I keep coming back to this thread to see what wonderful new ideas everyone is sharing and OMG, you are all so creative and inspiring! So many ideas for me to incorporate into my art journals.  Wow!
New pages to share:






I am working in four different journals right now so these are just a few of the pages I've done in one of them.  can anyone say "addicted"?  LOL

Peace & Love,
~Barb~

OMG, I art journal about everything...whatev er happens to be on my mind at the time that I open my journal.  Some days it's more art and other days it's more journaling...just depends on what my mood is that day.
Here are some of my "creations":

   

I art journal every single day (it is my means of sanity) so I have hundreds, these just happened to be the first ones I came across in my photos on my laptop.

I'm about to give my first Art Journaling Workshop here in my little hometown in Alabama and am so excited to be sharing the hows and whys of something I love.

Peace & Love,
~Barb~

I have so been wanting a rag quite tote/purse forever but I never found one in the colors I wanted....soooooo, being the craft girl that I am, I decided to make one myself.

Only problem is that I couldn't find a tute for one, so I winged it.  Then there was the fabric problem...the closest fabric store is 50 miles away and gas being $4.00 a gallon, it didn't make sense to make that drive for a yard of fabric.

AHA!  Ingenuity came into play.  I went to the trusty Wally World, and came home with a slew of .94 cent bandanas then tore into an old shirt I had in a pile for the Goodwill, along with a 100% cotton mattress pad I had picked up (and SANITIZED) from the thrift store and with a little thought and lots of trial and mistake......TaDa!!!!



I even put 3 small pockets on the inside for keys, cell phone and other things that generally fall to the bottom of your purse.



It was actually fun, looks even cuter now that it's been washed...and I'm addicted!  I must make more in other colors!  lol

Let me know what you think!

I've been doing more shrinky stuff lately and I really do love it.

Here are 3 of my latest creations:






I used some great sterling silver findings on these so they are fun and funky but also have the nice shine of the sterling, too.



I do love my shrinkys!

Comments adored!  Thanks!

Yesterday, was my oldest daughter's 21st birthday and she spent the entire day painting her room downstairs.  She and her 4 y/o son are moving back home with us so that she can finish nursing school.  While she painted, I moved my craft room stuff all upstairs since what was my craft room will be the grandboy, Noah's, room come May 17th. Whew! I must have made 30 trips up and down the stairs and was wiped out by the time I finished.

I think I'd rather have painted. lol

Anyway, to make a short story long, I finally got everything situated in my new craft room, I actually got to use it for a little while today. Here's one of my creations from today (I'm new to jewelry making and I am having a ball)...I like to call her "Ruby Red Lips":


The red beads look kinda flat in the pic but they actually have a beautiful iridescent quality to them. Also, you can't tell in the pic but Ruby has a thick lacquer like finish on her that makes her nice and shiny (and protected.)  I really like these...I think they're my favorites. For now. lol

Critiques welcomed...comments adored!!

Thanks for looking. 

It is an additive that is found near/with the acrylic paints.  It looks milky-white in its bottle but it actually has no color when added to your paints and it's purpose is to make the acrylics permanent.

I use the one made by Delta (Ceramcoat Textile Medium) and it has never failed me.  Looks like this:

This is absolutely fantastic!  Your cake is beautiful (and I remember Twin Peaks, too!) and now, with your tutorial, I'm getting the fever to make a cool cake myself!

Here is my 12 y/o son (he's autistic and absolutely LOVES cakes) with his birthday cake from this year. 

It cost $75!  (Oh, and that's a plastic box for the top layer, just so you know.) Now I'm thinking that I might be able to make him one that totally rocks....with your tute help. 

Thank you so much!    (He's gonna love you for it, too. )

I love stenciling using freezer paper.  I am addicted.  I admit it.

Anyway, yesterday's project was Ghandi.


After cutting out Ghandi, I ironed him on.


Then I mixed my acrylic paint and textile medium...
then slathered it onto Ghandi with a sponge brush.


Voila`...he's done.

I do think I need to add some lettering to it. 
Maybe the Ghandi quote "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" or something.

Opinions?!?!?

Comments adored.  Thanks!

Okay y'all (I'm southern, shoot me!)...prepare to be jealous!!!!

I had to go back to the hospital today for yet another CAT scan...so it's been a rough few weeks for me.  When I got home, full of barium and feeling cruddy, this is what was waiting at my doorstep for me:


OMG...I have never done a swap before and have been so looking forward to this moment.  I immediately felt better than I have in days...and I had to get in the house and dive into my package of pure goodness from the wonderful LauraCore:

Look at all the goodies!

Here's a pic of everything on display (and Laura, I oohed and ahhhed the entire time I unpacked it...while my wonderful hubby stood by saying "How cool" and "That's so 'you', baby" kind of things):


Now...a little at a time:

She must have known I LOVE tea...and how icky I'm feeling...cause here's some wonderful Earl Grey Tea. 


And she knows this woman has a sweet-tooth, too (and I LOVE cream cheese).  I love the top she put on it, too...."Don't assume I Cook!"  LOL  (Good one, Laura...I can't wait to dig in to it after dinner tonight. )


FABULOUS Postcards!  I adore them and want to send them to my friends/sisters...but I also want to keep them for myself.  Oh, the dilemma! 


"Not For Girls" candy (made by Nestle, just so you all know!)  OMG, can you believe this exists?  WOW!!!


A wonderful handmade/reconned "Woodchuck Journal"...just begging for me to get busy filling the pages...and a Woodchuck bookmark.  (She told me that "Woodchuck" is a term in her area used for vagina.  Cracks me up, I tell ya!)


The Woodchuck bookmark and inside of my Woodchuck Journal, showing the lining with all the hilarious vagina euphemisms!  I have read and laughed until my sides hurt...even more than they already did from my appendectomy!  LOL


This pic doesn't do this beautiful cross-stitch Laura did for me justice in the least cause I'm a crafter, not a photographer.  Laura says it's her first cross-stitch but oh my!, it's so perfect!  Totally beautiful and now holding a place of honor on MY side of the bed!

Now, you have to see the letter she sent with my fantabulous package:


Why is this letter so great?  Well, she made me feel so good in this, my first swap and she made me laugh like crazy with this little ditty at the bottom:

Is that not HILARIOUS?!?!?  I love it!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Laura!  You are such a wonderful new friend and terrific swapper!  For everyone else, I know you're jealous!!!

Now, to await the arrival of my package on Laura's doorstep!  *nervous laughter*

*muah*

I've been playing around with the whole freezer paper stencil idea for a while with great success.

A few I've made


Playing with more than one color (and my lettering got a little smudgy but oh well.)


I wore this one for hubby on Valentines.  *smile*


I LOVE this one.  It's been washed 30-40 times and is still going strong!

But those have all been done with the freezer paper stencils and using acrylic paints with textile medium added.

I finally decided to try my hand at the bleaching technique.  (Scary, huh?)  And it turned out pretty good, I think.  A 25 cent thrift shop t-shirt (with a stain on the front) became:


And the stain is completely covered.  You can see a couple of drips (I need a finer mist of the bleach-water mixture next time, I think) but all evidence of the stain is gone!  And the shirt is now my very favorite.  Well, next to my peace sign hand up there, of course.  lol


Here's a close up. 

All comments adored.  Thanks!!