WOYWW February Art Journal Calendar

Well always an hour late and a dollar short but I decided regardless of how late I am I will still join WOYWW this week and make it around to as many desks as I can before next Wednesday.  Hey! You gotta give me an A plus for effort!  What is WOYWW?  It is a group of folks/artists that enjoy one another's company and snooping around one another's desks each Wednesday.  Go check out Julia's blog Stamping Ground and she will fill you in on the details.

My desk today...yeah I know it is a mess but you should have seen it earlier!!

I have been working on journal pages and lessons and paint is everywhere.  I am going to stop a minute and clean up and get ready to go again tonight! 

My February calendar for the Art Journal Calendar Challenge is finished and I really like the way it turned out.  I mixed up my own sprays for this and was surprised how well the Tim Holtz Barn Door and Festive Berries reinkers worked mixed in water.  I think they turned out pretty bright for the background.

Next I punched out the date hearts with a scalloped 1 1/2" heart punch and then used the "punch holes" as a stencil for the sides and a stencil for the back ground.  I used a Close To My Heart swirl stamp set for the background in Vintage Photo.  The month and year are cut from Stampin' Up! whisper white using Cricut Plantain Schoolhouse cartridge.  I don't remember where I got the vintage Valentine paper that I cut the Valentines out of and collage on the background but I wish I had more cause it is such a cute paper pattern.  I also found some candy hearts stickers in the stash that I used to fill in here and there. 

My next project was some tags for a swap on Creativeblock StampersAnonymous a Yahoo Group.  In the group we use only StampersAnon stamps and make tags each month from a prompt given to us by the group leader Sandy.  This months prompt was Steampunk Valentines. 

I used shiny silver cardstock to make the tags then ran them through the Vagabond using the riveted metal folder of Tim Holtz.  I brushed some black soot distress paint over it dull it down a bit.  The stamps are from the Odds and Ends and the Time Travelers sets.  I used all sorts of bits and pieces from my stash an most of it is from the Tim Holtz Ideology line. 

Hope you like my desk and art work today.  I had a lot of fun making them.  I am hoping to hop around to several desks this week and if you like what you see leave me a comment! 

WOYWW, LifeBook, Art Journal Calendar Challenge

I decided to get a jump on WOYWW this week and I am doing my post at 7:30 pm on Tuesday night.  If I don't do it now I will probably forget and not get around to it again this week.  I don't know where the time goes!  If you want to find out what WOYWW is go visit Julia at Stamping Ground and she will fill you in about all that goes on! 

Here is a picture of my desk this week.  Not a lot going on right now because I am trying to keep it clean so I can get caught up with some of the classes and challenges I am going to try to do this year.

 My desk has a lot of fun things on it and my watercolor paper pad that I am starting a drawing on for Lifebook 2015.  The beginning of the month marked a new start to Lifebook 2014...now called Lifebook 2015 with a host of new teachers and new things to learn.  If you haven't ever heard of Lifebook go check it out!  I have been a member of the Lifebook group since the first class started 3 years ago and even if I don't do each and every lesson I always learn a lot by watching the videos!  

This is the warm up lesson by Tamara Laporte and I had a lot of fun playing with paints, inks, and loads of other stuff making this painting in my book.  Tam always starts the first week off with a lot of videos and PDF so it takes a while to get through it.  The first lesson...a warm up

 The warm up was multi faceted to get you to think about what you want to do this year and get you in a frame of mind to get it done.  Tam does more then just teach art of paper and paint she is using art as a therapy to get you in touch with yourself.  We were to think of a special word or words and goals we wanted to achieve this year.  My words are take time, relax, be happy.  These are my goals for this year.  they are in the folded envelope on the piece.   I tend to over do with multimedia but I am a work in progress so that's okay!

The project on my desk is the second art part to the first week called "the Beacon of Light" that I will be working on later tonight. 

Another project I have been working on is for the Art Journal Calendar Challenge on Facebook.  The challenge group is headed by Kate Crane of The Kathryn Wheel blog.  I had seen loads of people doing this challenge each month and I decided I just had to give it a try myself. 

My very first art journal calendar but it won't be my last.   I am in kind of a dilemma though cause I like grunge and I like bright colors and I seem to be over doing things somewhat.  Oh well I am a work in progress and it will eventually iron itself out. 

I am bordering on a long post here and Julia likes them kept short and sweet so I am going to call a halt to this post.  Go check out the blogs and sites I linked here.  Lots of fun and lots of good things to learn and see.  Have a great week.