Art Junk Girl~

A summer "artjunk" Survey!~I need feedback!

polka-dot artjunk mosaic~, originally uploaded by artjunkgirl.

Have a great day my friends. I'm going to announce a giveaway soon, so stay tuned...still putting it together. I'd like some feedback on what you'd like to see/hear more about this summer as my time will be somewhat limited. You can pick one or two or none. I tend to be all over the place and I need you all to focus me!! Please respond in the comments or email me, artjunkgrl@yahoo.com.

1. Art Journals, making, completing, prompts, supplies, etc. (I may be able to work on a few "tip-in" pages if you would like to send me a loose page and collage bits).

2. Inchies. We want to see more inchies. (I have a bunch I haven't posted). I still make them. yeah.

3. Your life. We want to see more about your everyday boring life...not as much art junk.

4. Your junk. We love seein' your junk. Show us more, we know you have a secret stash of goodies. You haven't even shown us your teacups yet...

5. Art Studio-We want to see your art studio already. Are you done yet?

6. Blogtalkradio- we'd like to hear you interview more art peeps.

Ok, I think that's it. Boy did I get a wild hair today! I guess I'm feeling the need for some direction here. If I don't have alot of interest, I may go on a summer respite. Let me know your thoughts. It's hard to know with blogging because sometimes it feels like there is no one out there. Well, that's not completely true. I know you all are out there, but I think some feedback would be helpful from you...I'm just tossing these things around as I'm doing my (late) spring cleaning. I'm almost done cleaning out my clothes closet. I am hanging on to this one pair of skinney jeans. I don't care what oprah says. I'm not getting rid of it. So I digress, as I throw out the rest of the old, it's time to bring in some new. Wow, I've gotten alot of cleaning done since my computer crashed! Another reason to think about focussing my time online...but then I don't want to blog less if there is an interest in my sharing...cause I like to share and inspire others. And the whole polka-dot thing...we can have fun with that.. .maybe even a swap. Ok, I better get back to cleaning. I'm sorry to be so mish-mosh today. Anyhoo...I promise, double promise pics of my studio soon. I still don't have my computer back from the shop, so I've been lazy about loading pictures on the family computer.
talk soon, I hope. xo lia

I love polka-dots, apparently....

moleskine spread, originally uploaded by artjunkgirl.

Dear Friends~
It's official, I now love polka-dots. I know, I know, I still love squares, yes, I do, I do. But, recently I've discovered that it's been all about polka-dots. They are showing up everywhere in my journals, things I buy, my clothes. It's polka-dots and squares and circles, oh my! Now I have a new discovery that will help me avoid alll the things I should be doing! great fun! I want to make a photo mosaic of my polka's, ok. I'll do it soon. Oh, this is so exciting! I love when I discover something new like this. Ok, any other polka-dotters out there? Let's go. xoxoxo Lia

Family "heirlooms", a full house, and a clean studio?

Dear Friends~
My dining room table is still cleared off....art junk is almost all moved to my downstairs studio. Next week, I intend to do a "walk-through" and take pics of my little nook for you all to see. I love sharing my space and recording it here as well. After the "crash", I realized that having this blog is a way of keeping a record of all these photos as well as the journalling. It's also made me see, once again, how I have a hard time merging my art with my family doings (at least sharing them online). I do this mostly to protect their privacy, but in doing so, I didn't have all my family pics backed up on flickr. I have a pro account, so I could have done that...anyhow, I've learned my lesson and I'm backing things up like a crazy person hence forth. To clarify, I didn't lose all my family photos, but I did lose a large amount of them. I take a gagillion pics of my kids, although you would not know that by looking at my blog... Anyhow, I got sidetracked here....I wanted to share this beautiful piece above that my Mom gave me several years ago. "She" is named "Andrea" (the inscription is underneath) and she is handpainted. I don't bring her "out" of the china cabinet often as I fear that my lacrosse playing son, (aka. "don't throw that ball in this house) will somehow cross paths with her. So, last night, I put her back in the china cabinet...which means YES, my SON is home!!!!!!!
There is really so much I'd like to share on this blog...for there is so much that inspires me, just around my house alone. I am hoping to do more of that this summer. I have lots of little projects under wraps right now, but you will be the first to see/hear of them as they are completed. One of the biggies is working on my kids books this summer. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I've wanted to do this so much and that I have a hard time "arting" up their photos and including them in my work. I recently purchased a lovely book that is going to help me do that. "The Art of Personal Imagery: Expressing Your Life Through Collage
by Corey Moortgat". So far, I've been devouring every page, words of advice, teaching and treasure that this book has. I cannot say enough about it..only that I am kicking myself for not buying it sooner! Sometimes the thing we need to read the most is the one we avoid. Ok, so that's my speal for today. lol. love you all. Have a great weekend everyone! I have a full house once again. Here are my oldest babies, my greatest inspiration. xoxo lia

first page, moleskine no. 5, learn to fly.

first page, moleskine no. 5, originally uploaded by artjunkgirl.

I got started on my 5th moleskine last night...the hardest part is just peeling the plastic off...I am going to start taking that off right after I buy it. I notice that it will just sit there for a few days so I can look at it's newness. lol. Anyhow, have you all visited my JournalJunk blog lately? The JournalJunk group is now a year old! We have over 500 members, many of which post new journal pages daily. My absolute FAVE email is when people write me and tell me they started "their new journal". There are many resources listed in the flickr group and blog. Go see and get started on that journal. Rip that plastic coating off before you get home, ok? xoxox lia

Ok, so, my work disappeared in an instant...

Yup, my Mac crashed 20 minutes before the "live" blogtalkradio show this past week. Yup, it just went kaput. No warning, no bells, no whistles, nada. I was getting ready to log into blogtalk when it started to slow down and make noises like an airplane taking off...So, I did what I've always been taught to do, I rebooted. Well, let's just say my little mac world never came back. I got the dreaded "gray-blue" screen, more airplane take-off sounds and no sight of a years worth of photos, work, slideshows, etc. etc. nothing. I knew it was a done deal. I just had that feeling. Here's the really bad part: I didn't, no, I didn't have all my photos backed up. While I had the "important" events double backed up (my son's matriculation, other ceremonial stuff, holidays, etc.), my day to day pics, you know the one's...they are gone. vanished. in an instant. I know this for sure as I got the "confirmation call" this morning. The only way to get the data off is to do a manual-take apart of the drive ($1500). Now, my mac is under warranty, so they will replace it, but what about all those memories, all those photos of my day to day mundane stuff? It's gone. Nothing to show for it except a pile of rubble.
So, as you can imagine, I've been totally out of sorts. I feel so shaken. Mostly because I realized in an instant how everything and anything can be wiped away in a second. It's also made me realize how nothing material can every truly be sustained. I feverishly record our day to day with photos, montages, etc. I'm left thinking how many hours I wasted...all for not. Is it real or is it memorex? I don't know. I have to sort that all out. In the meantime, I need a backup plan.
Be back soon. xo lia

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!, originally uploaded by artjunkgirl.

I made this quiltie a few years back. This is a picture of my mom at her sewing machine at a very young age. She is in Greece right now and I miss her! Happy Mother's Day to all Mother's around the world!
xo Lia