Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Christmas is my very favorite time of year.  I am already counting the days until I hang the Christmas lights outside, set up the tree, hang the Advent calendar and make dozens and dozens of cookies for family and friends.  I’ve started a Christmas journal, a new tradition, to celebrate every day of the season.  Dawn Sokol at d’blogala has just started her on-line class entitled 12.31 Art Journal Project.  Take a look – it’s not too late to sign up and start your own tradition.

I’ve also been following Robin-Marie Smith and her fabulous Mail Art creations.  I am so inspired by her use of scraps and bright colors.  Take a few minutes and watch her videos – you too will be searching for manila folders and brightly colored paper scraps.  Wouldn’t it be fabulous to receive a Christmas card or ATC in one of these envelopes!  Enjoy.

Keep it simple.

What are you reading?

This morning while getting ready for work, I glanced over at my nightstand and realized that I have a huge stack of books waiting to be started or finished.  Obviously I have a book obsession as well as art.

Here is my list:

The Artists Way - read this and am keeping it by the bed for reference

Live Through This - waiting to be read

The Screwtape Letters - third time reading this

How Good is Good Enough - waiting to be read

10-10-10 - not sure I will ever get to this

Life is a Verb - great book, about half way done

The Total Money Makeover - another great book, working the baby steps

Quilting Arts Magazine – always wonderful eye candy and great to look at when you don’t want to “read”

The Satorialist - loads of fashion ideas from just normal folks on the street

My Life in France - great autobiography of Julia Child and her time spent in France

This is quite an eclectic stack of Art, Drama, God, Business, Money, Fashion, and Food.  There is another stack of books on American History waiting for my attention on a smaller table across from the bed.

Speaking of books - I have started putting some my art books up for sale on Amazon.  You can view them by my seller name: marciglenn

Here are some of the titles that are up there now:

• Color on Color: Elegant Designs to Stitch (Simply Stitched series)
• Journal Bliss: Creative Prompts to Unleash Your Inner Eccentric

Photo journaling with LK Ludwig

I am following LK Ludwig as she teaches her online class Point & Shoot Journaling.  She is teaching how to use your achived photos to add meaning and depth while utilizing your own free images. Another great way to simplify.

Here is the result of her first assignment, Resonate.

Interested?  Sign-up at the link above.

More thoughts on Simplify

My motivational word for October is simplify.  I am looking at my art studio, my job, my home and my garden, reexaming everything, asking the question, “What Can I Simplify?”.  In my earlier post I was working in my art studio clearing out art paper, ephemera and paints.  Last night I started looking through my collection of zines and other art magazines.  These take up so much room and once I have read them I rarely open them up again.  They sit on top of the dresser in their own binders just taking space and collecting dust.  I thought of some options to “simplify” these.  I could sell them through Etsy or EBay, donate them to my local library, use them to barter for other goods or recycle them.  Still haven’t made a decision on this.  What would you do?

Speaking of recycling, take a look at this simply fabulous tutorial from Jessica Jones at How About Orange.  Pretty cool, huh?  I am dreaming of recycled Christmas packaging.

Lessons on Paper Stashes, Paints and Collage

Simplify!  That is my word for the month of October.  In that spirit, I am going to be tackling my art studio, my home and my job – asking the question “How can I simplify?”

Starting with the art studio:  I have been hording art papers for the past few years.  I don’t know how or why this became an obsession with me, all I know is that the dresser drawers were over flowing.  Once I purchased the papers I stuck them in a drawer only to be looked at occasionally and used only when the perfect project was presented.  You know how that goes – the perfect project never appears.  

Well, all that changed yesterday.  I was running out of storage space and decided to take Kelly’s advice on how to deal with paper.  When you bring home a new sheet of paper, tear it in half.  (There is something about tearing it that makes it OK to use.)  Take one of the halves and put it into your active box for collaging and the other half goes to a pile to be traded/swapped/donated.  I started a box with these other halves and will take them to the monthly art group for trading.  If I have left overs I will take them to my children’s school to be used in their art classes (did I mention I will be leading my son’s art class?)

Once I completed destashing the art paper, I started on all of the ephemera that was stored in boxes and folders.  I realized that I had been cutting and tearing images from magazine that really had no meaning for me – just things that I thought I might use, eventually.  A majority of the magazine images ended up in the recycle bin and I now have 12 inch by 12 inch boxes stacked and sorted by category (travel, postage, images, etc.) to hold all my ephemera pieces ready to be used.  (And I recycled the stacks of magazines that were sitting on the floor waiting for me to go through and tear out pages.  No more of that – if I see something in a magazine that catches my eye, I will tear it out immediately and file it in the proper box).

Now on to the paints.  I have at least 50 bottles of cheap acrylics sitting in the bottom of one of the drawers.  What ever possessed me to buy them, I don’t know.  Have you painted with them?  They are exactly what they are, cheap imitations that tease you into thinking you will get rich vivid color for only a buck a bottle.  Liar!  Out they go.  Nothing can compare to the color richness of my Golden paints.  I love the fluid and the tube versions of Golden and will continue to use them and blend my own colors.

What happens when you get organized?  You make stuff with the things you have!  I started six Swatches books in Kelly Kilmer’s class last weekend and spend a few hours last night collaging the first layer in them.  I found it to be so much more enjoyable now that I have my collage supplies sorted and ready to be used.

Here is my Swatches book that I started last night.  I added bits and pieces of ephemera from my recent trip to my favorite city, San Francisco.  

    

 

What word will you choose to get motivated this month?