Week 9

I like this series of art journaling "play dates" :-) This is episode 15, there's some 26 or so uploaded. 

Omens and signs

Firstly, get Callia Underhill's great book on divination.
In that book, she explains how to create your own system of symbols

Then I was thinking about Adrian Calabrese's Sacred Signs... now, I think the book is rather stupid and not very well written, but I do believe she has a point. I do believe there are no co-incidents.
Nevertheless, whether you believe in "signs" or not, the point is to believe IN YOU.
Any reason to make up your mind is about as valid as any other reason. 
They have studied people in dangerous situations, and those who survive are those who DO SOMETHING. They do what they think of doing, without analyzing and contemplating.
So, if you find tarot cards helpful in the process of making up your mind, use them.
If it helpful to believe in signs and omens, and keep your eyes open for such, do so.

Week 8

I like this alphabet series on art journaling, so I would like you to see them all :-)

Then I'm going to talk a little about the other lifeforms that we share this planet with. I believe everything on this planet is alive, all the way through the planet itself, but I also believe there are beings, lifeforms, that we aren't used seeing - or are unseen by most people.

Elemental beings
"Communicating with the Elementals, Fairies, Angels, Unicorns, Dragons and Crystals"


How to contact your guardian angel
How to communicate with angels
How to communicate with your angels

how to communicate with fairies
communicating with fairies

I would recommend Findhorn first chapters about communicating with devas and God, and perhaps even the one about communicating with mythological creatures. I don't like the way Findhorn looks today, I don't like the way things turned after the first four at Findhorn. But the first chapters were lovely.

I would also suggest you read and experiment the Magickal Mystical Creatures by D.J.Conway

Week 7

Hello, my darling...

This week I'm going to talk about layers.
There are two kind of layers in art journaling; translucent and opaque.

Translucent layers are things like
- tissue paper, paper napkins, kitchen paper towels- any translucent paper like vellum or glassine
- watercolors
- accent details
- glitter
- writing
- netting
- plastic, film, cellophane
- transparent tape
- washes and glazes
- drybrushing, brayering, stippling, swirling...
- spraying

Opaque layers are for example;
-gesso
- acrylics
- collage
- photos
- journal boxes
- scrapbook paper and other opaque papers

Stamps and stenciling can be both - there are large stamps and stencils that cover a large area, and are then opaque layers.
The same goes with things like scrapbooking embellishments and opaque tape - it depends on how much you use and how big/wide the addition is. The more it covers, the more opaque layer it is :-D

I consider tip-ins to be an opaque layer, as they cover quite a lot of the page, even though they can be moved out of the way.

Week 6

Questions to spark self discovery

Now, as far as I know, there's nothing to replace the "Tim Holtz' Distress Inks".
Applicator pad is easy to make - just get a bunch of thin makeup sponges and pine drawer knobs. Glue the sponges on knobs, trim and voila!
Here's another idea on how to make the applicators.

Here's a nice tutorial on how to make sponge daubers

My Sabbath correspondences - feasts

Imbolc - Candlemas
the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, and the Meeting of the Lord
Groundhog Day
The Oriental New Year usually falls around this date
LupercaliaLent festivities are also often in February, Shrovetide, Mardi Gras, Carnivale
Valentine's day, Vali's BlotNew Year of the Trees (Tu BiShvat)

Ostara - Easter - Spring Equinox - Pesach
Persian and Indian New Year, Nowruz
Lady's Day, Arab Mothers' Day, Purim, Annunciation, Dísablót
Lieldienas
Yggdrasil Day, Earth Day

Beltane - May Day
May Day, Calan Mai, Walpurgis Night
Whitsun, Pentecost, Green Week (falls usually in May)
Ludi Florales

Litha - Midsummer - Summer Solstice
Adonia
St. John's Feast Day, Jāņi, Ivan Kupala Day, Juhannus, Sankthans, Jaanipäev
Liða, Lissa
Mittumaari,
Alban Hefin,
Gŵyl Ganol yr Haf
Rasos
Tiregān

Lammas - loafmas - lughnasadh
The Savior of the Apple Feast Day; The Honey Savior and the Nut Savior - Eastern Slavic folk holidays, Spas - 14th, 19th and 29th of August
Festival of "St Peter in Chains"
Feast of the Transfiguration
The Feast of the Dormition
Dog Days

Mabon - Michaelmas - Autumn Equinox
Michaelmas, the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels
Festival of strong will
Lord's Day
Jashne Mihragan
Chuseok
Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Festival, Moocake Festival, Lantern Festival
Pomona
Harvest Moon, Harvest Festival
October Fest
The Jewish Holy Days often fall around this date

Samhain - Hallowmas - Halloween
All Saints' Day, All Hallows, Solemnity of All Saints, or Feast of All Saints (Toussaint)
Allhallowtide
All Souls' Day
Day of the Dead
Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Firework Night
Diwali is also celebrated at this time of the year
Allantide
Thanksgiving

Yule - Midwinter - Christmas - Winter Solstice

Imbolc

Imbolc is just around the corner, and I'm not happy with what I have achieved this year.
Again.

I don't want to lower the expectations, I want to higher my prestation.

I know I have excuses. Always.
'If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.'

My excuses are that I'm sick.
I have fibromyalgia, and it makes it hard to do anything.
I also have allergies, I'm allergic to animal hair, dandruff, mites, chitin - all the things dust is created of. Which makes acts making the dust move dangerous to me.
I also have Asperger's, which means that I need to do things in a certain way, or not at all.
And I'm married to a man with Asperger's and ADHD, who needs to have his things in a certain way, and who needs to do things in a certain way, and these ways are different to mine... so I need to adjust and assimilate and apply, and I'm not good at that.

Nevertheless, I wanted to get my Spring Cleaning done to this day, and it's not done.
I don't like it.

All I want to do is create. I want to paint. I want to play with paper. I want to make art. I want to do crafts. Anything but clean.
*sigh*

But to get some Imbolc inspiration for the last weekend, a last brave effort to elevate Imbolc from the other days of the year, go to my Imbolc board at Pinterest.

Week 5

Someone falls to pieces
Sleeping all alone
Someone kills the pain
Spinning in the silence
To finally drift away
Someone gets excited
In a chapel yard
Catches a bouquet
Another lays a dozen
White roses on a grave

To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do

Someone finds salvation in everyone
And another only pain
Someone tries to hide himself
Down inside himself he prays
Someone swears his true love
Until the end of time
Another runs away
Separate or united?
Healthy or insane?

To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do

And even when you've paid enough, been pulled apart or been held up
With every single memory of the good or bad faces of luck
don't lose any sleep tonight
I'm sure everything will end up alright

You may win or lose

But to be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do

I think one learns a lot by copying. I also believe that one cannot do anything but one's own work. Unless one is after forging someone else's work or plagiarizing, which is something very different. We are talking about art journals. Art journals are sort of a visual diary. You should be wanting to art journal to express what's inside you, and if you do that by copying someone else's work... fine. The more you make art, the more authenthic and own your expression becomes, and the day will arrive, when you don't want to copy anyone any more, because you have your own pictures to make. But - I assume we aren't there yet, and that's why it's wonderful that the mixed media art community is so open, friendly, warm and generous and show how they do things.
One of my "ideals" is Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, and here's a guest post by Carol Mahy-Merveille, where she shows how she made an art journal page step by step.