Heaven Help Me

AYear in the Life of an Art Journal

Musical Musings 5.30.11

The Prompt: Faith

The Song: Heaven help me by Gretchen Wilson
Product/Technique: Wings
Written Lyrics HERE

This song "Heaven Help Me"

by Gretchen Wilson is so beautiful.

Victorian Lavender filled pillow sachets

I decided to experiment with printing

some of my angel paintings on fabric.

I sewed each one on a piece of linen

that had a soft woven feel to it.

I had fun picking from my stach of buttons,

beads and lace trims to embellish each pillow,

and filled them with wonderful smelling lavender.

I listed each one in my Etsy shop,

pleasantly surprised to see that Etsy

has made recent improvements in the listing process.

Their "circles" feature seems to be really catching on!

I love Etsy!
I hope you have a sunny day!

Where is the sun?

The weather has been gray and dismal

for the last 2 weeks.

This weekend shows little improvement.

At least I know I can find sunshine in the studio!

* * * * * * * * *

Yesterday I went out of town for a combo graduation

celebration, and there WAS sunshine there!

Ryan and Moe

Sunshine, and two very shining stars!

We are so proud of you!!!

Itching to punch again

I made this star punch needle pattern a while ago.

My intention was to attach it to a little

pinkeep in a rusty canning jar lid.

I had to keep it safely hidden from my cat,

or he would have stolen it for a new toy.

So...out of sight, out of mind.

But I happened to find these 2 cute little

jewelry boxes sort of, and immediately

saw the potential to use with my star design.

First I stitched the prim crocheted doily to the box lid.

I securely attached the design by stitching

around with wool yarn and linen thread

I added a piece of black felt to the bottom.

The pinkeep now has storage for pins, buttons or what ever!~

Can even be given as a gift box with jewelry or token inside.

I finished a second one as well, but haven't taken

photos of it yet.

This long stretch of dismal weather we are having

is kicking my creative juices into overdrive.

I love when that happens.

I'm trying to enjoy it while I can,

as once the sun shines again,

I'll be playing in the dirt!

Happy Mothers Day!

Mixed Media fun!

Painted papers collaged onto canvas.

I have YARDS of canvas that I finally decided

it was time to drag out and use.

I LOVE playing with my chalk pastels.

The colors are vibrant and

spread easily with a wet wipe.

A while ago I made some painted cloth paper,

and couldn't figure out what to do with it, until now.

I decided to experiment with sewing right to the canvas.

I added a layer of chipboard between two layers

of canvas, which stablizes it nicely.

The sewing machine presented no problems.

The eyelets were easy to add for the ribbons.

 The reverse has a coat of gesso,

and it perfect for adding a special message

 if given as a gift.

This is how I spent some of my Mother's day morning.

I'm anxious to make more of these.

My boys both called making my day,

and my sweetheart is adding loam

to my two new raised beds he made for me.

The weather is beautiful, and

it's time to go outside to play.

Happy Mother's day to all!

Wish - mixed media collage

All I need is one star in the sky

to wish for you every day....

7" x 12"

magazine clipping, napkins, book text, pastels,

black ink, stamps, gel pen, rubons and stickles

protected with a polymer varnish

scanned at 300 dpi

photographed in natural light

edited in Photoshop

Busy - journal prompt

The Prompt: Busy!
The song: Manic Monday by the Bangles
Product/technique: Lace/trim
A year in the life of an art journal

My life IS busy.
My Monday's are most definitely Manic.
My body keeps sending warning messages....
I tend to to ignore...
I live for my weekends,
not reserved for housework,
however I can't create in a dirty house...

So I bite the bullet
get it done as quickly as possible,
so I can settle down to some artsy time.

Yesterday I got the chores done.
Washed floors, shook out the rugs,
and picked up a little.

Grabbed the garden tools and wheelbarrow,
and spruced up the garden beds.

With chores behind me, I can really enjoy
"play time" in the studio.

This journal page sums it up.
Take time out of your busy schedule to wear
your roller blades and GO have some fun!

I scanned this really fun postcard
and used gel medium to apply to my page.

For the trim element, I sewed black rickrack
to the page, used black stayzon ink and gel pen.

I don't want to grow up, and I definitely don't
want to waste my life in exchange
for a spotless house.

Do you?

A smiling face in the garden....
(this one is for you Polly!)

Time to plant the pansies!