Donna B Miller

The Grumpiest Fairy

We're trading art journal pages over at Paper Traders as part of our monthly tip-in project. Each participant chose a journal theme back in January, and we're taking turns completing spreads for each other's albums. When we get our spreads, we insert, or tip in, the pages into our own journals.

For April, I completed two pages for Pam using the theme of Fairies. I think this may just be the grumpiest fairy ever. 

Credits: Tumble Fish Studio's Etcetera, Miscellany, Spring Junque, Crazy Legs, My Picks, and Autumn Junque kits

Feeling Grateful

Don't you just love it when others recognize your work? I know we shoud do art for ourselves, but a little pat on the back never fails to brighten my day.

Yesterday's I am a Book page was featured on the Gallery Standouts blog. And Down by the Sea, a two-page spread I did for an art journaling swap at Paper Traders was selected as an April Gallery Standout at Deviant Scrap.

Down By the Sea is a mixed media art journal page using collage, paints, gelatos, and stamps. Images are from Tumble Fish Studio's Summer Junque and At the Beach collections.

Pages That Make Me Smile

Maybe, it's the fact that the sun is shining, or that I cannot get away from the sound of birds chirping. It might be that I had a wonderful spring break, playing with my grandson. Or, perhaps, it's that I am finally getting over the aches and pains of winter. But, whatever the case, my art journaling pages are suddenly filled with bright colors and encouraging words.

I am in my happy mode, so don't be surprised if you see fairy wings soon. Here are a couple of digital art journal pages that I completed this weekend.

Credits: Beth Rimmer's Artful Scribe, Rucola's Funky Soul, Crowabout's Bits, Borders and Parts, and Tangie Baxter's Big Fat Mess overlay and DoDo font.

 

Credits: Crowabout's Funky Junk and Odd People & Borders, Holliewood's The Collector, Maya's Striped Legs, Beth Rimmer's Junque Journal, Denise Docherty's Get Organized, and Tangie Baxter's Gnat font.

Too Many Journals!

Seriously, I have to stop. I am addicted to art journaling and art journaling classes. I'm currently enrolled in the Brave Girl's Club Body Restoration class, Tangie Baxter's Art Journal Caravan, Julie Shahin's What If Every Art Journaler Read the Same Book, and Paper Traders Tip In and Art Journal challenges. Plus, I am still finishing up Tangie Baxter's Gypsy Diaries and the Brave Girls Club's Life Restoration classes. 

A smart woman would give up some of the classes, or at least put them on the back shelf. I guess I am not a smart woman. I just keep plugging along, abandoning one project for weeks to work on another, and then coming back to it when the muse strikes.

Here is a hodge podge of what I've been working on.

I finished the cover for What If Every Art Journaler Read the Same Book. We are reading SARK's Fabulous Friendship Festival. This is cut-and-paste on an 8x8-inch chipboard cover.

Credits: Graphic 45 Cirque papers, Tumble Fish Studio's elements, Basic Grey buttons.

I've completed a couple of new pages for the Art Journal Caravan. They're both digital.

Credits: Tangie Baxter, Rosey Posey and Captivated Visions Shine from Within collection.

Credits: Julia Makotinsky Art Fusion; Tumble Fish Studios Divas and Miscellany; Tangie Baxters AJC 2013, AJC 12 Parcel 10 and AJC12 Parcel 19; Holliewood Art Journal 2; Rucola Bad Student; Captivated Visions I Believe in 2nd Chances; and Christina Renee Purty Buttons. The font is brother bear.

I pulled out the paints, and practiced my lettering for this art journal spread for the Paper Traders' One Word Art Journal project. This month our word was Simplify.

And, finally, here's a spread for the Paper Trader's Tip-In Project. We're creating spreads for other member's journals. Back in January, I worked with the theme Trees.

Using Pinterest to Enhance Creativity

Oh, Pinterest, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I LOVE Pinterest, and I spend far too much time on the site, jumping from category to category. But even I have to admit that while the site can be a tremendous resource for artists, it can also be a little overwhelming.

Consider the words of a friend of mine who posted on Facebook: "I signed up for a Pinterest account today. I have no idea what I am doing or how it works. A few of you have already sign up to "follow me" but, I think I should tell you... I AM LOST!"

Don't panic, dear friend, help is available. And, once you know the basics, you'll be amazed at all the ways you can use Pinterest to enhance your creative life.

Pinterest allows users to upload, save, sort and manage images, known as pins, into collections known as pinboards. You organize these boards into categories so that pins can easily be organized, categorized and discovered by other users. To learn the basics, I recommend the tutorial at WikiHow.

Saving trees. Getting organized. Before Pinterest, I had bulletin boards, file folders and notebooks crammed with pictures, articles, and tutorials that I had copied from the Internet and printed out. Now I simply hit the Pin It button whenever I find something that I would like to reference again. Because I categorize each image as it is pinned, everything is beautifully organized from the get go. No more fumbling through stacks of paper for that photo that I misfiled.

Getting Inspired: I use Pinterest to find inspiration when my mojo is missing. I keep Pinboards with my favorite art journal pages, craft projects, artist trading cards, color combinations, etc. When I set up my new studio, I used Pinterest to get ideas, and when the project was completed I posted the photos to inspire others.

Discovering New Artists. I also follow artists and other pinners who are interested in the the same topics that I am. How does this work? Simply, go to SEARCH and type in the name of an artist or a topic. When you find a board that you like, hit the FOLLOW button. From that point on, you'll see anything pinned by that person on your Pinterest home page. Because pins link you back to the original post, you can click on them to discover new blogs and new artwork.

Sharing your work. Pinterest is one of the fastest-growing resources on the web. And, it's full of peope who love to create and purchase art. By posting your art and linking it up to your blog, store, or Etsy site, you can increase traffic and create new customers.

Making New Friends. After a few months on Pinterest, don't be surprised to discover that you have found a new soul sister (or brother), someone who seems to share your tastes and interests to a surprising degree. Don't believe me? Then explain the follower who shares my passion for digital art, art journaling, Paleo recipes, and party planning. 

Do you have a Pinterest account? Leave a comment, and link us up so that we can follow you.

You can check out my pinboards here.

 

Pretty Little Ribbons

When I was little, I would take my mother's old Sears catalogs and cut them up to make paper dolls and houses. Here I am, fifty years later, and I am still at it. This month, Paper Traders is holding a Ribbon Doll Swap, inspired by a tutorial at Ten Two Studios. 

This is a great project for using up stashes of ribbon.

Credits: Tumble Fish Studio's Christmas Junque, Journaling Pieces 1, and Lowbrow kits, available at Deviant Scrap.

Credits: Tumble Fish Studio's Freestyle 2, You're invited, Your Zetti Self, and Divas kits, available at Deviant Scrap.

To participate in the swap, you'll need to join Paper Traders and sign up in the database to indicate how many dolls you want to make. 

Once Upon a Time

I confess. I am 54 years old and still in love with fairy tales. I love the TV series, One Upon a Time; I just finished reading Kate Danley's The Woodcutter, a fairy tale for adults; and you'll often see crowns and wings appearing in my art. That's why I was positively giddy when I saw Tumble Fish Studio's new Once Upon a Time kit and journaling cards. Just look at those pretty faces, those crowns, and those frogs! 

I downloaded it immediately and began working on this art journal page where I ramble on about the perils of marrying solely for money. I found my Prince Charming, a penniless student, almost 35 years ago. I hate it when I see people settle for less.

Then I turned around and created this little ATC using Tumble Fish's Once Upon a Time Journaling cards.

Many of the designers at Deviant Scrap have created their own Once Upon a Time kits. You can check out the entire collection here, and if you spend more than $14.99 on any of the kits in the collection, you'll receive a huge Once Upon a Time collaboration kit free. 

Still Shining

In her book, The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron talks a lot about synchronicity or serendipity. She says that when you put your goals, you vision, your dreams out for the world to see and hear, the world will often respond. Well, I had a delightfully serendipitous moment this week when saw the new Shine from Within collaboration at Scrapbookgraphics.

You may remember that my One Little Word for the year is shine. I want to be a brighter, warmer, and more energetic person for 2013. I think about the word every morning when I journal; I've been reading about the topic (loving Marta Monahan's The Courage to be Brilliant), and I'm seeing the theme pop up time and time again in my art.

Well, last week was my birthday, so I have had a little extra cash in my pocket. I popped over to Scrapbookgraphics to see what was new and discovered a whole collection of papers and elements designed around my One Little Word. And it was created by three of my favorite designers, Tangie Baxter, Rosey Posey and Captivated Visions. I felt as if they had created the collection just for me. Needless to say, I wasted no time in spending my birthday dollars.

I have had so much fun playing with the Shine from Within collection. I have already completed two art journaling pages, and will probably do more before the week is out. I love serendipity. 

Valentine Junque

As the end of January nears, our thoughts turn toward hearts and Valentines and all things pink. It's just all so sweet (she says, rolling her eyes). No, I am not a pink kind of girl. You won't find the color in my home or in my closet. That said, there was something about the new Valentine Junque kit from Tumble Fish Studios that spoke to me. 

Maybe it's those charming faces, or perhaps it's those bright splashes of red and purple. In any case, I couldn't wait to create with it.

Here's an ATC, featuring a Valentine's vamp. Doesn't she just look like she's thinking, "I may be kissing him, but I'm thinking of you?"

And then, there's an art journling page featuring the lyrics to Bobby Vinton's song, "Love Me Forever."

She really is sweet. Maybe Tumble Fish will turn me into a pink girl after all. 

 

I'm Going to Let it Shine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine! Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

My favorite song from Sunday School still makes me smile, still makes we want to be a better person than I am. A warmer person, a brighter person, a more generous person.

So, humming this song while I fixed my morning coffee, I decided that SHINE would be my one little word for 2013, the one word that I will reflect on throughout the year and that I will let guide my actions as I strive to live a better life.

I've participated in Ali Edward's One Little Word project for the past four years, opting to choose one word that represents my goals for the year instead of making resolutions that I soon break. It has amazed me how powerful the action of choosing and implementing just one little word into my daily routine can be.

And, because this word has become my focus, it's showing up in a lot of my art pages, sometimes intentionally and sometimes sub-consciously. I've noticed that my work is becoming brighter and sunnier, too.

Here's a letter I did as an assignment for Tangie Baxter's wonderful Art Journal Caravan, a year-long workshop filled with prompts, tutorials, and community. I have been a part of the caravan since it started back in 2010 and can honestly say that of all the workshops and tutorials I've purchased, this is absolutely the best use of my crafting dollars. You can check out a worskhop sampler here.

Credits: Tangie Baxter's Collage Fodder Edges and Being Me (flower), Tumble Fish Studio Unpredictable (lightbulb), Crazy Legs (legs and boots), Your Zetti Self (arms); Holliewood Art Journaling 3 (paint), Deviant Scraps Midnight Reverie (background and floor) and Rucola Designs Morning Bird (alpha).

I did another shine page for the January Art Journaling challenge at Deviant Scrap. The prompt was to make a resolution to try something new in 2013.

Credits: Tumble Fish Studio's Lowbrow and Journaling Pieces kits, available at Deviant Scrap.

One of the fun things about this challenge is that you get a free gift, just for participating. Don't you just love that Zetti dress?