My Life List

Do you have a life list? Or a bucket list?



At work, we have this huge white board and from time to time someone posts a question. It’s entertaining to read it as I walk by and see new comments or answers. I try to guess which of my clever coworkers have responded.

A recent question was “what is on your bucket list?” and some of the answers were things like…

• I need to buy a bucket first
• Climb the ancient ruins
• Australia
• Save Lindsay Lohan

In my bloghopping I’ve noticed quite a few people posting about their life lists.

Karen Walrond  posted on her blog, Chookooloonks, about creating a life list. Thoughts on how to go about putting a list of 100 +/- things that you want to do in your lifetime. Maybe they are simple things, maybe they are crazy, out-of-this-world things. Maybe you’ll cross some things off your list tomorrow, maybe some will never be crossed off.



What about stuff that you’ve already done that should have been on your life list but you hadn’t created your life list yet, can you put it on and immediately check it off? Or maybe that could be the “I did it” list, a prequel to the life list?



I don’t think I can create my life list in an afternoon. Of course, I would add to my list as I discover new things to do over time. But what I mean is that I think it will take me days and days to think about all the possibilities and dreams and desires that I would want on my list.



My life list needed a place, so I created these pages in My Living Canvas book. First, I sprayed the canvas pages with different shades of blue. I ModPodged on scraps of paper next. I used stencils and paint to add a little texture. Stamped the title, then started adding my life list. I also have an area for stuff I’ve achieved so far.



If you’ve made a list and posted it, I would love it if you would include a link. I think it would be fun and a great way to get even more ideas about the possibilities out there.

Lots to ponder….
Desiree

A rock candy heart

Sweet hearts…



Forever ago I signed up for the “She had three hearts” workshop taught by Christy Tomlinson. Every once in a while I create a page for that art journal. I am WAY behind on doing the actual journaling, some day I’ll catch up. HA!



First, I glued a piece of text paper to the top of the watercolor paper. I went over it with sprays and stains.



The focal point is a patterned paper torn in the shape of a heart. I used an image transfer technique to add it to the page. Then I used punchinella and white or red paint to dab dots randomly over the page.



I used a stencil that I cut out of an manila file folder for the hearts. I used the hole part with red paints and stains. The heart shape I used to dab white paint around then I outlined the heart with a white poster paint pen.



I used Rock Candy Crackle Paint over the large heart. I love that stuff! After it dried thoroughly, I dripped Barn Door distress ink and wiped off the access. I think the overlapping hearts look cool. To frame the page I swiped the edge of the paper with distress stain.

It feels good to make at least a little progress in my classes!

Have a great week!
Desiree

Watercolor puddles

Watercolor puddles turned into root vegetables…



The Art of Spring is yet another online class that I am taking. I am SO glad that these classes are available for a full year because it takes me that long to get through them!!! Yeah, I am in the midst of six classes right now and three more are starting in April. Plus, I am trying to do some challenges here and there. Have I taken on too much?

Ok, back to watercolor puddles… Junelle Jacobson, our fabulous teacher, had us create pages of puddles, drips, and drops in a few different color combos on watercolor paper. The trick is to keep the colors from blending too much and becoming a muddy yuck. I had some trouble putting together some colors that I really liked. We started with orange and added a bit of green, blue and red. We wanted the watercolors to be really wet so that they would run down the page when it was held up. Adding a drop of water helped. We also used different brushes to get different widths of runs.

   

The basis for this exercise was to become familiar with what different brushes can do. And so that we create our puddles in vain, Junelle encouraged us create something with our puddles. I went with one of her suggestions to make veggies out of mine.

I sketched and cut out the veggies and leaves. I used a fine black pen and a few markers in shades of grey to make a ground line so that my veggies could be underground. I glued the veggies into my art journal and outlined them with a black pen. Next, I shaded around them with markers and charcoal pencils.



Here are my beets with a radish on either side. Carrots enclose the row on both sides. I kept the background very neutral so the colors would pop.

I don’t really know much about veggies. And I don’t like beets or radishes. Maybe next time I’ll make fruit.



Are you a fruit or veggie person? Raw or cooked? Do you grow your own or shop at a farmer’s market?

Thanks for visiting!
Desiree

Rain, splendid rain

Ok, I really don’t love the rain. In the Pacific Northwest, rain has become like white noise to me. It’s cold and dreary and by the time May rolls around I don’t think I can stand another day of it. I remember growing up in the Southwest. We had the most glorious thunderstorms, warm rain, walking in the puddles, the smell of wet earth. I might have to do another art journal page now that I’ve pulled those long-ago memories back up.

I discovered this blog, A Year in the Life of an Art Journal, last December. I really like their plan for this year. The idea is that whether you are a photographer or an art journalist, at the end of the year you will have a coffee table book full of your art.

The first prompt for January was resolutions or your one word for the year. My art didn’t look blogworthy. The second prompt was rain… the gal who writes the blog lives in the Pacific Northwest too, heeheehee. So here is my art…



For the background, I used Tumbled Glass distress stain, then I sprinkled water and dripped distress ink and alcohol inks. I also sprinkled a couple of different colors of Perfect Pearls over it.

I cut a girl similar to the ones I made during the She Art 1 class. The umbrella is cut from a Gustav Klimt calendar. He is one of my most favorite artists. The rest of the papers came out of my box of scraps. The umbrella is a little wonky. first I cut the standard umbrella shape, then I decided that you should be able to see the underside, so I cut a piece for that. After I was done I realized that the front part should have been curved too. Oops!

This is the first time I’ve given my girl a face. Not easy… I’ve been practicing facial features since I’m taking the She Art 2 class, but still it took several times to get the face to look half way decent. So don’t look too closely!



So tell me, how do you feel about the rain???

Thanks for visiting!
Desiree

My living canvas–week 2

Week two is all about finding balance between the six main areas of your life: family, friends, faith, fun, fitness, and finances.

Three of them I am great at; the other three, not so much…

For me, balancing life is like juggling, only there are way too many balls in the air and I don’t juggle well! Another aspect is that I think it’s easy to get in a rut and focus on the parts of my life that I enjoy or, at least, are easy to manage and let the other aspects languish.

When I was creating this layout in my journal, I really wanted to have a simple “action plan” that I could rely on now, next month, or even next year.



I don’t super love the overall color of this page. I’m not really a yellow person so why did I pick that color as a base??? Hmmm, weird. Anyway, the technique that Christy taught was fun: layering a stencil over a stencil and spraying with a mist. You can really see it best here… I cut different sized circles out of a manila folder and layered that with different pattern stencils. Then I started spraying!

I pulled out a stamp set called Circle Circus – perfect!!! – and used black archival ink. The white circles were made by dipping the end of a toilet paper roll in paint. I finger-painted the purple circles and I couldn’t resist dabbing a little blue through some punchinella.

My action items for each subject area are printed on a transparency. I dabbed a little Picket Fence distress stain on the backside and then adhered them to the page. I didn’t want to print on paper because I wanted to see through them a bit.

I am really enjoying the process of just creating and letting the page evolve. Learning techniques and experimenting is really cool!

Do you have some favorite techniques that you use often?

Thanks for visiting!
Desiree

My living canvas

Last spring, I signed up for a Christy Tomlinson/Art McCracken workshop called Your Living Canvas. It’s taken me quite some time to get started on this class but I am loving it! Luckily I have till late May to finish it. Basically the class is about creating the life you want to live.



So when I decided to jump in, I realized that I didn’t have a journal to use for the art journaling portion of the class. What I did have was a pad of canvas sheets. So I took apart the entire pad. I cut one piece down to use as a spine, and folding the other sheets in half, I sewed them to the “spine”. Cutting the chipboard backing in half worked well for the front and back covers. I slathered it all in gesso and I was good to go!



I was worried that I would be the only person posting in the class Facebook group, the last little soul to participate… I was pleasantly surprised to find that I am not alone!

This first week Christy shared a technique for making embellishments out of modeling paste. I made several but my favorite was a butterfly. I had added a pinkish paint to the modeling paste. After the butterfly was dry, I went over it by spraying other colors through a stencil. I didn’t hold back and finally ended up with a fairly ugly butterfly.

I set the monstrosity aside and went to work on the front inside cover. It was looking good with a strong pattern and bold colors. And it needed a strong focal element. I glanced at that pinkish/purpleish/weirdly colored butterfly…. and whipped out some black paint! What did I have to lose, right? I also gave it a very light silver spray that settled into the crevices which added a little interest. Perfect for the page.



A butterfly is such a great symbol of growth. It surprises me that at 49 (egads, 49????) that I still have a lot of growing to do. Over the next several weeks I will continue to share layouts in My Living Canvas.

Do you do mixed media artwork?

Happy crafting!
Desiree