Art Journal - Freestyle it - DIY

Hey co-creators!
Today I will be sharing with you my new Art Journalling fad for 2013, and how to get started yourself. I have shown my January book to all my friends and even some students and they all have very positive things to say...that means its time to share it with the rest of y'all cos you might like it too ( I know how creative you all are).

1. an inside page
2. inside front cover resolution - I intend to write monthly goals in mine
3. back cover
4. front cover with quote for the month

So...for this journal I actually intend to make a new one each month. I decided on this after sitting down with my usual notebook style Art Journal to write resolutions and felt really uninspired, and it just came to me: make your own! I decided to set some limits (well more like limit - as there is only one)

- choose 10 different pieces of paper plus a piece of stiffer card for the cover. (Pictures 2 +3)

I will show you how I am putting together my February book:

Once you have your book together, staple one side (picture 4) - put quite a few staples in there as you will need it to stay together.

I then cover the staples with tape (picture 1) as mine seem to be quite sharp but you could leave them showing if you like the look.

the other 'rule' I would say although it isn't really it's just nice and sets the mood/ intention for your book is:

- use a quote for the front cover from a song/ poem or book.

1. Travel Art Journal Kit - my journals are always made to fit inside
2. My favorite quote book
3. You can see al my junk in here
4. Quote I might use for February cover

And that's it....you're off!

Here are some pictures of my travel Art Journal kit which I take with me everywhere:

A. Clear plastic case - I bought this on Ebay for £2 it just pops closed and keeps everything in, it also slides in and out of my handbag easily
B. Watercolour pencils or a pencil tin - good to keep pencils in and to stick tape to for later use
C. Drink stirrers - I think I collect these and have no use for them as yet
D. Glue - got to be Pritt Stick, various pens and pencils (these change all the time but must include - at least 2b pencil, biro, felt tips, marker pen, paint brush)
E. Date stamp and ink pad - bought in Cambodia
F. Mini stapler - also from Cambodia
G. Tape - this is the matte type - from poundland
H. reliable scissors and I usually have a craft knife too.

I will be sharing more of thos project as the year progresses :)
Have fun peoples,
Love, me x

Art Journal - the Cambodia Pages

As promised I am sharing more pages from my completed Art journal with notes on materials used.

Hereforth are the pages created while I was in Cambodia in October 2011. I miss it every day and dream of it every night, These pages remind me of moments sat in bars and restaurants and vans drawing, wondering and getting sozzled in a beautiful and awe inspiring country. I cannot wait to go back in the summer for four whole weeks!

brusho dyes, photocopies, napkins, jam lid, black pen, magazine paper, felt pens, baggage tags

watercolour pencils, stitching, brusho dyes, cocktail brolly, phone book paper, felt pens, manuscript paper, pencil

beer label, baggage labels, napkins, felt pens, pencil, brusho dyes

felt pens, maps, airline tags, receipts, watercolour pencils, pencil, brusho dyes, biro, masking tape

watercolour pencils, black pen, manuscript paper, felt pens, leaflets

baggage labels, watercolours, felt pens, food label, black ink, crayon rubbing

I have one more set to share of this book before I tuck it away and say TTFN. My next project is an exciting on which I will share with you when I get started.

Which methods do you use in your work? Do you Art Journal?

Love. me x

Art Journal Update

It has been ages since I showed you into my little Art Journal home. This is a book that I keep all my ideas, notes, meeting appointments, drawings etc in. It is literally and art journal in those exact terms. I make Art out of what I find myself journaling about, thoughts and feelings as well as just sorting my head out. IN fact, this is what the inside of my brain looks like. I hope you think its as pretty as I do :]

I last shared it when I started it in the summer (you might want to check this post out, or this one if you are not shown them at the end). I have now finished my journal - which I thought would terrify me but I have plans for the next one which I am very excited by, and will obviously share with y'all.

Here are some of my favorite pages, I'll be sharing more later in the week. With each one I'll try and remember materials used in case this is helpful or interesting to you:

papers, watercolour, felt pens, pencil, printed papers, brown ink, biro, sellotape

old lists, felt pens, various papers and receipts, envelope, oil pastels, craft foam print using acrylic paint

black ink, tin foil, papers, craft foam print using acrylic paint, papers, receipts, sewing machine, felt pens with water, biro

black pen

felt pens, watercolour, maps, black pen, biro, watercolour pencils, brusho dyes, bleach

pencil, black pen, felt pens, maps, stickers, watercolour, white chalk

handout from a meeting (on caring for your back at work), biro, stamp, letter stamps, inside envelope, white acrylic, fabric

stamps, letter stamps, paper, receipts, craft foam stamp, watercolour, acrylic paint, sellotape, washi tape, lace, inside envelope, tipex pen, felt pens, pencil

pencil, black pen, felt pen, envelope, masking tape

You can see from those lists that I use a LOT of materials and processes or sometimes I keep it simple. I am learning a lot about how processes and materials work together though Art Journaling. I love making those choices and seeing how things work, its important to be brave and try things out...remember these are the highlights, there are some crud awful pages in there too :)

Sometimes I hate hate hate it, then I leave it to come back and can see a way to make a page work again. I learn about me through this work and that is why you see very personal messages in there, these are intentions at the time - quiet whisperings to myself (or loud shouts, like the one above).

How do you learn about you?

Love, me x

Cambodia - that's all for now (hic!)

This is the final post from my Cambodia trip photographs. I want to move my blog on to Christmas and things I am making for the festive season (feeling ever so slightly Christmassy!) Plus I have a really exciting Christmas blog coming up next week featuring some bloggers you may know, my first guest-post...eep!

I love food. This is a problem for me in some ways, and why I am on the Weight Watchers program (lost two stone so far - let's forget I put on 5 and a half pounds in one week in Cambodia - I blame the beer entirely!) I wish I could just be all virtuous with food and only eat the quality foods I love, but the fact is I will eat practically anything and often too much of it.
I was intrigued by Cambodian food, and wanted to get straight to the nitty gritty of it, so persuaded my group to eat street-food on our first night. We had had a lot of beer before hand, so they were up for it.

Bun Lay was very keen to encourage us to eat as many traditional dishes as possibly, it was ridiculously cheap and we filled the table with food. Best looking food went to my impressive Amok Curry - pictured above in it's coconut container.

Street food that I wasn't brave enough to try looked like this and was plentiful. Some tongues look pretty scarey enough, maybe it's better if you can't see them whole. Who knows what I will try next year?

After a long 'conversation' involving some sort of sign language, I was able to get myself a Diet Coke - amazing! I fully prepared myself to say goodbye to such things.

And ice-cream...like, really yummy ice-cream. Surprised.

Surprise again by the delicious (understatement) breakfast at My Home Inn in Siem Reap. How was I to know (the guidebooks failed to mention it - twits), that Siem Reap still hangs on to some traditions and FOODS from French Colonnial times, such as baguettes for breakfast, with butter. At My Home they served this with super-strength coffee and gorgeous veg-filled omlettes. Even now I am craving that breakfast. When I get my sketchbook scanned in I will post a really nice page based on this photo. Something called 'Morning Glory', a vegetable that tasted everything like Spring Onion was prevelant in lots of dishes. It is delicious. I can see it waving at me in that omlette....soon!

By far one of THE most delicious meals I have ever eaten was this simple veg-filled noodle soup. I have made this at home since, as it really is simple. This is my version: rice noodles, green beans, carrots, mushrooms, spring onions. A coconut milk and curry powder soup made with chicken stick, ginger and lime as well as chilli and soy sauce...mmmm!
The original was eaten at Beng Mealea Camp, cooked by the lovely ladies there.

This might have something too do with the weight gain, beer and chocolate cake in Phnom Penh.

I found these supermarket foods so intriguing. Such care taken with preparation. I wanted to eat it all!

This was the inside of the Old Market in Siem Reap. Again, I want to eat everything!

Except this.
No....even this.

Of course we had plenty of posh food too. The Blue Pumpkin is a chain of resturants and cafe's all over Cambodia. If you fancy a treat for very little dollar, this is my recommendation. Four of us ate like Khmer Kings for $15 U.S each with two bottles of wine too. Bargain is not the word. Well....maybe it is.

So goodbye for now Cambodia and my lovely new friends: Anth, Bun Lay, Kate and Sarah. See you all soon x x

Travels

I am beyond excited about my trip to Cambodia on the 22nd. It is just for one week, with a further trip next summer for four weeks.
I am almost packed...I have no idea what I will wear so I have put together the weirdest assortment of clothes! I do have all the important things, like Immodium and a head torch...and lots of money for shopping and treats.
I will be visiting temples like these -

Since I was a teenager I have been interested in world religions, especially Buddhism and Hinduism. I have long wanted to visit Asia, and have never managed to afford it so far. I am so grateful for the chance to see it - and for free!

 Of course I am going to take millions of photos, and I will be taking my sketchbook with me too. So when I get back I will be sharing the sights and finds I discovered there, as well as what I managed to sketch and bring back.

This could be me in a couple of days!

As well as obviously having an amazing time seeing Cambodia, I will be visiting some projects that students from my school will be helping with next year: two of those are an orphanage and a school.

I have been collecting pencils at my school to take to the Cambodian children...I have a LOT, it's a good job I am packing light for a one week trip. When we go back next year I will take them something else, but I need to meet them first to find out what they need. A girl came up to me today with her own pencil, and said 'this is for the Cambodian children Miss'...aw!
A technician at my school brought in pencils donated from her own children, one of which had gone out to buy some after she told him about the children and how they have very little. It has made me incredibly happy to see how generous people can be, how thoughtful; and it has felt great to be a part of something so simple but I know it will be effective.

 So, I will fill you in on my return. Have a good week - love, me x

More Summer Sketchbook

Here are some more pages from my Summer Sketchbook, which has now become 'My Sketchbook' but these pages are from the summer. This year was a great one for my artwork, the weather was so bad it meant many gloomy days in with cups of tea. making a mess with art materials.

These pages follow on from the last I blogged, a mixture of: sculpture garden with Lisa and baby Amber on a very hot day, booking myself in for various craft fayres that were disasterous, Weight Watchers and booking Olivia in for her cycling proficiency.

The thing you can't really pick up with these pages it that they are cut out in places, maybe I should have photographed them standing up, looking through? I loved this page until later I drew a black pen page and it messed up the man's face on the left...now he looks like he has a rubbish moustache!
This one depicts: cold cold days at the beach in August, more raffles (hoping to hit the jackpot, only one a bottle of ketchup!), treats, and my journey to get work into Coastal Creatives.

Hope you like them...

Seeing as we are on a summer theme, thought I would drop an old picture of little Olivia when we used to live in the Caribbean. This, for me is the ultimate photo of a Caribbean child - so free and happy. She still loves Mangoes so much, even though we have to pay for them these days! This picture fills me with motherly love ♥

My little baby will be 12 next week! She has asked for a Soda Stream machine...I can't wait for her to get it so I can make one (hehe).

This weekend I will be sorting out her birthday requests, working at the It's All Been Done Before Vintage Festival, making final touches to my Coastal Creatives consignment...and maybe I might get time to drink tea, listen to the radio and enjoy some Autumn sunshine. Love, me x

My Summer Sketchbook

This summer I have been working really hard to open up my creativity, make bolder decisions and be more experimental with a wide range of media. This all came about because I attended an amazing workshop for Art Teachers at the Russell Cotes Art Gallery and Museum (just one of my favorite places to be in the world, and where I learnt to draw with my Art School as a teenager).
The workshop was run by Dave Hulson, and on the day I noticed he had the most beautiful little book with him that he used to record drawings, words, feedback we gave him...anything. I really liked this idea of having a book for EVERYTHING. I have sooo many sketchbooks and I always try and keep one for proper pencil drawing, one for printmaking, one for collages and one for notes and ideas.

So I challenged myself this summer to break out of the sketchbook rut, and get into some of what Dave was discovering. Here are some of the pages I have created this Summer. Sometimes they link together as the pages are cut through.

This is the first page I worked on this method of using it for EVERYTHING, so you can see me making notes about meetings and financial stuff. I remember this day so clearly. It was sooo hot and we were in my friend Anna's garden, testing out her new swing seat. We were trying to work out my pay for next year, and not doing very well with the Maths, but it was fun! We ended up staying for lunch, which her boyfriend cooked and was delicious.
Anna always grows the most beautiful sunflowers, and she is my gardening-guru. I always come away from her house with a new plant to love...

If you look at the left and right sides of this one you can see where it links in on the previous picture. On this day my Mum took us out to lunch at Banana Wharf on Poole Quay. Again, it was scorchingly hot and we felt like we were on holiday in our own town! Such a gorgeous view, and atmosphere there. We are saving it for special treats. In this page as well, you can see my notes on this crazy game I was playing at the start of the Summer. I have been a long time fan of the Myst series of games. I love to get lost in them sometimes. I played the Revelation game at the start of the Summer and it involved lots of codes and sequences, lots of them were visual so I used my book to record them. I really miss the Myst world now.

I will post more pages soon.
Me x
p.s if you check out Dave's blog and have a root around you will find some amazing examples of the books her makes with classes.