Something Different Today

Lately I've been drawn to mushrooms -- in illustrations and real life. When we went camping on Labor Day Weekend I took over 200 pictures of mushrooms -- many of them different species.

Today I thought I would share a few of my favorite pictures from that weekend. I have mentioned many times before that I love the Hipstamatic App for my phone, while I have lots of lenses and film for it -- I hardly ever change them because I am in love with the combination I have right now and I don't really know what they are, LoL!  

Anyway, of the 200+ pictures I took, the one above is my absolute favorite. Alright, you already guessed -- I have many favs, LoL! This post is about a few of them, ha ha. My plan is to use them as inspiration for some new Art Journal pages, I just need to choose a few favs and get them printed!

Here's another one. Funky. And if you are wondering, no -- I didn't touch any of them, just in case.

Love the texture on this one, it was sandwiched kindly weirdly in a rotted and broken log.

Cute. Yes. I guess I do think Mushrooms are cute.

I love the lushness of the forest.

This cluster looked like a bunch of round loaves of bread when I looked down on them.

This one was a water gatherer.

And this one was a Mama.

And this one was intriguing -- and look at the teeny tiny one in the front near the bottom. I just noticed it.

I have  been sketching a little in my journal this week -- but mostly working on my to-do list. Look for a Guest Post on the Sizzix Blog from me next month (HUGE performance anxiety on that one) and a new class at My Creative Classroom -- Mad for Monoprinting -- that starts NEXT Friday. You don't want to MISS that!   

Thanks for stopping by -- hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend! 

Finding Patience and Strength

Lately I've been feeling very impatient and frustrated -- sometimes downright angry -- at stuff -- sometimes really silly, stupid stuff. Things totally out of my control, but these things impact my day, my work, my life -- and totally my attitude.

I struggle with loosing my patience. Being kind to myself. Being kind in general. I am swearing a lot. Especially at iMovie.

This page is a reminder to me that I need to dig deeper -- look harder at struggles -- and find a way to resolve them without getting frustrated and upset.

Because, when you think about the dandelion -- no one really likes it -- but it finds a way to spread seeds of happiness and continue to bloom and be pretty spots of yellow on our otherwise perfectly green lawn. Reminding myself to breath, settle down and not take these things personally has been on my daily to-do list for a few weeks now.

Another part of my struggle is working through feelings of failure and my disappointment with myself.

I'm not sure what the rest of the struggle is.

So, I'm trying to make art, and carry on with my work and just work on getting things done to the best of my ability.

I am also experimenting a little -- with new to me products. Oh, and that secret that I was keeping.

I'm going to be a Guest Designer for Tattered Angels in October, November and December.

So I've been playing. Adding different elements from their product line to my journal pages. You can see here I used some Pearl Glam to accentuate the centers of my dandelions.

And I also used it on the little glittery swags.

I think it looks best in the center of each flower and then outlined with a black pen. Next month I'll have a full-blown tutorial on how I am incorporating their products on their blog -- so stay tuned and I'll be sure to post a reminder when that will be happening!

thanks for stopping by to see my journal pages and art -- hopefully I'll be back to feeling my normal, perky and happy self before long. Have a great day and see you next time!

Artistic Inspiration: Then and Now Gallery Walk

I am really excited to share one of the things I've been keeping from you for a while. I'm happy and excited to be exhibiting in a virtual gallery walk, ARTISTIC INSPIRATION: THEN AND NOW, a virtual collaboration between some really fantastic artists.... I'm very honored that the sweetest Liz Hicks asked me to be a part of this. 

The idea for the Artistic Inspiration: Then and Now Virtual Gallery Walk is to share a little bit about an artist that inspires us and and how we get our inspiration for designing the projects we create and share. 

This is going to be an amazing walk that starts October 1, 2012 and lasts through  October 5, 2012. In this 5 Day Gallery Exhibit you will have the opportunity to visit everyone's blog to see our unique creative process and the results of that process will be the beautiful art that we share. Each one of the artists in this exhibit has a unique style that I am positive you will be head over heals for, I know I am.
 
Here is the list of the amazing contributing artists:


Liz Hicks: www.blogerisms.blogspot.com

Camille McClelland: http://shesonehotmama.blogspot.com/

Catherine Matthews-Scanlon: http://cmscanlon.blogspot.com/ -- you are HERE!

Cheryl Waters- http://www.artsyfindings.com/

Jen Cushman: http://www.jencushman.com/

Kathy Cano-Murillo: http://www.craftychica.com/

Lorraine Bell: http://actsofrandomkindness365.blogspot.com/

Martha Richardson: http://themermaidscloset.blogspot.com/

Tracy Weinzapfel Burgos: http://www.tracywburgos.typepad.com/

Jamie Dougherty- http://jaylynnscraps.blogspot.com/

For more info, click on over to Liz Hick's blog and she's got a WHOLE lot more details for you today!

Making Class Samples

I mentioned the other day that I've been busy making samples for some local classes I'm going to teach, and the rest of the supplies arrived today I thought I would share one of the completed projects  with you.

I'll share the details of where I'm teaching and when as soon as I they are booked and ready for sign-ups! Until then, you'll just have to look at these yummy pictures!

With that I am back to sample making, LOL! Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Hope….

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - 

and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all.  

Emily Dickinson

I finally managed to get this page completed in my art journal. I just sat down at the kitchen table yesterday and did it. It didn't take long, so I'm not sure what my deal was. But it's done, and I must say I do love it. 

I tried something new and I really do love the results, even if they are a little hard to see. Next month, I'll share more on how I did this and a BIG Secret I've been keeping will be revealed too. I will give you a little hint though, notice how glimmery and shimmery the colors are in some of the images?

Sorry to keep you in suspense, but I am pretty sure it will be worth the wait!

Aren't the colors just YUMMY??

This week I'm really excited to be planning classes that I will be teaching at two different stores in Massachusetts -- art journaling, card-making and beeswax collage. These are going to be fantastic classes and as soon as everything is nailed down and they are open for enrollment I will give you the links where you can sign up.

The art journaling class in both stores will be amazing as I just finished making the sample journals and they are OUT of this world fun to make and pretty to look at too!

So with that I will say thank you for stopping by and have a GREAT day. I'm off to a NEW painting class this afternoon and I'm really looking forward to it!

Guest Designer at Spot of Tea Designs

I was the Guest Designer over on Spot of Tea Designs on Monday and thought I'd share my post here and link you up with Tara so you can see what she's got going on over on her blog! 

Spot of Tea Designs  

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So, without further adieu, here's my Guest Blog Post for Tara! 

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Hello everyone, and welcome to my Guest Blog Post – let’s take a moment to give Tara a round of applause for her lovely blog and I will add a heartfelt thank you to her for asking me to be a guest blogger today. Thank you Tara! 

 

Like Tara’s last Guest, Liz Urso I’m a Jack-of-all-Trades interested in creating a lot of different types of art -- I also spend a lot of time creating crafty things. I love to try new out new supplies, techniques and experiment – in the studio, kitchen, garden – even with my hair, ha ha.  Well, not so much with my hair – that I have a love hate relationship with. 

Tara mentioned that I was working as a Creative Artist Team Member at EK Success Brands when we met  -- it was an amazing experience to work for a major manufacturer of paper-crafting tools and supplies an my first job in the industry! I worked as a CAT for the last 9 years and have recently said my good-byes to them to have more time to branch out and work on my own. While this is a VERY SCARY endeavor, I am loving every moment of this creative journey so far. 

I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to be able to work from home making art and teaching classes at My Creative Classroom. The classes I reach range from Die-Cutting with Spellbinders to Cardmaking, Art Journaling and Mixed Media Art. I really love teaching and connecting with students, it's very rewarding!

Anyway, onto what I do. I have always, ALWAYS loved art -- what's not to love -- getting messy and creating beautiful things -- it's a match made in heaven! Right now I find myself spending a LOT of time in my Art Journal doodling, painting with a little collage work thrown in here and there. 

Lately I've been making my own journals made from Strathmore Mixed Media paper (140 lb. 9x12 Pad) and a Bind-It-All machine. I've also taken my papers and covers and had them punched and spiral bound at Staples. With a bind-it-all I just punch all the pages and use the chipboard that comes with the pad for the cover and cut another piece of book board the same size for the back and bind all the pages together. It's perfect and the Mixed Media Paper is WONDERFUL to draw, paint and collage on.

Lately I prefer spiral bound journals better because I don't have to worry about paint seeping in the gully of a stitched journal. I usually start my pages with a rough pencil sketch and add Koi Watercolor paints for color. As a final touch I use a black pen to add detail and journal with a calligraphy/dip pen. 

I think the reason I love to work in my journal is it's art I'm creating just for me. The message I add is usually something want to tell myself today, and using the dip pen makes it a little messy and more like my handwriting! If you haven't started an Art Journal, you should!

Well, that's all I've got for today.  I hope you'll stop by my blog Art from the Heart and follow my artful journey. Also, find me on FaceBook (Catherine Matthews-Scanlon), Pinterest (cmscanlon) and Twitter (cm_scanlon). 

Thanks for stopping by today, and THANK YOU Tara for asking me to be a Guest Designer for you today! Have a great week! 

Catherine

September Whatevers

It's that time of the MONTH again, that glorious and giggly time when we share our new WHATEVERS stories!

This one is my favorite so far!

Whatevers September from Catherine Scanlon on Vimeo.

Here is how it works

• Vicki, Nat and I have made a one-year commitment to each other and picked twelve photos for the Whatevers whom we will give a story.
• Every month - if possible always on the 15th -  each of us will do a post with an individual story that goes along for us with the same photo.
• If you want you can play along and we will have the photo for you to download and show us your version of The Whatevers.
• There is no rules to the story itself- it can be funny, sad, uplifting, breathtaking- WHATEVER
• There is no rules on the length or the form of the story- it can be a short sentence, an essay, a poem or a soap opera - WHATEVER
• There is no rules on the artform you choose - it can be a scrapbook layout, an altered art project, an artjournal page - WHATEVER
• Here is a rule though: if you take the photo you have to link back to us and show us your story.
• These pictures are from our personal stash and are for personal use for you only! If you want to use them for a publication whether a book or magazine in print or digital form please ask for permission!
• If you want to participate we'll have a linky list for each Whatever Post.
• You can also join our The Whatevers -Facebook Page

 

Here is the image that you can download and use to create your WHATEVERS page! 

Make sure to check out what Vic and Nat are doing this month, I am sure they will be FANTASTIC! If you want to play along, be sure to add your project to our LinkyList so we can see what you are creating! 

THANKS for stopping by, hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend!

9 Months of Doodling and Making Art

I've been in a funk for the last two weeks -- and haven't really felt like creating much art. I have looked through my journals and projects and thought I'd share some of my favs, in case you are new here. (I did make some sweet sachet pillows this week, it seemed easier to make them than paint, LoL.) 

This is where I was last January/February. Fired up and ready to make art in my journal.  My Art Journal has been such a savior to me this last year, I've taken it with me pretty much every where I go.

In looking and comparing the pages from the Spring to last month, I can see I've really made some progress in my drawing and painting -- and vision. The page below I did in my Illustration class that ended last month.

It looks nice in black and white, but it really popped when I added the color.

I really like the next page, which I finished up last week. The bright color in the foreground with the simple doodles in the background really contrast nicely, I think I'm going to do more like this.

I love quotes, and that's one of the things that most of my pages have in common -- I find a quote that really resonates with me and make that the highlight of my page for that day. Right now the unfinished page I'm trying to give some attention to says "Hope Floats". I find myself feeling extremely hopeful on some days and extremely hopeless on others. Today is the latter.  

I really need to find a nice calligraphy course or book so I can practice my hand-writing. 

I also love drawing and painting flowers, as you can see from the pages I shared today.

I need to find some focus, a direction -- I do know one thing, I need to get some art journaling and painting done so I can get those creative endorphins moving and lift my spirits. What do you do to lift your spirits when the turkeys get you down?
Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend!