Tag: art journaling

A tool to make you feel better about yourself

A tool can be helpful, but all the self-improvement hoopla we get bombarded with online can become tedious. BUT if you have one visual tool, the long-term effect can be felt even if it’s subtle. Life improves with time. Improvement happens where you focus. FOCUS is the key.

I have been into Spirit Dolls for a long time. It’s not something new. Indigenous tribes have used talismans throughout the centuries. They made poppets from nature’s bounty, twigs, rocks, and grasses.

I know that intention-setting is a great tool, and it can be applied while making a Spirit Doll. When you make a doll that carries intentions, you support yourself with positivity.

So I got busy and created A SPIRIT DOLL KIT.

I have made the polymer clay painted faces forever and sold them in my Etsy shop as one item, but then I decided to put all the parts together into a kit. Each doll is unique: a single painted face, different fabric, polyfill, talismans, and twigs.

The best part: It’s almost NO SEW. You can put it together in an hour. There are detailed printed instructions included with lots of pictures, and back in the day, I made a YouTube video about it. How To Make A Spirit Doll From Scrap Fabric.

A tool / doll that won’t give you a headache (like Ikea stuff 🙂

The way to give this doll “life” is to fill her with your written intentions. Anything you want to improve, write it down and stick it into the doll. When you look at her, you are reminded. She will be your special doll because you made her!

There will be more dolls to choose from in the near future. I have also been busy in my other Etsy shop, Virtual Stationer. It’s getting some traction, which is often tough for a new-ish shop.

I sell all kinds of ephemera for art and junk journaling. I’ve been playing with a Gelli plate, and it’s so much fun! I also have a massive stash of ephemera that I have collected over time. I don’t art journal that much now, but I sure love ephemera / fodder. Take a peek at the goodies.

That’s all for July, my friends. I wish you lots of fun and creativity!

Lots of love,

A pink heart with the name Maria

My word for 2021

My word is “breakthrough” and I think it will fit 2021 nicely, though who really knows what’s coming? There are so many unanswered questions. I choose to look at the new year positively, and intend to make it great, as great as I can!

I made a short art journal video to bring in the new year. Making art is good intention setting.

You can watch the process here:

my word for 2021

Reflecting back on 2020 it was a chaotic year for sure. I’m sure we can all agree. I got a lot accomplished in my art studio, and I was grateful to have that space to retreat to whenever I wanted. Not everyone is that lucky. My heart reaches out to those who were hard hit with the economic downturn, and most of all, those who had friends and relatives who passed away.

I wish a lot better year for everyone, and that we can find ways to get along better.

Here are some items I made in December:

The angel shrines are well loved by my customers. 🙂

If you need an angel for someone or yourself, please check out my shop Earth and Faery.

I wrote a blog post earlier this month with several other items I made, you can check out this post if you didn’t already, New Energy Coming…

On that note…

I wish you…

Mixed media with sea-loving flair

Mixed media is one of my go-to modalities when I want to experiment and have some fun in my art journal.

There are so many ways to add mixed media elements to your art, as many as you can imagine! 🙂

Mixed media is the essence of flexibility.

I made this art journal spread with some sea-loving flair. Mice are on an adventure and a mermaid is sending them some good vibes.

I haven’t been as busy as usual in my studio this month. Times have been kind of crazy, and my thoughts have been scattered a lot.

But I’m ready for Christmas, and there will be mixed media galore in my Etsy shop, but no art journaling there. 🙂

As you can see, I painted some pictures. I also tried my hand at some polymer clay brooches, which were a lot of fun, and a mermaid pendant. What do you think of these?

I made some more angels since they sell well in my shop.

If you are interested in any of these items, they can be purchased at Earth and Faery. There are about 150 items to choose from. I’m amazed at myself as I keep making stuff. When you’re inspired, everything flows!

If you missed my last post, Altered Pages Just for Fun, here it is. You can watch a three-part video tutorial on how to make altered pages with texture and paint. Then I show how to use them as ornaments and as a journal cover. CHECK IT OUT.

It’s always good to make some art in these crazy times. 🙂

My aim is to inspire.

Lots of love,

Maria

Altered Pages’ tutorials for fun!

Altered pages are a staple in art journaling, and I decided to experiment using a tub of modeling paste I just purchased. The paste has the consistency of creamy peanut butter and is easy to use. It’s important to clean up your tools quickly before it dries. It dries a lot harder than you’d think.

First, a thought: The best way to discover what kind of art expression you like to pursue is through experimentation. You learn quickly what you don’t like, and it takes you beyond copying others’ styles. I think it’s the best way to discover what makes you tick. That changes over time, so it’s good to be flexible.

Anyway, here are the three videos I made with altered papers.

Part 1: how I actually altered the papers.

Altering pages

Part 2: How I made some ornaments using the above papers.

Making ornaments

Part 3: Altered papers make a great journal cover!

Altered papers journal cover

As you can see, these papers are very flexible and forgiving too. You can’t mess up the project. Try it. If you buy some modeling paste you’ll enjoy using it in other projects. I made this mermaid picture with a sea background of paste.

Mermaid with modeling paste background

I pretty much used the same stencils in all the projects. You can use this technique for some many things!

Have a great creative rest of the week. 🙂

Lots of love,

Maria

P.S. I stocked some Halloween items in my shop recently, Earth and Faery.

Manila folder art journal tutorial

Manila folders come in stacks of ten or more, but what to do when you have some old folders that can’t be used any longer? Make an art journal! I had an old folder that had been used many times. I tried to remove the written labels, but the folder had served its purpose by then.

I made a short video on how to turn the folder into an art journal. You can use whatever papers you have. I have a huge stack so it seems I used every conceivable style I could dig up. It turned out very busy but who is judging?

Manila folder art journal

As you can see, I made some mistakes, but what I learned will benefit my next journal! The first one is always trial and error, right?

Seeing as the CV virus still has a hold, I spend a lot of time in my studio. There’s nothing else I’d rather do during this time. Here’s a gallery of items I’ve made in July.

Art I made in July
How I feel about 2020, titled The Rollercoaster

I made more items, but these are enough for now. 🙂 I also got back to doing more art journaling. If you missed my last blog post with the tutorial on how to make a manila envelope journal cover, HERE it is.

One of my favorite mixed media artist is Lyn Belisle. She is currently offering a FREE book tutorial, how to make a Lotus book. It is really cool. Check it out HERE. You can’t go wrong with free, and she’s an excellent instructor.

This is it for this blog post. I hope you try the manila folder journal. Send me pictures if you do: [email protected]

Lots of love,

Maria

P.S. Most of my art ends up in my etsy shop, Earth and Faery. Before we know it, Christmas will be here.

Simple journal cover tutorial

Simple journal cover you ask? Yes, it’s possible. Check out the YouTube video I made creating an easy and fun cover for a new art journal. All you need is a manila envelope, I used a 12×9″ size, but any size is ok. You need some paints, elastic, and stencils or rubber stamps. Use what you have and save yourself a trip to the craft store.

front and back of journal cover

I really like how it turned out, and there are so many variations that you can create. The sky’s the limit. You can also put something in the envelope, use it as a secret pocket.

Simple is great! The more complex the design, the more room for error, though you can’t really go wrong when art journaling.

At a whole other spectrum of creativity, I sewed a cat figure from scrap fabrics.

cat soft sculpture

A friend saw it on Instagram and promptly purchased it. I was happy to part with it. I painted the eyes and appliqued them to the face. A lot of embroidery was involved, and I sewed the body without turning the seams inside. I thought it added a primitive touch to the figure.

Sometimes just winging it makes the best art. 🙂

What are you making today?

If you’re looking for some more inspiration, try this spirit doll assemblage made with an old Altoid tin. HERE

Lots of love,

Maria

P.S. I’m stocking some Christmas items (gifts) in my etsy shop. Check them out HERE.