Washi Tape Brush Jar (Vid & Giveaway!)

Let's just drool at that image of Artsyville washi tape for a moment, shall we? 

Back? 

I decided to make you a little video showing how I made my sparkly washi tape brush jar! It's super easy and fun, and really makes a difference in the studio...I think I shall be doing this to another jar or maybe a glass votive holder very soon! I just love easy DIY crafts to spruce up the house.... 

Make sure to grab some rolls of washi tape for yourself either in Artsyville's Etsy Shop or website!  

Want to win a set of your own Artsyville washi tape? Then leave a comment below by 9/25/13 @ midnight PST answering the question: 

What can you use washi tape on to pretty-fy your world? 

And don't forget to check out the other stops on tour! 

Monday, September 9  Rachel Awes  http://allididwaslisten.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 10 Joanne Sharpe http://joannezsharpe.blogspot.com

Wednesday, September 11 Jill Berry http://jillberrydesign.com/2013/09/11/birthday-book-with-tape/

Thursday, September 12 Lindsay Hopkins http://www.penandpaintblog.com

Friday, September 13 Traci Bunkers http://www.tracibunkers.com/blog

Monday, September 16 Lori Vliegen http://elviestudio.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 17  Raine Boyd http://www.limetreefruits.com

Wednesday, September 18 Samie Harding http://www.journalgirl.com

Thursday, September 19 Carolyn Dube http://www.acolorfuljourney.com

Friday, September 20 Tammy Garcia http://daisyyellowart.com

ART*Full Vacation Pages (PT 1)

I've made a LOT of artwork over the past two weeks, so I'll be sharing some in the coming days, from art journal pages to gelli prints, and everything in-between! 

Today, I'm sharing some journal pages and art pieces created in Carissa's little studio!  

The only supplies I brought with me were my Neocolor II watercolor crayons, six 1oz jars of Silks Acrylic Glazes, & my sketch pack of pencils and pens. I wanted to be influenced by the favorite supplies of my friends, and stretch my art-making abilities, since I wouldn't be able to fall back on my favorite techniques or supplies...not even brushes! It was a challenge, but looking back at what I've created, I realize I learned so much and dug deeper into myself than I have in a long time.  

 (it may not look it, but this journal is 11"x14"!)

What I did on my summer vacation - ART (vid)

Happy Tuesday!  

I'm about to fly back home, but wanted to share the art I did while on vacation. Lots of journal pages, gelli prints, and even some sewing! Check it out in the video below!  

(Filmed with my iPhone...how amazing is that!) 

Art Journal Musical Chairs!

Today, Roben-Marie and I invented an awesome art journaling game called Art Journal Musical Chairs!

What is Art Journal Musical Chairs? Well, let me tell you! It's when you and a friend sit across from each other and decide to swap journals back and forth, using songs on Pandora as a timer. The task? To paint, doodle, draw, stamp, and stencil our hearts out during each song in whatever journal is before us, then swap!

You can alter this game however you want. Change the timing to two songs (or set an alarm on your phone), create a theme or aim (such as leaving white space), or limit how many times you swap back and forth. Add more people for an even crazier & awesome experience!

This is a great tool if you're feeling blocked or can't loosen up enough to play in your journal; there simply isn't enough time to freeze up -- you have to get creating! I'm pretty sure I loved several layers I created in Roben-Marie's journal, and found my page developed much differently than if I'd simply been working alone.

So try this out the next time you visit a friend or attend an event; you'll be pleasantly surprised with what you both create!

Follow the journey of the spread done in my journal below; I've labeled which steps were done by me, and which were done by Roben-Marie. Visit her blog to see what was created in her journal!

My first step. Here we go!

Step 2 - Roben-Marie, featuring the Chevron stencil by Red Lead PaperWorks

Step 3, back to me! 

Step 4 - Roben-Marie

Step 5 - added some drips & She Was Fair stencil by Red Lead PaperWorks 

Final pass from Roben-Marie

The finished page! I added some more doodling and writing with a white pen, and that's it! 

Does this sound like something you'd enjoy? It may seem daunting when you start, but is full of laughs & smiles at the end. If you were playing, what themes or aims would you try to follow? Let me know in a comment below!

Strathmore Art Journal Flip! (video)

I may still be down here in Florida on vacation, but I have a new video to share this week!  

My favorite, and I mean favorite  new art journal to use, is the Strathmore Mixed-Media journals - the new hardbound kind. I've owned a couple, and they take all media so well, including watercolor, and lay completely flat once you've broken them in. In fact, I bought one of the giant 11"x14" ones to start playing in while on vacation!

I get mine via Jerry's Artarama, which makes them much more affordable.  

Enjoy! I should have a recently-finished journal all ready for you (and some vacation art) next Tuesday.  

Moleskine Art Journal Flip! (VIDEO)

I may be on vacation, but I planned ahead and have a video for you today!  

I realized you haven't seen any of my art journals in awhile, so I recorded a couple of journal flips to share with you while I'm away! Today's is my Moleskine sketchbook that started as an in-purse doodle book and ended as a full-on art journal.

Enjoy! 

Sparkling Embellishments w/ Silks Acrylic Glazes (VIDE

It's baaaaack!  

I could write it all here, but why don't you watch? 

This was supposed to be a bonus lesson for Summer Camp, but found I didn't need to add in the extra content...so decided I'd share it will all of you!  

Really, YouTube is a passion of mine, and it's time for me to start making videos again. We'll see what happens. I'm going to keep them under 8 minutes, so they're just a little inspiration in your day, but need YOU to give me ideas of what YOU want to see!  

I'll be filming a couple more things this week to tide you over while I'm on vacation, and then I'll be making the set and developing content. Something I'm really into is products...I'm always sharing new stuff with my friends, and have a studio FULL of fun stuff you may have never heard of...and I'm a total bargain shopper, so it won't break the bank! 

Part of that success I wrote about over the weekend? Yeah, it's because of you...my darling readers and subscribers and followers and friends. I'd be nothing without your support...we're in this together! 

ALSO, if you are NOT SUBSCRIBED to me on YouTube, would you? I'm desperately close to 5k, and honestly, that's were all the cool stuff starts to happen. Just askin'!

Gratitude for a Custom-Built Life

There's really not much to do when someone is doing their PT exercises. 

All those synapses of empathy and compassion and wanting to help have to be turned off; you can watch her struggle, but can't reach out to help, to ease the burden, to stop her because it might hurt. 

So I doodle, instead. Carpal tunnel brace on my wrist, pencil held awkwardly in my hand, I doodle an eye, trying a new look inspired by a favorite artist. How do I create that look I love with my poor, unsteady hands? So I doodle and make marks and she keeps lifting her leg and squeezing her eyes closed, the blue and purple stuffed dragon held tightly to her chest. I add eyelashes as her therapist talks about schedules and new exercises. I add shading after I move to make room for a new round of exercise, my feet balanced on a large, inflated ball. The bottom lashes are added as I try not to cry in empathy. My own body hurts -- past my wrist, my legs ache, my back screams. There are no exercises here to make me whole, to take away my pain, and so I draw and listen and encourage. 

I wish I could jump up and down with pom-poms. 

When I finish, when we reach a rest period, my brain apologizes for the work. My hand is in a brace so it's really more scribbles than what I can usually do. But when I share it, I get this:

That is…amazing. Wow. 

See! My daughter can draw so well! She's an artist! 

I can't draw. 

And I smile and the apology in my head goes away (what a lie it was!), and say It's practice. Every day. But thank you. And here I was thinking it wasn't good!

It's fabulous. 

Like many of you, I create alone. I'm in a studio space. I'm the only one seeing what I'm creating, and I'm seeing it with the eyes of an artist who wants to go further, is striving for something better, different, more authentic and original and how I see it in my head. I'm already in the future scolding the inability of my past self -- which in this case, is the me-in-the-moment, over things I haven't even learned yet. 

And yet, I have a classroom full of eager students ready to learn, looking to me for guidance. 

I can only share the path I've walked. A few days ago, I was compelled to make a video for a long-forgotten YouTube channel of mine that focuses on chronic illness & living your best life. I think it has 54 subscribers; it doesn't matter. What does is that my father was working with me that day, when I decided to tack this vlog-type video onto the end of an emergency video shoot for another project, and thus, I spoke not only to the camera, but to him, about growing up with an invisible illness and all the negative stuff that comes along with it -- being shamed by people, whispered about, and feeling as though I missed out on all those rights of passage because of pain and immobility. It's hard to face those things yourself, let alone with someone else in the room. 

But as I spoke, he whispered behind the camera, smiling. And I cried on camera because wow, I have finally found myself, and thus, support from all those around me. 

And one of those whispered words got my thinking; Successful, tell them you're successful. 

From the inside, life looks much different. I see all I want to do, not all I have. But when my mother and her PT instructor gaped at my scribbled drawing, when they saw only the beauty and not the mistakes or less than I'd been hearing in my head, I realized that we need these people in our lives to remind us of who we are and what we are doing. They're the mirrors that reflect back the truth of our being, and are the only ones who can show us where we took a wrong turn or how much distance we've really covered. 

But I think the biggest thing is that despite not making much money, working for myself, and falling flat on my face more times than I can count, my parents say I'm successful. 

And now when I look at it, I can see it. I have clients and a niche business that fills a need, that uses that college degree I thought I'd never use again the day I had to move back home from Hollywood because of my health. I have great joy chatting about directing and developing video content. I now have a co-workspace where I do editing work and contribute to the whole while using their studio space and equipment to make better content. Hot damn, did you see how well the summer camp videos turned out? 

I have students excited to learn. I have articles in the works and published in over a dozen magazines and more zines and websites. I have friends all over the industry and artistic circle we're all members of. I have secret projects, a book on Amazon, and more to come. I can finally sit back, look at the work I do every day, and realize I made it, wherever this is. It was hard work and full of flops and failures and successes and dinners to celebrate…

But most of all, it's mine.

I dreamed it, built it, & made it reality. 

(And I'm only getting started.)