Halloween Costume Creativity

I love Halloween! 

 I love the dress up and all the creativity that goes with that. 

This year I went over to a friends house for a small gathering of friends to pass out candy to the kids and enjoy a scary movie.

I didn't want to buy a costume, so I looked up costume ideas on Pinterest. I found this amazing makeup artist, Shannon O'Brien that dressed up like a deer and
did a mini tutorial on how to create the look yourself.  

I modified it a bit, added some little fuzzy ears and off I went to the party.

I really liked the look and it was really simple to achieve the look

Happy Halloween!

Sneak Peek into my Process

Swishing paint.

 Listening to the musical rhythms of Utopia by Quiet Village. 

Fluid movement, circles , lines, birds.

Acrylic, gesso, spray ink, stamps.

Bliss

Fonts for Art Journaling

With the cold weather approaching and more time spent indoors, it is a perfect time to get prepared for some journaling time. Nothing warms my heart more than quiet time curled up in a cozy chair with a cup of tea for some art journaling.  I am really inspired by fonts. It brings my story telling to life.  I collect fonts that inspire me, then type inspiring words that I then print and collage into my journals. Here a a few of my favorite free fonts...

1) Art Stamp Medium

2) Village Idiot BB

3) Sketch Serif

4) CarbonType

5) Birch Std

Please check the licenses before using any of these fonts for commercial purposes!

Words to Inspire: Trees

Lake Tahoe, California
 

“Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.” 

― Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foam

A Peak Into My Process ...

I've been using watercolor paper as a paint palette during my art journaling process.
The pages are now becoming art pieces themselves or the starting point for a new page.

 

Reflections: October 2013 Juicy Soul Retreat

 

Thanks everyone for coming out to continue in existing art journals or start new journals!

 

Generous baskets of inks, paints, brushes, papers, gesso, ets.

Painty Hands

The lovely Andrea, co-lead of the Juicy Soul Retreat...so sweet.

 

First time ever...Ephemera Bar...Lots of flea market finds to use in our journals.

4 years ago, Andrea and I dreamed up the Juicy Soul Retreat as a way to demystify the creative process and share techniques we use in our art journaling process with others.  

It was a personal challenge for me to figure out how to teach something I've done most of my life.  Teaching the class allowed me to slow down and notice the components of my creative process. In the process I learned to appreciate not only my creative process but the creative process we all share.  It's this sacred conversation between the artist and the Divine. Its really precious.

It's amazing to look back at the early days of the retreat when we followed a very specific agenda and set of techniques.  Now we have simplified our workshop to offer the techniques with the most creative impact. We've also started to share ways of approaching the blank page and included games that bring out creative expression.  The result ... more interaction in the class, more experiencing the creative process and more opportunity to learn from each other.

As we close on the 4th season of the Juicy Soul Retreat, I grateful for the opportunity to  offer guidance to those on the creative path and I am inspired by the bravery of the students and the unwavering partnership of my co-lead, Andrea. 

We'll see you with more retreats in 2014...stay tuned!

Words to Inspire: Sky

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

“There is one spectacle grander than the sea, 

that is the sky; 

there is one spectacle grander than the sky, 

that is the interior of the soul.”

― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Juicy Soul Retreat - October 20, 2013

Juicy Soul Retreat
Sunday, Oct 20 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)

See what it's like to attend?:

    

More Photos:

• Juicy Soul Retreat Photos on Flickr 

Registration:

Registration: $95 , After 10/18/2013: $105

Juicy Soul Retreat Alumni $65 click here

Juicy Soul Retreat : 8 Days and Counting...

It's the count down to Juicy Soul Retreat at A Work of Heart Studio. I've been thinking about the class this week and starting the process of getting organized. I've made lots of little notes to myself and I've been collecting all kinds of yummy things to put in the goodie bags.

Each participant in the class gets a little bag of goodies to use in thier journals. Each class has slightly different items in the goodie bags.   I like the goodie bags to have unusual items that the class can use in new ways in their journals. Odds and ends are a pretty big part of my journaling process. A letter, color, texture, material, or shape will often spark my creative process. I want that for everyone in the class. I want everyone to have a chance to look at items in their bag and say "what is this?" or "I've never used this before?" That little bit of discover opens new channels for creativity.  So this session I will be including vintage letters in the bags and other really cool items.

12 Days of Juicy Soul Retreat

 

Just 12 short days until the next Juicy Soul Retreat. 

We are planning to present lots of techniques and new twists on old techniques. 

It will be an amazing adventure! 

Juicy Soul Retreat 

 Sunday, October 20, 2013

San Jose, California

Learn More

Weekly Sketch Book

This week all I had time to do was add the numbers and Its just fine. Dexter went to the groomers for a visit with his glam squad. We also had an amazing event for my friend Lupe's son Javier. It was a cuban themed party complete with men in panama hats and women with flowers in their hair.  

I love a theme party, I guess that's why I love Halloween so much. Its an opportunity to transform and get a little more dramatic. That night I got to wear a dress that I originally planned to wear for another event a year ago but changed my outfit choice at the last minute.  So my dress still had the tags on it and it needed to be worn to the perfect event.  I'm so glad that event showed up this week.  We had an amazing time.

Weekly Skech Book

I may be a few weeks behind but I'm still journaling!  This is the week I had a great offsite with my team at work.  We had several days to really get to know each other and share some of our ideas and special talents. It was one of the more relaxing offsites I've had since working with this team a few years ago. It was a welcome treat.  

There were long days at the offsite but I still managed to make time before bed to add a bit of this and that to my journal page. 

• The background is poster paint and all the stamps are from the $1 bin at Micheal's. (Gotta love a dollar bin!). 
• The birds are decoupaged from a napkin set I got a Ross a few years back. My numbers this week are from a set a numbers I created for my Juicy Soul Retreat. I had a copy in my scrap bin so I tried to use all the numbers I could find. I ran out on the 21 and the 22...so I just painted them in.  
• I was also trying to see what would happen if I blacked out around images. I usually do this with gesso to make the image pop, this time I wanted to try black and I really like it. I'm sure to use that in the future.
• I am a big fan of Jo Malone perfume and I want to remember one of their new fragrances for the Holiday...It may be a gift to myself. 
• The rest are decorative tapes to section off my page and add interest.

The result is a great week in my journal

By the way...I finally did my nails with gel and they lasted only a few days before they started to peel off. I am so hard on my hands with my art that I almost never get a manicure and thought Gel could hold up and it was a bust.  So off with the polish and on with the art making.