BIG 'OL SALE!!!

I am having a huge Holiday sale in my shop right now!! There are handmade Art Journals, bookmarks, and pendants. Come by and check it out here.


Here are some pieces I completed for a friend's Baby Shower. I framed each one for her baby's room:





And here is my recent Circle Journal entry. The theme of this journal is "Red".



I hope you are having a great holiday so far!!
Shonna

What Does The Holiday Season Mean To You?

I want to keep Christmas low key this year and really focus on what Christmas means to me (The Birth of my Lord and Savior, family and giving to people in need). I am not participating in a lot of the cookie, gift exchanges etc. that I have been invited to. I am also not going to go crazy with buying presents for my kids. They have plenty. This year they will receive a few things they really want. In the past, I have gotten a little carried away with buying them things. This year I want to teach my 5 year old what it means to give to those who don't have as much as we do. Do any of you have any ideas on how I could convey that message to him? Also, I would love to know what the holiday season means to you?


Every year I take orders from people I know for personalized ornaments. Last year I had so many orders, I was kind of burned-out by the time I was done. This year, I still received some orders, even though I haven't really advertised.

Here are a few of the ornaments I completed this year.



Shonna

First...Dream! A Circle Journal Page

Here is my latest Circle Journal Page for the group I am in. This journal was to be about "Dreams."

Art Journal Pages

Here are a few Art Journal pages. I hope you likey!!


Front...

Back... (Magic is just science we don't understand yet).


Have a great rest of the week!!!!

Shonna

ETSY UPDATE!!!

Sorry I have been gone for so long. I have been very busy making new items for my Etsy Shop. Including some really great handmade art journals, pendants and bookmarks. Go check out my shop, it is now full of cool stuff!! Here are some examples:



Glass Tile Pendants

Examples of some bookmarks in the shop

Completely Handmade Art Journals

Handmade Collaged Art Journals

Example of what the inside looks like

Another Collaged Art Journal


Fabric Art Journal (Inside is hand sewn watercolor paper)

Many more...

My First Abstract

Thanks again to The Land of Lost Luggage online workshops for helping me to create my first Abstract piece. I had a great time making this. It is a bigger piece (16X20 on canvas) and it looks much better in person than on screen. It was hard to photograph, but I tried...


Shonna

I Heart Junque/Art Journals

Have you ever heard of a "Junque" Journal? It's a composition book you decorate and put all of your odds and ends in. You know, those movie tickets, baseball game tickets, brochures, and even those Christmas card photos that people send you every year and then you have no idea what to do with them after the holidays. Basically junk! What I think is cool about this idea is you can also journal about the experiences you had with these items and once your journal is full, you can pass them down to your children and they can look back on all of the things you did over the years and read your thoughts about them.

My cousin Lisa is 19 years old and has been in the Navy for a year now. She came to San Diego on the USS Reagan for about 2 weeks and spent last weekend with us. I made her a Junque journal for her travels. She took the task on full force. I painted the cover and started the inside of the journal for her. She sat down with all of my stamps, ink pads, stickers etc. and "junked" up her book big time. She loves "In and Out Burger" and never gets to eat it until she visits California (which isn't often)and she even took one of the wrappers from the burger joint and glued it in her journal. I love it!!

If you do a search on YouTube under "Junque Journals" you will find a great 3 part tutorial on how to make one.

Awhile ago I took a class by Julie Prichard from The Land of Lost Luggage on how to make journals. Well, months later, I have finally finished the one she calls LTS (Long Tall Skinny). I have to tell you, I LOVE THIS JOURNAL!! I think it came out so cool. The pages are all collaged and ready for painting and journaling! If you get a chance to take any of her classes, I highly recommend doing so!

Also if you live in the San Diego area and need portraits done, Julie is a wonderful photographer. The beautiful young lady on the front page of her website is my daughter. Julie shot her High School Senior pictures and they came out so beautiful!!

Promise

New piece using graphite, acrylic, watercolor and colored pencils on watercolor paper.

Katniss And A New Journal Page...

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I have let summer take over...

Here is a new journal page I just finished. I experimented with using watercolors only. I really enjoyed the process and I think I will do more like this. The lyrics are from one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite artists. You can catch their songs (and this one in particular) on the playlist on my sidebar.

Katniss is a piece I did a few weeks ago and realized I never posted her to my blog. I am reading the book "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. I just started the book, but from what I am told, it is a great read. The main character (Katniss) in the book is a warrior of sorts and I imagine this to be what she looks like.

Peace,
Shonna

Life Is Better When...

Another circle journal entry. This journal is titled "Life is Better When..."

Kids are Great!!

I have been having a great summer so far keeping my son very busy. I signed him up for day camp at our church and he is having a blast this week. Here are some pictures and also some commissions I have been working on. Do you have any plans this summer? I would love to hear about them.


Having fun learning soccer techniques.

Walking back to the worship center.

Waiting in line to play baseball.

Crazy Hat day (my son and I made it).

Crazy Hair Day

This little girl loves pink and purple, her cat and music.

This little boy loves baseball and hockey. I had a hard time trying to figure out how to incorporate those two sports in the painting, so I just made pennants.

This little girl loves pink and purple, her cat and stars.

Have a great one!!

Shonna

I've Been Crazy Busy!

I have been trying to make some positive changes in my life as far as my health is concerned. When I was in my late 20's, I was very in to going to the gym and working out and eating right. I would sometimes exercise 6 days a week. Life happened and I slowly got out of my "healthy" routine. I am not proud of it, but I believe it is never too late to change. For the past month I have been going to the gym 3-4 times a week and I feel so much better. I have so much more energy and I just feel happier. Now I just need to start eating healthier (lol). I feel I am headed in the right direction.

I have also been working on some art commissions and projects. I am involved in a "circle" journal with a group of great women I met at Artfest. We each chose a theme for our art journal and are passing them around to each other. Each one of us will make a page and by the time we get our journal back, we will have a book of art by each woman in the group. I am so excited to see what these talented group of women are going to put in my book. My theme is "Life Lessons." I would like to know what each of these women have learned so far in their lives. I will eventually pass the journal on to my son where I hope he will gain some wisdom from our lives.


I received my first journal in the mail and the theme of this one is "Poems." I recently saw the movie "Bright Star." The movie is about famous young poet John Keats and his love affair with seamstress Fanny Brawne. The movie was beautiful and the poetry he wrote for Fanny was so inspiring to me. So, my journal entry was based on that love story. The poem was written by John Keats to Fanny.

And my baby boy graduated from pre-school. Here he is with his lovely teacher Miss Jill. This is Miss Jill's first graduating Pre Kindergarten class at this particular school, so I wanted to make her something special. I asked each kid in class to tell me what they loved about her and I made her a little scrapbook. I loved making the whole book, but I am particularly proud of the cover. I dyed the fabric and sewed the heart and other elements. I can't wait to incorporate more sewing in my artwork.

Have a great weekend!!