lara

Ah lists....
Here's my list of my top 10 favorite projects of the year.
This was the list from 2008
and from 2007

and here's 2009:

1.


The pre-art journal art journal! This is hands down the most favortist thing i've EVER made. I am hoping to think of it as a prototype and make more, possibly to help obtain one of my goals for the new year - selling some of my art.

2.


Bono's 49th Birthday Card for African Well Fund's "Build a well for Bono" fundraiser. This is when i was deep into experimenting with spray paint. I made, tore apart, and remade this card three times - and i actually came up with something i was pretty proud of! Also really enjoyed using envelopes this year ... will continue on that theme for sure!

3.


I finished all 24 spreads for the year in the life journal. i used this "challenge" as a journal as well as a place to practice and develop techniques. There were some pages I really really liked, though:

4.


The "F" spread from "A Year in the Life" art journal.
This was really the first time i tried image transfer using matte medium directly onto the page.

5.


The "H" spread for "Year in the life"
couldn't decide what font to use, so i used a couple -i like the repetition. This was also one of the first layouts of 2009 i actually felt positivity.

the full set of pages are here at flickr

6.


This was also the year i completed my first art journal EVER!
All pages can be seen here at flickr

7.


The first of Nine Feng Shui squares. This really looks nicer in person on my wall. I love the colors - let's hope it works! It's for "Abundance and Prosperity" :)


8.


For the October prompt of Gutter Girlz. I'd been wanting to try this for awhile, and love how it came out.

9.


For Soul Journal I started and should probably start working on again :)
Inchies! Loved doing this and actually constantly daydream about doing another lighter one.

10.
Tshirt design for AWF:


I know this isn't paper and glue art, but it's something i designed for the U2 USA Leg 1 of the tour. I am really proud of how it turned out and it looks great on flyers and t-shirts.

the finished year in the life of my art journal!

The front:


Back:


YUMMMM:


and yummmmmmmmmm:

my new project is making nine feng shui squares.
feng shui is kind of like karma to me, not sure i believe in it, but hey, it can't hurt.
so, with the aid of a book a friend gave me years ago and a desire to transform the space i've been living in for 3 years hoping it will help turn my life around, i'm studying up on the practice.

a little background on feng shui - you divide your living space up into 9 areas that are called "guas" and each gua represents an aspect of life. it is believed that each gua has an energy that can affect the area of life it corresponds to in a positive or negative way. One way to control the energy and make it positive is using material items.

What i like about this book my friend gave me is it's not only kind of written for "dummies" but for people who don't have a lot of patience and maybe a hint of attention deficit, like myself.

The first piece I've made is for the prosperity corner of my house - which is the farthest left and back corner from my front door - my bedroom, actually. I've been having so many money issues, as well as the feeling of not having the abundance of anything, i thought this might be a good place to start.

So, the things that are said to cause positive energy in this corner are the colors purple, green, red and gold. also things that remind me of abundance, moving water, moving objects and round leaved plants. Also the #8 is somehow associated with this corner.

Here's the piece I came up with encompassing these things and that i have placed in this corner:



The canvas is a wood block - i trash picked, erm, repurposed, 9 square pieces of wood awhile ago - i thought it might be a bit fortuitous that i took exactly 9 pieces (even though there was a mound of a whole lot more) not knowing what i would do with them.

I put down some purple duck tape and painted over that with purple acrylic paint as the background then collaged bits of paper (8 pieces of two different patterns) and even a piece of monopoly money :)

The "frame" material comes from gauche alchemy - the red matte is from a new kit being released shortly and the gold is punch waste. I adhered them with nails which adds a nice little 3D effect :) There are 4 strips of each, making the frame out of 8 pieces total (get it?).

The sun is a pin i suspended on the ribbon so it can move around if i want it to.

the last entry of the Year in the life of an art journal is DONE! The whole journal is so wonderous to hold. And look at. Whoa, have i been up and down and all around this year! I want to put all 24 entries together in a slideshow for myself at some point, but here are the last page - XYZ and the cover page.





P.S. we will be doing this again in 2010!!!!! But a little different, but pretty much the same. I'll, of course, post more info when it's out there.

i made this card for my friends birthday.
Tried some new things and decided i LOVE this new way of doing image transfers with Omni Gel.
And i love using sheet music as a base.
In fact, this card became the prototype for the other 20 or so holiday cards i've made.

Inside:



Wax paper over the sheet music gives it nice texture and obscurity and makes the paper much more sturdy! Win-Win!

This is for the new Gutter Girlz prompt:

THE PROMPT: I'm Only Fine
THE SONG: It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing by Shania Twain
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Mesh/Gauze




It's FULL of Gauche Alchemy products if anything really intrigues you!
The prompt could be taken so many different ways, but the lyrics from the song are what clicked in my head (even though i still haven't actually heard the song :) )

That awesome photo in the center is from an ACME kit (I believe #2) - it was on an old newspaper magazine about bachelors, I believe.

The cardboard around it is called "Ouchless Cardboard" which i dripped some white paint onto.

The gold strips are called Punchinella and they come in all sorts of different colors and punch designs - i think its "waste" from metallic confetti factories.

Other doodads are from the Wedding Night White Mixed Media Kit, the Green Mixed Media Kit and the Black Mixed Media Kit - these little kits come in EVERY color and are so affordable and SO AWESOME!

And finally the sheet music, ahhhhh the sheet music, that is from a top secret but up and coming gauche kit that i've been using the hell out of recently!!!

i somehow forgot to post this present I made for my dad's birthday!



I started with a box that my new Magic Mouse was shipped in and gesso'd the heck outta it! Then i layered on a couple of different types of text and music and over that put one of my new favorite tools - wax paper with paint. The image over that is a drawing i drew of my dad, like, um, 20ish years ago (thank god my mom kept a scrapbook of her own!) and scanned it into my computer then printed it out and made a packing tape image transfer of it (tutorial to come one of these days).



Around the inside edges of the box i glued down different little pieces from the Gauche Alchemy mixed media kit elements and various pieces of hardware i collected. And i discovered the BEST adhesive i have used yet from the Gauche Alchemy store: Omni-Gel Transfer Medium!




I have yet to use it as a transfer agent, but as an adhesive it ROCKS!!!!! WOW it holds all that on upside down and stuff!



The background matte is made of my other favorite technique - duct tape and acrylic paint



He liked it :)

for Wish Prompt at year in the life of an art journal.

duct tape, paint, my first cut letters from my new cricut!

a couple of art journal pages from the weekend-ish: