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

Its Cold and Wet!

Its one of those days, rather cold and wet, grey, where coats, boots and scarves come out to play their role in keeping us warm! I waited for the bus in the rain, and golly gosh it was cold! I havent posted for a few days, got a bit stuck in a rut, but slowly slowly you pull urself out, with the plans to open up a little online store bustling through my mind, I need to think about alot of things...and thus stopped me arting. 

Today in the cold, I played in my journal

I worked on the girl a week ago, and didnt like her, today I finally finished her, enough to get rid of her into my book, so created a tip in for her, she is just another stepping stone to other things I guess.

playing with washii tape and inks, taping down photographs and just making marks. 

I also had the pleasure of going to my parents place last weekend, and finally got my birthday present from my mumma, project life!!! I skuttled off to get some prints printed, and start making memories withing the confines of this amazing layout style from becky higgins, never worry though...there are lots of left over photos that didnt make the cut, and they will be smashed into my art journal covered with paint and life

because my journal..is where art and life collide.

have a lovely evening

xx Courtney

day 11 and 12 - Portraits and Desk Shot

as you can see, I am rather tired looking from my above picture, so I let my portrait slip yesterday, sleep got ahold of me instead. I did play in my journal today though to try and catch up.

a soft girl, trying to master bodies still, and they still get the better of me, but I keep trying anyway as one day they will be drawn with ease and without thinking.

not sure if i like her background though I might try and fix that aspect up later, but overall I like her.

and a quilt long necked girl, I have a think for red heads it seems! I want to do alot of line work in her background but when Im not so tired!

a shot of my copic marker box, and my favorite pencil case, giving to me by my darling besty  It comes with me in all my handbags, filled with my current colour palette. She made it herself, after we picked out fabric together many years ago now, but I love it just the same.

and a page I'm working on, when I'm not drawing faces, sometimes I like the simple pages of my life with photographs, simple painted backgrounds and a little text.
have a lovely evening
xx C

quick post

It's Monday and its chilly, so I thought I'd just mish mash a post up for you...

with a Monday Mantra for the rest of your week.

I was lucky enough to get a new desk on the weekend, a nice big L shaped one, so I can spread out! Its been blissful I will say that.

the days have been so cold..Ive been able to get out the handknits I've been given from dear friends..a reminder of them, and the laughter...a cowl from my darling girlfriend Emma.

and just a page that I'm working on, vintage fabric from a letter, some practice lettering, and a quick random looking girl coloured in with copics.

what does your week hold for you?

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

on the art desk today.

A lovely Wednesday afternoon, inside the journal, I'm just reworking old pages I didn't like or have sat unfinished, I have a few of these pages sitting there, so my mission before I went any further was revamp...I added some fabric to the side of the page, scrapbooking paper old photographs, some acrylic ink flowers washi tape and pitt pen.

remember that pocket I showed u on my last post I think...well I decided to give it some flare. adding little elements like this to a page, just makes it that much more eye appealing...they are simple to add, usually I'm arting at the buss stop and just doodle where I want things come home and bring it to life with inks and paints.

adding photocopies of other artworks from other journals and glueing them down to alter and create new work, is also a new idea I'm exploring...what new art can come from my old art...who knows!
also in the shot is a cute old envelope I found it was one of those 'reply paid' ones for something, and I created a new look for it, by turning it inside out, washii tape and a little patterned paper to to the inside, label tag and away we go! making new from old, gotta love it.

getting my sewing things ready for my trip to armidale in a couple of weeks, to get my sew on with my best friends, as a birthday treat from the love of my life.

hope you enjoyed todays post, if you have any questions feel free to contact me, or leave a comment, I do love reading your comments and emails about things, makes me realize Im not talking to myself!
xx Courtney