Mind. Body. Soul. (Art Journaling)

Believe it or not, I am almost done with the journal started for sweet Leslie's online course, Mind. Body. Soul. Good thing too, as the prompts ended about two weeks ago. (sigh). . . .

Below are shots of the last journal spread for Anxiously Engaged, followed by the first and last pages of the book:

"Oh the places we will go"

(Vertical spread)

Vintage music, vintage stamps, Stampington art papers (bike) and personal photo

Opening page /  Table of contents:

"Contents"

Featuring all of Leslie's prompts

Carefully selected papers hint at what's to come

Back / final page:

"Put on a happy smile"

Swarovski crystals, rub-ons and paint chip

There you have it. Only one thing left to complete: the cover! Oh, and the story behind the book as a whole. On a personal note, when I started the course, I had no idea what or where I would be when I ended it. I don't mean to sound cryptic, I will finish the cover, put it all back together, and share the story in it's entirety in my next post for Paint Party Friday. 

See you then,

Kristin xo

{Looking for The Summer of Color? Get the whole scoop here.}

Mind. Body. Soul. (Art Journaling)

Okay, so I guess I lied. I thought I was onto the next word in the series of journal prompts from sweet Leslie's Mind. Body. Soul. e-course, but for some reason, it seems that Renew was not done with me. . . 

Here are two more pages in the almost-complete journal:

"Renew"

Scrapbook materials enhanced with glitter gel pen and ink

Martha Stewart Glue pen and glitter on neck and lips

"Gave 'em all away"

Background of decorative paper, stamps and acrylic

Collage using pieces of Kendra's baby clothes

Page tab created with a baby label and accessory

That's it! Now I'm off to create the final pages for Anxiously Engaged . . . whew . . .

Kristin xo

Mind. Body. Soul. (Art Journaling)

"Do South"

5 x 8 Strathmore Watercolor Journal

I've been having so much fun with my friend Leslie's online course, Mind. Body. Soul. Each week - among beautiful words of wisdom and positivity - she has suggested a one word journal prompt for us to explore. I'm happy to report that not only am I up-to-date (sorry, Life Book, I'm coming for you, I swear!) but I am also learning from the process of "letting go" within it. 

I have to admit that although I've always strived to make my journal pages "authentic" and from the heart, they have until now still been an attempt to create pretty pictures as well. In other words, I usually have the end result in mind while I am creating . . . . But not these days. I find myself learning more by doing more and working fast. Learning to go with my gut and not think about what it will look like in the end. 

The first page for the word of the week - DO - is below:

Rub-ons, stamping, vintage text and clip art.

"Ma" and "Pa" are written on the body of the birds.

A punched hole shows a sneak peek of the next page.

The back of the tag from the previous page, which you can see here.

The second page for the word, "DO" was inspired by a picture of Kendra and her tiny tot pony tails. I knew I wanted to incorporate this shot for a page inspired by her baby hair. Here is the original:

Easter, 2007

"Do you know?"

Stamped images colored with watercolor crayons and gel pens.

Text reads: "I am afraid this may be the last time."

Image printed with low ink and glued to the page.

I wanted to share this discovery ( new to me ;) I made today while trying to incorporate Kendra's picture on the page. When I went to print it out, I noticed that I was dangerously low on ink. Instead of changing the cartridges right away, I thought I'd see what would happen if I didn't. The result was a pink, distorted image that I loved. So I glued it to the page and went for it, color lines and all. Hmmm, I think I may print out a few more shots like this before I get fresh ink . . . .

Thank you for your time! 

Please feel free to check out Mind. Body. Soul. for next week's word, "Overcome." 

Kristin xo

Mind. Body. Soul. (Art Journaling)

I'm happy to say that I've completed the work for week one in my beautiful friend Leslie's new E-course, Mind.Body.Soul. Our task was to create two journal pages focusing on positivity and the word Believe. Here is what I came up with:

"You Are Enough"

Elements attached with string and staples

Revealed message

"Sit with it for a While"

Torn papers and rub-ons

Stamping and a page full of decorative tape

And just as a side: I broke out a new journal for this class, the Strathmore Visual Journal, and I'm more than impressed with it. It's a Cold Press watercolor journal with a good weight (140 lb) and no matter how many layers (painting, rub-ons, stamping, gluing, image transferring, um, glittering . . . ) I put it through, it stayed with me (no balling up or wrinkling). And I loved the 5 x 8 size as it was very easy to complete in one sitting. At around $5 (I got mine at Michaels, but they are everywhere), I would recommend it in a heartbeat!

Thanks for looking! I'm now off to see what's in store for Week Two . . . please feel free to join us, it's inspiring, fun & free!

Kristin xo

Journal Play

"You Are What You Eat"

8 x 12 Moleskine Journal

Images from Retro Cafe Art

A new Moleskine + A few hours to play . . .

Thanks for looking!

Kristin xo

The Summer of Color - BROWN

"Nodland"

8 x 10 Journal page

{This page was inspired by the vintage sheet music - a lullaby entitled "Bye Bye Land" - which serves as the base of the collage}

Yellow fever!

Another wonderful week was had with Yellow. Although some of us initially expressed concern with the color, we tackled the challenge regardless and succeeded in producing an amazing amount of beautiful, inspirational pieces based upon the signature hue of Summer. Thank you once again for sharing your heart and art with us here and with one another on Flickr and Facebook as we continue our colorful journey together . . .

Did you hear?

The winner of last week's Yellow drawing (pictured in the post below) is . . .

YOU

Please Email your address to kdvanvalkenburghatmsndotcom and I will get your goodies right out.

Now, welcome to BROWN week!

Your color prompt for this week (Monday July 11th to Sunday July 17th) is to create anything your heart desires inspired by color Brown. Your Bonus! challenge is to incorporate a bold shot of color somewhere in your work. As always, please (A) link your work in the widget below so that others can find you, (B) leave one comment if you created a Brown piece and (C) leave two comments in you completed the Bonus! challenge. 

And did you see all those vintage pretties?

This week's Brown giveaway will include a lot of 'em . . .

The Paper Company Flourish rub-ons, several (okay 6 ;) large vintage ledger pages, several pieces of vintage sheet music, Distress Ink in Pumice Stone, one distressed tag, a few sheets of mica, Stickles glitter in Cinnamon and Copper and a sprinkling of bronze Swarovski flat-back crystals

And what is next week's color prompt?

RED

(Monday July 18th - Sunday July 24th)

"Red protects itself. No colour is as territorial. It stakes a claim, is on alert against the spectrum."

- Derek Jarman

Is there a Bonus! challenge with Red?

Yep. Should you decide to take it on, next week's Bonus! challenge is to incorporate something - anything - winged into your work. This can be taken literally or figuratively, the choice is yours.

Have fun . . .

Kristin xo