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You know why I love Connie (from Dirtyfootprints Studio) ? Partly because she always has giganormous ideas.

Her next workshop was announced this week, it’s called “21 secrets, an art journal playground”. Why 21 ? because there will be 21 teachers, each one having its own workshop about art journaling. Do you believe this ????? You pay for ONE worshop and you get TWENTY-ONE !!! (sorry, i’m still jaw-dropped).

And trust me, it’s just too exciting.
The registrations open on Monday September 20 (yeaaaaaaaaaaah it’s my birthday this day), but the workshop will start officially on October 1st.

Here is the list of the teachers:

Andrea Schroeder :: ABC Creativity
Angelia Thompson :: Angelia’s Art Journals
Connie Hozvicka :: Dirty Footprints Studio
Dawn Sokol :: D’Blogala
Effy Wild :: Wild. Precious
Emma Peabody :: Treehouse Jukebox
/Hanna Andersson :: iHanna’s Blog
Heidi Newstrand-Dilley :: Heidiology
Jonathan “Blade” Manning :: The Artistic Biker
Kelly Warren :: Artful Happiness
Less Herger :: Comfortable Shoes Studio
Lis Hofmann :: Dandelion Seeds and Dreams
Lisa Wilson :: Life Unity
Mariza :: Marizateria
Natalie Malik :: Awkwardly Beautiful
Paula Phillips :: Journal Artista
Samantha Kira Harding :: Journal Girl
Sarah Whitmire :: Caspiana
Spooky :: The Paper Phantom
Tami Chacon :: Dream Wish Hope
Tracie Hanson :: My Blooming Life

I can’t hardly wait. i don’t now yet how it will exactly be organized but I know they’re all working very very hard to give us the best. We’ll have videos, PDFs, MP3s… Imagine ? For $59.

I don’t know everyone, some are just “names” for me at the moments, others are friends. But it will be just amazing to learn such different areas to play in the Art Journal ! It’s just too much goodness, don’t you think ? We’re so lucky !

I always wanted to be a student of Samantha, I can’t wait to see what Lisa Wilson has in store for us, to create doors and windows in my journal thanks to Paula, Andrea is such a positive inspiration… I want to learn from all of them.

And you know what ? You may be curious about my blogpost title… Connie is giving away not one, but two spots for this 21 secrets workshop ! if I win, I’ll have the chance to do a giveaway here so you’ll also have the possibility to win. Isn’t this gorgeouuuuuuuuuuuuus ??? It’d be an awesome birthday present for my 25th birthday, a good celebration 🙂

I hope to see you on the playground 😉

The first spread of my new art journal entirely made by me (and it feels really great to work in something handmade).

This page has a whole story behind her, despite the fact it’s not obvious. It all began with a song that comes again and again in my randomly programmed playlist “Love the way you lie” sang by Eminem & Rhianna. This song is about the hate that is sometimes intimately intertwined with strong love. But what spoke to my Soul was the chorus…

And then images were flowing into my head like crazy. Images without direct relation to the lyrics, but still linked to something in my heart.
“Watch me burn” brought me a witch, burning on a stake, with a subtile smile on her facce. While is she smiling while she’s dying, publicly ? Because she is proud of who she is, and she accepts her true nature and what its consequences. Because she knows she’ll be back. She know that this suffering has a utility. For her, for the others. And she knows that her life does not end with the death of her body; her soul will be there forever and ever.

Every single art journal page I create is a part of me and represent a facette of who I am and my path, I love them in their imperfections (the face is still full of work to do, but I won’t change anything on it).

It was not that complicated to make, and I really enjoy creating each part of it; pulling out images and feeling out of my head onto my journal felt good, very very good.

I love noticing how inspiration is everywhere and strikes when we are not waiting for it; songs are very often a good starting point for me. Even if the creation is far from what the song says eventually.

Here are some more pictures of the spread (click to enlarge):

Here is the song I was talking about (my musical tastes are VERY eclectic):

First version

Remember my desperate call for help a month ago ? I killed my big art journal and had no idea how to re-bind it. I want again to thank you all for helping me and giving me so many awesome ideas !

I realized that I really enjoy TOUCHING my pages. Some have some really nice texture, and I like running my finger on it.
I didn’t count exactly but the journal has more than 100 pages, so the idea of cutting paper, glueing it on every pages, doing new holes was overwhelming regarding the amount of time needed.

SO… the picture on your right is what my Journal was like most of its life. The inside of the spine was full of paint, I loved it like this. But what you don’t see well is that there is a clear cover on front and back. And because I manipulated it A LOT, the back one started to become weaker and weaker until the day it just fell off the journal.

After thinking about it during nearly a whole month, I decided to go for the binder option. It’s not pretty pretty, but I decorated the front cover (the most important to me, the rest can wait). The thing is I needed a big one (i chose a 2″ and smaller wouldn’t have suited the thickness of all the pages).
As the holes were almost all intact, it was the best option I think. But before trying this, I simply tried to put three rings. I didn’t like it. That’s where the binder came. And this is why i call this journal the “Journal version 1.3” (I’m geeky sometimes).

Here are a few pictures, i’m quite happy with it but it’s the only binder journal I want ;-). Click to enlarge the pictures:

I started to write my Morning Pages again, even if I usually don’t write them first thing in the morning (so how should I call these ? I should find it another name…) These 3 pages of free writing, without taking care of the meaning, of the form, of the potential mistakes helps me a lot to pull out thoughts off my head. And sometimes I cheat a little because I re-read despite the fact that Julia Cameron advises not to do so before a certain amount of time (7 weeks ? I have to check). I really do huge discoveries about myself, it brings stuff into focus; this exercice is really what I need currently and I’m glad I started it again (and don’t blame myself anymore when I miss a day).

My Morning Pages paired with today’s Connie‘s blogpost just made KABOOOOOOOOOOM in my mind.

Indeed, this week I noticed a pattern of thinking: why do I not share more my Art Journal pages ? And I finally understood why ! Here is partly what I wrote earlier this morning (it was in French so I translate):

My style is special because I am someone peculiar. I have my paradoxes. I am made of Darkness and of Light. Today, light predominates but it was not like this a few years ago; and sometimes Darkness takes over again. I drown into it, I’m like in a bubble filled with water, I move over the course of its flow but I stay grounded in the bottom.  Until the day the bubble bursts as if nothing happened, and so I see the Light again. It’s how I work. For a long time I fought and wanted to go against cuntercurrent of my life, chasing the Spleen and wanting absolutely to be somebody else. But it was vain because it’s not the best. It was like I was fighting against windmill during a major tempest…  I am affraid to let people see this dark side of  me, whereas it now coexist nearly perfectly with my luminous side; they’re in me side by side.

I longly hesitated before sharing these words with you but felt like it was something I had to do.

A lot of my pages are… weird. I love them mucho but because of the fear of being judged, of people thinking “she should be in a mental institute, she’s totally depressed”, I kept them all for myself and my very close circle. It’s now time for me to share who I am with the World, and not who I think people would like me to be. I don’t deny my paradoxes and my past anymore.

So I’ll try to overcome this fear and to share more of who I am via my art journal pages 🙂

Hello !

You’ll think I suck with my journals… you may be right, I don’t know.

I’ve been working on this one here and there for a week (because I never had the possibility to focus on it more than 30mn each time). I love it but I am facing several issues, and one is kind of “serious”.

This time, I wanted to try Teesha Moore’s method (because I know her journals are awesome, right ?! ;-)). I’ve done several of her 16page journal made with only one sheet of paper (and if you didn’t give this a try yet, go there. It’s just easy peasy and really fast to make).

First, I realize thanks to this journal making process that I need to see the person creating to understand more easily. It’s just a observation. Words and few illustrations are not enough for me. I had to read several time (lots of times I should stay, and to ask for confirmation of good understanding).
Second, I hate math. I am probably numb but it took me a while to figure out where to put my 6 holes on my 10inch guide.
Third, I have some small strength issues and it’s very hard for me to pull the thread correctly. So it’s too loose despite my efforts to keep it tight. My husband told me that next time, he’ll help me (he’s so sweet).

As you can see on the picture, my problem is simple: the book tape (which is self-adhesive, I bought it a while back online at Paper Source for Julie Prichard‘s awesome class about book binding) does not stick properly on my painted book board.
My brother-in-law suggested it’s because of the paint. Personally I don’t know. When I made a journal using painted masa paper, I didn’t face the sticking problem. And because bookboard is quite thick, I can’t sew the tape and the bookboard together as Rhomany does in her Cryptic Coptic Binding class (which add a beautiful finish look, by the way).
It’s the same on the inside when I open the journal…
I tried to glue with PVA glue but it got messy and absolutely useless.

Did you experience the same ? How did you fix it ?

My husband and brother-in-law gave me some ideas, so for now I simply put some magic mesh over both covers. As it’s very sticky, it’s okay but I’m not sure it will last forever like this 🙁

Here are some pictures (but the front cover does not look finished to me yet):

I love the dangly things on the spine. The beads are from an old broken necklace.

So it was a struggle to make for all the reasons I wrote but I enjoyed the process eventually and will just change some things next time to make it more suitable with what I can do.

Every suggestions for the sticky problem are, of course, welcome 🙂