Art Journaling (Virtual): Boost Morale

Last week we did another virtual Art Journaling “meeting” (that’s definitely not the right word) through Facebook Messenger. It was nice to see everyone’s faces. (Though I have found out that Messenger can only have up to 8 people in a video chat. So I might need to look into Zoom or something else, if more of our group and others want to join us.)

Our topic was boosting morale. (I feel there’s a bit of a theme from last week and this week….)Which we decided could be boosting your own morale, a specific person’s morale, the world’s morale, or the crew of a ship’s morale! The challenge was to use 2 or more mediums. (2 or more media? I never know how that word works. They both sound wrong to me.)

Earlier that day, some of the group were part of a drive thru birthday celebration for one of the art journalians. It was awesome! And I am so glad that it was used as the focus for one of the pages (the first one on the top with the heart and the photos).

What are your morale boosters? Can you create a page that can be used as a morale booster? If you have difficulty finding inspiration from “boosting morale”, think about it as making yourself or someone else happy, cheering them up. (Which I’m sure everyone can use right now.) ❤

Stay home.
Stay safe.
Create.

Happy Art Journaling!

Art Journaling (Virtual): Hope

Last week (since we’re all social distancing and staying home, if we can) we had a virtual art journaling meeting via Facebook Messenger video chat! It was actually pretty cool. 7 of us had the video chat open and worked on pages with our group members in virtual proximity. It was very nice to be able to see and hear other art journalians even though we couldn’t be together in person. (Yay technology!)

Our theme was hope and the challenge was to use mail/junk mail on your page. (Coming up with challenges for the next few weeks is going to be my own personal challenge because everyone doesn’t have all the same materials or access to the same tools. I have a couple ideas and maybe not every week will have a challenge while we’re virtual.)

Lots of hope and lots of love. I think we could all use some of both.

I hope you get inspired to create your own hope inspired page! 🙂 Remember that you can still connect and communicate without being in the same space. We live in a time where a lot is possible! Stay safe, be well, and stay home if you can.
Happy Art Journaling!

Art Journaling: A Song From Your Childhood

(Running a little behind but only 2 weeks, so not terrible.) Two weeks ago our topic was a song from your childhood. I said it could be a song that was popular when they were a kid, a song they remember/ associate with their childhood, a nursery rhyme, or a lullaby. The challenge was to draw something for their page. We had a very small group and only 4 people actually completed a page.

What song/songs would you use for this page theme? Is there a song that your parents or grandparents liked/ listened to while you were young that makes you reminisce about your childhood if you hear it now? Do you have a favorite nursery rhyme or lullaby? Is there a song that you sing or recite to your kids?

Wishing you a lyrical week!
Happy Art Journaling!

Art Journaling: Charles Schultz and The Peanuts

Our theme this week was Charles Schultz and The Peanuts. The challenge was to either use black and yellow on the page or the zigzag pattern from Charlie Brown’s shirt. (Did you know that Charlie Brown’s shirt was not always yellow? There are some comics where his shirt is red. I only found that out because one of the art journalians brought in a book and in some of the comics there’s Charlie Brown wearing a red shirt with a zigzag!)

We hadn’t done a famous artist inspired page in awhile. So when I asked the group for suggestions, Charles Schultz was the agreed upon answer. I love how very different they all are even with the same pretty specific inspiration.

This page is pretty awesome. I feel like it captures the Charlie Brown/Peanuts spirit very well. This art journalian wasn’t finished with her page in the time we had, so she took it home and added the last few things (the Charlie Brown tree, the baseball glove, and Schroeder’s piano). Even without the context of this blog post, you would likely be able to guess the inspiration for her page.

I absolutely had to highlight these pages because these two art journalians drew characters from the comic: Peppermint Paddy and Snoopy with Woodstock. I am quite impressed by both renderings.

So who is your favorite Peanuts character? Do you have a favorite Charlie Brown/ Peanuts special? Have you ever gotten a chance to see a production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”? (My high school put on a production while I was there and I thought it was great!) What would your Peanuts/ Charles Schultz inspired page include? Is there a quote that you love? Or a panel from a specific comic strip you could try to recreate in your journal?

Happiness is anyone and anything that’s loved by you.
Charlie Brown

I hope your week is full of happy and you kick every football you try for!
Happy Journaling!

Art Journaling: Plants, Flowers, and Gardens

Apologies, I’m a week behind on writing this one. The topic for this week was plants, flowers, and gardens. The challenge was to draw at least one flower or plant for the page. Clearly we’re all very ready for Spring. Just looking at all these pages makes me feel like Spring is a little bit closer!

This page makes me super happy with all of the different flowers and the glitter.

I had to share this one because I love the little duck in the garden pond! I also like that the quote is about growth but not really about flowers and gardens- it’s a very clever juxtaposition.

What do you think about when thinking about gardens/flowers/plants? Would your page be full of lush greenery? Or are you more of a bouquet kind of person? Would you create a window of houseplants? Or a single daffodil peeking up from the ground? There are so many possibilities with this topic. You could create a whole page about your favorite flower or create a plan for a dream garden. Or maybe the only plants you like are the ones you eat and your whole page is about tomatoes, wheat, or hops? 🙂

I hope you have a creative and wonderful week.
Happy Art Journaling!