Creative Jump Start Begins & My "One Little Word"

With this new year comes two renewals in my life... number one being Creative Jump Start, with Head Jump Starter, Nathalie Kalbach. I honestly debated as to whether or not I would participate in 2016 (the price has gone up considerably), but was thrown over to signing up when I saw that Paula Phillips would be one of the instructors. I'm a big fan of her work, and wouldn't want to miss out on her class. You can sign up here for classes with twenty-four artists with the theme of Art in Translation.

Second is "One Little Word". Ali Edwards is the originator of this workshop and you can read about it here. I've never taken this actual class by her, but do my own journal and projects using my one little word... which this year is...

Ali's workshop sounds wonderful, and if my funds where unlimited, I'm sure I would sign up for this one, too. As it is, I've had to do this one on my own for the last four years, but please check it out. I've taken some of her other classes and they were well worth the cost.

In starting out the new year, I'm sure we all need a bit of inspiration and a little push to get going. Please take a look at these two sources. You may find what you need to start your year off right!

Thanks for stopping by... I so appreciate it!

Linda

Creative Jump Start 2014

Creative Jump Start 2014

officially began yesterday, January 1st, but today we actually start our "classwork" with one of my very favorite Jumpstarters, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. 

This is my third year as

a Jumper, beginning with Nathalie's first CJS in 2012. CJS is the highlight of my dull Ohio winter days in January. After the excitement of creating Christmas projects has past, I really need this jumpstart to get me going again.

If you haven't signed up,

it's not too late. Check out the details at Nathalie's N*Studio blog here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda

Creative Jump Start #10

Creative Jump start

Summit 2013 ended last Thursday, and here I am on #10 in my journal. I went through the videos each day, printed out the lesson numbers and photos of the Jump Starters, but I was waiting to do the actual techniques when I had time to work on each one. So here is page ten...

Gel medium resist

technique with our leader Nathalie Kalbach.

I loved this bird

in the middle of the stencil. I outlined it with my Zig Painty silver oil based paint marker then sat him on a branch.

Thank you all for your

kind comments about my Press journal I posted here, here and here. I appreciate you taking time to let me know what you think. I know how busy everyone is, and for you to write a comment is just so encouraging. Thank you, friends... love you all!

I'm linking up at:

Balzer Designs - Art Journal Every Day

Make It Monday - Anything Goes

Question: Do any of you have a Cinch Bindery Tool and what do you think of it?

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda

Creative Jump Start Summit 2013 Begins

Oh what a busy, busy week!

As soon as the new year began, so did Creative Jump Start, kicking my creativity into high gear. I just cannot leave my studio (which is what I am now calling my little craft room, which was once upon a time our daughter Carrie's bedroom). I can't say enough good things about CJS... it just seems to inspire me to try all manner of new techniques. CJS Summit 2012 started me off last year in a new direction of crafting with mixed media and art journaling. 

Here is my 2012 journal...

My first ever art journal...

 my granddaughter Katie painted the covers and tied fibers around it. That was how I started.

I filled it up. There are 

a lot of pages I don't care for... but that's all part of the growing process, right?

Here is the one I started

for this years Summit 2013... I chose a larger size journal so I don't have to squeeze everything in on a page (hopefully). I haven't done anything on the cover yet... so here is my first page...

As you can see, I added

another of Zorana's free printable little birds... I thought she went well with my color scheme.

Organizer/coordinator, Nat

Kalbach started things off with two videos to get us going and we've been sailing ever since... Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Heidi Swapp, Sharon Laakkonen and Louise Nelson have followed with more fantastic tips and techniques... you have to get in on this, ladies! and it's FREE!

I promise I will get

around for a visit soon... can't seem to get it all done! Along with all the projects and cleaning up after the holidays, I decided to clean out the studio (I'm a glutton for punishment). I went through all of my supplies, organizing and getting rid of what I knew I wouldn't use anymore because it wasn't my style (funny how that changes). Now granddaughter Katie will have some new things to play with and I'll have a bit more room. CHA is just around the corner which means a ton of new product being released soon... I REALLY need more room!

Have you seen the sneak peek of Graphic 45's French Country?

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda

The Start of Something Good

Do you ever sit down

to write a post and your mind goes blank? That's where I am at the moment. So much has happened today that I want to write about, but I just can't come up with the words to express it. My day started off with receiving my first email from Nathalie beginning the Creative Jump Start Summit 2013. I have been so keyed up for this, and I have to say that my expectations certainly were fulfilled. If you find that you need some reviving, be sure to join us... it's not too late to start. Check it out here.

One of my favorite

mixed media artists, Paula Phillips, has been taking a break for several months. Today I discovered that she had recorded a show on Monday, and will be back live on Ustream Saturday evening. Happy day! I find that I really 

need the inspiration and encouragement of these events and videos to keep myself challenged to continue creating. Well, I'm still struggling with the words, but that is somewhat what I wanted to say.

Now, two more of

my thank you cards that I made from the My Mind's Eye Portobello Road collection (details here).

I'm sorry I haven't

been around to visit much since Christmas, but I promise to stop by your blog soon. I love you guys... and I'm really missing our visits. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda