A New Journey

Taking Jasmine Kay Uy’s piece of art to heart, my daughter, Natalie, and I began a new journey in art journaling. We watched some YouTube videos and looked through a bunch of ideas on Pinterest. Then, we decided to just jump in.

Luckily, we’ve accumulated a LOT of supplies! We visit Hobby Lobby when we get a chance–and some “extra” money. We have a nice selection of scrapbooking papers, stickers, and tags. My husband used to paint in college, so we have acrylics and brushes. Plus, I went through a period of time where I wanted to give watercolor painting a try, so I have some nice, thick papers and tubes of watercolor.

I worked on a simple project with a watercolor rainbow, a stamped message: “dream on,” and some polka-dotted tissue paper Mod-Podged onto the page. Natalie drew and water-colored a bird with a stamped quote: “Believe in what you can do, not what you can’t do.” We both wanted inspirational quotes in our pieces.

Through our experimentation, we came up with an idea for a children’s book. It seemed like once we opened the gates, the ideas just started pouring through. We drew up sketches for each page, setting off on a new adventure together. My mom and I used to talk about writing a book together. As Natalie and I worked, I said that we should bring grandma into the project, too. Then, maybe when that little girl wandering in the background of this picture is older, she can also join us!

It’s a fun way to try to recapture your creativity. And doing it with my daughter was the best part. What do you do to find your creative spirit? What inspires you?

For the Love of Art

Jasmine Kay Uy, “Art is Pointless…”

Yesterday on Facebook, I saw a post with this picture. This is part of an art installment by Jasmine Kay Uy at University of Texas at Austin Department of Art and Art History. (Click on the link below the picture to see her portfolio.)

Coloring: Stress Relief & Creative Inspiration

I recently saw an ad for Rachel Funk Heller’s, The Writer’s Coloring Book. If you click on the link to visit the website, it states: “Harness both sides of your writer’s brain with The Writer’s Coloring Book® and write better stories with less frustration.”

Donald Maass, author of Writing the Breakout Novel and founder of Donald Maass Literary Agency, said, “Rachel Funk Heller’s book doesn’t ask you to color between the lines. Instead, it gives you great worksheets and visual tools to draw your own unique story.”

I purchased the book in PDF format from the website for $10. However, if you can’t afford that (which I can’t, but you know…) you can find similar coloring pages with inspirational quotes by doing a simple search. Google “inspirational coloring pages for adults” or search Pinterest for “quote coloring pages printables.” Here’s one from ColoringShapes.com I plan to try: “Today is going to be awesome.”

The best part: coloring helps you deal with stress. Psychologist Gloria Martinez Ayala says, “When coloring, we activate different areas of our two cerebral hemispheres. The action involves both logic, by which we color forms, and creativity when mixing and matching colors.The relaxation that it provides lowers the activity of the amygdala, a basic part of our brain involved in controlling emotion that is affected by stress.” This isn’t new information, as Carl Jung was “one of the first psychologists to apply coloring as a relaxation technique.” (“Coloring Isn’t Just For Kinds. It Can Actually Help Adults Combat Stress,” Huffington Post)

So, take a break and color today! Then, come back here and let me know if it helped!

Let the Beautiful Stuff Out

Answer: Yes.