Thursday, September 19, 2019

10 Day Gratitude Journal



EDIT: This journal is SOLD.

Almost two years ago, I made this fun little grateful journal, thinking I'd use it, but it's been sitting, looking all forlorn, in among my art stash. So, I've decided to sell it. I feel sad, as I always do when I part with something I've poured my heart and soul into, but I can't keep everything I make! 

I designed it while I was on the fabulous Roben-Marie Smith's design team. There's even an hour-long video of it on her YouTube channel. Check it out if you want to see the time-lapse. I recommend changing the playback speed to 2x if you don't have an hour to watch or be bored out of your mind. (Unless of course, you're curious how I achieved the look in detail. ;) ) 
See video 
 HERE

This could be a handy little journal to quickly document ten days of gratitude. I've seen many people do this on the socials. This is a great tool to practice thankfulness during the American thanksgiving season, or really, any time of the year is good too! Check out the hashtags #tendaysofgratitude #gratitudejournal #gratitudeproject 

This little book boasts 16 pages of painterly index cards, a few tags and some POPart cards designed by Roben-Marie Smith.  See photos below, which I've posted in order they appear in the book.

To purchase or if you have any questions, you can reach me at artfulstories@gmail.com or go to my Facebook page Artful Stories, or private message me on Instagram at @annawho.

































♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Life Documented Week 34 Playing with Fibers


Hi all! I was playing in my pocket journal yesterday, and came up with a l'il somethin'. 


I've had this gorgeous hand-spun, hand-dyed wool for months, and the colours are just begging me to play with it. Finally I have.






I posted the step by step on the Life Documented blog, as it was my turn to share a prompt.

COME SEE if you'd like.


Enjoy your day!

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥


Thursday, June 20, 2019

Week 25/52 of the Life Documented 2019 Project

 Week 25/52 of the Life Documented 2019 Project.

Hi, I'm back with a short little post to show off my recent page in my traveler's journal. I have been following the Life Documented Project for a few years and providing some tutorials for it too, but I haven't been able to get into the mindset of carrying through with all the other great prompts in the group. I finally actually did do one finally. 

The prompt was to make your own paper stencils. I deviated slightly by using one I'd made a long time ago with a transparency sheet. 




I created this layout below for last week's (Week 24/25)  prompt on the Life Documented blog. Tap on link HERE to see it.


Would you like to have your own set of my doodled numbers? Here is a download link from my DropBox if you're interested.



Come join us in the Facebook group to see all the prompts. It's a friendly, fun, rewarding, safe place from beginning to more experienced artists/art dabblers/art journalists alike! 

Link below:


or follow the blog where all the prompts are published.


Thanks so much for stopping by! Until next time!

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥


Sunday, April 21, 2019

ReSketch COLOR Journal Collaboration

Hello, my friends! I've been silent around here, but I've been busy creating! I'm part of an exciting collaboration, so today, that's what I'm here to share with you!


A few of us are sharing our art journals today in a blog hop. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom to see all the other beautiful journals. This collaboration is between ReSketch and StencilGirl. Our challenge was to use one colour only. 

I chose my favourite colour ever EVER. I call it aubergine. It is a blend of deep violet dark, black and quinacridone magenta. Using only this colour was harder than I thought! I tried to use as much black and white to get that coveted depth that we all try to achieve. Not sure how successful I was - I still have much to learn - but this artist life is a journey, and being vulnerable is helpful, I think. :)

I received a cute little 3.5x5"journal to work in. You can purchase them here: https://resketchbook.com/products/resketch-journal-3-5-x-5-inch

I have a theme for this book. It's all about beautiful womanhood and being a mother, taken from a little devotional book called You Are Captivating: Celebrating a Mother's Heart by Stasi Eldredge.



I painted each page in this little re-purposed journal black, and roughed and crinkled up some of the pages. I pulled out the staples in the binding, poked two holes into the spine, and threaded this acrylic yarn through to bind it. I added some fun-looking beads to add interest.


I had a great time in creating this velvet aubergine color, and added the juicy and rich colour to the top edge of the pages. Yum. 







For the cover's small marks, I used this fabulous StencilClub stencil by Mary Beth Shaw October 2016.

The roses are from my go-to Deconstructed Floral Bouquet Stencil by Traci Bautista. For this look, I stenciled with white and the aubergine in a random manner.


"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." - Proverbs 4:23

Here, I stenciled with white paint on the black painted pages, then rubbed in the blend of aubergine, then stenciled white again in a random fashion, building the layers until I was happy with the look. Loving these funky roses on top of each other. This stencil has such a great design, as it features many versions of roses, and they go so great together. June 2018 Rosie 'O by Desiree Habicht from the StencilGirl Club Collection.



"God knows that our heart is core to who we are. It is the source of all creativity, courage and conviction."

Here, in it's simple splendor, are circles arranged in a grid all happy, made with the Circles Layer Me by Carolyn Dube, with the sponge loaded with varying shades and tints of the auberine paint. 


Love me some pockets and tag. I stitched two of the pages together to create a pocket.


The floral design is from the April 2017 Serendipity Floral by Jennifer Evans, from the StencilClub collection. I use this one over and over over, I like it so much! Well, I used all these featured over and over. LOL

I also used the little circles from the StencilClub stencil from June 2016, mentioned earlier. I adore that stencil for so many reasons. It's full of fun, small art marks, making it very versatile.



"This fierce abandoned, protective, devoted love was wholly new and profound. 
I had become a mother."

This page holds a new meaning for me today. We went to a Good Friday city-wide church service. I think of this somber time in history when Jesus' followers experienced such anguish, seeing their friend suffer and die, but I especially thought of Jesus' mother this time. I cried big crocodile tears thinking of her. She was a mother too. Jesus cared deeply about the women surrounding him. He was no misogynist! I have, over the years, heard this same story over and over, especially during the Easter season, but this time it just resonated with me more.

I used the smaller, matching stencil that comes in this set as used on the previous layout. I also used the Morse code stencil from the StencilClub set, Julie Snidle September 2015 - Lost Languages.




"My heart had expanded to the point that it no longer fit inside me."

I layered the background with the grid stencils (which can be slight seen in the photo below), then added the leaf design on top.






And there you have it! Please visit these other blogs to check out their beautiful work in these lovely journals by ReSketch. 

Scroll further down to see how you can win!









Amie Ruth (her project is pictured on the StencilGirl blog HERE.

We can't let you leave without saying THANK YOU for stopping by and for sharing in our color journal story. And, as a special Thank You, we also have a GIVEAWAY!

We are giving away a random selection of ReSketch journals AND a $25 StencilGirl® gift certificate to ONE LUCKY PERSON!
Make sure to comment below to let us know you've visited and let us know what color your journal would be. Visit each artist(s) blog for more chances to win! (comments due no later than April 28th midnight EST).
We will pick ONE winner on April 29th, 2019 so watch this space to see if you are a winner!

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥