by Linda | Apr 2, 2014 | my creative journal
Since I’ve clarified my goals for scrapbooking, I’ve definitely realized that I want to emphasize the photo more than anything else. When you ask other people who look at your scrapbook what really counts for them… it’s usually the photo… then the journaling that helps to reveal the story. Everything else, like pretty paper and embellishments is just nice to have.
After reading the post on A Beautiful Mess about full page photo scrapbooking, I was really inspired to go for it. Oddly enough when I pulled out my photos, I noticed that I usually always take landscape orientation, so it was actually difficult to find something to crop. So I ended up with double page of half-photos instead. Still big photo impact, so I went with it.
I resisted the urge to add other things, just because, so printed out the pages with photo, lots of white space and few words. That’s all I really wanted. But of course, I still had to add a handmade touch with some sewing and little leather embellishments that I hand-cut. It’s clean and simple, I really like it.
Slowly, but surely… I’m distilling things down to the aesthetic I really love. Definitely feels like a revival in my scrapbooking journey. Yay!
by Linda | Mar 18, 2014 | my creative journal
How long can I dwell on this little owl girl? I can’t seem to figure out how to finish her off and have been playing a lot with different color experiments. It would be the start of a beautiful series now that I’m getting really comfortable with this style of character drawing.
My little helper seems to think any marker color will do – perhaps all colors! But I’ve been learning that I like the muted, soft colors. Happy colors for sure, but not in your face. I like to think of it as quiet, happy.
Slowly but surely, I will find my way! What do you think?
by Linda | Mar 12, 2014 | my creative journal
I’m participating in the Do What You Love postcard swap and decided to use leather in my project, because I have so much at my disposal and always want to make use of it! The theme is CREATE, so I thought it would be great to include a motivational phrase – simple and direct.
The sentiment is printed on canvas paper (another material I have stashed up and need to use) and everything is stitched and glued together. Pretty hefty and thick! But I really love the fact that there are lots of layers and texture.
Since I’m living in Italy and need to mail my postcard to the USA, I thought it would be best to protect it in an envelope. Instead of writing on the back of the postcard, I decided to include my create fearlessly girl postcard. It goes with the theme after all!
I hope my swap partner likes it and gets a bit of creative inspiration from the mix of materials and simple message.
I had so much fun creating my postcard, just going with my creative whim while my son was napping. It’s amazing how a little bit of creativity can really brighten up your day! I’m realizing that deadlines are necessary for me to get things done… I’m such a project-based kind of person.
How have your creative DIY efforts been going lately?
by Linda | Mar 10, 2014 | my creative journal
There’s no doubt that the sight of pretty paper and the touch of textural fibers can light up my eyes and ignite a pitter patter of excitement in my heart.
I’ve always been a collector of cute stationery and over the years I’ve learned to let go and use said stationery as well! I enjoy sending and receiving snail mail – giving someone the joy of real paper in their hands to help express a sentiment.
Paper definitely stirs up excitement in my creative bones. A pattern here and some color there… so many options and paper goodness out there to still explore and play with.
But even beyond luxury paper goods, the good ‘ole plain white sheet of copy paper holds so many possibilities. A quick sketch? A wondrous illustration? A masterpiece origami project? Whatever you want, that blank sheet of paper can help you realize it. My favorite journals are the ones I have handmade with plain copy paper.
So here’s a digital toast for the love of paper… how lovely it is to live in a world of papery goodness! Don’t your agree? What do you love about paper?
The PaperLove Blog Hop is a celebration of all things paper! Follow the links to discover more bloggers who love paper and use it to inspire and delight. And if you want to explore a whole world of paper, and stretch your paper passion further with a host of creative projects, why not join the innovative new online course PaperLove (starts March 31). Led by book artist Rachel Hazell, PaperLove is a five week creative adventure for paper lovers.
Participant list
Majo Bautista / Tona Bell / Louise Best / Cathy Bluteau / Jennifer Bomgardner / Giova Brusa / Lindsay Buck / Beka Buckley / Joanna Caskie / Jonathan Chapman (Mr Yen) / Halle Cisco / Sarah Clare / Cathryn Clarge / Dawn Clarkson / Rhiannon Connelly / Jenny D’Fuego / Molly Dhiman / Ian Dudley / Ayisatu Emore / Akmal Farid / Monika Forsberg / Claire Fritz-Domeney / Louise Gale / Chrissy Gaskell / Julie Hamilton / Emma Hawman / Rachel Hazell / Holly Helgeson / Claudine Hellmuth / Kim Henkel / Sarah Hoffman / Joanne Hus / Paula Joerling / Beth Kempton / Julie Kirk / Eos Koch / Katie LaClair / Kristy Lankford / Michelle Manolov / Doreen Marts / Rosie Martinez-Dekker / Tori Mears / Maria Mederios / Lise Meijer / Debbie Miller / MaryJane Mitchell / Suzy Naidoo / Grace Noel / Hannah Nunn / Camilla Olsson / Jo Packham / Rachelle Panagarry / Monette Pangan / Melanie Paul / Nicole Piar / Jen Pitta / Liz Plummer / Julie Reed / Michelle Reynolds / Lisa Rivas / Angee Robertson / Natalie Ryan / Aisling Ryan / Elisabet Sapena / Kyrrha Sevco / Jamie Sprague / Elizabeth Steele / Terri Stephens / Juniper Stokes / Mary Tanana / Maike Thoma / Linda Tieu / Gabrielle Treanor / Tammy Tutterow / Deborah Velasquez / Jordan Vinograd Kim / Cat Whipple / Brooke Witt / Katie Wood / Amelia Woodbridge
by Linda | Feb 26, 2014 | my creative journal
I’m taking MATS Assignment Bootcamp and wanted to share a peek into my process from start to finish. It was an exploration of cuckoo clocks and I always enjoy doodling away many variations and ideas. This is probably the easiest part, because I can run away with my imagination.
Since I’m just sketching around, it’s fun to explore crazy ideas. I usually sketch a lot and in multiple sessions, because you come up with more ideas when you revisit the topic over time.
At some point, usually because time has run out… I decide to go with one version and sketch it out in more detail. There’s still a lot of changes at this point, I use the eraser a lot or do a couple versions to see what I like the most.
When I’m ready, I go ahead and ink it up with black pen, scan it into the computer and vectorize it in Illustrator. Then it’s a matter of digital coloring that takes a whole lot of time because I’m indecisive!
Sometimes this process is repeated when things don’t turn out right or I change my mind and have to sketch again, ink and scan. Ultimately, it means lot of hours in front of the computer fiddling around and experimenting. I usually add texture to the piece at the very end and hopefully call it completed. Having deadlines actually helps with that bit, because I can let my work sit there forever, not knowing if I can consider it done or not! Below is the final piece I submitted to the gallery using the color trend suggestions from Lilla. I definitely stuck with my sweet cute style in the end. You can see all the beautiful artwork from February in the Bootcamp gallery here. Enjoy!
