WOYWW

What's on your work desk?? Mine is covered with alphabets I have been practicing. This is the last day of our class, and I will miss the gentle "push" to do more. It is very encouraging to see what all the other students have done. Be sure to visit Julie at Stamping Ground to see what others are working on today.

Letter Love 101

Well the class is almost over for me. I believe you can sign up anytime right here at joanne sharpe's blog, if you want to improve your lettering for journals, or just for fun. I have enjoyed learning about the different pens and fun ways to make letters. I bought some calligraphy fountain pens which I just love. I even use them to make my grocery list. Makes life more colorful!  Here are a few of my practice pages writing in the round.

Blue Monday

Time is flying by so fast; I hope to make every minute count for good.
I don't want to get to the end of the journey and say, "I wish I had....."
Tell someone today that you love them.
Since blue is my favorite color, I always participate in
Blue Monday over at Sally's site enjoying all of the "blue" postings.
Go see for yourself. Meanwhile enjoy the day; go fly a kite or take a sail boat ride.
It is overcast here, but somewhere there are blue skies!
Remember XOXO

Little Bliss List

On Fridays we remember what brought us joy this week.
If you want to see joy every day just blog on to Liv Lane's
blog. She always has something to lift your spirits. Today you can read everyone's
Bliss List. Mine includes:
1) Seeing the yellow daffodils blooming at a friend's house
2) 84 degrees in February in Texas
3) Found my" heart" stencils
4) Drinks and pizza with friends

5) Seeing the joy on the faces of the American Idol finalist

WOYWW

I want to join in with the folks over at Julie's, where we have "show and tell"; what we are working on.
I am still enjoying my lettering class, with a new project every day. I have painted many papers  to use as backgrounds for lettering, and also to cut out letters using our own designs. These can be pasted on to a background or into our mixed media journal. Why not pop over here and see all of the wonderful ideas that might inspire you on a new project.

Blue Monday

I have been practicing lettering all weekend. This exercise was part of the lesson.
I thought it an appropriate contribution to celebrate Blue Monday with Sally over
at Smiling Sally's. You just never know what you might see over there.

Go take a look; there are usually some incredible photographs!

More Lettering

Practice, practice, practice! I forgot to show my practice pages when I started this lettering class.
We are supposed to come up with our own unique alphabet. I have such a love for  Copperplate writing that it is hard for me to do otherwise; I like curves better than angles. I prefer circles more than squares.
Isn't it funny what we find out about yourself when we try something new?

Bliss and Joy

I can't separate the two. Every Friday it is time to think back over the week and
remember what brought you joy, or bliss. There are sites out there dedicated to this purpose.
One is here, Liv Lane has a very colorful and interesting blog. The other one is here. Louise Gale is traveling in Australia, so she has a lot of Bliss to share, as well as her readers.
My list is short but sweet:
My hubby made the best chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's Day.
We had wonderful friends visiting for a few days.
Attended a great college reunion and saw "older" classmates. :>)
Visited a friend who just got out of the hospital.
Celebrated our engagement anniversary, which is the day before Valentine's Day
with steaks, salad, and Texas Peach wine that we bought at The Wine Sellers in Salado.
I am truly grateful for all the Joy and Bliss this week.

Letter Love 101

I have been taking a class on line from Joanne Sharpe. She has a great blog here.
I have taken calligraphy in the past, but just needed a jump start to do something
a little different and quicker for my art journal. The classes are very short because 
there is one posted every day for 29 days. It is on going, in case you want to hop in and start
from the beginning.
We use a regular composition book for practice, and when we started adding paint, we worked in a Visual  mixed media art journal. I will show a few of my exercises here and if you want to see more of the students work you can go to the Flickr site and look at the Letter Love Group pictures.

WOYWW

As we use to say in Catholic grade school; through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.
Yes, it has been a whole week since I have been here, but we have been busy with some good friends who were sleeping in my studio/guest room. My desk had to be cleaned off and everything hidden away, but I am slowly making a mess once again. I have been experimenting with every pen or pencil I have, so that my journal looks more interesting. Been practicing lettering, and even having the desire to get out my Copperplate pen nibs and India ink. That is my favorite calligraphy hand, however it doesn't go so well with the look of most collage journals that I see. Maybe I will start something new. Gotta get busy! Don't forget to see what other artist are working on; you can find them here on Julie's site. Read what she has to say and click on any name and you will be amazed at what some people are doing.

Valentine Card time-WOYWW

All these envelopes to fill; I'd better get busy. Valentine's Day is next week and I have some things going this weekend! I love to make the cards, but even more fun is choosing coordinating envelopes to go with them. Sometimes I send a white mat along with the card so it can be displayed that way, or framed if they want.
Actually my desk is clean today because my studio is a guest room for a couple of days, and everything is put away. Hope I can find it when needed!! Be sure to go to Julie's site and see what is new.

These photos were taken on a recent trip to Wimberly, TX.
Someone's imagination is running wild.
I believe  the small one is an armadillo, the other a jack rabbit, both with antlers; (they do live in Texas!), and of course an elephant. It was made out of fringed metal.
They were outside of a store, and look like the can hold their own in the weather.

A time to reflect

Friday is a day to think about everything that has gone on this past week.
Think about the joys of life, and the things that make you happy.
Joy is making art with my grand daughter. She loves to paint, and does a fine job. The little frog is for her Mother. Visit Louise at Joy Jam here to see other joyful events.
Bliss is having a cup of Ginger tea. This tea always makes me feel better, whether it is to warm me up or settle my stomach.Blissful moments are different for everyone.
Visit Liv Lane  here and see what made others blissful this week.
Joy for me is participating in "Letter Love 101", a lettering workshop by Joanne Sharpe.
I also enjoyed a stage play; "I Hate Hamlet". It is playing at The Palace Theater.
here in town. It was a great play; very funny.
I hope you all have a joy filled day . Remember to count your blessings, and join us here next Friday with your special memories of the week.