Joy Journal

I realized I didn't share more photos about my Joy Journal from our recent art group trade. Since today was mostly an errand day....it's the perfect day to share.

I had so much fun working in everyone's journal...trying to personalize and add to what was already there. 

I'm not sure the others have their original journals back yet...but that will happen soon. Then hopefully we'll have a Zoom chat to share and celebrate the finished products. We all saw some stages of each one...but we've only seen the finished product of the last one we did. And we all may end up doing more in our own journals. I know I will.

We started  this project back in April when we were together...and I wrote about it here: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2025/04/rebirth.html

My original journal was filled with a variety of recycled and repurposed papers and artwork. A few pages were blank.

There were pages to color, doodle and embellish...and there were pockets to fill. It made its way around the circle and everyone could do anything they wanted. There were no rules...and nothing was off limits! 

I'm not going to post every single page...but I wanted to give you a sampling of the joy that is inside.

I can see the personality of each person coming through. There are a few things I'm not quite sure who the artist is...but I'll find out.

The original page here was from a garden center catalog...so the sunflower seed packet was perfect. I'm not sure who added that.

The circle stickers are on watercolor paper...so it will be fun to add to that. And I love the little pencil faces along the side...I think that's Tracie's work.

This cute little cat is tucked in the pocket....

and I love the Vonnegut quote!

A friend is what the heart needs all the time! 

Henry Van Dyke

I love these colorful wonky circles! 

I'm guessing Brenda did the colorful swipes...and Becky probably added the vase....? But now I need to put something in it. There are more pages...but you get the idea. I'm going to have fun adding my own touches here and there. I'll keep you posted on this Joy Journal Journey. What a fun shared art project this was!

Still Going Strong

 "Get out of your head and into the moment!" S. Mcnutt

Turtlehead is a welcome pop of color this time of year. And the bees love it!

 

Anne came over yesterday to do a little sun printing. 

We always have a great time talking about and making art. Anne reminded me of a the shared art she is doing with her sister inspired something we did years ago.

Back in 2014 Anne and I did a year long shared art project where we both ended up with a two sided accordion book of our monthly art pages. But my favorite part of this story is that at the end of our project she started a shared art project with her sister...and they're still going strong. That makes me so happy. 

You can read about my project with Anne here in these posts. The first two posts are the front and back of my book...and the second two are the front and back of Anne's. 

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/02/a-motto-month.html

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-other-side.html

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/12/annes-motto-book.html

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-other-side.html

Art Friends

I'm so lucky to have art friends. 

Becky gifted everyone in our art group a set of these tiny art cards. The paper feels like watercolor paper....it's nice and sturdy and seems like it would take any media.

The cards fit onto these little discs...and are easily flipped through like a spiral notebook.

These sweet little substrates are going to be the blank canvas for our next art trade.  

We will create a little art piece based on a chosen theme for each round and send it to someone in the group. Becky, Tracie and Brenda got together recently to iron out the details and I'm just waiting to hear when to start, what the first theme is....and who to send my first one to. I'm ready to go...I think it's going to be fun! 

Stay tuned!

While they were together they had a gelli printing session and I Zoomed in for part of it. Becky joined the Zoom call on her phone and I was able to watch some of the fun...and offer tips here and there. It actually worked pretty well and it almost felt like I was there with them. I was in my guest room working on matches while I watched.

Here are a couple of screenshots:  Tracie is pulling some cats she painted on the gelli plate with sharpie markers.

And Brenda was creating a beautiful hydrangea print. She actually painted the blue on the BACK of the tissue or delli paper. Because the paper was translucent...the color came through the front but she still had the detail of the petals on the front. None of us had ever thought about this before....very clever Brenda!

  

Here's a little montage of some photos they sent me of some of their prints. 

They did quite a few where they printed leaves with the paper taped to the table....took the first print...then pulled the paper back to pick up the leaves then fill the space with with the ghost print. 

Anchor Images

Some of you may watch the CBS News Sunday Morning show and are familiar with the variety of suns that are displayed between segments. 

Did you know they all come from viewers...and there have been over 9000 displayed?  That concept was one of the inspirations for the next art exchange. with Becky, Tracie and Brenda.  

This photo is of a fabric sun I made for an exchange I did with my sister Marilyn years and years ago....also inspired by the Sunday Morning show suns.

My Madison group isn't doing suns, but each of us has picked an image that we're calling our anchor image.  It could be a photograph, a work of art, or an image from a magazine or Pinterest.  Over the course of 4 weeks we each will do a rendering of each other's anchor image. We can use any media and interpret it however we want...as long as we honor the image. 

We'll do them one at a time and hold them until the end when we will mail them at the same time to to the owners of that anchor image. So at the end of November....we will all end up with 4 versions of our own anchor image. Phew! Does this even make sense? 

Thank goodness Becky made us a chart so we can keep it all straight. I digitally sent my anchor image to Becky this morning....and Tracie sent hers to me...and I'd have to check the chart so see where the others went. We're off and running and it's going to be an interesting challenge. 

I should have had my own image rendering done by now...but I changed my mind at the last minute so I'm starting over.  But I'll get two done this week.

If all goes well....you'll be hearing more about it at the end of November or the beginning of December.  There will be lots to share.

These were the photos Alyson (Paul's sister) shared with me last evening....
they got 7 inches of snow in Denver.

The Other Two

"Peace: It does not mean to be in a place where is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart." author unknown

I've been playing with orange for our Rainbow Connection exchange....but I just got photos of the other two red cards to share....both of them two sided.

Becky created a fabulous red bloom for Tracie...the petals are flower images cut from seed catalogs!  Very clever Becky.  The white pearl bead are a nice touch!

  

Tracie got help from her grandson Anders on her card for Brenda. Tracie often shares his art with us....and I especially adore his precious little trucks.  Do you notice the "red" in sign language in the truck? Also...Tracie used her very first ever gelli prints she made during a session with Brenda and Becky. Shared art at its best!

And trying to stick with my adding a rainbow everytime I post about this project.... here's a Strikingly Pleasing rainbow scene from our morning walk. It's a lovely home...and the rainbow peace flag and the red tulips caught my attention. I'm going to take notice of this property when the grasses and other plants are mature. 

And....my rainbow entry rug...still makes me smile. I wintered over these begonias....and have been hardening them off to go back into the garden. I'm pleased at how well they've done!  

RED Collage Card

I had lots of ideas going through my head for my RED card.....and I landed on doodles, cutouts, and collage.

At first I thought I would have  more layers of flowers and plants in the bowl....and even a little touch of green.  But in the end I kept it fairly simple...just a few red cutouts....black and white doodles...and a touch of gold.

The polka dots are circles cut from deli paper gelli prints. 

This is what my table looked like early on. Do you see the napkin in the top left?

That red border became the foreground.  I thought it was tableclothish.

I generally like to have a tiny little border as a frame.  So I cut my collage piece just a bit smaller and mounted it on the card stock that I had edged with red paint. 

The back was optional. I used one of my favorite children's book characters...

Olivia...whose signature color is RED! 

And of course....it's not complete without a red envelope liner!

RED card for Becky for the rainbow connection project ✔

Now I'm thinking about Orange!

Every time I post one of our rainbow connection cards....I'm going to try and include some sort of a rainbow.  This time it's some familiar fussy cutting I did last night....I like the scraps as much as I like the little flowers. I have plans for these. 

Red Dahlia

Brenda's red card came today for our Rainbow Connection art trade....and it's fabulous! This is going to be fun and colorful summer!

Brenda is quite a gardener...and dahlias are one her favorites! 

The red is rich and the finish is glossy....I love everything about it!  

I'll share the others as they arrive at their destinations.

Here's a little red color collecting from today.

We only seem to have a couple of hummingbirds that come back to the yard....but they've just started to feed.  I'm going to be looking for some plants that will attract them.  We just love watching them!

I've been trying to catch a cardinal with my zoom lens....

and this is the best one so far. I'll keep trying.

And look what was finished on Margie's table today!  This puzzle was a birthday gift from my sister LaVonn that I brought back from Wisconsin....Margie got to do it first! I'm working on a tough one right now....the verdict is still out whether I'm going to stick with it.

Reflection

I got to meet Max for the first time today....on my 64th birthday!  

Best birthday present ever!  

 

Grandma Becky....and whatever I am to this precious little one.

I was last in line to get Brenda's booklet...so was the first one to see it completely finished. Brenda's theme was reflection.....and probably the most challenging theme for me.  It required some time to mull it over.

It was fun seeing Brenda's cover....it reminded me of the water doodles that Emily and I traded back in 2021.  https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2021/09/water-doodle-exchange.html

Once I found a quote that spoke to me....a concept for the art piece quickly followed.  Sometimes the tough ones turn out the best!

Another chance to practice my hand lettering.....I do like using a couple different styles.

For my art page, I punched squares from some of my own photos to represent how I experience the world around me. Then I made a colorful little fused art piece inserted into the cutout in the center to represent the world within me.  I was tickled how is honored the quote.

I used one of the little hummingbirds from the book Alyson gave me and some skinny strips of fused fabric.

Those of us who were the 4th in line...were the first ones to see a finished book.  So here is Brenda's completed book....on reflection.

            Brenda                       Becky               MaryAnn                 Tracie

Here are the other quotes:

"Upon reflection I often find the parts have as much to 

offer as the whole." (Tracie)

"The toughest opponent that we will ever have to face is the one that stared back at us from the mirror."  (Becky)

Balance, by David J.  

Life is of Motion

Even water itself is healthiest with movement

But stillness

will always be necessary for reflection  (Brenda)