Misc. Art Pics

Today I wanted to share some random art that I have done over the past several weeks.  First is one of the Happy Art Swap Cards I made this time - don't think I took a picture of the others:

 And I am participating in a round robin art journal swap so I made some entires in two art journals that belong to other people:

 And a Collage in the File Folder Journal that I made at Create Mixed Media:

I am sure that I will find a bunch of other random stuff to show you too!  So, get excited about it!!  Hope to "see" you tomorrow!

Happy Art Swap Cards

Hello friends!  I am away on a trip tomorrow so I had to get my Happy Art Swap cards done early.  So, I thought I would share them with you today! Here they are:

I hope you have a great day!  "See" You tomorrow!!

Happy Art Swap Cards

Today I wanted to share three pictures of my happy art swap cards from this month:

All of the backgrounds came from our community painting that we did during May first Friday.  We had several paper towels to wipe brushes on... I kept them and glued them to postcard backs.  Then I collaged/drew on top of them.  

Blog Hop Around the World!

Claudia over at http://creativeupcycling.blogspot.com/ invited me to participate in a blog hop!  Of course I said yes!!    

What am I working on? 
What am I not working on?  That's the real question.  I still have 2 months left of graduate school so recently a lot of my time has been devoted to working n my thesis! On the art front I have my WIPs - I'm doing the Documented Life Project, I keep an art journal, I do a monthly & yearly right brain planner, I keep a fitness art journal, I participate in the Happy Art Swap and I have a painting that I am working on.  Also, ICAD started yesterday!!  Here is my first card:

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I am not sure if my personal work differs from others.  I do art because it makes me feel good and helps me de-stress.  I do art to heal myself!  

On the art therapy front, I do think my work my differ from others!  I bring my own personal style into my work with my clients.  I like to use recycled materials.  Also, while I do have some art training (enough to go to school to become an art therapist), I am not as trained in art as many other people in my field.  A lot of my style and work/material preference has developed via experimentation on my own.  

This is a picture of a community painting we did at first Friday - we recycled one of my old canvases for this!  You can see a video of this painting being made at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_4jU7l8quA

Why do I create what I do?
As previously stated, I do art to feel better. I had surgery on my hip back in 2009.  It still gives me trouble and causes me pain.  I also struggle with depression - its definitely a chemical thing for me and hormonally linked.  In addition to my personal issues, I am in graduate school which means tons of stress!  A lot of my art has to do with motivating myself, thinking positively and feeling better.  I ALWAYS feel better when I allow myself some time to get involved in the creative process.  

I do art therapy because I feel that if art can help me then it can help others too!  I certainly want to work with veterans because I understand military culture and I know the challenges that veterans face.  I really hope that I am able to teach others how to use the creative process to improve their quality of life.

How does your creating process work?

I suppose my process depends on what I am trying to do.  Typically with an art journal page I start by selecting 3-5 colors (sometimes monochromatic, sometimes not).  I scrape them onto the paper with an old credit card or old insurance card.  Then sometimes I print other designs on them with different colors - sometimes not.  Sometimes I use washi tape and/or collage of different colored paper.  Then I select an image from my stash of images.  After I pick the image I go through my box of cut out words/phrases.  Unless I am making art for a specific purpose (for instance postcard swaps where I try to make cards about art making) I just pick whichever words "speak" to me.  

Part of the blog hop is that I get to direct all of you lovely readers over to three more people who will be participate in the hop!!  So, here they are:

Trece blogs at http://simplytrece.wordpress.com/  - This wonderful woman was the first of my online friends!  We have never met in person but we talk online and we have sent mailart to each other many times!  She has been super supportive and I am so glad I "met" her.

Sarah blogs at http://rainbowgeckogal.blogspot.com/ - I also met Sarah online and she has been a wonderful mailart friend.  She lives is Australia!!  She has sent me lots of goodies that have ended up in my art journal!  

Last, but not least, is Teresa and she blogs at http://www.rightbrainplanner.com/ - Like my previous two buddies, I met Teresa online too!  I have been doing Teresa's monthly Right Brain Planner since October!  Following her work has given me the opportunity to find news ways of journaling and planning.  

So, go visit my wonderful friends - they will positing the answers to the above questions on their own blogs next week, June 9th.  

Thanks for stopping by today!!  Have a great Monday.  

Happy Art Swap Cards

Hello and happy Tuesday! Today I wanted to show you two cards I recently created for the Happy Art Swap:

Art may not really be all you need, but it is absolutely true that art supports your mental health!  I hope you get the chance to do a lot of art so you can be as mentally healthy as possible!  Thanks for stopping by today - have a lovely day!

2 Extra HASwap Cards

During my mailart making binge last week I made two extra 5x7 cards....

Not sure yet if I will keep them for next month's HASwap or send them this month.  I might keep them just in case I am stressed next month (there is a high probability thanks to grad school).

HASwap Cards Made for FEB

I finished my HASwap cards for FEB.  I did the paint at the same time as I did my Valentines day mailart so the colors are the same... only later did I realize that the cards would arrive well after Valentines day.  So, I decided to not do an entirely Valentines theme... here are the results:

I really like how they turned out... probably because they are very pink.  I hope the people who receive them can appreciate it too!

HASwap Cards Received for JAN

I just received my HASwap cards for the month of JAN.  I wanted to share them with you because they are cool!!  Here they are:

The last one is my favorite... the heart is semi-see-though.  Hope you enjoyed the peek.  Come back Monday to see the cards I made for the HASwap for FEB!!

Art Journal Pages using Mailart

Today I wanted to show you some pages I made using some of the mailart that I have received.  I have recently made two pages using mailart... here they are:

This first page using mail art that I received from Sandie (click that link - go check out her blog)

The second one used art from Sarah at Rainbow Gecko Gallery!  I made both of these pages where you can lift up the card and there is writing underneath!!

My JAN HASwap Cards

I just mailed my Happy Art Swap cards for the January swap.  Of course I had to do some web drawing cards:

I think they came out good!  I would have collaged on top of them if I had more time but alas, the life of a graduate student is BUSY!

HA Swap Cards Received in December

Today I wanted to share with you the cards I received in the mail for the December Happy Art Swap!  Here they are:

I actually did not get them until JAN 3rd when I got home from visiting my family, but it was nice to come home to multiple pieces of happy mail.

Christmas Happy Art Swap Cards

Today I am going to show you the cards I made for the December Happy Art Swap - I made them Christmasy of course.  So, anyway, here are the cards:

The swap only requires 4 cards but you can send extra if you want so I figured I would this month.   When you send extra someone gets a surprise and gets extra cards which is nice.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Ho Ho Ho - AEDM Nov 27th

On the 27th I finally started working on my Christmas mail art!  So, I did a lot of prep work and I finished 2 cards for the Happy Art Swap:

By the time I was finished with these it was bed time so I did not make anything else.  Hope you guys like the festive cards.  Have a great day!

October Mail Art

Today I wanted to share a few mail art photos with you!!  First I got this lovely card from my mom:

On the back she reminded me that when I go do things that are supposed to be fun I should actually have fun and not feel guilty that I am not working on homework.  I certainly need to do that.  She suspected that my trip to the Women Veteran Leadership Conference would leave me feeling guilty and she was right.  Hopefully I can take this to heart.

I also wanted to show you some mail art that I made for this month's Happy Art Swap.

I was feeling the Seminole Pride this day!!

Let your beautiful inner light shine!!

That is all for now!  I've got a busy day ahead of me.  I wish you all a wonderful Monday!!

Happy Art Swap Creations For September

Today I wanted to share with you the art I created for this month's Happy Art Swap!!  So, here we go...

I am quite happy with these postcards!!  I love creating them.  My only issue with this swap is the size - 5x7... its REALLY hard to find recycled material that is large enough to cut into that size... most food packaging is too small and I really don't want to purchase material just for these cards.  So far though, I have been able to reuse materials for this swap.

Anyways... that is all for now!!  Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day!!

August Happy Art Swap Cards

Another feature of cards I received as part of Sandie's Happy Art Swap.  These cards came in the mail for the August Swap!!  My first card was made by Mivi:

Mivi did not give an instagram or blog on the back of her card, but thanks for the lovely words Mivi!!

My second card was made by Katie:

You can find Katie on instgram at Kradke!

And my last card was made by Kim of KHeilArtworks!

You can find her at http://kim-heil.artistwebsites.com 

Hope you guys enjoyed seeing the cards.  Go check those wonderful ladies out - see some more awesome artwork!  Thanks for stopping by, "see" you soon.

July Happy Art Swap

Hey friends!  Today I am sharing my cards from July's Happy Art Swap!  First, I got this card made by Lisa:

You can find her on instagram at Soccerlisa1.  My photo makes it somewhat hard to read what the card says so I will tell you... "replace fear of the unknown with curiosity."

My next card was made by Aleca:

Her instagram is AleciaMaria.  This card says "Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end"... she quoted "seneca" and I have no clue who that is.  When I hear this quote I think of the song Closing Time by Semisonic.

My last card was made by Cindy:

Her instagram is artquitgirl  - I really like the stamp she used!!

I LOVE getting art in the mail which is why this swap is so enjoyable.  If you want to play then you do, if you are too busy one month no biggie.  It's awesome.  Check out Sandie's blog for more information.

Tomorrow I will be showing you the cards I got for August's swap!!  Thanks for stopping by, "see" you soon.