Watch Me Fly!

Mission accomplished! Yesterday, I put the final touches on my Whispers Art Journal. I bought some gold chain, red and orange beads, and some gold letter beads to spell out "Watch Me Fly" - it seems like an appropriate title for my first Taking Flight project.

Last night Nikki and I got together for our Monday Night Art Night and had a show and tell with our first completed project! We're both very happy with the way our journals turned out, and even better...we were both happy with the process! Both of us veered a bit from the original instructions of Kelly Rae's book, but we know that part of the point was to make these "our own."

Instead of ribbon and fabric letters, I went with the chain and beads to hold my book together (I realized that ribbons just aren't my thing, and I wanted to include beads somewhere!). And on the inside, I put several recycled map envelopes which will, over time, hold some "treasures" from this part of my creative journey. I also used acrylic paints for the cover portrait instead of the Shiva Oil Paint Sticks which the author suggested using (I didn't have the paint sticks yet, and didn't feel like waiting for them! But I have them now, so stay tuned!). I noticed that the acrylic paints made the portrait "stand out" more than the muted oil paint portrait example in the book. This seemed very appropriate, because this part of my creative journey is all about me "getting out there" instead of hiding my gifts and talents.

Nikki's journal had her own unique twists on it as well. Instead of a human face on the cover, she drew a clock face (clever, clever!). And she decided to leave out the inside pages completely, which makes the journal look more like a piece of art to display. We are both so proud of ourselves for completing the first project! Maybe you heard us celebrating and yelling, "Yea! Us!!"

PS...(Check out Nikki's final project on her blog - One Faithful Step)

Whispers Cover...Again

After many, many, many, many changes, I have finally finished the inside front cover of the Whispers Art Journal...



I spent way too much time working on this today because I made so many changes. I won't say it was wasted time, because I learned a lot of things that I'll be able to apply to future projects.

Well, it is now late in the evening, and I've had enough creating for the day! May your creating bring you satisfaction, too (and hopefully, quicker that mine did)!!

More Whispers Journal

I knew that I would be doing more to this porject...
and I don't think I'm done yet!



There are some parts I like about the page
-the look of the "stepping stones" that go around the page
-the parts of a Rumi poem that I wrote in the center
(excerpts from "How Long Will You Hide")
-the lines that surround each "stone"
-the words that I wrote along the edges
(inspiration, energy, time, space, support, encouragement, focus, trust,
open mind and last but not least...you are already an artist)
-the words written in the "stones" at the top and bottom of the page
(ha ha ha! written in stone!)

And there are some parts I'm not too thrilled about
(which may "magically" disappear in a future posting of this project!)
-the "zebra stripes" in the bottom right had corner
-the dashed lines along the two edges
-the placement of the words that are written along the edges
(I think they'll be ending up somewhere else on the page)
-the pen color that I chose for the Rumi poetry excerpts

It helps to get those thoughts out of my head and on to the paper (so to speak). At first I thought about making some changes and then posting the photo. But I really like documenting the process of this project. It will be fun to look back at the evolution of this project once it's completely finished!

(and speaking of "finished"....I was planning to finish this whole thing by Monday night! Yikes!! It's already Friday night! I'm so glad it's the weekend!)

To end this post, I'll copy the entire Rumi poem for you here...
Enjoy it!


How Long Will You Hide
by Rumi

How long will you hide
your beautiful
festive smile

teach your laughter
to a flower
manifest an eternity

why do you think
the door to the sky
is closed on your face

it allures and invites
your magical touch
to open and arrive

an entire caravan
is waiting in ecstasy
for your coming and leading

come on my friend
use your talisman and
harness all their souls

today is the day to unite
with your longing beloved
wait no more
for an unknown tomorrow

a tambourine is in a corner
begging your playing hands
a flute is sitting dormant
begging your happy lips


Till next time...

Whispers Art Journal...Almost Done!

Lots of growing and learning going on here lately! I'm making steady progress on my Taking Flight project, and I've learned how to crop the images that I've scanned so I can post the pictures here!

My friend Nikki and I have decided that we'll finish our Whispers Art Journals by next Monday, and then we can start on the next project from Taking Flight. Chapter 2 is titled "Facing Your Fears," and the project involves working with polymer clay and adding texture with household items....sounds like fun!!

Well, You've already seen the front cover of my first Taking Flight project. It's from Chapter 1...Unearthing Buried Dreams! (but now the cover is in the new "scanner" version. Much easier than taking a photo!)



Here's the inside of the front cover that I worked on Sunday...



Last night I worked on the inside back cover...
(It was Monday Art Night at Nikki's!)



And here's the back cover of my Whispers Art Journal...



I don't think I'm completely finished with these covers yet...I'll keep you up to date with my progress. Till then....