Monthly Watercolor Swap-September

Watercolor swap with Inga continued with our September exchange.

Inga indulged my love of birds and sent me this gorgeous Kingfisher done in a zentangle style:

In exchange, I sent Inga a dolly drawing and titled it "Miss Autumn":

So much fun! Already working on this month's swap. Stay tuned!

Monthly Watercolor Swap

Inga and I met through Postcrossing.com when she sent me this lovely, geometric watercolor postcard all the way from Germany:

It was so exciting to finally receive a handmade watercolor card that I suggested we do a monthly watercolor swap. I've never properly learned watercolor but it's the one medium I'm most drawn to. We decided a swap would be good practice for both of us so we began our first one in August:

Inga's postcard to me was so adorable! I love her hat especially since I collect vintage hats:

In Between

I sent Inga this bottle of Absinthe:

The Green Muse

Now we wait for September's swap. What have we each created? Stay tuned! ;-)

Round Robin Journal Project, Round 5

Hello again creative souls!

Here is the next round, round 5 of the Round Robin Journal Project.
These pages were done last December! I'm definitely playing catch up on posts!

Round 5:

For my own journal, I documented my four day holiday to Disney with my friend Luke. Done in ink, watercolor, colored pencil and stickers for the word Epcot.

Nichole did a wonderful page in her journal inspired by the beloved Nancy Drew, who we all grew up reading. The Waiting Detective uses book pages and Nichole's own writing to bring a story to life.

Phoebe did her pages based on how she was feeling at the time. Phoebe loves winter, and loves when it snows. Here, her cutout paper flakes dangle from bakers string. Active visualization! I'm sure it worked!

And round the journal goes:

In my journal, Nichole did this beautiful winter scene, crafted from paper. With an Alfred Lord Tennyson quote: "Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come...". The little cardinal is a nice touch!

For Nichole's journal, Phoebe made a map (she's great at map-making!) of a make believe drive in the country, real life places in a fictional setting. What a lovely drive...dear, geese, and a barnyard full of animals! Done with ink and marker and her wonderful imagination!

For Phoebe's journal, I created this page of ornaments on Christmas Day! A permanent Christmas card to Phoebe from me. ;-) Done in ink and colored pencil.

And round the journal goes:

For my journal, Phoebe did a wonderful "Chasing a dream" doodle using only ink. She is our doodle and Zentangle queen!

For Nichole's journal pages, I did an old Rocket typewriter with a page of prompts for 2014 that I created by pulling words out of my word box. Done in ink, paper, colored pencil and metallic markers.

For Phoebe's journal, Nichole used lined paper and ephemera to create a timeless page titled "Fickle Winter Taunts". Final touches included a short poem, corners and framing done with Washi tape.

Next up, Round 6!  Stay tuned...

Round Robin Journal Project, Round 4

Happy Summer everyone!
Sorry I have not been posting much here lately. This week three different friends pointed out I haven't blogged in almost six months. I always have such high hopes every year that this year, will be the year I blog my art and photography consistently. One year it's going to work! haha!

As for this year, well, I've been busy traveling, hosting friends, gardening, and as always, creating art but mostly in my nature journals. One day I will get around to sharing everything but for now, how about round 4 of the Round Robin Journal Project? It is still going strong, rotating between myself, Nichole and Phoebe. We are currently taking the month off for travels which should allow me to catch up and post all the pages on here before we start back up mid-July:

Round 4:

The pages I did in my own journal list my best EVER food memories from around the world. This includes the best ever soup in Keld, England, the best ever chocolate in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, the best ever muffin and the best ever side dish, both in Dublin, Ireland, the best ever hot chocolate at Vosges in Las Vegas, the best ever scones at Leeds Castle in Maidstone, England and the best ever meal in Florence, Italy.

Nichole's pages in her own journal reflect her hopes upon turning 38 this year. I love all the different hand-written fonts she used and how positive, joyful and colorful the words are. A perfect exercise in positive visualization!

Phoebe's pages in her own journal were so beautiful! Filled with colorful butterflies dancing across the pages and a found quote: "Everyone should be so luck to awaken old memories. Always remember you're one of a kind.". And I love the background, dotted up with pretty watercolors!

And round the journal goes...

Nichole's pages in my journal was a portrait of me! How sweet is this? And the poem she chose is by Emily Dickinson and was something I had put on my dreamboard for 2014 but Nichole didn't know that when she chose it. It was divine intervention by the creative muses!

Phoebe's pages in Nichole's journal is a great mix of collage and doodle! People are Strange reminds me of her animal masks portraits that she takes which you can see by visiting her Flickr set.

My pages in Phoebe's journal were really inspired by my cats, Sami and Sookie, both who, like me, are big-time birdy watchers. Of course, they have to watch from the window but in the dreamworld of the art journal, the cat gets to sit outside in the sunshine, on a lovely brick wall. ;-)

And round it goes again...

For the pages in my journal, Phoebe did this fabulous collage of birdsong! Being a birder, you know I just absolutely love it! It makes me think of the dawn chorus in the rain forest. ;-)

For Nichole's journal I did a stack of classic books, with decorative spines. Of course, I added Nichole's name in there since she is a published author! You can find two of her works on Amazon.

Finally, in Phoebe's journal, Nichole did a similar page as she did in mine. I thought that was a great idea! Sometime's it's nice to have a similar theme running through the pages you do. And look how lovely paper Phoebe's dress is! I would buy that! ;-)

Til next time, which will not be six months from now, I promise...Happy Creating!

Round Robin Journal Project, Round 3

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
As always, a new year brings on the promise to blog more consistently. I usually do very well at the beginning of the year when my creativity is at it's highest. But this year will be different! I have made more realistic creative goals for this year and I have the Round Robin Journal Project going on which will continue for most of 2014. Speaking of that, let's start the new year with pictures from round 3!

For my page in my own journal I did a piece on adventure using oil color crayons, watercolor and printed tissue paper. I made it a tactile affair by adding Modge Podge dipped cotton balls for clouds. It speaks to my desire for adventure and travel!

Nichole's journal pages in her journal for this round showcased her love of writing. I think a lot of us grew up reading Nancy Drew and I love that she used pages from one of the books. The paper tape adds the perfect pop of color too.

Phoebe's journal page followed the same theme she did previously for our journals in Round 2 by including a music playlist along with some tiny dried flowers, this time from the crepe myrtle. I love her little delicate ink line that travels around the edges. Lovely!

And round the journal goes...

In my journal, Nichole created a tactile and colorful piece with the words "before you thought of spring, the summer lapsed away". A perfect use of paper, paint and words!

I think Phoebe is the queen of doodling! I love her doodles! She did these beautiful, delicate plants in purple for Nichole's journal. So time consuming and so very perfect!

It was near the end of October when we were doing this round and everyone was busy posting beautiful pictures of all the trees full of fall color. Of course, I live in South Florida so I might see a red leaf once in a while but I longed for more. So I made some for Phoebe's journal!

And round it goes again...

Still keeping with a fall theme, I did a colored pencil piece for Nichole's journal that included a recipe for pumpkin soup. I love my little cat. So cute!

Nichole is a pretty good doodler herself! She created this fabulous Dream-Love-Create Joy piece in Phoebe's journal using ink and colored pencil. It's adorable!

I always love it when we are on the same wavelength while creating! And we don't ever know what each has created until we see it. Phoebe did doodles (like Nichole did) of fall leaves (like I did) for my journal pages. It was so nice to have autumn last a little bit longer. ;-)

Til next time, (which I promise won't be too long)...Happy New Year!

Round Robin Journal Project, Round 2

I had wanted to post this weeks ago, in fact, we are already on round five! Alas, I kept forgetting to scan the pages so I'm a little behind on posting the rounds! I hope to catch up with several blog posts over the next week. Click here to read about this project and see the pages for round one. Without further ado, here are our Moleskine pages from round 2 of the Round Robin Art Journal Project:

My page in my own journal for Round 2 was inspired by the day I spent with Luke roaming the back roads in Kansas. It was a fun day, with lots of interesting moments which I tried to capture in these pages.

Nichole's spread in her journal showcased both her voice and her story, but done in a way that still kept it private, while letting the viewer know, through her photography, that the mood was a bit more solemn.

Phoebe's pages included her photography of ethereal dreaminess coupled with a feeling of ephemeral moments with the inclusion of dried flowers. A few quotes and a vintage strip of tape tie it all together.

And round the journal goes...

Nichole's pages in my journal were so super cute! Sisters in Creativity indeed we are! I just love the little figures of us she did in colored pencil. It really matches us! Nice doodling too!

Phoebe's pages in Nichole's journal pay homage to the end of summer, with an excellent playlist and some delicate dried flowers. I love the idea of a playlist!

I did mixed media in Phoebe's journal which I titled "A Whole Century of Ordinary Life" and it included this found poem I created: "With a film of dust upon my memory, poring over forbidden pages, old and stained by process of time. A whole century of ordinary life; all through the years, an exchange of reminiscence and of dearest worth, a kiss of lovers." I included a pocket with a little secret stashed away.

And round it goes again:

I was very excited to see Phoebe also did a playlist in my journal! That meant I got to listen to more new songs on iTunes and add to my own playlist! She also does such great doodle backgrounds and of course, she added a touch of nature for me...a feather and some helicopter seeds! Soar!

My pages in Nichole's journal were inspired by her Facebook status about her son's homework which included rectangles, sight words and the letter M. You never know where inspiration will come from!

Nichole's pages in Phoebe's journal included a great quote by Jack Kerouac, other of On The Road. A deep blue, starry night sky for the background and a great page to remind us all to "just keep on rolling under the stars".

I hope you enjoyed this post of round 2 of the Round Robin! Stay tuned for Round 3 which will NOT take me as long to get posted. ;-)

Round and Round the Art Journal Goes...

Howdy everyone!
It's been a busy last few weeks of art journal fun! I started an Art Journal Round Robin with Nichole and Phoebe. I chose the Moleskine for us due to it's sturdy, pretty, cream-colored pages that can take pretty much any medium. We each began by doing a two-page spread. Then, our books were sent out...mine to Nichole, Nichole's to Phoebe and Phoebe's to me. We then did a two-page spread in that book before mailing it out again for the next round. Every third week, we'll have our own journals back to work on them! And to see what treasures lay inside! We aren't sharing any pages with social media until each round is complete so that we are all surprised by our pages. That is definitely part of the fun!

It's fascinating to see what each of us create in our own style. And to say it's inspired me is an understatement! While waiting for the journals to arrive, I've been busy working in my other Moleskines (several lay around half-full), trying out different techniques and ideas to possibly use in Nichole and Phoebe's books, practicing my sketching and even writing a nightly summary of my day. Heck, I even sketched in it while waiting for my doctors appointment! I've fallen back in love with the art journal and the process of creating in it and I suspect Phoebe and Nichole feel the same way. ;-)

The Round Robin Journal Project, Week 1

Round Robin by Laura

An introduction to the project and of course, it gave me a good excuse to practice drawing a bird. The quote on the stem reads:

Each drawing one makes, each study one paints, is a step forward. ~Vincent Van Gogh

Defining my Creative Self by Nichole

Nichole's first pages show her love for art, photography and writing. I love how she turned her selfie into a cartoon like retro girl! Very cute and clever!

Introduced by Phoebe

Phoebe's pages were so fun to read! It's all about introductions and how she would be introduced as a character in a movie. Who knew she didn't like potato salad? I promise not to make it next time she visits. ;-)

Now our journals rotated...we sent them off with a bit of trepidation but that was soon replaced by the excitement of inspiration!

An Hour with her Sketchpad by Nichole

I thought Nichole's entry in my journal was so clever! The turned-down page revealing the prior sketch, the quote and the little figure sketches...She wanted to show her progression from hesitation to confidence with the pencil and she achieved that quite nicely! And, if I do say so myself, that quote is exactly how I feel!

She Remembered All Those Happy Times by Phoebe

Phoebe wanted her pages in Nichole's journal to resemble an old, vintage scrapbook and she totally achieved her objective! Vintage photographs, yellowing tape, quotes all about time gone by and remembering the younger days. There was so much to look at and to read, which I did many times over!

Paris is Always a Good Idea by Laura

While waiting for Phoebe's journal to arrive in the mail, I had done a travel-themed spread in another Moleskine, testing out whether my idea would work and how it would look as a travel-related spread in Phoebe's journal. When her journal arrived and her first pages were about the French film Amelie, well then, I just had to make it all about Paris! A city we have both been to and love!

Round the journals go again...this time with less trepidation and more anticipation of what we all had done!

Explore by Phoebe

A lot of times Phoebe and I are on the same wave-length and in this round we both did travel-themed pages in each other's journals! Using her own photography, quotes and travel tips, and even an actual ticket, she created a mini travel scrapbook for me!

How Fragile We Are by Laura

For Nichole's pages I was inspired by silhouetted trees. Trees always inspire me. I love them! And I had so much fun creating this that I decided to do a whole Moleskine just on trees and flowers. The more you do art, the more you find inspiration! The title came from listening to Jason Castro's version of "Fragile" while creating this. It seemed fitting. Life is fragile and doesn't last long. Like a leaf on a tree.

Traveler by Nichole

Nichole also created a travel-themed page for Phoebe's journal, making Phoebe's Moleskine the most consistent in terms of overall theme. No theme intended, but it just worked out that way!I love her little traveling jester with pup!

Round 1 was a success and has made waiting for the mail a whole lot of fun! Stay tuned for Round 2! In the meantime, enjoy these additional works of journal art I created over the last couple of weeks:

Poppies

Trees I

Trees II

Fields of Joy

The Journey Awakens the Soul

Vases

And finally, one not done in a Moleskine but on the iPad with Paper 53:

Nature, I love you.

Until the next round, stay creative and in the light!