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art journal challenge - week 52!

wooooo! we did it for a whole YEAR! i'm pretty proud of us! i've never done anything like this before and it was such a great experience. thanks to everyone who travelled along and supported each other on this art journal journey!

the challenges will be left here on my blog for those who are still going or want to pick it up again. i'll let you know next sunday what i have decided to do on my blog for 2008!

our final prompt in our 52 week art journal challenge is: ART.
there is just so much you can do with this one! let loose ;)

i chose to write about what art is to me right now (amongst other things!)
art is things that look pretty to me
art is making something with my own two hands
art is a gift
art is splashes of colour
art is an expression of the self
art is the written word
art is my children
art is capturing little moments
art is happiness
art is everywhere
art is my life!

i'm so glad we did this :) it was hard some sundays to get the motivation and energy or even timing to make a card...but looking at them all - these little pieces of me and my life this year - it makes me all tingly! i ended up putting all my cards into baseball card sheets to bind into my big scrapbooks - they look cool altogether like that. if you get a chance this week - post a picture of your whole stash of cards in their 'home' as well as your last card - i can't wait to see them. thanks for joining me this year - i've loved getting to know you through your art, your comments and your friendship. have a happy happy new year and i'll be back with some new challenges for 2008 soon! (and there are still a few days left to sign up for my online class if you want to try some cool techniques and listen to my ramblings!).

xoxo

art journal challenge - week 51

here we go folks, 2nd last prompt in your year long mini art journal challenge! lots of people have been asking what i will be doing when this finishes, and to be honest - i'm undecided...i haven't had a lot of time to think about it, but plan to this week. i'd like to keep doing something with you - just not sure what yet ;)

for those who want to start up the challenge in the new year, i'll be keeping all the prompts on the 'ol blog for you to do at your leisure!

this weeks prompt is: made me think of you.
is there something you see, or hear, or do, that makes you think straight away about somebody special?

whenever i see a red robin, i think of my lovely mother! i found this little picture on my desk while cleaning up and thought of her straight away - she always sends a robin christmas card because she loves them so much, and they remind me of the sweet little enid blyton and other english stories read to me as a child. i journalled this on the back of the card (which ended up being a piece of cardstock - someone has snuck a few cards from my pack methinks as i've run out!)
cardstock and rubons by basic grey, stamp by 7 gypsies, rubon letters by autumn leaves.

this should be a fun one - enjoy!

art journal challenge - week 50!

wow, wow, wow - week 50!

this weeks challenge is: the greatest gift
what is the best gift you have ever received...or given...?

obviously my greatest gifts are my family - but i wondered what the best material gift was that i have ever gotten - it has to be my beautiful big wooden table. mick completely surprised me a few christmases ago, he received a tax refund and i didn't notice it so he bought me the very expensive table i had seen and loved in the city - i couldn't believe it! we have had many great memories around that table and it is so special to me that he would do such a big thing like that.

paper - i cannot remember who makes this paper! rubons are new from jenni bowlin, label is jennifer pebbles printable swank labels printed onto vintage ledger paper.

art journal challenge - week 49

honestly, where has this year gone?!!
my baby is turning 5 this week so upon finding this picture i knew i had to create something with it...

therefore (and very appropriate for our art journal journey) this week's prompt is: TIME FLIES!!!

i stuck the photo onto the card and painted around her with gesso. once dry, i coloured a rainbow with my watercolour pencils - licked my finger (nice, i know) and smeared the colours in. frame rubon by basic grey, wing is a die cut from years ago, and my ever-necessary paint dots ;)

happy week!

art journal challenge - week 48

it's late so i'm going to get straight to it! ;)

this weeks prompt is: ideas
don't you love getting a good idea? tell a story! share how (or where) you get ideas, a bad idea you have had...anything to do with an idea!

they don't happen too often these days, but i love it when i get a good idea laying in bed at night! of course by the next morning i've normally forgotten it, but sometimes i'll remember and it is a very exciting moment!
paper is by basic grey, stamp by fontwerks, leaf from paper source, rubons by autumn leaves.

heres to a week full  of good ideas!

art journal challenge - week 47

hi everyone!

another late night horror photo for you this week - i had a nap this afternoon and woke up in the dark! it's getting darker and darker in the early evening and i actually quite like it :)

this week's prompt is: your happy place!
where can you go and be happy? do you have a special spot somewhere, or will any comfy couch or tree or cafe do it for you? think of 'your happy place' for this weeks card. mine is the beach!

scrolly stamp is 7 gypsies, clip is making memories (and will not fit into the pouch but i loved the clip so much!), photo pen is by zig.

have a happy week!

art journal challenge - week 46

hiya! hope your weekend was a fun one - MINE WAS - a girl's weekend with wonderful friends - laughing, shopping, eating, being crazy, talking about all those things you just can't with guys around, the inside jokes (i'm ollld greeeg), kindred spirits. i loved it and i feel so rejuvenated and filled up with goodness to last me the next little while.

this week's prompt is: rejuvenation.
what do you do, how do you do it etc!

covered the card in making memories word fetti (love that stuff!) and sanded it all. layered a scrap of fabric over a scrap of lace to make a little flower. 'enjoy' word is from a post-it note.

have a great week!

art journal challenge - week 45

so sorry you guys...this beingsickwhilebreastfeedingsickneedybaby thing hasn't been fun. or left me with much energy to create/blog!   

but i did quickly crank out a card tonight. laying in bed sick does provide time to think (in between ga-ga-ing at my cute babe and answering endless questions from my curious 4 year old)...and something sort of hit me over the head - that lately, i really feel comfy and happy in this 'place' that i'm in. something i've been seeking for a long time. instead of dwelling on what i used to have, or dreaming of what i want to have, i'm content with it all right now. and i'm proud that i am! it's only been, geez, 9 years to get me here?!!

this week's prompt is: self realisation
what have you come to discover about yourself lately? or, think of a time in your life that you had a 'brick over the head' moment, and journal about that.

sassafrass paper, jenni bowlin label sticker and ticket, making memories letter sticker, fancy pants rubon, enjoy post-it note, star stickers.

will check out cards tomorrow as i lay in bed some more!

art journal challenge - week 44

It was nice to return home last night after almost 2 weeks away (fires, and a trip to NY), sleep in our own bed and have our 'things' surrounding us. I've been thinking a lot about home lately...especially since the fires, i feel so grateful for what we do have. and it's nothin' special! i had a much, much nicer house and furniture in australia! i feel embarressed to have people come over, i want to explain that i had a real house and real stuff once. i'm going to stop doing that ;) instead i'm going to pick flowers and put them on my table, turn the ugly fireplace into a dolls cubby for ivy, hang her artwork on the walls, burn more incence and be proud of my home. because it is what we make it. it is our home, our place to be together.

this week's prompt is: home
there is lots you can do with this theme - past or previous home, dream home, how you make it home, why it is home, etc etc.

cute little picture from a picture book (thanks dq!), stuck down and fingerpainted around. not sure who makes those foam stamps - have had them forever now.

have a lovely week!

art journal challenge - week 43

hiya :)
because we left a day early for this trip to ny (decided to get away from the smoke) at the last minute - i grabbed a card and a small box of stuff to play with, i always enjoy having limited supplies and pushing myself to use them! which...i really didn't on this card because i had chels the digi-queen teaching me a few things, it was fun to play around with the photo and add stuff to it digitally - completely new for me to do this :) i then printed it off, glued to my card, sanded the edge and added a few 'rubbed' dots.

this week's prompt is: sCaRy!
what scares you, tell a scary story, a halloween tale, a scary picture...anything scary!

my rubbed dots (which i am currently obsessed with) are achieved by rubbing a little cats eye ink pad over sequin waste (a sheet full of holes! leftover from sequins...i think you can buy at art supply shops).

darby, ivy and bethan at the halloween party last night - even pretty flower fairies can be very scary looking you know!

have a great week :)