Catching up...

Sorry I've been MIA for the past couple of months.  My mom had open heart surgery and things have just been crazy all the way around since June.  :P  I think it's all starting to even out a little, so I wanted to try to get caught back up on creating art regularly and posting it to share with you guys.  :) 

This post will probably be very random and a bit image heavy, just to warn you ahead of time. 

I'll start with the newest stuff I've been working on and make my way back.  I've recently gotten into doing videos of various things but I don't know how to upload them here yet so that will have to be another post.  Hopefully I can figure it out soon!  When I'm not doing that, I'm trying to stay organized with my planner.  I have so much I want to share here about planner stuff for other people who might be wandering aimlessly in the planner world.  I feel like I have been searching for the 'perfect' system for me for the past few years and I think I may finally be getting close to having systems that work for me.  I'll probably go more into this in another post, but for now let me share with you what I've been doing lately. 


Daily inserts. 
These things are pretty awesome.  It's basically just your list of daily to do items on one page.  I found this one over at themintgreenpolkadot website.  If you haven't looked at daily inserts and would like to, there are tons of options out there.  Some you can buy, some are free, and if you don't find any you like you can definitely make your own.  I tried making my own awhile back and didn't like how they came out so I plan to keep working on that when I get time, but for now these have worked perfectly for me.  I've only been using them a short time, about a week I guess, but they are really great for keeping up with daily tasks that need more room then what you get on a weekly spread.  And if you like to decorate your pages this gives you so much more room and options for that.  I don't usually have time to decorate very much but these are perfect for letting me be just creative enough every day.  I have always preferred the weekly spread and the month on two pages layouts, but the current weekly spreads I have are just not my style.  They're very generic and just don't suit me the way I like.  I'm thinking that once I run out I might get a years supply from Cocoadaisy.  I really love the look of theirs.  They even have a free download if you want to try it! 

Also, just in case anyone wants to know, I have a basic DayTimer planner.  I got it very cheap at Walmart about two years ago I think?  I really love it but I plan to eventually get a Kikki K.  I've looked at so many brands and love a lot of the designs from Filofax, but I think the Kikki K brand would be perfect for what I want.  I'm waiting for one to come out with a design I love.  (I hate that I missed their mint ones!) 

 I haven't had much time to draw digitally in the last couple of months so I really don't have much to share in that department right now I'm afraid.  :/  Hopefully I will get some time soon to pull out my computer more often.  :)  I do have some random things from around my studio or of things I've bought/come across/started working on, in case anyone is curious to see some behind the scenes sort of things.  ;) 

I feel like I am constantly cleaning or organizing my studio.  Usually both!  These stickers have moved around quite a bit lately.  I organized them from the overstuffed drawer they were in and moved them to this bright neon pink container I picked up at the Dollar General store.  I am able to see them better so that I will actually use them now!  I still have a long way to go as far as getting my stickers into a good organized system but I think this is definitely a step forward.  ;) 

 I found these adorable markers at my local TJ Maxx.  Aren't they cute?  They're basically just (scented!) highlighters, but they were too cute to pass up. 

 I came across these old scrapbook/album books in one of my boxes.  I'm pretty sure I've shared the Halloween one here before but just in case you're wondering if it still exists, it does!  LoL!  I just need to finish it!

I've decided to use these papers for my September Listers Gotta List challenge.  I'm so behind on Augusts' lists, but I plan to try to hop back on the bandwagon this upcoming month.  I love finishing one of these books and knowing that it's done. 

These sticker paper sheets are from the Dollar Tree.  I think I bought about six different types but these three seem to be my favorites. 

I picked these up this weekend.  I just can't seem to resist paint chip samples.  They're so beautiful and full of colorful goodness! 

These two pages are from my Smash books.  The robot page I found in my large red smash book and the Think Happy page is from my daily smash journal (which I have also gotten behind in this past week).  I think for 2016 I am going to do something completely different.  I haven't quite decided yet but it definitely will not be in Smash books next year. LoL  I love them but they are way too big for using them the way I have been. 

And last but not least, my latest mixed media pages! :D  I haven't had time to paint in ages but I plan to do a little painting as soon as possible.  I absolutely love how these pages turned out.  The colors just make me so happy and they make me want to be more creative.  ;) 

I hope you've enjoyed catching up with me today.  Hopefully I will have more time to start posting regularly again, and actually get time to make things to post!  Like I said, I'm hoping to figure out how to share my videos here as well, so that will hopefully be something I'll be able to share with you all soon.  Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoyed your stay!  <3 p="">

#mixedmedia #painting #smashjournal #smashbook #EKSuccess #stencils #nofear #explore #robot #thinkhappybehappy #paintchipsamples #color #bright #bold #colorful #stickerpaper #dollartree #dollarstore #scrapbookpaper #listersgottalist #theresetgirl #lists #listchallenge #halloweenbook #halloween #memorybook #memorykeeping #TJMaxx #cute #kawaii #markers #cutehighlighters #stickers #organization #stickerorganization #dailyinserts #themintgreenpolkadot #cocoadaisy #planner #plannernerd #planning #daytimer #kikkik #filofax

Hello Sun

Actually drew a thing last night on my computer!  Yay me!  And happy early memorial day weekend to those in the USA! :D 

Art Journal

 I don't feel like I've been very artistic the last few months. Not as much as I have been in the past anyway. So I've been trying to get back into the groove with my paints and watercolors. I've been working on my brush lettering and accents lately. I've noticed with my paints and digital art I like to use really bright, bold colors, where as with the watercolors I've been using very soft, pastel colors. The artist loft set I have doesn't seem to have any really bright / bold colors though. :I
Next is to try to get back into creating more digital art. :D
‪#‎artjournal‬ ‪#‎gelliprintjournal‬ ‪#‎gelliprinting‬ ‪#‎painting‬ ‪#‎colorful‬ ‪#‎playful‬ ‪#‎brushpen‬ ‪#‎watercolor‬ ‪#‎pastel‬ ‪#‎bright‬

From around the studio

 

These are just some random photos and items from around my studio.  Some I've shared in various places already so you may have already seen them, but thought I would round them up and share them here as well.

Mixed media sticker sheets

You may remember seeing one of these the other day, but I've since created a few others to go with it. These are actually sticker sheets that I've painted on and doodled up a bit. I'm thinking I may offer these for sale in my etsy shop. I thought it might be cool to see how other people use them in their art and scrapbook pieces.

Magic WIP mixed media page

Thought I'd share another glimpse at a new mixed media page.  Like most of these pages in my journal/sketchbook, this one is still a WIP, but I like the way it's coming along.  Hopefully I'll eventually finish a few of these pages and be able to share those with you all as well.  ;) 

Scene studies

I've been working on a project that requires me to create full, detailed scenes, so I've been doodling a few scenes of my own when in between working on it to try to help me get better at it, since full detailed scenes aren't really my forte.  Thought I'd share them with you all.  I couldn't resist seeing what they looked like in other colors either. ;)

New Changes

Trying to do some new changes to my blog again.  A bit more colorful this round, I think.  Feel free to look around and see if you like it.  ;)  If you find any issues, broken links, etc, please let me know!  Trying to finish up a project currently, so might be a little bit before I get to work on or post any personal drawings, but hopefully once I'm done, I can finally show you what I've been working on.  :) 

Monsters

Just some monsterses.  ;)  Happy Tuesday! 

Don't forget, you can keep up with my art on my Deviantart page or on Facebook!  :)

Click here to see where else you can follow me or see what I've been up to.

Food and cats

Decided to play around with creating some foodie items. I really liked how they came out.

I thought I'd play around a little more with the food and cat I created. I can't figure out which background color I like the best. ;)

 

Another sketch I decided to color. I experimented with it as well, but it came out much closer to what I had in mind.

I started this from one of the sketches I recently shared. I liked the composition and I do like the colors I used, more or less, but I experimented with texture and my line work and I'm not happy with the results of those at all. Regardless, I thought I would share it with you guys. I may rework it to try play around with my techniques a bit more.

*Sorry for the top being so close/cut off looking. This was just for fun so the display wasn't a huge priority when I decided to share it.

Some random things and a dancing bug

Just some random things.  I'm pretty sure you can figure out the gist of them without any descriptions for each, so I won't bore you guys with any of that on this post. ;)  If you do have questions, feel free to ask.  You can also find me on facebook and deviantart if you'd rather contact me there. 

And an interesting fact I just discovered is that I just saw a link on my stats that led to this post, that is apparently based off of my original blog post here.    They referenced use of my page and even the page that I used as reference (I'm assuming I was somehow their main reference for that to happen).  So I guess that's pretty cool.  I can't imagine anyone learning anything from that post though LoL!  If anyone does happen to use it to make a sketchbook, I'd love to see how it comes out.  ;D 

Painting Practice

I felt like trying out some painting techniques, and since I don't have that many photos of real life items to paint, or was just too lazy to go find/take pictures of them, I just picked one from some of the photos that inspire me. This one on the left by popoks is beautiful. I can't find the direct link, but her gallery is full of amazingly colorful pictures, so be sure to check them out. This one was simple and full of vibrant stuff so I tried my hand at it. Not sure I like the outcome, but it was fun to push myself to try something I don't normally do.

Beez and stuffz

Just some more random practice. With spring coming, I seem to be particularly drawn to bright, cheerful colors.

Just a fun piece of some random things I smashed in together for something simple.

Bunnies, envelopes and a card

Below are some envelopes I doodled up to use when I mail out stuff. I think I've used all of these already, so I need to doodle up some more. Not sure if the post office likes my doodling on the envelope(I only go crazy on the back LoL) but hopefully it makes their day and the receivers day a little more fun. :)

I drew this up around August for a friend's birthday. I was really happy with how it turned out as my birthday cards are usually pretty bland or simple. I'm not sure if it's clear what the card 'means', but on the front it says "Wish big" and on the inside it is showing the horse thinking of a unicorn. XD Not sure if the horse is supposed to be the unicorn or is looking to find one to fall in love with. I guess it's however you want it to be. ;)

Still been trying to practice more with my tablet and brushes and style ideas. Always searching for my "look" it seems. :p Anyway, I drew this up and really liked how it turned out. I was thinking of adding it to my society6 page, since I haven't added anything for awhile, so if you'd like to see what it looks like on merchandise, feel free to check it out there. :)

Happy Tuesday and early Halloween! Hope everyone is staying safe in Hurricane Sandy's path as well! <3