One Little Word {Sing}

the word for january's one little word is sing.

for my project i choose a vintage postcard and re-purposed it into a mixed media creation. i layered washi tape, book paper and layers of acrylic paint, ink and stamping. i also used something called Anglina's fibers and film that is stitched across the upper portion. the fibers and film are available at Blue Twig Studio.

i loved re-purposing the postcard. the postcard was embossed and had built in texture which lent itself to the piece well.

OLW December- Release

when i thought of the word release- this was easy.... a creative release always.... that is what i am looking for- a creative release from life and more studio time.

i moved back to full time in my big girl job this past fall, and i am finally feeling like i am finding a better balance between work, art, and life.

i used a lot of ideas on the project. my favorite feather stamp from Rae Missigman's new stamps, inked tissue paper (that is the orange polka dot), emphemra, burlap, staples, layers of paper, sewing, and finally the seed beads.

if you are playing along or would like to make something for the word release- please share with us! link up and post what you have made at OLW; and be sure to leave me a comment so i can see what you are making as well.

sneak peek- December OLW

giving a sneak peek for the One Little Word for december.... here is the first one, and then decided it needed some seed beads.

add some black seed beads....love the texture they added to this composition. and actually- will be excited to show the whole thing- this has quite a few textural elements to it.

i love the sun light on my page, with the shadow of the string and the light, hi-lighting fear...demanding you to look at it.

just like fear can do....

it starts with a little fear....a little weed of doubt in the corner of my mind. and then, there is another little weed- backing up that fear, that first weed of doubt that was planted....

but, i am not going to feed the fear.

here is my full project for one little word for september which was fear.

i shared my fear yesterday with the sneak peek, but, what i need to do is to be strong, and keep focused on my art dream....and keep those darn weeds of doubt out.

because the light is so close on this dream...close enough to see and believe.

to believe....in my dream.

i interrupt faces..... to share a secret

i am going to share a sneak peek of my one little word project for this month and let you in on a secret....

fear....to feed the fear. i don't want this to happen- the feeding part into my fear; so why is it so relatively easy to feed into this? i hate this....

my latest conflict involves the fact that i was asked in my big-girl job to take on additional responsibilities to make me full time, which makes me feel good- i must be doing a good job; and which is definitely beneficial for my family with our oldest in his third year of college, a senior who is looking at colleges, and a sophomore who will turn 16 this next week and is hoping to drive....and preferably a car that is "his."

okay- now back to the fear part.....while the full time pay and benies are great...my art and blog are now taking a bit of a back seat these last few weeks, and my fear is losing what i have worked so hard to build including this blog. i have a huge fall coming up with several publications coming out but, i don't want to be one of those blogger who apologizes for not posting due to blah, blah, blah....but, as i look at my last post- a week ago....that is what i feel like....apologizing.

instead of apologizing and letting this fear creep in, i simply need to figure out how to arrange my evenings better and use my time more wisely. i still feel like i am adjusting to this whole full time status- as i have been part time for the past 12 years....i am not sure how i worked full time when the kids were little?! in my sleep depraved state i must not have noticed how tired i was and just kept going until i feel asleep where ever i was.

as my weeds of doubt about my use of time and what i am doing with my evenings is trying to erode away and create fear within me....i need to stay focused and keep moving closer to the dream. i must be strong and believe....stop back tomorrow to see my whole project for the month's fear.....

One Little Word- Light

our word for the month of June is "light." i gave a sneak peek earlier with this photo....i loved the texture left behind from the white ink i used to diffuse the bright colors.

this is a full view of my painting below. i used gesso, acrylic paints and inks to create my background and then used some ephemera and book words to pull in our theme.

with all of the colors and the textured, white wash "into the light, she would be happy...." yes she would be happy.

one little word sneak peek

i worked in my studio on sunday, but, definitely felt like my mojo had left and was worried because i had a project due today. have you ever lost your mojo? how do you find it again....any tricks or tips?

i cautiously walked down to my studio last night worried that i had not left enough time for myself for this project if indeed my mojo was still gone.....but, i reminded myself that if i didn't like what was on the paper- i simply needed to add more paint- more layers- more paper.....

i immerse myself and worked how i would normally work and did not worry about exactly what was going on on my paper; and painted some with my fingers...which always brings a smile to my face.

and slowly, my page came to life and happiness returned. my one little word sneak peek is here....

on sunday i will post my whole project so be sure to stop back and take a look. happy wednesday!

one little word- will

i create for one little word and may's word is will. i had been working on inspirational ATC cards and this fit in perfectly. i painted and sewed and cut words and glued.....what is not to love right?!

so what "will" you do? here is what i "will" intend to do.....spend more time with day dream journeys, find the bright spots in the world, keep dreams alive for perfect happiness and let all of this creep in my soul.

One Little Word- Adventure

our word at one little word for april is "adventure" and i truly had a wonderful adventure painting this piece for april. my story reads "but unbeknown to the artist of confessing in the studio the painting was the adventure."

stop by OLW to see what the other artist's made for this month- and play along!!

one little word- sneak peek

today i am showing a sneak peek of my one little word project for this month- stop back tomorrow to see the whole page.

many layers and details in this page...love how i was able to pull it all together- hope you enjoy it as well.

one little word {February & March }: calm and dream

my one little word inspiration for february came from playing with the documented life in my moleskin journal. remember a while back when i spilled the ink onto my moleskin? i used that and incorporated the spill into my OLW project for february which featured the word calm.

March is my word- dream...to me, pushes me to make more art, and keep dreaming bigger, and believe in my creative self. the first year after i had gotten into an art gallery and sold my art work, my husband bought me a ring that said, "Be true to your Dreams...." to remind me to keep dreaming and making art.

have you seen the American Family Insurance commercial featuring dreams? watch the commercial here and listen to the words. this embodies my whole thought on dreams....always dream....

i painted this project onto a cigar box. i love the runs on the side of the box. i wrote the whole commercial onto the box to keep in my studio and if i am having a bad day and inspiration is lacking- i will look at this box and read the words again to remind myself to dream.

if you play along with all of us at OLW, we have a fabulous list of give-away's! there will be 4 wonderful grab bags for four lucky people who play along with us. you have until april 14 to play along and qualify for the grab bags.

one little word- aspire.....

our one little word for january was aspire.......i had posted my sneak peak on sunday. and truly enjoyed my whole process. i had been inspired by beginning the process with scrapbook paper. i glued that into my art journal and found some book paper i liked as well. i used gesso to push the pattern in the paper back. i then picked some of my favorite colors of acrylic paint and used them to add some additional colors.

aspire: to long, aim or seek ambitiously

once i was happy with my background, i had found papers i liked- i started my hunt for the words in my favorite book i have been using for art. i will be so sad when this book is completely used up....it has been magical. 

the other thing i knew i wanted was a bird. i found an image i liked and drew a bird and made my own stencil to use for this project.

i really like my end project. i hope you enjoy it....and you aspire to create something of your own.

if you decide you would like to play along this month- we would LOVE to see what you make of this word. come join our group and link up your project- if you do, you could be the lucky winner of a new stencil! Jessica Sporn is offering this stencil if you link up in january.....

a new homemade stencil and a sneak peek

i had a project that was due yesterday for OLW, and was struggling to come up with a plan. thank goodness for the internet and pinterest- and its' endless possibilities and inspiration. i snooped around and found myself being inspired by layers of paper and the idea that i wanted a bird.

i have bird stamps, but, certainly not a stamp of a bird the size that i wanted and needed. so, i did the next best thing.....found a bird i liked and drew it onto some scrap paper. here is my bird......

i decided to use a sheet of scrapbook paper that i liked for my background and cut it down to fit my paper. i used gesso to push the pattern back a bit and not overwhelm my project and allow me to incorporate some additional colors.....

i used my spray ink and acrylic paints- i love the look over the gesso with the texture it provides. you can just see my bird's tail there....

at the end- i was welcoming the special charm that this project had brought to me....stop back for a full view on the 15th.

sneak peek....

 yesterday morning i awoke with idea in my head (love it when this happens!!)....clearly my imagination had been working the overnight (thank goodness!) as i have a deadline looming on monday- and had not really even had an idea of what i wanted to make for OLW. we will be posting on november 15 for this month, so stop back to see what we all made.

but, i had gone shopping at hobby-lobby on friday and picked up a few new supplies which included those cute small canvas circles. and, i had a package of Roben-Marie's Art Pops cards (do you have your set yet?- you can get them here!) and some scraps of used cotton fabric- so i gathered my supplies......

above is just a sneak peek at what my mind had come up with for me.....

yesterday also kicked off the local holiday shopping with our community hosting a "holiday studio tour." i had paintings down at the gallery but did not open my studio space because it is really too small; although, there was another artist's space that was pretty small and she seemed to do just fine- so, maybe i will need to reconsider for next year.....anyway, i mostly did christmas shopping, however, there was a ring that was calling my name....especially after i had tried it on and it fit- then, it was more like screaming at me- so, i had to get it....check this out-

now who could pass that up? yesterday- i just could not.

Check out my other projects using Roben-Marie's Art Pops here, and here.