My Happy Place . . . for Challenge YOUrself and Art Journal Journey Monthly!

 Hi everyone.  It's July 7th and time for a new challenge at Challenge YOUrself!

Challenge YOUrself #115 opened today:

This month's challenge is "My Happy Place." You can interpret the theme any way you like, for instance, it can be about a favorite place to travel, an area of your home that you love, etc. And as always, don't forget to include a photo with YOU in the frame!

Here is the page that I created for the challenge:

I started by using patterned paper from 49 and Market's Spectrum Sherbet collection.  I added the matted photo of John and me taken at the beach in Atlantic City a few years ago.  Next, I adhered the flying butterfly (and I LOVE when they show up in my happy place!!) from the tissue paper page of ArtStacks' Artsy Animals pack by Tamara Laporte:

 

The hearts, the leaves, the black dots are all embellishments that I have in my stash.  My title was made using letters and words that I have on hand, too.  I even added some stitching!

I hope you get a chance to check out Challenge YOUrself this month and play along with us!

I am also linking my page to Art Journal Journey Monthly's theme for July.   

This month is hosted by Alison - her blog is Craftytrogs Arty Adventures.   Alison's theme for July is "Come Fly With Me."

 

Alison says: "For this theme, you can use anything that flies.  Birds, Insects, fairies, aircraft, hot air balloons, etc,  can all be used on your pages.  I hope you have fun, and I'm looking forward to seeing your beautiful art!" 

I want to thank Alison and Art Journal Journey for July's wonderful challenge. 

And thank you so much for stopping by my blog today! 

Our House . . . for ArtStacks!

Hi everyone!  I have another art journal page to share with you today.  It's my turn today to share a page I created for ArtStacks:  

 

I made a 12 x 12 mixed media art journal page using two of ArtStacks' amazing packs!

Here is my creation:

I started by making a background of teals, blues, and greens using my new Golden High Flow Acrylics:

I love their saturated colors!

Next, I added my "homes" by stenciling them onto the background using white acrylic paint and Tamara Laporte's stencil from Tam's Whimsy Series: 

I had this stencil in my stash and loved using it here.

I featured the incredible images from Tam's Artsy Animals pack:

And added the beautiful trees from ArtStacks' "Trees and Leaves" pack:

And finally, I added the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by Crosby Stills Nash and Young, entitled "Our House."  When I saw Tam's Artsy Animals pack, I knew I had to make this page. I really enjoyed creating it and can actually say that it's one of my favs!  

I hope you get to check out ArtStacks' blog for more info and to see all of their artists' creations!

 

 

And if you look closely, I have numbered three of the homes, so I am linking my page up to  Art Journal Journey Monthly's  June theme: 

This month is hosted by Matilde.  Her blog is Craftowanie and her theme for June is All About Numbers!" 

 

Matilde says:  I hope you will enjoy it and come and join us this month!

 

I want to thank Matilde and Art Journal Journey for the amazing and fun challenge.  I hope you get a chance to check out their site to see what all of the wonderful entries.

Thank YOU so much for stopping by my blog today.  Enjoy the rest of June!

You are Extraordinary . . . for ArtStacks!

 Hi everyone!  It's the last day of May and I have one more art journal page to share for ArtStacks this month:  

 

This time, I made a 12 x 12 mixed media art journal page.  I made it using ArtStacks' Artsy Animals and Fabulous Faces packs from Tamara Laporte's Artist Series new releases:  

Here is my art journal page:

I started with a watercolor background of teals, blues, and greens, then added some white stenciling.  I featured the incredible image of the cow from Tam's Artsy Animals pack.  It really stood out for me because my family has always had a love of cows.  We walk by a farm down the street from our home every morning, and when they are out, the cows run over to the fence to greet our dog, Abbey!  They make my heart sing every time!!!

I've also added some flowers and other Vicki Boutin embellishments to add some whimsy!  (Also, the hanging black star is a tissue paper image from Tam's Fabulous Faces pack!)

 

 

And even though it's the last day of May,  I still would like to link this up page to  Art Journal Journey Monthly's Flowers theme: 

This month is hosted by Aimeslee Winans.  You can check out her blog here:  Paper Paisleys Art Adventures. 

 

Aimeslee's theme for May is FLOWERS.  She says:  "One thing I dearly love about both seasons  (Spring and Fall) are the many flowers that bloom, so I have chosen flowers as our theme for May."

Thank you, Art Journal Journey and Aimeslee!  I had so much fun creating this page!! 

And thank YOU so much for stopping by my blog today.  I cannot wait to see what June has in store for us!