elastic thoughts

do you find rubber bands irresistible? i do. i've made those dumb balls out of them, wrapped them around stacks of envelopes to feel and look efficient, wound them around rolls of paper to hear that satisfying snap, and i may have even zinged one or two across a classroom in high school. but i had never thought of using a rubber band to hold a journal together until i stumbled on the fabulous book journal spilling by diana trout. so that's where i've been this past week - lost in a creative explosion, giving my stacks of forgotten papers and rubber bands a new purpose.

the recipe is quick and simple. cut a piece of thick watercolor paper for the cover and 6 pieces of paper for the inside (just slightly smaller than the cover, so they won't peek out the sides), fold them over, and snap a rubber band around the spine. that's it. 12 pages or 24 sides in total, just right for an on-the-go jotter. the beauty of the rubber band, in addition to being such a wonderfully plebeian binding, is that it enables me to change the pages in an instant. when i find myself rolling my eyes at something i've written or drawn, i can chuck the page - or if i manage to consume it all, i can easily replace the filling and re-use the cover.

i tested a bunch of watercolor papers for the covers (too many on hand for my own good) and the winner was a utilitarian 140 pound cold press paper by strathmore. it is thick and durable enough to take paint and a rubber band without collapsing, yet soft enough to fold easily along the grain without the need for scoring. i cut my cover sheets into 6"x5.5" pieces to make a 6"x2.25" journal when folded - a little smaller than the size of a checkbook - but you can make them in any size. for the inside pages i used standard writing paper.

the most fun, of course, is the process of groovying up the covers before folding and binding. i used water soluble pastels for the background washes, prismacolor pencils for resist and layering colors, liquid watercolors for dramatic splotches, pieces of my inked/painted papers for collage, and microns for doodling and lettering.

i don't buy mixed-media books often but i'm thrilled i made the investment in journal spilling. it is stuffed with suggestions on how to turn everyday objects into journaling tools, and it is a very accessible, technique-based guide that lends itself to nearly any artistic style. the clincher for me is how diana writes - she is encouraging, positive, gets down to business right away, and is supremely funny. she recently did a great podcast with ricë about the book and you can check it out here. so, mixed-media artists, looking for a kick in the pants? you'll get it with this book. if you get sidetracked for a year making projects from it, however, please do not snap at me!

conversation cards

my daughter and i are in the middle of a mixed-media frenzy. inspired by shannon's fabadabadoo inside out class (she's just opened registration for the next), i am giving my art supplies their do-or-go test: either prove yourselves capable of a project, you space-eating materials, or out the door you go. yesterday i found six caran d'ache water-soluble pastels in a drawer that were totally, completely untouched. i gave them a whirl on some totally, completely untouched watercolor paper and was totally, completely smitten. then i totally, completely violated my decluttering process by going to creative coldsnow for fifteen more, and got so excited that i lost track of space and the size of my ass and knocked over an entire rack of art sponges when i stood up to go to the checkout counter.

back home i chopped up watercolor paper and went to work with my loot (creative explosion still in progress, a future post). i saw a little hand reach for a scrap of watercolor paper. when i didn't yell - the house is still in recovery mode from a bad episode with glitter paint, now persona non grata around here - she reached for a pastel. she couldn't believe her luck, especially since it was bedtime, and very quietly moved off to her own world while i toiled away in mine. (these pastels are excellent for kids - lots of fun and minimal mess.) after an hour when i finally had to be boring and responsible and sent her off to bed, i looked at what she had done and nearly went to pieces.

the sweet little thing had made conversation cards. every so often i jot down a few random topics, stick them in a bag, and we take turns pulling one out and discussing what's on the card. this idea was born out of pure selfishness. making dinner distresses me so much that i am not in the mood to talk about anything when we sit down to eat. so we've gotten in the habit of starting every dinner by saying something nice about every person at the table and this nearly always turns me around. but we hadn't done the cards for a while, probably since thanksgiving, when we pulled cards out of a gobble gobble bag and named things that we were grateful for, said thank you in as many languages as we knew, and so on. i had no idea how much these cards meant to her. talk about inside out. my heart turned inside out reading her topics. now you know what we'll be discussing at dinner tonight!

the other universal language

if love reigns supreme around the world, then sweets cannot be far behind. and nothing steals my heart like an explosion of sugary delights from distant lands.
my two hard-earned degrees in marketing are truly worthless defenses against the tangles of color, the silly names and the mysteries of those exotic packages and wrappers. i have to buy them and i have to try them. a gummy candy or a starburst by itself gives me nothing more than a yawn and a quick sugar fix, but call it a pissing boy or sandwich juice and i'm lovesick.

so what shall we try first from this stash that mr. artsyville brought home from colombia last week? should we go for the obvious, choco break? meet the family of frunas? find out what on earth is inside that guayabita? or toss all caution to the wind and bust open that bag of bon bon bums?

i love my school

my daughter and i walked into an amazing scene at the lawrence percolator on saturday: rooms full of children creating, scissors flying, crayons scribbling, paint splattering, glitter dumping, and walls dancing with colorful art. it was an all-day creative jam session in celebration of two of the oldest, most vibrant neighborhood schools in lawrence, kansas, which are now in danger of permanent closure due to district budget cuts. the art exhibit, which runs through this friday, is part of a major community-wide effort to encourage an alternate resolution of the fiscal dilemma and to prevent closure of the schools.



























if you're familiar with the fiery history of lawrence, you'll know that the people here have no problem going to bat for their liberties. in keeping with tradition, that is exactly what these children and parents are doing - defending their right to an education in their own neighborhood. i was awestruck by the pride and positive energy that came out of that building on saturday. it was the feisty, creative spirit that makes me love living here.

the marvel of magazines

***UPDATE 2/1: random tile winners are #18 (express) and #22 (gm glimmerglass). i wish i could give one to all of you! those were some of the best responses ever! express and gm, please send me your snail mail addresses at artsyville(at)gmail(dot)com and i'll send those tiles on their merry way.



what is it about a stack of magazines that brings me to my giddy little knees?

buying a book is a wonderfully deep, all-consuming process for me, something i do based on recommendation or research, with intentions of learning or bending my mind in a new direction. but the impulse purchase of a magazine delivers a zing of self-indulgence and complete slackerdom that makes me feel like i'm really getting away with something. i have all sorts of odd little rituals with magazines. as lovely as that top copy looks at the bookstore, for example, i never buy that one; i dig at least halfway down into the stack and get a fresh issue. such a transient, throwaway thrill. i dig through mags in the evening, usually with a glass of wine in hand; reading them during the day feels too frivolous. i read each issue from back to front, then front to back, unless i'm not in the mood for that, in which case i skip around, read what i want and cast away the rest. even when a certain issue sucks, i go back through page by page and make myself milk that magazine for at least ten ideas, which i may or may not use. then i attack it with a pair of scissors and do silly things with it. when traveling, i buy a wad of magazines in one airport, deposit them in another, and then wonder who will take off with them and where they will go next. and foreign magazines! different languages! stop me!

if you're game for this, tell me something of your periodical habits. read them? don't read them? what's your favorite, or even better, do you have a incongruous mix of magazines in your household, like people and the economist? are you a subscription kind of person or a buyer on whim at the checkout counter? if you read yours with scissors, what do you make out of them? in return, i'll draw two names at random from this post on monday morning, and each will get one of my drunken tiles. happy weekend and good luck!

fun with alcohol

a few years ago i bought some tiles for our kitchen and could not figure out how they were made. the colors and patterns mixed together in a complicated way that seemed beyond the ability of traditional paint or ink. my friend sandra, a walking googlepedia of craft knowledge, took one look at them and said, "oh, those are alcohol inks. ceramic tile. easy. fun." i filed this away in my future creative explosions folder and forgot about it until i dashed into michaels last week for glue, took a wrong turn and wound up in the adirondack ink aisle instead. i took this as a sign, bought six bottles of ink and the alcohol blending solution, and ran over to home depot for ceramic tiles. sixteen cents each!

then i went home and hit the bottle.











so easy, so fun, just as sandra said it would be. the results are nearly immediate. alcohol ink dries very quickly on non-porous surfaces. start with a thin layer of the alcohol blending solution, spreading it evenly with a toothbrush. (this diffuses the color, brings out the saturation and extends the drying time.) then squeeze big drops of one color on the tile and watch it do the weirdest stuff ever.

then just experiment with the color layering. adding another color to a wet layer will blend the two together, while adding color to a dry layer will create a distinct, bright color separation. try drawing directly with the tip of the bottle on the tile, moving the ink around with q-tips, and blowing it around with a straw. you'll get all sorts of interesting effects. every single one will be a surprise. and yes, once in a while a tile will wind up in a big muddy mess that just seems unfixable. don't throw it out. just squirt the thing with a coat of the alcohol blending solution, wipe it off and start over. this alcohol is very forgiving. when you're happy with the outcome, ink the sides of the tile for a more finished look.

here's another step-by-step tutorial from julia of the spotted sparrow that shows you how to apply the ink with felt. i'll also emphasize that you MUST varnish the tile when you're finished with a waterbased (not solvent-based) sealer and let each coat dry COMPLETELY in between, as much as it TORTURES me to write that. i am a very impatient person and despise waiting, but there is no room for a cavalier attitude here. you must varnish that thing or the ink will scratch off. after four or five coats, you can back it with felt for a coaster, glue on a hanger and show it off on the wall, display it on a mini easel or even use it as a backsplash tile in your kitchen.

if you have any questions, ask away and i'll do my best to answer! please let me know if you try this - i'd love to see!

the traveling doodlespirit

my camera and i need to have a chat. it knows all about my ravenous appetite for travel, which came to an alarming halt after the girls were born. it has indulged me in some magnificent stateside trips over the past year, true. but it has developed the habit in recent months of abducting mr. artsyville - who is quite content staying put - to gad about the world while i'm stuck in the daily doo doo of domesticity, and quite frankly it's starting to chap my gypsy hide. first it was india. then it was china. then it was hong kong. and now the cheeky thing has run off to costa rica without me, once again whisking away my husband as the shutterguy.

so i created a traveling doodlespirit to tag along with my lovely one on the journey this time, and what a ride it was! oh, the things we did and saw in costa rica!



we wandered through the streets and gazed at architecture together. chatted with the townspeople.


saw love and texting in action.



nibbled on plantains, pupusas and other delights.



shopped at the little roadside markets.



and eavesdropped on people as they went about their daily lives.

i wonder where my doodlespirit will go next? if you could go anywhere today, where would your doodlespirit take you?

what i was wearing

here's a one-two punch for creative every day (body) and corner view (what you are wearing) with a scribble of yesterday's outfit. now how is that for efficiency! i know the body proportions are all wonky, but hey, i tried, and the look really syncs up with my lopsided hair. i've been walking around for a few months with one side an inch longer than the other. time for a haircut and a shoe repair. well, enough about me. what are you wearing today?

wilderness of the mind

in this resolution-heavy time of year, i decided to paint an antidote, and here it is - a goal-free ode to getting lost in my mind (not LOSING my mind, mind you). this one needed a lighter touch than my normal blast of color, so i put my inky antics aside for a few days and picked up my watercolors. i used winsor & newton watercolors for the background, staedtler watercolor pencils for the layering, and microns for the lettering.

a big thanks to candy for featuring me in her bloggers to watch post this week, and yay to all of you who stopped by my new artsyville page on facebook. great to see so many of you there! i have a bunch of silly doodleprojects to share in the next few days, so please stay tuned. a dreamy sunday to you!

the hodgepodge house

thank heavens for chopsticks and spaghetti, who sent me to this fabulous little gem of a front yard after she saw my report on the outdoors type. this place has it all - chandeliers, metal sculptures, painted bathtubs, bowling balls-a-plenty, a vase strung in between the slopes of the roof, dinosaurs and bottles and ceiling fans and headlights and bicycles and license plates and lord knows what else dangling from anything dangleworthy. now that the subzero temps and howling winds are history and the sun is shining again, i was finally willing to lace up my boots and hike over there today. it was worth every moment of trudging through the blocks of slushy goo. thanks, chopsticks!

p.s. just set up an artsyville page on facebook - if you're in the neighborhood, please stop by and say hello!

more mixed messages

good monday morning! i've gone on another fun run of mixed message doodlemagnets! these mantras du jour are so willing to change at the whim of my moods that i plan to keep them around for a while. credit goes to a wise elder in my family for 'vodka dear' and to a smart friend for 'i am super over that'. i am super over SO many things. i look at that one a lot. 'keep on truckin' is the cheesiest of the bunch, however, and therefore my favorite. these flexible little creatures are now in the shop with the rest of their tribe.

good stuff today:

> jeannine has a beautiful new blog
> fruenswerk gussied up a corkboard
> thereza's icy babies
> michelle's bubbleful 37 before 38 journal page
> and groovy, colorful creative explosions at daisy yellow

coldbound

school was canceled again because of the deep freeze, or so it's called in kansas. four winters in minneapolis changed my definition of deep freeze. but i'm being surprisingly zen about our second winter break and seem to be rolling with it. mostly. letting the kids roam and wreak havoc. managing to get little bits of work and play done in five minute installments. looking at things from artsy friends.



a groovy cigar box from ricë. thinking about painting a room turquoise. earrings i love. pattern from a new york stationery show postcard. a foam ball i collaged with bits of antique maps five years ago.



printed & laminated bookmarks for my etsy packages.



a dear postcard from dear pixie. my elbows in the mirror.



detail of a gorgeous gift from valentina. muchas gracias valentina :))



a surprise stack of splendid patterned papers from daisy janie. i especially like the one that went screwy louie in the printer. thank you jan :))



no idea and not sure i want to know.

what happens when i multitask

the first creative every day prompt of the year is body, and what better place to start than my addled brain? generally speaking, it's not good when i try to do two things at once. neurons stray and misfire. incompatible thoughts consort and do naughty things. intentions cross paths, exit the wrong way, and doodles almost wind up in the microwave because of it. no, no, i didn't nuke the journal, but it was close! when the coffee was on the scanner and i went to open the microwave door, for one long moment i knew something wasn't right but didn't know exactly WHAT wasn't right. and again i realized that the world is a safer place when i do not multitask.

by the way, we're back on winter break. school canceled! my doodleweek! truncated! what's a wind chill of 5000 below when the sun is sparkling like gold? while i go assess the artsydamage that i assume has been going on around here behind my back, enjoy this colorful tour of yasmina's bubble. not only is she a talented and expressive doodler, she's only just turned fifteen! then go see shannon, grab your paintbrush, turn up the volume and see if this doesn't fill you with good vibes and a big grin. shannon and i have become good coffee pals over the last few months and i just love being around her. she's a creative whirlwind, full of sunshine and calm, and a born leader - i can't wait for her inside out course to start. please join us! i'll be the straggler doing one thing at a time, alternating between the yoga and deep breathing.

just kidding around

my sweet little bell ringers are back in school, and looking through these pictures i realize we had a fairly artsy break after all - cutting paper, wrapping stones, scribbling on newsprint rolls, and drawing patterns from popcorn at a basketball game. my husband and i put a stop to the barber shop conspiracy (not a sanctioned artsy activity after artsygirl chopped off her hair a few years ago), and she changed her sign to reflect the no-haircut rule. not long after that we saw her three year old sister streak by covered head to toe in tattoos, including two where the sun does not shine. did lots of reading, too - the secret garden, anne of green gables, little women and alice in wonderland. looking forward to a good doodleday here - see you soon and happy new year!

a happy dandy year

a huge SMOOCH to everyone for making this such a fun and outrageous year in artsyville! whether you have stopped by just once or visited every day, commented profusely or lurked in the shadows, written e-mails or sent me long lovely letters, set me aflame with your art and ideas, clucked in sympathy with my mental foibles, or made me laugh until i can no longer move, i am grateful to every one of you for encouraging me to keep plugging along in the ville. loads of ideas are fighting for the pole position in the new year and i cannot wait to get started on all of them! i'll probably be asleep before the clock strikes twelve tonight, but before that i'm planning on a nice evening sitting on my butt with a glass of wine and cutting paper for a new project - i'm all for arty nights over party nights. happy 2010! it sounds so space age :)

the bell ringer

well! i think it's time for winter vacation to end. we've had a lot of togetherness, and out of that togetherness has come many a good thing. but truth be told, my funnel for caregiving has plugged and backed up. this mama is ready for a lengthy, peaceful moment to create, to plan, to strategize, to THINK. it is time to slip into my own "creative noise", described by writer-mother jennifer new in her article "the sound of silence" as a process that is "akin to getting lost in order to find one’s way. and it’s really, really hard to do when someone needs you to wipe their behind or make mac and cheese."

now seven years into parenting, i know that break i desire is not quite so clean and easy. once they are back in school and my need for silence is satisfied, i will miss my bell ringers and wonder what all of my kvetching was about, especially because these incessant needs are becoming less and less so as they get older. my oldest no longer needs me to wipe her behind, and she can make her own macaroni and cheese. i am no longer feeding and changing around the clock. my three year old pretends that there's a lot she can't do, but left to her own devices, she'll eventually take care of business as long as she doesn't get sidetracked writing on the wall. knowing that they are learning how to take care of themselves means that i need less time to recharge, and on really good days, i feel their absence more intensely. jennifer's children are young like mine, and she recognizes the same shift of emotion. "already i fear the silence of their departure," she writes, "just as i once feared their noise."

but for now, deliver me please. for just a moment.

a speedy snacky swedish snowy week

on monday we drove from texas back to kansas, and as luck would have it, we made it home without picking up a duplicate copy of the souvenir i earned on the way there. (keychain by thereza rowe, lunchbox by the children's place, speed demon warning by the merciful kansas state trooper.)



on tuesday i went on a mass-production run of candy: chocolate covered magic wands, peanut butter cups, and chocorolopretzelthingies that wound up looking like alien eyeballs.



on wednesday my mailbox shrieked and i ran outside to see what was going on. waiting for me was a fabulous swedish surprise: a superhero screenprint from one of my favorite artists, alexandra hedberg, in her trademark yellow...



and three of her adorable prints for my daughters' room that were clearly meant for the frames and the fabric i got at IKEA last weekend. (you can see i've done nothing with the fabric yet, but i've realized i might not need to. it works great as a photo backdrop.) my artsygirl has renamed her prints "cheetah licking his lips looking at a person", "bear catching moon", and "cat looking at another cat". what a gift - i've admired alexandra's work for so long and now i own four of her prints! tack så mycket alexandra! :))



on thursday, possibly setting a processing record for our little post office, ANOTHER package showed up from gothenburg, sweden - this one from cecilia, including a cutting board made from one of her fabulous patterns, and a 2010 moleskine desk calendar that i won in her giveaway a few weeks ago. we have already made and sliced two loaves of bread on the cutting board, and it works beautifully! it is on our kitchen wall where i can see and use it every day! a big tack så mycket to you too, cissi :))



on friday, two little girls found their secret garden in the load of snow that arrived in a christmas eve blizzard and caused us to cancel our trip to chicago today. i should be somewhere near the quad cities by now, but instead i'm still in my pajamas in snowy little lawrence, gaining poundage by the second from the candy i was planning to take with me. if you're in town, stop by for some - it's going fast!

great weekend to you all!

secret garden

can you believe it? it's a feelgood painting from me, and an authentic one to boot. my daughter and i read the secret garden last week and i found myself just as enchanted by it as she was. so while i should have been packing for our trip into the texas sunshine, i jumped into this doodle at the 11th hour, powered by the thought that the yearning for a little secret garden doesn't go away even when childhood ends. for some of us it means getting lost in art, for others it is a retreat into reading, writing, cooking, running, conversation with best friends, tending an actual garden - really anything that takes us into our own happy dream world.

the fabric and little crochet thingies i picked up on a quickie IKEA spree on sunday - and since i don't sew, it's anyone's guess as to what will come of it all. pins, tape, glue, wood - i'm about to find out what i can do with fabric other than putting a needle through it. but first i will unpack and catch up on all of your worlds. thanks for your wonderful and supportive comments in the last post, even those from the spammers which i read with a chuckle and then deleted. wishing you a maximal fun and minimal stress week! if you find yourself stretched to your limit, find your secret garden and hide there for a bit :)

from blog to bookshelf

it started as a blog post and i can't quite believe it's now in print! my article Inky Antics and journal pages are on pages 98-101 of Art Journaling Winter 2010. it's a delicious issue and it goes without saying that i'm thrilled to be in it. you can get a peek of my pages here. a supersize thanks to Somerset Studio for another opportunity to be in one of their great mags! it will be available at borders, barnes & noble and most other major bookstores on january 1.

on the radar today: re-hydrating gouache from my dried out tubes (not pretty, but it works), finishing up a feelgood painting (sparked during this shred of time a few early mornings ago), working on some new magnets (some naughty and some nice), and finally having some decent coffee after brewing FOUR pots of toxic liquid. still riding high on the fumes from all of your birthday wishes! thank you!

a break for cake

hello to my favorite day of the year! every december 14 i still feel like a six year old (i woke up at 4:45 this morning with a grin) and i hope i always feel that way about it. part of the reason is that my two best friends and two close family members share the day with me. the other reason is that i give myself carte blanche to goof around the whole day. i saved a piece of cake for you, but if this isn't enough to put you in a sugar daze, i have a guest post on stephanie levy's art advent calendar today in which you'll see how i eat my way through the holidays.

so to celebrate i think i'll have a little BIRTHDAY SALE in my doodleshop. for today and tomorrow (monday 12/14 and tuesday 12/15),for any doodleprint you buy, i'll toss in a groovy doodle magnet of your choice. the free shipping offer is still going on, too.

p.s. if you're curious, i'm thirtysomething and this is the last year i can say that :)