"friendship ii"

"birdie buddies" drawn with sharpie markers and colored with colored pencils (the blue didn't show up well); mounted on cardstock. I've been having fun with these cute birdies. :)

Illustration Friday theme: "friendship"

I thought of girlfriends shopping together. This illo was created with sharpies and regular art markers and mounted on cardstock. 5"x7" "shopping day"

gluttony

Unfortunately I missed last week's Illustration Friday. It was a great theme- The Seasons - and I had a great idea for it but just didn't have the time to do it. Hopefully I get a chance in the future.

This week's theme was "Gluttony" and immediately I thought of myself when it comes to my artistic endeavors. I am the swap queen. I tend to over commit myself because I just can't see the same possibilities being presented in the future. :) I swap and trade many types of paper crafts as well as stash swaps for the fun stuff. :) That's why I added the ribbon at the end. I drew this on plain white paper with a sharpie marker and colored it with colored pencils. :) It is mounted on 5"x7" black cardstock. These pages will later be put in an art journal of sorts.

Love Notes

I have decided to make the theme of my Altered Book (for my round robin) "Love Notes". This is the cover with the mini file closed. :)

doodlebug

"doodlebug" ATC series; sharpie marker

Balance

Illustration Friday's topic: Balance
Watercolor on 5" x 7" watercolor paper for my Art Journal

funky fibers

Today I created 12 new ATCs. The five above are from my "funky fibers" series. I have so many fun and funky fibers and I thought this would be a fun way to showcase some of them!

"no time to hate"

Tonight I created page one of my Art Journal. I've been so inspired by all of the mixed media collage art I have been seeing lately that I decided to give it a go. I have created my first mixed media painting but won't be able to get a picture up until I take it to get scanned (it's 16 x 20). I've been playing a lot with mixed media collaging by creating ATCs. This is my first attempt at an Art Journal and I think it will be a great learning experience.

"no time to hate" by, Joleen Thiessen
used: watercolor, printed vintage image, magazine cutout, glass rhinestones, date stamp, ink, journalling pen, handwritten words (poem by Emily Dickinson) on 5" x 7" watercolor paper

Disaster Relief Series

Disaster Relief ATC Series
This past week's theme at Illustration Friday was "disaster relief". The magnitude of this natural disaster really hit me this weekend. I am embarrassed to say that it's hard for me to imagine the horrible things that happen throughout the world each day because it doesn't immediately effect myself. I go on with my life as though everything is great and the super power that the United States is, will protect me. This disaster wasn't of man. There is no one we can point fingers at; no one to blame. My heart aches for the many affected by the tsunami. Words cannot accurately express the sorrow that I feel. I hurt for the parents who've lost their sweet children; the families broken apart; the dear children who will now grow up without their parent(s). I feel incredibly helpless. I wish there was something profound I could do. I wish I could wipe the tears and hug each mourner- an impossible task as the world is mourning.

Illustration Friday
I came across a website called Illustration Friday this week. It has a great concept of supplying an artist with a different theme each week to inspire him/her to create.

"spunk"- Sister Trading Cards

I created 20 like cards for a perpetual swap called Sister Trading Cards. This will be the second edition I have participated in.