Art Geeks!

enjoy the video, and get snapping and glue and laying down that colour

My Days are cluttered with colour!

I know I know, I've had emails and messages..where am I! I've been off making notes and pulling myself together before a huge blog overhaul. A little revamp is always needed before spring. A more creative lifestyle is my intended goal...

whilst working out my layouts..I've started making notes for daily posts, what would you like to see on the blog? Reader input is very highly valued over here in the nook, so if there is something you want to see covered..or talked about daily...do tell. There will be a few tweaks to the nook..a little plus size fashion, some DIY home stuff, more art than you can poke a stick at, and more videos.

stayed tuned.

I have a dear friend who just had a birthday, and whist I went shopping several times to buy her a bunch of cute one of a kind things that I thought she would love..I came up short...very short. So I started making her a journal, we are both avid journal keepers, me more the messy kind lol, but lovers to the full of the paper collecting experience...so I started putting the pages together for a journal that will be nothing like what she has in her collection...a real one of a kind book for her to carry around. I sewed...

and I created artworks to be scattered through out the journal...and much more..I can't show too much as she reads my blog! (or at least I think she does lol) 

While I was on the journal making kick, I also started one for myself, just to get the practice in, trying out different ways of binding, different types of signatures, this one is an old book I've had for a while, starting to collage things to the cover, a photograph I love, a post it note from a letter, stickers...small parts of my life. I also used a cute fabric from my quilting stash to wrap the spine in, to give it a little colour pop. I have one signature left to put into the book, and then she will be finished...underneath the book is me practicing my smiles in the new addition Ink week to Supplies Me workshop with Jane, It's been a while since I'd opened my art journal, so I let jane put me to work in it again...

another colour love of mine at the moment..is bright coloured tights!!! I went on a search for tights for big girls, being an artist, I like to dress with a certain BOOM of colour...and these tights well they certainly make a girl feel happy. Over at We Love Colors they have a big girls tight range in a rainbow of colours... I have the teal and the BRIGHT yellow..I cant get enough of them, I hope to purchase many more colours in the future.

I hope I've brought you up to speed with whats been going on..there will be changes coming! I just have to work on the design features of the blog, which takes time while running a family! 

do  comment below if there are things you'd like me to talk about, or ideas for regular post features! I do love hearing what you do and don't want to read from me!

x Courtney

Flue Ridden Artist.

With school holidays happening here in Australia, and the little teacup humans occupying alot of my time, I've barely had the time to blog or art! Then my darling boyfriend bought home the flue from work, and its knocked us all around! Please forgive the huge gap in since my last post, its been very up and down few weeks, I'm still sniffling and coughing but at least I can think a little now.

I've worked on a few things since my last post, a few art cards for trading on facebook with other artists. This has been the most fun I think out of all my art lately, its going to feel like pokemon! gotta catch them all heheh.

I finally got my easel out that my dad made for me, and made some art for our bare bedroom wall, I rather like her, took me a while to actually like the finished product, but she hangs beautifully on the wall, even if every so often shes a little crooked.

I got caught up on my project life folder, biting the bullet and getting a stack of my photos printed, cornered, sorted and then arranged to make the pages of my project life as accurate as I could.

I also started a crotchet project aswell to stop my fingers from turning blue of a night time...as strange as it sounds..its working.

and my darling man bought me these two books as a lovely gift a week ago, so I've been curling up on the couch paging through them, sighing contently as all the beautiful art and information. Soaking it up like the sunlight in summer.

hopefully my next post wont take me so long to get up, I think a few more days and our house should be flue free...*fingers crossed*

take care my darlings

xxox Courtney

oh where oh where have I been!

It's been a little while since my last post, and I am well aware of that! but where oh where have I been! I took a little adventure... one of my first alone in sydney and let me tell you..it was amazing.

I took a train...

and walked across the beautiful Sydney harbor to get to the entertainment center.

and I by chance, I fell into working alongside the lovely Jane Davenport. I helped Jane and her lovely hubby who had a bad back, so I stepped in, and what an experience it was! talking about art, and supplies, inspiring women at the craft and sewing show...it was some of the best times I've had in a long time....who wouldn't enjoy working amongst this!

 surrounded by beautiful artwork...

 working with a woman that has changed my life in many ways.

but dont fret, in my absence I have been arting, I haven't slacked off, my journal was on display with jane's at the show, but when I got her back into my hands, I opened her up and got lost in the pages again...here is some of my work from the last few days

catching up on some of my index cards, working on homework as a re take the I heart drawing class, to work out my issues with bodies and hands...

working on collages...to paint over

and finally being happy with a body shape!

and after having my peerless watercolours for over 6 months, I thought it was time I put them to use!

so while I've been gone...what have you been up to?

post your link in the comments I'd love to visit your blogs and see what you have been up to the last week! one of my favourite past times is blog hopping, with a bit of an art perve.

take care my lovelies

xx Courtney

Inky Pages - Art Journal Spreads.

Good Evening my darlings, it's a cold Saturday night, the little ones are tucked up in bed, water bottles warming their souls, and I sit at my desk, in a scarf and green ugg boots getting things done in my altered journal. I never expected to get so attached to a book. It goes almost everywhere with me, and yes, I have shoulder pains because of it lol, but it's worth it, I sit at my little man's school with it open just working on odds and ends, washii tape in my purse, a few photos tucked into the back to whip out when I think a pages needs some love.

the below picture is a girl I created with some watercolour markers, some india ink, prismas over an old letter I had lying around. the ink from the letter did morph a bit, but it made me love it more.

a photograph, a day tag, a cute fabric off cut from some random thing in my drawer and I was rolling along with this page, the waves were drawn in the windy cold of the primary school hehe. Some of those red flowers I love so much, they have become a big part of these pages. Photograph is one of my bus stop self portraits I do on instagram sometimes.

in the last moments of last night, I grabbed my pencil and created this little long necked odd girl. I played with colouring her in today, I like the look of her, shes simple, I'll keep playing with the long necks in a few sketches to come I think

below I found an old image on a clear oht page, turned it into a little pocket. Making use of the random junk that lines my bottom drawer.

Have a beautiful Saturday evening, curl up with your journal, and the junk that lines your drawers, letters images, tags..anything if fare game...and its all part of your life.

xx Courtney

Face 10! oil pastels!

I am a little tired, after a full on day, came home with a touch of a headache, and couldn't get a face finished, I thought I'd give the portfolio pastels a go, I haven't really had much to do with oil pastels. So this is the start of something

messy desk, to the point of where I don't care! hehe

they are so smooshy, and for the money...they are damn good!

I'll be back tomorrow with something much better for you to look at hehe

have a night evening 

xx Courtney

Day 7 - Tag me Lovely!

Day 7 my darlings! and I must say I lost my mojo, I spent the day sewing up a storm to get a few sewing projects worked on, and before I knew it my day was almost over, I tried a portrait in sumi ink, and liked her..till I tried to add colour, then it all went shit-tastic! so I started again. 

I saw some of my blank tags in my odds and ends box, and grabbed one, and started sketching in an inky pen.

little watercolour marker and a touch of white pen, and I thought she was simple enough and cute enough, I will start incorporating her into the page, maybe some text/journalling above her eyes, and she will be a cute addition to my journal.

here is my desk shot, do you see the bunch of tags up the back in the odds box hehe

above shot

I painted this girl a few days ago and never got the share her...so here is my latte skinned beauty.

xx Courtney

Day 6 Faces In May - Vintage beauty.

Evening my dears! late post from me, as today was full on with shopping, birthday party and clothes culling, sheet changing! getting ready for the winter nights. Today's face, is a rendition of an image I saw in one of my fave magazines. Here is a desk shot aswell. The wooden box was my mum's back in the 70's it holds photographs, little odds and ends from my day, letters I want to put into my art, and my ideas notebook.

not sure what I'll do with the rest of the page yet, I drew her on some copy paper and cut her out, didn't expect her to come to life so much so...but she did, so she got cut out and put into the pages of my journal.

I spent the last few hours of daylight sewing, working on a few little projects! hope to get more of that done tomorrow when I have no kids in the house! ahh the quiet bliss.

enjoy your Sunday evening!

x Courtney

Faces In May - Day 5

Afternoon my darlings! its day 5 in the faces of May challenge, and since I enjoyed playing with the monotone of yesterdays girl I thought I'd play with some pink acrylic ink and gesso and see what I came up with! below is my face for the day and what she developed into. Two pics from our day today.

I thought since I, working at my desk everyday this month, I'd do daily desk shots, so you can see how things morph and merge as I create.

on our outings today, I was looking for some new storage for my copics, my old square vase finally had no room left, so a quick trip to ikea, and now they all fit nicely into this one container..with dividers. once I fill that up.. I'll get a couple more!

how is your Saturday shaping up?

xx Courtney

Face Three - 29faces in May Blue Bella.

 

Afternoon my dears, it's another day, and that means another face, I've done more than one since my last post, but this girl, was a happy accident, one of my ink bottles spurng a leak, and got all over my page, where I was working on a sketch, so I ran with it, I used two shades of blue Spray inks, applying them like watercolour and then using gesso to give them the painterly look.

 

I used a graphite pencils to do all her detailing, haphazard kind of sketching, I wasn't too precious with her, it seems the more careful lines u put in the more...forced a face is.

a little bit of white paint pen, and white prismacolour pencil and she was done, very simple, very accidental, but there you have it, my face for today!

welcome to my crazy messy desk, its getting more crazy as I paint more faces, you can see the opposite page where the ink spilled.

have a lovely afternoon my dear friends, and please pop back tomorrow for whatever face appears within the pages of my little art journal.

xx Courtney

Faces In May - Day 3

We are off and running in the 29 faces in May challenge, and I've got to say, I'm getting really excited about it! I started stockpiling portrait photos that I liked from pintrest as reference points for my drawing. The quirky old man, was one of those photographs. He is my day three, I've been working on him all through my day even during the time I went shopping, having a tea while I was out, I sat and coloured him with my markers.

the woman opposite him was just a girl that developed while I was sitting on the couch, not sure if she will be day 4 or if I will go looking for more photographs to sketch!

a close up of my old man, he is predominately in greys, I used two shades of brown copic marker, and a prismacolour pencil as  highlights around the eyes and the shirt.

and a close up of my blue haired beauty!

how are your faces going?

xx Courtney

two posts in one day!!! got a quick moment to grab my phone and do a little art journal flip

so stick back and enjoy the flip of my journal.

and for the 29 faces in may challenge I got my day two girl done I rather like her!

see you tomorrow with a new face.

xx Courtney

JOINING IN! 29 Faces in May

I need a pick me up, something to get excited about, and I saw this on Gulfspire's Blog and thought I'd join her! 29 faces in may, shouldn't be too bad I got two completed just yesterday!

 I think I can give this a good go! anyone else want it pop on over and join in, leave your blog in my comments so I can have a bit of a looksie at your lovely drawings!

xx Courtney

Face for the first of may (since its the second here)

and I did tell you I got two finished didn't I...

well here she is

enjoy your afternoon and do join me, I love looking at your art! 

guess you'll see daily posts from me for the month of may!

xxx Courtney