Eclectic Journals Blogtober Day 3

Hello again!

Day three of Blogtober, and I am busy at work playing in the papers! I am currently taking a class by one of my favourite teachers who if you havent checked out go do it now! Gulfsprite she has just opened her own ning full of all her courses! I am currently immersing myself in her Eclectic Art journal class, which by the way is sooo good! I was ment to work out today ( I did finally get around to it) but it took me ages to go and actually work out, I started watching the first vid before I know it I was scrap bin diving looking for an old catalog to start using to alter! 

I have a scrap bin and a half, so this class is perfect for it...above is the start of mine, I've only done a few pages..workout interrupted my play! but it is very fun!!

I found old book pages, letters, scrapbooking paper..an index card with some free motion sewing on it, magazine pages...you name it! I even rushed out to buy myself a glue stick...(yes I didnt own one) so I could get right into it! Below is just the top of my scrap bin...eye spy the fabulous wallpaper that Tinniegirl sent me...which I now covet to death.

So  yesterday I said each day I would do a supply thing, and today is no different...I sat long and hard thinking about what I wanted to introduce next, that I use alot. I looked through the pages in my journal to find things that got used alot..and there was a clear winner. Distress Stains by Tim Holtz and the ranger label. I'm not one for label dropping, my craft paint resides at the dollar stores. Im not even sure what made me buy my first colour...I think my mum was the first to show me...then Jane Davenport rocked them aswell. I only have a handful of colours and that suits me just fine. They are like liquid watercolour in a bottle, with a dabber top for easy application. It swooshes onto a page very easily, and with several applications you can get varying shades of the colour. They do react with water, so if you put them down and use a wet paintbrush they will move about, just like watercolour. They go a long way. I am a colour girl, so my products need to be vibrant..and these babies are very pigmented and very bright.  The colour featured is Broken China...and it gets used and abused VERY heavily within my journal.

Below is an example of it being used in my art journal, as you can see, the layers of the colour give it more depth and darkness. I've used three stains on this little art card. I sloshed them onto the page then drew over it with an inky black pen. When you are looking to be lazy and want to get colour down fast, these are my go to.

So thats all from me, tomorrow I'll bring you more progress from my eclectic journal and bring you another supply favourite of mine.

Take care lovelies!

xx Courtney

Happy Monday!

Hello hello, Its another monday I hope you weekends were eventful and full of colour and art journal fun!, I've worked in my journal, in what I call my in-between time. Those moments when you cant commit hours just back to ur desk for 10 mins here and there, I did take my journal in the car, but alas fell asleep instead lol.
So here are two before and afters for you... As you know I am in the Painted faces class by Gulfsprite and I was working on my homework, first is a double page spread I shared with you last week I think..so it went from this...

to this, more colour, working on the face randomly at night when I couldnt sleep...she went from drag queen (oh it was terrible, she got more manly the tireder I got!) to this little quirky girl, I rather like...this was one of the templates Christy gave us if we didnt want to draw our own girl.

opposite page is just some photos, washii tape, painted flowers and a little journalling just simple and brightly coloured. Oh there are also some lovely atlas stars that I got in the mail last week.

and my next before was this girl, remember her, she was one of my homeworks for the painted faces class, I decided to draw my own girl, so I got my colour erase pencil out and went to town, she went from looking like this

to this acrylic painted gal, I actually photocopied her, because I like the sketch aswell, so I copied her and painted over the copy, as I want to try out a few shading palettes to her, so I just taped her into the journal when I was finished with her.

and thats me done! hope you enjoyed the post, I'll be back soon with some more of my portrait work, and a canvas I started today for a gift.
xx Courtney

Creative Art journalling!

A starry Thursday to all of you! I've been busily working in my art journal, doing a few things here and there, went to visit my family on the weekend, and am getting over a cold the little ones brought home from school...alas here I am in my green ugg boots and my stripy cardi getting a post together!
so inside the little journal that could are some random odds and ends.

playing with the scanner, old letters and other sketch books of mine to create artworks to rework in my current journal..this girl has won a place in my heart because of her sad little face.

always trying to get my fashion figures sorted out, still tripping over on that task but I still try every few days, this is my current sassy girl

a whimsy long necked girl that was a sketch in my journal for so long, and while I was away at my parents as we caught up and chatted I sat and coloured, listening to the sounds of my family cackle and recount old stories.

I've been getting mail lately, which isnt bills! and as the mail arrives from Miss Sophie.
I glue things into my journal for later use. An old photo and some washii tape never go astray, oh..can you spot my course work for the new class I'm taking at the moment Painted faces with the beautiful Gulfsprite. Printing out her templates and drawing some of my own ready and waiting to get into the painting!

and of course, a random scrappy collage page that I've just started working on, needs some ink and watercolours me thinks...just not sure what to draw..it will come, it always does

so thats my creative space and my journal progress!!
what are you doing in your journals lately?
xx C

Paint she said!

I needed to shift gears with my journal, I didnt want to become stagnant creating the same looking thing over and over... So Christy told me to paint my girl today...so I got my paints out and did just that..

she's not as refined as my copic girls or my pencil girls...but I like her. a little verbal mummy rant on the other side covered with random flowers... and the page is pretty much done.

tomorrow I want to try and tackle a full Jane body...I've been putting it off for a couple of weeks now because I feel my bodies look a bit retarded lol... but I'll try see how I go.

enjoy your Tuesday!
might go sketch in the sunlight, I need a bit of vitamin D
x Courtney

The Arful Journey - day 27, too tired.

work in a random scribbles journal, nothing to write home about...


and something yummy from christy's work, her stuff gives me hope.

another tired artist post...the move is almost over..and I will be back...I cant wait to be 'back'
xx Courtney

The Artful Journey - day 23 ..the Dreamed journal

So I'm exhausted, I've sat down after a big day of packing and more packing and my eyes and my body say no more of anything...so I'm listening. The other day Christy linked a video on her facebook profile, and it struck a cord..so much so I've watched the youtube vid more times than I'd like to say...its inspiring. So even though I may not have arted as such...art is still in my day..very much so..if only i could snapshop what gets created in my mind when I have other things to do!

so sit back, and enjoy a Dreamed Journal...because they are stunning...


I'm off to bed to wait for my man to walk through the door at like 1am...
xx Courtney

The Artful Journey- Day 22..My Creative Space.

Its a thursday and for once I'm on the ball, with having something done! I spent the day at my mums place today to just 'get away' from my house the boxes and the random messes everywhere was starting to get me down..so I packed my bag and my trunk of travel supplies and off I went.

Knowing I wanted to do a Christy prompt and my homework for Janes Course, I decided to combine the two! I picked the Foam prompt from Christy which was make your own stamps using fun foam... I LOVED this!

ball point pen and foam and WAH LARRRR stamps!


and in Jane's class we needed to do a mixed media spread in our journals that used a body in the spread..now my body is simple..but shes there... the page grew from just her little legs...which is what we learn't today 'lolly legs' hehe

can u spot my stamps?


lots of spraying, layering stencils, stamps a sprayed doiley, watercolour washes, abstract flowers and some text..and you my dear friends have yourself a layout in your art journal!
for more delightful crafty arty goings on, pop on over to our creative space to see the epically long list!
xx Courtney

The Artful Journey - Day 20, Simple Things

from the teacher to the art-journal to the canvas, this is basically what's happening at the present moment. A prompt from Christy's course, translated down into my little canvas clad art journal, and now, it's being blown up onto a canvas as a birthday present.



impromptu mixing palette, my acrylic block for stamping... yes my mum was horrified as well it's ok.



and slowly the layers of paint get put down, yellows...gesso...white paint wash yellow..and so forth..till I get that the exactly level of tone... who knows when that will happen...I'm still working on the same one flower..and its day two.

Pitt Pen for the outline, then I'm going to use my dip pen and some india ink to do the smaller more intricate detailing of the petals and stems...all in between the chaos that is my 90% boxed up house.


I will admit, its nice having something to work on between the moments...to sort of ground you again...


I'm off to re watch Miss Jane's blending videos with my pencils in hand to follow on..maybe I'll have something different to show you besides the white ladies in grand size.
sleep well my dears.
xx Courtney

The Artful Journey day 19 - Tinkering.

In between the mess and the chaos I set up the dinning room table with a plastic tablecloth and what supplies I have left out, and played...pack boxes,get some at done. I'm currently running myself into the ground and rather sick, but I didn't let that stop me...I just had some wonky drawings through the coughing fits heheh.


The colours I packed in my art tote...were a tad crazy but I tried my best to make it work. with a quick lay down of paint, and a sketch I was on my way to getting back on track.


another project in the works is a birthday gift for a dear family friend...a big canvas of the lillie's journal page I did in Christy's course. It seems these flowers are a family favourite, this is by far one of my biggest works. So I sat in the afternoon sun, layering down three colours, two shades of yellow and white paint till I get the perfect look I want.



so that's my day, I'm rather tired, but I'm proud of myself for making a little art time for myself, and taking the time to photograph it, my images lately are as lack luster as how much sleep I'm getting... (hardly any)

enjoy your evening, I'm going to tape some more boxes together and keep the packing going so its not so frantic on saturday when the Removal guys rock up.

take care my dears!

The Artful Journey - Pages in Progress

since I have alot on today, I decided to post my 'pages in progress' things that haven't been finished yet, and havent made it onto the blog because of it.

I'm still sketching for jane, just backs and butt's till we move on to something else! I'm so enjoying learning, one girl described it as - feeling like an arty sponge, trying to soak it all up..and it was a perfect description of how I feel.
on the Christy front, a page about using outside materials, like magazine pages and other things to create hidey holes in our journal.. like french doors almost.. I chose images of the same woman in a photobooth over the course of her life...


so interesting..she seemed so unhappy though lol.
and the leaf prompt Im still pluggin away at, maybe when I get back home, there will be more real life leaves to play with than here in sydney


so I'm off back to Inverell tonight, which is why my post is so early, need to get it done before I walk out the door in under two hours.
I shall see you tired and dirty from packing tomorrow..wonder what art I'll fit in lol.
xx Courtney

The Artful Journey - Junk in the Trunk

Evening my dears, quick blog post, as I've spent the entire day on my feet chasing little ones, doing almost no art at all!!!

I did however arrange my prismas into colour families and a set of my portrait colours.. Jane's course has giving me urges to put things in colour co-ordination!!



Today's lesson in janes course was all I got done today as it was portable, tomorrow in between packing I'm going to catch up on my Christy class!! that requires alot more supplies and a heap of arty mess!

so bodies! back's and butt's were todays lesson and gosh so much fun, and such quick tricks, I adore them lots more to draw to get it right.
so thats me done for today! I'm tired and sore from being action mumma all day!
see you tomorrow...with of course..more art.

The Artful Journey Day 14 - the quiet arting.

A quiet Wednesday night, just the tea and the pencils and the drawings. This week is coloured pencil week over on Jane's course, and we are all getting into the swing of it with faces and happy images using our pencils.



I'm enjoying drawing with a different style to my own, trying to bend it to my own style..whatever that may be. I still feel I'm chasing my own style, trying to grasp it and call it my own..one day I'll just know..that's my work and my work alone.






the little teacups, had fun today with some big brushes and some small piles of paint..I do however have little painty footprints outside my back verandah now heheh kinda cute!

Miss Lily..is happiest lately when shes arting..much like her mumma.
that's me for the night. I have so much to catch up on, few pages of Christy's course and more face practice, but tomorrow I'm off to the boy's parents place for the day, I think I'll take my sketch book and my pencils and get a little art done.

pop on over to Traci's blog to see what shes creating for Get Your Art On.
xx Courtney

The Artful Journey Day 13 - portrait practice

In the nook tonight, there isn't much happening, today's been filled with too much 'real life' stuff such as sorting out day care for little ones (which still isn't sorted) and also ringing around for removal quotes.

But in between it all, I did get a minimal amount of work done. I started my faces homework for my Jane Davenport Supplies Me course. which is such a beautiful refreshing course.


and on the gulfsprite journal class, the prompt is text! now I've been mulling this one over, and I only got a start on it late tonight so there isn't much to see yet! but slowly slowly I'll get there, I always do.

I'm going to snuggle up and cuddle into my man while I draw some more faces and plan my text page
xx sleep well my darlings
x C

The Artful Journey - Day 12..Magical Forests.

A puddle forest she called it, and its this beautiful pooling of colour that transform into trees with just a little black ink! I had so much fun doing this prompt on Christy's course, that I'm considering doing a long canvas for lily's room once we move, in all fairy type colours. They are a little bit whimsy and a touch of magical.

I chose three colours and they moved into many little light and shades of those colours.

I can see many more of these purely to calm me down...and release a little arty frustration.


The fruits of my background page...now the question is..what to do on it. I shall think on it while I sleep dreaming of inky forests and pretty pooling colours.

pop on over to Traci's blog and see what arty adventures shes on for her 30 days of Get your Art on.

take care...give your art journal a little love..
xx Courtney