heartfelt box with eileen hull

Although I ran out of time to post this before Valentine's Day, I wanted to share a version of a project I'm currently working on.  Just arriving in stores now is the new line of "From My Heart" dies by my creative designer friend Eileen Hull with Sizzix.  

Eileen and I are super excited to be teaching another class together in April, 

using this really cool heart box she designed.

Eileen's Scoreboard Dies are innovative designs for cutting thicker materials like matboard.  For my sweetly simple Valentine version, first I painted 

a sheet of 140-pound Fabriano watercolor paper with a soft wash of 

Golden's Light Magenta acrylic paint.  Then I used Eileen's heart-box die to cut two heart shapes for the top and bottom of the box, running the top heart through a texture plate.  Using another die from her new line, I also cut several sizes of flowers with heart-shaped petals from the same painted paper.

For a little glitz, I doodled on the flowers and outlined the heart-box top with Ranger's Liquid Pearls in Platinum.  After the Liquid Pearls dried, I stacked my flower layers, cutting into some of the flowers to fluff the petals. 

Next I die-cut a second set of two hearts and box sides from heavy Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper and assembled the box.  To make the white paper blend better with my painted paper, I dabbed the edges with Tim Holtz's Distress Stain in Spun Sugar.  Then I adhered the textured heart to the top of the box and added the layered flower.

Thinking it would be fun to add a Valentine sentiment to the box, I die-cut a banner from Bristol paper using an old Sizzix banner die (which I couldn't find online anymore).  With a Pitt black ink pen, I doodled the word "heartfelt" and filled it in with a Prismacolor watercolor pencil, also shading the tag ends.  Using adhesive only on the tag ends, I shaped the banner into a slight curve.

This heart box will be so easy to tailor to many occasions, including Mother's Day.  

I'll definitely be making more boxes as Eileen and I prepare to teach our class together.

(Our Sentiment Box class will be held at Angela's Happy Stamper in Reston

on April 9th (6 pm) and April 13th (1 pm).  Come join us. :)

Doodle Amour class at French General

In a couple weeks, on Saturday, February 9th, in the afternoon,

this lucky girl will be teaching a doodle lettering class

in the fabulous atmosphere that is French General in L.A.

My generous friend Kaari Meng, warmly supported by her sister, mother, and daughter, concocted this idea with me one lovely evening last summer in France.

To honor French General, I added a few French ribbon swirls to my doodle lettering and outlined a ribbon heart for Valentine's Day and put them together for the February class which we've called "Doodle Amour".

Photo by Debby Schuh at French General's Sunday Soirée

The class will focus on how to turn your handwriting into doodle lettering similar to mine, with examples and demos and hands-on practice.  My class sample, including more doodled pages sewn together as a small booklet, is on view at the store.

If you're in the L.A. area, it would be my pleasure

to share with you my new-found love of doodle lettering.

Because learning is beautiful, n'est-ce pas?  And since I'm still learning, too, I expect to learn so much from all those in class with me, for I believe the best artistic expression is always a two-way street.

Late-night doodling in my bedside notebook :)

According to Molly, there are still a few openings in the class, with details listed under Workshops on the French General site.

merry christmas & happy new year

Wishing you a wonderful holiday and peace and joy in the new year!

house doodling class

In just over a week, my friend Eileen Hull and I will be teaching a class combining her cleverly-designed Sizzix matboard dies with my techniques for doodling and writing on the die cuts.  In other words, she has the serious crafty design gene and I just doodle around for fun.   For the class, Eileen has chosen her large House die as the sample (teal house on left).  In addition to decorating the houses for the holidays, we'll then personalize them with my version of doodle writing (mossy house on right).

The two class samples

Sample with my doodling and handwriting

If you are close enough to attend, please join us

at Angela's Happy Stamper on Saturday, December 1st, at 1 pm. 

Details on Angela's class list.

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving with all the people and blessings you are grateful for.

goodbye summer days

Are you, like me, sad to say goodbye to those warm, sunny, lazy summer days?  On my calendar, they definitely sped by too fast!!  I made this light-hearted art journal spread at the beginning of summer for a round robin book swap, adding some paint, collage, tape, doodling and lettering.  I guess it's already time for a new palette of colors. :)

doodling on the go

It's been such a busy lovely summer!  A couple trips to Europe, a long weekend in CA, family visits, some house repairs, lots of fun and adventure.  So, in order to have any creating time, it's pretty much been doodling-on-the-go.  And I learned how to use Instagram, with the help of some much younger friends (thanks, Molly of 8mm Ideas and Brea!)  Here are a few Instagram photos to share some of my recent doodle lettering.  Hope your summer has been a fun adventure, too!

under the toulouse sun

Although I've enjoyed my stay in Brussels, this morning I happily left its cool, grey and often rainy days in June to fly to Toulouse and the sunny warmth of southern France.  This evening I'm cosseted in my hotel room after a wonderful dinner of duck breast in honey glaze, contemplating whether I have enough energy to work a little in my mostly-neglected journal.  Tomorrow is another day for adventure (maybe Carcasonne) before joining up with Kaari Meng's 3rd week at Chateau Dumas on Saturday.  Besides all the wonderful day trips she has planned, we'll be working on a new journal guided by Wendy Addison!  Can't wait!

(pages still in progress)

brussels to toulouse

espresso bar in Brussels via here 

Happily packing for a Sunday departure for my summer vacation, heading to Brussels again and then, at the beginning of July, to Kaari Meng's third-week session at the Chateau Dumas near Toulouse. On my last visit to Brussels, we had exceptional weather toward the end of March, including sunny days in the 70s that had everyone out walking in the parks and sitting outdoors at the cafes. I hope we are lucky again and it warms up from the current rainy 60s.

 

view from my balcony at the Marriott hotel towards the Grand Place,
just a short walk away past lots of little shops

walking through a public park toward Embassy Row in Brussels

Immediately on my return home, I'm zipping out to CA for a weekend in Pam Garrison's journaling class at Jenny Doh's studio.  And then I'm going to putter around in my garden for the rest of the summer and get back to doodling for some classes I'm teaching in the fall.  Sounds like a plan, right?

Hope you have a wonderful summer with special pleasures tucked in!
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brave new journal

          

(Pitt pens, watercolor pencils, vintage pattern & labels, dotted masking tape)

Late this afternoon I had just enough time to do a quick intro page in my new moleskine journal.  Sitting in the sun on the front porch with Bogie, my sweet puppy, I tried to hurry and finish before the approaching rain.  But Bogie needed a short walk before the rain, too, and before we could run back to the porch, the rain pounded down on us in sudden drenching sheets. Some of the water splats blown in on my journal left open on the porch became opportunities for a little creative cover-up.  :)

Hope you like the message to "brave something" and "find your heart."
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have faith in yourself

In my Doodling Ink class at Rachel's Handmade U in Omaha this past weekend, we played a card game that acted as a doodling prompt.  So I thought I'd pick one of the words as a prompt, too, and doodle-write a page to go with it.  Today I chose the word "faith" as my prompt.  (This was the word you picked, Paige. :)

Although I'll still be adding color and more doodles, here it is in its first stage.  I'm thinking I'll make this Strathmore notebook into a series of reminders to myself -- for whenever I need them.  Like today, when I'm working toward another deadline (not complaining; I'm super happy to have these deadlines).

Have faith in yourself and your ability to be your best you!