Thursday, April 18, 2013

Gel Print Problem

Well, I don't know if it really is a "problem" per se...but my gel printing activity has been taking me away from other more mundane things like laundry, that I "should" be doing.  But once in a while I feel it's appropriate to just forget about the "shoulds" and enjoy yourself doing something you like to do or want to do, instead.  It's not like the laundry won't get done eventually!

I made a video to share what I've been doing.  Please let me know what you think!



Thanks for visiting my blog today!


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

more link love

Well, I'm a bit behind...as usual!  But I do have some more blog love to share!!!  I'm on a MISSION!
Tammy at daisyyellow has a brilliant campaign going!  You should get in on it if you can...there are a couple weeks left!  Check it out:  Share the Link Love.  I'm sure you can still get in on the love-two weeks left!



http://sarahearn.blogspot.com/
I love her ice cream colors! The way she blends primary colors, white and pale shades with accents of scribbles and folk art accents really gets my juices flowing!

Henna Patterns
My doodles tend to be henna inspired, and here's where I can go and learn more about making them.





http://karenbenke.com/
Rip the Page!  I have been inspired by Karen Benke in my pursuit of the child within.  Her work has been so helpful to me in the "writing" part of my art journaling.  I have used her prompts and writing lessons in my art camps for girls and the response has been so positive.  We used a five senses exercise to do a color wheel art journal page.  Here's mine ;)




http://journalfodderjunkies.com/
I love the work of Dave and Eric.  This is where I initially learned of Dan Eldon's visual journals and his sad story.  I have both of their books, filled with their signature step by step, analytical approach to journaling. I have yet to fully incorporate their influence into my own journals, but it is on the to-do list.

http://www.matirose.com/blog/
Lot's of inspiration here!  I have Daring Adventures in Paint, which has inspired some of my art journal backgrounds, if not full-on paintings.  I will get a canvas next!  The photographs by Leslie Sophia Lindell are brilliant.

Thanks for checking my links!
See you in a week (or so) :)
Sarah







Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Old School Link Love


I am a link lover just like the next blog crawler.  I posted a nice 'little' list here on my blog when I set it up...how long ago...?  Has it already been 2.5 years?!  It seems like maybe Pinterest took over a bit in this area...it's so easy to link your followers there to everything you love.  So, now, actually posting a blog about the links you love goes above and beyond?  Maybe.  It's like anything "old school", I guess.  Doing things the old way often requires more effort, attention and personalization.  Like writing an actual letter instead of emailing, or making a "mix tape" (now CD) instead of sharing on Spotify (which I am listening to as I write this, by the way!).

So this is about really loving some links!  I have to give Tammy at daisyyellow the credit for getting me involved and, as a result, making me write this post.  I've been wanting to blog more, and she gave me a really good idea for a post.  I realize that quite a few other participants in Share the Link Love will likely list some of the same links.  I'm just posting what I love.

I follow artist bloggers like Tammy pretty regularly, checking their blogs daily to see what's new.   I love Tammy's colorful and whimsical style, and her work ethic is sublime!  I took her workshop El Parquesisto Creativo, managing to do about half the lessons, but really got inspired by her simple techniques and articulate (detailed!) approach.  Here are some of my rainbows from the workshop:



I have also purchased a couple of her Daisy Yellow Zines which are fun to look at (and drool over!) but also packed with useful information to inspire art journaling and creativity.

I love iHanna's blog.  In fact, she's the first art journaler/blogger I began to follow.  I love all of the colors she uses and her compositions are lovely.  Her talents are diverse!  She definitely has the blogosphere handled!  She hosts an annual postcard swap with more than 2000 postcards crossing the globe each spring! I recently participated and am still receiving beautiful art mail on a daily basis!  Here are some of the cards that I've sent:




I also follow Natalie Malik's blog, awkward&beautiful.  I LOVE her style of art journaling!  I am trying to master image transfers to do a few pages a la Natty.  I'll let you know how they turn out!

I am fascinated by the art work of Eric Zener, so I'm checking his site pretty regularly to see if there is a show of his work near me where I can see the real thing.  I mean, seriously, check this out!

The beautiful Elsie and Emma of ABeautifulMess are bloggers at the professional level!  I am inspired by their style as well as by the businesslike quality of their blog.  I've found quite a few sources for fabric, fashion and photography technique by visiting them.

And I cannot finish this post without a huge endorsement of my dear friend Lori's blog, LilyGirlFriends.  Lori is a talented jewelry designer and artist with a flair for photography and an eye for all things beautiful.  Her latest post is a gem!  I keep visiting it just to look at the photos again!