Sunday Sentiment ~ "The Best Way to Know God is to Love Many Things" ~ Vincent Van Gogh

A detail from my art journal

Today I'm linking up with Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith, artist and blogger at Inky Dinky Doodle. She hosts a link party called Sunday Sentiments, which is now open monthly rather than weekly.

Full Layout - "To Love Many Things"

These days most of my creative energy is geared towards my art journals. I continue collaging my stash of scraps, which include many sentiments. I love quotes and sometimes saccharine sweet vintage poetry as well. When working on this eclectic layout. I found this quote by Vincent Van Gogh:

The best way to know God is to love many things. 

I knew this familiar quote, but it took on new meaning as I glued down the odd assortment of treasures...at least treasures to me. Packaging from Burt's Bee's Pomegranate Lip Balm framed by paper beads I tightly rolled from recycled magazines...tattered vintage stamps from an old stamp album found in the corner of a flea market...tags from clothing and even my tea bag reminding me to "be yourself." :)

Cute drawing by illustrator of Suzy's Zoo - part of old bulletin board border when I taught daycare.

Recycled Paper Beads smashed flat add raised texture.

I love all these things not only because they inspire me creatively, but they remind me of happy memories or old friends. A writing theme emerged as I put items together in this jigsaw puzzle. I would sometimes blindly grab something from the two or three scrap boxes beside me, and it would end up perfectly fitting this theme.

Part of clothing tag suggests handwriting. A paper bead cut to a point makes a colorful pen. 

The elements began to remind me of two friends I know, both named Abigail. One is a fun-loving mother who writes adventures about cicadas, and one is a teenager with fresh hopes and stars in her eyes. Both are dedicated to their writing craft. Both have potential to change the world and each of them have boundless, God-given creativity. They have each deposited joy in my life, just as their name suggests. 

Take a breath and write.....

For dreamers and poets

In my last chat with the starry-eyed Abigail, she ended with: "I'm thankful for you." Of course this got me misty-eyed. I don't get to see either Abigail very often, but I am thankful for each of them. I told Abby:

When I count my blessings, I count you twice.

Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Please check back later today for news about a charity art auction I'm holding this week to raise money for orphans and widows in Uganda. They are in need of emergency food and cooking fuel this holiday season.

You can learn more about the Fundraiser here. I will be cross-posting information about the auction on both blogs, or you can "Like" the charity on Facebook at Truth of Wings.

Bye for now!

Sock Monkey says Hi and Goodbye

Sandra Lee

Linking Up:
Sunday Sentiments ~ November @ Inky Dinky Doodle

A Leaf from my Art Journal ~ Early Light and Emergence

"Simple, Beautiful Ideas"

Today I uploaded a YouTube video of my altered art journal which you can view here. I created this journal last month from an old Chris Madden decorating manual. It was one of those types of books that is heavy on the writing but there were very few colored photos. Even though some of the decorating advice is outdated, I hung onto the book because it was such a nice size for a small art journal. Lately, I've enjoyed working in the square format in several altered art journals, including my pictures for the 100 Face Challenge (see my latest blog entry). The small space is less intimidating, and I find myself working very quickly through the pages. I filled half my art journal up in a couple days. 

In the past two weeks, I continue working on blank pages and adding details to others I've already done. I try not to concern myself about making a page "finished", but simply do as much as I want to for a little while, working on multiple pages at a time. 

I love this Star Fruit Stamp

To create the art journal, I took out several pages to reduce bulk using a utility knife. The remaining pages were doubled up using Mod Podge. This created thicker pages. Many pages were also sealed with Mod Podge for the first layer. Some were gessoed as well.

"Early Light" is an inspirational layout exploring color and meditating on God

I've been cutting out many grids lately, influenced by Daisy Yellow's Grid collage. I blogged about this process here. I also cut out images that captured a certain feeling and played with color combinations. The "Early Light" layout, for instance, captures that dreamy feel of sunrise, when you are first waking up and things feel fresh. I even loved using things like the "renew" tag from my morning ginger tea.

This sentimental quote is by Patience Strong from a vintage Ideals magazine

I was able to express visually what is hard to put into words as well. "Early Light" touches on things of the Spirit, but also memories of my late mom. I know I bring her up often on my blog, probably because art touches those deep places of our hearts, including memories of loved ones and even pockets of grief. 

D for Doris, my late mother

I picked up little scraps from my art table when putting this together, including this scrap of alphabet washi tape with the letter D. I put this in the garden with peaceful statue. The words peeking through speak of an "abundance of pillows" (a sign of rest) and this line:

Serene ~ The serene woman likes to spend time quietly enjoying her surroundings. 

Crochet Lace and other bits fill this "mood board"

Another page dealt with some of these themes of loss. "Emergence" is a busy hodge podge of elements. I struggled to find ways to unify them, and ended up using a lot of repetition. It still feels very full, crowded and busy, but this actually reflected my mood at the time. I was full of bottled up thoughts and emotions.

Emergence ~ A Key Word for This Season of Life

 My mom Doris was a crafter and artist in her own right. She saw beauty even in common things, and tried to find ways to use them. Like a magpie, she hoarded anything that sparkled or shined. I found these hearts in several envelopes in her craft stash after she died. They were cut from plastic packaging, potato chip bags, etc. She organized them by color with labels like "Orange Shiny Hearts for Fall Crafts", etc. I lay them on my lap and the hearts just spilled out of the packaging. And of course the tears rolled down because it felt like she was sending me a love letter even though she was gone, or hearts were sprinkling from heaven. 

Mom's Stash of Hearts

I kept these hearts for probably a year before I could feel emotionally ready to actually craft with them. I knew I wanted to use some in this autumn journal, though. I used my hot glue gun to adhere them to the art journal page. I knew the hot glue would react to the plastic, which it did. The hot glue caused the packaging to crinkle and even shrink slightly. But I used the texture to my advantage. When I run my finger across these hearts, they make a nice crinkly sound. I outlined the hearts with black paint and made white dots and scallops with a white fluid correction pen.

Chipboard Star from Happy Mail

This funny-faced creature was something from my own stash. I made her from different arty papers. Originally I had cut her hair to represent leaves or grass, but somehow they morphed into hair. When she finally found a home in this art journal spread, I realized this funky lady was actually a self portrait of me when I get out of bed in the morning. This is exactly how I look and feel. 

Yawn....time to wake up

This page was originally discussing pillows, so I added to this theme with pillows and a purple flower bedspread cut from origami paper (another happy mail treasure).

Stay in bed or change the world? Hmmmm......

Again, though, the dark colors spoke of emerging from a dark place of grief as well. Or perhaps from my tendency to hide myself away. The bed also reminded me of my years as a caregiver for my mom. One of my tasks was to be sure she had enough pillows to prop herself up in bed. 

When I revisited the page, I added the word Change. The cramped nature of the composition reminds me of a tight cocoon, or a mind busy with crowded thoughts. I know it's time in my life to emerge, change and ultimately grow. 

Time to Change

If you've read this far, I thank you for taking the time to hear the stories behind the images. I will continue to experiment with collage because the act of bringing together disparate things - things that do not seem to belong together - can sometimes create a unifying theme or idea or tell a story...even one deeply hidden that needs to see the light of day. 

So my friends, remember to allow room for emergence and change in your lives as well. 

Blessings,

Sandra Lee

Grid Love Art Journal Spreads ~ Inspired by Daisy Yellow

Back in August, I watched some inspiring tutorials by Tammy over at Daisy Yellow to jumpstart my art journal. She showed how to make a journal layout very quickly using a grid format. While I tucked away this idea for a while, now that I'm finally doing my own grid experiments, I'm finding it to be a game changer in how I approach my art journal spreads.

I've always clipped images from magazines, but the idea of using a few tiny squares caused me to rethink the value of certain images. For instance, I might throw away a clothing catalog if I don't care for the styles. But a pattern or color might catch my eye. The same goes for home decor catalogs as well. Now I can cut a swatch of fabric or clip a little object that might not be significant on its own, but in a layout can add just the right touch of texture or interest.

It's also a good way to use up those little bits of ephemera I receive from day to day....a stamp, a word or image from junk mail, or just using those leftover bits on my art table.

Here are a few closeups of my latest grid experiment I completed during an all night art party. ;) I began with some paper weaving using trimmings of leftover scrap paper.

This is similar to what it looked like before (I made a couple paper weavings):

Paper Weaving ~ Don't throw those scraps away! 

This was the first element I glued down, providing a jumping off point for the rest of the grid collage. I loved the eclectic mix of patterns and colors.

Paper Weaving after ~ Covered in Gelly Roll Doodles

Midways through, I started adding paper X's to go with the red O shape. Repetition always helps tie a piece together.

XOXO

One of my favorite squares is the Sakura Cray-Pas wrapper. This wrapper is from a very old set of oil pastels...probably one of my first sets I received as a teenager. It already had this lovely red color saturated into the yellow wrapper, created by oil pastels that rolled around in the box and "melted" over the years.

Detailed Closeup

I find that the grid experiments help to loosen me up and not take my art journaling so seriously. I realize every page doesn't have to be a laborious process. It can be quick and fun, like a little sketch of ideas. I can feel free to play with design and color without overthinking it. I find a side benefit to the grid collages is my eye is improving for capturing photos as well. This exercise forces you to isolate tiny little details and understand what is the most essential part of a picture. 

I don't drink Starbucks that often, but I thought I'd give a nod to Tammy with this little Starbucks ad. Thank you, Tammy, for helping me rekindle my love for art journaling. May God continue to give you a "green thumb" for creativity and teaching others to flourish in their own art.

The flower pot started looking like a coffee cup in the wee hours..so I drew in some coffee over the dirt. ;) 

You can check out Tammy's grid collage tutorial here.

Happy Creating~
Sandra Lee