Favorite Art Things #6: Stamps

Favorite Art Things

Stamps

Feathers, Birds and Date Stamps 

Inkadinlkado Feather Stamps
Stampabilities Bird Stamps
Stampabilities Months of the Year Stamps

These are my all time favorite stamps. I use them in almost all of my art work. I like stamps that give me a starting point to create but allow me the freedom to make it my own. These feathers and birds give just enough shape to leave an impression but also allows me to add curves and details that are unique to my style. 

The date stamps are a complete find. I use them to quickly establish pages for my weekly journal. 

Favorite Art Things #5: Gesso

Favorite Art Things

Gesso

super heavy white gesso

I use gesso alot in my journaling. 

I use it as the first step in preparing my pages... 

I use it to cover up things I don't like...

It use it to create a light surface for writing...

I've used many different types of gesso including clear, black  and  regular white gesso. I prefer the white gesso. The clear gesso is just too gritty for me and the black gesso doesn't seem to be any better than just using carbon black acrylic paint.  

So  my all time favorite white Gesso is this super heavy gesso. 

This is my go to gesso because it is so creamy and thick.

It blocks out just about anything in one coat.

This is really important to me because my pages 

can often become really dark and saturated.

It's great to have something that with help lighten up my pages 

and give me a lighter surface to doodle and write. 

I also like that it drys pretty fast (as long as I don't place it on too thick).

Favorite Art Things #4 : Gel Medium

Favorite Art Things

Gel Medium

Super Heavy Matte Gel Medium

My all time greatest gel medium is the Super Heavy Matte Gel Medium. I use it on most of my journal pages like glue. It is the perfect texture for adhering thick or thin collage elements to my journal pages.  I find that it doesn't leave the same amount of bubbles as regular glue.  It leaves a nice matte finish which (once dry) allows me to write on top of glossy images. (Just imagine finding a perfect image in a magazine for your journal and being able to cover the page with matte medium and suddenly you can add doodles and text...transforming the image to a personal work of art! )

I also REALLY like that drys fairly quickly (I'm so impatient about waiting for glue to dry completely before I continue my journal pages :) ) 

The biggest win for me, about the super heavy matte gel medium, is that it goes on so dang smooth! I often use my hands as tools in my art work and when mediums are smooth to the touch and feel great to use...

I and immediately sold.

So that is my FAVORITE gel Medium...what's yours?

Favorite Art Things #3: Art Journals

Favorite Art Things

Journals for Art Journaling

Here are two of my current journals. I "live" in the little black one for art journaling and playing with art supplies.  I "live" in the slightly larger red one for all my bright ideas, notes, thoughts and what ever I need to work out through writing (rather than images). The red one has a book plate I got from Staples and its an easy way for me to label my books for easy reference. I still refer back to many of the workshop notes and ideas from years gone by and its great to have the books labeled.

I'm really funny about the journals I use for my art journaling work.

My favorite Journals are  Global Arts Handbook Journals  for my art journaling and Moleskine for my bright ideas

I know every artist has their journal criteria, 
so if you like my criteria you might like these journals too.

For my Art Journal, I like ...

• Hard cover (solid black or red)
• Small-ish in size (5X7 or so...small enough to fit in my purse)
• Bound like a book (I'm not a fan of the spiral bound. I'm too messy an artist and I often loose pages with spiral bound books)
• Rectangle or Square shaped book ( I prefer square, if I can find it, it makes every page look like a framed work of art. :)) 
• Moderately thick pages (but not too thick or heavy to make the pages hard to turn)
• Pages textured like watercolor pages. (This is often called "tooth" - thanks Andrea)
• Pocket in the back to capture bits and pieces

For my Bright Idea Journal, I like ...

• Hard cover (solid black or red)
• Horizontal Lines
• Small-ish in size
• Bound like a book 
• Rectangle 
• Smooth pages 
• Pocket in the back to capture bits and pieces
• A ribbon book mark ( to easily mark the spot where I can continue journaling)

So here is my favorite art journals and my criteria for selecting a journal.

 What's your favorite journal and what makes it special to you?

Favorite Art Things #2: Paint Brushes

Favorite Art Things

Paint Brushes

Soft Grip Taklon Paint Brushes

I have over 30 different paint bushes, many of them are really fancy and expensive. With all those brushes I have only one favorite brush...
it's really inexpensive and I got from Micheal's. 

My favorite brushes are the Soft Grip Taklon Paint Brushes.
The brushes have a soft gel grip so it fits nicely in my hand. I have long fingers so its nice to have brushes that rest where they should. The grip allows me to paint longer and with more control. 

I also like brushes with light or white bristles. It helps me see the paint color better. I usually load my brush up with multiple colors to create a rainbow effect, so it's helpful for me to see what colors are already on the brush and if a brush needs a bit more color before I continue using it.

The other thing I love about these brushes, is that they apply paint or medium really smoothly. No lines or streaks. I like tools that flow with me and don't leave any unnecessary marks.


That's my favorite set of brushes...what's yours?

Favorite Art Things #1: Writing Pen

Favorite Art Things


Writing Pen

Pilot G2 10

My all time favorite writing pen is the Pilot G-2 #10. They are hard to find. You may find the Pilot G-2 #5 or #7 it is not the same. The Pilot G-2 #10 is in a class all its own. It looks like the others but I performs differently.  Finding the pens is such a thing that I often have to find them online or if I happen to see them in a store I snatch up about 3 packs. 

It is the ONLY pen I use. 

What I love most about the pen is that it is really juicy.
Jet black ink just flows no matter what position I'm in when I'm writing.
It glides so beautifully on my journal pages. 

I really think I write better with this pen.  

It's not the best for writing on top of acrylic or glossy mediums
but it will write over matte gesso and watercolors. 


What are some of your favorite writing pens?

Favorite Art Things...Starts December 1st

With the holidays upon us, I'm starting to plan to have time to be creative with family. I've learned over the years that if I collect my supplies and put them in one place, I am more likely to use them. I wanted to share some of my all time favorite art supplies and tools. These are items I just cannot live without and if you are planning on building your art studio over the holiday or you are looking for some inspiration. I hope this list will help you along the way.

I'll start posting  one favorite thing each day until Dec 14th.  I'm sure I have more than 14 favorite things but I will try to narrow them down to just the essential 14. 

See you then!

Travel Art Journal Kit: What to pack when you want to create on the go.

Whether it is a short trip to the Coffee shop with friends, camping in the mountains or a vacation by the beach...I always find time to journal and create on the go. 

The trick to being creative on the road, is having a fun and inspiring Traveling Art Kit.
This is a short video about what I carry in my kit. 

Hopefully it will inspire you to create a kit of our own or 

spruce up your existing travel kit and take it out for a spin!

Here is a list of some of the items I keep in my kit

+ Art Case: Orla Kiely Shadow Flower Weekender

+ Faber Castell Gelatos Watercolors

+ Cosmo Cricket Words and Phrases Stamps

+ Black Glitter Pen from Typo

+Scarlet Lime Pens 

(I don't see these on the site anymore 

but if they come back here is where you will find them)

+ Urtrecht Traveler Brushes

+ Heidi Swapp Color Shine Collection

+ Adirondack Ink (Oops! it was really TSUKNEKO in Willow.
I can't locate the small bottles but the large ones are at Micheals & Walmart)

+ Mini Misters

+ Daiso 

Welcome October

Welcome to October!

It's October and there is a heat wave this week 
in California, so it feels more like summer at the moment.
That does not stop me from updating the house for fall.

I like adding little fall touches to my living room, bathroom and kitchen. 

My favorite thing to do,
that makes the house immediately feel like fall,...
is introduce great fragrances.

Nothing says fall like coming home to the
smell of spices like cinnamon, clove and maple.

My favorite candle fragrances are:

Sea Salt and Maple Popcorn
Bath and Body Works

Pumpkin Caramel Latte
Bath and Body Works


I also love to change out the hand soap in
my kitchen and  bathroom.


My favorite...

Crisp Morning Air
 Bath and Body Works

I love the process of preparing my home for fall.

Welcome October!

Society6 : Art Journal Mug

 

Art Journal Mug

$15

Click Here


There is something about mugs that just makes me HAPPY.
I love collecting them when I travel. 
I love remembering where I purchased the mug and the events of that day.
 I love selecting the perfect mug for my hot coco or tea in the morning.

I love my collection of favorite mugs
...the one I purchased in Portland 17 years ago at the
Betsy Johnson store. I loved everything in
that store but I could only afford the mug.

...the mug I purchased from Anthropologie on
sale after watching it for months.
(That mug still makes me do a little dance just before I take a sip)

I love mugs so much I wanted to make my own contribution to mug lovers everywhere.

ladies and gentlemen
I give you...

the Art Journal Mug

Enjoy!

Mixed Media Art Journal : Flip Through

Here is a look into one of my mixed media art journals. I started this journal in 2012 and "lived" in it almost exclusively until mid 2013. 

As you can see, my journals are a mix of styles, colors and techniques. I get to experiment and develop a specific technique. In a few places you may see repeated images. If I love an image I often scan it and use it a few times as I learn how I want to develop the image. 

There are pages in this journal that I love and pages that I ( I won't say "hate" but I will say "don't like as much"). Thank goodness for the volume of pages that gives me many opportunities to try and try again.

I do not work in sequence. I work all over my journal ...front, middle and back. I create by backgrounds and then come back to add images and words. I often work on 3-4 pages at a time then narrow in on 1 or 2 with the fine details or text. 

I hope you enjoy watching the results of a year of art journaling.

The Ritual of Creative Time

Sometimes when the day is done and everyone has gone to bed, I go to my studio to create. I start by pulling out materials I want to "play" with. This usually includes items I've been saving for a rainy day. I fill a jar with water and pick my favorite brushes.  I find a journal and open to a new page, canvas 

or decide to work on an existing page in my journal. 

Then I find music that inspires me. I love Pandora because I can create stations that fit many different moods. Pandora provides music based on my mood. I often get introduced to new music and that adds to my inspiration.

Tonight I began to play with images and textures from magazines. I started by ripping pages that captured my attention. Then I went back and cut out the portions of the page that inspired me. I then cut the pages in to smaller shapes. 

Tonight I was inspired by stripes and lines.

My next step was to paint, stencil, scrape and drip colorful paint on my canvas. I let the canvas dry completely and then added my magazine strips
on the canvas with heavy gel medium. 

The result begins a story that I will add words or poetry to on my next session in the studio.

Tonight was a happy night of creating.

Words of Wisdom: Khalil Gibran

"Let there be spaces in your togetherness 

and let the winds of the heavens 

dance between you. 

Love one another 

but make not a bond of love: 

let it rather be a moving sea 

between the shores of your souls."

~ Khalil Gibran 

Words of Wisdom; Miles Davis

"I'm always thinking about creating. 

My future starts when I wake up every morning... 

Every day I find something creative to do with my life." 

~ Miles Davis

Words to Inspire: Alvin Ailey

"The creative process is not controlled 

by a switch you can simply turn on or off; 

it's with you all the time."

~ Alvin Ailey

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Juicy Soul Retreat - October 19, 2014

Juicy Soul Retreat
Sunday, October 19, 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 10/16/2014: $105

Juicy Soul Retreat Alumni $65 click here

Juicy Soul Retreat - July 27, 2014

Juicy Soul Retreat
Sunday, July 27, 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 7/24/2014: $105

Juicy Soul Retreat Alumni $65 click here

Weekly Art Journal - June 2-8

Being truthful with yourself.

Knowing and speaking what is true for you.

Things have a way of working out when you are honest.

Being a space for  people to express their truth

There is such beauty in the connection we feel when we share our truths.

Weekly Sketch Book - June 9 - 15

Lots of scraps and bits from my studio.

I never want to toss anything out...I use it in my work

I got a new paper punch that creates great geometric shapes

I love new tools.

When I get them I must use them right away.

I'm gravitating toward shapes with edges and points.

It's a new attraction for me.

The image of a deer is a sticker from one of my favorite stores... Typo

Art Journal

I'm still working in my journal. This is what my journal looks like at the beginning of the week. This week I'm training for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I feel a little behind in my training since I lost a week of training during our trip to the midwest. So this week I'm getting back into it. 

Summer Graduations

It's graduation season. I remember my graduation and the excitement of starting a new chapter in my life. Its great to experience that through a new set of eyes each year.  This year there were a few graduations.  We visited Wisconsin for a wonderful graduation celebration for Andy's niece Sophie and Stela. It was great to spend time with Andy's family and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Wisconsin.  Our visit reminded me just how much I love spending time in nature. We'll need to do more of that this summer.

Juicy Soul Retreat - May 18, 2014

Juicy Soul Retreat
Sunday, May 18, 2014

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

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.

Meet Your Creative Guides:

Julie Valentine  &  Andrea Chebeleu

We are the creative team that will be guiding you through the creatively blissful afternoon.

I'm a Social Knowledge Management Consultant by day ... artist, designer by night. I've been teaching creative expression, vision boards and art journaling in the Bay Area for over 12 years. My work can be seen in Somerset Studios Art Journaling Magazine. I spend most of my free time dreaming up new ideas with my handy Andy and playing with our little baby dog Dexter.

Andrea is the creative director and owner of A Work of Heart. She teaches workshops in and around the Bay Area on art journaling, handmade books,mixed-media collage, and jewerly design. Her work has been featured in 3 issues of Somerset Studios Magazine. Andrea is a wife and mother of three wonderfully creative children.

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. 

Spilling open and celebrating your life through journaling

In this part of the retreat you will discover the wonderful world of fonts, doodles, and images. 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. 

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 expressing yourself in your journals. 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/Snacks
• 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 5/15/2014: $105

Juicy Soul Retreat Alumni $65 click here