Pre-Launch Prompt #1 (re-do) 2015 Annual Calendar

Something mysterious happened to our original post made on 11/28/14 for the pre-launch prompt #1, the 2015 annual calendar.  I know we wrote something witty and wonderful to get you enthused about the group, what the future has in store for everyone, but sadly the entire post has disappeared.

So, in an effort to recreate it, we are just going to share our blog links or processes here so that you can at least see what we all created in response to the prompt to give you some inspiration.













You can see Betty Richardson's full spread and all about the process here

Check out Melody Elzy's full spread and all about her process here
















Lynn Jackson made this very bright and happy calendar page....and it was her very first ever journal spread.  We're so proud of Lynn for pushing herself to play and explore!

Tamie Wilson created this beautiful spread, and her blog post mysteriously disappeared as well. We think the internet gremlins might be at work with this disappearing act.....

















Terri Turner made this beautiful calendar page, and this was her first art journal page spread, too! Sadly, we are not able to recover the process she used, but we know that this work will be an inspiration to all the newbies out there in art journal land.

Pre-Launch Prompt #5

We've made it.  The year is coming to a close, and we're looking forward to a new beginning, a new chapter of our lives, a new phase and a new opportunity to show love, positive outlooks, gratefulness and hope in the coming new year.  As we all reflect on this past year, our successes, our goals, our challenges, we have the opportunity to review and reconsider.  We can review all the things we did right, pat ourselves on the back for those successes, make changes from those things that didn't work out as planned, and turn the page...to one that is all shiny and new and filled with promise.  We are all looking forward to an exciting year at Artful Journeys and at Artful Mail Groupies, with the promise of new friendships, relying on those we have already come to love and respect, and the excitement of new challenges looming on the horizon.

To get the year started, our Week 5 Pre-Launch prompt for you is to create a January calendar in your journal.  While you are creating, reflect on this past year and all you've learned, all the wonderful people who have touched your life, and put the spirit of all of 2014 into that fresh, shiny new page.  Perhaps you will journal on the adjacent page about what 2014 brought you, and where you want to go in 2015.   A look at the past, a nod to the future.

Here's what we created in response to this prompt.  We're excited to see the fabulous creations we know you are going to create.  Post your images in Artful Journeys, and tell us a bit about your process.



Melody Elzy -- See her full spread and process here

Betty Richardson -- See her full spread and process here

Lynn Jackson -- I actually had fun making this page. I decided to get the dust off the Cricut and cut the grid and the snowflakes and January word with the rarely used Cricut.  Why didn’t I bring this out sooner??  I painted the background with Apple Barrel Flag red and cut out white snowflakes, but then wanted to paint them a sea blue. The "2015" are numbers I cut from a roll of washi tape. I used a gold sticky back sheet that cut way easy to form the word “January” and I was pretty pleased with the whole process. I am finding as I go along the pages are getting easier to think of and I think it will for all you girls too. 

I am certainly playing and experimenting with all my art supplies.  Are you?












TAMIE WILSON -- see her full spread and her process here 

We hope that we can inspire you to play and experiment and have fun in your art journal.  We are already having a ton of fun and we're just getting started.

Stay artful!

~~Betty, Melody, Terri, Tamie & Lynn

Pre-Launch Prompt #4 - Holiday Madness

This week at Artful Journeys we want you to express the holiday season in your own unique and artful way.  We are living in all parts of the globe and celebrations are different everywhere.  After you express yourself artistically, tell us a bit about some of your family's special holiday traditions or a tradition or custom where you live.  We're building artful bridges by creatively expressing ourselves and sharing our cultures with each other.

Here's what the admin team prepared in response to this week's prompt.  We hope to inspire you or at least give you a little smile along the way.  Remember, some of the team are just beginning their journaling adventures, so your support and encouragement along the way are appreciated!

Happy holidays to you all!


TAMIE WILSON - see her full spread and process here

MELODY ELZY - see her full spread and process here

BETTY RICHARDSON - See her full spread and process here 

LYNN JACKSON -   Seriously, nothing about the holiday drives me crazy. I really like it all right down to cleaning the dirty house. What makes me happy is the grandson coming and looking at his gifts and telling me he knows everything he is getting and just hanging out with him and my daughter. On next weeks page I will try and think of memories but I really live day to day and never look back.

For the background I used Sargent Tempera paint in Magenta.

I applied my paint with a makeup sponge and it went on just like the acrylic does. I picked it because quite frankly I didn't know there was a difference but I like it and will be using it again. And, quite frankly, the cost per ounce of paint was a lot less than buying small bottles of acrylic paint. It was the first time I had used it on any project. I was liking all the colors it came in so got a few of them.

For the word “Winter” and for the Snowman with white acrylic paint, then added some washi tape on the side of the page. The stencil I purchased at Hobby Lobby and it is their store brand. I thought it was really cute and it was perfect for this prompt!  The tempera paint went on really smooth and dried fast. Faster then the acrylic does. The stencils went over the paint very nicely. Those cute little trees are some fun stickers I had that screamed they needed to be on the page.  But--if I had to do the page over again I wouldn't use the stickers as I wasn't very pleased by how they looked when I was finished.

Creating this page was great fun for me. While very new to the world of art journaling, the creative and crafting part is not.  I love being creative and hope you guys are learning right along with me as we progress through the year with our prompts.  Sometimes, actual journaling is difficult, and these holiday prompts just give us something fun to think about and play with.  Since I live in an area that gets lots of snow, this is the holidays for me. Snow and family. Nothing could be better! 

Pre-Launch Prompt #3 - Winter Wonderland

This week in Artful Journeys your art challenge is to create a page in your journal interpreting the prompt "Winter Wonderland".  You know winter means many things to many people, and we all see it differently because we all live all over the world, thus our different interpretations of "winter."  Our friends down under are having a hot summer, while in North America, parts of the north are covered up to their armpits in snow and super cold weather. Maybe you live in a tropical area and see visions of palm trees and holiday lights.  What does it mean to you?  Can't wait for you to show us your interpretation over at Artful Journeys this week.

Here is how we all interpreted this week's prompt.  Hopefully we can inspire you, give you a laugh, or encourage you in an artistic way.  And when you visit our individual blogs, leave us a comment! We're always happy to hear what you have to say!

                                                           

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Lynn Jackson -- remember, I don't blog, so here's what I did this time!  Winter Wonderland using America crafts acrylic paint in Indian Turquoise and America gloss Honey and Apple Barrel diva pink. Snow flakes made with a handmade Stencil and glimmer stones given to me from Melody. Plus a torn piece of music paper. Deer cut from a sizzix die cut.

Tamie Wilson - see her full spread here

Terri Turner - 

I used blue card stock stamping random snowflake stamps using VersaMark and embossing powder. Also stamped some in silver ink. Bottom snow was done with white acrylic paint and sprinkled glitter before it completely dried. Stamped and die cut the snowman. Distressed the edges with white ink.

Betty Richardson - see her full spread here

Melody Elzy - see her full spread here

Pre-Launch Prompt #2 - Document Your Art Supplies

Pre-Launch Prompt #2 - Document Your Art Supplies

This week, we'd like for you to create at least one page in your journal documenting at least one genre of your art supplies. Perhaps you have never documented any of your supplies, and if not, now is a great time to start. If you have already done this, maybe for this prompt you pick one or more of a single color family to document (let's say ORANGE... find every kind of orange medium you own and document them).

Pick any medium--maybe you select watercolors, acrylic paints, Sharpie markers, Copic markers, India Inks, Alcohol Inks, colored pencils, watercolor pencils or a specific brand of pens.  Whatever you choose from your supply stash, document them in a way that is pleasing to you.  Maybe you pick them ALL!  There is no pre-set or determined way to do this and no right or wrong way.

Here's how we all responded to this week's challenge.  We hope that we inspire you to make something wonderful and useful!


Betty Richardson - view her full details here

Melody Elzy - view her full details here

Terri Turner  

Since I don't "blog" (maybe one day in the future), here's what I did for our prompt this week. I created a grid and then documented all my acrylic paints and listed the name of the color beside it.  You can create a grid using the "table" feature of your word processing program, then just print it out on cardstock or Bristol to get nice clean lines on the grid like I did, or of course you could hand sketch a grid and label as you desire.


This was a fun process and I think a good way to have a handy reference of the supplies and colors I have in my stash when working on my art projects.








Tamie Wilson -  view  her process here

Lynn Jackson -  Since I am new to the world of art journaling, my paint supplies are limited, but oh what fun this was!  You can do something as simple as I have done by just using your finger or a paint brush to make circles or blobs of your paint and documenting the name out beside the color. All these paints are by Apple Barrel and are readily available for a nominal cost at the big blue box store.

Easy peasy!

Helllllooooo and Welcome to Artful Chicks.

We are the five friends you know well from Artful  Mail Groupies and we started this joint blog for our exciting, new venture, Artful Journeys (AJ), a FB group dedicated solely to art on paper, art journaling and art in your daily planners. Each week, we will be linking this blog to the group, showing you our individual interpretations of the 52 weekly prompts and interim challenges.  We will have guest artists, tutorials and lots of good art and art journaling fun for you to view, learn, and experiment with on your own.

Artful Journeys will officially open for membership on November 28th.  We have early pre-launch prompts for you in your journals or planners to get you started and warmed up, and will be encouraging you to invite all your arty friends to the group and our artful family to share in the fun.  AJ will post our first "official" prompt on January 4th, 2015! Weekly art prompts will be posted every Sunday for the coming week, in addition to periodic mid-week art challenges, guest artist challenges and tutorials.  Everyone is encouraged to share images of the art they create in response to our prompts and challenges, in addition to other work you are creating in your journals or planners for other groups.

Complete the prompts at your own pace and let the work of others inspire you.  No one is going to judge the work you are creating and all skill levels are welcome. This group is for you!  Art journaling is healing, fulfilling and brings friends together through a common interest in art and creative endeavors.  Your artful team is using a variety of journals, each going with something a little different, depending on their artistic and paper preferences.  You might want to use more than one journal, as many do or perhaps you want to create your journal "pages" independently and bind them or put them into a separate journal at a later date.  It is entirely your choice, and we surely will support whatever you decide!

During the course of the year, we will explore new techniques, tips, and challenging art prompts to keep you from getting into an art rut.  While each prompt is always just a suggestion, working through each prompt during the course of the year will help you see a natural progression of your art and the improvements in technique and skill.  We all have something to learn, and none of us are experts to be sure. But we have the heart and desire and we know you do too!

So thank you for joining us and being part of our ever-growing artful family.

Best wishes to you and your families for the coming New Year and may 2015 be your most artful journey!

YOUR ARTFUL CHICKS~~
Betty, Melody, Terri, Tamie & Lynn