An artsy playdate...

Howdy friends! 
Today I went to my friend, who I affectionately call Millie, and fellow bloggers house for a long overdue artsy play day.  Here is her blog http://millermall.blogspot.com/
She and I have been waiting since....I think thanksgiving to have a playdate!  Just like Christmas drags by for kids this play date has dragged on and on and today was the day!  I took a slew of supplies.... I packed paint, my beloved http://www.dickblick.com/products/princeton-catalyst-polytip-bristle-brushes/ catalyst brush, (it's pricey but worth every penny), my gelli plate http://www.dickblick.com/products/gelli-arts-printing-plate/, two brayers http://www.dickblick.com/products/speedball-soft-rubber-brayers/my rubbing plates http://www.donnadowney.com/index.php/catalogsearch/result/?q=rubbing+plates, my artguard http://www.dickblick.com/search/?q=artguard&sp_cs=UTF-8&x=0&y=0, dylusion journal http://www.amazon.com/Ranger-Dylusions-Reaveleys-Creative-8-25-Inch/dp/B009MRLEJI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420854248&sr=8-1&keywords=dylusions+journal, my homemade junque journal http://balzerdesigns.com/Classroom/register/make-your-own-junque-journal-2/ aaaand my Paint Mojo book http://www.amazon.com/Paint-Mojo-Mixed-Media-Techniques-Expression/dp/1440333130/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420854443&sr=1-1&keywords=paint+mojo. 
I had intended to make so many gelli prints that I would have a sea of homemade backgrounds and also work on lessons from the paint mojo book and possibly fit in trying to dry and paint a face.  I had so many plans, grand plans in my head about Millie and arting and chatting and chatting and arting LOL.

 

but then... I met Demi....and well it was over.  She's such a sweet little puppy.  I think we had a connection and she wanted to play with paint too but her "grandma" said no :-(  I tried my best to talk Millie into letting her put her sweet little paws in the paint and walk around on the papers, adding texture and her own marks but there was no budging.  Instead I played with Demi, we played ball, we played racing around the house, we napped, well she napped and I loved on her and all the while Millie and I chatted and chatted and chatted.  A little art was made .... not by me but by Millie.  All in all it was a great day and we decided we needed another play date!  Stay tuned...next time I might actually make something and I will post pictures.

I must end this post with a picture of Demi...no new furry girlfriend.  I mean, look at that face!

 





Time well spent....

Hey y'all!  I'm trying to be more consistent, can ya tell?? hahahahaha well the last few days if you would have come by or called and asked what I was doing you would have found my hands covered in paint....ahhhhhh  I LOVE gettin messy! Especially when I'm dealing with issues.

I have been taking Donna Downey's 48 weeks online class.  Lemme just say if you're on the fence about taking it JUMP IN!!!  I'm so in love with this class and I'm learning soooo much!  I know the whole class seems expensive but it breaks down to just over 13.00 per week.  And no worries, if you don't have the exact supplies she uses she encourages using what you have.  The facebook group is super supportive too.  I could go on and on and on and on.....well you get the point ;-D
Here's the link just in case  ;-)

http://www.donnadowney.com/online-workshops/48-weeks.html

Back to what I'm trying to say.  I was working on this week's lesson, here's a picture of my finished page

 

 

Inspiration of "trees" borrowed from an incredible classmate.  I had leftover paint on my palette and I can't let Golden paint go to waste so I slapped some in my Dyan Reaveley journal and just played.  I wish I would have taken pictures starting with but at least I got the last two...here's one before

 

It's ok....I just wasn't feeling like it was done so I ended up outlining the pattern and then made some drips then used the drips to do my journaling.  I'm happy with the way it turned out and felt so much better after playing in my space and letting my mind just drift away the heaviness on my mind. I did give a nice swipe of Dorland's wax to prevent my pages from sticking.  A trick learned in Donna Downey's 48 weeks class!

Sorry my pictures aren't great but I'm still learning this picture taking and blogging process.  I hope you go cover your hands in paint!

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Ranger-Dylusions-Reaveleys-Creative-8-25-Inch/dp/B009MRLEJI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417898481&sr=8-1&keywords=dyan+reaveley

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Dorland%2527s-Wax-Medium-16-oz/dp/B0038DBQ6I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1417899034&sr=8-2&keywords=dorlands+wax

 

http://www.amazon.com/Richeson-Grey-Matters-Paper-Palette/dp/B004AVSP1Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1417899274&sr=8-4&keywords=grey+tone+paper+palette

 

http://www.donnadowney.com/golden.html

 

http://www.donnadowney.com/online-workshops/48-weeks/48-week-online-course-pay-in-full.html

 



 







Insecurities....

Seems so odd to write a post about being insecure after just discuss feeling blessed.  I struggle with depression and I have more highs then lows these days thankfully.  I helped to plan a birthday party this past weekend.  I had met most the people coming to the party but a few people I didn't know real well but I had met them in the past.  I know I may be being too sensitive but the fairly new acquaintance's had introduced themselves like we never met and of course I laughed it off.  Well, from there my insecure "demons" that said "you're invisible, no one remembers you, you're not worth remembering" started....and well I've been struggling the last few days.  I couldn't sleep last night so I got up and did this quick sketch in my Dyan Reaveley journal.  I have both her journals, and I love them both but this sketch is done in the small one.

 

 

It's just amazing how once I got this down and those negative voices outta my head I was able to crawl back into bed and drift off to sleep.  I'm happy happy happy to say that I awoke this morning feeling like a whole new person. :-D  I hope that this helps someone....know that you're not the only one that has issues to work through.  Find what therapy helps you....for me it's playing in one of my journals.

 

Here's a link for the journal I used:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Dylusions-Reaveleys-Creative-Journal-8-Inch/dp/B00EB0G2HA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417566862&sr=8-1&keywords=dyan+reaveley+creative+journal