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Question: How Do I Stay Inspired?

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Answer: a LOT of work. I find inspiration everywhere, but the hardest part is encountering something at just-the-right-time to spark an idea. So I keep thoughts, clippings, quotes, ribbons, fabric scraps, websites…..anything that will fit…….in a journal or notebook.

Question: How Do I Stay Inspired via lilblueboo.com

I remember this journal page distinctly…. because it marks one of the first times I saw reverse applique used in a really trendy way. I was in a small boutique and I made a bunch of mental notes on some of the clothing I saw. I just write down things that make me say “wow” or that I think are intriguing or that I think could be used in a different way. Also on this page: some magazine clippings of kimono tops, fabric I loved on a Gucci purse, and a sketch of a cute airplane-shaped cracker I recieved for an in-flight snack. There is no rhyme or reason to what goes together on a page.

Question: How Do I Stay Inspired 2 via lilblueboo.com
I love the pages below because they have so many random things going on. Many times I will start a page and then revisit it at a later date filling in blank space. These pages have fabric and jacquard scraps sewn onto the page, there is an idea for a cork board using music sheets, a random halloween sticker, and a diagram on how to do a chain stitch…. not to mention the birds that I added party hats to.

Question: How Do I Stay Inspired 3 via lilblueboo.com
Many times I will just make lists. I’ll brainstorm long lists of things I’m liking at the moment, movies I’ve seen, and stuff I want to check out. There is also a photocopy of a page from a Sabrina Ward Harrison book and a cigar label glued to the page.
Question: How Do I Stay Inspired 4 via lilblueboo.com
So…..if you’re feeling a little “un-inspired”…..you could start compiling things together that will spark your creativity. Or maybe these pages will inspire you?
How do you stay inspired? How do you come up with new ideas? I’d love to hear from you.
Have a great weekend!

Journaling – Part V – Teesha Moore and Layering

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I want this treehouse:

Journaling - Part V - Teesha Moore and Layering via lilblueboo.com
Ok…the treehouse has nothing to do with the subject of this post except that it is from Teesha Moore’s blog. Teesha is by far my favorite artist when it comes to art journal pages. Her work is so colorful and the handwriting is amazing. It can be both haunting and whimsical at once. I just want to cover my walls in it! Check out her journal pages here.
Journaling - Part V - Teesha Moore and Layering 2 via lilblueboo.com

She explains her process here. I love the whole process of layering watercolor, collage, crayons, pens, pencils etc.
I pulled out a few of my old journal pages that I thought had some “Teesha” influence in them: little dunce/party hats, layering of mediums, figureheads on illustrated bodies…..
Journaling - Part V - Teesha Moore and Layering 3 via lilblueboo.com

Collage, drawings of stitches I wanted to remember, fabric swatches sewn to the pages

Journaling - Part V - Teesha Moore and Layering 4 via lilblueboo.com

Vintage barbie head on a large paper skirt, layering of crayon and paint pen. (If you look closely you can see my little dog Diesel’s footprints that I traced….he walked across my page when it was wet with paint.)
Journaling - Part V - Teesha Moore and Layering 5 via lilblueboo.comA favorite quote from a favorite scene in American Beauty (which is also a favorite scene song on the soundtrack)
Journaling - Part V - Teesha Moore and Layering 6 via lilblueboo.com
My grandmother’s face with illustration. She was very creative. My grandfather is in the lower corner).

Journaling – Part IV – Accidental Pages

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Some of my favorite art journal pages were accidents that occurred over time. Below are just a few examples.

Journaling - Part IV - Accidental Pages via lilblueboo.comOur Lady of Guadalupe: I started sketching this picture out and didn’t like the direction it was going. I used some gel medium to make it glossy and it ended up smearing my initial drawing. So over a few weeks I just kept going back to it when I was on a plane or stuck in a motel room and just didn’t feel like writing. It was drawn in dots, hatch marks, lines and squiggles using color sharpie markers.

Journaling - Part IV - Accidental Pages 2 via lilblueboo.com
Cruel as the bitterness of life: This page was first a few collage layers that didn’t turn out right. I started covering it with crayon, sanding off layers and ended with a distressed paper/wax “mess” that looked aged with a few ghostly images peeking through. I started writing the words and the gel pen wouldn’t work and because the page was so thick I just ended up carving the words into the page. They didn’t show up on the background so I used some “white out” to fill the carving with. The words are from the movie Frida when Diego Rivera was describing her life’s work at the end: acid and tender, hard as steel, fine as a butterfly’s wing, loveable as a smile, cruel as the bitterness of life. I messed up the quote.
Journaling - Part IV - Accidental Pages 3 via lilblueboo.com
Ganesh: This page resulted from a couple gel transfers gone awry.  I just kept painting over them with acrylic and doing another transfer until I got the last one right. There are also some layers of origami paper worked in as well.
Lesson learned: If you aren’t happy with your initial page, leave it and come back….maybe even several times! The more layers you add the more interesting the page becomes.
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