Monday Musings: Ephemera Your Heart Out!

I have been enjoying immensely the time I spend working on my art journal. Some days I am more inspired than others but all in all, it is nice to be able to work on something that brings a smile to one's face at the end of the day. Since I've been working on this journal I've tried to incorporate different types of ephemera into it including by making my own out of paper scraps. Thus came into being the following "paisley-esque" forms I made for using in my journal:

These are the paislies I worked on....

Also, just writing out words for use in scrap-booking or journaling can be helpful. You can write them however you choose, on any paper you want, etc. Here are some of my scraps of white paper and what I did with them:

More paisley and some words to live by...

There are a million possibilities but those are just a few of the things you can do to create ephemera. I collect everything that seems to be re-usable and give it new life! Here is how I used these different forms of ephemera I created.

I used the words in this art journal entry...

and this....

In this case I drew some hearts on remaining white paper bits
also a flower and a couple of words...

and lastly...

Too much fun really!

All it takes is a little time and creativity! I can't wait to create some more!

Cheers!

Monday Musings: Working on....

I've been pretty incognito lately, I know! I've been busy as a bee with my 365 Day Project of photos and art journaling and have neglected to post anything here or at any of my other blogs lately. So, I wanted to just share a little of what I've been doing so that you all could enjoy it as well!

My 365 challenge is photographic and is pretty much about my 30th year of life (that is the theme, I started it on my 30th birthday---August 12th for those who did not know). So far it seems my 30th year is all about art! I need to get out more!

My art journaling is really what I am enjoying most these days and my entry yesterday is by far one of my favorites:

I continue to learn daily through reading other blogs and am inspired by my friends constantly. My surroundings are an inspiration sometimes although I really wish I lived somewhere more interesting. Hopefully soon I will be able to share a little more interesting stuff with you all now that September is come and autumn festivities seem to always breed more fun!

Hope you're having a wonderful Labor Day (those of you in the States, that is--everyone else I still wish you an excellent day)! 

Cheers!

Card-making...

For me it is therapeutic to make cards. I just love gathering all the pieces and materials for making them. Beautiful and intricate, or elegant and simple; making cards is a form of expression so personal and endearing to the recipient that the maker derives a gratifying satisfaction from the knowledge the his/her creation will be loved and well received. Here is my very own latest creation:

The design is simple and easy enough and I used some paper scraps I had on hand to come up with the concept. The first thing I did was raid my little box of keepsakes from pen pals to find the flower I was going to make.

Box where I keep little trinkets sent to me by my wonderful pen pals...

Once I'd found it I traced it onto an index card to make a template and not ruin my little bit of paper joy...

Original and template from index card...

I used the template to make my large orange flower and also to trace flower "silhouettes" onto my linen card for added effect. The silver "ribbon" is a paper band that came from some stationery I'd exhausted; just measured it, cut it to length and pasted it right onto the card. The center of the flower was made from some scraps of scrap-booking paper I had and I just dotted it with various colors to give it that effect.

Template and scraps of paper used...

Pens, markers and some creativity aided in the end result...

Ready to be sent out...

I wrote the message by hand and drew the smaller flowers by making series of dots...

The little details make all the difference...

Isn't it darling? I need to make some more fun ones! Enjoy!

Focus is on the flower...

♦Fantastic Fridays: Painting...♦

Oh the joys of creating something yourself. Earlier this week I painted a small 6"x 6" canvas and found it to be therapeutic.

My little painting, acrylic on canvas, first I've ever done...

Yesterday I got a pack of 25 different brushes at Big Lots for four dollars and today I bought some sponges, painters tape and clothes pins for various art projects I want to do. They are not "professional" supplies but I have found that there are many things that one can use to create beautiful works of art. Tomorrow I will work on another painting I want to do using shapes and textures. It should be interesting. 

I am by no means a professional and am just experimenting with art. I've decided to start and art journal on my 30th birthday which I am really excited about as I think it will really help my creativity. I've been gathering my supplies and even think I am going to actually make the journal I want to use myself. So, I'll be posting more about that soon!

I checked out a few sites for inspiration and found the following:

daisy yellow, a great source for learning about art journaling

journal girl, a fantastic blog of inspiration

Hanna Andersson, her blog is full of beautiful art

Enjoy!
   

POST #105: Another little project...

Making cards from my own photos...

I cannot believe that this is my 105th post to date! I know that I've been a little sporadic lately but I am hoping to get up to my old speed again. I've been learning a lot more about blogging and will be slowly incorporating all the things I learn in here. My photos are looking crisper and better and the style is becoming my own. I am happy to share with you all what I am doing and I promise that soon there will be a proper tutorial in the works. 

I've been working on some projects using my photography, sparked in part by the fact that I would like to know what I can make at home with my photos (I have so many gorgeous shots that I want to share with the world) and in part by the fact that I have been pen-palling a lot lately. So, doing a little research here and using the programs I already have on my computer + my excellent ingenuity skills I have created some cards using my photos and printing them right at home on card stock. The ones in the photos are my prototypes but aren't they lovely?

I have finally also found a use for my binder clips...

The cards in the picture show two distinct shots I took in 2009 and 2010. The one on the right is an autumnal shot called "Autumnal Reverie" which I have on display in a few websites and shot in Princeton, NJ in Fall of 2009. The one on the left is a row of townhouses on Bank St. in the West Village in Manhattan which I shot in January 2010 on a weekend visit. They are both two of my favorite places and I hope to print more cards out soon! 

I love to work with the things I have on hand...

Today I printed out a few more cards from a small shoot I did in Princeton that same previously mentioned autumn. I have enough shots of the university and the surrounding area to have an entire collection of prints on cards. I'll be bringing you more photos soon of some more of this wonderful creations of mine. Hope you've enjoyed them! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday Musings: Floridian nights...

As I sit here listening to some old school pop music from when I was fresh out of high school and well into the end of my first year of university I wonder why at night my mind tends to wander through the events of the day, the news I've heard or read and my own thoughts of what we are currently living globally.

I don't think we all realize how interdependent on each other we are nowadays. I think that the gravity of these hard economic times we are facing, the mounting global pressures we face are very greatly misrepresented in the media and while everyone wonders about what Bernanke said or what Obama didn't say or do, no one bothers to ask the populace what they think of what is going on, how they've had to change the way they live, what new hardships they're facing---in short, we are all in kind of a daze and that is worrisome.

Sometimes I find myself wishing I were back in the mid 1990s when I was in high school and life wasn't so hard. I wonder if the choices I made would have been different if I had set my aims toward something different, instead of desperately wanting to become an actress I had desired to go into law or medicine...I'm sure that even then the outcome would have been the same.

Now more than ever we all need to pull together in solidarity with our fellow man and help each other as best we can.

Until tomorrow...

Hand-cut gift tags...

Yet another work in progress of mine of late has been to make hand-cut gift tags from scraps of scrapbook paper big enough for the small gift-tag template I have (which, consequently, is a reused garment tag which came with something I bought a while back--can't recall what exactly it was but it served a great purpose to me).

I have an enormous amount of beautiful papers to use and thought, why not make gift tags? They're elegant and very romantic in their aspect and quite a crafty endeavor so, here they are:

My first hand-cut tags...

I have since hand-cut a few more tags and am now in the process of seeking out a smaller hand held hole-punch than the one I currently have in my possession to cut the small holes atop and add the thread I want to use for each tag to complete each set.

Hand-cut tags kept in a little pink and brown "carry-out" box which originally
had some delightful caramels in it...another reuse project, if you will.

I just love being able to use every bit of left over paper I possibly can....

Nestled away in their little box, upright and beautiful...a touch of girly pleasure...

Spectacular, aren't they?

Lovingly chosen and hand-cut...

I hope you've enjoyed reading this post as much as I have enjoyed writing it....until next time!

Cheers!