b is for because

Continuing the ABC's of me journey, we are on "B" - using the prompt "because" and writing our excuses for not doing art, then covering them up and journaling about why we ARE going to do art/creative things. Here's my take on the prompt:


I wrote my excuses, painted gesso over them, used watercolor pencils and crayons over that, stamped w/ink, used rub-ons, used dictionary page scraps, more pencil, more stamping...all of my supplies were invited to the party...i think the journaling is legible...

Thanks for stopping by....and if you haven't joined in yet, it really is worth a try - click HERE to visit the "Year in the Life of an Art Journal" blog and see for yourself!

a is for action

the first prompt for A Year in the Life of an Art Journal is up and ready, just waiting for you to play along!

A = action. do with it what you will.

here's what i did:



i read the prompt this morning, then had to quickly forget about it because a few crises took center stage at work.

this evening, i got a chai tea soy latte from starbucks.
(i got an abundance of starbucks gift cards this christmas. decaf tea w/soy milk is quickly becoming a nice replacement for the lack of diet soda in my life....well, almost, but that's a whole other thing.)

the point is, on the coffee sleeve, it said "your next action item: do as little as possible." i was handed something with the word ACTION on it? and it just clicked with how i was feeling at that moment - a little tired (it was after 11 pm at the moment), already overwhelmed with my first day back at work, to-do's popping in and out of my brain...

i have been spending a lot of time setting goals, getting organized at work, starting the year with a plethora of ideas and energy. this is all good, and i want to remember to stay balanced with some down time, so those carefully chosen goals don't go down the toilet along with the chai tea soy lattes. :) so, peace, breathing, quietness in the midst of activity, that is what my journal card is about for A.

i won't go so far as to say starbucks = enlightenment, but that little saying was just the right thing to get me going w/the art journal prompts. plus it was made out of cool eco-friendly cardboard goodness that was just begging me to cut it up and glue it to something.

i hope some of you decide to participate in the art journal prompts with me! take a look and see what some of the other participants are doing. it's just for you. you don't have to be an artist, or think of yourself as creative, or have anything special to say. come join the fun!