Challenge - Art

ART - What is art to you? What is your favorite type of art? Are you an artist? Just a few questions we can ask ourselves about art. We have probably all seen art that spoke to our hearts, or the kind where we think "A 5 year old could have done that", or something that probably touched our soul. And probably have had discussions with others about art. What is art to you? Think about that for a little while.
In this challenge I would like you to make a page

1: that describes what art means to you
-or-

2: using a quote or poem as your inspiration.

Feel free to read through the quotes, poetry, etc, below to use as your inspiration.

Art [link to wikipedia]

Art - definitions:

1: skill acquired by experience, study, or observation <the art of making friends>

2: a branch of learning: (1) : one of the humanities (2) plural : liberal arts archaic : learning, scholarship

3: an occupation requiring knowledge or skill <the art of organ building>

4: the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects; also : works so produced (1) : fine arts (2) : one of the fine arts (3) : a graphic art

5: a archaic : a skillful plan b : the quality or state of being artful

6: decorative or illustrative elements in printed matter

Titles:

1: Art Imitates Life

2: An Artist at Heart
3: An Artist's Apprentice
4: Creative Minds are Rarely Tidy
5: Just a Pigment of My Imagination

Quotes:
1: The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. (Aristotle)
2: Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. (Thomas Merton)
3: Art is a lie that lets us see the truth. (Pablo Picasso)
4: Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. (Twayla Tharp)
5: An artist never really finishes his work, he merely abandons it. (Paul Valery) (this is especially true with art journals).
6: Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. (Pablo Picasso)
7: Science is everything we understand well enough to explain to a computer. Art is everything else. (David Knuth)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Put Something In by Shel Silverstein

Draw a crazy picture,
Write a nutty poem,
Sing a mumble-gumble song,
Whistle through your comb.
Do a looney-gooney dance
'Cross the kitchen floor,
Put something silly in the world
That ain't been there before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope you have fun doing this challenge.

REMEMBER: Art Journaling is not about the beginning or the end. It is all about the process. The Journey!

And if you feel up to it, please share pictures of your art journal pages at our Flickr gallery HERE

ATTENTION MEMBERS: Freebie Alert

My friend and your fellow AJfL member has finally agreed to start selling her products at my store. Today is her first day. And she already have her first kit ready in my store. To celebrate she decided to share Hillside Art #1 with you all.

You can find this cute art journal / scrapbook kit at Twisted Scrapper Boutique - Leslie Hill

Leslie is an Arizona based (yup we are almost neighbors) art journaler,  who for years have been making her own supplies for her digital and hybrid journals. We have learned a lot from each other the past couple of years, which you will probably notice in our styles, but we also have differences. Especially in color schemes LOL.
She never sold or shared any of her products before so this is all new to her :)

Your coupon code to use for picking up your free kit is: Leslies1stDay 
Please remember coupons are case sensitive, valid for one use per customer only.
And please do not share the coupon outside Art Journaling for Less.

Challenge - Week 09

One of the things in hands-on art journaling I usually have the most trouble with is hand-writing (sometimes referred to as hand-printing or lettering). My hand-writing has always been poor, but when I started art journaling I thought for sure I could learn. At least some techniques to make it look artsy. But I am still trying and I don't feel it has gotten much better.

This week I want you to explore hand-writing. Make a couple of pages with hand-written titles, and/or journaling.

I really can not teach you how to do art journal writing, because
   1: I suck at it LOL
   2: You have to create your own style

but, I can point you in the direction of videos, pages, etc that I like so you can get a few ideas how to get started.

The first I want to share is a few pages from someone who I believe has the whole art journal handwriting down. AND she is one of our very own members. Say 'Hi' to  Erin! If you check out her Flickr: Mimisgirl51901 She does both digital and hybrid art journaling.
A few of her pages with hand-writing:
Home
Be Me
Lightsaber

Links to pages with hand-writing I like:

Page by apartmentcat - it is definitely not neat, but I like the way she did the journaling in a spiral.

Page by iHanna - this is probably one of the most common techniques, but that doesn't make it bad. I love how she got such clean lines with the white and black together.

Page by miscellaneaarts - this is just so pretty. I would call this a doodle script, and I dream of learning this one. What I find to be the hardest is to make the lines flow.

Page by TMcFayden - the lines in this are so clean. Love the look of this one.

Want to see more? Go to Flickr and run a search for 'art journal hand lettering'.

YouTube:

Doodle Titles and Letter Art - this is a quick run through of different techniques and ideas using Sakura pens.

How to draw type and letters - a list of several videos on how to draw cool type and letters. I think this is more advanced than just regular art journal lettering. Might work for just single words etc. When I work in my journals I usually dont have time to sit down and making things this complicated. But I thought I would share anyway, maybe you find something that you like and want to use.

Cool Writing - this one I could see used in art journals. Would take a little practice, but it is very nice. I might actually try learning this one.

How to draw grafitti letters - this one is not just for grafitti lettering. I think what he says about making the letters looks just a little more artistic than usual, and that there is no right or wrong way is exactly how we should do our art journal lettering.

Artful Lettering - this is the kinda lettering I would love to do. People make it look so easy, but when I do it, it never turn out so great. Will keep trying.

There are many more videos, websites etc dedicated to hand lettering, so if you want more, check out Google. Or maybe make up your own style.

When making digital pages I also feel it is important to make the lettering look as 'real' as possible. You can do that by adding color and texture to bold letterings. If anyone are interested in seeing how I like to do that in my digital pages, just let me know. I do use a mix of PSP and PSE6, but if you use PS or newer versions of PSE I am sure you can do similar things in your programs. At least you can get some form of ideas for how to use fonts in your art. Just let me know if you are interested.

I would love to see some of your pages made with your own hand lettering. I am going to go practice right now to see if maybe I can make something worthy of sharing ;)

REMEMBER: Art Journaling is not about the beginning or the end. It is all about the process.

Have Fun!

And if you do feel up to it, please share pages at our Flickr gallery HERE

Challenge - Beauty

Beauty - this is a word that has so many different meanings, depending on who you are. To some beauty can be a red rose blooming, but to others the beauty is not about the looks, but rather the fact that the rose is growing. Doesn't matter if it is red, white, or any other color. Just that it is here for us to enjoy.
When you hear the word Beauty, what comes to mind? Nature? Your child? Your mother? Or perhaps some actress or supermodel? Think it through. Perhaps write down the first words that came to mind when you saw the title of this post.

In this challenge I would like you to make a page

1: that describes what beauty means to you

-or-

2: using a quote or poem as your inspiration.
Feel free to read through the quotes, poetry, etc, below to use as your inspiration.

Beauty [link to wikipedia]
Aesthetics [link to wikipedia]

Beauty - definitions:

1: the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit : loveliness

2: a beautiful person or thing; especially : a beautiful woman

3: a particularly graceful, ornamental, or excellent quality

4: a brilliant, extreme, or egregious example or instance <that mistake was a beauty>

You can also try Googling 'beautiful' or 'aesthetic' 

Titles:

1: Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall
2: Pretty as a Picture
3: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
4: Everything is beautiful in its own way.
5: A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Quotes:
1: Be careless in your dress if you will, but keep a tidy soul. (Mark Twain)
2: Beauty changes with the passing seasons except in the heart where the true beauty remains. (Unknown)
3: Don't worry about wrinkles, they're just antique smiles. (Unknown)
4: Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. (Confucius)
5: I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful. (Unknown)
6: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye. (from The Little Prince)
7: That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful. (Ninon De L'Enclos)
8: To me, fair friend, you never can be old. For as you were when first your eye I eyed. Such seems your beauty still. (William Shakespeare)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Inside-Self by Rachel Field

My Inside-Self and my Outside-Self
Are different as can be.
My Outside-self wears gingham smocks,
And very round is she,
With freckles sprinkled on her nose,
And smoothly parted hair,
And clumsy feet that cannot dance
In heavy shoes and square.

But, oh, my little Inside-Self
In gown of misty rose.
She dances lighter than a leaf
On blithe and twinkling toes.
Her hair is blowing gold, and if
You chanced her face to see,
You would not think she could belong
to staid and sober me!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please Look a Little Deeper

Please don't judge me by my face.
By my religion or my race.
Please don't laugh at what I wear.
Or how I look or do my hair.
Please look a little deeper--
Way down deep inside.
And although you may not see it.
I have a lot to hide.
Behind my clothes the secrets lie.
Behind my smile, I softly cry.
Please look a little deeper.
And maybe you will see,
The lonely little girl
That lives inside of me.
Please listen carefully to her--
She'll show that she's insecure.
Please try to be a friend to her
And show her that you care.
Please just get to know her
And maybe you will see
That if you just look deep enough.
You'll find the real me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you have fun doing this challenge.

REMEMBER: Art Journaling is not about the beginning or the end. It is all about the process. The Journey!

And if you feel up to it, please share pictures of your art journal pages at our Flickr gallery HERE

ATTENTION MEMBERS: Challenge Suggestions

Hi Friends
So I am sitting here this afternoon working on getting some challenge up for you and it hit me that maybe I should ask you what YOU want to do.

Are there any specific words you would like to work with in our Word Challenge (the one for digital members) or maybe there is something specific you would like to try out in the hands-on section. Please let me know.

Makes me happy when you are happy, so let me know what YOU want out of the challenges.

Also, be sure to take a look in the Flickr Gallery. Our wonderful members (YOU) have uploaded some AWESOME pages. Great inspiration for the rest of us!

ATTENTION MEMBERS: Download Links

Please do NOT share the download links with non-members. I have noticed lately that I have many more people downloading than I have members. This is not good.

Of course this could be a glitch from Box, and I just don't know. I will contact Box and inquire about this to see of they can clear it up.

If they can't I only have 2 other solutions:
   1: get a paid account with Box so I can track who downloads. I don't want to do this because it will cost me a lot to do and I just can not afford that.
   2: I can start issuing coupons to the store so I can see who downloads through there. I really dont want to do that because it is just such a hassle for you.

So I ask that you please keep in mind that these "FREE" downloads are included in YOUR membership ONLY, so no sharing of links or files. If you have friends who are interested in my products, they can purchase a membership, or purchase the products individually in my store : Twisted Scrapper Boutique

Thank you for reading!

Challenge - Sun

Sun - Monsoon has just started for us here in AZ. A little later than usual, and a lot more needed than usual. It has been so hot and dry here this year, and with the very low snow levels last winter, we really need the rain. Yeah, I don't live in the desert, so we do get snow in the winter LOL. Anyway, we love the sun, and we still get a lot of it in between the rain showers. You can do so many thing outside in the sun. Activities with the kids, hiking, camping, playing. Or just hang out, and maybe do some art journaling. Do you love the sun? Or maybe you don't? Or perhaps the sun means something entirely different than just summer and fun to you? Could be it symbolizes a time of happiness in your life? Does it represent the person you are now compared to a darker period growing up, your youth? Try thinking past just the summer and fun and see if maybe there is a different meaning.

In this challenge I would like you to make a page

1: your relationship with the sun or what the sun means to you
-or-

2: using a quote or poem as your inspiration.
Feel free to read through the quotes, poetry, etc, below to use as your inspiration.

Sun [link to wikipedia]

Sun - definitions:

1

  a: the luminous celestial body around which the earth and other planets revolve, from which they receive heat and light, which is composed mainly of hydrogen and helium, and which has a mean distance from earth of about 93,000,000 miles (150,000,000 kilometers), a linear diameter of 864,000 miles (1,390,000 kilometers), and a mass 332,000 times greater than earth.

  b: a celestial body like the sun : star

2

      the heat or light radiated from the sun <played in the sun all day>

3

      one resembling the sun (as in warmth or brilliance)

4

      the rising or setting of the sun <from sun to sun>

5

      glory, splendor

— in the sun

      in the public eye

— under the sun

      in the world : on earth

Titles:

1: The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow
2: New Sun Rising
3: Follow the Sunshine
4: Let There Be Light
5: Looking for the Sunshine
Quotes:
1: At first a small line of inconceivable splendour emerged on the horizon, which, quickly expanding, the sun appeared in all of his glory, unveiling the whole face of nature, vivifying every color of the landscape, and sprinkling the dewy earth with glittering light. (Ann Radcliffe)
2: Keep your face toward the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind you. (Unknown)
3: Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves. (James M. Barrie)
4: Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling. (Walt Whitman)
5: The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do. (Galileo)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Sun by John Drinkwater

I told the sun that I was glad,
I'm sure I don't know why;
Somehow the pleasant way he had
Of shining in the sky,
Just put a notion in my head
That wouldn't it be fun.
If, walking on the hill, I said
"I'm happy" to the sun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunrise by Pollyanna Sedziol

This
is the only gold
I'll ever possess . . .
I treasure it,
counting its glory
each dawn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope you have fun doing this challenge.

REMEMBER: Art Journaling is not about the beginning or the end. It is all about the process. The Journey!

And if you feel up to it, please share pictures of your art journal pages at our Flickr gallery HERE

ATTENTION MEMBERS: Membership expires soon!

Some of you have memberships (free and/or paid for) that expires today or very soon. If your membership expires today, you will lose access to the blog and gallery by tomorrow morning. You can however extend your membership for another month for just $4 or for a whole year for just $15.

You can extend for 1 Month [HERE]
-or-
You can extend for 1 Year [HERE]

Thank you!

Due to last weeks "vacation" I have extended your 1 month memberships by one week. This is only for those who have purchased 1 month memberships, not 1 year memberships.

Challenge - Week 08

Another week, and another super easy, but totally awesome challenge/exercise. This week I would like you to make your own journal fodder and use it in your journal.
This weeks member download was a pack of doodle flowers. That is kinda what we will be doing today, except these will be a lot easier to make. I promise they will take you less than 5 minutes.

Grab a piece of paper. You can use anything you like. Sometimes I use watercolor paper or heavy duty card stock. But you can also use scrapbook paper or just regular printer paper. It really depends on what medium you plan to use on the paper to color them.
In the below sample I used various makers, watercolor pencils and crayons. Just really a mix of making tools that I had on hand. For those flowers I just used regular printer paper.

Now find yourself a good black maker. Again, the type, depends on what you plan on using to color the flowers afterwards. I did use some watercolor products on my flowers, but since I did not use a whole lot of water I didnt worry too much about the black maker smearing. I used a Sharpie poster-paint marker (water based).

Use your chosen marker to draw doodle flowers all over your page. Dont worry about details too much as you will be painting over it and your probably wont even see the black maker on your finished page.

Cut out the flowers. Just use a scissor and dont worry about being perfect.

You should now have a handful of various sizes and types of doodle flowers.

They are now ready to glue on to your art journal page. I would use a liquid glue, like Mod Podge, then use a plastic card to scrape over to make sure you dont have any bubbles. Let dry completely.

It is now time to add color to your flowers. Use anything you like. Paints, makers, ink, crayons, etc. Anything you like.

This is my finished page. I used all sorts of makers, crayons, paints, etc. Mostly I used Elmer's paint pens and glaze pens from Sakura. Just use your imagination and have some fun. And remember if you don't like your result, then just paint over it again. 

My page above was inspired by Traci Bautista's work, but the idea of using doodle flowers as fodder goes back to the good ol' scrapbooking days. You can use the flowers for all sorts of things in your journals. Clusters, edges, scattered elements. You can paint/color them before or after you glue them onto your page. The possibilities are endless. It is just a nice cheap way of getting some extra fodder on your page without spending money on finished elements, or printing.

REMEMBER: Art Journaling is not about the beginning or the end. It is all about the process.

Have Fun!

And if you do feel up to it, please share pages at our Flickr gallery HERE

White Page, No More!

A few months ago I splurged and spend way too much money on a journal. I think buying that journal was the last straw. The price tag said $70 for this tiny 5x7 inches journal. I bartered a little with the seller and got the price down to $50. Yes I really liked the journal.

So I get the journal in the mail and it is just so pretty. The cover is gorgeous and the pages are all so pretty white. How am I supposed to start splattering paint in this pretty book? I just couldn't do it. It was sitting here on my desk with it pretty cover and white pages, just mocking me. I couldn't do it!
Then one day I needed to test the pigments in some watercolor pencils and I just grabbed the book, opened to a random page and started making little colored squares. I thought for sure that I had gotten past my "white page block". No, I still couldnt get started. Now I had a pretty book, with pretty white pages, plus one page with neatly drawn colored squares. A couple more months went by and I decided that I just couldn't let the book just collect dust. So I took it out, and just started gluing collage pieces in. It felt really good. And then I started adding color. Felt even better. And then I needed to test a few products, so I did that in the book too. It has sort of become my test book. Who would have thought that a $50 book would become my go to book for testing art supplies.
I am posting some pages below for you to see. It is just to get past those white page. Maybe you have a book you want to journal in but just can't. Try using it to test your paints, colors, markers, and glue. Now I really think this book has become an ART journal. Finally!

On these pages I tested come gouache colors. The left side was done several days prior to the right side. The right side I was trying to see what effect alcohol had on gouache.

Left over collage pieces from another project. Instead of putting them away, or tossing them, I just decided to add them to my "test journal".

Left side is Inktense, and a stencil I had just found and wanted to test. The right side is more gouache colors.

Here I had bought a set of colored tinting pigment and wanted to test the intensity of the color. I used a glass nib to write with the pigment tint. And then there was a ticket left over from another project.
This page will most definitely be painted over at some point, but it is fun knowing what is below all the layers.

The right side is actually a finished journal page. Amazingly, I do have several finished pages now in this journal.
The left side is the one that got me started. It is the page with all the pretty colored squares. Yeah you can't tell, but they are down there. After I finally got started adding color to the book I painted over the squares with water color. Not a great idea, cause the squares were watercolor pencils. So the colors started turning to mud. So I added some collage pieces from some old books. Then some gouache color. Now the colors are just mud. I painted over with a little blue acrylic, and then scraped white paint (gesso) on with a plastic card. It is now completely ready to be made into an art journal page.

More watercolors and markers.

The left side: I tested some black ink, then I added left over collage pieces. Then I was testing two different yellow acrylics. (Found that neither of them was what I was looking for). Then I added some paint scratches using acrylic paint on the edge of a plastic card. And last I had some white paint on a homemade stamp and is stead of wiping it off I decided to use it here.
The right side: Testing the same two yellows when painted on top of green.
Both pages are ready to be used for art journal pages. Either as is, or painted over ... again.

More paint testing and left over stamp colors. This one I painted blue and orange acrylic, then yellow gouache.

Left over collage pieces. Then some tan gouache color and then testing homemade stamps.

This is the page I am working on now.

This was the first page I finished in this journal after I started adding color. I love that bird template.

So as you can see I got past my "fear" of white pages. At least in this journal. I do have a couple of other journals that are still full of white. But I have also decided not to ever again spend so much money on a journal. First of all, it is not about what the journal looks like. You can just a simple journal and then add your own color to the cover, or you can use lose leaf paper and add them to a simple ring binder. It is never about the journal, but it is all about the journey to get where you want the pages to take you.

Challenge - Unique

Unique - Be You! Be Yourself! I think we have all been told this a few times in our lives. But I think that even if we WANT to be unique there is always a little of someone else in us. Maybe we are a little like our parents, or grandparents. Or maybe we had a favorite teacher and wanted to grow up and be just like him/her. Or maybe we wanted to grow up and be NOTHING like anyone we knew. Who are YOU? Are you who YOU want to be? Do you want to change? Why? Are you as UNIQUE as you WANT to be?
In this challenge I would like you to make a page
1: about who you see when looking in a mirror

-or-

2: using a quote or poem as inspiration.

-or-

3: about how you think others see you. Are they right or wrong?

Feel free to read through the quotes, poetry, etc, below to use as your inspiration.

Unique - definitions:

1: being the only one : sole 

2:

   a : being without a like or equal : unequaled 

   b : distinctively characteristic : peculiar 

3: unusual

Titles:

1: Be careful. Be kind. Be yourself.
2: Be yourself. Who else is better qualified?
3: I meander to a different drummer.
4: Know thyself!
5: Be You-nique

Quotes:
1: Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads. (Erica Jong)
2: Figuring out who you are is the whole point of the human experience. (Anna Quindlen)
3: I cling to my imperfection, as the very essence of my being. (Anatole France)
4: It is never too late to be what you might have been. (George Eliot)
5: It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not. (Andre Gide)
6: Other people's opinion of you does not have to become your reality. (Les Brown)
7: Saying no can be the ultimate self-care. (Claudia Black)
8: We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. (Anaïs Nin)
9: Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself to others. It is because we are different that each of us is special. Don't set your goals by what other people deem important, only know what is best for you. (Ken Lewis)
10: If both of us were the same, one of us would be unnecessary. (Unknown)
11: It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. (Herman Melville)
12: The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself. (Rita Mae Brown)

There are so many fantastic quotes on this subject. If you would like to explore others than those I have listed, try looking up "quotes unique" or "quotes conformity".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Be Yourself by Bruce B. Wilmer

The world would like to change you;
There are pressures all around.
You must decide just who you are,
Then firmly hold your ground.

You have an image of yourself,
An ideal sense of you;
And to this vision you must always
Struggle to be true.

You know what you are good at,
And you know where talents lie;
But if you're ruled by others,
Your uniqueness could pass by.

Remember, there is much to learn;
But all new things aren't good.
Wisdom lies in what we learned,
And what we have withstood.

So, be yourself and don't allow
The world to take control.
Preserving your identity,
Is life's most precious goal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everybody Says by Dorothy Aldis

Everybody says
I look just like my mother.
Everybody says
I'm the image of Aunt Bee.
Everybody says
My nose is like my father's,
But I want to look like me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I found this little tidbit online. I dont know who wrote it, or who it is written about, but I liked it a lot.

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he continued, "what if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants this $20?" Still the hands went into the air.
"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.
"Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value: dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who love you."
The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE.
You are special. Don't ever forget it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you have fun doing this challenge.

REMEMBER: Art Journaling is not about the beginning or the end. It is all about the process. The Journey!

And if you feel up to it, please share pictures of your art journal pages at our Flickr gallery HERE

Challenge - Week 07

NOTE: I changed the number of the challenges so they will match the number of the member downloads. Just to make it easier on me. So there is no #6.

This weeks challenge is a super easy one.

Yesterday I shared some buildings in the weekly member download, so this week for the challenge I would like you to use them. Or use other buildings. If you do hands-on journaling you can print the ones I provides, cut out your own, or just draw or paint some. If you are doing this exercise digitally, you can use the ones from the download, or others you might already have.
I want you to use the buildings as a focal point on your page. Maybe they symbolize something, or maybe they are accompanying a quote or a poem. It is up to you. Just have fun using the buildings.

REMEMBER: Art Journaling is not about the beginning or the end. It is all about the process.

Have Fun!

And if you do feel up to it, please share pages at our Flickr gallery HERE

SAMPLE:



This is a VERY simple page I just made. Took me less than 5 minutes from start to finish. I chose a page in my journal that already had some color on it (green page from last weeks challenge). I cut 2 buildings and 2 rooftops out of an old dictionary. Glued them onto my painted background. Then I added some gesso that I scraped on with a plastic card. I dried it with my hair dryer. Then I highlighted the edges of the buildings and rooftops with black coloring pencil. Wrote the word "Empty", and Done!.

I didn't put much thought into this one. And I had not planned on stopping when I did. But when I saw those empty buildings I just didn't feel like I had to add any more. Sometimes, less is more.

This is one of the reasons I like to just add color to my art journal pages. That way they are there when I need them. I usually make backgrounds when I feel a block. Usually it will get me out of the funk.

ATTENTION MEMBERS: Membership expires soon!

Some of you have memberships (free and/or paid for) that expires today or very soon. If your membership expires today, you will lose access to the blog and gallery by tomorrow morning. You can however extend your membership for another month for just $2 (sale valid through July 5th) or for a whole year for just $15.

You can extend for 1 Month [HERE]
-or-
You can extend for 1 Year [HERE]

Thank you!

ATTENTION MEMBERS: Sale

I wanted to let you know that I am having a sale at Twisted Scrapper Boutique.

ALL products (except 1 year memberships and services) are 50% OFF.

And if you are lucky enough to still have some of your AJfL coupons you can apply those too! Meaning you can get 50% OFF, and then apply your coupon to get an additional 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, or 25%.
Remember your coupons can be used once each, but there are no limit to how many products you can have in your cart.
So if you have 10 products in your cart you will get the discount on ALL 10 products, not just one of the product.


Now's the time to stock up! Valid through July 5th.