little update on life atm...art and the new filofax.

I've been a little bit MIA lately! and all for good reason, I've been working on commissions and playing in my art journal, plus I got the filofax bug so I was on a crazed hunt for one. When I fall for something, I fall hard, and devour videos and blogs devoted to them, so I fell down a filofax hole lol.
currently on my easel is one of a set of three of a commission for the one client.

 and with each layer, i fall a little more in love...even though I know I have to add in things I wouldn't normally add...I will be taking shots of sections that I want to preserve just for me.

I'm in a mail art group over on Artgeeks and I also put a call out for penpals over on facebook, I miss writing letters and getting little bits of love in my mailbox so I've been sitting making little index cards into postcards to fly across the skies to their new owners.

with my word for this year being organized, I did end up getting myself a filofax...after a much appreciated mermaid circus angel, offered to buy one in her state and post it to me..saving me a lot of cash. My life atm looks like this

 my beautiful leather malden personal filofax, my writing brain dump book and my art journal these three books contain my life and I love them.

I thought I'd lost my muse the other day, my mojo was gone and I was desperately trying to find it...but as a lovely woman said...my mojo was being poured into my filo creating instead of my artjournal, and its true...I got my filo on Monday, and started making it fully mine with customized items and little 'courtney' touches.

I started by replacing the cream dividers because...as much as I like cream...comon...lol do you know me! lol

so I used some of my scrappy journal pages I started months ago to turn into a journal and made dividers.

I also made sure I added a little of myself into my weekily pages...this is where I am atm..but I know I have done a few things since this image, mainly add more colour...because I am a visual girl and wherever I go..there has to be colour.

then I knew something was missing...photos! my world is kept in photographs and I needed my filo to hold the people that ment the world to me, so i started to DIY some little photo holders out of trading card protectors I had lying around. I printed my photos to the protector size, and added washi tape boarder to punch holes in...and before I knew it, I had my family happily at the front of my filo.

 

so that is where I am at...making art...making art snail mail...and getting my life orgaizned and personalized. I want the filo to help me flesh out the ideas for the future of little raven ink...I am in the process of making repeatable patterns to make fabric...featuring the nook dwellers..so look out for that.

have a wonderful Wednesday..yes I didnt cook...but you got art and filo love! 

xx Courtney

The Evolution of a Journal Keeper

I am a journal keeper, and have been for as long as I can remember, my first journal was a little fairy one with a padlock that my nanna gave to me one Christmas. Now I am an Art Journaller, and that' s how most of you who read my blog know me as, but before I got to where I am now....there was alot of journals that came before the arty art ones...

to help give you an idea of my journals, I did a couple of videos, showing you the pages of my older journals, that haven't really been seen on this blog before...

I kept my life between the pages of these now well worn journals, from cheap notebooks to leather journals, I wrote and wrote, filling pages with my life, an odd collage here, a stack of self portraits, some doodling, stickers and journal fodder...I never expected to expand my journal keeping into what I do now...so we all dont magically have amazing journals, we grow into them...we get better, more refined..with more doing..comes more learning.

I didn't care how pretty it looked, I didn't care what supplies I used, most the time it was a glue stick black pen and some coloured pencils..the occasional sticker and a folder of scrap paper.

If you haven't taken the steps to keeping a journal, and you want to..then just do it! there are no rules, you keep a journal for yourself, and only yourself.

I intend to keep a journal till the end of my days, I believe its made me a better person, and now I can say that it has definitely made me a better artist. I've traveled many steps with a journal in my bag, to far off places and home again, documenting, writing, drawing, photographing. Sometimes all you need is a black pen and a notebook..strip it down and just enjoy

there are more parts the the video's I just have to finish uploading them...I want the barrier between just starting, and being an 'old hand' at journalling to be broken down...we all started somewhere.

xx Courtney

Part two of my journal play video

enjoy the second part of my journal spread!

have a fantastic night
xx Courtney

a little bit of my journal process.

me...just working in my journal...enjoy..I'll be editing and uploading the second video tomorrow morning.

The beauty of summer

Summer and I, well we have a love hate relationship, I hate the heat and the sticky sweaty days, but I love how things look in the sunshine, I love the brightly coloured fruits in the fruit market. Today..today was a love day, I ate lovely lush succulent cherries, making me smile as my fingertips got stained such a pretty colour.

and tonight, as I started cooking our dinner, I stopped to admire the bright greens and reds of our makings for a taco salad minus the tacos. If you check back next week, there will be a paleo/primal recipe that John and I cook together and blog for you guys, as our lifestyle has changed so much in the last 6 months!

and to leave you with a sneak peek of the start of my 2013 project life. Its nothing spectacular but its shaping up to be a very bright and beautiful year, and I'm not even into the first week.  How are you documenting your memories and experiences this year?

enjoy you evening, and I'll see you tomorrow
x Courtney

BLOGTOBERRRRR!!! Day 1 & 2

I'm a day late but I've been gently nudged to do a blog everyday in October challenge. So here I be! I haven't blogged that much lately, and I honestly have not much of a reason! About two months ago, my partner and I embarked on the Paleo way of life and cleaning eating, so my focus and time has been spent doing a lot of cooking! ( A LOT OF COOKING), but it has totally been worth it, and some posts during the month will be on food, and our lifestyle. We are also moving house..yes again. The landlord wants to move back in, so the nook needs to be packed up...but that's ok, in my new place...I'll have my very own studio! detached from the house and everything, so that will be a very exciting feeling.

 

My desk lately has been a crazy mess, but just recently I got given a parcel of lovelyness, a journal and a little bag cover made by the delightful Tinniegirl

It's going to be my on the go journal, as my current journal...is much much to big for travel now.

 

 as you can see...its a shoulder ache to carry it in my bag. So she stays at home on my desk and get's worked in almost daily. I don't know how I will deal with more than one journal, I know so many do it, but I'll give it a whirl. 

I've been bookbinding a lot lately, just making journals out of book covers that I've been saving for a rainy day...I have this little one almost finished.

a journal spread in the big girl. Playing with new stamps my mum and I ordered from Elise Joy the you are here stamp and you're my favourite (yes I spell it the Aussie way) are my faves by far. Ive used them quite a bit since getting them. Playing with new pens in this page my mumma gave me two big brush pitt pens and I do love them! they will be something I will look into getting more colours of. A photograph from one of my old letters from Miss Sophie over at her library adventures. We used to send each other a stack of photos from our week (back when we weren't so busy with life) So sometimes, some of her old photos make it into my art. I'm sentimental like that. We may even be embarking on a traveling moleskine in the coming months...just a maybe at the moment.

  

now I have been asked to do a supply video by many people and maybe in time that will happen, but for now I want to highlight one supply a day that I use more than twice a week...there is no point saying to you..here use this amazing expensive supply...and I've used it once...If Im going to tell you what my fave supplies are...I need to use it almost everyday. And these do get used ...HEAPS.

They were my first supply that I literally had to save money for. That time in my life, supplies weren't important at all...so I had to save on the side for them on the sly. I finally had the money to buy the Caran D'ache Neocolour II's They are a watercolour wax based crayon. Very high pigmented and very easily moved around with water. I bought the 40 colour tin, and I've had them for almost 3 years now and they are still going strong. You don't need to use a lot to get results which is why I love them, I'm all about budget budget budget!

So I've made my post long enough to compensate for the fact that it's day two of October here! 

have a fantastic day, and I'll be back tomorrow with more art, and another one of my budget crunching favourite supplies.

xx Courtney

have you heard of Art Geeks.

 Photographs and Art, are like hot tea and a biscuit....

I live my life through photos and art, by merging the two I create journal pages that are uniquely mine.

So Art Geeks... if you haven't you should find out! I have been asked to be a teacher in the online art group Art Geeks, I was very nervous to begin with, but I think with time..I could do alright at teaching art journal pages. We have some very talented teachers in the group, one of them being the lovely Gulfspite who you hear me talk about heaps! There is a blog too, I know alot of my followers are artists, so if there is a moment u have spare, check us out...at the moment I have set up some homework (yes even before my glass has started) to get the artists ready for the little things I'm going to teach in the following months!!

want to make personal art journal pages...come find us at Art Geeks

 enjoy your days my dears I have a cold at the moment, so Im under my alice in wonderland quilt drawing with my art journal and sipping green tea.

xx Courtney

Journal Pages - Watercolour Homework.

Hello my darlings, 

I have been buried in the makings of the nook dwellers, that I had forgotten to talk about the latest journal class I've taken (yes Im addicted to signing up for classes, they are amazing ways to learn new things and also for a journal perve heeh So I've started my homework for week one with Suzi

I'm still working on this page, I think there is another face to go in here but here are some progress shots.

Using my budget watercolours, and some graphite pencil, I worked and tinkered in my journal.

some of those flowers that I adore so much...and a little nook dweller crept in before I knew what was happening!

this is the spread as it stands, with one of my index cards for the day tipped into the journal, on the opposing page, will become something ...who knows what!

and a close up of day 4's index card

Have a lovely evening my dears, open your journal and lose yours within its pages. 

xx Courtney

Day 8 - Inky beautiful

Armed with a spray ink, and no idea, this girl emerged she was still and silent, and a pleasure to create.

I gessoed the page, and sprayed a doiley then inked her with a cheap black pen, some pencils.

a touch of watercolour crayons.

also in the mail today, my little moo order came! a book of stickers 

and a handful little mini business cards. 

how has your Tuesday?

xx Courtney

so...I'll talk about my journal...

Good Afternoon my darlings!
I thought since I've had a few questions about my journal I'd thought I'd do a little info session on it.

My art journal wasn't an art journal in its former life, a few months ago, my man and I went to a book sale in my little town of inverell, where lots of second hand books get sold off for a good cause. So amongst the books, I found this old sewing book, it cost me $2.00. Even on the inside was a little message, happy 21st love your aunty -1975
I wasn't sure what I wanted it for, but as time went by and I had finished my last journal, I thought why not make this book into an art journal.
with the beginning of my I heart drawing course with Jane Davenport, I started to prep the book ready for arting.

I tore every 3rd page from the book, because I knew with all the art and mixed media I was going to do within the book, the old spine wouldn't be able to handle the weight. I still have all the spare pages, they are in my paper drawer and I use them for my collaging.


I do 90% of the time prep my pages before I begin, gesso, or laying down papers to make the paper ready to hold my arty abuse! I do love that the pages give a instant base for my art, the text and the vintage pattern pictures. So for the readers asking me how I get the text into my art..its within the book, and it scares off the blank page OH MY GOD syndrome.
When I decide to art, I really have no idea what I'm going to do, I just grab things...I am a firm believer in art and life colliding. Yes its an art journal, but I also put myself into my art, and my family..my day to day living is part of my art...I never looked at it that way till a lovely comment I got, saying she had joined my blog because I use my photos within my art journal..maybe that's my nook.

I print photos out from my cannon, my iphone, instagram on paper, on photo paper, I even print some of my photos over old letters just to give them a quirk.

washii tape is my best friend, its bright colourful, and helps work in my photos into my art... instead of them feeling like they just sit on the page...they become part of the art.

When I'm not playing with photographs, I'm probably doing portrait work, the human face, fascinates me so I spend alot of time playing in my journal colouring shading drawing faces.

paints, inks, prisma colour pencils...gesso, white paint pen..you know the usual art supply arsenal.

and of course..the copic markers
my little corner studio..


so thats my journal wisdom for today for you...I hope I've cleared up some questions...please I urge you, if you want to know anything else, ask me! I'll answer you directly or within a post.
but for now, enjoy the afternoon...


xxx 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