Week 35 : DLP 2015

Information about the FREE weekly Documented Life Project is HERE. 

Since this next challenge was to do a self-portrait, I was tempted to skip it! Then I realised that I could use my handmade stencil of my face again. 

First made and used in Week 2, I re-used it in Week 13 to different effect. Let's see what I make of it this time...
First I wanted to have a quick and easy background, so glued down Tim Holtz tissue : 

I love butterflies, music, and wanted to talk about memories in my journaling so this fitted my page well. Normally I wouldn't lay this down for my entire background, but worked for me this week since I am behind yet again {sigh}.
Then I obviously needed colour - used twinkling H2Os, and then painted clear gesso over the top so that I would have that layer protected for whatever I decided to do next. Click on any photo to see it larger.

Next was the stencil - I wanted to keep it ethereal to start with, so painted some more twinkling H2O to just give the shape of the face

I added lead pencil next to give definition to the features and curl to the hair.

Also some red to the lips, and decided to add purple acrylic paint to the body as a journaling area. I knew I had quite a gap to fill on the other side of the page. First I added some white gesso to tone down where my daily journaling block would be

then I found this tag that I had originally created as a possible addition to Week 7

I added some blue twinkling H2O to blend it with my new background, and the purple fabric and stamped flower bring that colour across my spread

Her face was looking a bit blue, so I added some pink acrylic and pen detailing to her features

This face evolved from the stencil that I made and I do like the effect of the tissue elements still being visible, and the placment of the butterfly. Although I haven't ended up with self portrait, with my journal prompt complete, I'm happy to call this spread done

Click on the photo to enjoy it larger or see it in the Flickr album I've created for all my Documented Life 2015 spreads HERE. You can see all my posts about this project HERE.
And that's the end of the August Face challenges - will try and get September's first challenge done in the next few days so I'm up to date again. Talk to you soon.

Spring Inspirations

The 1st of September has been and gone, and although we started with rain and cool temperatures, it IS starting to warm up during the day. I've taken the winter duvet off our bed, and I am dying to swap out my winter wardrobe for lighter summery colours and bare legs, but based on past years' experience I think I'll have to wait for the Spring equinox as the turning point for spring weather : roll on 23rd September.
I love Spring - it's full of new hope, it's warming up, we are moving towards more daylight hours.

2 weeks of school holidays for us at the end of September. Looking forward to a lovely family adventure in Rotorua...this will be our view {sighs happily in anticipation}

- we went last October with friends, and now we're taking the boys. 
Daylight Savings will begin at the end of this month - YAY. More daylight hours = more fun outside and in the studio.
Hopefully as the weather warms up we'll also spend more time here :

I often have a bit of a down time artistically in winter, and Spring is a time of renewed enthusiasm and a push to complete projects - there's still plenty of this year left....
I need to get onto this quilt top

 - maybe that's a spring holdiay project. 
I'm quite excited that I've been asked to teach an art class at our public library's Local History Week! This month I'm working on a project that will be called Bringing History Alive Artfully and I'll share my sample soon. Hopefully get enough interest to run this in November...
If you're looking for fresh online class inspiration for your Spring or Autumn/Fall - these are new offerings ::
Brave Girl University is a new initiative from the Brave Girls Club

- doors opened 1st September 2015, and they offer a wide variety of teachers and workshops for US$24.95 per month. Read more about the offerings HERE. 
The next FREE Strathmore Workshop started today. This one's about hand lettering and calligraphy - get all the info HERE.

You can join and participate in this workshop until Dec 31, 2015.
Also today - announcements about new Life Book 2016!!

I'm still loving Life Book 2015, even though I haven't had a chance to keep up with the lessons this past month or so. You can save all the videos and PDFs for later reference, and seeing the new offerings every week keeps creativity central to my life. There are many new teachers for Life Book 2016 - just reading the list provides plenty of new inspiration - I'm discoving artists I didn't know! There are going to be lots of opportunities to win a space by commenting on the blog hop, and there is also the chance to apply for a scholarship! Read all about it HERE.
Hope the sun is shining and you're getting time to create where you are.

Week 34 : DLP 2015

Well - it's September. I can't believe that August went by so quick, and with very little blogging! Hoping there'll be more creativity to share with you this month.
Information about the FREE weekly Documented Life Project is HERE.  I'm a little bit behind - this is last week's challenge :

August Theme :: Faces, the Human Form & Characters

Art Challenge : Layered (Using Multiple Mediums)

Journal Prompt :  Speak to your younger self- what advice would you offer?

The first thing I thought about was using a technique that Tam from Willowing describes HERE called "Paint over Collage". I began by gluing down sheet music, serviettes, washi tape and a glossy magazine advertisement. I then brushed over the advert with clear gesso (click on the picture to see the brand I used and the brush strokes of the clear gesso).

Clear gesso gives a good toothy base so that when you start to paint over the paper, the paint goes down nicely.

I started to give her hair, and to add flesh-toned paint but I didn't touch her eye because I loved the effect of the makeup there. 

Adding more layers. I muted the background from the previous photo by brayering over with white gesso, and the gelli-printed tissue is nice to give subtle pattern that blends with the background. I had wanted to darken her hair a bit and when I took this photo immediately saw it as journaling space....

More layers - cut under-paper, pansy serviettes, some stamping with paint, and some pen highlights. Then it was time to add journaling - advice and reassurance to my younger self. I tilted the page when I took this photo so you could see the words more clearly, but as you'll see in my photo at the end, the lettering is more subtle when viewed flat as part of the whole spread.

As soon as I saw the magazine image, I knew she would be holding a young me - whispering in my ear with love

I filled all the gaps in my page with journaling - it's another layer

And here's the completed spread :

Click on the photo to enjoy it larger or see it in the Flickr album I've created for all my Documented Life 2015 spreads HERE. You can see all my posts about this project HERE.
Try and fit some creativity into your weekend and I hope to talk to you again soon.