AEDM NOV 18-20

Wow, this past week was kinda crazy so I did not get to post anything...so now I am quite behind on showing you my Art Every Day Month activities.  So... here we go...

18 NOV:

19 NOV:
 I added a frog to my Right Brain Planner:

 My sketchbook project sketchbook arrive.... and then I took it apart and re-bound it with pink thread and a few nice pieces of paper.

 I stamped into my Right Brain Planner:

20 NOV:

I made a collage in my right brain planner:

Then I made a document protector so that I could put the right brain planner inside of my Filofax so I can always have it handy.

I hope you guys enjoyed the photos.  Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful Black Friday!

AEDM Nov 17th

The 17th was a BUSY day for me.  I had to get groceries, attend a staff training and teach an aerobics class.  So, I did some art, but I did not finish it.  I got the background and images down for a journal page:

I will be doing the text soon!  Thanks for stopping by!!

AEDM Nov 16th

On the 16th of November I spent the entire day doing a very thorough cleaning of my apartment.  I also put my Christmas tree up!

Isn't it pretty?  Its not really possible to describe the joy that seeing the tree lit up bring me and its not even decorated yet!  Since I am volunteering at camp Dec 6-8 and 13-15 and going to Texas on the 17th I would be missing a lot of time with my tree if I didn't put it up so early.

Anyways.... later that evening I made a few more postcards!  Here they are:

Art themed, of course!

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a wonderful day.

AEDM 15 Nov

On the 15th I was working at my internship again.  We had an idea that we wanted to try but need to make sure it worked before we tried to get our clients to do it.  So, I made a test piece.  Here is is:

We dd mono printing.  The directive was actually to think about their strengths and positive qualities and to make a "mask" of their inner warrior!  My example had nothing to do with that.  I just did different sized lines so they could get an idea of how it worked.

How does it work?  Well you need a piece of Styrofoam like a plate or a egg carton.  You draw onto it with a pen or pencil - bigger lines work better.  Whatever you draw will be white when you print it.  After your finished drawing you paint over it with paint (we used tempera), then pick up a piece of paper and press it onto your drawing and rub your hands to make sure the paper touches all of the print.  Then peel up the paper and you are done.

This is an great project for kids, but it is fun for adults too!!  Hope you enjoyed seeing/hearing about it.

AEDM Nov 14

On the 14th of November I was SOOOo Tired.  I think I told you guys that I am now caffeine, lactose and gluten free.  That is a lot to change all at once.  It was a VERY difficult week for me.  I was super tired and I had migraines every day.  I do think, however, that I have gotten past that!!  Anyways, onto what you want to see... picture of art!!  Here are the two pages I made on the 14th:

This is one of my classmates journal that I have due to our swap! 

A page about being tired - in my Right Brain Planner

Thanks for stopping by today, have a great day.

AEDM NOV 13

Today I have lots of lovely art pictures for you!!  First, I did bubble paining with one of my clients.  You just get regular paint, add water (not too much) and soap.  Then mix it all together and add a straw.  Blow into the straw to make the paint bubble up and then while the bubbles are still up, press a paper to it.  Here are my test papers in my notebook:

I also make some art once I got home:

Also I wanted to show you this:

I did an inventory of the old art therapy stuff and came away with all of those art journal goodies!
Isn't it amazing that VHS, Casette Tapes, floppy discs, zip discs, etc are all pretty much obsolete?  doing that inventory brought back a lot of memories - that's why I had to keep all the stickers to use in my journal pages.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a great day.

AEDM 12 Nov

On the 12th I got some wonderful mail art packages!!  So, of course I made some art in my Right Brain Planner with what I received.

Had to document 11-12-13!!!  (Washi Tape from Artsyville)

The cover of my right brain planner as it is currently

daily square

added city washi tape from Artsyville!  

Added this flower doodle

Other than the washi tape, all the other mail art came from Rainbow Gecko Gallery - We swapped art and these are some of the goodies that she sent me!

Hope you guys enjoyed the right brain planner peeks!  Have a great day.

Veterans Day

Veterans day here in Tallahassee is jam packed with wonderful events that are veteran centered!  First, there is a 5K run in the morning.  I did not participate in it, but several of my friends did.  Next is the Veterans Day Parade!  I did participate in this.  Here are some photos from the parade:

CPT America was on our float! 

And after the parade is the Veteran Film Festival.  We watched "Which Way Is the Front Line From Here?" a documentary about the life of Tim Heatherington, one of the men who made Restrepo.  It was a great movie and in my opinion, a wonderful portrayal about what is it to experience war and return to normal life.  I did not take photos at the film festival.

Once I got home I worked in my right brain planner a bit.

Of course Veterans Day inspired some extra patriotism in me.  This was my Art Ever Day Month creative thing for the day because I was tired by that point and still had a paper to edit for the following day!!

What did you do on Veterans Day?

AEDM Nov 10!

On Sunday the 10th I worked on my Somatic Symptom Disorder presentation (which I just gave and I included way too much and had to leave some out... it did not go as well as planned)  and my paper. I did make some mail art postcards though!!  So, for your viewing pleasure, here they are:

They are going into my pile for the DIY Postcard Swap, which by the time you read this will already be on its way to recipients around the world!  Soon I will be receiving cards and I can share those with you too!!  Thanks for stopping by today!

AEDM Nov 9 - Printmaking!

On Saturday the 9th of November I had a fun filled crafty day!!  First I took these supplies:

and a few other items to Veterans Village and we made blue star ornaments for a Christmas tree they are decorating for a charity auction.

Then after that I went to Tallahassee Craft-a-palooza!  I bought lots of art journal/paper craft goodness:

I also got some good smelling soap!  I am a sucker for soaps... and fun paper.

Then later that day I went to my friend Annie's house.....we had an art therapy printmaking party:

We made a lot of cards... here is mine:

And some photos of our collection of cards:

Our plan is to sell these wonderful Christmas cards for fundraising!  Woo.

ADEM Nov 8

Its a bit confusing at this point to go back to what I did each for for AEDM... I should keep better track.  But these things happened some time between 7 & 8 Nov....

Inspired by the arrival of my Veteran Art Therapy items I added "Take charge of your future" to my right brain planner:

On the 7th I went to see a new, alternative medicine, doctor.  She said that my body does not like caffeine, gluten, and lactose... so on the 8th I stopped eating those things....

 Its not hard.  Gluten free is actually easier than lactose free in my opinion.  Milk is in the weirdest things.

Later that evening I made another card for the DIY Postcard Swap:

Life really is better with art.  So, go and get creative my friends.

AEDM Nov 6-7

My creative thing for November 6th was a sketch for a mandala painting that I have to do in a few weeks.  For some reason I can't find a picture of it so you guys will have to settle with pictures of what I did for the 7th!!

I went on a run and this is what occurred to me:

It stuck with me all day.  I event added it to my Right Brain Planner inspired fitness journal and that finished up the spread:

This fitness journal is so much fun.  I am doing it because I wanted a way to look back and see what I have done - how I have progressed and try to attempt some planning for the future (although so far that part has not happened!).

I hope you guys enjoyed seeing the art!!  Thanks for stopping by.  "See" ya soon.

AEDM NOV 5

I'm taking poetry therapy next semester.  I am SUPER excited about it even though I'm not a big reader of poetry.  Signing up for the class has peaked my curiosity, though.

On the 5th I created a sticky word poem:

"No perfect art.  It's really inner passion gifted a life."

It was fast (like 3 minutes), but I liked it.  I just looked at the sheet of sticky words and created a phrase that spoke to me! Embrace imperfect art, my friends - process is important too!

Veteran Art Therapy

My friends, its official - Veteran Art Therapy is now more than just an idea in my mind!  After much searching and inquiring about getting an internship with the VA and being constantly told no I gave up on that idea.  I committed myself to Veterans Village which is a Volunteers of America program here in Tallahassee that helps homeless veterans get back on their feet and find a job or get more education.  A great program, but then they told me that they could not give me the hours I needed to fulfill my internship requirements unless I committed EVERY Saturday next semester.  I just couldn't do it.  As much as doing art therapy with veterans means to me I need some time to take care of me or I won't be a good therapist.

Thankfully, my tireless inquiries about VA internships resulted in the VA Benefits Coordinator for Florida State University (FSU) and Tallahassee Community College (TCC) contacting me and asking if I might be able to do some of my internship under the direction of a music therapies.  It just so happened that I knew this music therapist too!  I set up meetings with the music therapist and with my clinical coordinator and as of Tuesday this idea was approved!

Next semester I will be splitting my internship between Veterans Village and TCC/FSU.  I will be doing counseling with veterans at both sites!!  I am super excited to being doing art therapy with vets!  The TCC/FSU program will offer music and art therapy to individuals and groups, all for FREE.

Since the TCC/FSU program is not already established - the music therapist and I are doing this grass roots style - I put in a printing order and it just came in!!  So, here are all the goodies I got!!

Front side of the information cards

Back side of the information cards

Note book and pen!  

Contact / Business Card (I left off my phone number on prupose)

Logo on T-shirt to wear to events!!  

Tote bag to transport art materials!! 

Veteran Art Therapy (Vet ATx) is my name/idea - I will be using it in the future (at least that is the plan!)  The program here at FSU/TCC will be called "Veteran Creative Arts Therapies," however my Vet ATx cards include the music therapy component on them because we do not have a budget or a way to get publicity at this time so I did this out-of-pocket.  I think its well worth it, and hopefully by the time we order more cards we can change them name and have some funding to pay for these things!  I'm going to keep Vet ATx for me though!!

We have a lot of ideas in store for next semester.  We want to have a concert/art show at the end of the semester to raise money for equipment and art materials as well as giving the students a venue to show off their musical skills and their wonderful works of art!  The idea is that we work hard next semester and over the summer and by next fall someone can work the TCC/FSU program as a full internship.  We hope to increase the program over time and offer many different types of creative arts therapies.  Big things are in store!!

My friends, this makes me so happy and that is why I wanted to share it with you.  It is inspiring to be so close to doing what I really want to do.  It feels great to have a goal and see it happening!  I know that veterans can benefit from art therapy, and I am so blessed to be able to help them!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing the goodies I ordered and learning about the program!!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

AEDM NOV 2-4

Some photos of my Art Ever Day Month creations!

Updating my Right Brain Planner inspired fitness journal.

And getting some mail art ready to send:

And doing some doodles while in class:

These doodles are likely to be turned into prints for cards.  They are snowflakes!

If you are participating in AEDM I would love to see your creations, please share a link! Have a great day.