• Art - Blog - Creativity

    New junk journal

    November 3, 2019 - By 

    I can hardly believe it but I’m posting something other than T Tuesday. It’s been a while. I’ve been in a creative slump. Not sure how it happened but never the less it did.

    I’ve sat down a couple of times trying to force creativity.

    Don’t do it. It’s ugly.

    What I did finally decide that I’d like to create was a place to create. A junk journal. I’m sure you’re thinking…hey wait…didn’t she just make one of those. Yep sure did. But that one is for bits of my life, more personal.

    This one is for the creative process. Whether that may be art journaling, responding to a prompt or a challenge.

    I loved this calendar ephemera my BFF sent in a package. She knew I’d love it as much as the actual gift she sent.

    I used some rusted fabric on the inside of the softcover.

    The outside is watercolor paper that had been painted and whitewash some time ago. I found it in my stash and knew it would make a nice flexible cover.

    I decided to use a 5 hole pamphlet stitch this time instead of my usual go-to of three hole stitch.

    This journal has a wide variety of papers that should prove to be a good and challenging launching point for the creative process.

    I’m considering joining another junk journal challenge on Instagram as I did in July. I need to decide soon otherwise I might be too far behind.

  • Blog - Creativity

    T Tuesday: canvas edition

    October 14, 2019 - By 

    I have been all over the place this week with ideas. None of which have actually come to fruition. But ideas are the start, right?

    I am thinking of making a few seasonal canvas paintings. While digging through my canvas stash I found this one. I feel like it needs some words.

    On these canvases, I threw some color down on the background to cover the previous paintings. I picked these two canvases out of a free bin at a garage sale over the summer. No idea where I’m headed with these…or if this is even a remote representation of the background colors….it was just a coverup.

    My journal keeps getting more things tucked inside without any actual placement or journaling. One of these days…

    The same goes for my travel journal. Although I did get photos printed, so I’m a little closer.

    In art class this week the kids are working with clay. One of my students wanted to make a creeper from Minecraft. On the day I missed, it was decided that he’d make a mug. I helped him assemble the pieces and create the signature face. This week it’s all about adding textures and interest.  I’ve been assisting in the assembly a few other students’ projects as well…I love playing with clay. It would be so fun to make a project myself too. 🙂

    This weekend brought us an unwelcome visitor…snow. As you can clearly see, we are nowhere ready for winter. Thankfully it was short-lived and we made it above 50°F today.

    On Saturday we also had welcome visitors. They brought over this hard cider,

    It was really quite good. I didn’t think I’d like it as most hard ciders are too sweet. This was not…it was almost like a dry white wine in flavor.

    And I promised photos of all the assembled furniture…the white pieces are Mini-me’s and the dark brown is in J’s room.

    We have a choir concert tonight for Mini-me. She is in two choirs this year…she and a couple of other girls are helping to lend more voice to the small freshmen girls choir. This means a change of clothes for them…floor-length dresses to choir robes.

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?
  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    T Tuesday: junk journal and more edition

    September 30, 2019 - By 

    Last Tuesday had me very introspective with my post. Throwing the words down and wading through them really helped me through what I was feeling. Your comments were also inspiring…so thank you for that!

    Mindset

    At school, we often talk about growth vs fixed mindset. I think perhaps those lessons are rubbing off on me as well. Setting goals, developing a plan and not giving up when life throws a curveball. Honestly, these are things I have done in the past but I didn’t think critically about them until now.

    So last week I talked myself through making a plan to set aside time to create. Guess what?  I did!

    I had the bones of this junk journal project set aside…I just needed the time, drive and a few little tidbits to make it happen. Now that it’s done…I love it.  I’m planning to use it for bits and piece from everyday life, quotes, thoughts, etc.  I want to do a flip through at some point. What I really need to do is figure out YouTube and publish videos there and embed them in my posts. I think it would honestly be easier than the way I’ve been doing it.

    In addition to making this junk journal, we had a flurry of activity on Saturday. Mini-me and I went to a local church rummage sale for bag day as we try to do each year. We spent a total of $16.50. Mini-me filled one reusable grocery bag mostly with clothes…$4. I filled one with clothes, craft supplies, and potential Halloween costumes…$4. The third bag was filled with books…$4.  In addition, we bought one super old arithmetic primer…$1 and a print for Mini-me’s room….$3.50

    I only took photos of my lovely new crafty items. Look at that amazing box of trims!!

    Saturday evening Mr. G’s brother messaged him saying that he was playing a gig in our neck of the woods. We quickly grabbed our things and headed out to hear him play the mandolin with the Roe Family Singers. It was a lovely but slightly chilly evening sitting on hay bales enjoying some bluegrass music.

    Their aging corgi, Daisey, even made the trip. A good time was had by all.

    We invited them back to our house after where I whipped together a few snacks and drinks since we haven’t seen them in a while. Sometimes the unplanned things are the most fun things!!

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?