pamgarrison

more photos from class

We are always busy little bees in art class...so much to look at, so much to try...

shopping and making of new friends...

documenting it all is part of the fun too...

Even I try to instagram throughout the day...(I usually start off well and by the 2nd day, am too deeply involved to remember to document)

Above is an instagram of my class sample in progress...and here is some of the student work:

Look at the result of all this focus, the hand bound journals:

So beautiful, so fun, so inspiring. Like I said yesterday, it was another great weekend spent creating. Tomorrow I'll show you the journal I made during the weekend. Art journaling is such great creative play, glad to have more journaling cohorts along for the ride. If you art journal, feel free to leave a link to your blog/website/gallery in the links, so like minded friends can find you too!

another fun weekend of teaching

Another fun weekend of teaching and learning and playing at Studio Crescendoh. Thank you Jenny for these photos.



And thank you to all the friends old and new that came to play along. Of course, the class is made by those that show up and participate, create alongside each other, sharing ideas and inspiration. I have more photos to share, but have done something weird to my photoshop and can't access them (it's always user error, isn't it? well, for me, 90% of the time my computer issues are). Luckily, Sarah, my computer tutor extraordinaire just happens to be coming by tonight. Hopefully, the fix won't take to long and we'll get to move on to the stencil designs I had planned to work on tonight!

I'll be back tomorrow with a post full of class photos and student work...sorry for the tiny teaser!

thoughts on creativity on recent journal pages

Like I said on instagram when posting this photo of a journal page, I assume you all know this about me by now :).

Someone was asking me recently about "how"... "how to" "how did you" "how can I" in regards to something with creativity, and honestly, I think so much of it boils down to that famously overused saying..."follow your bliss". Just do it; try, play, create, allow...see what comes of it. I am sure something will, even if that something is just to lead you to somewhere else. I think you are rewarded for effort and the pursuit of truth in all things. I see following your creative bliss as the pursuit of your personal, authentic truth.

Here's the full journal spread:

 

yep, arrow and forever stamps part of my new collection, scissors from Uppercase magazine,little flower part of an advertisement in a magazine

 

I think you need to follow your passions and allow yourself time to do it regularly. Growth takes exploration.

Like the writing on the page I showed on last post (I'll put the close up here below), I really think wanting to is good enough reason to allow yourself to.

Trust, and then:

These journal pages are my playtime, experimentation, exploration. Some thinking and venting and dreaming and listing and active meditation too.

Oh, and to answer a comment question on the last journal post, yes, I do sometimes (and have been lately) use watercolors. Like this page and set here:

And this page above (not the background, just the colored in parts- except not the hot pink, that's acrylic). This particular set was this Winsor & Newton. I used it with this brush. Little  watercolor sets with half pans and water brushes like these make it really easy to sit anywhere and play in your journal.

I hope you are pursuing some random creative pursuits this summer, and if not, be sure to put it on your calendar for fall, just because you want to! xo

journaling pages in all different stages

 

Been allowing myself lots of journaling time lately to prepare for the class coming up this weekend. We still have some open spots if you care to join us. For more info go here.

 

quick and easy reuse/recycle project

A fun and festive circle garland whipped up from restaurant coasters. You know, those chipboard like coasters they toss out for your drinks? I'm talking about these:

Well, the three pieces of round paper on the right are the papers I used to cover the coasters. I can't help but collect the restaurant coasters after dinner, beacause I just love chipboard and am quite fond of the circle shape. I just knew I'd find many uses for them. The funny thing is, not one person in my family NOR my kids' friends every blinked when I asked for them. They all know me well enough by now, haha.

I did recover some for the purpose using at home. Seems we are always short of something to protect the various tables that people put drinks on (all of them). So one trip through the Xyron  each side and peel and press on some scrapbook paper. I used the coaster as the template and just cut around it after the paper was attached. Easy peasy. I started the garlands the same way, but started to get a little cost concious about the xyron sticker paper, so began sewing the scrapbook paper on the coasters instead, then glue sticking the edges down afterwards.

 

Still easy peasy. Here's how the garland turned out:

It would be very pretty twirling in a light breeze, so you get to see both sides.  I think it's pretty all clumped together ...

And single strand too.

These up close photos make it clear to me that they could stand a swipe of sandpaper on the edges to clean them up and meld the chipboard with the paper for a finished look.

Of course, you could make the same type of thing with two pieces of paper cut to size and sewn together without the chipboard coaster in between, but the coaster makes them so sturdy and makes them useable as coasters...couldn't do that if it were just two pieces of paper. Also, the coasters make them really easy to fold up accordian style to put away for use another day without letting the paper get all bent or torn.

And hey, look at the pile I saved from the landfill....Next time I collect a bunch I think I'll use them to attach black and white portraits...wouldn't that be fun, a strand of family photos? Next time, next time...

 

 

paintings getting their turn behind the camera

My sweet helper Kate is spending a lot of time here working with me. I couldn't resist snapping this photo of her holding one of my little paintings; the light, her hands, the backdrop, all of them struck me as so sweet.

She's putting all her earnings toward a new MacBookPro that she has been working and working for. She's almost 13 and is quite industrious and capable. After a summer of working various jobs for various neighbors, she's to the half way mark. Awesome. I call her Kate the great. She came to Renegade with me both days and worked hard and did a super job. Here's a photo of us together, taken that weekend by Elysa Hill. And here's an instagram I shot of her as she was checking out the pictures we took togher at Magnolia Photo Booth :

It was quite handy having the photo booth across from us, so that we could jump in there first thing in the morning before the crowds came.

Anyway, Kate came over today to help me package up all the orders for the new stamps. Thank you for the Etsy orders!

After we finished that, we began to move on to begin the prep to list some paintings. She took this instagram of me photographing some:

I really enjoy re-aquainting myself with the paintings when it's time to photograph them, getting to see them with fresh eyes and find favorite spots. Like these:

We'll be at it again tomorrow, plugging away. Hopefully, you'll like the smaller size and price of many of the pieces. Of course, I'll let you know here when they finally make it to etsy!

 

stamp sets are now available!!!

Finally, after long last, the stamps are in my etsy. You can get them here.

Here was an instagram I did when they first came in, I was so excited, I couldn't resist slapping them down on a journal page. the thicker ones are made from stamps that I hand carved, and the thinner ones are from illustrations. I must say, I am finding them quite fun. And look what Mary Ann did with some here. She's such a show off!

They arrived just in time to make their debut at Renegade.

Here they are:

Happy mail, Chevron it up!, and It's a big week are larger and sold both individually and as a set of three sets.

And smaller sets, Today is Awesome, Chevron it up!, Petal pushers,This way forever, Happy Mail, Days of the week, also sold individually and at a discount for all 6.

I hope you like them!!! I look forward to seeing them on art journals, mail packages, scrapbook pages and whatever other creative use you can think of!

new journaling & journaling class deets

Hello! Long time no blog, I know. We went on a quick little family vacation. More on that in another post including photos, but today I wanted to officially get the word out about the August 25/26 class that's open for registration over at crescendoh.com. We are grateful for the interest and request for an additional class, so hope that this last minute addition and notice will allow for those that were upset about missing out the first time another chance to get in. To find out all the details, go here. We had a great time in July, and I'm sure we'll have a great time at this class as well.

Above are some of the hand crafted, one of a kind journals that I made from my paintings. These are going to be for sale at the class. Although I intended to have them done for Renegade, they never made it there, one shoppers lost opportunity is another's gain :). Here's my personal journal made the same way:

And here are some inside page spreads: