://www.creativedreamincubator.com

1st October 2014 -  Lynn Whipple – http://www.lynnwhipple.com

2nd October 2014 -  Donna Downey – http://www.donnadowney.com

Have fun and Good luck! I look forward to playing with you now and in the year to come! 

To Love & Art,

Kristin xo

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Life Book!

"The Universe Conspires"

9 x 12 LB Journal Page

(Lesson 6)

I know. I Know. It's been forever since I've posted a page from Life Book. Truth is, I've watched every one of the 11 week's worth of art and inspiration, but I haven't made much of a move beyond that. Until today. I started playing catch-up by doing Tam's beautiful lesson on paint overs . . . .

We were first asked to create a 9 x 12 collage using images that speak to us. Our intention was to create a page for our Life Book journal that would celebrate an accomplishment in our lives. My initial layer looked like this:

Collage made with various decorative papers, storybook images and glossy magazines.

"Once you make a decision, the Universe conspires to make it happen"

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Next LB stop: Tam's "Celebrating the impact you've had on others" (with photo altering) . . . 

Wish me luck,

Kristin xo

Life Book (1)

"My Super Powers"

9 x 12 Watercolor page (with extension)

I (finally) had the opportunity to finish my first lesson with Life Book! I'm thrilled to be a part of the year-long class and so look forward to the education, insights and camaraderie there.  

Our first lesson focused on creating a journal page that will eventually be bound in a book at the end of the year. We were asked to list what we believe are our "Super Powers," or the qualities that make us unique and which bring joy to ourselves and others. 

I really enjoyed making this page and learning how to create a more realistic, 3/4 portrait. It's the first that I've done like it, and I want to thank our teach Tam for sharing her beautiful talents with us.

Here's what I came up with:

Front flap, closed

Vintage text reads, "My Heart"

Full spread

Swarovski crystals on crown & Stickles glitter on lettering

Eeeee . . . . SO looking forward to more . . . .

Thank you for visiting,

Kristin xo

Willowing & Friends!

"Empathy Monster"

Funky little one! One of the projects for week 3 on Willowing's course was to create an Empathy Monster using materials of our choice and a provided pattern. To be clear, I do not sew, so everything here has been done by hand (& with a little help from my friend, Fabri-tac) . . . Each of the stitches were made with various colors of thread and styles (not that I could name them), in addition to a strong belief that wonky would work well here . . .

Other variations on the doll include a stitched nose, a Swarovski crystal button for the eye on the left and a decorative button on the right. The fuzzy hair was made using a hair clip (I later removed the actual clip once the rest was sewn in place) from the feather boa section of my local craft store. It may also be interesting to note that the zipper was 4 inches long (something I learned yesterday) and that it was stuffed with two (1.5) bags of left over spider "webbing" from Halloween. . . 

Thanks for looking! If you are interested in getting the pattern for yourself, check it out Here. . . xoxo

Willowing & Friends!

Altered Board Book

"Mommy's Waiting for You"

Detail of Whimsy

Detail of "Home"

The second objective for our Altered Book in Willowing's class (week 2, project 2) was to create a scene - using whimsical characters to represent ourselves - that we would have liked to experience in childhood. . . 

I decided to create one character to represent myself and one whimsical birdhouse to represent my home. I was lucky in that although my parents divorced when I was a baby, they both loved and cared for me, and I lived with each of them throughout my childhood. Having said that, they worked hard as single parents and I was often alone. This piece is meant to represent my childhood wish to have (what I perceived to be) a "normal" family where my parents (or Mama Bird in this case) were waiting for me when I returned home from school . . .

Thank you for looking! I look forward to the next project in Willowing's amazing course. xo

Willowing & Friends!

"Thank You"

I'm so happy to be a part of Willowing's online course, Art, Heart & Healing. Not only am I meeting some wonderful new artists (there are almost 1,000 people participating at this point!), but I'm also learning new tips and techniques for painting faces, something which is very new to me. Week 1 (of 4) challenges us to create a journal page expressing our intentions. My journaling (underneath all the paint and gesso) was the repetition of an old Hawaiian statement (Ho'oponopono) meant to help clear the mind and heal the heart. It reads, "I love you, I'm sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you." Therefore, my single chosen word/phrase (found in her hair) is Thank You. . . .

I took a few pictures along the way in case you are interested in seeing the page come together:

Pencil sketch on 12 x 18 cold press watercolor paper

Applying color

(unfortunately I did not have the proper supplies, so I fudged with acrylics instead of the suggested Caran D'Ache crayons)

 Beginning background

Initial stamping

Completed Page

By the way, if you are interested in learning more about Ho'oponopono, consider picking up a copy of the book, Zero Limits by Joe Vitale and Ihaleakala Hew Len. It was an incredible read that I highly recommend. Thank you for looking! I'm SO looking forward to next week's lesson . . . 

Kristin xo