So I’ve always loved the look of dip pen handwriting, reminding me of the time when traditional correspondence was the norm. Unfortunately, my touristy-bought Italian dip pen set has been collecting dust in a box. I have really bad hand control and found it so difficult to write anything at all. Perhaps I was too impatient or perhaps I just didn’t give myself enough time to develop, so I want to give it another try. I realize practice makes perfect…the wonderful wisdom we learn from kindergarten.

Printable Airmail Stationery Set PDF (258 KB)

I quickly designed a cute airmail stationery set to get myself into the mood of handwriting a letter. You can see from the photo that I printed on creamy cardstock which was perfect for the envelope but too big and too thick for the stationery writing paper. I reprinted the writing paper on plain paper and that definitely looks better. These were printed at half size to make mini-letters but of course the PDF is full US Letter sized paper. I thought I would share this printable with all of you, so feel free to download the PDF above and use for your personal writing adventures. Have fun! Now I can go practice my dip pen skills…wish me luck!

Posted on March 31, 2010 at 12:35 pm | designs, free goodies | 13 comments

Happy Tuesday to everyone! Each week I will be sharing my art journaling pages and if you want, please join me in some fun doodling and free expression. I would love to see your work, just comment with a link I’ll check it out. So last week I started a new journal, working on the cover image. Now I am just starting to dig into the pages of this recycled catalogue, seeing what I can do with the paper. I found some solid paint markers for sale at my local art shop, 1 euro a piece – so bought my favorite colors and tested them out in my journal. I love the big blocks of color and thankfully it dried just like acrylic paint, no smearing or smudging. You can also see below that I decided to keep the Spring Summer 2010 text in this fashion catalogue, because it actually works for the journal dating too. Pretty sweet!

I worked with free collage today, not big plans or layouts in mind. Just cutting with my scissors. I made some simple circle flowers from some washi papers I had lying around, nice and easy but cool looking with all the patterns.

Just a smattering of flowers to go with a happy Springtime theme.

After glueing the papers down and flattening with some heavy books, I went in with a black marker to doodle in the stems.  Then I started using my copics to add color and even a white gel pen for some highlights. Of course, I managed to smear some of the black with my hand as well as alcohol when I applied the yellow background.  I’m not sure what I was trying to do with alcohol, just went with it despite the smearing.

In the end I have a very bright and happy springtime layout, a nice beginning to my new journal.  How about you? Do Springtime and flowers inspire you to doodle away?

Posted on March 30, 2010 at 9:47 am | art journal | 18 comments

Happy Monday everyone! I always take Mondays slow, giving myself a day to catch up where needed and soak up positive inspiration – instead of rushing around, giving myself anxiety at the start of a new week. It’s something I truly am thankful to be able to do, such a contrast from my old corporate working days of doing ten thousands things at the same time and getting overwhelmed constantly. I love to block out time to go through all my RSS feeds and survey the scene, taking it slow and really taking things in. I thought I would share some lovely links regarding what inspires me or just makes me smile. Like the daily drawings and collage work by Amanda Hawkins, fascinating to me and inspiring whenever anyone takes on a daily routine. I recently started following Carissa Paige’s blog as well and very much inspired by her work as well as her words, so open in sharing her feelings and experiences. Also, since the launch of Crescendoh.com I’ve visited the site for the Art Saves stories that are posted every Monday and then returning every day for the new links that are posted by the weekly curators. It’s definitely a place to be inspired not only regarding your art and craft, but really positive thoughts about life in general.

In addition, when I do get to doing something I like to listen to podcasts and radio shows to fill in the silence – or more truthfully cover up the construction noises from across the street! I’m a big fan of folks who broadcast on BlogTalkRadio…listening to art and craft related shows such as…

• FaveCrafts Radio hosted by Tiffany Windsor
• Diva Craft Lounge hosted by Diva Danielle Forsgren and Duke of Crafts Rayme Royale
• Art Heroes Radio by John T. Unger

I hope you can take it slow this Monday, or at least take 30 seconds to just breath deeply and start the week with positivity and tranquility. Until tomorrow my lovelies, when I will share another art journal with me post!

Posted on March 29, 2010 at 10:44 am | inspiration | 2 comments

This week has really flown by for me and every night I went to bed a bit grudgingly for want to stay awake and keep creating. I am jumping from idea to idea and rushing through at times because I can’t seem to control myself. Perhaps inner energy is kicking to get out and making me jittery – or maybe it’s just the coffee…eek! Either way my mind is totally swirling…telling me to go and make art but in a million different directions. Forget about the world, you can go 24/7 and just follow your musings, right? It’s funny how creativity comes and goes in waves, like we have no control. The TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert about the creative genius really comes to mind as I think about my feelings this Friday. Sometimes I feel bad when I get into a creative trance, because I’m in my own little world and shut everyone else out. My husband knows to leave me alone in these times, but I do feel bad for missing out on family time and I’m sure I must seem a bit standoffish-crazy-lady-I’m-into-my-own-thing-weird. Sigh…I also feel a bit scattered in attempts to clean and organize my space. The process is slow and I keep getting myself sucked into past projects and ideas rediscovered. For today I’m going with my painting creative trance and following through with a vision. I see it in my mind, now I just have to execute…from blank white pages…

to colorful musings…

I hope to share more soon…I know I have the weekend to get lost into creativity.  Hope you have a lovely Friday!

Posted on March 26, 2010 at 11:59 am | acrylic painting, thoughts + discussion | 10 comments

Sometimes I get into a major drawing mode and start depicting whimsical ladies in my work. My husband was watching me draw this one and wondering what it was all about…what’s the story?

Hmm, sometimes I’m really not sure at all. The images come to my mind in a flash or sometimes they form slowly through the lines on the page.  I suppose it’s just a mix from all the thoughts in my head…subconscious mind telling me something? Hmmm…I decided that it’s perfectly fine to just do and not understand completely. Today will be all about doodling, going about whatever feels right and embracing creativity.  I must have faith in myself, right? Thanks for stopping by and checking out my creative space…I’ll also be getting some inspiration by visiting the other kootoyoo creative spaces. Ciao ciao and Happy Thursday!

Posted on March 25, 2010 at 10:25 am | drawings, work in progress | 18 comments