Hand pain

It's one of those days that I wish I'd gotten the surgery on my right hand first. That way when I get my left hand done I'd be able to art my days away. That's what I'd planned to do this evening but I can't hold a pencil or a paintbrush. My right hand is too painful. Ironic, since my left hand is the one healing from surgery. I was, however, able to create these today.

Color love 101

My Joanne Sharpe inspired art girl.

Surgery

I had my carpal tunnel surgery yesterday. I'm now at home, healing and resting. I'm going to go through some of the online classes that I've taken and play with colours as much as I can. I'm in a lot of pain so it will be in short bursts for now.

Amazing.

More for my own documentation... Check out these Inktense pencil before and after shots.

Spoke too soon

Ok. Wow. I spoke too soon. I bought a few Derwent Inktense pencils today. I could play with these alllllllll night.

Playing with markers

I think I've decided that markers are still my favourite medium. Does that make me lame? I feel like my passion should be something more exciting than a marker. But... it's not. I love my Copics, Prismacolors, Zigs, and Microns.

a little of my work

Here's a little taste of what I've created over the past month, before creating this blog. Keeping in mind, some of it is just practice from classes I've taken, some of it is my own work...:

always time for a little art...

It was a long day, it's 10:30pm and I'm just now finally sitting down at my art desk. Won't be much time for creativity tonight but there sure is time to gesso the next pages in each of my (currently) three art journals so they're ready for tomorrow's creative inspirations. I want to take a moment to give credit where credit is due:

Whimspirations - by Joanne Sharpe

• Letter Love 101
• Letter Love 201
• Artful Alphabets

Homegrown Hospitality - Stephanie Ackerman

• 52 Pickup
• Doodle 101
• Doodle, Too!

The Art Studio - Kate Koch

• Gesso

Creative Workshops - Lori Vliegen

• Letter Lab

Online Card Classes - Tim Holtz

• Creative Chemistry 101

Annie's Crafts

• Stamping 101

Yipes. I think that's it. Can you believe I JUST started Art Journaling in January 2013?!? I've always been known to find a new hobby and really take it by the reins. I will learn it in, out, sideways, and backwards. I will perfect it in my own unique way. I will love it in and out. …and that, I do. Although I'm learning that I'm not only learning the ropes, I'm also meeting fantastic people along the way too. That, in itself, is worth every cent I've spent on classes.

my most recent accomplishment

I'm proud to say that I may have actually figured out how to doodle. Sounds odd, doesn't it? Everyone knows how to 'doodle'... well, not I. I really had a tough time figuring out how to let the ink flow without boundaries. I loved it. Thank you Stephanie Ackerman.

broadening my horizons

I've been trying to broaden my horizons. Take some classes, whether for lettering, art journaling, techniques, you name it. I've been having a ton of fun but I've also spent a wee bit too much on the classes. PayPal's too easy to use. Nonetheless, I've been having a great time and likely will be doing more soon. I'll round up the addresses and links for each of the classes I've taken so as to give credit where credit is due.

fish settled, art room cleaned

Well, the fish are settled, the girls love them. I also took a minute to rearrange my desk in my art room a bit.

Fish

Well, completely non art journal related but we took the plunge and bought the girls a fish tank and some fish. On our way to pick them up from grandpa and grandma's with the new fish and tank in the back of the car. The girls don't know anything about it and they're going to be so excited. We spent over eight hours last night with our art supplies, creating. It was so good and so refreshing. The time really disappeared quickly.

…coffee and an art journal

Well, apparently I picked an appropriate name for this blog. This afternoon we dropped the kids off at their grandma and grandpa's for a sleepover. We just go home after checking out an art store we've never been to and first thing I did when I got home was made myself a coffee and came down to my art room with my new findings at the art store. The words that went through my head were, 'ahhhh, coffee and an art journal'… pure happiness.

I feel like I'm so behind. The deeper I search, the more I see how the world of art journaling, doodling, zentangling, and the such have had such a following for so long. How it is that I have just now stumbled upon it? Well, when I say 'stumbled', I mean "fell head first, ass in the air, and giggling with glee". There's so much for me to learn, to experience! I love it.

Gesso, acrylics, watercolours, pan pastels, markers, pencil crayons, tape, glitter, paper, oh… so much fun. Tonight was my first experience with pan pastels. They're awesome. I need to learn how to make them look a lot better but this was fun.

Coffee and an Art Journal

I find it very interesting how it seems that as an Art Journaler (is that a real word?) you should have a blog. I started a blog once, back when I was in college, but it didn't last longer than a few months. Something happened to my provider and I've never been able to retrieve its contents. 

So, here I am again, I hope this time to be able to post pics of my creations and eventually have tutorials and resources available for others to join in the fun of art journaling. ...which I must mention, is also interesting to me... "art Journaling" isn't a real term. It should be "art journalising" yet in the community, this is how it's used. I wonder how long until it becomes a recognised word... 'journaling', that is.

Why "Coffee and an Art Journal" you ask? Well, I've always been a coffee fanatic, it's rare when you don't see me with a coffee within hand's reach. My online handle typically is something with the word 'coffee' in it. It seems, just to me, to be a part of who I am online. So 'coffee' had to be part of the name. As far as the rest, I wanted a name that mixed my love of coffee with my love of art journaling and this is what you get. 

I think I will find it interesting how in a few years when I look back at this blog, I hope to see a significant difference in my artistic abilities. Here's a glimpse at my current achievements:

(And in true style of someone who's never used blogger before, here it is on its side. I'll soon figure out how to turn the pics.)