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! :>

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!

 

Inspiration Everywhere at Jessica Sprague!

Jessica Sprague is back at it, offering a free online course on her site that looks like a whole lot o' fun!  What's even better (besides the free thing...which is always fun, right?! :>), its geared towards the crafty & creative as a whole.  Its not just for photographers or scrapbookers or card makers etc., but for all with creative spirit looking to get inspired & put that inspiration to use!  Sounds pretty cool. :>

Free Jessica Sprague Holiday Class

Free? Did someone say, free? Did someone use the words Holiday and Free in the same sentence?! I'm on it!

Can I back up for just one second? Will you hang in there with me?

Like many of us, I have an overwhelming amount of holiday photos. And I am behind in scrapbooking in general and even more when it comes to scrapbooking Christmas! And I know that when I do get to scrapping some pages of Christmases past, years past, I am missing out on some of the best memories to document and share. I miss out on them for two very obvious reasons: one, so much time has past and two, there is just SO much information and SO many photos that I get overwhelmed and it becomes more about getting it done, getting them on the page, than about documenting the little things that make the holidays, events, and moments special. And you just might have figured out that its those little things, those moments, that make life smile worthy. At least, for me, they do!

Now this class, Holidays in Hand, is supposed to be a way for you to tell your holiday stories. I have been very interested in Ali Edwards' December Daily project and now seeing the bright and shinning email in my inbox telling me about Jessica Sprague's new free holiday memory keeping class, I am thinking that I just might be able to combine the two! This is more than a whisper in my ear, offering me help in this arena, its like a swift kick in the you-know-what!!

Last July, I was fortunate enough to sign up for Photo Editing: Frame-ups and Special Effects at Jessica Sprague's site when it was offered for free. And the cool thing was that even if I didn't have time to get to it on a particular day, I could always go back and pick up where I left off as the class materials remained in my "My Classes" section. I think its a great feature to be able to take it at your pace and as your schedule allows. And just so you know, even with all of my gushing, I am not connected or affiliated in any way with Jessica Sprague......just a happy camper right now! :>

Do you scrapbook, memory keep, or document your holiday traditions, events, and/or moments? How do you make it work for you?