I am now a Junior!!!

Handmade U was last weekend for my junior semester.  Leslie and I drove to Omaha Nebraska last Thursday.  It was so fun to see all the girls from last year and the new ones!  

We woke up Friday morning and did our paper doll swap. 

We got down to business with Michelle Geller (I heart her) and her book binding.  I love the way the spine looks exposed like this.  I didn't listen to all the directions so I "ketteled" incorrectly and had to start over.  I ended up making a scrappy journal and a journal to use my copic markers in.

The top one in this pic is Leslie's and mine is the other!  I have to buy some waxed linen thread now!

Here is my sweet friend Michelle!  These are the two books I made!

  

Saturday morning Rachel taught us how to make price ribbons. It was so fun to see all the different varieties we came up with in that time.

Leslie and I were excited to be there and sat up our shop in no time.  We did a good job sharing our table. We didn't throw many elbows at each other!!! 

We loved when we got to start our class with Pam Keravuori.  She taught us how to do her style of calligraphy, doodling, water coloring and how to use our copic markers!!!  We all became crazy people over the copic markers and had to make a run to Dick Blick's.  Oh how we all loved and envied anyone who has a local Blick's!!!!  It was such an awesome store!

It was awesome to get to see Pam's doodle journal.  It was beautiful!!!

This was my attempt at doodling and calligraphy.

I love this shot of sweet Michelle and all our bound books.

I loved getting to see my friend Jodie LeJeune from Louisana.  We met in Georgia a few years ago.  She, Pam, Leslie and I shared a table for the event.

It is always fun to see my dear friend Rachel.  Thank you Rachel for hosting another great weekend!

Moving on in my art journaling.....

I am taking a few different online classes.  One being an e-zine class of Teresa McFayden's.  I have learned to not be so critical of my handwriting and just have fun creating despite it!

This is one of the journals I am working on right now.  I still have no idea what I am going to title it.

This was a fun couple of pages.  I scribbled out a lot of gibberish of family events.  I don't know if I am journaling or just writing out random thoughts.

I always stick with the number 5 since there are 5 in our little family.  I really like the way these have turned out.  They are decently quick and a lot of fun.

This one is a work in progress.  I think I will stamp, "A song in my heart," or something.  This one was inspired from a pic I saw on pinterest.

A very sweet and good friend of mine Robin made me a beautiful collage a few years back.  This one is inspired by that piece.  I had already decided that if a tornado came tonight (we are under tornado watch) that Robin's collage would be one of the things I grabbed as we ran to the basement.  I love it!

This is another online journal class that I am taking of Christy Thomlinson's  titled "she has three hearts."  I put my spin on it a little.  

I am really enjoying these classes!  I have ideas for 3 other journals that I am collecting supplies to start.  Art is what most of my art friends (one today was Nan) call their therapy but I am afraid I need therapy for my obsessive art hysteria I fall in from time to time!!  I am nervous for my husband to balance the ol' checkbook!

My first art journal.

Several girls I know have made beautiful art journals.  It seems like they all have their niche's on how they can express themselves.  I didn't know where to start.  Then, I came upon  Christy Thomlinson's "She Art" classes. ( I need to do a whole other post on all of the She Art I made.)  Anyway, she was offering an Art Journal class called the Art of Wild Abandonment taught by Junelle Jacobson.  I fell in love with this class and Junelle's blog Yes and Amen.  I learned to sketch and use all types of mediums including water coloring.  It was such an amazing experience and I loved every minute of my classes!

Here is an entry with acrylics and modeling paste.

This was one of my water color attempts I did on my trip to the cabin.

 This one is with parchment paper.  I love this one the best and it looks so pretty in person.

This was a fun one I did with acrylics and all types of fibers.  It is my little nest.

I loved drawing my sweet girl that gathered radishes.

Maranda watched over my shoulder as I watched blogs and made this one for me in our basement.

I happened to be sick in bed this day when she did this! lol!