Eve Before Christmas Eve

The eve before Christmas Eve and the house is quiet. Candles are burning (Bath and Body Works - Marshmallow Fireside), rain falling outside, Dexter sleep at my feet, warm cup of coco and a Sprinkles cupcake all to myself. Life is good.  Now for a little Downton Abbey.

Journal Everyday in December Day 6

Lots of great conversations about prosperity today. 

Be yourself. 

Be authentic

And all the best things shall come to you.

Just be YOU.

Journaling Everyday in December - Day 5

Special day

Date night with my love

Laughter all around me

lots and lots of play.

Journaling Everyday in December - Day 4

Found hearts everywhere today.

Heart shaped leaves.

Hearts on boxes.

Hearts everywhere.

Journaling Everyday in December - Day 3

Today was very messy.

Telling the truth.

Trusting the feelings and taking actions

Moving through feelings and emotions.

Lots of movement.

Journaling Everyday in December - Day 2

 

 Today was a day of community, conversation and beauty

the kind of community that

gets together infrequently 

but meets again and the connection is like no time has passed.

It was  a day of  giggles, hugs and beautiful exotic beverages.

It was a day of conversations that are

joyful and honest

Filled with storytelling and sharing travel adventures

It was a day of beautiful 

sparkles

rich velvets

twinkling lights

Today was a day of gratitude and appreciation for 

the relationships I have developed over my life time

Today was filled with LOVE.

Journaling Everyday in December - Day 1

 

This day was full of enchantment

Robin hood's feathered cap

3 copper pennies at my door

All day rain

Rain boots 

Rainy stroll to enjoy warm garlic noodles

Snowman shortbread cookies at Starbucks

something new is being born

today its

Enchantment

Music that Moves Me: Loreena McKennitt

I love music and its always apart of my creative art journaling practice. Thank goodness for music sites like Pandora where I can create a variety of personalized music stations and discover new artists in the process. I have over 50 stations so far and each one sets me in a particular mood. 

My newest love is Loreena McKennitt Radio where they often play music from John Doyle. There is something really dreamy about Celtic music. It puts me right in the mood to write or design. I imagine my trips to Glastonbury many years ago, the cobble stone pathways and sharing stories in a local small pub. It's very romantic and etherial.

Journaling Everyday in December

 

I'm starting something new.

Something completely fun.

I'm going to journal everyday in December.

There's lots to be grateful for in December

The holidays are here.

The year is coming to a close.

There is much to acknowledge and reflect upon.

There is much to enjoy in the present moment.

This is the beginning of it all.

Journaling Time is Sacred Time...

Art Journal Images: Great Android Apps for Image Editing

I'm always on the look out for great images to use in my art journal. I take my camera almost everywhere with me and I can take 100+ photos in a week (the joy of digital photography). I snap photos all the time with my camera or my phone. 

I've been known to collect  300+ images, sit down on a weekend, choose the best ones to use and edit them in  photoshop or illustrator. Over time this has become a lengthy and time consuming process.

Like all creative processes, this process was due for a change. Recently I found a photo editing applications that I could use right from my android phone or with my home computer.  This really cuts down on my post-processing time and it lets me focus on how I will use the images in my journal.

Here are the best one's I've found so far:

befunky
This one has lots of filters and frames. I used the free version with my phone and my home computer. I combined a few of the filters to create the image of my dog dexter above,

Paper Camera
 This is an application for your android phone. It makes images look like comic strips..love this!

Pixlr
This is just like photoshop but its online. This has been great for some advanced editing.

  
 

Juicy Soul Retreat - July 28, 2013

Juicy Soul Retreat
Sunday, July 28 2013

11am - 5pm
A Work of Heart, San Jose, California

We want to encourage you to make a date with yourself to nurture your creative spirit. The Juicy Soul Retreat is an afternoon of pure creative bliss. We will be showing you techniques that will inspire you to create in your journals and express yourself creatively on every glorious page.  You can begin a new journal or you can continue to build in one of your existing journals. The choice is yours. Our intention is that you spend time in your journal, get inspired to create on a regular basis and explore  techniques that will bring out your unique creative expression. 

This retreat is for beginners and savvy journal artists.

Retreat Schedule:

Juicy Journaling Techniques

Big tables, tons of art supplies...What could be more fun! You will learn some amazing techniques to turn flat blank journals in to juicy journals for your words, poetry, collage, photos, lists, mantras, ideas, songs, prayers, intentions, stories, notes, and dreams.

Living in Your Journals:

Spilling open and celebrating your life through journaling

In this part of the retreat you will discover the wonderful world of fonts, journal page frames, images and story windows. You will be guided through the journaling process to begin to design a focus for your journal. You will explore the variety of tools available to you to support you in journaling your ideas, dreams, victories, stories, experiences when the creative muse appears in your path. We will explore the variety of fonts, letters and methods of capturing words on a page. We will also give you a chance to  journal with the assistance of journaling prompts and ideas for topics to explore in your pages.

Juicy Journaling Studio

Self Guided time to experiment and play

In this part of the retreat you will have all the basic techniques and you will be ready to combine and layer techniques to express yourself creatively. We will act as muses for your creative process by supporting you in your process. You'll spend time in community continuing to turn your flat blank journals in to juicy journals for your words, poetry, collage, photos, lists, mantras, ideas, songs, prayers, intentions, stories, notes, and dreams. This is your time to use all the techniques you've learned to create your journal, experiment with colors and try different supplies.

What to Bring:

• Journal  
• Lunch
• Favorite Art Supplies and Images (optional)

Registration:

Registration is now closed

Juicy Soul Retreat - May 19, 2013

Juicy Soul Retreat
Sunday, May 19 2013
11am - 5pm
A Work of Heart, San Jose, California

We want to encourage you to make a date with yourself to nurture your creative spirit. The Juicy Soul Retreat is an afternoon of pure creative bliss. We will be showing you techniques that will inspire you to create in your journals and express yourself creatively on every glorious page.  You can begin a new journal or you can continue to build in one of your existing journals. The choice is yours. Our intention is that you spend time in your journal, get inspired to create on a regular basis and explore  techniques that will bring out your unique creative expression. 

This retreat is for beginners and savvy journal artists.

Retreat Schedule:

Juicy Journaling Techniques

Big tables, tons of art supplies...What could be more fun! You will learn some amazing techniques to turn flat blank journals in to juicy journals for your words, poetry, collage, photos, lists, mantras, ideas, songs, prayers, intentions, stories, notes, and dreams.

Living in Your Journals:

Spilling open and celebrating your life through journaling

In this part of the retreat you will discover the wonderful world of fonts, journal page frames, images and story windows. You will be guided through the journaling process to begin to design a focus for your journal. You will explore the variety of tools available to you to support you in journaling your ideas, dreams, victories, stories, experiences when the creative muse appears in your path. We will explore the variety of fonts, letters and methods of capturing words on a page. We will also give you a chance to  journal with the assistance of journaling prompts and ideas for topics to explore in your pages.

Juicy Journaling Studio

Self Guided time to experiment and play

In this part of the retreat you will have all the basic techniques and you will be ready to combine and layer techniques to express yourself creatively. We will act as muses for your creative process by supporting you in your process. You'll spend time in community continuing to turn your flat blank journals in to juicy journals for your words, poetry, collage, photos, lists, mantras, ideas, songs, prayers, intentions, stories, notes, and dreams. This is your time to use all the techniques you've learned to create your journal, experiment with colors and try different supplies.

What to Bring:

• Journal  
• Lunch
• Favorite Art Supplies and Images (optional)

Registration:

Registration is now closed

Juicy Soul Retreat - February 24, 2013

Juicy Soul Retreat
Sunday, February 24 2013

11am - 5pm
A Work of Heart, San Jose, California 

We want to encourage you to make a date with yourself to nurture your creative spirit. The Juicy Soul Retreat is an afternoon of pure creative bliss. We will be showing you techniques that will inspire you to create in your journals and express yourself creatively on every glorious page.  You can begin a new journal or you can continue to build in one of your existing journals. The choice is yours. Our intention is that you spend time in your journal, get inspired to create on a regular basis and explore  techniques that will bring out your unique creative expression. 

This retreat is for beginners and savvy journal artists.

Retreat Schedule:

Juicy Journaling Techniques

Big tables, tons of art supplies...What could be more fun! You will learn some amazing techniques to turn flat blank journals in to juicy journals for your words, poetry, collage, photos, lists, mantras, ideas, songs, prayers, intentions, stories, notes, and dreams.

Living in Your Journals:

Spilling open and celebrating your life through journaling

In this part of the retreat you will discover the wonderful world of fonts, journal page frames, images and story windows. You will be guided through the journaling process to begin to design a focus for your journal. You will explore the variety of tools available to you to support you in journaling your ideas, dreams, victories, stories, experiences when the creative muse appears in your path. We will explore the variety of fonts, letters and methods of capturing words on a page. We will also give you a chance to  journal with the assistance of journaling prompts and ideas for topics to explore in your pages.

Juicy Journaling Studio

Self Guided time to experiment and play

In this part of the retreat you will have all the basic techniques and you will be ready to combine and layer techniques to express yourself creatively. We will act as muses for your creative process by supporting you in your process. You'll spend time in community continuing to turn your flat blank journals in to juicy journals for your words, poetry, collage, photos, lists, mantras, ideas, songs, prayers, intentions, stories, notes, and dreams. This is your time to use all the techniques you've learned to create your journal, experiment with colors and try different supplies.

What to Bring:

• Journal  
• Lunch
• Favorite Art Supplies and Images (optional)

Registration:

Registration is closed

Vision Boards - January 20, 2013

Vision Boards
Sunday, January 20, 2013

11am - 1:30pm
A Work of Heart, San Jose, California 

This workshop will provide a peaceful space to create your vision board for the year We will explore the role of vision boards in goal setting and discuss how journaling can support you in the process! I will guide you through a series of steps that I have learned over years of creating vision boards of my own.  You will be given time select images and create a vision board of your own.

I will also give you the opportunity to practice a valuable journaling process to help you capture any inspired ideas that might lead you to your goal. I call this process "Idea catching" and I will share with you the process of capturing your inspired actions in an "Idea Cather" or Idea journal.  This journal is unique in that it holds every wild idea, clue, phone number, map, quote that will lead you to your goal. These journals have been extremely powerful in capturing inspired actions that result from focusing on my vision boards and has lead me to solutions and surprising results.

With your Vision Board and Idea Catcher, you will have everything you need to creative fabulous year!

Workshop Schedule:

Choosing Images for your Vision Board

In this portion of the workshop we will look at the best ways to collect and use images for your vision board. You will have time to pull images that inspire you. Feel free to bring images you have collected before the workshop. The goal will be to find images that represent the essence of what you want to experience this year.

Arranging Images  on your Board

Over the years I've noticed that there are several ways to arrange images on your board to inspire maximum inspiration. We will explore some ways to arrange your images on your vision board based on your fundamental desires.

Keeping your vision board active

Keeping the visions on the vision board active and present for you will help you to make key choices to bring them to fruition. 

What to Bring:

• Image of you or something that represents you
• Images that inspire you (optional)
• Magazines (optional)

Registration:

Registration is closed

Learning from the Masters: Henri Matisse

I'm so inspired by Master Artists and their process. Here is a video of Henri Matisse creating his works. Cutting hand painted paper into organic shapes and positioning them on a page. I'm so inspired by his freedom and his concentration. He's in the moment creating for himself and he is curious about his creation. Watching him create gives me inspiration to be in the moment, be in the process and enjoy the journey. . I hope you enjoy.

Juicy Soul Retreat - February 23, 2014

Juicy Soul Retreat
Sunday, February 23 2014

11am - 5pm
A Work of Heart, San Jose, California

We want to encourage you to make a date with yourself to nurture your creative spirit. The Juicy Soul Retreat is an afternoon of pure creative bliss. We will be showing you techniques that will inspire you to create in your journals and express yourself creatively on every glorious page.  You can begin a new journal or you can continue to build in one of your existing journals. The choice is yours. Our intention is that you spend time in your journal, get inspired to create on a regular basis and explore  techniques that will bring out your unique creative expression.

This retreat is for beginners and savvy journal artists.

 

Retreat Schedule:

Juicy Journaling Techniques

Big tables, tons of art supplies...What could be more fun! You will learn some amazing techniques to turn flat blank journals in to juicy journals for your words, poetry, collage, photos, lists, mantras, ideas, songs, prayers, intentions, stories, notes, and dreams.

Living in Your Journals:

Spilling open and celebrating your life through journaling

In this part of the retreat you will discover the wonderful world of fonts, journal page frames, images and story windows. You will be guided through the journaling process to begin to design a focus for your journal. You will explore the variety of tools available to you to support you in journaling your ideas, dreams, victories, stories, experiences when the creative muse appears in your path. We will explore the variety of fonts, letters and methods of capturing words on a page. We will also give you a chance to  journal with the assistance of journaling prompts and ideas for topics to explore in your pages.

Juicy Journaling Studio

Self Guided time to experiment and play

In this part of the retreat you will have all the basic techniques and you will be ready to combine and layer techniques to express yourself creatively. We will act as muses for your creative process by supporting you in your process. You'll spend time in community continuing to turn your flat blank journals in to juicy journals for your words, poetry, collage, photos, lists, mantras, ideas, songs, prayers, intentions, stories, notes, and dreams. This is your time to use all the techniques you've learned to create your journal, experiment with colors and try different supplies.

What to Bring:

• Journal  
• Lunch
• Favorite Art Supplies and Images (optional)

See what it's like to attend?:

    

More Photos:

• Juicy Soul Retreat Photos on Flickr 

Registration:

Registration: $95 , After 2/20/2014: $105

Juicy Soul Retreat Alumni $65 click here

Going through my stash of Stamps for Art and Craft Supply Flea Market

I have cleared out my studio of some gently used art supplies for the Art and Craft Flea Market at a Work of Heart. For 2 weeks, I went through every drawer, closet and storage box to find items I no longer use. I found over 100 items that I will be selling at the Flea Market.  

• Rubber stamps
• Watercolor & Acrylic Paint
• Decorative tape
• Tissue Papar
• Art Magazines
• Scrapbook papers
• Jewelry Wire
• Storage Boxes
• Beads 
• and more...

There will be a lot of great stuff at the flea market. If you are in the area and need some art supplies ... stop by the studio on Sunday.

Art and Craft Supply Flea Market at
A Work of Heart on
Sunday, October 21
10am to 3pm.

Happy Monday!

This is my little dog Dexter. His smile makes me smile. This Monday, with a long "To Do" list ahead of me, I see his smile and the silly way he dances when he wants a snack and the world seem a little  brighter.  Pets are magic that way.

Living the Creative Life...

I stumbled upon this video searching the web for inspiration.  I love this and just wanted to share it with all of you. This is how my perfect sunday would look. 

Selling Arts & Crafts Supplies: Somerset Studio's Magazines

I'm letting go of my stash of "Vintage" Somerset Studios Magazines.
I've got about 20 -30 art magazines that I've been collecting over the years. They multiply faster than I can re-read them, so I'm letting them go.  I know someone out there would love to buy a few to read over a hot cup of tea.

Next I'll be looking through my stamp collection...


Art and Craft Supply Flea Market at
A Work of Heart on
Sunday, October 21
10am to 3pm.

Love is in the details...

 

If love is in the details then this mexican mocha says "I adore you". It is amazing what coffee baristas can do with a little chocolate. coffee and frothed milk.  This beautiful coffee art creation came from Top Dog Coffee Bar in Morro Bay, CA. It was almost too beautiful to drink. I enjoyed it long enough to snap a few photos and then I had to see if it tasted as good as it looked. It did! 
I enjoyed each hot, creamy, rich, spicy sip.

This mocha was delicious!

Wild Letters and Journaling with freedom

Another fun page in my journal. There's no real meaning to this page...I just was playing with card board cut out letters and spray inks. I let myself just play and try things and this is the result. I love this page. I tossed in some magazine letters for a little more fun.  This was a great moment  in my journal. 

Sometimes its nice to just create in a journal and let things flow. My journal is the one place I call all the shots. No negotiations, compromises, discussions, input from the "peanut gallery." I'm free to do what ever I want, when I want, and how I want to do it.  It is complete bliss.  Just having that experience for a few moments or a few hours...opens up so many new ideas.

Fun Times in North Carolina

Visited Sugarland Bakery in Chapel Hill, NC. This is home to the most beautiful and yummy cupcakes and gelato ice cream selections...ever!  I enjoyed a few mini cupcakes and tried the mexican chocolate gelato ice cream. The ice cream was cool and refreshing with a little spicy heat.  Nice combination.  The place was such a girly gathering place. Lovely...just lovely.

Living in My Journal : Bird and Story

I just wanted to share with you some fun I'm having in my journal these days. The page is layers and layers of paints, inks, napkin, and magazine cut outs . 

This page was created with poster paint and gesso. I also used dark brown spray ink to give it this  weathered look.  I cut out pages with color and pattern from magazines to place along both pages.  I found a children's book at the dollar store and cut out groups of words to make a statement. The bird is from a set of paper napkins I got a TJMaxx. The black section is done withe black gesso.

I love the layering process for creating pages. This page makes me really happy.

Living in YOUR Journal

I usually "live" in a journal for a few months before all the pages are full enough to move on to a new journal. In the process pages get wet and heavy. They loosen up in my journal. Sometimes the pages shift in the book from the weight of heavy paints and gesso. 

To keep the pages in place I wrap several pieces of string every 10 or so pages and tie them as tight as I can against the spine. This holds the pages in place.. To make it all look pretty, I tie additional scraps of ribbon to each string. Over time, each string will be tied with 10-20 little bits of ribbon and string. I like to use ribbon that I find along the way...birthday gift ribbon, string from packaging, scraps of fabric, etc. .  

What emerges is this wild, rich journal, filled with stories, images and bits of fabric from the journey in your journal.