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. Following up on last week's post: As promised, I've been working on my... Read more →

At the beginning of the year, I set an ambitious goal for myself: complete one small quilt each month of 2018. It's March -- and I've cheated -- but I do have completed three small quilts so far this year. Hooray! Let's discuss the first cheater, shall we? It's a quilt I started back in April 2017 during a class with Frances Holliday Alford. I finally finished adding all the surface embellishment to it in January and so here it is: It's a cheater, because it wasn't made start-to-finish in January. But, perhaps I just needed a running start? Take... Read more →

If you follow me on instagram, you've probably seen some photos of my current embroidery project. After finishing that huge embroidered face last year, I decided to start a new one. I've been working on it in hotel rooms: And on airplanes: Here are a few detail photos: To answer a few frequently asked questions: I am stitching on plain muslin. No interfacing. No batting. Just a piece of fabric. I'm using DMC floss -- I divide the 6-strands of floss and only work with 2 strands at a time. I am not a trained stitcher. I use simple intuitive... Read more →

I am a woman obsessed! At one point, I even had two gelatin plates going at the same time: So what is it I'm obsessed with? It's this super cool technique where magazine pages resist the ink on the gelatin plate. It creates a "transfer" that is not backwards! Birgit Koopsen shared this technique video on the Gelli Arts blog: I immediately knew that I had to give it a go! I had mediocre success with a National Geographic Magazine and an ancient Life Magazine. So, I went out and bought a copy of Vogue. Things got much better! Here... Read more →

Hello, friends! Here's a little bit about life right now: What are you listening to? I've been binging the podcast: Planet Money. They manage to explain everything in the world through the lens of money. It's fascinating, educational, and gets my brain spinning! What are you wearing? Ripped jeans. But not on purpose...had a little accident while I was on the road! Lucky for me, I packed more than one pair of pants! (Also living in the lace up boots you see in the photo -- they're from Target.) What have you bought? Two pieces from an artist I follow... 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. I've got a new OBSESSION, you guys! I fell down an internet rabbit... Read more →

On Friday I shared the endpapers from my most recent art journal. In case you don't know what endpapers are, the dictionary defines endpapers as: a sheet of paper, often distinctively colored or ornamented, folded vertically once to form two leaves, one of which is pasted flat to the inside of the front or back cover of a book, with the other pasted to the inside edge of the first or last page to form a flyleaf. Friday's post got me thinking about endpapers and so I went poking around the internet and I wanted to share what I found... Read more →

I am always delighted to teach at WhimSoDoodle in St. Pete Florida. It's a wonderful store, run by a wonderful mother-daughter duo, and patronized by wonderful people. We had tons of fun over three days of painty learning. Friday was "Purposeful Prints": On Saturday we made wearable works of art in the "Artful Apron": And finally, Sunday was all about alchemy in "Texture + Color": When I teach, I spend a long time explaining the "whys." I want students to walk away from class feeling empowered and knowledgeable and that the things we did in class can translate to the... Read more →

Last month I spent three days at Brother Headquarters in New Jersey, exploring three new-to-me machines: The DZ-3000 Sewing & Quilting Machine: It's being sold with a circular sewing attachment, which makes these cool concentric circles easy: And it has a couching foot that allows you to add yarn and other decorative elements: Even stitching decoratively on top of ribbon: The Strong & Tough Serger: I don't sew clothing. It's a goal, but I'm not there yet. However, I discovered that you can make lots of other things with a serger! We made roses: And this tote bag came together... Read more →

It has been more than a month since our last podcast. My excuse: I've been busy. Listen to the podcast to hear all about my adventures in arting: 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... Read more →