and breathe...

I'm taking a few days off of blogging to concentrate on my art.

I have two large projects going on at the moment and I was thinking that I could use some of my blogging time to create!!! :)

I do have a couple of things that I will share with you this week, but please please please don't be too hard on me if I don't blog every day! :)

Thanks, lovelies!!

I've Been Nominated for an Award!

I'm so honoured to be given this award - the Versatile Blogger Award. I was nominated by Pippa at Pippa Passes By. It is so exciting for me to be given this award since I've only been blogging since last Fall and have been working SO hard! Thanks so much Pippa! And thanks to The Versatile Blogger! 

Here are the rules: If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

• Thank the person who gave you this award, that’s common courtesy.
• Include a link to their blog, that’s also common courtesy.
• Next, select 5 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
• Nominate those 5 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.
• Finally, list 7 things about yourself.

Here are my nominations (I hope you go visit them!)

1. Mary Ann Moss over @ Dispatch from LA, an amazing blog that I read every day! I love her spunky attitude and her art journaling. 
2. Debra Cooper over @ A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk, who inspires me to do collaborative art!
3. Diana Trout over @ Diana Trout's Blog, an amazing artist and author of Journal Spilling - a favourite book.
4. Violette over @ Violette's Creative Juice, a blogger, artist and author of Journal Bliss, another favourite read.
5. Annabel over @ Deux Ailes Pour Voler (Two Wings For Flying) an amazingly talented artist who makes me laugh with her enthusiasm and makes me oooooh and ahhhhh over her mixed media work.

My list of seven things about me.

1. I'm a high school teacher of French and Art - my favourite ages to teach are 13 and 17. 
2. I still consider myself a newlywed although we've been married almost two years. I am so greatly and deeply in love with my soulmate, John.
3. I'm hooked on blogging, Facebook, and sharing art through other online venues.
4. I have a small art studio in the attic with a window facing North. When I'm in there, I feel at peace.
5. I love to read! My favourite book of all time is Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
6. I am also a music junkie - my five favourite bands are Radiohead, Aphex Twin, Badly Drawn Boy, the Smiths, and Joy Division (all from the UK, funnily enough, since I'm Canadian!)
7. My biggest dream is to have a baby and raise him/her at home while doing art and blogging to pay the bills!

What is an Artist?

I need to get a few things off my chest.

Last weekend I was at a health retreat, and while I was there I built and filled up an art journal. I showed a lot of it to you yesterday.

While I was working away and listening to the presentation that were going on around me, I felt others watching my work and looking at what I was creating. This happens often when I create in public and I like it.

Over the course of the weekend, a couple of people came up to me and complimented me on my work.

I was of course thrilled to receive compliments, and endeared by their thoughts, but some of their words upset me greatly.

One woman said "oh, I'm a scrapbooker too!"

A scrapbooker.

The word itself makes me shudder.

When I think of scrapbooking, this is what I envision:

a carefully planned, neatly displayed collection of precisely cut items that are highlighted with precut lettering and adorned with stick-on embellishments.

I don't mean to offend the scrapbookers of the world. I can definitely respect the ability to choose like elements and place them carefully together to create a cohesive presentation.

I, however, despise the craft of scrapbooking. I don't believe that it is art. I can concede that it is a type of craft, but I see it as being far from the realm of art.  

To be called a scrapbooker is like reading the latest novel almost to the end and then realising that the last chapter has been torn out. Or like spending all day cooking an elaborate meal for your spouse and having them arrive home after stopping at a drive-thru for dinner.

It's not ME. It's anticlimactic and maddening. What I create is so different. I got my back up right away and

became defensive and borderline snotty.

I love my art. Mixed media can include scrapbooking supplies, but includes so much more. paint, gesso, inks, fabrics, threads, ephemera and pretty much any other medium that I can get my hands on at a given moment.

The complete lack of consciousness and depth of self that I achieve when I am in my work - This is what I love about mixed media.

I would LOVE to hear your reaction to this post, and your thoughts on the two different types of creation.

Also, if you care to have a friendly "discussion," about the "art" of scrapbooking, please feel free to email me! I love to engage in banter and I may be ignorant to something that you know very thoroughly!

Another Handmade Journal!

Just a few shots at another journal that I'm currently filling.

It's only about 16 (maybe 18?) pages long, but I've been having SO much fun creating it, building it, and altering it!

Washi tape and a wavy border add to the overall whimsy...

A bit blurry, but I love the effect of the "grass" that I cut into the edge of this page!

So many layers here! The heart tab, wavy border, and washi tape are so fun here, and really add to the creativity of the book.

A little library pocket on the second-to-last page can hold little messages...And notice that some of the pages have flaps that fold open to extend the page.

Some detail on the back cover (goes over to the front cover too). I tied it together very simply with some colourful embroidery floss.

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

I feel like a Decor Diva!

This past weekend I decided to wallpaper a backsplash in our kitchen.

I'm TOTALLY kicking myself that I didn't take a before photo...

But here it is after!

It matches perfectly with the original 50s cabinetry and new stainless steel appliances.

It's vintage foil wallpaper that a friend of mine picked up at the thrift store!

Doesn't it look great??

It only took about an hour. The hardest part was cutting around the window and light/socket switches. Still, an hour for a new look in the kitchen is definitely time well spent in my opinion!

Drumroll Please...!

The Winners of the March Pay What You Want Giveaway are....

Grand Prize: Hand-built art journal for you to fill with love and wonder
Winner: Pam Parker from Australia! Congratulations!!
(Please email me and we'll arrange receipt of your prize!)

Second Prize - a Pay What You Want Leaning Package for you or a friend
Winner: Magriet van Tol from the Netherlands! Congratulations!
(Please email me and we'll arrange receipt of your prize!)

Third Prize - 30 typewritten words mailed to your door!
Winner: Joanna of Fiddlesnips! from the UK! Congratulations!!
(Please email me and we'll arrange receipt of your prize!)

Filled Up and Lovely!

Here is a look at my revamped Duracell box shelving display...now that it's FULL!

The little creatures are called Dunnies.
They are bought as a blind-box purchase, meaning that you buy an individual Dunny in a box without knowing which design is inside. 

Many artists have designed their own Dunny and these designs have been adopted into the regular Dunny rotation. 

There is my favourite one - a Dunny tree with disagreeing ears and a little bird.  Isn't the artwork fantastic?

This one also has disagreeing ears and is more rare since it has an elephant's trunk. 

And don't forget the absolutely fabulous backdrop for the Dunnies - the aqua display box!