art junk girl

Art Junk Serenity Prayer~

God grant me the serenity
to accept the fact that I can't make every room in this house a craft room:
Give me courage to clean the studio I have;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Love, Artjunkgirl

Inspiring Daily Creativity.

Dear Friends:
I have a busy life. Yes, I do. That is why I neeeed art. Art is my great escape. If I didn't have this outlet, I'd be the girl in the "Car's" Drive video swinging her arm over her head.

No lie.

So, I don't know how people say they don't have time for art or crafting or whatever you like to call it. It's just so freakin' fun to have this magical place to escape to. You can create your own world. I know that's what I do...and I'm stickin' to it! Like. Glue. "No pun intended".

I think I know the "secret" to the creative life. Yes, I do. Are you ready? You must do it every day. Even if you only have a few minutes. It get's you in the swing. It's kind of like exercise. If you need to see more about this concept, or want to challenge yourself in new ways, I encourage you to check some of my favorite links for living a creative life and in some cases, creating the life you want. All of these places encourage finding your own personal voice as well. At least I feel that they exude this in their writings and explorations of creative living.

52 Projects (there is a book as well), this is great for ideas to get your started on a creative routine!
Creative Everyday (with Leah Piken Kolidas), the title says it all!
Angry Chicken(she makes me want to get out my sewing machine and she just plain lives and breathes creativity, everyday!)
Whip Up-more project ideas than Martha Stewart herself...very creative and fun. It's also a great way to find creative blogs.
Sabrina Ward Harrison (Also check books, Brave on the Rocks, Spilling Open). My greatest inspiration!

So, those are a few of the places that always inspire me to live the creative life.

xo lia

Work in progress, phase 1

Work in progress, phase 1, originally uploaded by artjunk88.

I'm still workin' away on my doll doodles and collage backgrounds for Suzi class. I've learned alot so far technique wise, but also figured out that I would have probably dropped out of art school, so I no longer have that regret. I don't do well with precision and such. Chaos is more my mode. So, off I go to do some more work. Be back soon with more dolls and junk.
xo lia

queen of the house

quoh, originally uploaded by artjunk88.

dear friends~
This is the "queen of the house". I sketched her randomly the other day and then colorized her with paint.net software. (which is free online). Just google paint.net. Anyhooo, it was super fun. I still haven't figured out the tricks of using this software (including how to make lines that will fill in completely and not "bleed" over into other sections).
Just goes to show how a simple sketch, scanned into a computer can provide hours of fun and experimention with color, etc.
Hope you have a fantastic and creative weekend! xoxoxo lia

Cha-Changes.

Dear Friends~
So, where were we? Oh, yea, I was taking a bit of a blog break this past month to re-group and restructure a bit. You see, my art endeavors have changed a bit causing me to get a little off track with the blog. I'm still here and I'm still makin' stuff everyday. Drawing, not painting nearly as much as I would like, but still doing lots of stuff. The "Cha-change" I am speaking of is that I've gotten off my usual collage-y, paper-gluing path. I've traded in my glue sticks for black sharpie pens. I've traded in my journals for watercolour sketchbooks. I've set aside my scissors for my circle template ruler. Now, this doesn't mean that I will ever stop gluing paper, art journaling or cutting scraps. It only means that I am travelling lighter these days and perfectly content with a sharpie and drawing paper. Now, I don't draw everything I see, for I am one of those "unconventional" types, ya know. It continues to be things that I am "drawn" to (no pun intended).

Right now that includes stick figure types: primitive, storybook types, etc. Mostly little girls. With hats. I am not very good at making the bodies. The dresses are all the same. I don't have much fashion sense, so it goes. All I know is that it makes me happy. I have been a bit shy about showing my work on the blog. Mostly because it is (as all my art is) personal to me. I've thought about it though and I want to share it on here. I feel kind of protective for some reason. Anyhow, like I said, I've been thinking alot, and I want to share things much more often here. I am just trying to organize how I will do so since my life tends to be kinda hectic with the "kidlets" and all. One thing I've learned though is that I love to share with others. I do so in the hopes that others, like me, who waited to start following their creative path will be inspired to do so. It's SO possible. You DO have time. It's a matter of what you want to make time for. I just can't live without my pens and paper and doing something creative every day. It literally makes the overactive part of my brain take a deep breath and relax. Art equal Major endorphins for me. I am in love with "Art". I am in love with color. I am in love with anything and everything that entertains the child in me. So, as usual, I digress.... It's been a while since I've shared things 'regularly' on the blog.
Sometimes it's hard to share things as they are happening because you don't really know what is going to come to fruition. So, anyhow, this is where I am at right now. I'm trying to get back in my groove so I can share lots of artjunk on my blog and chat with all of you! I will be posting more things this week as I try to catch up! Talk soon. xoxo lia