Painting Composition Book covers Effy Wild Style

Plain Composition Book

Dear Reader, this is my first attempt at providing instructions on an art project I have been working on.  Since the beginning of the year this is the 3rd Composition book cover that I have painted.  I learned the process from Effy Wild who is an amazing mixed media artist.  The first book is being used as a journal for LifeBook 2015 and is part of a group sponsored by Effy.  The second book/journal is for a wonderful 8 week online program "Becoming" sponsored by Jeanne Oliver.  Below is the painted cover for that journal.

Painted cover for my On Becoming Journal

Two of my friends, Michele and Monica, wanted to know the steps I followed, hence my instructions.

I have fallen in love with this process and the Composition books are very inexpensive.  The book I am currently painting is my Letter Love Journal based on a lesson by Joanne Sharpe.  The journal can be used for practicing the art of lettering.  I have glued my pages together and added wash tape to the edges of pages.  The last step was to paint the cover.

Supplies used:

• Gesso
• Montana acrylic markers, pink, blue, green and orange
• Tim Holtz distress paints blue, pink
• Cream coat acrylic paint white and yellow
• Pitt big brush pen black
• round punchinella (sequin waste)
• washi tape
• Golden soft gel (glossy)

Plain Composition Book covered with Gesso

Paint applied to book in random pattern

White gesso used to mute the colors

Finished cover for the Letter Love Art Journal

This is the end of my tutorial.  Hope you learned something and will try to enhance a really inexpensive journal.  Thanks to Effy Wild for helping me to learn this wonderful process.  I have now completed 3 journals and need to make one more for my Painting play with Wyanne Thompson.

Random Thoughts - January 11 to January 17 2015

January 11:

It is a rainy Sunday in Henderson, NV a few miles southeast of Las Vegas.  The perfect Jammy day.  After church I came home, put on my jammies,  had my once a week treat of fried chicken.  I worked on art and it was good.   I am participating in a series of online classes and I am noticing that something interesting.  While I love Lifebook and the techniques I learn,  I am finding a sincere fondness for classes like Document Life and Journal 52 which give you prompt and then you create from your own voice.  It is scary at first, but once you let your mind go, the possibilities are endless.

I have a lot of meetings this week at church so it will be interesting to see how much I will be able to create...here's hoping for a lot.

January 12:

Worked on my Document Life Project and painted a book cover for online Bible Study class on becoming.  Below is a picture of the cover.

January 13:

Taught Religious Education Class.  Played catch up watching the videos for Creative Jump Start.  It is a yearly program held on January designed to help get the creative juices flowing.

I have been thinking a lot about my life.  65 years have come and gone and now it is time to really consider how I want to make the most of the years I have left.  I have no idea how many years that is, but I dod not want to waste a minute of it.  Yet I am perplexed.  I know I will figure it out, i just have to be patient.

January 14:

MOMs Meeting tonight, it was a really good meeting with great discussion about saying "Yes" and making choices.  We are studying "Having a Mary Spirit" by Joann Weaver.  Sometimes the book is a challenge and I do not agree with what she rights, but that is a choice.  You do not have to agree with everything in order to learn something.  It is about the little "Yesses" that get us through the day, month and year.

January 15:

No meetings today.  Hair cut and relaxation today.  Nice day.

January 16:

Shopping day.  Nothing extravagant.  But, drum roll please, I used up all of my Golden soft gel (gloss) and needed to get more.  Went to Aaron Brothers and bought a few things I needed.  Found out that the store is closing which is really sad.  There are two stores remaining open in other parts of the valley, but it always sad to see a business close.  I always worry about the employees.  Just one more reason why I am so happy I am retired.

January 17:

Very busy day.  Three Meetings and now I am planning how I am going to do my week 3 of Document Life.  But first I need to make a couple of ATC's, do week 3 of Life book  and a couple of other projects.  Truthfully, I have been putting off doing the life book project, but this is one of my little "yesses".  Bite the bullet and get busy.



What a week, I learned a lot, thought a lot and laughed a lot.  until next week....pilgrim

January 4 to 10th

Beacon of Light Painting

January 4th:

Today was a lot of fun.  Went to the Crafting Place for the Mixed Media 201 Class.  Dee Dee Catron leads these classes and I will be attending when I can.  Today we learned about Tip-ins.  Tip-ins are pages added to and existing page in a journal to extend the area for drawing and journaling.  What makes this class so different?  The items used to bind the pages together.  We used antique lace ( I love this process - picture will be included) Paper doily, envelopes, tape.  When I got home I used a swatch of fabric as a binder and it was cool.

I am really thinking about how I want to spend my year arting.  I have some classes that I will work through and some that I probably will review but not do much art in because they just are not singing to me at the moment.  Who knows what I will feel like in March?  I will download the videos so I can  make my final decisions as I move through the year.

All of my favorite Christmas movies are gone for the year.  It is strange getting back to regular programming.

January 5th:

Was lector at morning Mass.  It always feels good to lector.  Pot of Chicken noodle soup on the stove and Christmas trees are coming down.  Back to "regular programming" in the house.  I will miss the lights.  Sitting in the dark house with the lights twinning brings me joy.  Oh well, time to move on.  Boy that soup really smells good.

January 6th:

After a great deal of internal conversation, began work on the Beacon of Light portion of the Lifebook 2015 project.  It is much easier said than done having the courage to paint and then share it. But start I did and boy did it feel good.

Religious Ed classes resumed today.  We will now be teaching the children about Holy Communion since they will be celebrating this wonderful experience later in the year.  12 young minds, 12 eager learners, such an exciting time.

January 7:

Finished Beacons of Light painting.  My 2nd painting of the year and first portrait.
It was really great to work on this project and see the finished result.

January 8:

Spent the day working on various art projects.  Start working on my Awesome Day Jar putting the first layer of collage on the jar and it looks good.  Was going to by a jar and then I found one at home that I could use. Falling into my use what you have theme for the year.

Met an arty friend and gave her some of my extra art supplies.  There is nothing like sharing.

January 9:

Started working on Document Life week 1 painting.  I have put this off, not thinking that I could do it, but I was wrong.  Today I collaged book pages on to the pages in my delusions journal.  the pages buckled and I was so disappointed.  I decided to let it dry overnight and put some binder clips on the edges to hold the pages straight.  I also made a journal for my Becoming you online class, it turned out really nice.  The entire day was spent creating.  I ended the day watching videos by Wyanne Thompson for a class I am taking with her "You and Me"  painting together.  By Sunday, I will be able to begin painting the first project.

January 10:

This morning I looked at the pages I collaged yesterday for DLP, wow drying overnight really made the difference.  The pages looked great.  Next step, used Golden liquid acrylic paint to put a wash over the page.  The color palette I chose was turquoise, magenta, yellow and light green.  White was used to tone down some of the colors.  It is looking good.  Next step will be embellishments and then put my intentions for 2015 in the pages.  Hope I can finish today, but it will probably be more like tomorrow.  We shall see.

Thoughts about the week:

It has been a good week.  Still learning to take it one day at a time.  I learned something really wise from Wyanne.   "There is always someone somewhere that will love what you create.  You may not love it, but someone will."  I needed that and it made me smile.  

Instead of being eager to start the new week, I am going to enjoy the rest of today, savor each moment.

Until later......pilgrim

Welcome to the new Year

Pebeo and Resin Painting

Happy New Year

January 1, 2015

A new year is here once again.  The first day of 2015 is filled with anticipation and wonder about what the year will bring.  This year I am going to have a different approach.  I am not going to wonder about what this year will bring.  Instead I am going to try to enjoy one day at a time.  Really pay attention to the day at hand.  So what happened on the first day?  I went to Mass and learned that January 1st is Pray for World Peace day.  This day was instituted 48 years ago by Pope Paul IV.  I never knew this before today.  As a result my thought and prayer for the day was "Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me."  This lyric from a song we sing in church and I have always liked it.

Also worked on the cover for my Document Life Journal.  It is still in progress.  So fun.

January 2nd

So far I have won the internal conversation of spending when I do not need to.  Oh I had great plans of going to Michael's and Joann's and buying art supplies.  When all of a sudden something inside me said "hold on buck-a-too, why would you go and buy one more thing?  You have all you need." So the battle began.  But they may have something really cool on sale versus you do not need anything.  Today, you do not need anything won.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring.  Remember I am taking it one day at a time.

One more thing for today.....this year I will not anguish over posting my art and getting comments.  This year, my art is for me and it will be fun.  I have a lot to learn and each day WILL be a new lesson.  If I find myself falling in to the trap of need for approval, I will stop posting - did you hear that Glenda?  Chill.

January 3rd

Working on 1st week of Lifebook, doing the warm-up page.  I am not a fast artist.  I like to let things dry and then look to see where I want to go next.  I am using a combination of follow and risk it.  These terms were introduced to me by Effy Wild.  Follow is following along with the teacher trying to cover all of the details.  Risk it is turning off the video and working on your own.  I have my basics done and now I will work on my own and see where it takes me.

I have a lot of projects lined up for January.  It is my purge and clean month.  I have more than enough room in my condo, I just need to get rid of some things.  But instead of thinking about all that I have to do, I am just going to try and do at least one thing everyday.  Manageable bites, if it takes until the end of February, who cares....I love alone so there is no one to please but me.

I also need to start knitting more, love making scarves and I have finally given most of them away so I need a new supply.  Night time watching project.

This has been a great week.  Tomorrow is Epiphany and the end of the 12 days of Christmas, so down  comes the Christmas tree - boo hoo.

As The Year Comes to a Close.......

As 2014 comes to a close I was thinking of what I would write in the final blog post of the year.  At first I thought I would  post one picture which represented my favorite of the year and then wax philosophical about my hopes and dreams.  While looking for the perfect, one of a kind photo, to represent 2014 I realized that there were many that I loved and that they could tell the story much better than I could.  Below are my favorite photo's of the year.

Favorite Photo's - 2014

Fruit at the Farmer's Market in Venice

Boats on the Canal in Burano, Italy

Painting from Class with Judy Wise

Man copied using the upside down process

First ever painting on a large Canvas with Katy Kendrick

Another painting from Judy Wise Class - love her expression

Original Painting done for an Auction

Duschetes River in Bend, Oregon

Sitting with David in Florence, Italy

I can never get enough of the Eiffel Tower

The Mountains in Zion, Utah

Drive through the marvels of Zion National Park

I had a wonderful year.  Starting with An Artful Journey at the end of February and ending with a Women's Retreat in the Zion National Park area in Utah in November.  I had the pleasure of spending my 65th birthday with 66 other women discussing the joys of Advent.  In between I spent 11 days with my Art retreat and travel friends winding our way through Florence, Venice and Paris.  I also went on a retreat in Three Rivers, CA discussing the comparison between St. Francis Assisi and Pope Francis.

I am most thankful for all that I experienced and accomplished....there is still more to do, but today - December 31, 2014- I am just going to relish these beautiful pictures as they remind me of a year well lived.

Until next year........Happy New Year my friends, pilgrim.

Traveling Through Europe - Final Destination - Paris

Arc De Triumphe

Eiffel Tower

Walking through park on the way to Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower at Night from Cruise boat

Flea Market in Paris

More flea market finds

Colorful bits and bobbles at the Market

Spire of Notre Dame, taken from Tour Bus

Doorway in Paris - love the color

5 pm,  Sunday Mass is over

More flea market finds

Took me a while, dear reader, but here is the last post of my trip to Italy and France in September.  It was a blessing and a pleasure to be able to return to Paris.  I do love that city.  Getting to tour the various areas of the city and not just limit the visit to the regular touristy areas was a real treat.

However, the best part was traveling with friends.  Maryann, Earl, Tracie, Jessica and Debbie have become family to me.  We have so many adventures and laughs when we are together. We should write a collaborative book about our travels or at a minimum create a collaborative art journal documenting our thoughts and why we travel so well together.

As I write this post, I realize that travel is good for my spirit.  I can marvel at the culture, the architecture and the everyday life of the city/country I happen to be visiting.  Then I can come home and appreciate just how blessed I truly am.  So I look forward to more adventures, more friendships and more opportunities to write posts such as this, so that you, dear reader, can share in my blessings.

until next time....pilgrim

Feel free to leave a comment, it makes me happy.

Traveling Through Italy and Paris - Venice Part 1

Hail

Paper, I love Paper

View from Water Taxi

Church campus on Burano

Neighborhood in Burano

Laundry day in Burano

Standing on bridge capturing reflection

Lace on Burano - Inspired by original craft

Love the colors of the buildings

Inside Church where we went to a concert

Waiting for concert to begin

Glass Blowing on Murano

Master Glass blower

Standing on Rialto Bridge

View from Bridge

Another view of Rialto Bridge

Public Square on the other side of Bridge

Masks through a window, love the glare

Fresh Fish Market

Colorful Spices

Boats, mode of transportation

Ahhhh, Venice.  I love the colors and the views.  It can be as fast paced or as slow as you want it.  This is part one of the posts on Venice, one of my favorite places to visit.  I would love to return and stay for about a month in an apartment.  Cross the Rialto Bridge and to the the market to get food to cook.  Oh what a joy that would be.

Well until next time......be well dear readers.....Pilgrim