Art Journal

I LOVE art journaling.  Once a month friends and I get together with food and wine and create amazing pages and share ideas and talents.  

One of the things we like to do is make our own books.  Sometimes we will do a fat book challenge and anyone who wants to can make a page to add to it.  We usually pick a theme.  Once we have a count of how many are going to participate, say 10 people, we each make 10 pages then get together and bind them.  Here is an example of one that was done:

I love having a book with pages from my artist friends.  So inspiring.  These can be done on cardboard or water color paper.  You can apply a gel medium over painted pages to give a leather feel.  If you don't have binding equipment you can always put pages together by folding them in half, like a book, and securing them with ribbons or yarn by poking holes in the crease.  I usually do two holes in the center spaced about an inch apart.

I came across this picture on the web.  I printed it out and I pasted inside one of my art journals.  I randomly color the flowers with bright colors.  

I never really liked keeping a traditional journal.  I hated spewing negative thoughts on pages.  It is good to get it out, it really is, but I was always worried that it would get found.  The reason I am crazy over art journaling is because I can add images or paint abstract on my pages and write messages.  

I have several of Sabrina Ward Harrison's books.  She is one of hundreds of people who inspire me.  I do similar things with my pages. Here are some pages from her books.  

Happy Journaling!  

Bug Love

Better Yourself

I feel that as a person you should try and better yourself.  Try new things.  Be kinder.  Surround yourself with people who are more achieved than you so that you will strive for better things. So you don't sit stagnant in life.  Learn.  Grow.  Move.

As we get older we tend to get into the same old circle...........go to work, come home, sit on the couch.  Watch horrible reality shows that tear people's lives apart.  This is what some of our parents did, the majority anyway.  We tend to complain about people, things, gossip.  Really this is a wasted energy, a cycle that needs to be broken.

I see this at family/friends events such as cookouts, gatherings.  People stand around complain, talk about this, that.  No one talks about ideas, how to change things and if they do it stays right there.........that "talk about" stage.  Get people together and play volley ball or flag football with the kids.  Do people do that anymore?

Go make something happen.  Go make someone's day brighter.  Reach out to someone who needs it. Travel.  There is so much to see. Find your passion, no matter how big or small.   Forgive.  Find a club or a meet-up with people who like the same thing you do.  A cooking class, wine group, arts, movies.  Can't find one?  Create one.  Learn something new; a language, how to play an instrument, how to change oil or buy stock.

You will be surprised how much you will grow by doing something you normally wouldn't do!