Wreck This Journal

I have seen this book in stores but instead of buying it I went home and put it on my Amazon Wish List and forgot about it.  Well this past Christmas my mom got it for me and it has been so much fun "wrecking" it!!  It is definitely for anyone that wants to be creative but doesn't know where to start.

Here is an example of what one of the pages looks like (not done yet):

So you kind of get the idea right?  Keri Smith wants you to experiment, be creative, use any tools necessary to create something unique and one of a kind.  The title page was boring until my pink and orange markers attacked it:

A few years ago I challenged myself to learn at least the first 25 digits in the number Pi. (You know 3.14159)  So when I read the page that asked me to "add your own page numbers" the one word that jumped out at me was numbers.  I immediately wanted to write as many digits of Pi that I could fit on the page:

This was one of the first pages I did "Draw fat lines then thin":

I wonder why I haven't done this page yet? I love to sew, maybe I'll do something with this tonight:

Another example of one of my finished pages:

This page says "Tear out. Crumple."  I wanted to experiment with wet watercolors, to "crumple" it up before the watercolors dried to see if I could get a cracked effect.  It didn't turn out quite how I expected but I taped the page back in to show the shrinkage of the page:

And I saved my favorite page for last.  It's called a "Stain log".  I've seen this done with lipsticks but I have a slight obsession with nail polish (and these aren't even all of my colors!) so I decided to log some of my colors:

My absolute favorite, that I wear on my toenails all the time, is the Petites Sapphire, third row first one.

I have a board on Pinterest called Wreck This Journal where you can see other peoples creativity (and I've added my pictures as well).

The Newport News Fall Festival

I have loved going to the Newport News Fall Festival since I was a little girl.  My mom has been doing this show with her artwork for a number of years (25+) and I have helped her set up since I was young.  Two years ago she suggested that I apply (I had to be juried in with my own artwork) and sell my stuff.  I was honored and humbled to say the least.  I have always looked up to my mom, she is an amazing artist and for her to acknowledge my work validated me.  I was accepted in last year AND this year and it was a total blast!  I love that it's the first weekend in October, the weather was perfect and because it's in a park the woodsy smell is just heaven.  

A big huge thank you to everyone that came out and supported me!  I was sad that my cousin Susan couldn't come down from Northern Va to help me out so my dad had to do double time between my mom and me (giving us potty breaks, etc.) 

Here are some pictures from this past weekend:

 On Sunday my creative juices were flowing so I sketched 3 pages of notes!  I am so excited to start my new ideas so stay tuned because next year's NN Fall Festival will be definitely be better than this year's! 

Throwback to my photography days

When there is just too much going on in my personal life to update my blog I will post some of my photography:

I hope everyone has a beautiful day!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (almost)

Yes I know I've been MIA for a while but because of my job I now have less time to devote to my artwork.  I love my job (pre-k asst. teacher) and I love my art so I've really been torn these past few months.  But because I am making money as a teacher my artwork had been pushed aside.  During Christmas break I have had time to create again and I love it!  I made 2 fabric bowls for Christmas presents.  One for the director and one for the teacher I work with.  Our theme at St. Andrew's Preschool is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle so the bowl for the director looked like this:

Each of the classrooms is an animal from Eric Carle's books and I am the assistant in The Blue Horse class. I made this bowl for my teacher:

The other things I've done on Christmas break are zentangles, cutting fabric for a new quilt, working on an old quilt AND...

I got a dress form for Christmas (actually it was a present to myself).  I have sewn garments in the past but never with a dress form.  Every season when my husband and I watch Project Runway I get so inspired to start garment sewing again.  I love the fun and funky challenges these contestants must do: create an outfit using only products from the pet store. The beach and the souvenir shop will be the only two places you will be allowed to buy your materials, these were two of the more fun challenges.  I don't think I'll be that "outside the box" when I create my garments but I now have a board on Pinterest called Altered Clothing that has inspired me.  I also have a board called Wearable Art that look more like some of the challenges from Project Runway.

Just because I've been absent doesn't mean I've given up art, on the contrary, I have so many new ideas that I'm not sure when I'm going to have time to work on them.

My art room

This is a corner of our spare bedroom that I have set up as my work space where everything is at my fingertips, almost.  The open door leads to a finished off attic where I am able to store my larger art supplies like fabric, paints, beads and buttons.  Now you may laugh when I call my beads and buttons my "larger" items but I have at least 15 plastic bins for each (beads and buttons) organized by color so they actually take up a lot of shelving space.  I absolutely love buttons, mainly vintage and most definitely fabric covered.

A new (and addicting) website

Think Flickr meets Facebook and you get Pinterest.  I've gone to this website before but I didn't really understand the concept... now I do.  You create folders for yourself and then browse pictures that millions of people have posted and "pin" them into your folders to either refer back to and/or share with your friends.  You can also upload pictures so others can repin yours.  Pinterest makes it so easy because they let you know who your facebook friends are that are also using Pinterest.  It's free but you have to register.  When I did this I was put on a waiting list so I called one of my friends to ask her if this was common.  She said yes and that she would send me an "invite" to see if this sped things up and it did. 

You can check out my account here:
I am of course KimberlyJDC

Photography and flowers

I love taking all kinds of pictures but I always come back to my flowers.  Flowers are so beautiful and from different angles they take on different looks.  God created this whole earth and I believe He gave us flowers to show his extreme love for us.  I like getting as close as I can for a flower shot and it's a bonus for me if it has a bumble bee or a butterfly on it. 

In my photo folders I used to have my flowers labeled according to location but, being the organized person I am, I decided to create folders of flowers according to their color which is working out a lot better for me.  Here is just a small sampling of some of my flower pictures created in mosaic form:

A sneek peek at our Christmas card this year (just ordered!)

Holy Nativity Religious

Send special Valentine's Day cards from Shutterfly this year.

View the entire collection of cards.

My Dream

These are a few quotes I found on the Internet about loving what you do:

Do what you love.  When you love your work, you become the best worker in the world.   Uri Geller

Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life.  Dr. Wayne Dyer

Never continue in a job you don't enjoy.  If you're happy in what you're doing, you'll like yourself, you'll have inner peace.  And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined.  Johnny Carson

Find something you love to do and you'll never have to work a day in your life.  Harvey MacKay

I have never had a job that was my "dream job".  I majored in psychology with a minor in sociology and because I couldn't find work in my field I fell into the retail industry.  At night and on weekends I would explore my creative side: photography and quilting.  Over the years my tastes have changed but one thing still remains the same... I love to create.

I have sold my stuff at local farmer's markets and on Etsy but a dream of mine came true last week when a studio space became available at Olde Towne Art in Portsmouth, VA.  Just think I could display my stuff year round, I don't have to be there in order to sell something AND since it's my space I can put whatever creative thing I'm working on at the moment in there... from my art dolls to my zentangles.  My little art studio for everyone to see.

I believe that God works in each of our lives but most of us can't see it, or don't recognize that it's by God's hand, but when we do it is so powerful.  And it's yet another testimony of His loving grace.

Here is a peek at my studio space.  I'm still trying to fill it up but if you're ever in the area please stop by!

My space 

A few of my art dolls

My zentangles

One of my painted mirrors

My painted button pendants and brooches

Follow this link: Olde Towne Art

The Crafting Community

This morning the YMCA was hosting an arts and crafts show.  It's the first one I've been to in a long time so I couldn't wait for Saturday to get here.  I knew it would be small so I told my husband I shouldn't be long plus it was right around the corner from our house.

When I walked in there was a lot of jewelry, Tupperware and stuff I wasn't interested in... but I am here to tell you that in this gymnasium (where they had the music way too loud) I met three amazing people.  As an artist I look for unique things, things that I've never seen done before and these three people had that.  

Daniel Wayno was the first booth that made my jaw drop.  What attracted me to his booth was the fact that he was wearing a vest made out of jump rings.  And if you've ever worked in jewelry you know how frustrating jump rings can be!  When I commented on his vest he pointed out to me that his viking Lego man had the same one on but in his size.  Wow.  He had bracelets, necklaces, earrings and anklets made out of jump rings.  All sizes and all colors.  I was fascinated by the smallest jump rings that he used and how tedious that must be.  He was extremely nice and I ended up buying one of his ever-so-small-jump-ring bracelets.  (Picture coming soon)

The second artist's name was Katherine Gonzalez.  What initially attracted me to her booth was light switch plate covers.  There was a cat cover that caught my eye.  As I was pondering this purchase I glanced over to another table of sepia photography.  As I looked closer I noticed her sign that said "Alphabet Photography".  Amazing.  All of these pictures were images of different towns and locations that seemed to form letters.  She had one in black and white but I liked the sepia much better because the letters just seemed to sneak out at you.  She had phrases like Faith, Hope and Love.  I ended up purchasing one that was personalized.  I spelled my name KIM and was able to pick out the pictures that formed these letters.  I have never seen this done and I've been doing photography for a long time. (picture coming soon).

The third lady's name was Fran Thompson.  She was actually the aunt of Daniel Wayno (the first gentleman with the jump ring vest).  What first attracted me to her booth was brightly colored fish painted on shudders.  The shudders were horizontal and two fish were facing each other kissing.  They were precious.  She was very personable and the more we talked the more intrigued I became with one of her works on the backside of her display.  It was a lighthouse that was cut out of paper.  It was very intricate and the colors just seemed to pop off the paper.  She explained to me that they were paint chips that you can get (free) at any hardware store. I loved, loved, loved it.  She told me other things she had made with paint chips on note cards for family and it was so much fun brainstorming with her.  This is why I love the crafting community, when like-minded people get together beautiful things happen.

I wish all three of you the best of luck in all of your crafting endeavors!

My little slice of heaven

Otherwise known as:  My Art Room

We moved into this house about 2 months ago and I have finally gotten my art room/work space organized enough to want to take a picture of it. 

We live in a 2-story house and the second floor consists of two bedrooms.  One is the master bedroom and the other one is a spare bedroom.  But then off the spare bedroom there was this door.  And upon opening it I discovered heaven, well almost.  It was a finished attic with slanted ceilings and an unfinished hardwood floor.  This was to become my mine!



Right hand side






Left hand side




















This picture was taken while standing at the circular window looking into the spare bedroom

The spare bedroom is actually where I keep my art table.  My husband and I like to call my attic my store, Kim's Arts and Crafts store.  Because if I ever need anything chances are you'll find it in my store.

I have my art table set up in a corner of the room with a white shelving unit to the right for items I may need to locate quickly when I'm working on a project. (I'll be reorganizing this when the boys go back to school in two weeks).

Welcome to my little slice of heaven.

New ideas

I love buttons and I love painting on them but lately I've been knitting and water coloring.  Well I've revisited my buttons because I have some new ideas for them.  My first step was to collect aluminum can lids (easy, I had them leftover from another Christmas angel project).  Next I visited the hardware store for washers; big heavy washers.  Who knew that creative people LOVE hardware stores because we NEVER use the supplies for purposes intended.

The next thing I did was to glue the buttons on the aluminum can lids then prime them for painting: 

Then let the fun begin!

So this is almost the finished product.  I can't decide whether to make them pendants or put pin backs on them because some of them are rather large.  The diameter of these 3 measures about 3".  So the front is finished but the back isn't.

And here is another look at some of my creations drying in the sun:

I have not forgotten you

... but we all know how crazy summer can get!  Every year I take a vacation my myself.  My husband and I call it "Mommy's Getaway" to get away from everything and everybody.  I will definitely have an entire blog post dedicated to this fantastic trip but I'll just let you know now that for the past 4 years I've been going to Lancaster, PA.  I am simply fascinated with the Amish lifestyle.  Some people may choose to go to an exotic island or overseas but not me.  Every year I look forward to being among the Amish.  More later.

I have also taken up another hobby: writing.  Not just journalling (or blog posting) but honest to goodness short story fiction writing.  In another blog post I'll have to go into detail what Swap-Bot is but it's basically an online artist trading community.  One signs up for certain swaps (and they have swaps for everything) and one is assigned a partner then there is a set deadline as to when your stuff should be sent.  One swap I just completed was a short story swap.  I am thrilled with the way mine turned out and that has encouraged me to do more writing.

Anyway, that's about it for now.  Traveling and writing, writing and traveling.  I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! 

Left brained vs. right brained

After listening to this wonderful new podcast I found on itunes I have decided that I am both left and right brained.  I am heavily into quilting right now and I found this podcast called The Scientific Quilter.  I have only listened to one of her shows so far but it was right up my alley.  She talked about the number pi and had numerous ideas on how to make quilts using the number pi.  I have my own story on pi which I'll share with you later.

Right-brained people are creative...

Left-brained people are analytical...

I have always felt like a right-brained person trying to fit into a left-brained society.  I have since come to realize that I am two sides of the same coin.

In high school I loved art class.  I couldn't wait to see what the next assignment was going to be and then start creating whatever came to mind.  This was 1987 when computers were just starting to make their way into a few classrooms.  My art teacher wanted to delve into this whole new world of computer art but I didn't.  (I would much rather hold a paintbrush in my hand and smell the acrylic paint waft through the air). One of our assignments was to cut a picture out of a magazine, draw a small scale grid on it, then draw a much larger grid on a larger piece of white paper then paint each individual square according to the smaller picture.  This assignment was not simply to enlarge the picture but to get a sense of how pixels in a computer work.  Our finished work was supposed to look like a mosaic which most of them did.  I can't remember if I did a slice of chocolate cake or corn on the cob with a big pat of butter melting over the top of it.  I think I had the cake and my friend had the corn.  Anyway, they turned out wonderful and I was very pleased with mine... if only I could find it now.

Also in school I loved math, especially algebra and the quadratic equation.  I liked working with numbers.  In college when I worked in a video store I memorized all the numbers of the corresponding videos (they were five digits each).  Later in life I decided I wanted to learn the number pi (3.14159).  I challenged myself to learn the first 50 digits; I can recite about 30 so far.  This may be bordering on obsessive compulsive too but that's for another blog entry.  I like numbers.  I currently work in a bank and numbers are my thing.

Then on the other hand, or the other side of the brain as it were, I love to paint, sew, draw, bead... you name it.  If it's creative I've either tried it or will sometime in the future (again another blog entry for a list of things I still want try).  I used to struggle with labeling myself as left or right brianed but now I'm embracing the fact that I'm both.

Happy Mother's Day

I LOVE being a mother and even though I have a part time job at a bank I consider myself a stay-at-home mom.  Joshua, who is 3 1/2 years old, and Jacob, who is 18 months old, are the loves of my life.  I love teaching them new things and watching them grow into little boys every day.  Joshua absorbs everything like a sponge!  And Jacob is constantly exploring his new world.  Joshua asks lots of questions about everything (which I never mind answering) and Jacob is trying to figure out how to work his tongue so he can use "big boy words". 

I continually give thanks to God for blessing me with two beautiful children.  I just love to look at Jacob while he is asleep in my arms and to think that with God's help (and my husband's) we created this ever-so-precious human being.  From the little vein on the side of his head to his little toes... my body made this.  Amazing.

And in honor of Mother's Day I would like to tell you a little bit about my mother.  My brother and I grew up in a very loving home, my childhood was wonderful.  I didn't think my mother worked outside the home because she was always there to take care of us.  Later in life I learned that she did have a job but she worked her schedule so that she could be home with us before and after school.  I NEVER came home to an empty house, never.  And for that I am SO grateful.

My mom was and still is an art teacher for the Newport News Parks and Recreation here in Va.  She loves her job and she loves to share her creative talent with other people.  As a child I thought all mother's had 2,000 tubes of paint and 500 paint brushes and bins and bins of fabric.  Not so.  I was the lucky one to have a mom like that.  Even though I had no interest in learning how to use a sewing machine my mom was always there to show me if I ever got the urge to learn.  Knitting?  Not a problem... my mom had needles and needles ready to go when I asked her a few years ago if she knew how to knit and would teach me.

I believe we continue to grow closer and closer every year and I also believe that our love of art continues to bond us together.  We love to go to arts and craft shows together and mind you we do have somewhat different tastes but that's what makes it all the more fun!  During these craft shows we find each other saying "Oh you could do that!" then we each take mental notes of that item.  We love to brainstorm together and ALWAYS come up with great ideas.

And for all of these fun experiences I've had with my mom I say "Thanks mom for all that you've done and all that you continue to do".

   (As a side note my parents will celebrate their 42nd wedding anniversary next month).