ARTFUL JOURNEYS - WEEK #35

Betty here, bringing you our post this week.  Oh boy!  Sunday is here and it is time for our weekly prompt!  I always look forward to creating for you and getting a few minutes to sit down and talk to you, too!

OUR PROMPT THIS WEEK:  "SUNSETS & FIREFLIES"

We are all really exited about this week's prompt.  Who doesn't love a beautiful sunset and there's always something magical about fireflies.  So we put them together!


LYNN made this beautiful pastoral spread, and here's what she had to say about it:

Hello everyone.  I don't have the names of the colors I used on this spread as they were just little pots of paint but the colors are a sheer yellow and a reddish color. Stenciled a couple of boats and outlined them in black with a scarlet lime pen.

Added the fireflies with stickers I had and my saying came from a calendar. Have a circle stencil that I added just a hint for added interest. Thank you for looking and make sure you check out what Melody and Shana and Ms. Betty did this week. It's fabulous!

SHANA has created another beautiful spread, showcasing her abundant talents. Pop on over to her blog to see the full spread HERE

MELODY is using powerful colors again this week and made an awesome spread. You're going to love it!  Run over to her blog and check out the full spread HERE

And my (BETTY) contribution for this week didn't get inspired until Friday evening.  I hope you like where I went with this.  You can see the full spread and read about my inspiration HERE

There you have it.  We've all done something very different and we all certainly made great use of our art supply stashes.  Make magic in your own journal, then share it with us!  Tell us about your favorite "firefly" or "sunset" memory!

Keep it artful, and have a fantastic week!

ARTFUL CHICKS
~~Betty, Melody, Lynn and Shana

Pop-Up Challenge #21 "Back to School"

September is here and all across the country, moms are jumping for joy (although I hear tell some of you may be sad) that the children are back in school and your days can be your own once again.

OUR PROMPT FOR THIS WEEK:   Create your September Calendar with a Back to School theme.

Make it funny and quirky.  Remember your own school days.  Take an eclectic approach.  However you choose to do it. think about going back to school for this pop up!  Scroll down and have a look at our interpretations on this challenge and let's see if we can inspire you!


BETTY created this fun page from the perspective of a bored  student, doodling on her calendar and in her notebook.  She used craft and heavy body acrylics, a tape resist for the margins, a scalloped edge punch to cut the days from black "writing paper"; a yellow "Painter's" pen, stickers, frilly yarn and assorted collage elements from the newspaper, magazines and assorted ephemera from October Afternoon.

MELODY created this fun calendar in a  whole different way, using acrylics on her background and her "students" are cut from assorted paint chips.  I love how she used those dark red paint chips to form her "school house" and the bell tower.  Plenty of room to write events happening this month on her spread!

LYNN knocked hers out of the park and made this gorgeous calendar.  Don't you just love those little school houses?  And all this coming from a lady who thinks she can't make journal pages... LOL

SHANA has been busy this week working on some commissioned art work.  Since she promised her hubby to make money with her art, we want her to do so to stay out of the dog house.  She'll be back this week, though with something gorgeous to share with us.

So there you have it.  What interesting calendar are you going to create for the coming month?  Don't forget to share it at Artful Journeys!  Sharing is caring!  Have an artful weekend!

ARTFUL CHICKS
~~Betty, Melody, Lynn & Shana

ARTFUL JOURNEYS - WEEK #34 "ARE YOU LOOKING IN, OR OUT?"

Hi everyone!  Betty here bringing you our weekly prompt, and we hope that it is something fun that will inspire and challenge you this week!

OUR PROMPT THIS WEEK:  WINDOWS

When you see a window, what does it make you think of?  Looking in?  Looking out?  Something deeper, more introspective?  That's it, that's why many of us journal.  To look inward, to be a little more introspective, to find a deeper understand of ourselves; to make sense out of chaos; to live our lives more fully and in a freer, more uninhibited way.

So what will you choose this week?  Go literal with drawing or rendering of a window or windows? Create many windows that you can look into?  Use a glassine window and let us peep into your world a little bit?  This prompt has so many opportunities for experimentation and exploration, the possibilities really start to become overwhelming.

I got overwhelmed at first, and slowed down and had a re-think and a do-over to come up with my final spread.  What will you do?

MELODY was very brave this week and used one of her least favorite colors to make an eye-catching spread.  Jump on over to her blog, and read all about it and see her full spread HERE

LYNN got all arty on us this week after having some time off.  Here's what she had to say:
Hello everyone!  I started with painting the page with Martha Stewart high gloss multi surface acrylic paint in indigo. After that I sprayed with a circle stencil with dylusions ink spray in cut grass.

My window was cut with the Cricut machine and I used alphabet stamps to write the words in the windows. Two glimmer stones on the top and bottom and a dot stamp all the way around with days of the week washi tape.

I photographed it but just couldn't get a very clear picture so it will be one that looks better in person then pictures. Check out what our other girls came up with. We all do such different work. Thanks for looking.

SHANA will wow you again this week with her wonderful and creative addition.  You can see the whole spread and read all about it on her blog, HERE

And lastly, I add in my two cents' worth and my take on this week's prompt.  You can see the full spread and my process HERE

We hope that you will visit all our blogs and find your own inspiration from what we offer up, or something that is already percolating in the back of your mind.  Have fun with it!

As always, share your journal page with us at ARTFUL JOURNEYS.  We wish you an artful and productive week!

ARTFUL CHICKS
~~Betty, Melody, Lynn & Shana

POP-UP ART CHALLENGE # 20

We want you to stay engaged with your journal on a routine basis, so it's that time again!

Limited color palette #2 - ORANGE

The premise of this prompt is that your page should be predominantly orange, use orange things, things with orange AND try and set it up using "book page" margins, where the top, sides and middle have margins similar to that in a book.

By doing a prompt in this way, it forces you to think about the layout of your overall design, drawing the eye to both sides of the page and your central focus.

BETTY created this fun spread using Dylusions spray inks, fluid craft acrylics, heavy body acrylics, stenciling with spackle, stamped bubbles, printed images and lettering, a paper doily that was gifted in happy mail, Inktense blocks, orange gel pens, pieces of a napkin, paper flowers, a piece of chipboard, die cuts, silk flowers/leaves, brads, china marker, flat backed gems, buttons, reclaimed tape from happy mail, fabric tape and printed embellishments.  Since she claims not to have that much actual orange ephemera, she went with things that was orange in assorted hues and shades or contained orange.  It turned out beautifully, although the photography really does not show the vibrant and intense color of the original.

SHANA created this stunner.  It is so powerful in its simplicity... and that orange, my friends, makes you just want to take a bite, doesn't it?  She says she loved doing it so much with acrylics, she is going to make one in watercolor for her kitchen.  And since Shana (rhymes with Banana), it couldn't be more appropriate!  We can't wait to see it!

MELODY said this is her very first "bumpy" spread in her journal, and wow! what a fantastic job she did, too!  She pulled everything out of her stash that was orange, contained orange and went to town with that "JAM" theory (just add more) and it so works in such a wonderful, clean and positive way, don't you think?  And still fitting her requirements to have room for journaling!

LYNN has been traveling and has just returned home and isn't back in the groove yet, but look for her beautiful work very soon!

We have been having fun with this limited color palette thing..... aren't you?  By limiting yourself, you really are doing some linear thinking, but in a creative, out-of-the-box way.  Three of us showing you this prompt, three different approaches.  All of them fun.

Show us how you work with a limited color palette, and rock it!  We can't wait to see!

ARTFUL CHICKS
~Betty, Melody, Lynn & Shana

ARTFUL JOURNEYS - Week #33

"BASICS WILL GET YOU FROM A-Z, IMAGINATION WILL GET YOU EVERYWHERE."  

~~Albert Einstein

Happy weekend everyone!  Betty here this week bringing you our weekly prompt!

This week at Artful Journeys, our prompt for you is to create a spread using "Bad Poetry".

The concept of this prompt is to generally select a central image and then find random words or phrases (or let the image dictate your selection of words) in magazines, cut them out and include them on your spread.  You can go wild with this. It isn't supposed to make a whole lot of sense, but you would be amazed at how your mind works and puts words and phrases together that make sense on your spread.

MELODY rocks yet another spread with her colorful imagination. Her sneak peek is enticing, isn't it? Visit her blog to see the full spread HERE

BETTY (me) had fun this week just letting loose.  Is my sneak peek enough to interest you? See my full spread and how I did it on my blog HERE

LYNN is still on vacation with her family and we anxious await her return.  We know she is having a good time, and she deserves this time away!

SHANA had surprise guests but promises she will be sharing her beautiful work with us later directly in Artful Journeys.

We hope we have inspired you in some way and will anxiously await seeing what kind of fun you have with your journal spread this week.  Be sure and share it with us at Artful Journeys when you finish!

ARTFUL CHICKS
~~Betty, Melody, Lynn & Shana

POP UP Challenge #19 - Limited Color Palette

It's time for a fun Pop-Up Art Challenge for our journal, and you should have a lot of fun with this one.

Your challenge is to create a journal page using only black and white (or varient shades of these colors).

You can collage it, paint it, add lots of ephemera and bits to it, as long as you are working with black and white. Perhaps you want to create an intricate black and white mandala, or smash everything on your worktable within this limited color palette on the page.  The possibilities are endless.

Here are three examples to give you some inspiration for this challenge.

MELODY created another stunning background page for this challenge.  She actually journals in her journals and is an expert at making these gorgeous background pages for her future journaling.  She said that it took her longer to affix the image and under papers she used onto the page than it did to paint and stencil it.  Didn't it turn out fantastic?  I love how the numbers appear to reflect in the sunglasses!

SHANA sat down to watch a movie with her black pen and created this totally awesome page in her journal.  Was she having a glass of wine with her movie?  I think she was.  She said it was an "undisclosed beverage" but we know what kind of magic can happen with a glass of wine! Shana clearly made some magic with this page!

BETTY  made a double page spread in her Dylusions journal using a Julie Nutting stamp, a script background stamp and lots of black & white acrylic paint and a Sakura Gelly pen.  This world is too "black and white" sometimes. Just a tiny bit of cameo pink for some skin and some dark gray for definition on the skirt and boots is all the "color" used.

While none of us went with the big collage, we've created 3 different takes for you, and hopefully will inspire you to have some fun working with a limited color palette.

Lynn is on vacation this week with her grandson and daughter and hopefully will be joining back in the fun upon her return home.  We wish her safe travels and tons of fun while she is away!

We will look forward to seeing your journal pages over at Artful Journeys!

As always, we're keeping it artful!

ARTFUL CHICKS
~~Betty, Melody, Shana & Lynn

Our Apologies

Sadly, there was an incident/post on our blog last night created solely by Tamie that was not discovered until this morning and immediately removed.  We can  only apologize for the crude post and boorish behavior by her and hope that you understand. She has been removed and is no longer associated with any of our groups or this blog. Our apologies, and we have reported her to Blogger.

Artful Journeys - Week #32

Hi everyone, Betty here this week, bringing you another fun prompt!

This week we're giving you a couple of different technique-based ideas upon which to create your journal page.  You can combine the techniques, use one or the other individually. Let your Muse be your guide!

PROMPT:  Create a journal spread using a watercolor & salt resist and/or alcohol fade technique

Remember, Pinterest is your friend.

My spread this week was loads of fun.  I actually did both techniques, but because one turned out far superior than the other, I chose a single technique.  Check it out on my blog, here

Next up is Shana who was able to get one of her famed "two-fers" out of the prompt this week along with her commissioned work.  See her unique creativity here

Lynn was "skeered" but we coaxed her into getting some paint onto the paper and giving a background page a shot -- and it turned out beautifully.  There's a bit of color distortion from photographing, but it turned out great.  Maybe we can coax her next week to tip her foot in a little deeper and put other stuff on it!   Here's what she had to say:
I sprayed a lot of two colors of Dylusions ink sprays in pure sunshine and London blue and like Melody told me to do I got my paper really wet. I was to use coarse salt and totally forgot to buy some so ended up using regular table salt but it did spread but probably not as good as the coarse did like I saw on Melody's prompt but I think you can see the salt a little.

Please check out what the other girls did as I'm sure as always they did a awesome job. Thanks for looking.

And certainly not least, but last for this week is Melody.  As always, her brilliant use of bright and powerful colors has us all swooning again!  Her sneak peek is exciting, so you better check it out on her blog here

That's our offerings for this week, folks.  We will anxiously await seeing your journal spreads over at Artful Journeys.  

Make it a great week, and as always, keep art in your life!

ARTFUL CHICKS
~Betty, Melody, Lynn & Shana

ARTFUL JOURNEYS - Week 31 - Go Organic

Hey, y'all, Melody here again with another prompt for you!

This week we're going "organic".  So stuff your feet in your shoes, put on your sunblock (or your scarf, if it's cold where you live) and take a walk!  Find elements for your spread outside, and see where it takes you.  Everything is inspiration and it's all fair game in your journal this week.  Let's see what the girls pulled off this week.

First up is Miss Betty, who took to her yard and grabbed some pretty awesome inspiration for her spread...combined with uber bright colors, she took it out of the park!  See her process here!

Next up is Shana, who found her inspiration while visiting family out of state...read all about it here!!!

Then we have my (Melody) take on this week's prompt.  Read all about it here!

And, finally, we have Lynn's awesome spread!  Here's what she had to say about this week's prompt and her take on it!

"Summertime and the living is easy!  It's all about going outdoors and grabbing something from nature to put on your page.  For my spread I chose ivy.

"I started by painting the page with Folk Art's Lime Green, because I wanted to be sure that my leaves would show up, so I didn't want a green that was too dark.  The "summertime" sign is just a piece of scrap paper I cut out for the title of the prompt.  I had an ivy rub on that I added to the page after the title, and made it work it's way across the page.  It really does look kinda like real ivy.  On the actual ivy, I simply added it with a stapler because I didn't think it would hold well with glue.  I really love how it stands up, giving the page a 3-D effect, but will lie flat when my journal is closed.

"I purposely kept this spread simple because it's just how I like my pages - simple but nice.  I hope you enjoy what all the other girls have to offer this week and you give it a try!!!  Thanks for looking!!!!"

And there you have it, folks!  Different ideas and thoughts on this week's prompt.  Be sure to visit everyone's blog and leave some love, and share what YOU create this week over at ARTFUL JOURNEYS.

Make it a great week, and as always -- keep it artful!

ARTFUL CHICKS
~~Betty, Melody, Lynn & Shana