Monday, October 10, 2011

Just a little something

The Greeting Farm is hosting heART journal challenges. You had to start them from the beginning to be eligible for the prize, but it's still great fun to play along.

Recently, the challenge was to use a face from a magazine and dress her up. This is what I came up with.

{click to enlarge}

I think she still needs something, but my mind is drawing a blank. So, I'll just let her rest and get comfy in my journal.

I hope you got to play in your journal - you deserve fun time!

~ky

Friday, October 7, 2011

Hiatus!

Hello my crafty friends - I took a little break! I've been on a little adventure, and in a few more weeks I'll be able to share some details with you. Meanwhile...here's a little few somethings I've been working on.

{click to enlarge}

Every so often, I like to take a little step back, and look through my past journals. Sometimes I find little nuggets that didn't seem like much at the time. This little bit of journaling and doodling were done in 2008 when I was thinking about how much had changed since I became profoundly ill in 2007.

{click to enlarge}

I remember that day as I sketched our bearded dragon, Oscar, as he sat on his favorite high branch. I started out scrolling the word Life, then let it take a life of its own as life often does. It got creative, was occupied by a faerie, a snail, a frog and a butterfly. It sprouted new growth, flowers, leaves, even a faerie swing!

My life had been like that - topsy-turvy, carving its own path despite my best efforts to confine it. So, I figured I could either embrace it and go along for the ride, or watch it depart.

{click to enlarge}

When I discovered this little gem, I took another look at where this crazy, creative, nightmare of mine had taken me. I tore away the excess areas of the original work, and burned it (yes, like, put fire to it!) around the edges.

I created a base page using distress inks (to be taught later!), and positioned the original work over that. Then I journaled about the difference between the 2008 life (reflecting the 2007 version) and the 2011 condition. This is what I concluded:

{click to enlarge, please quote me if you use this - it's my own}

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of art. Now for something almost completely different.

And here are a few things I'm working toward!

By the way, November is almost upon us. It's a busy, busy, evil-busy month. I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and *hopefully* able to interact more with our local Naperville, IL group. I am so excited about my story this year! I've been sitting, waiting for that bolt of inspiration, and it finally came. It happened to come just as I was laying down for bed, of course - but it came! Now I can get busy on prep work.

I plan to participate in Dawn Sokol's NaNoJouMo (National Non-Stop Journaling Month) activities - you work in your art journal DAILY. I neeeeeed to do that. NEEEEEED!

Plus the requisite family travel, obligatory doctor visits, physical therapy and crafting obligations. It's gonna be busy! Which could be a good thing since we're projected to have another whopper of a winter. You know I like it!

Do you have plans? Does your journalistic creativity stagnate during the push to the holidays? If so, is there something I could help with to keep you inspired? Do we need challenges? I look forward to publishing this blog a little more frequently, and having a dialogue with you, my dear reader.

Thank you for spending a little time with me!

Creatively yours,
♥ ~ky