not beige

Had the urge to start working on another art journal earlier. I was looking through an old IKEA catalog and the title on one of the features was Be Brave Not Beige. It was obviously an invite to embrace more color and I just loved the sound of it. I'm a huge fan of color so I started gluing and painting and came up with this.

I'm still addicted to these vintage roses. Can't stop putting them on everything, lol.

Funny thing is I like beige too. As a color anyway because I'm also a fan of neutrals, especially all the lovely muted sepia tones. But the idea of not being 'beige' or bland really appealed to me and I think most of you are the same way, which is why we love to express ourselves creatively.

You might have already heard of little Aelita Andre, the precocious 4 year old artist who just opened her own solo exhibit in New York city. The story has been making the rounds but here's the vid in case you haven't. It's quite fascinating to watch.

What's inspiring you this second week of June?

good words + missing followers update

Update: Anyone else notice their followers have gone missing? I just checked the forum and lots of people are having the same problem. Here's a link to a form to fill out to add your blog to the list. Hope they can sort it out soon. I just hit 460 then they all went away :( I miss seeing your smiling faces on my page!

I'm always looking for quotes. I love to read them and many of them, especially the ones about art and creativity really inspire me. Recently I came across one in a magazine that I hadn't seen before.

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

This is from tennis legend Arthur Ashe. It's been my favorite since I found it.

Sometimes I just get overwhelmed when I see or read about all the new products and techniques available to artists today. Looking through the pages of my favorite Stampington magazines, I can easily find a project featuring multiple steps and products and gadgets. And I honestly really love and appreciate all of them. But like so many of you, I'm also on a tight budget and my tiny space can barely hold what I already have.

This weekend I was at Michaels and debated way too long on whether to try the Tim Holtz crackle paints. I picked a few up, put one back, walked around with two, put another back, walked around with one...

How many of you have done this before?

Finally I thought about that Arthur Ashe quote and remembered that what I really love is just making something with stuff I already have. Plain old paint, paper and glue (ok and a few of those distress ink pads). So I put the last bottle back. 25% off wasn't a good enough sale for me anyway and I'll just wait until I can use the 40% off coupon they have every week.

Spreaking of using what I have...I decided to recycle old pictures from one of my early posts last year. I remember I found a package of these metal charms with words so I threw them in a bottle and took a few pictures.

I hope you had a great weekend. With or without new goodies to try, lol. Our bizzare weather continues here in 'sunny' California. I drove through a wicked thunderstorm yesterday during a 2 hour trip and all my winter clothes are still out. So so strange....

Do you have a favorite quote? I'd love to hear.

june artful bag challenge

We're halfway through our bag challenge already and we're once again doing the Altered Art theme. For this challenge we will take any everyday object (as along as it isn't a bag) and alter it to look like one. The last time we did this theme, you all came up with so many creative and wonderful ideas. I can't wait to see what you have this time.

Thank you to everyone who played along with the Playing With Paper theme last month. As always, all the paper purses were amazing. I'm a little behind visiting all the entries but now that I'm getting caught up on my projects, I'm going back to see the ones I missed.

For my Altered Art bag I decided to alter a plain old dvd case. It took me a few tries to come up with something that worked. I started with a fun sweet cupcake theme but couldn't get it to all work together.

I finally decided to go vintagey. First I gessoed the edges of the case then painted it vintage gold. I cut a piece of velvet remnant to fit the cover then basted the gold and wine trim around the edges. Then I went through my jewelry kit and attached a charm bracelet I made last year. And last, I added a velvet flower 'clasp' and a lenght of chain for the handle.

And now I'd love to see your altered art bag!