Highly Prized: The Sketchbook Challenge meets Inspiration Everywhere

Still continuing with the Inspiration Everywhere class from the end of last year...at my pace.  And today, the next prompt for that class, Hands, meets The Sketchbook Challenge's January Theme, Highly Prized.

Pulled out my watercolor crayons to wash on the background (while my wee girl painted with the watercolors Santa brought her)...

And when it was dry...  Remember when wee girl & I got a handle on some pink painted playtime? Well, this is where I stamped that uber pink hand o' mine:

And then I got to journaling on my take on The Sketchbook Challenge's January theme:  Hands. Highly Prized. Hands.

So much fun to pull a brush, get my hands all gooped up, and write away!  Are you participating in The Sketchbook Challenge?  If you are, let me know so that I can come see what you are creating! :>

(Also, I've been made aware that some people are having trouble viewing my blog in its entirety - left sidebar, body/content, right sidebar.  If you are, I do apologize.  I am trying to figure out what's going on.  Though it is definitely a challenge as I can see the whole site.  Just want to say that I'm looking into it!  Hope you'll hang in there with me! :>)

KT Tunstall's kickin' it in my head!

Been playing my Inspiration Everywhere iTunes playlist and just can't get KT Tunstall and her "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" outta my head! Sooo...thought I'd share a little YouTube video fun with you.

Here's the music video to go with the song:

And here, she lays down all those sounds, all those rhythms, one on top of the other.  This performance is both wee girl and my favorite!

What songs get your toes a tappin'? Share a favorite video (one that us Mamas don't have to race to shield a kidlets' eyes or ears for please....or at least a warning to watch without them :>), I always love some blurf (blog surf) enabling!

Annnnnnd........are you cheering a team on this weekend for the NFL playoffs??  In case you didn't know (;>), I AM!  Seattle Seahawks are playing Chicago Bears and its an all out call for Seahawk blue this weekend......GO HAWKS!!! 

Hope your weekend is fun, full o' laughter, & simply fantastic! :>

Inspiration Everywhere {Music}

Does music inspire you?  Move you?  Drive you?  Make you laugh?  Sing?  Create?  Smile?

Jessica Sprague had us rockin' it both Old & New school with this Inspiration Everywhere project.

We started by creating a playlist on iTunes and then rocked it Old School, making a Mixed CD (remember the days of Mixed Tapes??  I just came across an old one from my best friend from high school....you might remember her as friend Jenn who sews those fabulous tote bags.....and oh my, did that ever send me back! :>).

And while I got inked & painted up for the Cover & Dedication page, I liked the idea of going digi here and used the pdfs that Jessica provided for the class.

Here's what I'm groovin' to while I'm creating or crafting (often with my wee girl):

1) I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas

2) Walking on Sunshine - Katrina & the Waves

3) Black Horse & the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall

4) Jai Ho - A.R. Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalaxmi Iyer & Vijay Prakash

5) Waiting On the World to Change - John Mayer

6) Time for Miracles - Adam Lambert

7) Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield

8) Don't Stop Believin' - Journey

9) Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield

10) Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall

11) Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap

12) Dance the Night Away - Van Halen

13) Just Dance - Lady Gaga & Colby O'Donis

And to rock it New School, Jessica had us submit our playlists to iTunes as an iMix and Here is mine.  (Though iTunes dropped Walking on Sunshine by Katrina & the Waves from the list....it was probably a version they didn't have for purchase.)

Do you listen to music while you are getting your creative groove on?  I'd love to know what you are tappin' your toes to, come tell me! :>

Can You Handle a Little Playtime? {Wordful Wednesday}

Can you?  Can you handle a little playtime?

We can & we did.

Did you play with me for one Wordful Wednesday back in October when I cropped in on the photo?  Well, I was editing photos for another post, when I cropped in and saw this:

(These are more fun, if you don't scroll down right away! :>)

What do you see?

What do you see besides a boat load of pink? 

Do you have any idea what it is?

?

?

?

?

Truthfully, if I didn't participate in the process & take the pic, I wouldn't know.  But, I did still enjoy seeing something else entirely once the photo was cropped down. :> 

The red looks something like a cross between a road runner, a turkey, and an alpaca running to me!  But, its really a part of this:

Wee girl & I had some fun with acrylic paints, our hands & making hand prints!  Just before I washed this already drying paint off, I snapped a pic.  Thankfully, acrylic paint comes off easy peasy in the sink and I'm no longer sporting a pink mitt!

We've been having a lot of creative fun since her big brother returned to school last week from Winter Break.  There's been acrylic paint (a lot o' pink), watercolors, construction paper, scissors, glue sticks, and more Inspiration Everywhere projects, which I will continue to share as I complete them (including the page that painted hand stamped itself upon).

Thanks for stopping by today!  What has the New Year brought your way?


Linking up with:
Parenting By Dummies
Seven Clown Circus
A Beautiful Mess
Live and Love...Out Loud
5 Minutes for Mom

Inspiration Everwhere - Art Journal {Dedication}

Loved Jessica Sprague 's Inspiration Everywhere class so much that though I wasn't able to keep pace during the two weeks of class last month, I am still happily working on the class assignments and today I'm sharing the Dedication Page.

Jessica prepared a fun pdf to use for this page, but my mojo was sparked with the combo of her class & Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas and I had to continue diving in, hands on & enjoy the full tactile experience of creating (just as I did for the art journal's cover).

When I saw the pocket Jessica used on her Dedication Page to insert her journaling, I immediately knew what I would use.  I have a pile o' old Levi's & other jeans (all sizes, from the kidlets on up to ours) & went running to see what size tush back pocket would work on my page.

I also grabbed this uber cute paper that I've been hoarding for wee girl's scrapbook album (I still have a sheet & a half left, so I didn't de-hoard it all ;>).  Isn't it darling?

A bit more patterned paper for the journaling, some acrylic paint, rub-ons, and ink to complete the page.  Oh yeah, did I mention the smiles, fun & even a few giggles (courtesy of wee girl working on her own collage beside me)?  Because there were!

The journaling for my Dedication Page reads:

Explore.

Seek.

Search.
Find.

Inspiration.

It is everywhere.

Outside. Inside.

Above. Below.

Friends. Family.

In Print. Online.

Color. Shape.

Texture. Line.

Words. Spoken.

Written. Sights.

Sounds. Smells.

Emotions. Sensations.

Inspiration.

It.

Is.

Everywhere.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Supplies:

Paper:  Foofala;  K&Company

Ink:  Tattered Rose - Tim Holtz Distress Inks for Ranger

Paint:  Acrylic Paint - Making Memories

Rub-Ons:  Making Memories;  My Mind's Eye

Other:  Fabri-Tac;  Levi's jeans

Linking up:
Tattertots and Jello:  Weekend Wrap Up Party

Inspiration Everywhere - Art Journal {Cover}

Jessica Sprague's Inspiration Everywhere has been a fantastic class! I just loved how many different creative sources & mediums the class assignments were pulled from.  In fact, it has drawn & pushed me to a variety of inspiration wells to drink from & materials to play with.

There has been a variety of assignments & I will be back to share more of them, but first I wanted to share an ongoing assignment in the class, our Art Journals.  And what do we start with first?  But, the cover, of course!

While Jessica Sprague embraces design & creativity through technology, her site also allows for the scissor & glue types as well.  And though I'm learning more & more techno/digi options each day (& there were digi options for these pages as well), I chose to pull out acrylic paints, sparkle glaze, Tim Holtz masks, & my favorite Spica glitter pens.

Ironically, Tim Holtz was demonstrating his masks (in reverse) on today's 12 Tags of Christmas tag  (talk about a fountain of inspiration!) and I will definitely have to remember to stamp with them next time!

I painted over the alpha letters 'a', 'R', and 't' first with a red, then orange, then yellow.  While the background bright pink was straight out of the bottle, I mixed the other three colors for the shades I wanted and added a sparkle glaze that I had on hand (it adds bits of glitter to the paint).  I also dry brushed on all three colors around the perimeter of the cover.

'Journal' and 'Inspiration Everywhere' are written in black & while it seems that I was not able to pick it up with the camera, they are traced over with a black spica glitter pen & do indeed sparkle.

I didn't paint the left edge, under the spiral, intentionally.  Initially, I was going to just tie color coordinated ribbons all over the spiral, but a wee different idea has sprung.....I'll share more with the next art journal post! ;>:>

What is lighting your creative fires these days?  Both Jessica Sprague & Tim Holtz have lit many creative sparks for me and I'd love to know what's working for you!

I'm linking up!