Sara Free

Get Messy Art Journal || Season of Brave - Week 5

Week 5 included some fun technique prompts to try out. I am a fan of trying new techniques. I was lazy on the prop shots this week, so those did not happen. I stuck with my goal of attempting at least two prompts. 

Challenge 2 - Paint a household object

I decided to paint a soccer cone because it had holes and I thought that would produce some nice texturing. I liked what the cone made and got my hands really messy in the process. I understand why the kids find joy in painting their whole bodies. 

Challenge 4 - Try an image transfer

I'm never quite sure if I have the right supplies, but I try to make what I can with what I have. I think I have a laser printer, but I didn't verify that. I did my image transfer with acrylic paint. The first one I attempted, I didn't get the pressure right for taking the paper off which resulted in a lot of holes in the transfer. I would say my second transfer was only slightly better. I used a different image and worked with the results. I'm very satisfied with the way it turned out. Clustering things isn't something I feel confident about, but I wanted to go for that effect. I'd love to "play in the brave" as often as I can!

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Get Messy Art Journal || Season of Brave - Week 4

This week I felt overwhelmed with indecision. I'd look at a page and not know where to start. It's like my art journal muscle memory took a hike. I pushed through this by just starting with one thing, the see through paper in one instance, spraying some mists in another. When feeling stuck, I find I just need to start going, with something.

The inability to make choices probably explains why I used minimal supplies. I didn't want to flood my already confused creative process. So while this week appears simple, it was actually born from a very chaotic, unclear mindset. 

Challenge 2 - What would you do if you woke up fearless?

This prompt seemed the easiest - I could make a list of what I'd like to do with a fearless day. I went for a dreamy look and included my mug (that I had intended to use in the previous Get Messy season).

Prop shot:

Challenge 3 - Do a technique that you are afraid of.

As of now, I'm not afraid of techniques, mostly because I don't know many. I'm excited to try out any new technique. What I am afraid of is specific materials. I never know how to use sequins or confetti, it's so little and hard to handle. I wanted to try to use confetti and make letters like this, and while it did work, I did not like how it looked on the page I was making. 

I also wanted to learn more about making different types of backgrounds after I discovered this pin. I have a few stencils. This too did not go in the direction I initially started with, I managed to spray way too much paint. It did turn into something I really liked looking at once I let go of what I thought I wanted. 

And because I wanted to try so many things and couldn't decide on one, I experimented with printing on to washi tape. I liked all of the techniques I tried. I'm still not a sequins/confetti fan, it's so stinking little and hard to control (and I'm impatient).

Prop shot:

Pushing through the struggle is a good practice. Sure I could step back and catch up on my Outlander shows, but then I wouldn't have these pretty blues to relax me. 

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Get Messy Art Journal || Season of Brave - Week 3

Week 3, one prompt. A nice little break from the intensity of last week's zine. I kept it simple this week and gave myself permission to just make one art journal page. 

Challenge - what scares me and use a technique out of my comfort zone. 

Using magazines is out of my comfort zone. I tend to not use them because I'm not sure how to naturally incorporate them into my art journal. I admire those journalers that can make the magazine seem like a whole new product. 

I checked out a book from the library that talked about different lettering technique. One was using magazines to make letters. This was an manageable way for me to ease into using magazines in my art journal. 

I also used gouache and dish soap to blow bubbles on to the page. This was a new technique for me to try. I didn't really know what I was doing, other than I knew I should probably make the paint the consistency of bubble solution. 

I present my many fears ranging from bugs to death:

Prop shot:

My girls certainly wanted to get on the fun:

I'm excited to see what the rest of the community created. I'm still having a blast learning, creating, and trying new things. What a wonderful way to play with art supplies!

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Get Messy Art Journal || Season of Brave - Week 2

I was a little shocked at the prompt for week 2 with the Get Messy Art Journal group. The fear crept in a peep as I considered making a zine. It was change in the rhythm I've begun to develop with my art journal. Ultimately, it was a great challenge to get my brain thinking in a different way, and I was super happy with my final product. 

I knew I wanted to make something with craft paper. I initially thought I would be doing more painting to create the lines. Then I found the washi tape was so satisfying to cut and shape that I went with that. I hope to make some more washi tape art soon. This prompt opened the door to a new method!

Challenge: Make a Zine about Brave People

More and more, I understand that I am all about words. I love them. My zine focused around brave words that have been released into the world. 

The zine:

Prop shot:

What a challenge! Thanks for helping me to stretch and grow Get Messy! 

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Get Messy Art Journal || Season of Brave - Week 1

We are three weeks into the season of brave with the Get Messy Art Journal group. This has been a fun topic. It has tied into my one little word - fearless. I have found it an inspiring topic to dig into and it continues to push through my fears or at least to think about them. 

Challenge 1 - what is brave? 

It is so many things. That day, it was doing hard things and not forgetting the magic in oneself to accomplish tasks daily. 

Prop shot:

Challenge 3 - A list of my brave attributes

Prop shot:

Challenge 4 - Painting with q-tips

Prop shot:

Such yummy prompts to delve into! I continue to love art journaling and the Get Messy Group!

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Get Messy Art Journal Blog Hop

Getting messy with the Season of Love theme was so much fun! My goal was to attempt at a minimum two prompts. Forcing myself to do all prompts did not feel right, and I might have stopped all together if I had put that kind of pressure on myself. Instead, 2 was the magic number. I succeeded in that goal. If I was lucky, I'd squeeze in a third one. 

My process was to read the prompts on Monday, then to let them stew in my brain for a day. Often a few colors I'd like to try would come into my mind or a specific tool I'd like to focus on incorporating would stand out. I designated Tuesday and Thursday (my days off from work) to crank out something, even if I wasn't exactly sure what it would be. 

I would allow myself the time to work through a journal slowly if needed. I might lay down the paint in the morning, take the kids out to play, the come back and add some paper I liked.  I might stitch a phase over breakfast and then try to determine how I wanted the page to work around it while cooking dinner. Sometimes, a page might be done in one sitting because it would all flow out at that moment. It's interesting to see how the creative process works from time to time. 

My top 3 favorites from this past season were:

One

Two

Three

My art journal is a giant playground. I can try wild somersaults and maybe I'll nail the landing, maybe I won't, but I'll keep trying different things out. There is so much possibility for this journal space - so much to learn and try, so much to keep practicing. 

In the future, I'd like to attempt some of the more personal posts, maybe dig a little deeper emotionally. But I'm not tying myself down to that goal, because it may not be my style (at least not yet). I'd also like to get my supplies more organized so I can easily find them. The more techniques I see out their, the more I want to try them. I'm excited to see what the next set of prompts bring out. 

I am loving taking prop shots:

These shots are such a contrast to the actual creative process. My countertop is often littered with materials that did not get incorporated. I like seeing the end process captured all together. I struggle in my life with arriving at an ending point - meaning, I don't always finish creative projects. The prop shot is my little way of teaching myself that I can finish things. 

Checkout the rest of my Season of Love prompts:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

The Get Messy group is motivating and inspiring me to keep on creating and sharing. We are blog hopping today, so please check out the blogs below to get a peek at more Get Messians and their awesome art journal process and pages!

Blog Hop: 

1. Elizabeth http://ontapfortoday.com
2. Cait http://www.cait-makes.com
3. Julia http://julestea.blogspot.co.uk/
4. Cassandra http://scrapsavvycreations.blogspot.ca
5. Kristin http://rukristin.com/blog
6. Delaney  http://delaneypaige.typepad.com
7. Anna http://inaveryforeigntongue.blogspot.com

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Get Messy Art Journal || Week 6

We are on spring break in our house, and I've been in nonscheduled heaven. Which also means, I even had time to start the prompts on a Monday. It was a good week creating with another set of love prompts. 

Challenge 2: Use only red or pink. 

I focused on many shades of red for this prompt. I like when the challenges give a particular color or item to use. 

Prop shot:

Challenge 4: Use dried flowers

Again, an item I can incorporate into my art journal, I like. A beautiful bush in our neighbor's backyard is overflowing into our driveway. The past few weeks have been gray, gloomy, and rainy. The bush with it's sunny flowers has been a beacon of happiness for me when we go to and from our house. I was excited to incorporate a few of these sunny flowers into a page.

Prop Shot:

Challenge 3: Most romantic thing anyone has done for you

 

My husband writes me poetry every now and then. I haven't come up with a proper way to save his words where I can look over them again and again. Adding them to an art journal seems like one way to refer to them often. It is one of the most romantic things he does for me. His words with his love for me. It's the romantic stuff I dreamed about as a kid, and now it's real. 

Prop shot:

I'm having so much fun! I believe we'll be on a break soon, and then I'll eagerly await the next theme and prompts. Meanwhile, maybe I can get back to my blogging, writing, creating schedule. 

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Get Messy Art Journal || Week 5

I felt full of struggles this week once I started to get to work. I liked the prompts. I was challenged when trying to figure out the direction I wanted to go. What I thought I wanted didn't always work out. Even simple things, like trying to get some photos printed early enough, got printed later than I wanted - so I scrambled to find another photo. It's all part of the process I suppose. Things don't always come out easily, and it's learning to work with it and through it that is a good practice. 

Two things I wanted to try this week were a two page spread and using one of my photographs. Check and check. 

Challenge 1: Love Language

I've been curious about my love language. I was immediately drawn to this prompt. I took the quiz. I was a little surprised that my love language was quality time. It is on my mind a lot lately. Do I spend enough quality time with my kids? I'm often wanting more of my husband's time now that life has shifted to a highly work focused mode for him.

I thought it was interesting that the test results show how the questions line up with the various love languages. I want my art journal to express a few key words from each love language, because I'm sure my love language changes from time to time. Looking back, I'd enjoy seeing key words from all 5 love languages. The big, bold black letter go in order from highest to lower scores. 

Eli (my son) receives Kiwi cratesin the mail. The tool he used to make one of his crafts looked cool and I tried it out it out for the prompt. 

Kiwi Crate texture tool:

Art Journal: 

Prop Shot:

Challenge 2: Write Affirmations Around Your Figure

It's a struggle to incorporate photos of myself into my art work. It's hard to look at myself and cheer myself on. I'm quick to find my flaws. I'm going to work on transforming that. Thanks for that a-ha moment art journaling. 

I found an old one and worked with it. I wanted big, fat brush script, and was mostly able to achieve that. 

Art Journal:

Prop Shot:

I'm still having so much fun with the get messy prompts. I only wish I had more time to make art all day long, instead of working quickly with the small slices of time I am granted. Then again, maybe the time constraints force me to keep moving forward.

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Get Messy Art Journal || Week 4

Just when I think I'm over love, I get all inspired again. This week, due to life circumstances, I had to be efficient. I stuck with the gouache. 

Challenge 1: Greatest Act of Love

I picked up some super cool Heidi Swapp teal color shine at Michaels. That was my first mission, use the teal. I couldn't pin down one great act of love, for some reason I thought of Romeo and Juliet. That didn't seem right because that ended so terribly. I went with kindness as the greatest act of love. 

Prop shot:

Challenge 4: Art Prompt - Use cut up strips to create a shape or Background

I was going for the contrast of black and white with a bunch of color bursting through. What came out was not exactly what initially started in my head, but it works for me.

Prop shot:

Challenge 3: The world devoid of love

And because I had extra white paint left I made a third page. I saw a rubber cement technique on The Artful Parent's Facebook page that looked totally fun. Basically, you drizzle rubber cement on the page. Let it dry. Then paint over it (I used gouache and I covered one section with an envelope where I wanted to do some lettering). Let the paint dry. Then rub off the rubber cement and reveal a fun looking pattern. It was so fun. I can't wait to try it some more. I still have white paint leftover, oh well. 

Prop Shot:

Tinkerlab Magical Rubber Cement Art Technique

I could have art journaled all day and night. Looking forward to the next set of prompts. Hoping I can get more flow back into my life. I was hoping March would be a little easier on me, but no such luck. 

*some affiliate links above

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Get Messy Art Journal || Week 3

I fell down the migraine tunnel this past week. First ever, and boy was it a doozie. I still haven't fully shaken it off.

I did find time to get messy. Getting messy was healing. That is what this whole week was about, rest, working through the post migraine and giving love some more focus.

Challenge 3 & 4: Stranger Love Note

I wanted to play with brush scripting and was mostly set on adding a little mosaic something or other to my page. I decided to brush script on some old sheet music I brought at Goodwill. I made a few notes that I still need to drop off at random locations, and one that I added to my art journal. I'm was happy with the end result.

Art journal:

Love notes to share:

Prop shot:

Challenge 1 & 2: Self Love Note

I went with stitching again for this one. I also wanted to use my favorite blue, that lovely aqua blue. After seeing the tutorial on Get Messy, using a credit card to spread some paint sounded like fun, so I gave that a try too. I'm always trying to remind myself that I am enough.

 Prop Shot:

Another great week getting messy, in spite of the head issues. It's one thing that made me feel good and made the aches and pains sink to the background. I'm loving getting messy!

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