Journal Page "Winter" from Seasons Series

How this week is flying by! I hope this is finding you well.I did a photo collage & another shot of my "Winter" page completed.

 Winter from the journal page series "Seasons"

She is my favorite so far, I just finished spring & am going to be *editing video of painting that journal page.  Kelly asked, "winter already?" But, no! I want fall as long as possible. I am only doing a series of girls for the seasons then back to journaling & painting other things. I am sure those things may have some fall inspiration, as it is my favorite season!

When I get a chance I will upload a larger version so you can look close up at the detailing. It will be posted to my Flickr account. Link is on the side bar to follow along if you like.

On another note:
Part of why I haven't been around I just had gotten back up hard drive & hadn't finished moving files..... when I lost a majority of my files to a computer hiccup! Two years of photography & art! Can you see me crying!? Any how, the Mr. found a program & reset the computer a few days prior to that to recover images. But things seem to still be missing! I am devastated, but still hoping to recover more!
Photography Storage Tips: 
Never keep your work just on one hard drive! Always back up! & if you use Flickr or some other hosting site add in your edited work as soon as you are done & hold private until needed! Take my advice & don't chance losing your work!

Tomorrow I have an award ceremony at Sammie's school & I will probably add this post to Paint Party Friday, but I might not be able to visit until the weekend. Just let me know you dropped by and I will return the visit! If you want to link up something you made with PPF just look in the resources page and then go pop it in their linky on Friday morning! There is lots of creativity going on with PPF! PS I have some new art quilt blocks to share soon too! 

What have you been painting, journaling or working on lately? 

Do you have a photography storage tip to share? (obviously I could use more!)

Love Fairy Mixed Media collage on paper

Close up
Full

This is a mixed media collage piece on paper. I did recently where I wanted to keep it simple and light. I guess I have love on my mind~ How could I not? My daughters wedding is in July~ I took images of love birds from a small recycled calender, bits of a recycled card elements of scrapbook materials, dried flowers, twine, acrylic paint and left over collage/scrapbook papers. The fairy and her hat is from Artchix studio's collage page I purchased ~ I feel like I am inspired to create pretty, airy light things right now.
What is inspiring you these days? Do you ever create something with elements you love and just see where it takes you? What are you creating or crafting this summer? Do tell~

There is no greater delight than to watch two love birds, twittering and chirping merrily as the first rays of the sun appear over the tree-tops. This experience is second only to the pleasure of watching a couple in love, as they walk alongside holding hands. ~Author Unknown

Journal Page Love

I wanted to share a quick post on a journal page I did incorporating a paper bag that Sammie wrapped a gift in for Mother's Day. I cut the bag where she painted her picture and then cut out the big heart she made and painted on the bag. I colored a back ground on the page before applying with matte medium. Then I glued down her elements and I glued cut out hearts and painted around them, painted the date and journaled what she had written to me over the top of the bag and at the bottom of the page journaled what we did that day. You can do this with any gift wrap or card and then you will have a memory of that day. The above photo with the three shows the differences in what it would look like if you used a photo editing program the 1st one using gritty + 60's the, 2nd one with a color correction, 3rd one with boost. You can see the different feel it gives to a picture~ Sometimes its fun to play around with digital. I would love to learn and do more digital and incorporate it into some of my art. I hope you will give this simple technique a try in your journals it is a great way to save memories. What ways do you like to preserve your memories? Do you scrapbook as well as journal? Have you tried using digital or photo programs incorporating your art?
To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward. ~Margaret Fairless Barber, The Roadmender

Cats Lullaby

Encouraging creativity in my house is easy these days. A special table for my daughter in the same room. Although she uses mine when I am busy! Allowing her to use my supplies as long as she asks first. She is my shadow creating and drawing at 7 yrs old. Here is a unfinished piece we did together, which all started like this~ She asked if my girl needed a kitty and I said sure! A few days later she said here is my girl and her kitty! So I decided to incorporate them in one piece. I found a piece of sheet music called the Cats Lullaby and that is what is on the background which inspired me to make it dream like. The final piece is covered in wax. It was my first attempt at this process. I like the dimension it gives the painting /collage but it is hard to pick up in a photograph. I laid on the wax some area's thicker and some thinner. It looks dreamy in the picture. I have done some more since and I can tell I am going to love experimenting with this technique. I can't wait to share more.
If you would like to learn how to do this type of collage technique Suzi Blu has a fun class called Les Petit Dolls for beginners. Her work in this style is amazing.

Creativity represents a miraculous coming together of the uninhibited energy of the child with its apparent opposite and enemy, the sense of order imposed on the disciplined adult intelligence. -- Norman Podhoretz

Mixed Media Fairy Painting

This is a closer look at the fairy painting. I am back to the work room for some art journal work.

Mixed Media Fairy Painting

I have been taking an Organic Dimensions Class.
This is the latest that I have been working on.
I wanted her to look as though she was gazing in the water. I used colors related to nature. The collage paper I used had flowers and I muted them by painting over it. I found a few fairy quotes but don't know that I will add them. Haven't quite decided if I am done.
Spread your wings and let the fairy in you fly!
Fairies are invisible and inaudible like angels. But their magic sparkles like nature.