Repurposed, re-Loved!

I am inspired by many things.
But I have a special fondness for books. Old books, new books. . ALL kinds of books. I love turning a page and not knowing whether I will laugh, cry, be encouraged or convicted.
This was a gift I made for someone dear to me. I have made altered book projects before, but never one like this. I wanted it to be a more than just words in a book.
I wanted it to be a visual feast!
 I started with some of my favorite inspirations and my favorite quote and took the cover off an old book.
Next I fashioned 4 pages from cardboard

 

 The first page is Do Brave Things. As with most of my paper projects, I have a basic idea or feeling for the layout. But as I start playing with the paper and bits of ephemera, it takes on a life of its own

Dare to Dream

And something I need to be reminded of often. . . You are Loved

And the last page, Follow your Heart.

I hope you are inspired to find something old and make it new again!

Art Therapy

In an effort to “keep it real”

let me just say. . . . . some days I could use a 

therapist on speed dial!

 And lately it seems like I am having

 more of these days than not. 

So I decided it was time

 for a new kind of therapy. One that

 required much less talking, and just more 

being. And truthfully, the three days I 

was working on these pieces were 

so very calming.

This first one I did on canvas. I knew I needed to just get my brain into creative mode so I got on pinterest and found a few quotes I liked and a basic idea of what I wanted. Then I just got on the computer and printed out the lettering I knew I wanted to use.

This font is called rage, and I loved it! This is what it looked like printed out - Y O U

Then I just started sketching it in pencil and filled it in with paint. 

After I had filled everything in, I just used a fine point sharpie for the outline.

I love how it turned out!

The second one was something I made for Tyler. I found a saying that I knew was perfect!

But I did not want to use canvas. So I ripped apart a crate I was not using and recreated this wood panel. Then I printed again from the computer the words I wanted to use and just freehand painted them on. But this one proved to be very tricky……

the wood is not smooth like the canvas, so it was really hard to get a fluid line.

I still loved how this one turned out too.

But more important, so did Tyler!