Happiness Is An Attitude

Hi guys, I've shown quite a few new journal pages in my last few posts and today is another page share. I've lots of other projects on the go, but my creative instinct has been to play on pages, so that's what I've let her do (you've got to keep her sweet, otherwise she can get reeeeeal stinky with you and disappear for a while).

The way I made this page was quite an unusual process for me, no collage or creating a 'two-page spread' but two separate pages that have elements to unify. I did everything back-to-front and didn't create the background first as I normally do, instead I started with the flower tree and built the background around it. It felt very peculiar to me but I like stepping out of my comfort zone because it constantly produces different looking pages, as well as teaches me how to develop pages differently along the way. I think your strength as an artist increases the more obstacles you put in your own way, you force yourself to find solutions in a manner that is pleasing to you, not only in practice but in results. I don't especially love this page, but I don't hate it and it has taught me another way to start pages so that next time I will probably like my results a lot more, as well as feel more comfortable in the different processes I went through.

Quote reads: Happiness is an attitude of mind, born of the simple determination to be happy under all outwards circumstances. By J. Donald Walters

As I said though I've many other projects on the go so creative instinct will have to turn her head to practicality now and get some complete and out of the way, therefore I'll probably be working on some videos this weekend before my studio starts screaming 'clean me, clean me up NOW' itself lol thanks for stopping by, see you soon Jennibellie xx

PS see a more detailed image of the page here

I'm finally on Facebook...

What am I, ten years late to the party? Oh well, I am there now, and to tell the truth the reason why I don't do a lot of the whole social networking thing is because I feel:

Yep, even though I am part of it I still feel completely terrified by all the ga-zillions of social internet sites that we are made to feel we should be a part of.  As I've previously mentioned it took me a couple of years to come around to the idea of blogging, now that I do though I love it, and I'm hoping the same will happen when I expand my interweb wings in other places. It just doesn't help my scaredy-cat-pants-state-of-mind that I just don't physically understand them either - or how I'm supposed to pull more time out of the air to actually spend some of it on them.  Give me some technology; a piece of equipment or software and I'm away, but then ask me to put it on a website and I fall to pieces! 

It took me, and somebody else too, the entire weekend to figure out how to set up my facebook page the way I wanted it. It left me screaming 'why me? why don't I seem to be able to understand this stuff yet everybody else does?' but I don't think we did too badly in the end, here's the resulting page cover:

what do you think?

See it properly here. Now I just need to figure out how to actually use the thing! lol if you use fb please come stop by, and if you really, really wanna show me some love hit the like button; it'll make me think all the tears were worth it lol thanks for stopping by & here's to a brighter weekend to come *=D* much love Jennibellie xx

PS I also 'Jennibellie-d' my twitterettes page (in for a penny, in for a pound) check it out here.

Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Asmitha Shenoy

Hi guys, welcome to the 16th weekly artist interview. This week is the turn of the second teenage artist we've had to give us some insights, Asmitha. I hope you enjoy the interview:

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.
Hello, my name is Asmitha Shenoy and I am 14 years old. Arts & Crafts has been my passion ever since I was six. I love painting, drawing and mostly playing around with ink and magazine cutouts. But no matter what I do, I always have lots of fun :D 

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?
The biggest challenge i face..well...when i look at a blank page in my scrap book I have NO idea what to do. I keep staring and staring at it for what seems like a long time. To overcome it, I just start painting over the page. I don't think it over much..i just do it. Most of my art starts with paint over the page. Other times I read, write, draw or something else that I enjoy doing and after a while I get an idea of what to do.

What is the best thing / worst thing that art has brought into your life?
Art makes me happy. When I'm sad, when times are bad (lol! that rhymes :D)....Art makes things just a lil' bit better. And the worst thing..to be honest there is no worst thing art has brought into my life! I love art and it makes me so happy that there is nothing bad it can do to me!

What other issues do you overcome to accomplish your art?
Sometimes when my art turns out nothing like I wanted I feel really, really bad. I wonder why I art in the first place, and how much what I just did sucks. To overcome it, I just try to forget it and leave my work on a desk and do something I like..and basically just try to get it out of my mind. And surprisingly after a while I look at it again and feel like it is kind of good! :D

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art?
I recently started a blog on blogger called www.therandomaniac.blogspot.com where i post about the stuff i like (Mostly art though,lol).You can also find me on Instagram, @Therandomaniac. 

Thank you Asmitha =) let me tell you something if I had your talent at 14 I would have jumped for joy!! I understand the sucky feeling when your artwork doesn't go your way - all artists do, it goes with the territory I'm afraid but the point, as I think you've guessed, is to not let that stop you but to drive you on to be the wonderful artist that you're supposed to be. When I was in my teens I did the reverse, I let that sucky feeling win and I turned my back on my art --- don't ever let that happen, if you're this amazing now the sky's the limit for your future artistic self =)

If there is no struggle, there is no progress. 

Frederick Douglass

If you want to share your work & thoughts on being an artist please click the TAT lady on the left for the info to be a featured artist

Less Speed, More Haste

Does everybody feel like they're always playing catch-up, or is it just me? Does anybody else constantly feel like they're on the back foot ~ no matter what you do, no matter how much you get done, nothing ever gets completely finished? We're made to understand everybody feels like this sometimes, so am I abnormal in feeling it continually? Or is it just a myth; that all the people you think have it together don't in actuality because the day your work is truly done is the day you die? This is what the below page is about, thrown together in the late hours of last night, because even in my artwork I feel like I'm constantly behind...

possibly due to the fact that I've always too many ideas & projects on the go at once, but I wouldn't change that...not for all the half-imagined, half-finished projects currently cluttering up my art room, nor all the tea in China.

Loves Layers ~ A Page Process Video

Hello online lovelies, just a quick post to show you a page:

and video process of the page:

Which is quite timely as on my last post where I showed you these few journal pages, Barb asked to see a page in progress, so here it is =) if you want to see more Barb I've 11 or 12 other process videos in the playlist Art Journal Page Creations on my youtube channel. Thanks for stopping by, see you soon (hopefully v.soon as I'm off to do some recycling ;) ) Jennibellie xx

Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Lydia Harris

Hi guys, welcome to our 15th Tell All Tuesday interview - I honestly cannot believe how 15 weeks has flown by. Once again thank you to all those artists who have allowed their creative brains to be picked so honestly, as well as this weeks artist, a lady I first 'met' over on youtube. Her name is Lydia Harris and I hope you enjoy her work & interview =)

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.
Hi, My name is Lydia Harris. I am a painter who dabbles in mixed media as well as other things. I'm from Texas and have lived here all my life (much to my chagrin. I love Texas, don't get me wrong but I'd flit across the world on a bi-monthly basis if I could!) I'm also Hispanic and I mention that only because I have a deeply rooted love of my culture that I try to show in my work.
I'm married to a professional artist from England and we have two children together. I'm also a writer, although I'm going through a bit of a writer's block at the moment. I'm not too worried about that because I tend to be either focused on my writing or my art; it's just time to be focused on my art right now I guess. 

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?

Right now the biggest challenge that I face is finding the time to work on my art. My daughters are six and four, and keeping up with them and the house, and still finding time to paint can sometimes be hard. There are days when I just say 'okay, if the kids are sorted and everyone is fed-forget the house'. There are also days when I stay up way too late in order to paint, but I can't do either of those too often we'd end up with no laundry or I'd end up being a zombie :) We do have times when we paint together but my children prefer drawing to painting right now so those moments don't last as long as I'd like them to. 

What do you love most / least enjoyable about your art?
I love working through my feelings with my art. Art is therapy to me and that is extremely helpful.
However, sometimes I can look back and see things that I created when I was going through a really rough time. I recently found an art journal that I kept during my first marriage and (consequently) during a horrible bout of depression-it's a little hard to look at some of those images now. 

What do you most wish your art to achieve?
I'm a huge fan of Frida Kahlo's work. I always felt like I could relate to her through her art. Relating to someone else who you don't even know, someone who has touched you personally and had an impact on you is a huge thing. It connects us as humans, it makes us feel less alone I think. If I could make someone feel like they could relate to me through my art... then I'll have accomplished my biggest goal. 

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art?
I have a blog where I show my artwork and also ramble a little bit. You can find me at: http://lydiapuenteharris.wordpress.com/
I have also started making YouTube videos and you can find those here: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSquidmom

Thank you so much Lydia, I adore your 'Love Note to Frida' page, just beautiful and I think everyone of us can relate to the time issue; whether we have children or not. I think art, like any 'hobby' takes a backseat but as you say it is our therapy, and we need to make sure that we are okay within ourselves before we can take care of not only others, but our daily business too. I call art journaling my cheap therapy, because it really is and it takes place over all those other things I used as a substitute before it - television (after all, you can still sit sketching in your journal while Big Brothers on) and trashy novels etc. One of my very first blog posts was about 'Creating Creative Time', because I think it is important to make sure we create it for ourselves, after all ~ we deserve it lol =)

Would you like to be featured in an upcoming TAT interview? Click the TAT lady on the right for more info =)

Just A Few New Art Journal Pages

Hey guys, just a quick post in which I thought I'd share some journal pages I've done over the last few days.

In Motion

My creative instinct seems to go off in other places so often nowadays that I find I feel a pull, somewhere around my tummy, to go back to my art journal and just create

Learning

Hope you're having a lovely weekend so far, and finding time to play yourself =)

Confusing Happiness

Thanks for stopping by, Jennibellie xx

Mixed Media Vision Board Tutorial

Hello, it's friday whoop! and I've finally finished creating my artful vision board:

It includes many of the affirmation tiles from the last tutorial

The board itself is also made from recycled materials, which I show you how to make from scratch in the video that I finally managed to finish editing, and uploaded last night...with the assistance of my little late night video helper:

Awwww, I make him work like a dog tee hee =)

Here's the video, I hope you like it for Sweepie's poor tired paws sake lol

Thanks for stopping by, much love Jennibellie

Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Angelia Thompson

Hi guys, welcome to another Tell All Tuesday Artist Interview. The featured artist this week is one I have admired since I first saw her work, mainly for the sheer freedom I feel when I look at it, like all her inhibitions left the moment she picked up a brush. So I'm very excited she's done an interview for us. Happy reading =)

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are
I live on the south shores of Lake Erie in NE Ohio with my dear husband, Keith. I've been an artist my entire life and was very fortunate to have the encouragement of my mother from the very beginning. I like to think of myself as an evolving, mixed-media artist. I thrive on taking my art in different directions, trying new materials and techniques, and pushing myself beyond the boundaries of my comfort level.

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?
I think my biggest challenge right now is focus. I have so many ideas churning around in my head all the time, that I find it difficult to focus on one project at a time and see it through to completion. My creative muse never sleeps!

What is your heart’s greatest desire for your life as an artist? 

My greatest desire for my life as an artist is to make a difference in the lives of others. I want to pull the creativity out of every single person I meet! People are so afraid to express themselves. I think it's a real travesty to someone's life when they rely on television, Internet and other means of entertainment as forms of self expression. That's why I'm also so passionate about the art journaling classes I teach. People should not be afraid to express themselves, and I'm particularly partial to helping women find their voices through art.

What is the best thing / worst thing that art has brought into your life? 

The best thing that art has brought into my life are the wonderfully loving and talented artists I have met along the journey. I don't see myself as being separate from my art - it's who I am. I've never known any other way to be and I would never want to change who I am. My life has been so enriched through art and other creative endeavours such as music, drama and poetry, and I've been fortunate to know and befriend so many wonderful people with these creative talents. 

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art?

One of my biggest passions is my blog, http://angeliasartjournals.blogspot.com/ . I really enjoy sharing my creative process and encouraging others to engage in their unique blend of creativity. I love the interaction with other creative individuals!

Thank you Angelia, great interview =) I've always loved the creative energy you give off personally, and what I see pour into your artwork. Thank you so much for sharing with us xx

Would you like to be featured in an upcoming TAT interview? Click the TAT lady on the right for more info =)

Vision Board in Progress...

Hey guys, it's the weekend whoop!! so I've started the mixed media vision board as mentioned in my last post. It's going to take a while to pull together all of the elements I want to use in it but I decided one thing I want to include is my journal page from yesterday:

She was just a rough pastel sketch I did to try and prompt some creativity when I was tired, grouchy etc last night. She only took 20 minutes and like always when I don't want to do something, I was very happy once I did =)
This is the actual board:

...so still a way to go but hey I have the weekend...if nothing else pops up of course, as it has a habit of doing lol but if not then my next post (probably after this weeks artist interview) should show the completed board with video tutorial. Thanks for stopping by, happy weekend guys =)

Negativity Flipping & Affirmation Tile Tutorial

Hey guys, who's up for a little warm, glowy, sunny positivity? I know I'm in need...and I intend to make some

****b*e*a*u*t*i*f*u*l****

things, to not only raise my spirits through their creation, but also to give me something that has a positive outlook on life too. Then when my positivity next lacks I will instantly be reminded to take heed of the fact I am lucky & blessed to live in such a privileged situation, which is free from pain and fear, & contains a lot of *L*O*V*E. Here is stage one, details for stage two are in the video =)

Next stop: Mixed Media Vision Board....eek so excited to get started =)

Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Nigel Roberts

Hey guys, happy tuesday =) I'm so glad you're here so I can share this weeks artist, I first 'met' Nigel doing AEDM last November I think it was and really enjoyed his work and personality, and though I do not get to spend as much time blog hopping as I did last year (sorry Nigel...and other blog friends!) when I do get the time waiting for things I whip out my phone to check on my fav blogs; and his is one of them. I hope you enjoy the interview =)

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.

My name is Nigel Roberts, although many people will know me as Freebird or Free (online & in Real Life™). I grew up in Cheshire (UK), and after 23 years in uniform I’m back where I started. I have 3 daughters, 6 grandkids and I’m not as old as that makes me sound! Apart from art, you’ll also find me drinking coffee & eating cake at the Cubby Hole, baking bread, helping to run a pagan online forum, making marmalade gin, or wandering around the country visiting gatherings & camps in Vivian (my van). My background isn’t the arts, it’s engineering/science. Art was a complete non-starter at school, and for most of my life everything was very structured, I could appreciate art, but had no urge to make anything unless it was functional. In 2006 life turned upside down, and I started dabbling with beads, which led me to a craft forum and card-making, which led to scrapbooking, and that was the start of a slippery slope. I’m now an eclectic artistic crafter; or should that be a crafty artist? I’ll have a go at anything; journaling, altering, painting, mixed media and more. In the few years since I first picked up a broken necklace and some beads, I’ve gone from a complete novice to running workshops at camps and the Cubby Hole, even though I’m still very much a beginner. I’m not sure if I have a style, although some of my work is probably quite recognisable to those who know me. Inspiration can come from anywhere; my beliefs, people I create with, a snippet of a song on the radio, a word, a phrase, other people’s blogs….. 

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it? 

Apart from the usual lack of time/mojo/inspirationthat we all suffer from, I guess my biggest challenge is getting the ideas out of my head and onto paper/canvas. Sometimes a piece just happens (such as the steampunked butterfly). But I frequently know exactly what I want to create and that’s when I tend to hit a problem, which is a lack of ability (or should I say experience). As I said before, my background isn’t in the arts, and most of what I know is either self taught or comes from craft workshops, which means there’s big holes in my ability. I’ve never used oils; I struggle with faces, and so on. And it stops me dead in my tracks. No matter how much we say it’s all about the ideas, or the inspiration or whatever; at the end of the day if you’re missing a basic skill or technique it’s a problem. Thankfully, there is a solution; it’s called learning. I’ve now learnt how to do eyes, and I can do hair so only noses and mouths to go. I’ve got to grips with watercolour and acrylics, next up is gouache, and then it’s on to oils. It’s hard work sometimes, but I get there. 

What do you most wish your art to achieve? 

It probably sounds clichéd, but mostly I want it to lift people’s spirits, either by making them smile, or shining a light in the darkness. Some of my pieces are created for specific people, but most is just me being creative, but they frequently end up being given away to somebody who needs it. One thing is for sure, I’ll never get rich through my creations. 

What is the best thing / worst thing that art has brought into your life? 

Best thing - People, without a doubt. I’ve been very lucky to get to know some very talented, and very wonderful people. There are some amazingly talented people out here on the interweb thingie, who are quite happy to share their creativity, and mostly without any bitchiness (or maybe I’ve just been lucky). But, even better, there’s a great bunch of people at the Cubby Hole who can be relied on to offer some useful advice/criticism when a piece isn’t going well. Alternatively they’ll offer cake. 

Worst thing – frustration! ;)

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art? 

You can take a look at my blog http://freebird795.blogspot.co.uk/ and you’ll also find me lurking on FB, G+ & Twitter (links on blog). 

You’ll sometimes also find me on http://cubbyholecctvs.blogspot.co.uk/ which is our local art & craft shop, and a thriving little community, full of wonderful people. 

Thank you Nigel, after reading your interview I like to think of your can of worms page as your introduction into crafts - starting off on one thing, then finding another and another. I think that's many of our stories upon discovering our creative side, usually forged through seeking the therapy and peace creating something brings, which in turn takes us down a rabbit hole until we discover our niche. And don't count your chickens re: not getting rich from your creations, I know that's not what creativity is about but none of us can predict the future ;)

Want to be an artist on the Tell All Tuesday interviews - just click the TAT icon on the right for the info =D