D'Blogala

My Big Blur of 2010

I need to start Doodle Soup again. The whole project sort of collapsed while I was working on Doodle Diary: Art Journaling for Girls corrections before I left for DisneyWorld. For some reason, I haven’t been able to get it going again. I even took the Doodle Soup Moleskine with me to Disney, but never worked in it. It may have been a combination of doodle exhaustion and a desire to get back to regular art journaling, which I did. This is where I left off:

Nice, huh?

I’m in somewhat of a nothing place right now. Ever have that? It may be the creative side of my brain gathering itself back up after a whirlwind of projects in Jan. and Feb., which culminated in a flurry of Doodle Diary insanity before leaving for a vacay. Who knows? It could be the cold/flu I’ve been dealing with since I got back. The disappointing Photoshop seminar I took part in last Wed. that I felt I could’ve taught myself. Lucy’s surgery on her back leg and her teeth cleaning, which resulted in the extraction of a back tooth that was badly infected. Ick. She’s doing well, by the way...She always bounces back easily. Maybe it’s the studio that desperately needs to be cleaned out, making itself impossible to work in right now. I’m not really sure. All I know is I’m in a stalemate, a quandary. You’d think I’d be refreshed, ready to take on anything after the vacay. No. Unfortunately, this one didn’t work that way due to issues I can’t discuss here. Here is a half spread resulting from that trip:

All I can say right now is: Rock on, Minnie. Rock on.

What’s New

I haven’t been much in the mood to blog lately. I brought the flu (or is it a really harsh cold?) back with me from Disney. I feel as if I’ve been living in a fog the last week. Fortunately, there haven’t been many deadlines for me this week, except for some workshop proposals.

With Doodle Diary out the door (knock on wood), it’s time to work on some new book ideas that have been brewing in my head. Also, another article for Cloth, Paper, Scissors, an article for another mag which I will tell you about soon, and some pattern designs and promo material for the Surtex show in May. Craziness!

I dropped off my babydog at the vet for surgery today. I’m always nervous about this, and that’s why this operation has been postponed for so long. She has a fatty cyst on her back leg, and it needs to be removed before it gets any larger. We’re also getting her teeth cleaned. The vet said she has a slight heart murmur, which made me even more nervous when we said good-bye to her. But it will be a good day to clean out the studio, since it’s her favorite room and she should be at the vet all day.

Here are those journal pages finished...I am on to another spread as well!

 

Thank you to all for your kind words and comments about Doodle Diary. I honestly can’t wait to see the finished product!

I’m Back, Baby!

Back in the studio...back to work...

Disney was fun, but I’m really glad to be home.

Got sick when I was there, of course! Always bring back some icky cold from there... Despite the nasty cough, aches, chills, and overall ickiness, I rode Expedition Everest twice in a row. LOVE that ride.

Doodle Diary is done...all but maybe a few corrections here and there. I hope to show the full cover. Just need to get the OK from my editor.

For your viewing pleasure, some art journal pages in progress:

 

Yikes!

I have so much work to do before going on vacation next week...Doodle Diary: Art Journaling for Girls needs some tweaking here and there. Keep your fingers crossed that it gets done!

Some more Doodle Soup for you:

I thought I would drop some link love here today since I figured you’re getting a little weary of the strip tease lately...

How ’bout a little doodly thread love at Feeling Stitchy?

Norwegian Food (Illustrated by an Italian): so COOL! Love the drawings of all the different food...I need to take some definite tips from this one...

A daily doodler...and she does it WAY better than I do!

Recipe Look, where recipes are shared VISUALLY!

Miss Herzfrisch blog, which I know is in German, but you can go to Babelfish.com and have it translated for you...Love her visuals.

I’ve been loving even more German and Dutch blogs lately. They got it going on with art journaling, doodling, and scrapping. 

One of my fave art journalers, Anna Denise, decided to take her blog from Dutch to English. Yay! Now I don't have to translate it on Babelfish...thanks, Anna!

I do find the other languages fascinating, though. I’m always intrigued to see what words translate and what words do not...Been thinking about trying to learn Dutch, since it is part of my heritage! I’ve been told my grandfather was born ON the boat from Holland to the United States!

Happy Wednesday!

Oh My!

Last year was interesting, to say the least. Design work came to a screeching halt because of the economy. I started to look in different directions for new possibilities, figuring I needed to branch out to keep my head above the water. I taught a couple of online art journaling classes, which was FUN! I wrote some guest posts about art journaling for various blogs. Yet I still wasn’t sure about the future.

New year, new outlook: Seems like once January hit, it was a whole different ballgame. SO many new design projects on the plate, yet other opportunities as well. I’ve been hinting and teasing about these new opportunities...some of which I can’t contain any longer.

My new book, which I’ve been revealing the cover of here, will be published in August by Gibbs Smith!

Doodle Diary: Art Journaling for Girls will contain prompts that will get girls ages 8 and up doodling, collaging, and writing. It’s a no-muss, no-fuss approach to art journaling that can be taken anywhere! SO fun! I would show the full cover here, but need to keep it under wraps for now until the publisher’s sales conference at the end of this month. So I’ve been pulling little pieces off here and there. Stay tuned to eventually see the full cover revealed!

Cloth Paper Scissors magazine has asked me to write a three-part series on art journaling! My first article will appear in the May/June issue. We’ve been discussing some other ventures together, and I will make them public as they are more solidified! I’m excited to be working with CPS...I’ve admired their publication since the first issue! Oh, make sure to sign up for their online community...neat stuff going on there!

Strip Tease Again

Sorry, it’s about all I have time to blog right now...

More Strip Tease

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who commented about the merging of my portfolio and blog. Looks like it’s a go. Upon Hubby’s suggestion, I’ll be calling it a “Plog”. You will see little changes here and there...Right now I can’t do much of anything with it until I finish my current projects: the design of a knitting book and a crochet book that need to be done by next Wed. Two 128-page books designed within a week...Yes, I can!

And another square pulled off of the mystery project...Do not adjust your screens. There’s nothing wrong with your computer.

 

More soon!

Need Your Input

I SERIOUSLY need your help and thoughts here...I’m thinking of combining my portfolio into this blog and making the blog all-encompassing: art journaling, authoring, book design, and hand lettering. So it would be a professional blog and still address art journaling. What are your thoughts on this? I REALLY want your input. You, my dear readers, have always helped me make decisions regarding this blog in the past...Please leave a comment.

THANK YOU!

Strip Tease...

Get it? I’m stripping little pieces off this teaser? Hee, hee!