Art Junk Girl~

Monthly Mosaic and other tidbits~

Dear Friends~

So glad you liked my little artjournal "tutorial". I will have to do a few more of those soon! It's been a while since I've posted a "monthly mosaic". I can't believe it is July already! Posted above are a few snipets of last months crafty activities. I am in a very crafty mood this summer. I've been up to all sorts of mischief. I will share some little projects with you very soon! "Pinky swear" as my youngest says..

Yesterday, I start "Week 1" in Melba's Creating in the Midst Book and Group. I love this little book. In week one, one of the exercises is to simply take time to breathe. Take time to be in the moment.
Now, I don't want to give away all that is in the book, but this is how it begins and if I do this alone, I will have benefited from this journey. You see, when women in my family try to breathe, we start hyperventilating. We are a high-strung group. Yes. So, I've been "practicing". I have yet to be asked what I'm doing, but I'm sure "they", meaning my family will notice soon.

Be back soon. :) Lia

Monthly Mosaic & May Giveaway...

I got a little sidetracked with announcing my giveaway this month! I decided that I am going to enter everyone who commented in the month of MAY. I will use the random number selector and announce the winner tomorrow, Ok! If you'd like to be included, just leave your comment on this post and check back tomorrow. I simply cannot believe that it will be JUNE tomorrow. This year is flying by. Wow. I love doing these "monthly mosaics" so I can reflect back on what I made and the highlights of places I went in each month. I take way too many pictures...probably why my Mac crashed...well, lessons learned.

Oh, yeah, the giveway...see how I get sidetracked?! The giveaway will be a copy of my very first mini-zine. "Art Junk". I will also include an original Artist Trading Card, signed and dated on the back. I made this little mini-zine last year but haven't shared it yet. I found it buried in my studio during a dig out. I found alot of junk buried in there. I'll share some more of it on here soon.

Talk soon friends. Especially my Mark Harmon compadres... lol.... hee....you all crack me up!!!

p.s. Here are the titles to the individual photos in the monthly mosaic from my flickr album~ You can go to the links directly by clicking here.
1. new collages 4 x 4, 2. new collages, 3. gluebook journal~, 4. self-portrait, 5. National Harbor Resort, 6. anniversary journal page~, 7. fridays.finds.art books, etc., 8. moleskine journal page, 9. journal page, 10. ~dorothy box made by JJ!, 11. little "wedding" shelf, 12. walkin' into kids school, 13. itty bitty book club wip, 14. "very soon" inchie~, 15. 1 x 1 inch square collage, 16. we picked up cha today!!!, 17. journal page in my new moleskine~, 18. inchie closeup (this last batch), 19. first page, moleskine no. 5, 20. In memory of 34, 21. new inchie~, 22. friday's finds, 23. Follow Your Bliss Designs~, 24. moleskine 4, 25. "more" journal page (at an angle).. (picnik version), 26. you saw it here first..., 27. journal page, recent, 28. poster at usna, 29. workin' on some new pieces~, 30. Show and Tell Sunday Post~, 31. for Show and Tell Sundays~, 32. queen pin collection, 33. Front yard view~, 34. my vintage card collection~, 35. outsiders inchie, 36. for scrappy jessi's favorite childhood toy party~

monthly mosaic~learning to paint in '08

february fun~learn to paint in '08, originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

Dear Friends~
I had a wonderful day painting yesterday. I re-worked the center painting and "played" in my moleskine and smaller pieces (thank you Sharon for the wonderful suggestion!)
Again, I thank all of you for the wonderful advice and encouragement. I will just keep on keepin' on and doing what I love without worrying! I hope you will too. Have a great weekend my friends! xo Lia

Monthly Mosaic: July~Looking Ahead

Monthly Mosaic: July
Originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

I can't believe it's the 6th already! I can already tell that this month is going to fly. I've got alot of things planned with the fam and with my art junk. I've made some progress in the studio area. Finally.
I've also been busy making some new little things for my etsy shop. You know how I love little things! Speaking of squares, I have some new one's I'm workin' on that I will surely post soon, as well as some new studio pix. I'll be back soon with more on that. Have a great week! Off I go to find something to glue together. lol. xo Lia

monthly mosaic: artjunkgrl june

monthly mosaic: artjunkgrl june
Originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

I haven't been keeping up with my monthly mosaic...catching up on this! Here's some of June's artjunk..
1. Day 1: Explore, 2. "life is beautiful" journal page (closeup), 3. life is beautiful journal spread, 4. "new beginnings", 5. inspired to try something new..., 6. inchies-in-progress..612, 7. inchies, 8. Mail Art for Kira~, 9. "This is who I am" .... (journal page), 10. art inchie, 11. "Rolling on the floor laughing" prompt, 12. inchie mania, 13. victorian inchie, 14. journaljunk, 15. more square-zies...570, 16. the waltz, 17. "sneak peak" into journal page sent to Mahima, 18. RR with Nance, 19. a peek into inside cover of my RR with Nance, sign-in page, 20. my favorite square photo~my sweet Dad, 21. kira's "crowning" challenge, 22. a new collage (without words added), 23. new squares in progress, 24. art junk studio is expanding..., 25. my first doll quilt, 26. Untitled, 27. disappearing nine patch, 28. still at it..., 29. 4 squares done...still wip-ped, 30. comp journal entry~, 31. Out of the Blue Mail Swap~4 x 4 collage I made for Mendy!, 32. wip...doll quilt challenge, 33. altered address book, 34. my first 9-patch square...woot!, 35. going through my fabric stash...for my doll quiltie project~, 36. weird shot of my feet...(and slippers)
I really heart flickr toys~ I did this with their mosaic feature, which is so much fun. :)

Monthly Mosaic: MAY~artjunkgirl collection

Monthly Mosaic: MAY~ my artjunk~
Originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

Wow, I did lots of art in May! I don't know how because I was out and about alot of it for my kids games. I'm sure that it kept me sane though! I'm looking forward to getting to some projects (larger than 1")! during the summer. I will have to try arting in the outdoors more. Which reminds me...have you seen/done any of Kira's journal challenges?! Check it out at Starchildartworks. You'll be glad you did. :) Lia

Monthly Mosaic: February

Monthly Mosaic: artjunkgrl February
Originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

Is it March already? I cannot believe it! I almost forgot to do my monthly mosaic! Here is a sampling of my artwork for February. Most of them were little 1 x 1's, but a few other experiments as well.
There's nothing serious (thank goodness) going on here, just lots on my plate right now! Thank you for asking. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I need to recharge my batteries and I will be back early in the week if not sooner (you never know with me, if inspiration strikes. lol!).
Now go make something, Ok? Pick an image or color you like, sit down and start glueing or drawing or whatever. Follow your bliss. Don't worry about making mistakes. Just go with the flow. We are all creative inside. If you want to do it, chances are you got all that it takes right now. It's a new month, get started on one little piece. Before you know it, you can have a mosaic of color. One day at a time! Take care and I'll be back soon! xo Lia

New Look for March~ Thank you to Hope Wallace of Paper Relics for designing my new Banner!

Monthly Mosaic: January Art junk...

monthly mosaic: artjunkgrl january
Originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

It was a fun and colorful month. Working on goals for February. What do you want to work on in February? I have some ideas to bounce off you all. More on that later...xo Lia

Editorial: I wanted to share/record/and thank those who mentioned Art Junk in January on their sites. I was suprised,flattered and also excited that others like what they see on Art Junk! Thank you, Sharon, Deb and Kath for mentioning Art Junk on your sites and for your visits. It's always a pleasant suprise to see there are other's "out there" listening, creating and sharing with others!

Monthy Mosaic for AEM~is it December already????

Good Morning friends. Do you like my new banner? I couldn't figure out how to make one digitally and I don't have the time to learn, so I decided to take a "live" picture in my studio. This is a table I have over in the corner. Let me know if y'all like it. I'm still trying to figure out the sizing bit so it flushes across, but I will leave as is for now until I have time to play with it...besides I like the blue part and it's imperfect, kinda like me and my junk anyway!
Below is my "monthly mosaic" for November. I decided to make it all AEM pictures.
My husband looked at it this morning and asked if I did all that...I said, yes, bit by bit! A little every day and then voila. I learned alot this month for sure. It was fun participating in AEM with all of you. Everyone brings their own style to their artwork and it's so much fun to see the variety. Look over at the AEM flickr pool to see all the pictures. I'm sure we have done Leah proud. Pat yourselves on the back. Wipe off the paint, ink and glue first, ok? lol. Well, have a great weekend everyone and friends, lemme know if you like my new banner, k? xxoo Lia
p.s. check in next week 'cause I'm fixin' to do a drawing of one of my Art Everyday pieces. :)

Monthly Mosaic: artjunkgrl collage fragments

Happy 1st November! Where did October go? All those fall colors inspiring me....I was all over the place! My "goal" for november is to kind of FOCUS more on a project or technique. I say "goal" in quotes because I never know what I will be doing next, what/who I will be inspired by and what will be my next altered art obsession, however, I do feel a need to settle down a bit. I just LOVE getting into my little art studio and creating away. I want to spend the coveted time I have doing what I like BEST. I just haven't figured out what it is! I was thinking that perhaps I can work on a theme or color for november to keep me more focussed. Suggestions anyone? what are you working on and how do you Focus with all the choices in altered art today?

drop me an email or comment and let me know!

xxoo Lia

September art junk mosaic~"scattered!"

September ART mosaic~artjunkgrl
Originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

Here's a mosaic of pieces I made in September in my little studio. As usual, I am here, there and everywhere. I really want to focus more this month so that I can develop a clearer direction on where I'm going with my artwork. I love to explore all the different mediums but lately I'm feeling a need to settle down a bit. Advice please! I'm really as scattered as this mosaic as of late! I am kind of overwhelmed by everything in my art space right now. I want to do so much: altered books, a discovery journal, some fabric art, etc. etc. the list goes on. I think I have art brain overload again! Where do I call or write?! I need my blog sista's! help! I guess I'm just stressed out in general and unfortunately it's affected my concentration in my cozy area of escape and relaxation: my little artjunk studio. Perhaps it's time for me to do some organizing in there and about the house. Kinda take a break and get things in order so I can have more clarity. It's a new month. I hope to have a fun art journey this month with all of you. xxoo Lia

SUMMER REVIEW OF ART DOINGS!

collage38: review of summer art doings!, originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

Welcome to my new blog address! I am excited about this change. I have alot to share from my blog break! While I was "away", I was working on altered book projects, teaching my girls and their friends how to make an art journals and alter chunky books, working on a round robin with some fabulous women, art swapping like mad, dabbling in crochet and making quilties as well as thrifting during summer travels. All my favorite things to do! Now, there was a lot of "life" stuff going on in between, but I am happy I had some time to devote to these fun pursuits, especially arting with my girls! The down side is that I have a bagillion things to organize in my art area (which is now scattered about the house!) So I have my work cut out for me! I just can't seem to stay in one place. I also like to spread things out and work on the floor! eeee gaaads. So, organizing is definitely on my fall list as well as spending more time working on art junk! Hope your summer has been great as well. More to come! ~ Lia