Is it all glue?

If you have ever walked into an art store looking for glue, you probably already know there are many kinds. Knowing what each glue is best for will help you select the right glue for your projects.

This is a list of the glues I prefer to use and what I use them for. I am not a certified glue expert (but I would be if that were a thing), so these are just my opinions.

Matte medium - my most reached-for glue. I prefer Liquitex’s professional fluid matte medium. It is a watery medium that allows you to adhere thinner collage papers (less than cardstock weight). I like that a little goes a long way and it soaks into papers quickly.

Gel Medium - I grab this one when I have paper about cardstock weight. I like Dina Wakley Media gel medium. It comes in a small pot and is easy to scoop out with a spatula. It is thicker and can hold a thicker paper. This is the one I use most often when gluing down ephemera.

Lineco Adhesive - this is my favorite glue for book making. It is a permanent PVA glue that dries clear. When I am assembling a handmade book, this holds everything in place and dries fairly quickly.

Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium - I save this one for gluing down 3D elements in books and journals. You can also use this for collage. I like that this comes on a squeeze bottle with a small tip. It allows for precise application and less waste.

Fabri-Tac - this is perfect for anytime I am gluing fabric, either onto other fabric or onto paper. I also use this for some heavier 3D items in books. It also dries clear and is fast drying.

Glossy Accents - this is an ultra clear glue that I use when my glue will be visible, for example gluing onto acetate. It dries perfectly clear and also comes in a squeeze bottle with a small tip.

Do you have a favorite glue that is always on your desk?

Creative Challenges

If you don’t challenge yourself, you will never realize what you can become.

If you are feeling a pull to try something new or to re-establish your creative practice, a creative challenge may be the perfect solution. I resisted taking on challenges for a few years. I thought they would box me in or make my art practice unspontaneous. I have learned that neither of those are true and, in fact, creative challenges have help me expand my art knowledge in areas I would have never explored on my own.

About four years ago I signed up for the Index Card A Day (ICAD) challenge. At the time I didn’t have a regular creative practice, I was just trying to squeeze it in whenever I could. I thought this challenge would be great because an index card is small. I could easily do that each day, right? That was the year that I learned no magic happens when you sign up for a challenge. I completed about 10 days in a month and gave up. Next I tried the 100 Day Challenge with a very similar result. I started to think that challenges just weren’t my thing.

I stopped trying challenges for awhile, but kept feeling the pull to try again. One day I decided to write down notes about the challenges….what I liked, what hadn’t worked, what I wanted to try. Through this I found out several things that were hindering my efforts. First I realized that many times I was taking on a much larger challenge than I could accomplish. For example, I would set my goal as an art journal page every day. I would also set me goal as something too broad, like “paint every day”. I started to narrow down what I thought I could really accomplish every day. Then I looked at what I wanted to try more of.

As I finished all of that exploring, the 100 Day Project was about to start again. I had decided to use a very small journal (about the size of an index card) and to focus mostly on collage. I gathered my little paper scraps and placed then in a box. I added a small paper of scissors, a glue stick and a Moleskine sketch book to the box. That was my challenge kit. I decided that I could only use things in that box. One hundred days later I had a chunky collage journal that I loved to look through.

Why did this work for me? It worked because I set parameters that allowed me to be successful. I limited the size of my project and I limited the supplies I could use. I never set an official time limit, but I tried to work as quickly as possible., not letting myself overthink things. This challenge has now become a regular part of my creative practice. I use the same size book and collage box as my warm-up many days that I am in the studio. I have lost track of how many days I have completed, but I am on my third Moleskine book. (To check out a page from this journal, click here)

Adding a creative challenge can help you explore or finetune your art practice. My challenge led me to explore collage further. Before this I had always used collage as part of my underlayer, not a focal point. So adding this little challenge has broadened my art practice. I have yet another tool in my toolbox.

Are you ready for a creative challenge? Here are some to try….

The 100 Day Project starts again on January 31, 2021. Still one of my favorite challenges because you set your own guidelines. This can be anything you want to do for 100 days.

The Index Card a Day challenge usually starts in June, but there is nothing saying you can’t start you own challenge now.

This year I will be hosting a monthly art journaling challenge in my Patreon group. The challenge will include a monthly prompt, photos and a video of my pages related to the prompt and a place to share your pages with the rest of the Arty Gang.

Have you taken on a creative challenge? What worked for you and what did you learn?

2021…the year of the creative

Happy New Year, my arty friends. We made it through 2020, mostly intact.

I have been spending this first week of the new year planning for the upcoming year but also thinking about what I am supposed to learn from 2020. I keep thinking about a post I read on Instagram that talked about how the plague lead to the Renaissance. I also think about how darkness leads to light. A seed grows toward the sun. Bubbles rise from the depth of the oceans. I want to add more light to this year and my brand of light is creativity.

So how can we let our creativity grow this year? Are you ready to join me for a year of creative exploration?

I am excited to work alongside you this year, exploring new supplies and re-visiting techniques. I have so many ideas and I know I will find more along the way. I have some new online classes coming this year. I am also hopeful that my in-person creative retreats may be able to return this fall. My shop, the Art-ish Bazaar, will have some new products. The mid-tier of my Patreon group is expanding to include even more art journaling videos. And I will be sharing more inspiration on my YouTube channel.

Are you ready to get inspired?

My weekend wrap-up

My weekend plans….

• “A Discovery of Witches” season 2 is coming, so I plan on re-watching season 1

• I am working on a new online color theory class, so I am doing some extra research this weekend.

• I am working through my 2021 planning process, so I plan on spending a bit of time with my planner and goal setting pages this weekend.

What are you up to this weekend?

2020…a year for gratitude?

I know I have been on the emotional roller coaster this year. We have had so many changes and disappointments. It is very easy to sink into depression. I have fought to find things to be happy about. Some days it works, other days not so much.

One thing I have found appreciation for is my house. Many of you know I live in a historic bungalow, built in 1925. My husband and I have slowly renovated, gutted and rebuilt much of the house. I am lucky to have a husband with an engineering mind that can make sense of my sketches and make things come to life. I have always LIKED my house, but this year I truly appreciated it. Like most people, we have spent the vast majority of our time at home. Having a home that feels comfortable and cozy has been a great stress reliever.

One of my favorite spots is the garden window in my kitchen. The house originally had a typical window over the sink. When we decided to update the windows, I knew I wanted a garden window. Maybe I watch too much HGTV, but I could just see the window full of plants and bringing more light into a dark kitchen. I am happy to say that it did exactly that and I still love it years later. It even makes washing dishes a little enjoyable.

A few months ago I was inspired by fellow artist, Lindsay Ostrom, to create this small book documenting my favorite things in my house. Do you have spots in your house that you love?

Need a creative challenge?

Sometimes the easiest way to break out of a creative rut is to give yourself a creative challenge. I know right now may not seem like the right time to start something new, but I think there will never be the “right” time.

You can find many creative challenges online and one may work for you. If you want to start with something smaller, you can make your own creative challenge. I have given myself many creative challenges over the years. I have a few suggestions, if you want to try one of your own.

• Choose a shorter period of time. I am the person who likes to jump in with the “create a painting every day for the rest of my life” challenges. Sounds great, but has never worked for me. Set yourself a shorter time period to start (30 days, 60 days). If you are enjoying the challenge, extend the time. It’s your challenge so you can set and change the rules.

• Pick a smaller project to work on. One of my most successful challenges was when I decided to use a tiny Moleskine journal. Each page is about the size of an index card. I can work in it for just a few minutes and feel like I accomplished something.

• Limit your supplies. If you are like me and like ALL of the supplies, limiting yourself for a challenge can be helpful. My last challenge was working in a journal using only collage. I had a box where I kept smaller paper scraps, glue stick and scissors. Then each day I didn’t have to search for supplies, so one less excuse.

• Limit your daily time on the challenge. One of my favorite challenges is setting a time limit. I give myself 15 minutes a day to work on my challenge. I even set a timer so I stick to my challenge. A time limit forces me to stop overthinking and just do. I never expect to make a masterpiece in 15 minutes, but I have created some great journal pages.

Last year I recorded my 15 minute challenges. You can check them out on YouTube. The first video shows you how I created the journal I use.

In your groove or in a rut?

How do you tell the difference between being in the groove and in a creative rut? It’s all in the feeling. A groove feels like the creative ideas are flowing easily, you are excited about what you are making and you want to make more. A rut is the opposite feeling…uninspired, bored, unmotivated to make things. If you feel like you are in a rut, how can you get out?

Ruts happen to all of us. Sometimes I feel like I am just making the same thing over and over. I find myself grabbing the same colors because it is easy. I am making things, but not feeling inspired. Over the years I have found some tips that help me break through a rut.

I have found that the main reason I end up in a rut is because I found something I am good at and I stop challenging myself. Everyone likes to create “good” art, but the challenges are what make you feel inspired. So my first tip is to find a challenge. Try something new to you. I typically work in abstract, so challenging myself with some realism can break me out of a rut. I have tried perspective drawing recently. It is very hard for me, but I have already noticed how it make me think about shadows and light sources in my artwork differently.

My next tip is to limit your supplies. I sometimes find myself overwhelmed with all of the supplies on my desk. I feel that I have to try EVERYTHING and that can make it hard to work. Sometimes I will clean off my desk and only have a few supplies close by. I even like to pull out my forgotten supplies and put those on my desk. Seeing them out in front of me usually inspires me to find ways to use them.

You can also find a way to change your view. If you have a creative space, rearrange it to give you a fresh perspective. If you don’t have an assigned creative space, move to another spot. If you usually create at the dining room table, try sitting outside.

My last tip for today is to make a creative routine. Maybe you always make yourself a cup of tea or light a candle when you start creating. Make your creative time something special, not something you squeeze in when you can. Honor the time you give yourself and allow yourself to truly enjoy your time.

Ready for a fresh mindset?

For many of us, this year has been a struggle. Almost every aspect of our lives have been changed and we are all craving a little of the old. I have seen many posts about people just wanting the year to be over. Believe me, I would like to go back to some of our old ways but I have also realized some things that I should leave in the past. I have been trying to change my mindset about this year.

What if this year is meant to be our preparation year? Like a caterpillar going into a cocoon and emerging next year as a butterfly. What can you be preparing for? Do you have some big goals? Things you have always wanted to do?

Every year I set goals and create a vision board. I usually do this in December or early January. I did this last year, but obviously, some things have not worked out the way I hoped for. In fact in July, things started to fall off of my vision board. Not figuratively, literally falling off onto the floor. In October, my vision board fell off of the fridge in the middle of the night, like it couldn’t take one more minute. If that isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is.

There is no magic to the timing, so why not set your goals now? I have a two part video series that will help you walk through your goals and intentions for the future. Will you join me in setting some new goals?