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Category Archive for: ‘Creativity’

Sharing the love

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Hi there !

How is 2012 going for you so far ? 2012… it still sounds weird for me, honestly.

Today, I just wanted to share a bit of what I am currently loving, artistically speaking. Spreading the love.
To be transparent, some of the links are affiliates one (meaning if you go there and buy something, I earn some money to thank me for referring you), but not all of them.

I am loving seeing all the other teachers from 21 Secrets being as excited as I am about it. The registration is now open, and the playground will open its doors in April, so you have plenty of time to make up your mind. I know it can be intimidating and you may wonder “Will I be able to attend ALL the classes ?” “Will I enjoy each one of them ?” “Isn’t it overwhelming ??“; been there done that. You may not love passionately ALL the courses, it’s okay. At the beginning, Connie will send you a checklist with all the classes so you can keep track of what you have already done etc.

There will be live tchats with us, the teachers, that you can attend (or not, as you wish).
You’ll find there a community, all gathered to play and learn and heal. And don’t be afraid to ask questions, share what you’ve done etc. No judgement, nor “this is baaaaaaad”.

The workshops are so different from one to another, this is a just amazing !

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With the beginning of the year, we often feel a bit lost. What do I want ? How can I bring this dream of mine to reality ?
Goddess Leonie’s 2012 workbook and Planner is just the perfect tool to dream, celebrate, plan and keep track of your progress. 100 pages of goodness for $9.95. I printed mine, and put it in a binder so I can pull the pages as I want, insert some more etc. This is the best way I’ve found to work with it.

If you joing her Goddess Circle, you have access to all her pasts workshops, meditations, packs and the new ones she will release during the 12 months of your subscription. I hope I will be able to join it this year. My friends in it are praising all the goodness it contains. And most of all, you meet women from all over the world.

Leonie is currently having a contest: the Goddess Ambassador that refers the most women (women that sign up for something she sells) will win $500 (!!!). It could help me a lot. If you feel called, please sign up (trust me) and spread the word 🙂

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I am a huge admirer of Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. She is a scrapbooker but she makes it fun and Mixed Media-ish. Which I love because it makes me feel like I could do it.
She is also an Art Journaler.

She’s a fellow teacher in this round of 21 Secrets 😉

She shares a lot of techniques via video, her blog etc.

Her lines of stencils with The Crafter Workshop is FANTASTIC (henna hands anyone ?)

I will be taking her class about stamp carving. Excitiiiiiiiiiiiiing !

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My friend Samantha Kira is going strong with her Journaling Deep newsletter.

You pay $10 a month to receive a weekly newsletter, you pay $10 a month where she is going in depth about art journaling, giving tips, inspiration and pushing you gently to just art.
This is what Sam says about it:

Journaling Deep is a year-long email-based class for visual journalers. You can join at any point. And these notes will be delivered direct to your inbox, each Thursday for $10 a month.

This is a really great deal !

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I hope you will feel as inspired as I am. Now, my gel medium should be dry, time to keep creativity flowing <3

21 Secrets is now officially open to registration !!!

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I can’t believe we are actually January 2nd already.

It means that 21 Secrets is officially open to registration today.

Click the image to sign up*

I am so excited that people will join us, the 21 teachers, in the wonderful adventure that will start next April. 21 workshops all centered around the world of Art Journaling.

You can see my previous posts to discover the teachers and the workshops.

I hope you will be up for months of discoveries and healing with me and the other teachers 🙂

* each of the teacher has an affiliate link and gets a part of the registration fee, this is how we get paid. I would be very grateful that you clink my link while you’re on my blog if you consider signing in <3

Journaling your (he)art out, my 21 Secrets class

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Hello Hello !

How was your week-end ?It may sound weird but usually, I enjoy Mondays. Just because they imply a new week, filled with possibilities.

I am so happy to announce you my workshop title and description for the 21 Secrets playground that will happen in 2012. And I was in awe with all my camarades’ workshops: it will be fantabulous. A lot of media, healing and techniques, a pure diversity. It makes me feel even more blessed to be part of it.

Here are all the 21 descriptions:

GET LOST
Aimee Myers Dolich
Unfamiliar places, both emotional and geographic, snap us out of our identities and comfort zones. The unknown sharpens our senses and brings us directly in touch with the moment, pushing us into spaces that are ripe for self-discovery. In this workshop, we’ll lose our way (and find our way back) through a playful series of journal workouts including maps, lists, brainstorms, stories, and other journeys of the imagination. Now come on — let’s get lost!
CHILD’S PLAY WORKSHOP PART 2
Alma Stoller
I am delighted to be a part of 21 SECRETS again. We had a blast last year, and this year, we are set for another wonderful learning and creative experience.
In this workshop, we will continue to explore and play with everyday items to create richly textured journal pages and canvases. In this 5 video workshop, I will show you numerous ways to create intricate patterns, one-of-a-kind surface designs, and unique journal pages using various children’s toys, recycled materials, basic art supplies and found objects. You do not need expensive  art supplies to create art. I have a ton of ideas to share with you to help and inspire you to get experienced student.
WORD PLAY
Christine Mason Miller

 

In this workshop I am going to share some of my favorite techniques of incorporating words and text into mixed media creations. I will demonstrate and discuss the way I use rubber stamps, vintage books, and old letters to add poetic, thought-art journal pages and collage pieces on wood.

 

THE ART OF TEXTURE
Christy Tomlinson
Texture is all around us and I can’t help but love all that texture has for us to explore. In this workshop I will teach you some of my favorite techniques for creating texture in my art journal.. techniques will include the use of modeling paste, fibers, beads and more!
FLOW
Connie Hozvicka

 

Stop thinking so much about it!! Our juiciest Art comes when we embrace our mistakes and just go with the flow! In this workshop weʼll paint FEARLESS™, have fun, and stop the exhausting search for our Artistic style/voice—weʼll just go with the flow!
PERSONAL ACTS OF KINDNESS
Dale Anne Potter
The world around us sometimes tries to take us out of our POSITIVE, HAPPY, JOYFUL place.  We can succumb to those contrasts OR we can manifest some POSITIVES from them.  One way to do that, is to be kinder to ourselves.  In this workshop, we will create ART and send ourselves some of those POSITIVES.
We will make 7 postcards that we can mail to ourselves over a week – on a week that we NEED them. Once home, they can be put into a book ( mini – album) that we construct.  The book will be made with pockets for you to pull out your postcards to see and a simple accordion binding.


 

TAMING THE CRITIC
Diana Trout
Scary? Not. My techniques for getting in touch with your critic are pretty amiable. Heʼs not going anywhere so letʼs get to know him! Iʼll encourage you to move quickly, outrunning your critical left brain.
Think storms of words, lines, papers and color and a comfort in imperfect (gasp!) journal pages. Games and prompts will help you locate that critic-free space within. That power gives you the strength to begin a communication.
INTUITIVE PAINTED LAYERS
Dina Wakley
The only way to get a layered look is to do the layering work. With this workshop, I will show you how to paint intuitive layers. Intuitive layers come when you free yourself from any concept of a finished product. You start painting, then you step back and observe. You listen. You let the journal tell you what to do next. We will start our pages with abstracts–painted pages full of color, shapes, movement, and energy. Then we’ll examine the abstracts and let them speak to us. We’ll spot images in our layers and discover hidden meanings and messages. We’ll add even more layers and techniques to let those images come alive! By the end of the process, you’ll have dozens of layers on your pages, and you will have participated in a creative process that will free your soul to new ideas. Take a deep breath, and see what happens when you create intuitively!
WISDOM CIRCLES
Dion Dior

 

The word “Mandala” is a Sanskrit word meaning “Circle”, they are an iconic part of human culture well known for their calming effect on the mind and body. The creative process of making mandalas is an ancient form of meditation and healing that is deeply calming and insightful. In “Wisdom Circles”, we use myth and legend to infuse the art of creating mandalas within the pages of our journals. Through visualization, reflection and instruction we create aour own beautiful, deeply personal, and symbolic mandalas.
15 MINUTES TO SANITY
Gina Rossi Armfield
Give me 15 mins a day and a few supplies and I will have you filling your journals. Ever sit down and think – Where do I begin?  Well, lets put an end to that!  Do you take photos of everything and not know what to do with them?  Do you collect magazines?  Are you an eye candy junkie?  I will show you what to do with all of those images to create a journaling technique that fits your own voice and style!
FROLICAHOLIC (aka DRAW HAPPY 2)
Jane Davenport

Turn “I donʼt know what to draw” into ” I need a bigger journal!”. Drawing is a great tool for untangling and expressing every emotion from the heaviest burden to floating-way-above-cloud-nine. But you have to get that infernal inner-critic behind bars, to allow your natural drawing talent the security and confidence to roam freely. In Frolicaholic we learn to love our lines!

WONDERFUL WATERCOLOR
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
I love watercolor!  Itʼs inexpensive, easy to clean up, and enormously versatile.  Iʼll be sharing five different ways to use watercolor in your art journal: shadowing, stamping, stencil printing, and two techniques for creating backgrounds.  These are easy techniques that I use constantly.  I hope theyʼll become a part of your artistic repertoire too!

 

THE ART-BODY JOURNAL
Karin Bartimole
Using your body as inspiration, we will redefine the art journal to create a healing process that will help transform and deepen your relationship with your body. Whether it’s a trauma, an illness, or a discomfort with some physical characteristic of oneself, most everyone has some challenge in the relationship they have with their one lifetime companion – their own body. A division within keeps us from attaining our full potential. This journaling process will encourage a shifting of old perceptions and limitations trapped within the boundaries of flesh to unite body and spirit as one.
LET’S GET INTO SHAPE — COLLAGE LIKE THE DIVA, THE COLLAGE DIVA
Kathryn Antyr
I ‘m excited to share with you my favorite medium, collage. I’m often asked “How do you assemble a collage so the random objects look like they were meant to be together?” We will pull out scissors, glue sticks, and magazines and our play will focus on one design element, shape. I’ll share some key principles that will get you piecing together new works of art. In this workshop, you’ll get a dozen prompts to choose from as you experiment with your collages. Are you ready to get into shape?
CHANNEL IT GIRL
Kelly Barton
channeling our stories we will
throw them down by flinging
some paint, creating a colorful
piece, containing a bit of ourself.
it is simply about using our
inner self to allow the creative
process

a creative spread.

using a quick simple way to get
your thoughts out and a creative
flow going.  using a book spread
or just a simple sheet of water
color paper. to make a page
the beauty of this is that
later new pages can be added
as your stories come later.

channeling it girl is all about getting
those juices moving and opening
up the flow, allowing yourself to play.

THE SHORT ATTENTION SPAN ART JOURNAL
Ken Robert
Wow, art journaling sounds great, but you’re a creative bumble bee.  You buzz about your life, zipping from one thing to another.  You like to dabble in this and dabble in that.  One day you feel like painting.  One day you feel like writing. One day you feel like working on seven kinds of paper.  One day you feel like you might have ADD.
A blog could be just the thing you need to bring all your lovely distractions together in one place.
Learn how to use Tumblr, or any blogging service for that matter, to create your very own short
attention span art journal, the kind you can add to a little at a time for as long as your attention
will hold.
CREDIT CARD FLOWERS
Martha Lever
In this fun class we will use cut-up credit cards to create flowers! My husband tells me to feel free to cut up any credit card in my wallet— but, of course, any credit car or key card will work! (I donʼt advise you to use your active ones!) I will show you how I cut mine into several shapes to create flowers, leaves and stems. We will also discuss briefly one of the most important concepts in any painting… value. I wonʼt bog you down with a value study but we certainly donʼt want any hokey paintings and a painting without light, medium and dark values will certainly fit into the hokey category. So, get ready to create fun flowers in your journal, on a stretched canvas and for just about anything else you can think of. All from a little credit card.
JOURNALING OUR (HE)ART OUT
Nolwenn Petitbois
In Journaling our (HE)art out, we will be using the symbol of the heart, this shape we know since weʼre little kids, and make it tell what is actually inside ours. Put it out on paper. The fears, the shames, the doubts. And make it something beautiful we can look at afterwards if we want as a reminder that we can always shift the negative thoughts into something awesome that would help us heal.

 

THE PRACTICE OF SELF-AWARENESS THROUGH VISUAL JOURNALING
Traci Bunkers
People are so used to the daily grind, of trying to get everything done, just getting from one day to the next, that they frequently function on auto-pilot. Because of this, they are fairly out of touch with their feelings and with themselves–not thinking about how they feel, just going where life takes them and then wondering later how they got there. Itʼs time to stop. Itʼs time to look within and gain some self-awareness.
No matter if you are new to visual journaling or a seasoned pro, this workshop will help you to broaden your self-awareness and to become more in-tune with yourself through working in your journal. Iʼll guide you with some inner journaling tactics that have helped me gain better understanding of myself. Through the magic of video, you can watch me create a journal page from start to finish using these same exercises and techniques. Although I feel the process of
working in the journal is more important than the finished journal page, Iʼll also show you some of the mixed-media techniques that I used to create the visual layers and textures of my journal pages.
This class is for everyone. No writing or art experience necessary–Just a willingness to be open
to creative and personal exploration!
JOURNAL QUEST™
Tracie Hanson
Do you dare step into an artistic adventure of the heart?
Do you dream of discovering whatʼs hidden within?
During JournalQuest™, youʼll encounter exotic creatures, ancient artifacts, meaningful symbols and lore . . . the stuff of legend!   It was there all the time, buried deep and waiting to excavated by you.  Join the journey.

 

ALTERNATIVE LIVES
Zom Osborne
Have you ever fantasized about living another life? We donʼt have to be unhappy in our lives to wonder what it would be like to have a different one. We all have sides to ourselves that we havenʼt lived out. Did you want to be a famous singer? An athlete? Live in the time of the pharaohs? You can explore any life you can imagine in your art journal — without leaving behind the one you already have. To do this, I will introduce writing prompts to get us imagining. Then we will use various  collage, painting and drawing techniques to enter and explore our alternative life.

 

To learn more about the Artists teaching at 21 SECRETS go HERE.

 

The third annual 21 SECRETS
will go on sale Monday, January 2nd & officially open on Sunday, April 1st!
Still at the super low price of $59.
All 21 workshops will be available and open 24 hours a day from April 1, 2012- January 1, 2013.
Sign up for the Dirty Footprints Studio newsletter to be the first to know!

The Nixies Postcards sets are here (and a sale) !

I know that some of you, like I do, enjoy collecting art postcards. So I decided to add some Nixies postcards in Inner Worlds.

I don’t exactly pinpoint why, but listing them in the shop simply made me happy.

My mom and I created beautiful envelopes to accompany them, cuting and glueing, I could have done it with my kids too (or is it considered as child slavery ? lol).

I decided to be a bit… different. I made sets of 5 cards, randomly, and you won’t know which Nixies are in your pack until you receive them.
The good things is there was plenty of different Nixies and no set is like the others. It may be the Christmas Spirit settling in that makes me a bit more childish than usual 😉

You can see it in the shop for more info.

Oh, if you are an Inner Whispers (my newsletter) subscriber, look for the first edition tomorrow or Friday (I don’t know when is the best, regarding Thanksgiving ?), with a special sale in it.
Not signed up yet ? It’s not too late to do so ========>

Announcing the Nixies’ subscription, perfect for the Holidays

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Hello !

I have been thinking hard about this idea that blossomed a few weeks ago on an early morning car ride.
I asked a ofew of my close friends and family members and they all agree I should reaolly propose it.

I am announcing the Nixies’ subscriptions. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.

What is it ? It is simple: you can sign up to receive a Nixie print (8×10″) at a determined lapse of time (there are three packs available for you to choose) during 12 months, 6 or 3 months.

Maybe it will be clearer if I explain to you the different packs:

Nixies’s Wonderland Pack

  • 12 prints of my choice (once a month during a year)

Price: $199/year

Nixies Fan Pack

  • 6 prints of my choice (one print every other month during a year)

Price: $ 99/year

Nixies Love Pack

  • 3 prints of my choice (one print every four months)

Price: $49/year

And it includes the shipping, no matter where you are in the World. Sounds good, doesn’t it ?

I will choose randomly between the newest prints available, shipping them to you around the 15th of each month.

I think that Art is something we should surround ourselves with but that it can easily be very expensive. I see my subscriptions as an investment you could make for your well-being because my Nixies make you feel good inside, the little something that pleases you every month or so. I know it can seem like a lot of money because it is big numbers, but if you put them out a bit, I sell my prints $16 each + shipping, which makes each print at least $20; for the Wonderland pack it would cost $240 for 12 prints so it’s like you have 2 prints free in the pack. Does it make sense ?
And of course, we can arrange payments if you need for the Wonderland and the Fan packs.

↦ And because I think it would make a great gift, if you sign up for one subscription AND another one for a friend at the same time, hers/his will be 25% off (for a pack of the same value or less).