Reality Check

Here's a very short video shared at the Life Book site, that hits it on the head. Now to figure out where I am in the process...

Valentine Project with the Grandkids

I decided I needed to create a Valentine project to make with the grandkids this year. I frequently have sleepless nights (insomnia sucks!), and used the awake time to imagine a child-appropriate project.

This is what I came up with:

My prep-work was minimal. I cut heart shapes from chipboard and painted them with gesso so they'd take the red paint better and maintain a brighter color.

 

I bought a jigsaw puzzle several years ago (cheap at a second hand store) for the purpose of crafting. If I were to do this again, I'd paint the puzzle pieces with gesso, too. I didn't, and it took several coats of craft-grade acrylic paint to get decent coverage (which taxed the attention span of the kids).

 

 

They enjoyed painting their hearts red.

 

 

 

Fingers are great for applying tacky glue, but only for those who don't mind messy fingers. Ivan had no qualms, but Fiona wasn't a fan and delegated the glue application - then she had no problem placing the puzzle pieces on the heart.

 

Chocolates sound nice...hint, hint

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. Today I hope to work on a project with the grandkids. We'll see how it goes.

Life Book 2013 Video Flip-through!

Today I filmed a flip-through of my Life Book 2013 art journal. Twice. Not as easy as it looks. I backed the video with some music, as I'm sure you don't want to hear me coughing and sniffling.

I wish it was higher resolution when I click full screen. Oh, well. It's my first attempt.

More Art Journaling Explorations HERE

Life Book 2014 February Lessons

I'm excited to have finished my last lesson of Life Book 2013! All pages are now backed, and as soon as I finish decorating the cover I'm going to make a flip-through video.

Meanwhile, I'm behind a few of the 2014 lessons while I've caught up with 2013. Now I can move on.

This lesson taught by Tam Laporte uses Dylusions Spray Inks. HERE is Tam's post and art journal page from this lesson.
This is my second attempt at this page today. Grandson Ivan told me (as I got out of the shower) that he'd painted my circle. This lesson was about negative space, and that "circle" was an area that was to be left unpainted. I think he understands now that his art is his and my art is mine. The boy has access to the best art supplies when I babysit and we often work on art projects, so maybe he misunderstood the boundaries. As a result, I changed my word for this page.

 

Here's the second part of the lesson. I struggled with the looseness of the spray inks. I'm such a control freak!

 

   

Jane Davenport taught this week's lesson ~ a pop-up page. What fun!
Here's the cover:

 Here's a mermaid for the inside:

 Wind and waves:

And all the parts popping up:

Another new teacher! Alena Hennessy.
This lesson employed intuitive painting, and I've come to the conclusion that I have NO intuition when it comes to painting. Not my favorite, but a worthwhile lesson.

This week's lesson is an interview with Claudine Hellmuth.
Here's her Etsy shop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/claudinehellmuth

More Art Journaling Explorations HERE