Inspiration Journal #1 competed!

The inspiration journal classes have been going really well and I was going to do all 26 classes in one book for the whole year. My book has gotten really chunky already though so I have decided to divide the year into two and start a new one for July-Dec. Now that I think about it, it will be an excellent opportunity to refocus on my goals for 2015 and start over on some of those too!

Happy Half Year!

Week 6!

So it's week 6 of my Inspiration Wednesday classes and I am still on track. I mixed pan pastels with glazing fluid for this page which produced a really vibrant color. One of my favorite color combinations so far:)

More Inspiration Journaling...

I am loving my Inspiration Journal online classes with Donna Downey! (Link to Donna's site here!) Not only do I get to try new techniques every other week but I am also taking the opportunity to focus on my thoughts, goals and dreams through the process. Here are my second, third, fourth and fifth pages so far...

I'm so grateful for this class - now I'm back in the habit of doing something creative almost every day! It feels great and I'm feeling much more 'myself' these days. Thank you Donna Downey and my amazing classmates:)

Inspiration Journal #1

I loved week one of Donna Downey's online Inspiration Wednesday course. I picked 'bravery' as my word for 2015. I have so many goals and dreams for my life and I really want to focus on being more brave :). It felt great to express myself through art and capture it in my Inspiration Journal :)

I tried modelling paste for the first time to get some texture on the page...

And added different color glazes...

Maddy joined me and created some beautiful art using stencils...:)

Happy New Year! Here's to more art and more bravery!

Finding Inspiration for 2015!

Happy New Year! I'm so excited that 2015 is finally here and I can take some time to focus on re-balancing my life:) I'm determined to get more creative in 2015 - I miss it so much - so I've signed up for photography classes and I've also signed up for the amazing Donna Downey's Inspiration Wednesday classes (Donna's blog here!).

Some structure will really help me put time aside to invest in my creative journey and Donna has always been such a positive catalyst for me. I'm excited. Happy New Year and I hope that you are putting time aside for whatever it is that you love too!

The BIG 40!

Since Clare hasn't been very craftsy at all lately I was really happy to see that my fave artist in the whole world, Donna Downey, was coming to The Villages to teach a few classes. I signed up for the BIG 40!

6 x 8" art journal - Building Mixed-Media backgrounds - 5 hour workshop
Donna's website says about this class:

"WARNING: THIS WORKSHOP MAY LEAD TO INSOMNIA CAUSED BY IDEA OVERLOAD :)
Since I am now 40, I thought what better way to celebrate this new decade than by sharing my favorite top 40 tips, tricks and techniques for building better art journals and mixed-media backgrounds. Like all great things building a strong foundation or base for your ideas is important, mixed-media and art journaling are no different. This workshop is going to put all these ideas at your fingertips as you create your own personal reference book for mixed media backgrounds and techniques and fill the pages of your NEW art journal. Each student will receive and work in one of my newly released art journals. the journals heavyweight pages are perfect for layering, paints, inks, collages, PanPastels, paper, etc and I plan to do all that and more in this workshop! We will build over 40 techniques and pages worth of ideas using several different wet and dry mediums filling one incredible idea book that will surely get your mind spinning with ideas!"

It sold out really quickly at She Scrapbooks as expected...

I learned some fancy tricks...:)

And Donna was as delightful and inspirational as ever :)

Smokin' Donna...

It was so nice to get my craft on again and as always when I see Donna - I feel so inspired, Thank you, Donna :)

Inspiration Journal class with Donna Downey!

On the way to a family event last week, I was able to stop by Charlotte, NC to see the amazing Donna Downey again and take one of her classes at her studio! (Donna's blog here!). The studio is absolutely beautiful and Donna is as gorgeous as ever :)...

The Inspiration Journal - Creating a Visual Diary class is a 3 hour mixed media/art journaling workshop. Donna's website describes it perfectly:

"A hands-on exploration of your inner artist as we work together creating your visual legacy. The inspiration journal has become the hallmark of my creative play and growth as an artist. This workshop promises to challenge you to look at yourself as a creative soul and will encourage artistic growth with each page you complete. "

I really enjoyed experimenting with new products and techniques and feel a whole lot better about 'letting go' now. The ladies I worked with were all so helpful and talented and it's so inspirational to work in a classroom surrounded by Donna's work...

Donna is a really fun instructor too - she always makes me giggle :)

I worked really hard and felt very proud of my 'war wounds' at the end of the day :).

My Inspiration Journal

I've been following Donna Downey's blog (Donna's blog) for a while now and each Wednesday she shares a new page from her Inspiration Journal and a video showing how she created it. At the moment I am going through a transitional phase in my life and love the idea of using art to help me through this process. I bought one of Donna's blank canvas books while I was at the Inspired event and I've done two pages so far. While I'm finding my groove I am following Donna's style fairly closely. Once I get comfy with my inner artist it will be interesting to see what comes out! For now though, it's great to learn process, while I process :)...

The Roswell Incident...

I had a special surprise in the mail today. The girls I met at Inspired had decorated one of the canvases I left behind with personal messages and sent to me in the mail! It totally made my day - how sweet! Here are my 'hugs on a canvas'...Thank you ladies:)

Inspired!

I had such an unbelievably amazing time at 'Inspired' - Donna Downey's Art Retreat in Charlotte, NC. It was a birthday gift for my 40th from Michael and a complete surprise. I have no idea how he knew that I really wanted to go and it actually made me cry when he told me I was going :). Inspired is a 4-day event with workshops covering a wide variety of different arts and crafts. All instructors are really well-recognized in their respective fields and the classes were small enough to get individual one-on-one instruction with these incredible women too. As soon as I arrived I was greeted by Donna and her husband Bill as if I was a long-lost friend! They are so incredibly friendly and made me feel so welcome:). I have been following Donna's 'Inspiration Wednesday' videos on her blog forever and it was great to see the actual finished products. I bought a blank Inspiration journal so that I can start one of my very own ;).

We were given a goodie box when we checked in and giveaways throughout the event. I only just made the baggage weight requirement on the flight home I had so much stuff! I loved my handmade nametag and apron the best:)

My first workshop was with Christy Tomlinson (Christy's blog here). I was really excited about this one since I love her work and have been wanting to create a 'proper' multi-media collage forever. I was thrilled with my creation in the end and wanted my first piece to reflect my gratitude to my husband for everything...

The following morning we had class with Trish Baldwin (Trish's blog here) to play with wax.

Encaustic is an area I know nothing about which was pretty apparent in my end result! I 'threw my dolly out of the pram' a bit and actually disposed of my piece because it was so rubbish and everyone around me seemed to be creating masterpieces. So childish. Ironically, in the end I think I learned my most important creative lesson in this class, i.e. to let go and try new things with an open and positive spirit. I realize now that just because something isn't comfortable at first doesn't mean you won't learn to love it and create something amazing:). The next class was jewelry making with Becky Nunn (Becky's site here). I learned a bunch of new techniques to get a more profession-looking result and got the opportunity to play with products like Gel Du Soleil...

At dinner, Donna had everyone sing 'Happy Birthday' and congratulate me on my recent 15K. Donna has been such a running inspiration for me since she completed her Half Marathon so it was very special coming from her:).

The next morning we printed onto canvas and fabric with Alisa Burke (Alisa's blog here).

It was really good to get messy and let go :). I thought about how well Michael must know me now to have booked this trip and remembered the House of Blues where we met...

In the afternoon we worked with Lolly (Lolly's blog here) to make a fabric tree picture on canvas. I felt ready to get a bit more 'creative' and make something different in this class. I decided on an owl to serve as a reminder that one of the (few) upsides to aging is acquiring wisdom:). Hot-gluing jute on to the canvas required a massive amount of patience (not exactly my best attribute), so after 4 hours of literally blistering my fingertips with hot glue and nearly losing my ever-loving mind, it was so exciting to have a result that was truly my own :).

At Tracie Lampe's class (Tracie's Etsy store) we learned how to fuse plastic together to make purses. I love the idea that you can create from trash and help the planet a little ;)...

Here are some of Tracie's fabulous designs...

We actually turned this...

Into this...:)

I think in the past I have considered art as primarily a solitary activity. Creating in groups was a total eye-opener for me so now I'm following some blogs to stay up-to-date with both events like this and local gatherings also so that I can continue to create in this way.

All of these ladies were so creative and I learned so much from each of them. Brenda for example had painted a case to bring her art supplies in. She was featured in the latest edition of Art Doll magazine and it was the first time she had even submitted a piece!

I haven't done anything like this before and found it a bit intimidating at first since all of the ladies I met were so creatively talented:). However I can honestly say that every single person I met was really friendly and aside from learning so much from my classmates we had a lot of fun too. It seemed like I laughed from the minute I got there to the minute I left! Learning and laughing - two of my favorites :) Thank you ladies, thank you teachers, thank you Donna and thank you Michael for an amazing, inspirational experience that I will never forget...