A Take-Along Journal

I'm going to a health retreat this weekend and I decided that I needed a little journal to bring with me.

Last year at the same retreat I filled many pages of my main journal with musings. This year I want a separate journal for this weekend only.

I started by choosing a hardcover book cover that I'd already stripped for its pages (for other collage projects). I sliced along the spine so that I got three separate pieces. I'll use the spine in another project, but for this one I just need the two covers. 

The inside covers are totally adorable, so I'll be keeping those intact instead of collaging over them. 

Then I picked out some nice Spring-y papers to put into the journal and cut them down to size - just slightly under the size of the cover.

Then I put the pages through my binding machine. I chose a half inch wire coil binding for this little journal. 

The end result is a great little note book that measures 4.5 by 6 inches. It`ll be perfect for jotting down musings, sketches and thoughts while I`m away this weekend.

The Giveaway is Almost Finished!

The deadline is this Saturday, March 31st at midnight, PST!






There are THREE prizes!!

The grand prize:

A hand-built art journal

TWO runner-up prizes!

- a Mixed Media Learning Package to give to a friend
- a typewriter text 30-word package where YOU choose the words (as seen here in my etsy shop) sent right to your door. 


There are three ways to enter:
1. Share this blog post on your own website or blog, then post a link in today's comments to show me and to share your blog with the other artists who read Musings On Realities!


2. Buy a Learning Package and Pay What You Want. If you purchase the package before March 31, you will automatically be entered. 


3. Visit my etsy shop, then email me and tell me what words you would choose for this item in my shop. 

Do all three and enter three times! 

Contest closes March 31st, 2012.  

:)

Good luck!

WIWO Wednesday - The Response So Far...

The response so far to the Pay What You Want Learning Package has been incredible! 


I am so happy that you feel the same way that I do about art. 

The Learning Package includes:
- two videos
- collage sheets
- original artwork
- typewritten words for you to use in your art
- coupons for cheap art
- a fantastically easy way to gain access





I love art, and I think you do too. The fact that I can help you make art makes me so so so so so happy!

I wish that artists would make their workshops more affordable so that more people could share their enthusiasm and love for art. 

So that's what I'm doing. 


Pay What You Want. (click here)

On The Wall!

I've finished my cardboard, mixed media shelving unit!

Here is another photo from yesterday's post of a close-up of the corner. See the great detail and texture?!

And here it is on the wall! Doesn't it look fanTAStic?!

You can see that it is a great size for displaying little knick-knacks. I'm so excited to fill it!!

The techniques that I used on this are from the Pay What You Want Learning Package. You can see exactly how I achieved these great depths of detail and then do the same thing yourself on a piece of art or on something for the decor of your house!


The PWYW Learning Package is available here!

For your next DIY project, try finding some current Lowes promos for possible savings on supplies.

My Shelving Unit - In the Works...

Remember this Duracell display box?

Here it is with a coat of primer...

And here it is today!

Looking good, right??

I'm not sure that I like the brown ink spatters under the tissue paper. I'm secretly hoping that they will disappear as the tissue paper dries and becomes more opaque. 

A close-up of an edge/corner. I did a paint/ink wash over the edges to make them stand out...

And here are my accomplices: light blue tissue paper, Adirondack Spray Ink in Espresso, dollar store white glue, dollar store acrylic paint. 

It's really gaining shape and definitely taking on a personality of its own. 

I think that it will be used for displaying a collection of little toys that I have...

Have You Entered The Giveaway Yet?

I love art, and I think you do too. 


The fact that I can help you make art makes my heart swell and my eyes brighten. 


I will truly feel fulfilled knowing that you want to share your art-making experience with me.  


Read yesterday's blog post (March 22) and find out more about sharing art creation.
_____________________________________________________



The Giveaway


There are THREE prizes!!

The grand prize:

A hand-built art journal which retails for $15 in my etsy shop 

TWO runner-up prizes!

- a Mixed Media Learning Package to give to a friend
- a typewriter text 30-word package where YOU choose the words (as seen here in my etsy shop) sent right to your door. 


There are three ways to enter:
1. Share this blog post on your own website or blog, then post a link in the comments to show me and to share your blog with the other artists who read Musings On Realities!


2. Buy a Learning Package and Pay What You Want. If you purchase the package before March 31, you will automatically be entered. 


3. Visit my etsy shop, then email me and tell me what words you would choose for this item in my shop. 

Do all three and enter three times! 

Contest closes March 31st, 2012.  

:)

Good luck!

Pay What You Want! (And a Giveaway!)

Remember these?

They're on etsy, but why buy from me when you can...

make 

      your 

            own!

        

Today I want to give you an opportunity to learn some mixed media techniques. 

In particular, these are the techniques that I use when doing my bird artwork that you may have seen on etsy. The photos above show an idea of what you will learn.
_______________________________________
In this package, you will receive:
- Two videos featuring two different techniques on creating the backgrounds that you see above. The videos total 23 minutes and are narrated as well as captioned as some of my artist friends are hearing-impaired. The videos show the tools that I use, the techniques, the materials (including some tips for sourcing out cheap alternatives!) and the media.

- 45 words and phrases directly from my typewriter - scanned in at a high resolution so that you can use them at any size in any of your artwork.

- 15 of my favourite birds on one sheet (I've cut and pasted all fifteen of them to one sheet and scanned them in at a very high resolution so that you can use them in a large or small format in any of your artwork!)

- A high-quality jpg of the "Two Fish" piece from my Teesha Moore inspired 16-Page Book (original artwork!). You can use it as art inspiration, or slice it up to make a piece of your own!

- A coupon to buy anything in my etsy shop at half price - forever. (I make jewelry too, and will be posting my new line this summer!)
______________________________________

I know that you are already excited so let's get to the nitty gritty!

How much is it?

The price is easy. 

Pay what you want. 

You now know what you'll be getting, so pay what you can afford!

Does that make you feel uncomfortable?

Please don't let it. I'm honestly and truly happy to offer you this package and as long as you pay something (even just a few dollars!), then I'm THRILLED to share it with you.

I'm a newlywed with a starter home - I know how hard it is to make ends meet. I RARELY purchase workshop packages or web tutorials because I just can't afford them! I would never spend more than $15-20 for an intangible tutorial/workshop, and I don't think that you should either.


Please Note:

Your "Pay What You Want"  purchase is set up through PayPal as a donation since you will enter whatever amount you like. Please be assured that although the button says "Donate," you will indeed be receiving all of the items in the Learning Package as listed above via email from me within 24 hours of your payment. 

 

Go ahead - do it!

Love it!

Make art!

"But won't you be insulted if I only pay a few dollars?"

Nope. I'll be SO happy to share this with you and so glad that you spent a few dollars on the package!

I will be ecstatic to send you the links and the rest of the perks and might even bug you to see what you make after going through the processes!

I love art, and I think you do too. The fact that I can help you make art makes my heart swell and my eyes brighten. I will truly feel great seeing that you want to share your art-making experience with me.

I wish that artists would make their workshops more affordable so that more people could share their enthusiasm and love for art. 

So that's what I'm doing. 

Affordable tutorials, plus some other perks. 

For a price that you can afford.

Once I receive an email from PayPal notifying me of of your purchase, I will email you links to the videos, plus the files and other perks that I've listed above. The files are fairly large so that you can use them at any scale; please ensure that you clarify which email address you'd like the files sent to.


Go ahead. Pay what you want. 

PLEASE NOTE: Your "Pay What You Want" price is set up through PayPal as a Donation since you will enter whatever amount you like. Please be assured that although the button says "Donate," you will indeed be receiving all of the items in the Learning Package as listed above via email from me within 24 hours of your payment. 

_____________________________________________________


The Giveaway


What is a new Learning Package without a Giveaway?!


There are THREE prizes!!

The grand prize:

A hand-built art journal which retails for $15 in my etsy shop 

TWO runner-up prizes!

- a Mixed Media Learning Package to give to a friend
- a typewriter text 30-word package where YOU choose the words (as seen here in my etsy shop) sent right to your door. 


There are three ways to enter:
1. Share this blog post on your own website or blog, then post a link in today's comments to show me and to share your blog with the other artists who read Musings On Realities!


2. Buy a Learning Package and Pay What You Want. If you purchase the package before March 31, you will automatically be entered. 


3. Visit my etsy shop, then email me and tell me what words you would choose for this item in my shop. 

Do all three and enter three times! 

Contest closes March 31st, 2012.  

:)

Good luck!

I'm Getting Ready for A Giveaway!

On Thursday I will be sharing a new Learning Package/Tutorial with you and offering a new giveaway! 

I'm so excited that I have to give you a sneak peek at the best part of this new learning package:

Pay what you want. 

let me say it again. 

Pay. What. You. Want.  

On Thursday I'm going to give you a list of all of the things that I'm including in the package. 

You'll know then what you'll be getting, so pay what you can afford!

Does that make you feel uncomfortable?

Please don't let it. I'm honestly and truly happy to offer you this package and as long as you pay something (even just a few dollars!), then I'm THRILLED to share it with you.

I'm a newlywed with a starter home - I know how hard it is to make ends meet. I RARELY purchase workshop packages or web tutorials because I just can't afford them! I would never spend more than $20 for an intangible tutorial/workshop, and I don't think that you should either. If I were forced to put a price on this, considering my cheap - ahem, thrifty - ways, I would price it at $10-15. That's a steal compared to other sessions I've seen on the internet, but let's be honest - you're the one doing the work once you've bought the package, right? 

I wish that artists would make their workshops more affordable so that more people could share their enthusiasm and love for art. 

So that's what I'm doing. 

Affordable tutorials, plus some other perks. 

Pay. What. You. Want.   

See you Thursday!

Coming Up = Upcoming

There are some big things in the works, my lovelies. I will soon have an AWESOME creative offering for you.

I'm working on it right now and hope to have it ready for you before the end of the week.

I'm trying to come up with a catchy name and gathering the last few items for a giveaway!!

If I miss a day of blogging in the meantime, please forgive me.

This new prize - I promise you - will be worth it!

30 - 60 - 100

My measurements? No, that'd be crazy!

Those are the amounts of typewriter words that I have in separate listings in my etsy store.

Ive already had two order for tyepwritten words. I'm so glad. I love the look of typewriter printing, and I think you can only get the real thing by using the real thing! :) 

I have a baby blue vintage typewriter that is one of my most prized possessions for art journalling and mixed media. 

WIWO Wednesday - It's What I'm Working On.

Today I'm working on my tan. In Las Vegas. I promise to have a more interesting WIWO next week :)

Here is where I am this week.

Shhhhhhh....

This is a mixed media piece that I've made as a gift for my brother-in-law for this birthday this month. He collects great contemporary art, and I think this piece will really appeal to him.

It might just be my favourite piece of all time.

I LOVE how the colours look together and how the film adds to it. I also love using these little square canvasses on top of other canvases to give a painting a different dimension.

What do you think?

The cutting is from a book that I've used in the past. I love its descriptive detail, and the part about the vacuum cleaner just seems so random. 

Again with the texture. I love how it gives this piece depth. 



How to Add an Etsy Store to Your Blog (in Blogger)

A quick tutorial on how to help your readers see your items for sale without forcing them to leave your lovely blog.

Part one - etsy

• Login to your Etsy Account

• Then click on Your Shop (at the top of the page).

• Scroll down and click on Etsy Mini on the left sidebar.

• Follow the steps on etsy to pull listings from your favourites or from your shop.
• Then show Thumbnails.
• Then choose the layout that you want on your blog. I tried this a few different ways before I found the layout that I wanted. I ended up choosing 2 columns by 3 rows.

• In the box, you will see the HTML code that you need to copy and paste into your blog.

Part two - Blogger

• Login and click on Dashboard.

• Click on design.

• Go to your sidebar and choose Add a Gadget.

• Choose the HTML/JavaScript option

• For Title, write something clear for your readers. I put “My Etsy Shop.”

• In the Contents box, paste in the HTML code from Etsy.

• Drag and drop this new gadget so that it appears where you want it to. As you can see, mine is towards the top of my sidebar, right under my contact information.
• Save this, then click on view blog. If you want to change your columns and rows at this time, go back to etsy and repeat all these steps.

Voila! Now you have some of your etsy store items right on your blog! :)

Thanks for reading!

New Art Pieces! :D

I've been working hard on a video package for you, lovelies!!

It's really going to be quite a great set of tools - I'm REALLY excited to be able to bring this to you. Watch for it next week.

In the meantime, I have made two new mixed media pieces. They both use a blue background with varying levels of brown ink over top.

Tell me what you think of them!

The tutorial package coming out next week will feature these two pieces.



Mixed Media on Wooden Artist Panel. 6" x 6" x 1.5"



"We have to jump before we can fly" (Chickadee)



 

"We have to jump before we can fly"





Mixed Media on Wooden Artist Panel 6" x 6" x 1.5"



Both of these items are available in my etsy shop, but I have a feeling that they'll go quickly so go ahead and "jump" on it!!

Insert Coins

I'm at a bar in downtown Vegas that is FULL of video games. My husband is in nerd heaven!! The great thing is that there is a real DJ spinning records, so all is not lost for me. Plus, I have you, my lovelies, to write to and share this experience with.

It seems that I can't add captions to photos on my mobile device but I have to tell you about the photo below with all of the televisions. This bar is set up like a sports bar except that all the TVs are linked up to game consoles. All of those TVs are being played by people with game controllers. I've never seen anything like it! Although I'm not a gamer myself, I can totally appreciate the culture and associated nerds. I am a big nerd-lover, so anything that brings me closer to that wins in my books!

Also, I should emphasize that I'm blogging from a bar in Vegas. If that doesn't say nerd, then I don't know what does!!

There are probably promo codes for saving money on your next trip to Vegas.

New Specs!

I'm not usually one to promote companies, but I have to say that I'm pretty happy with Clearly Contacts. They are a Canadian-based company who offer all sorts of optical products, and they always have some sort of promotion going, whether it's free shipping or crazy-awesome sale prices.

I recently ordered a new pair of glasses for less than $100 and they showed up on my doorstep within 3 days. Now THAT'S great service.

Also, their prices are pretty great considering I have really poor eyesight (-6.00) and was able to get the thinner lenses for that price.

What do you think of my new glasses?



Aren't the little wings just the BEST? :)

If you love these particular frames, they are made by Derek Cardigan and are described as Green Tortoiseshell although there is no green to be found. 



Doesn't This Look Juicy?!

Just came across this online workshop from Joanne Sharpe.

There are a million and one online workshops out there from artists.

I rarely take them and hardly ever promote them.

But this one looks REALLY awesome...

Are you taking it? I think I'd be more inclined to take it if I knew that some of you were taking it too. Then we could compare notes and chat about it (informally).

Let me know :)

NEW INFO (updated March 8 at 3:30 PST):

*online class goes live April 9, 2012*


*25 alphabets in

*25 video lessons with

*25 printable reference pdfs

*FOREVER ACCESS CLASS*

*5 weeks April 9-May 11, 2012

$35

WIWO Wednesday - It's What I'm Working On.

This week I'm working on SO MANY THINGS!

More to come in upcoming posts, but in the meantime, I thought I would take this opportunity to show you a new idea that I've listed on etsy.

I have a LOVELY vintage, baby blue typewriter that is probably one of the five things I'd grab if there was ever a fire in my house. No, really.

Here she is in all her glory:

Isn't she beautiful?

Back to etsy.

When I first started creating mixed media art, I was always on the lookout for cool fonts. I LOVE text in art and especially when there are unique fonts.

Let's face it: typewriter fonts are everywhere. You can use Courier in your MS Office documents, and you can download others from font websites.

But do your fonts have random ink splatters that add to their appeal?

Do your fonts actually imprint into the page because of the impact of the typewriter keys?

Didn't think so.

Starting this week, I'm offering up my typewriter for you to use. Well, sorta.

These two etsy listings will give you up to 30 words or up to 100 words delivered to your door. That's right, shipping is included in these listings.

So go ahead! Send me something to type out for you.

Make your art AWESOME with REAL typewritten words.

New Journals! I've Been BUSY! :)

Hello lovelies!

If YOU want to get into art journalling or if you're just looking for a new place to be creative in words or in art, then check out my new journals in my etsy shop.

I've made 12 journals using different paper cut into different sizes. They're bound together with a metal coil binding and sandwiched between two pieces of ultra heavy chipboard.

These journals are a dream, my lovelies - and I can be honest with you since I'm a journal-a-holic. I have at least 10 unopened journals that are ready to be filled. But sometimes I want something a little more awesome.

Some of the journals may include:
- graphing paper
- overhead acetate
- regular white printer paper
- Artists' papers from Strathmore
- accounting entry paper
- coloured paper
- cardstock in many colours
- book pages (for this set of 12 I used "The Secret Garden")
- maps
- scrapbooking paper


These books are specially designed to be added to. Specifically, they are about 3/4 full of paper in terms of what the coil binding will allow. This means that you can add your own items to the pages and not stress the binding. For example, you can add your own cards, photos, or other bits of papers to the existing pages. The book will still lay flat when closed instead of splaying open (as seen in one of the photos).

So check out these samples of some of the spreads you'll find in the journals and drool away. Then hop on over to the listing on etsy to find out how you can treat yourself to one.

The covers are plain black - ready for you to customize!

  

 The journals are about 3/4 full of paper in terms of what the coil binding will allow.
This means that you can add your own items to the pages and not stress the binding.