Art Journal Workshop | She Had 3 Hearts

Graphic from Christy Tomlinson

An old Chinese Proverb reads, " a woman has three hearts... one she shares with the world... one she shares family..  and one she shares only with herself.

Some of you know that I have been dabbling in art journaling here and there which I'm still very new at, but every time I create a page, my love for art journaling continues to grow. I often think about what I'm going to do next, how I envision it, what is it that I want to express, and how do I want to express it.

Every day I have these pent up emotions and thoughts that I feel can only be expressed through writing in journals. So far, I've collected journals since the 6th grade and still counting. Many know that I'm not very chatty and love to keep things inside, but will only share with a few people who are very close to me. Yet sometimes, even those who are close to me, may not fully understand or comprehend what I'm going through or feeling.  So, after realizing that art journaling is such a perfect method of self expression combined with creativity, I know that it's not only fun and inspiring, but it's uplifting to my soul and provides an escape from the chaos of life.

So, I have been searching all over the web for a workshop to guide me deeper into art journaling and found so many out there. I took time to really figure out what seemed to be the best for me although I had such a hard time deciding. But, I've settled on taking Christy Tomlinson's -- She Had Three Hearts Workshop. I love her style and have such confidence in her work just by browsing through all of her amazing pieces of art and also viewing the demo video. The classes are self-paced with video tutorials and PDF downloads, an online community, and Flickr group. So excited to start!!!!!


Registration is NOW open and if you register before May 2nd, you will save about $10 off the regular price!

I can't wait to meet other artists and be inspired, but most of all to have a great learning experience!

xoxo,

He{ART} JOURNAL | CHERISH

Hi everyone! Hope you had a fabulous Easter weekend :) It's such a great time for our family to remember what we believe and no, not just in the Easter bunny, lol, although we love candy and egg hunts.  Our faith is such an important part of our heritage and I love how my children have really come to understand so much about the love of God. Because of it, they have a strong sense of what it means to love and respect others, not out of fear, but out of their own desires to make this world a better place and to bless others...

I created another page for my art journal over the weekend and this time experimented with dry watercolor paint. Michaels has a really inexpensive art brand, Artist's Loft, and found this assorted palette of dry watercolor paint for only $5.

I found them really nice to work with and just love all the colors! The first layer of course was Gesso and then I experimented with the colors which at first, I wasn't too happy with. But, the wonderful thing about the art process, is I can always paint it over and that is exactly what I did. Later on, I used a standard sand paper to scrap the top layer which allowed for some of the interesting color to peek through and give it a really nice texture and depth of color. 

He{ART} Journal | Cherish

This page is simply about the things that I do CHERISH at the moment and what I take time to appreciate as much as I can... Not only are some of them the big things, but most are the little things that really matter to me...

xoxo

HE{ART} JOURNAL | Eagle's Wings

Today, was just another chaotic day that took me completely by surprise. I woke up feeling super tired and sluggish more than usual. My husband has been coughing most of the night which must have disrupted my sleep because I felt like I hardly slept even though I had went to bed early. I also started to feel like I was beginning to catch a cold with a sore throat which I probably caught from my hubby. So, you can imagine how much I wish I could have stayed in bed, but with the little energy that I had, I got up to get Josiah ready and fed before school.

After my hubby left for work, five minutes later he calls me saying he had car trouble and is parked off the of the highway. I'm feeling a little frazzled because I was already rushing to get my son to school on time. After dropping him off, my hubby and his car get towed back home and he tells me that the transmission went out. Oh crap. :( Knowing that our car's warranty expired meant that this would cost us a grip of money that we knew we didn't have considering that he is the only one working full-time while I stay home with the boys and even with my income as a independent designer, it just doesn't make all ends meet. So with this financial burden on our shoulders and the transportation issues that this will cause him since his job requires a 45 minute commute, has left us feeling disheartened and helpless. So we prayed together as we always do, putting our complete faith in God's hands because it's just beyond our control.

We then realize that we could use our tax refund, but we were still waiting for it. This led us to question why it was taking so long and what do you know, we called IRS and apparently our taxes were never filed by our accountant like we had assumed. WTH??? Immediately we contacted our accountant to see what the problem was and to our disappointment, he admitted that he dropped the ball and forgot to send it. Ok, so maybe this was all supposed to happen to the car just so we can find this out before the deadline, right? If that's the case, I guess I can't really be too upset. We totally believe that this was divine intervention as this occurred immediately after we prayed. ["And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God..." Romans 8:28]

As the day wore on, I couldn't really focus or feel up to doing anything but lay down since my lack of sleep the night before. I suddenly felt this urge to paint and create another page for my He{ART} Journal to document what I was feeling today. Knowing how liberating and therapeutic it was for me to create my first page the other day, it was like my body or should I say my soul, was reminding me to take my dose of medicine, but in this case, to let it all go and express through my art journal. Before I sat down to work on it, one of my favorite verses came to mind and right then, I had a vision of the page I wanted to create...

"Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." ~ Isaiah 40:31

As soon as I finished, I felt a weight lift off my chest. I cannot explain it. Then, later on tonight we receive a substantial amount of money from a close relative who felt the need to help us out and give what they could. Again, God took care of this and was faithful like the Bible says He is, to those who honor and praise Him:) Before the kids went to bed, as always we pray together as a family, and we could not help, but be so humbled and thankful that although this day started out awful, it ended with peace and assurance that all is well and everything will be okay....

I hope you enjoyed this post although it was a little more personal than I usually write. Maybe you've felt like you had one of these days where suddenly you're faced with unforeseen circumstances that leave you in despair. Don't hesitate to pray about it and stretch out your faith because little miracles can and do happen.

xoxo,

HE{ART} JOURNAL | The Beginning of a New Journey

"I think that once you are completely aware of your true identity, only then can you really begin your journey towards your destiny of who you are meant or called to be as an artist, otherwise you will always be trying to be like others or something other than your TRUE self." ~ By Dahlia Co

Happy Wednesday!!

Just wanted to share a little bit of what I have done lately. I'm actually really thrilled about it and really happy that it's opened a whole new chapter in my creative journey. It's called ART JOURNALING, which I'm sure many of you have heard of or maybe have tried. In a sense, it's like scrapbooking or memory keeping, but using entirely different methods, tools, and mediums. The common purpose for both is that it allows you to capture those special moments and enables you to reflect on the details of your life, in hopes that it will inspire others and leave a legacy for your loved ones.

Recently, I created a digital kit called, Journal My He{ART}, which I had no idea that it would leave such a big impression within me, especially because it allowed me to step out of the box to create something new and completely different. For some reason, it just felt like I had discovered a new part of me and my affinity for this type of art/design style. I really felt like I was in my own element, something I haven't felt before. Since I started designing, I have not been able to define a specific style for my designs that I know other designers have. When asked what my design style is, I simply called it 'eclectic' because I still had yet to figure it out. Although I'm attracted to clean and modern, shabby chic, whimsical, or vintage art styles, I just can't say that those styles resound in me or give me that fulfilling sense of it reflecting my true identity, which I truly believe is important. I think that once you are completely aware of your true identity, only then can you really begin your journey towards your destiny of who you are meant or called to be as an artist, otherwise you will always be trying to be like others or something other than your TRUE self. This is my deepest desire, that each day will lead me to discover who I really am as an artist and be confident in my work and who I am, otherwise I don't know if I could ever reach my full potential without having that one simple revelation.

So, yesterday out of a spontaneous desire to express some of my inner feelings, I decided to take out my acrylic paint set, brushes, and canvas paper that I've had for quite a long time and has been collecting dust. I purchased them several years ago from my local craft store where I once worked. I had made an attempt to teach myself to paint using instructional books and created a few pieces that I ended up giving away as gifts, but that was it. Now many years later, they are finding its way back into my life and I hope that it will stick around from this point on... Who knows where this will lead to, but I'm hoping and praying for much greater and better things, so we'll just have to see what happens...

{04.05.11 | HE CATCHES ME}

The actual process of creating an art journal is so INTRIGUING. It dawned on me that my journals in the past, filled with drawings and bits and pieces of memorabilia, were never considered as 'art journals' to me. The pages of my past, were very dark and emotional, so I wrote a lot to release all the pent up thoughts and feelings that would have otherwise deterred my faith, my dreams, my hope, my entire well-being from thriving. It was a way to cope with my struggles, fears, and challenges as I was growing up from a adolescent to an adult. Looking back at them, I feel empowered to see how much I've matured and grew in wisdom, strength, and love. I now realize how those journals impacted my life and really gave me the chance to bring healing and restoration to my soul. Life is always changing and I am facing a whole new set of challenges within myself. Growing older, my perspectives about a lot of things that I once believed, have evolved or should I say it has gotten so much deeper than before.

Like I said, I am on a creative journey and I hope you will come along with me as I take each step in creating this art journal. There's so much I want to learn and so far I have found several great, inspirational and educational sites about Art Journaling, that I will collaborate a list and share them with you as soon as I can!

Be back with some updates and guess what?? Another giveaway is on the horizon! Stay tuned.....

XOXO