I’ve had so much fun playing with photos on my cell phone, you knew it was only a matter of time before they fully worked their way into my journal.

I have to admit — I was at a loss for a bit. I could cut them up, make collage fodder from them. Color around them, doodle with pens (I’m doodling all the time, now). But that was stuff I’ve seen before. In the sea of mixed-media, I wanted to do something different, something I hadn’t seen before. And if this has, well, I haven’t seen it!

One of the big things to happen for me recently is Art Acceptance.

What is Art Acceptance? It’s two-fold:

1. The creation of art that you find aesthetically lovely and pleasing, that brings you joy, happiness, and pride when you share it with others.

2. Allowing yourself to create without the fear of creating Bad Art, and thus holding yourself back in fear of the blank page and enjoying the process for the joy and lessons it has to teach you.

(I made this up, by the way, as a major chunk of my Personal Philosophy on art.)

A lot of people ask me how to find their personal style, or become comfortable with their art, or find their way in general. I get that at least three times a Q&A, and have been working on an answer for that.

It may take me awhile.

Because the answer is to do more art. I worried about it. A lot. It’s a phase, like the tricky adolescence we all go through, trying to find our place in the world as we transition from child to adult. And just like adolescence, we have to go through it in order to find our way.

Art Acceptance comes later in your art life. It’s that place when you finally create artwork you love most of the time (no, no one creates art they’re in love with all the time; it’s impossible). More than that, you have the confidence that your intuition and abilities will lead you to lovable art. Striving for perfect or awesome art isn’t the aim anymore — learning and honing your talent is. You want to try something new in order to improve what you love doing, not to create a stunning end-piece.

Art Acceptance is an awesome place. You admit you’re still learning but have found your stride.

You’ll get there,

if you keep showing up.

The images from this post come from the journal spread I created for tonight's episode of Journaling Deep. At 14 pages, it's my longest yet, and a double issue. And each costs you $2.50 a week. Considering the 7 hours I put into each one, that's a steal!

(yesterday's page-a-day journal page)

I could probably sum this all up in a video, but we have all seen how chatty I can get with the Q&A’s, and I have so many questions to answer, I’ll probably be doing two a week for a bit. BUT! I’m not going to wait until I finish that video before posting, as I was doing that yesterday and ended up not posting a thing.

So let’s get to this mish-mash of stuff. I call a moratorium on cohesive thought.

Thing #1: Pinterest

I love the site, I do. I get tons of traffic from you guys posting my art and photos on there, so thank you. I know a lot of stuff’s been posted about the site, and I’ve been keeping up with all the blog posts and articles, etc. I said in a video a last week that I didn’t know if I could really support the site before I was informed, and I’ve decided that yes, you can pin stuff.

I’m putting little watermarks on the pictures I post here (unless they’re posted directly from my phone, but I’ve downloaded a new program that’ll allow me to watermark from my mobile), so feel safer letting things be pinned.

And I am thankful and touched you’ve found some of my work inspiring enough to pin it to your boards. I visit many of the referrals I get and then lose about an hour of time wandering around over there. I thought I’d be safe, having given up Tumblr for a bit, but the internet always has a new way to suck up your time, doesn’t it?

Thing #2: Digital Shoppe Updates

I’ve updated a few things in my digital shoppe. The Button Journal Mini-Workshop is now $10!

I was all ready to post a new journal mini-workshop, but decided to save it for a possible in-person project class. I’m asking the universe to put me in touch with someone who would like me to visit and teach, and working on refining the workshop in the mean time.

Thing #3: Journal-Page-A-Day

I’ve created a new gallery for my kinda-daily journal pages. I’m also listing the materials used to create each one. Here’s what I did yesterday; I won’t do a blog post for each one, but the gallery will be updated even when I haven’t done a blog post.

Thing #4: Journaling Deep

I just love seeing what people are creating in response to my weekly lessons. This photo had the following caption that helped to quiet that Inner Critic:

Doodles for Journaling Deep (by Mel)

I am not a big doodler ... but I sat last night (i couldn't sleep) and tried it out. Ended up I did like some things I did! Still this isn't easy for me, but this exercise did help me to 'see' patterns. So a GREAT lesson, Samie!

That is the exact reason why I publish Journaling Deep. To inspire and take you out of your comfort zone. And when I see the result of that in the group we have on Flickr, I just can’t believe how amazingly lucky I am to not only be able to do what I love, but get my message out there and really help change a person’s perception of their journaling.

Here are some other amazing things my students are saying:

“Journaling Deep is wonderful. Not only the art, but the writing is beyond superb. Brava!” -Dian

“Samantha's work is always bursting with color and expression. I just can't get enough of her artwork, so I signed up for her Journaling Deep series. One of my goals this year was to support other artists. Even though I don't have tons of disposable income, I try to set aside a small amount each month to take a workshop, buy a zine or sign up for a newsletter like Sami's. I think it is a great way to replenish your creative spirit and brighten up your email inbox.” - Marcia

I’ve updated the digital shoppe so you can browse all 15 issues thus far and grab one when you need a bit of inspiration!

I am now off to finish the sewing video and film this week’s Q&A, so you may get a second post today.