A Special Day....

I have a few things to share with you today. First off, you know I love those quiz thingies and I haven't done one in quite awhile. Snap had this one on her blog so I decided to do it, too.

You Are Midnight

You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits. Whether you're a night owl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle. Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it. You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends.

What Time Of Day Are You?

For once I think this sounds like me....mostly! As for what time of day I enjoy, I'm a night owl who likes to be up early! Forget afternoons! I'm just not at my best then.

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I'm so proud of myself. I finished the entire month of art journal pages! Here are my last three.

March 29


March 30

You may not be able to read all of this one because the scanner kept cutting it off. It says "I much prefer real life to any movie no matter how good it may be"

March 31


Whew! I actually made it! And I'm planning on doing a page a day even without Kelly's class. Wish me luck!

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And finally, but certainly not least on my list today....this is HB's birthday! He is having a guy's day and has gone fishing! If you've been a long time visitor you've already seen these pictures but I'm going to embarrass him and show them again!!



This is HB and his younger brother. This may be the only time I'll ever see HB wearing a suit!!

And this is one of my favorite pictures of HB in recent years....


Happy Birthday, HB!! You're one of the "good guys"....

A Few Pages More....

It's Sunday morning and HB and I just returned from our walk. The weather is beautiful and we've been enjoying getting outside. Soon the heat will be upon us and then I won't be doing much at all!

I'm thoroughly amazed at myself. The month is almost over and I've just got three more pages to do in my art journal and I will have completed an entire month of a page a day!! That's pretty phenomenal for me! I may even work on all three of them today....at least get the backgrounds painted. Here are my latest pages....

March 26


March 27


March 28


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Did you participate in Earth Hour last night? HB and I did. We set candles all around the family room, turned off all the lights, the tv, and the desktop computer, and then we sat with our laptops running on batteries and cruised the web in the dark!! It was fun and very nice not to have the "noise" of the tv. I know it would be impossible due to all the time zones but I think it would be fantastic if the world could all turn out the lights at the same time!! Now that would be impressive. I wonder if you could see all the lights go out from outer space? I'm thinking of making this a weekly thing. Pick a night and just turn everything off for an hour. Sounds good to me!!

I'm Inspired to Create....

How can it be Friday already? What happened to the rest of the week?? Time is just flying by and I'm "living" in the studio! Poor HB thinks I've abandoned him! But you know how it is....new techniques to try, new toys to play with, new art supplies to experiment with....there's never enough time for all that plus the rest of LIFE!

I'm inspired by a gift I won during OWOH. It arrived a couple of days ago and I have it hanging in my studio where I can see it every day. The package was beautiful....



And I love the tag....



But what was inside is just fantastic!!!



Isn't that just the cutest, most inspirational plaque! I got to choose what word I wanted on it and the colors....so you KNOW lavender was my choice!! I love it!! I have it hanging where I can see it from my worktable and it keeps telling me to "Create!" This little work of art was created for me by Katie over at Ragamuffin Gal. Go take a peek at her blog. Thank you, Katie! I'm so glad I was a winner of one of your plaques.

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I've been keeping up with my journal pages, too! I'm going to actually finish the month and have a page for each day! That's amazing since I usually get about 3/4 of the way through these things and something always happens to throw me off course but not so this time. Here is the one for March 25....



You may not be able to tell but I used a very textural paper, almost rough to the touch, and a very delicate paper with a lace print. I thought the two papers showed the two sides of the desert.....rough and harsh yet very delicate, too.

I haven't finished the writing on the page for yesterday so I'll show it next time. I'm off to the studio now. I'm working on another textural piece. A couple of things I tried I didn't like so now I'm starting over. This one is a bit larger than the other one I did so it's taking longer.

Oops, I Did It Again!!!

Recently Lee mentioned she had signed up to do a stenciling class. Somehow that one little word....class....always grabs me and won't let go! So I just went over to Mary Ann's blog to take a peek....not to actually join the class or anything like that! (wink, wink) So I took a look, fell in love, and am now signed up to do her stencil class next month!! I can't seem to resist a good online class!

Since then I've been on the hunt for anything I can use as a stencil. I have some stencils and have cut some of my own. But I'm looking for other things I can use. Any suggestions?? I have some crocheted doilies from the dollar store that I think will work, and some old lace, and of course mesh bags. But I'm looking for other things that I can spray paint over and get a nice look.

In the meantime I've been playing in the studio with a couple of things I have. Here is one I did on some canvas paper....



And this one is on a piece of cardboard....



The greenish paint was some I had left on my palette so I just painted it onto the canvas paper and the cardboard. They have been sitting around in the studio just waiting for something to be added to them. Neither one of these pieces is a "work of art" but I like the way they turned out with just a couple of bits of paper and a stencil. I'm excited to see what I can learn in this class!! Meanwhile the layering class continues and I'm still just doing "exercises" but as soon as I do another piece I'll share it here.

And here are the next few pages in my journal....
March 22

I don't like how this one all seems to blend together. The background and the paper look really good together, and I even like the image but when I began writing it just seemed to block out everything else.

March 23


March 24

This one has the writing going around in a weird way. I put the date on the bottom of the page first and then began writing around the edge so there's a bit of a break around the image....but I still like it.

Ok, that's all I have for today! I'm off in search of more stencil stuff and maybe to cut a few more of my own.

Pages From My Journal and an Award

I haven't been around for a few days but I've been busy. I'm doing good about making my daily journal pages even though I'm not too good about posting them on here! I have several to show you today....

March 16:


March 17:


March 18:


March 19:


March 20:


March 21:


I'll stop there and try to upload them more often so I don't bombard you with a whole bunch like today! It's just that I get busy and forget to put them on here. I think I might have them on my art blog already (can't remember for sure!) I seem to be going around in a whirl lately with all the art stuff I'm doing. We just learned a couple more techniques in my class with Gary so when I have something finished I'll share with you. Oh, and if you want to see any of the pages in a larger size they're on my flickr page....the link is over there on the right side of this blog.

And in other news I received an award:



This came from Michele. She's fairly new to blogging and she does the most amazing mosaics. Go over to her blog and see her beautiful work. Thanks, Michele!!

A Little Pink, A Little Red....

I hate to keep telling you this but we have been having absolutely gorgeous weather. The nectarine tree in the backyard is an explosion of bright pink blossoms. I take a picture of them almost daily! Here is one I took yesterday....


This picture is clickable so you can see it larger.

Don't you just love the color of those blossoms?! And against the weathered wood of the fence they just look fantastic!

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I have finally finished the first textural piece I've done in my class with Gary Reef. I'm not 100% happy with it but I do like it for my first attempt. I won't be able to tell you much about this technique because it's part of a class but I can tell you it was really easy. And if you're interested in this class I think Gary will be doing it again in a few months.

Here is my first piece....


I'm thinking of calling it "Night in the Forest." One of the things I'm not completely happy with is the small rectangle in the lower left corner. But I was working with what I had at hand so that was it! The red is much more subdued in person but otherwise it photographed pretty good.

I have some more art journal pages but I'll put those on tomorrow.

Taking a Walk....

Each morning HB and I try to take a walk in the park that's just down the street from our house. This morning I took my camera with me and I'll share a couple of pictures with you.


This is the path we walk along. It goes around the perimeter of the park.


This is part of the open area....I think they may use this for soccer or other sports. It's also a staging area when we have the big hot air balloons at the park.


These trees give you an idea of the wind we get around here! Notice how they're all leaning to one side (east) and barely have any branches on the other side!! We do get some wind around here!! Today it was very calm, sunny and not too cool.


Look at how misshapen this poor tree is....all from the wind!

I recently added a couple of pictures to my photo blog, too....the link is over there on the right side of this blog.

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I'm constantly running a day or so behind in my art journal but so far I've made a page for each day this month. Here is the one for March 15....



And just so you know I'm really doing something else, here's a little peek at a portion of a piece I'm doing in the layering and texture class....



This piece isn't finished yet. There's one section of it that needs work but when I finish I'll share the whole thing with you.

I hope you're all having a good day filled with sunshine and art and smiles!!

More Pages!....

Even though I've been missing from Blogland for a few days, I've been keeping busy in the studio. One of my online classes started this weekend and I've been playing around with some new techniques....hope to have lots of fun stuff to show you soon.

For now all I have are my daily journal pages for Kelly Kilmer's class. If you're getting tired of seeing these just let me know. It's about the only art I am able to show you at this time. So many things I'm working on are surprises or such.

March 12

This one is ok but I think the greenish gray paper is too splotchy and takes away from the words. This class is definitely a learning experience!

March 13

I'm happy with this one and how it turned out.

March 14


In the midst of everything I've managed to reorganize my studio and this time I think it's working for me. I know I've said that in the past but I think I might have actually hit on some things that work. The most important thing I've learned is to clean up after each project! What a concept, huh? But I tend to just go from one thing to another and then another and pretty soon everything is out and it's all a big jumble. I bought 2 sets of 12x12 drawers, 3 drawers in each, and I'm sorting all my images into those drawers. That has been my worst problem....how to keep images/ephemera sorted out and easily accessible.

I don't have all the drawers labeled yet but this is what I'm doing....

The last two drawers will be "words" and "inspiration"....things that inspire me and make me think.

I also sorted out and straightened one of my bookcases in the studio....


And here's a closeup of the top shelf where I put all the books that I'm most interested in looking at right now....this picture is clickable so you can read the titles.


That's about all I've been doing. Nothing too exciting here at Chez Lavender!!

A Little Bit of Catch-up....not Catsup!!

Last night I finished the two pages I was behind in for my art journal class....but neither one of them is anything I'd get too excited about!

March 10


All I can say about this one is I like the colors!

March 11


This one needs something at the bottom of the page. I ran out of things to say and still had space left to fill! Maybe I can add something later but for now I'm moving on to the next one.

HB has been very good about me spending so much time in the studio. I pop my head out once in awhile and say something to him and then go right back to my little room. Thank goodness he understands! And he does a lot of the cooking so I haven't even had to worry about "what's for dinner"....and that's wonderful!

What have you been creating?? I haven't made it around to the blogs in a few days so I'm behind on them again. I think the last time I looked there were over 100 posts that I'd missed! But never fear....you will see me visit soon. I'm just goin' with the flow right now!

What I Did Today....

Today I haven't worked on my art journal page yet but I did do a little piece of art. This is done on canvas paper. It started out completely different, in very bright almost primary colors! I like this better although I think it needs something else....but then you know me!



I had to take a photo of it because it wouldn't fit on the scanner so it isn't the best.

Coming Up for Air....

Here it is Tuesday already! I'm so busy playing in the studio that I almost forget to come up for air! If you haven't seen me around for a few days that's why. I've had the creative bug and when it's here I like to just go with it.

Most things I can't show you yet but I did manage to do my daily journal pages. Here is one I did for March 8....



And here's the one for March 9....



Both of these are for Kelly's class. Then I made this page just bee-cause....



If you can't read this last one, it will be on flickr at the larger size.

Forgetfulness!!

Did you get up late today? I actually forgot to set the clocks ahead last night but it didn't matter because we just wake up when we wake up! Now that HB isn't working we have a pretty flexible schedule.

We got up and took a walk around the park....it's just about a block from our house so it's a convenient place to exercise. We both enjoy doing a morning walk while the weather is nice. In a couple more months we won't be doing that!

I don't have much today....just another art journal page.

March 7


The black tree is much darker in person and shows up better than the scan. If you can't read the page here you can go to my flickr page (link on right sidebar) and it's in a larger size over there.

The prompt for this one was "oh, the places I have been"....so I wrote about all the places we've lived. The funny part is that I left out the place where we lived the longest!! I left out CO! When I showed the page to HB he noticed it immediately. But by then it was too late to add it. I guess when you've lived as many places as we have, you lose count after awhile! So two forgetful moments in the past couple of days. I guess that isn't too bad!

Art and a Drawing....

First some art....well, sort of! Once again my only bit of creativity has mostly been my daily art journal page. I did begin painting some pages for the ABC book Betzie is doing. We have me and Betzie and ShopGirl doing the books. It will be fun to work on something with a completely different theme than anything I would normally do....and challenging!! Just as the art journal pages have been!

March 6


As usual I don't like my writing on the pages. I don't like the actual words and I don't like the way they look....the actual printing. This is always my area of YUK when I do art journal pages which is why most of mine in the past don't have any words on them unless it's something I cut from a magazine. I love how some people have journal pages that are filled with words/writing and it almost becomes part of the picture. But I can't seem to get that look.

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And now here's what you really came over to see....the drawing (different kind....not art!) and who gets some paper!! I had 12 people who said they wanted to be included in the drawing. So random.org had an easy task this time around. The numbers picked were 5, 9, and 1....so my winners are knittnkitten, Nydia, and Doreen. I'll let you all know in either emails or on your blog if I don't have an email....and then you'll get some pretty patterned papers in the mail. Congrats on winning and thank you to each of you for giving some of my papers a new home!! Paper is a huge part of my disorganization in the studio so you are all helping me out.

Have a great, fun-filled weekend....and do some art!!

Continuing With Kelly....

The Prompt a Day art journal class that Kelly Kilmer is doing (link on the side) is teaching me quite a lot. As many of you know, I have struggled with my art journals and tried this and tried that. With Kelly's daily prompts on painting, collage, and journaling I've been getting a better handle on this. I don't always follow her directions entirely....sometimes I leave out a step or add something else but she is getting me to think about this in a different way.

Yesterday I showed you the beginnings of a page....I had painted the background. Here is the finished (maybe) page....



I'm not completely thrilled with this one. She asked us to write about faith and I have faith in Mother Nature. I love the tree taken from a magazine ad so I used that. The rest is just not what I wanted but I did this one in a hurry.

March 5


This prompt was about the last book we read. I just finished "These Is My Words" so I used that one. The woman is from the internet....I just printed her out and slapped her down with some glue! I like most of this one except the upper left corner seems wrong somehow. Maybe that should have gone on the Mother Nature page!

Overall I'm experimenting and learning and I hope by the end of the month I'll have some pages that I'm happy about. I do love the freedom of just layering on the colors. So far all my pages have very straight, almost geometric painted lines as you can see in the background I did for the next page....



And Kelly uses brighter colors than I have before but I'm enjoying them. This unfinished page actually has more green in the left side than the scan shows. But you can see that I'm just slapping paint on the page and seeing what happens!