Vintage craft books - Livres d'artisanat vintages

I love looking at old craft books. I have a few in my collection. I got the ones shown in this photo from my grandmother this past weekend. And I just had to show you these projects from the McCall's Needlework & Crafts from 1970. My favourite is the patchwork skirt with the knit white bikini as a close second!
J'aime regardé les vieux livres d'artisanat. J'en ai quelques-uns dans ma collection. J'ai reçu ceux photographiés ici de ma grand-mère pendant la fin de semaine. Et je me devais de vous montrer ces projets provenant du McCall's Needlework & Crafts de 1970. Mon préféré est la jupe en patchwork avec le bikini tricoté en deuxième place!
 

Colour exploration - Exploration de couleur

Inspired by Hanna, and wanting to use up some of the bought journals I have, I decided to start a colour exploration journal for the colour red. I took out a bunch of my pens, pencils, markers, acrylics, watercolours, images and papers, all of them red. The journal is a work in progress as I want to collect more red things and do some journaling about the colour over time. I'm also thinking of doing exploration journals for other colours in the future. Which colour would you pick to explore?

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Inspirée par Hanna, et voulant utiliser des journaux achetés, j'ai décidé de commencer un journal sur l'exploration de la couleur rouge. J'ai sorti une panoplie de crayons, stylos, feutres, acryliques, aquarelles, images et papiers, tous rouge. Le journal est un projet en cours pour lequel je veux collectionner plus de choses rouges et faire de l'écriture à propos de la couleur au fil du temps. Je pense aussi à faire des journaux d'exploration pour d'autres couleur à l'avenir. Quelle couleur choisiriez-vous d'explorer?

Inside the artist's studio

So. This is where the magic happens. My living room/studio. It's small and I have way too much stuff for it but I've gotten used to it in the past 5 (closer to 6) years.

Now. I've already talked about my belief in signs and messages from the Universe. And this summer, I received a message in the form of a new-to-me blog. She calls herself the Mermaid and lives in a cottage near a beach. She teaches "fat, messy journal" classes to young girls in her home during summer. And the way she writes... it got me thinking...

I could do this. I could teach "fat, messy journal" classes of my own during summer. Yes, my apartment is small but with a bit of de-cluttering and reorganizing, I really think I could make my living room kid-friendly. All through this year I've been taking small steps to de-clutter my life. And I've been experimenting with new art techniques. I've also been reading about organization more (and seeing Violette's posts on this subject and the progress she's making with this is very inspiring.) I already have access to kids so that won't be an issue when it's time to get started. I even have 2 girls in mind to "test drive" this new project. Thoughts and ideas are swirming in my mind day and night (making it hard to fall asleep but that's a whole different post that I won't bore you with!)

Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted to be an artist and to teach kids (without actually being a school teacher.) So I think, no, I KNOW that this is one of those dreams that can and WILL actually come true! I'm very excited about this and will do everything in my power to make it happen. And I'll keep you all updated on my progress.

On a different note...

Yesterday, I was at my parents' house to take care of the dogs for a few hours and decided to make 2 cards (I hate the term "greeting card" but that's what they are, not ATCs.) They are both very similar: same colours, same stamps. The differences are: this one has 4 birds while the other has 2 AND this card has punched flowers with a bit of Gold Liquid Pearl while the other has Turquoise Sticklers on all the leaves of the tree. They both came out great. The other card is for an ATCSforALL member who lost family members last week. The one you see here is for a 5 year old girl, Ellie Bouchard, who is going through chemo because of a brain tumor. If you want to brighten this little girl's day, go to her website to find the address where you can mail her a card or anything else that you think she might like.

Before I go, I also wanted to share with you this video (found through iHanna's blog.) It makes me happy and I could watch it over and over.

Welcome love

Some time ago, Brandy sent me a blank journal in a beautiful cover that she made herself. I had put it aside with all my other blank journals, waiting until I finished the other one that I was already working in. Well, when I got sick of working in that one, I pulled Brandy's journal out and began drawing in it. The first drawing is only pencil but I plan to eventually colour it in. This is the second entry in that journal and it was done late at night. I was about to fall asleep when this image appeared in my head and I just had to put it to paper before forgetting about it. The page came out exactly as I had envisioned it which doesn't happen all that often. I simply drew with a regular HB pencil and then added colour with my basic watercolour kit and my AquaPainter brush (you fill the handle with water and just go from there. I love it!) I used Micron pens for the heart border and the letters, a gold gel pen for the outer border of the heart and finally, the next day, I used my date stamp with StazOn ink to complete the page.

While working in my journal, on my ATCs and Chunky pages lately, I've challenged myself to use less colours. I try to stick to the primary (red, blue and yellow) and secondary (purple, green and orange) colours with some black and white. I find that sometimes, less is more.

If you haven't already, go read Judi's latest blog post. It's uplifting and inspiring. Definitely made me smile. I wasn't feeling down or creatively blocked at all when I read her post but it STILL helped me to get ready to create. And create I did! Yesterday, I spent the whole day working on ATCs, chunky pages and skinny pages while watching DVDs from my collection. And this afternoon will probably be the same!

Get inspired! Get creative! Have fun!

Inspiration is everywhere

Where do you find your inspiration? Do you have a special place you go to when looking for a new idea? Do you look at every day things for inspiration?

For this month's daily art cards, I decided to make them in order to turn them into my very own inspirational deck (following in Violette's footsteps.) When I woke up this morning, I started thinking about what my card would be today. I got my answer only when I came back from work tonight. On the windshield of my car, someone had tucked a card under the whipper blade. A Pokemon card with "energy" on it. It had been raining most of the day but the sun came out just as I left from work so inspired by the card and the energy from the sun, I went about creating my card. I made it 3" x 4" out of watercolour paper and it was coloured with watercolour, coloured pencils, Glaze pen, PosterPaint Marker and a flower stamp with ink.

Listening to the muse

I've been trying different things with my art. Playing differently with my supplies. Experimenting. And I'm not done yet. Not even close. But I'm enjoying it. Every second of it.

I had a craft play day with CeeCee and Mom last Friday. For once we were able to do it during the day instead of in the evening. I made some more paper spool collages. Most of the times, when we're all three together, that's all I seem to do.

It's odd. Sometimes, I seem to have no inspiration at all even though I'm creating every single day. I guess sometimes, I'm creating more out of habit than anything else. What does that mean? I wonder... Anyway, just wanted to show I'm still alive and kicking.

How do you like your coffee?

I've signed up for an ATC swap which has a coffee theme. So I've been creating coffee themed things. And being inspired by this painting. So I decided to try something new. Painting with coffee. Yup, you read me right. Dipping my paintbrush into a cup of coffee. I love it! It makes for lovely shades of beige and brown. And it smells yummy too!

Have tried something new lately? Something different? Are you pushing your limits? Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Of creatures (which are mostly of the bird variety) and other things

So I notice that some symbols keep coming back in my art. Of course, we're aware of the heart symbol which has already been discussed in a previous post but lately, I've also seen a variety of birds appear here in there in both my art AND my dreams. Anyone know what dreaming of birds mean? In the past weeks, I've had dreams of hawks (but friendly ones), owls and crows. In two dreams, the bird landed on my left arm. Strange. Anyway, I've decided to focus some pieces on those birds which explains the second art card you see here at the top and this painting below.

Now. About this painting. I've really been inspired by Kal Barteski's recent paintings (I've told you about them already) and thought I'd have my own take on this idea. I had all those old books of children stories which were missing a lot of pages (library books that were going to be thrown out.) So I decided to paint on the pages individually. Some have really nice illustrations on them so I might try to use those for something else but the pages with only text will be used in this fashion. They measure about 9" x 12". I started with a layer of gesso which had been mixed with some pink paint for another project (which is below) and had some left over. The tree came out of nowhere and wanted to be painted purple. So I did (more like lavender if you ask me.) Then the little bird appeared and wanted a swirly sun so I gave it to him. And before I knew it, he had me writing this little bit right in the middle of the painting! (It says: he just knew that one day he would fly to the sun.) This little guy really had a mind of his own. And now he wants siblings and friends to play with so I guess I'll have to do more paintings. This was a big change for me: painting on something other than canvas and out of my journals. So, tell me what you think of it. Would you pay for something like this? Would others? It would be so wonderful to actually make money from my art, you know what I mean? Others are doing it. Why not me?

This is my latest art journal page. This journal is almost full. Three more pages and I'm done with it. Yikes! Whatever will I do next? Well, I guess I'll just have to use one of my many other journals patiently waiting on my bookshelf in my bedroom. Maybe go smaller? I don't know. I have another big spiral journal that I could use but do I want to work this size again? So many questions tonight!

Anyway, like most of my journal pages and art cards lately, this one has lots of layers. And I just noticed that I didn't use oil pastels on this one which is surprising. I guess I didn't want the "dirty" or "muddy" look it would bring to the page. This one almost looks clean to me. The drawings are supposed to represent my cat Diesel and myself. My auto-portrait is ok but Diesel is much darker in real life. She's a big furry purring ball of colours all mixed in together. I also did this page as a response to iHanna's prompt to use hearts in our journal. So here's to you Hanna!

This weekend I'll show you another small painting and something I received in the mail.

Of hearts and art

Back when I was a teenager, I hated Valentine's day because I always ended up spending it alone and all my friends had boyfriends to go to the movies with. Even in my twenties, I wasn't really fond of that "holiday." I started warming up to it when I started working with kids. That was when I realized it wasn't only about "true love" but about friendship and "all around" love. But this year, with the OWOH event, I've had my best Valentine's Day to date! (PS I learned yesterday that I won a 5th giveaway! Awesome!) And inspired by iHanna, I rediscovered the powerful symbol that is "heart." It has shown up in my art journals, on my Daily Art Cards, in ATCs. I've even sent out valentine cards (ATCs) to friends that I met online! A first for me! At work, I celebrated by wearing pink and red. Made this little red heart brooch out of glittered felt. The necklace I received a few years ago from a kid where I worked. I opted for my favourite pink t-shirt (made in Canada from organic cotton!) I love what is written on it (loosely translated: The Black Sheep - Life is colourful even when you're stubborn enough to think it's only black and white.) Cool, huh?

Anyway, I'm sure the heart symbol will keep popping up in my art. You've been warned! (And to think that a few years ago I wouldn't have been caught dead wearing pink or drawing hearts... Believe it or not, I used to be goth... quite a change, huh?)

If you look closely, you can see one of my paintings in the background of that first photo. It was done in 2004 and measures 20" x 24". It contains two of my favourite things: a crow and tim-burton-esque mountains! One day I'll have it framed and hanging properly. Right now, it is resting on a sort of display molding my father made for me back when I was still living at home.

Looking at that painting, I feel a greater need to have a decent studio space where I can create bigger pieces. Seriously, my living room seems to be shrinking! And it doesn't help that Diesel, though I love her dearly, gets into every open drawer, box, bag and onto every available surface (top of desk, top of table whether full or not, chair, table-top easel... you get my drift.) So until I get my studio, I'm focusing more on small artworks. Like my Daily Art Cards, paper spool collages (I'll have 4 new ones to show you once I get them photographed properly), ATCs, art journals, etc... After seeing Kal's latest creations, I've been inspired to do small paintings that I will one day be able to sell at a reasonable price. Some are started but nothing finished yet. So stay tuned!

And on that note, I say to you goodnight. And think good thoughts! The Universe is listening! (I asked for more money and I keep working extra hours every week so that's good!)

Impossible Love... and giving thanks

Remember this page? Here is the final result. I wrote a little text, in french, then distressed it a bit with sandpaper and then smeared pastels on top so the white wouldn't look so white. I'm not sure that it is totally finished but I can't see what it needs so I'm leaving like this. It looks good enough but you never know...

These two characters, Alice and K-52, have made a short appearance in my Nanowrimo novel. The novel itself is going well. I'm right on schedule with my word count. I will actually make it to 50 000 words before December 1st! Woohoo! I really love writing this novel but at the same time, I'll be happy when I'm done with it. It's keeping me busy and taking more time out of my days than I thought which means I don't have as much time to create other things. I think that December will be my "create everyday" month. Or maybe not. I don't know. I like the idea of tackling one big project for a precise period of time like Nano in November. When there is a deadline, I give myself the much needed push to do some things I would not otherwise take the time to do.

This week, I've been looking at my bank account and trying to figure out how much money I will have left before the next paycheck in two weeks. I have four bills due before the end of next week and rent on the 1st. I realized that with today's paycheck added to my balance, I would still have a bit more than what I originally thought. Cool. I did not panic (even though my account will be at its lowest since it was first opened) and you know what? Well, the Universe, seeing that I was not panicking and stressing over the amount decided to make it still more than what I had calculated. Not much but still. Anything is better than nothing. I received a small pay increase AND got 10$ in the mail today for having answered a survey a couple months ago. See, 10$ will eventually turn into 100$ which will in turn become 1000$ and so on until I finally have my dream house! Isn't it gorgeous? That house is SO going to be mine one day! And it's just one street east of where I am right now (so still very close to work.)

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States. Here in Canada, it was in October. Still, today I am grateful for all the wonderful friends I have made online and for all the wonderful artists and bloggers who allow me to get a peek into their lives, the artistic parts and the "boring" parts. I say "boring" because some people might find what they do boring while another person would find it interesting and a source of inspiration. If you haven't done so yet, click on some of the links on my sidebar. You'll find some amazing creative souls amongst them.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends. And to everyone, have a wonderful day/afternoon/evening/night. Look for something that will make you smile and lift your spirit. There's always something. No matter how small.

Star of the Show

This one just came to me tonight while watching television. Absolutely nothing planned. I had no idea what I was doing, I just went with the flow. I LOVE this page.

She's in my spiral journal. I used a piece of wrapping paper (the tarot cards on the left), a page from a children's book, a piece of ruled paper, acrylics, watercolour crayons and pencils, crayons, Glaze pens, Sharpie PosterPaint Markers and Micron pens. Oh and a small paper flower with a brad.

I'm too tired to continue my book tonight. I'll have plenty of time tomorrow. Besides, the word count came easier than I had expected. So off to bed I am.

Of friends, cards and a boy

Last night, my mother and I went to my friend Catherine's place for a Halloween themed evening. We're scrapbookers and cardmakers so we like to meet for a crop night and work on projects. I had no idea what to work on so after drinks, chatting, showing my art journal to Steph, Catherine's daughter, mounting new rubber stamps, I finally made this Christmas card. It's very simple and very anti-christmas colours but I like it. I started another card but still need to finish it before I can post a picture.

Remember my Super Ordinary Boy? Steph and her friend said last night that if I made a book about this little guy, they'd buy it and would tell all their friends to buy it. Well it got me thinking and all of a sudden, S.O.B. (as he will now be referred to) started appearing with my main character for Nanowrimo. I think I might have a twinkling of an idea for my story! Woohoo!

Rainy day. I slept in late and have been feeling kind of yucky all day. Chicken broth didn't seem to help so it's not a cold. Maybe my body's telling me something... I'll go work on my triptych for a shrine I'm making (from Violette's e-class at Go-Make-Art.)

What to Write in My Journal?

http://www.creativity-portal.com/cca/quinn-mcdonald/write-in-journal.html

I particularly like the phrase: "[journals] are the GPS system to your spirit." Especially since I'm a proud member of the Glitter Power Sisters.

Inspiration and life

If you haven't yet, go visit SuziBlu's blog and YouTube page. She rocks. Watching her Vlogs makes me want to buy a digital video cam and shoot my own mini videos or my art and Diesel.

Since I started putting her on a leash and taking her out on the balcony, Diesel has been meowing and crying every morning and after lunch to go out. She doesn't mind the leash at all. I'll have to bring her on the grass before we get snow. Soon.

Once upon a time, I wanted to be a vegetarian. I even wanted to be vegan. You know what made me change my mind? I love LOVE love milk and cheese, well dairies in general. And I LOVE my father's roast beef. So as much as I love animals and want them to be safe and happy and such, I can't be a vegetarian.


Now I'll go create in my journal before watching a bit of television. Heroes is on tonight. I'm addicted.