Full circle!

Priti Lisa's Journal

Lisa has a love for the Virgin Mary and also Frida Kahlo.

I couldn't decide which theme to go with 

for my pages in her journal so I did both.

Actually just one page of Frida . . . this is one of my favorite photos of her.

Lisa chose the color  turquoise , a beautiful color for Mary and also

a bright Mexican color that suits Frida.

The gold color is metallic, but didn't photograph well.

Lisa's journal is so packed with beautiful pages, it was impossible to close!

I had a difficult time photographing my pages, since they wouldn't lay flat.

I'm sure all 9 of the journals were packed like this as the last pages were finished.

I received mine back the other day and "overjoyed" and "astounded" are

much too mild to describe how much I love it! And no, it doesn't close either :-)

But, my finished journal will be another post . . .

I'm afraid I added to the thickness of her journal with this cross.

(Lisa, feel free to snip it off and use it somehow, if you want!

It might alleviate some of the bulkiness!)

This 

“Magical Journal Journey” 

(thank you Lisa W for the perfect name!)

has been such a beautiful experience! I think we are all in 

agreement to do it again. It's wonderful to have received

my journal back after 9 months, but also sad that it has come to a close.

But the friendship of the 9 of us doesn't have an end date!

It is strengthened and flourishes with each Magical Journey!

Have a lovely and creative weekend!

Think about gathering some artist friends and starting your own

round robin! You won't be sorry!

Magical Journal Journeys

Tammy's Art Journal

Happy Summer Solstice!

If you are in the southern hemisphere, by contrast, this will be your darkest day of the year

so I hope you will be able to soak up some much needed sunshine by visiting

the blogs of we northerners who are honoring the summer solstice!

June is my favorite month, so I love that I can post my pages in Tammy's journal today.

My pages are all about the seasons of Spring and Summer.

Tammy's colors are Black, White, and Tan

and I admit that although I tried to stick to that completely, 

some color did sneak in here and there!

I love this tiny gardener and have been saving her for something special.
She is from IrelandRoseNostalgia on Etsy.

Below is a short page I added to separate the Spring and Summer pages.

I had fun finding photos that could be viewed through the "window".

The spiral binding in Tammy's book made it easy to stitch in the extra page.

I love all things Edwardian, so I was happy to find the photo of 

this old fashioned picnic. No sunscreen available in those days. 

Not much chance of a sunburn though...the ladies are all bundled up and wearing big hats!

I'm wondering about the huge veils on their hats. Was this for when it gets "buggy"?

I hope Tammy enjoys these pages...I know she loves gardens, and Summer, too.

I thought I would feel restricted using not much color (I am a color maniac!)

but I really enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone.

That's been one of the fun things about the journal swap we are doing.

The owner of each journal has chosen the colors we must work in,

so needless to say, most of us have stepped a bit away from 

our favorite colors from time to time.

I headed over to Paint Party Friday this morning, and was amazed to see

that my entry for last week's PPF was chosen by random generator

to be featured this week! Thank you Eva and Kristin!!

I will be linking this to PPF this week.

A lot of collage, but I hope there is enough painting to qualify for PPF.
Happy PPF!

Enjoy the Summer Solstice!

What will you do on this longest day of the year?

Magical Journal Journeys ~ First Stop!

I've finished my pages in Gemma's journal. 

We've all chosen colors for our journals and Gemma

chose purple. She told us we could also use splashes of

magenta, turquoise, lime green, and orange.

As you can see, a bit of a splash is not in my repertoire

and I kind of got carried away. Most probably because I love all of 

those colors and they look smashing with purple!

I added 2 pages at the back with a pocket for tags.  

I just realized I forgot to photograph my tag.

Oh well, 'twill be a bit of a surprise then :)

I'll be packing this up to send to Priti Lisa this week

and in another week or so I'll receive Stephanie's.

In other news. . .

Apple has informed me that my hard drive is being recalled.

So I will be taking my computer down to the the Apple Store

to have them put a new one in. I have to back up everything on my computer

because what I'll get back is a completely blank one :(

I know some people back up their files regularly. I am bad and I do not.

Let this be a lesson to me. The silver lining is that I was forced to go out and buy 

an external hard drive for back up, and now it will happen automatically.

Why am I telling you this? I will be computer-less for 2-5 days

while the Apple geniuses do their work. Not that you would miss me...

the post right before this was 2 weeks ago. But just in case.

Which reminds me to say I will also be out of town for a bit in April,

so you actually might wonder. 

Have a superb week! 

♥ Make art every day ♥

Joy in the Post Blog Party and Giveaway!

We'd like to share . . .

 

the joy that came in the mailboxes

of eight bloggy-artist friends last year

from April through November!

So we're having a blog party complete with 

a  giveaway  to inspire you to start your own

art journal swap! At the bottom of this post

you will find links to the other 7 artists’ blogs

and info on how to  win  an art journal and

lots of goodies to inspire fun and creativity.

But first, I'll share the beauty that awed me

when I opened up my journal (the journal which flew

all over the US after making three stops in the UK).

The eight journals:

My journal:

Here is what I found inside!

from 

Lisa (the Priti One):

from Angie:

from Kat:

from Lisa (the Wright One):

from Tammy:

from Kim:

 

from Stephanie:

also from Kim:

 There you have it!

We had such amazing fun sharing our

journals and creating something

in each one as they arrived at our doors.

My journal is truly a treasure ~ I love the art inside

and I love that each page reminds me of a special friend!

In fact, we had so much fun that we've already

begun the next one ~ with the eight of us plus

adding one more lovely friend this time,

Gemma.

I hope you'll visit the other 7 blogs

to see each unique journal:

Priti Lisa

Angie

Kat

Lisa W

Tammy

Kim

Stephanie

Ahem. I mentioned a  giveaway  didn't I?

So sorry to make you wait this long!

This art journal and plenty of juicy goodies

will be given away to one lucky winner.

Leave a comment here and on the 7 other blogs.

Tell us what you like about art journaling.

Maybe you're inspired to try a journal swap?

It would be awesome if you were to gather 

some artsy friends and start your own Round Robin! 

In fact,  rumor has it , the prize 

will not be given away by random number

selection, but to the person who is most 

interested in starting her/his own

journal swap! More details are on

Priti Lisa's blog.

I hope you've gathered some inspiration here

and on the other 7 blogs. . . if not to start

a journal swap, then to begin (or continue)

creating in your own art journal!

Have a beautiful weekend!

The last one!

For Priti Lisa . . .

. . . who likes E.E. Cummings. I like him too

when I can understand him.

 This quote I can understand.

Here you may be able to see both pages without scrolling:

Lisa's journal, when opened out, is long and narrow! 

The round robin has flown full circle! I have received my own journal back

with 7 stunning, heartfelt, magnificent pieces of art inside!

Blog post coming to show you the treasures it holds.

I have been so "out of the bloggy loop" lately
(busy making preparations for Thanksgiving guests {this past Thursday,
for those who are not in the US}). All went well, and I'm thankful it is over lol!
I have so much to catch up on now, and I thought connecting up with

Paint Party Friday

would be a good way to start.

Please visit over there for wonderful delights for your eyes!

Round Robin Journal #6

Angie's Journal

Angie did a page with a scalloped edge at the beginning of her journal

and I thought it was so pretty. I should have posted a picture of it here,

but alas I have already sent her journal on its way.

Anyhow, I've done one of my own here at the 

beginning of my pages in her journal.

I tried my hand at an English robin, so different from the American robin,

the only similar characteristic being a red breast.

My American robin in Kim's journal.

I've just noticed that I put a crown on both birds!

I'm getting predictable...

 The crown is punched out . . . it looks different depending on the light in the photo.

Sunlight coming in behind it makes it look white:

The poem on the front is by Wordsworth:

Art thou the bird whom man loves best,

The pious bird with the scarlet breast,

Our little English robin;

 The bird that comes about our doors,

 When autumn winds are sobbing?

  

Happy weekend, everyone!

Stop back for a cup of tea on Sunday ~

it's the Fairies' Tea Party!

July and August Round Robin

Journal Pages 
for Lisa and Kat

LISA W'S JOURNAL PAGES

 I missed posting the pages I did in July in Lisa W's journal.

I'm going to make this a double posting of both
Lisa's and Kat's journal pages.

Two reasons I like this are

1~ Both Lisa and Kat are writers as well as artists, and the pages
all have something to do with writing, reading, and books.

And 2~ It looks as if I have been very busy, completing 4 journal pages at once!
lol.

Actually I have been busy...I feel like that chicken running around without its head.

I love this quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
I can't believe I'm pointing this out, but
I misquoted him on the page. It should read:
“Draw your chair up close to the edge of the precipice and I'll tell you a story.”
I hope the meaning is the same and I have not destroyed the grammar.

******************

KAT'S JOURNAL PAGES

I'm enjoying making paintings about reading and books...
I may do some more :)

There are some really great quotes about writing.
Maybe because most of them were said by writers,
and of course they have a way with words!

After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world. ~Philip Pullman

A word is dead / when it is said / some say / I say it just begins / to live that day. ~ Emily Dickinson

Kat loves mandalas, trees, and books
so I've managed to get all three on these two pages!
A bit busy perhaps, but I'm liking it somehow :)


So, I'm off to finish my giveaway for

a blog party going on at Inspiration Avenue.

Stop over, sign up for the party, and register to win some fab giveaways.
If you would be so kind, grab the party badge
and post on your blog to help us get the word out!

More giveaways will be posted there every few days!

Enjoy the weekend!