Flying out of my Comfort Zone!

I have purchased my first Moleskin Journal. The pages are pretty sturdy and a nice size that I can tuck it into my purse and go.  I have been teetering on "my style" since I have started art-journaling, and really stayed on the safe side.  Now that I know what I am capable of, I have decided that I want to do more - get messy and out of my head. I tend to think WAAAYYY too much about things. I stumbled onto some of Teesha Moores "how-to" you-tube videos and have started cutting up magazines LOL. So here are some of my Teesha Moore-inspired doodles and collage pages. I have even taken the time to gesso prep and paint the pages - what the hell? It is a little crazy, a little bit rock n' roll, but fun -check it out!

Be Zen, Just Be.

This morning I was blog-hopping and came across a term I had never heard before: ZENTANGLES. What a neat word. People were raving about it, so of course, I needed to check it out. What a treat for the senses!
Zentangles is a state of mind, or a meditative state of doodling. You can see a bit of this already in my art, but nothing like the creations that are out there...very easy, very inspiring and VERY ADDICTIVE.  Me thinks I will see more and more of this technique coming out in my art. Here is my very first ZENTANGLE. It's pretty cool.

HOW: draw a box or any other shape. Start with a wavy line. Just let it flow from there. There are no rules, except maybe that there are no rules. You might want to grab yourself a cup of tea, put on some mellow tunes and get ready to stay put until you are done. This is SOOOOO MUCH FUN!

Vintage Christmas...

Oh Christmas Tree! This was a project I led at art group last week. These darling little trees became my fairy forest and were inspired from a recent Somerset Studio magazine - I just had  to make them. They were a big hit and the glitter and tattered angels were flying. Helene will be seeing glitter for months! LOL. (sorry :))

HOW: using  diferent sizes of circle punches and recycling old books, the circles (starting with the largest size) is pushed onto a skewer until the "tree" is as full as desired. Hot glue bottom end into a wooden skewer. Using tattered angels spray or diluted paint in a spray bottle, spray tree as much as you like. I then used mod podge or matte gel and liberally coated the edges of the circles, finally sprinkling glitter. I used beads as toppers.

Christmas and vintage just seem to go together for me. I get all warm and fuzzy when reminiscing about the anticipation of Christmas eve, helping my Grandparents prepare for the big night. Being French-Canadian, our traditions stem from a magical family celebration in anticipation for the arrival of Pere Noel! I can remember building a huge snowman with my Grampa, he had a real pipe and lantern, which we lit to greet the guests. That year we also made baskets out of walnuts - Grampa carved and I made tiny little blankets out of felt and hung them from the tree. Nostalgic Memories...

I came across these vintage postcards on the Graphic Fairy's Blog (thank-you!) and was instantly transported back to that time...inspired, I whipped these tags up last night...

It's Finished!: Dean's Art Journal - volume 1

Well, after a few short months, I have completed my art journal! Hooray me! I remember when I was inspired to start, after reading Violette's Journal Bliss - staring at all those blank pages. Once I started I couldn't stop and art-journalling became part of my daily routine. My children and husband have been so supportive looking at each page once freshly finished. Now it is complete and hopefully continue to be treasured by them...

Now I am off to purchase a real moleskin book!

Black & Pink Combo - more Christmas Cards!

Here are two cards I came up with. Since pink is a hot color this Christmas, I wanted to experiment and see what I could come up with...they are non-traditional, but I think they are cute.

Both the ornaments stamps and dasher were stamped in black and embossed with a shiney powder.

Here is a cute little tag which Leslie and I came up with:

And here is another version of the ornament card, which was a project in our Stampin' Up! Club last month.

SYNCRONICITY…one of the “aha!” moments.

Last week I moved into a new, larger, more centralized office. I have been in a funk lately and so, with this move I anticipated turning of a leaf. While I was placing all my lovely belle-belles, I noticed that underneath the overhead cabinet was a magnet. I took it down and it was a friendly little marble-like magnet, with a picture of a seedling and the word: HOPE.

Thinking nothing of it, I added it to my collection of bumblebee, ladybug and turtle. A week later, yesterday, I am writing my paper for my Avalon course, which has been on-going since February (yikes!) and synchronicity was on my mind… I looked over at this magnet and saw the word HOPE and realized that the French and Russian origin of my name is HOPE. I was awed.

Later that evening, I stopped by Singing Pebbles to pick up a book and began picking up different stones – (BTW- I picked up a fabulous bloodstone, white agate and golden quartz) and there in the middle of these stones was a pewter pin of a feather, pinned to a card entitled “HOPE”.

The universe is really making sure that I get the message…

Blessed Be,

Nadine