lara

I haven't posted MONTHS of "year in the life" art journal entries!

Some of them are pure shit. When i was on prozac and had ZERO creativity (aka zombie syndrome) but i was trying to force myself to do something. To feel something. Even though they're kind of embarrassing to show because they are so gross, they're an important part of this year and the mental struggles I've been having.

But 3 weeks off of Prozac, only on Wellbutrin now, i feel a new sense of creativity and energy. THANK GOD.

Anyways, here's a bunch of "M" through "Q" art journal pages:

M is for Momentum (and lack of at that point)



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N is for Now:



Spray paint and a U2 quote. And just to clarify that is NOT a Morrisey quote :-p

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O is for One:



And you thought I'd do a layout about the song ... i'm not quite that predictable, am i?!

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P is for Plan:



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Finally
Q is for Question:



And with this layout, I feel back in the swing of things!

I can't believe i've found a way to take art journals further! hahahahahaha
So, it's what i'm calling an Art Journal Pre-Journal. If anyone has a better name let me know!

But the premise is is that it is all made of envelopes of different sizes, shapes and some have windows. You use it to put your little art journal collagy bits in! And possibly organize them. And on some of the pages I've put scrap paper which can be labeled, and in the middle is a set of post-it notes. The only thing I wanted to do but didn't have time was find a pen i could attach somehow.




Done with Glimmer Mist and chipboard alphas as masks. Also throughout the book are little things I've gotten in kits - a lot from Gauche Alchemy, actually, but other things i've collected along the way too. The cupcake brad is from GA and I believe the "shine" bead is too.



The back cover is the palette i used for the paint when i painted the book. I did it on a plastic file folder for durability :) Also each envelope hole is reinforced with grommets :) The glitter chipboard i am so in love with. My chipboard alpha collection is WAAAYYY getting out of hand people!



A couple of inside detail shots.
I put on my favorite quotes for inspiration - at least one on every envelope. Some envelopes have envelopes on them as well. Also, I put things into the envelopes for Sarah to find as she uses it (like collage images and other ephemera).







OK. So thats about it :)
I'd like to make another knowing what I know now - its definitely the sort of project you need to learn as you go. And Sarah's also giving me her invaluable input as she uses it. So i already know ways to make it better, or more usable perhaps. But, this project super invigorated me! Which is the point of creating, right?

This last spread is for the A Year in the Life of An Art Journal challenge. The letter L = Look. I used the technique from the Soul Journalling of writing from the heart then covering most of it up. The pictures are some of my favorite I've been holding on to.


This next spread is inspired by the letter K and the challenge blog A Year in the Life of an Art Journal:



It's quilty in that it's mostly fabric and ribbon! But since i don't sew it's just glued on :-p
And, yes, another Illustrated cut out from "the book," artist unknown.... (speaking of, man i feel like that's bad karma not attributing the artist!)

I've been working on a new journal for an online journaling group called "Soul Journal." It's a yahoo group run by Sarah Whitmore using these prompts from her blog.
Anyways, I decided to make my own journal to really "make it my own" :D

I got 5 of these blank book covers from Scrapbox last time i was there for 50¢ each! Imagine my giddiness at finding them!!!!



Here is the inside of the cover before I adhered the pages:



The base is dictionary pages covered with sewing pattern paper covered with paint and matte gel.

Inside cover after the pages were adhered:



This is the outside cover. It's a work in progress. But I didn't want to leave it just blank. I've discovered I like to do covers at the end of my journals! So I just took some paper I made last year in that collage class I took and covered the book and added a little paint and TONS of matte gel over it to protect it:



1st spread is the prompt "soul armour" - i.e. what protects my creative spirit:



Detail:



Photo from the Illustrated book :D The "Create" was done with Glimmer Mist on vellum. Background is dictionary paper, Gesso, tulle fabric glued on with Modge Podge.

two spreads in the Soul Journal, inspired by Sarah Whitmore's Soul Journalling Prompts:



This is called "Inchies." It's more of a visual journal page, than writing. Goal was to find images based on the prompt, cut them all into 1 inch squares and let that tell the story. It was harder than it looks believe me!!!!!!



This was probably the funnest and most therapeutic to do yet.
First we journalled on the spread using the prompt "I forgot to tell you..." then covered it up with tape and paint and sanded for effect. Knowing whatever I put down on the paper would remain a secret was really therapeutic. I added the photo as an after thought - something I did last summer in photoshop, but somehow i thought worked. Love the texture on this and will definitely be using the technique again!

Year In the Life of An Art Journal letter "H" is for Happiness. Look at me using bright colors :D :D :D




For A Year in the Life of an Art Journal - The letter I is for Imagine.
Went a little hog wild on the layers on this one - it was almost starting to turn shit brown! Sometimes it's so hard to just stop and walk away :)

Now J is for JUST!!!!



I didn't think this word would be so inspiring :)

Next Art Journal page in the A Year in the Life of an Art Journal series. G is for grow.

What a perfect word for the last 13 months of my life.

This page is near perfection for me.
It turned out almost exactly like i saw in my head (except the sunflower is too painty, but oh well).

I used a couple of gel transfers on this from photoshop brush patterns i printed out. Also the quote is gel transfer - i printed all the quotes from that HUGE list i've been keeping (udated almost daily btw), but i printed them in mirror image to use with the gel transfer, and let me tell you, it's a bit of a challenge to figure out what the quote says when it's backwards! LOL




A couple of months ago i won a "paper pack" from an Etsy shop of cool found images - the cut out dress is one from that. The shop is http://onegoodbumblebee.com/ and i highly recommend their "piles of paper" for inspiration!




This came out of a learning and growing experience me and my two best friends just went through. It blows my mind how the paths we've all chosen to go down are so different yet our friendship is still always there!



I think my handwriting ruined this page, but ... oh well ...




And yes it's a U2 lyric :-p

life is not about finding yourself it is about creating yourself
-george bernard shaw
emains dark and grungy, at least i'm super energetic about just creating stuff.

art journal F page for the A Year in the Life of an Art Journal.

Lots of paint and stamping and melted tissue and my first try at a gel image transfer. That's a photo of my grandmother from days of yore. Gel image transfer is a cool idea but kind of a pain in the ass?

I love the colors of this page :)

Got my "E" page done for the A Year in the Life of An Art Journal blog.

This page is one of those times when you step back when you're done and can't believe that that art came out of you. It doesn't happen often, but it's a pretty amazing feeling when it does! I love paint. Really Really love it. Took me 37 years to figure that out... :)

There is journaling under the blue flap - I bought a magazine last weekend from Somerset Studios about Art Journals (ya how serendipitous is that?!) and one of the techniques was using flaps and frames to hide journalling to make it more interactive and/or private. So, there you go.

so, i did something i've never done before - i tried to transfer a scrap page i did first digitally to paper.
i'm not sure i like the result - maybe because i feel it lacks some sort of creativity since i had somewhat of a guide to go by? It's why i don't like to use "sketches" or "maps," i feel like they stifle my process because i have to conform to something.

i love these fabric thickers so much, i've bought, um, 3 packs. I haven't seen them in other fonts though?



OK, and this is the original digital page:

Layout inspired by the prompt over at Gutter Girlz. Photo's and journalling inspired by Ashley Wren's "Love Yourself in 2009" class :)

A more simple 2D layout from me :)
The background paper is from a paper pad I saw at Michael's that i immediately grabbed without even looking at it mostly because of the name - "Teen Angst"!!!!! It's hit or miss, but more than 50% is good patterns. Then, of course, I added a bunch of my own paint and tape and glimmer mist and lace.

This layout is inspired by a brand new challenge blog called Punk Rock Scrappers.
The challenge is to introduce yourself, but I kind of strayed away after i chose my photo and started the layout. So it's more Fischerspooner inspired in the end.

My costume is a Fischerspooner dancer from their Sweetness video.

The background is Basic Grey Obscure paper covered with mesh that has the metallic polka dots on it.
It looks super cool in person.
I grunged up the photo in photoshop a bit and tried to replicate it on the layout with paint.



If you haven't seen the Sweetness video, it's GORGEOUS!
Here's the direct link if you have 9 mins (it's more a mini-movie):

Now I'm Pouring Sweetness

Casey Spooner at his smexiest!

This is my layout for the new Gutter Girlz Challenge.
It felt uber good to do... REAL creative therapy!

THE PROMPT: Thanks, ASSHOLE!!
THE SONG: Fighter by Christina Aguleria
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Bandaids

Hybrid - photo done in photoshop... the rest glue and paper and paint :)

i've been loving working on this ABC Year In My Life art journal.
here are the first 4 entries:

A is for Action:



B is for Because:




C is for Clearly:




D is for Decision:

The new challenge has been posted over at Gutter Girlz and here's my take on it:

THE PROMPT: WHATEVER, DUDE.
THE SONG: I don't THINK SO by Kelis
THE PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Handprint
I had alot of fun making the background - which is just layers and layers of papers and paint :)

Layout i did last night about my tattoo - i've been thinking about getting it touched up soon and i really dislike the other layout i did about it, so i just made this new one.

i love love love working with little bitty bits of handmade paper - so fibrous!
and added real fabric and lace to this.



i see a new avatar in the making:

It was sooooooo painful to look for and then look at those old photos of when i was heavier and living a sloth like lifestyle.

But because my life has spun so out of control over the last couple of months and i haven't been concentrating as much on my physical health my weight is slowly creeping back and i miss the different types of energy that comes with eating and exercising.

So, part of this layout is to re-motivate me..
And now i feel like i'm more on track but not quite there yet.

I've decided my new scrapbooking signature is drippy paint and i want to put it on everything! ;)
but really, i love the paint...
and the glimmer mist which i coated the alpha chipboard with 4 different colors to achieve that grungy look.



I'm not totally happy with this layout - it turned out busier than i had wanted, but i think just getting it done was an accomplishment in itself!