#the100DayProject 2022 - Days 1-7

 Initially I thought I was going to opt out of The 100 Day Project this year. Last year I lost interest pretty quickly and, let's face it, 100 days is a long time - practically a third of a year!  BUT, as I was working my way through the Creative Jumpstart workshop I started realizing how much STUFF I have.  My art space is chaotic and overflowing and even though I know where things are 95% of the time there are so many supplies I have that I don't use.  In the spirit of rediscovering old favorites I decided that I would work my way through my stash of supplies for the next 100 days.  I recently went through a couple of drawers where I was apparently hoarding school supplies as well and I discovered an overabundance of index cards so my creations will be on 3"x5" index cards.   

The first week found me digging into my stash of paper scraps and gel prints.  Like any good art supply hoarder I keep almost all my paper scraps.  I also have so many gel prints (because who doesn't love a good gel printing sesh??) and many of them have been waiting for the 'perfect project'.  Honestly, I could probably spend my whole 100 days just using these 2 supplies.  Who knows...maybe I will.  In any event here's what I came up with this week.

Day 1/100

I love this little gargoyle.  He has been floating around waiting to be used on something for quite some time.  The book pages have been in the paper scrap bin for a while, too.  The green paper bit above is what inspired the whole thing and I thought I would be using it, but didn't this time.  The Color Burst watercolors have been in my stash since they were released but I've only used them a few times.  Washi tape hoarding is also an issue.  😏

Day 2/100

Falling on Valentines' Day it seemed obligatory to use a heart this day.  I am trying to use up acrylic paint that has been in my stash for a long time (background), more paper scraps, a stamp that I've had for ages and my cheesecloth stash.  The blue you see on the background is actually a pearlescent pink paint (that I may have used once?) over black paint.  It's really pretty - I should use that more often!

Day 3/100

That Sizzix die is ANCIENT.  I honestly don't remember the last time I used it, if I ever have.  I also used my sewing machine (hardly ever pull that out), paper scraps, old rubber stamp, and a security envelope from my stash.

Day 4/100

Again with the paper scraps...I also used googly eyes.  LOL...I really had a thing for googly eyes several years ago,  I came upon Clare Lloyd, a collage artist, while roaming around Pinterest.  I love her work.  She inspired this card.

Day 5/100

I don't know how I found her but I was blown away by Froyle Davies, a New Zealand artist, this week.  She makes the most beautiful collages.  I took one of her Skillshare classes and had an excellent, inspired gel printing session (oops...more prints that need to be used).  I LOVE these prints!  In addition to print bits I used a marked up index card (X's) and some printed tissue paper from the stash.

Day 6/100

I guess I was still feeling collage-y.  I noticed a gel print scrap sitting on my desk and it reminded me of hair for some reason.  Dug into the scrap bin again today to come up with the bits for this guy.

Day 7/100

Our last one for the first week!  Using up older acrylic paints, scraps, Posca pen (need to reach for these more), and a Bingo card that I've had forever.

Thanks for stopping by.  Cheers!

CAS Christmas Challenge: Winter Scene

 Wow, I'm on a roll...my second month in a row - ha ha!  Baby steps...

When I saw the challenge theme for February I knew immediately that I wanted to use these stamps - they're just cute and I hardly ever use them.  Need to justify storing them, right?  The bonus is that a while ago I had colored and cut out a whole bunch of these so it was really just a matter of putting everything together.  Love that.

If you want to build up your stash of Christmas cards before December create along with the CAS Christmas Challenge HERE.

Thanks for stopping by...

Creative Jumpstart Projects Continue (some others too...)

My husband had Covid, which was unfortunate of course, but being a glass half-full kind of person the good thing about that was that I couldn't go to work which left me more time in the art studio.  Gotta love that.  Here's what I was up to...

Following Cheiron Brandon's lead, I made a couple of mixed media-ish cards.  My base was some cork paper that I bought ages ago; it was cool to work on - need to do that more often.  I finally figured out how to get zig zag stitches the way I like them too.  Yay!

In the lesson above, she used printed tissue paper by Ranger on the background, but offered that you could always make your own if need be. I did that and loved how it turned out.  I need to remember to do that again.

This ATC, cleverly named "Orange Flowers" - ha ha, was for an orange-themed swap on SwapBot.  Another mixed media gem, I used Archival ink, Neocolor II crayons, gel pen, Stabilo pencil, cut bits from a greeting card floating around on my desk, and the background was made up of layered bits of gel printed tissue paper.  I don't usually reach for orange but I'm happy with the way this turned out.

This next ATC is the last of a 3-part 'Exquisite Corpse' swap.  I'm so bummed...I forgot to take a picture of the torso, but you can see the head I created HERE.

And one more ATC for a SwapBot tic tac toe swap (pick three prompts in a row from a 9-spot grid).  I used vintage, acrylic paint, something found.

That's a wrap for now...cheers!

Dancing Leaves Art Journal Page

 My 'Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway' mini journal is great for some quick art explorations.  The background for this page was made after watching Carolyn Dube's lesson in Creative Jumpstart.  The leaf has been floating around my desk since November when I made a bunch of leaves as part of the Thanksgiving table setting.

The table setting looked like this. 😏

 

Happy creating!

The 100 Day Project 2022 - Scope the Stash

 

Hooray!  The 100 Day Project starts on Feb 13th.  

Last year it was a total bust for me.  I decided I was going to do a mandala every day and it lasted about 10 days - I just wasn't inspired.  In fact, I wasn't inspired enough that I was planning on skipping it this year BUT as I was finishing up one of my Creative Jumpstart projects The Muse elbowed me in the side, a little violently I might add, insisting that a perfect theme for me would be to scope my stash.  

Truth be told, it is getting a little hazardous trying to move around in my creative space.  I've got boxes all over the floor, enough so that I have to contort my body like some Cirque du Soleil acrobat if I'm trying to get something out of the closet.  My desk looks like an explosion of paper and random odds and ends with a tiny space carved out where I can work...with my elbows pressed to my sides.  Ha ha...maybe I exaggerate slightly, but you get the idea.  Not only that, but yesterday I was digging around in a drawer looking for something and I found some printing plates that I totally forgot I bought.  I love them but one of them hasn't even seen any paint.  It's ridiculous.

That's the deal friends.  Between Feb 13th and May 24th I'm going to dig deep into the depths and use supplies that are dust-covered, empty boxes of pretty paper scraps "too good to waste" and deplete my index card collection (why in the world do I have so many index cards???).  At the end I'll have a, hopefully, delightful collection of arted up cards that I can bind into a little book to remind to use it or lose it.

You with me??

IG hashtag is #scopethestash

Shapes - Creative Jumpstart #37

 The lesson in Creative Jumpstart today had to do with shapes and playing around with supplies.  It struck me that this concept, courtesy of Amanda Trought, is great for getting the creative juices flowing.  I was so inspired that I created two very different looking pages in my art journal this morning.

The first I made using on Kwik Stix.  I bought some for myself a few years ago after playing with them with my preschool kids, but I've hardly used them at home.  They've got pretty wide tips and are crayon-like so precision isn't a thing when using them.

Page #2 was made with scraps of paper in my collage box (i.e. my paper hoarder, don't-throw-anything-away- because-you-can-probably-use-it-for-something-later box).  I decided to go for a monochromatic look to keep it cohesive.

This was a really fun exercise that I see myself coming back to over and over again - especially when The Muse is being stubborn.

Cheers!

A Week (give or take a couple of days) In The Life Of Julie

 That's a very dramatic-sounding title.  It had been quite a week or so though.  The hubs had the contagion aka Covid and was in quarantine in the back of the house for a week.  (He's doing fine now.)  The plus side of that is that I had a bit more time in the studio...glass half full so to speak.

Here's what I was up to...

Inspired by Drew Steinbrecher, I created my own stencils to use on the gel plate.  Several pulls later I cut and stamped some of the prints to make a page in my art journal using the Creative Jumpstarts lesson from Nancy Curry.

I wish I remembered where I got this idea.  I love using book pages in my art.  Somewhere I saw an artist making a bunch of marks in a book and leaving the pages in there.  Brilliant!  Neat and tidy storage, marked up and ready to go, and easy to find.  I started marking up the pages in an old book I've been ripping pages out of.

This little book holds a quote that I found on my Well Said Pinterest board.  I love it and it is perfect for the Creative Jumpstart theme of  "Connections".  Really happy with the way this turned out.  Bits of inspiration from both Dee Dee Catron's and Tina Walker's lessons in CJS.

Next up is another little book I made after watching Tania Ahmed's CJS lesson.  It stared with a masterboard (or a few in my case).  I also went through my gel print stash and picked out prints that had been in there for a while.  I hadn't used them before because they were 1) too pretty or 2) too ugly or 3) too busy or 4) too boring or 5)...you get the idea.  These suckers just needed to find a home elsewhere.  I'm planning on using this mini journal to just play around in during quickie art sessions.

Before I made the masterboards above I thought I was going to an all-green bunch of pages.  I had a delightful gel printing session that left my work space awash in a sea of lovely greens...

A couple of days ago I arted up one of the pages in this little mini book.

There's more; I made some ATCs and some cards, but I think we've saturated the blog feed enough for today.

Cheers!