One of the nicest parts of living alone is that every single area of your home can be used for artistic purposes. I think you'll see from these photos that art invades every part of my home! Here's a peek into my life at the moment: Once I get that table together, I'll have a long post for you all about it! Hope you're having a great summer. Come and catch me in-person at an upcoming class: September 16-18, 2016: Austin, TX October 10-11, 2016: San Jose, CA Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Recently, I was invited to a curatorial tour at the Boston (Museum of Fine Arts) MFA called, "A King's Ransom." There wasn't a lot of information about the event and I wasn't super excited about it, but I figured why not? I always learn something when I go on a tour. Well, I was not disappointed! The most excellent curator took us to see three royal collections. The first was furniture and paintings from Versailles -- taken out of France by a member of the royal household who relocated to Boston. The curator mentioned that because of the French revolution,... Read more →

I'm not 100% sure that it's totally art-related, but I had to share these photos from the Australian Reptile Park because it was such a unique experience. Above, that's not a dog. It's a dingo. According to most of the Australians I talked to the whole "a dingo ate my baby" is spectacularly rare and mostly unheard of. It's part of the reason that nobody believed Lindy Chamberlain. However, while we were in Australia, there was a report of a toddler being attacked by a dingo until her parents intervened. It definitely made me stay away from this dingo. The... Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. As you know, I work on art journal pages in stages, over time.... Read more →

I'm delighted to bring you another episode of the Adventures in Arting Podcast! If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link. You can listen to a podcast anywhere and at any time. It is a recording that is available to you whenever you'd like to listen. If you'd like to download it to your iTunes library, click here. You can also pause and rewind or fast forward as you desire. I like to listen to podcasts while I'm making art. It's a little like hanging out with friends while you art. Today's episode deals... Read more →

Last week when I shared Riv's paper flower bouquet made from the pages of Jane Austen novels... ...several commenters asked for a tutorial on how to create these flowers with the stems. Well, I listened. And so here's the video how-to: Here are the flowers I made in the video: A fun way to display just a flower or two is by using the book as a "vase." I hope you'll give this easy paper flower project a try! Florist Tape Floral Wire Tronex Angled Flush Cutters Beadalon Flat Nose Pliers White Flower Stamens Flower Stamens Mechanical Pencil Fiskars Amplify... Read more →

The folks at Graphic Stock asked me to put together a video sharing how their images might be used for crafting. GraphicStock has over 300,000 royalty-free images that can be used for all kinds of craft and art projects. In the video below I share three ideas: ONE: Using patterns and labels for Project Life or pocket scrapbooking... TWO: Transforming .jpgs to .fcm cutting files for your ScanNCut... I think the leftover silhouette from the cut out would make a great stencil! THREE: Using Adobe Illustrator to transform an illustration into a totally unique Christmas wreath cut out of paper....... Read more →

As part of the bachelorette party where we made that paper flower bouquet (and yes, I have a tutorial on making the flowers coming your way later this week), we took a Jane Austen tour of Gore Place. Gore Place is an historic home in Waltham, MA. As the tour guide (who dressed in period costume) confessed, the link to Jane Austen is tenuous at best, but it's there: The home is from the same time period that Austen was living and was constructed in the European style rather than the American style. As you know, my friend Riv is... Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. In searching the Art Journal Every Day hashtag I found some eye candy... Read more →

So many people have asked me about the painted sleeves that are peeking out in my recent videos. I kept posting a link to the original version of this post, but I figured perhaps a repost with a clearer title (easier to search for) was a good idea. I hope you enjoy it and will give the project a try yourself! ---- I have a studio rule for myself: no sleeves. Any sleeves will absolutely 100% get covered in paint. However, I also live in New England and am cold all the time. What's a girl to do? Buy a... Read more →