POP-UP ART CHALLENGE #9 - Writing Prompt

January has just flown by for me -- how about you?  While infusing my coffee this morning in the recliner trying to get the fog out of my brain, I picked up my pocket journal (which lives beside my chair when not in my purse) and I began to think about this month.  It is the last day of the month. Wow.   A lot has gone on in my world this month and probably the same at your house.  Christmas decorations have been taken down, for most of you, your house is probably back in order (not me, yet) and we're plugging away at a whole new year.

Today, I want you to spend no more than 1 hour creating a journal page (full page, half page, pocket journal, etc) writing about your month.
Hit the highlights.  Tell a funny story that happened. Document what went on in your world this month.  Was there a new baby in the family? A sad passing of a family member?  Joyful news on the work front?  Something you were especially grateful for that happened?  Hopes and expectations that were or were not met?  Use bullet points if you want, or write in flowy words and and sentences, but WRITE!

This prompt is more about the writing experience as opposed to the art created.

WRITING (and more specifically PRINTING) in your journal helps you explore you and your world. It also will help serve to improve your overall penmanship and writing and lettering skills.

I often keep my pocket journal on the side table next to my chair in the living room with a Micron Pen, a fat and fine line Sharpie marker and my little zippered pouch of Prismacolor pencils.  My pocket calendar can hold up to watercolor fairly well, but a heavy Sharpie will bleed through without a little gesso, which is never right there, and so I resort to those pencils more times than not because they are handy, they don't bleed through, and I just like playing with them!  This page was no exception.  Once I started writing, events of the month just kept coming, so that part was easy.  It took me longer to tart up the page than it did to write about the month.

So journal your month with your own hand.  Then tart it up if you want to.  As you can see, I didn't do too much artwork, but I did do a little fancy lettering and added some interest on the page.  It turned out just fine for what it was meant to be.  I added a little quote to remind me how to keep my stress levels under control........ "love is patient, love is kind" ...

Have fun with it, and show us what you come up with on the group feed over at Artful Journeys. I promise we won't be sneaking any peeks at your personal words.


~~Betty aka Arty Auntie

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