Saturday, June 9, 2012

AJED - The art of being happy. . .

This is a rather busy page - Started with the theme of OPPOSITES from the Creative Every Day blog - in this case the opposites are the colors.  A good challenge for me since I rarely use blue colors although I am rather partial to orange (all earth tones really). 
At the time when I drew the big hair I thought to myself, 
"Self, wouldn't it be a great idea to fill the entire hair with your favorite tangle - Paradox?"   
That is why it is never really a good idea to talk to yourself - Sometimes your own ideas give you a crick in the neck!
Quote is courtesy of Henry Ward Beecher.  Do you like the funky orange background?  I stamped that with my very own newly carved stamps!  Kim came over yesterday and, since we are both taking Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's online stamp carving class, we carved up a storm.  This is truly a fabulous class!!  LOVING every minute of it -  Lesson 2 is learning how to carve stamps that nest within each other - that's what the two smaller square stamps are - 
The larger stamp is a total knock-off of Julie's example stamp but that is okay until I get my bearing with the whole carving thing - then I will branch out on my own more.
Anyhoo - I think my lady is pretty fabulous - very different from anything I've done before which seems to be a repeating theme lately - "TRY SOMETHING NEW" 
It is hard to tell in the pictures for some reason but there are two colors of blue in the hair fitting into the Play Date Cafe Color Challenge for this week.

16 comments:

Viola said...

She is really looking happy! :) and I like much your background, cool stamps you've got! :) and wow her hair, it must been quite a work! =)

I sooo like the café door also, very beautiful! :)

Lovely evening to you! :)

Kim Henkel Creations said...

SHe looks great! Carving stamps is so much fun. Thanks for all the lovely comments you left me. So very appreciated. Keep on creating and sharing!

Kim

Elizabeth Rose Stanton said...

Oh the blue and the orange are wonderful together! I just love the textures and the quote is great!

veronica said...

love the hair! face is pretty too.
great self-carved stamp too. looks like you had some fun!
also love your new blog banner. altho i am surprised it is so bright, knowing your love of browns. it looks so bright and cheery, very happy.

Donna B. said...

Great page! I love that you made your own stamp! Thanks for playing this week at The Play Date Cafe.

Kimberly Jones said...

This turned out so cool! I love the texture and color that your carved stamps added! I had a wonderful time carving up a storm!

Jane Wetzel said...

FABULOUS journal page! Thats it...I think I NEED to take that stamp carving class... :)

Arnoldo L. Romero, MLA said...

I love your art journal entry. Your stamps and tangles worked beautifully together. Blessings!

My Paper Epiphany said...

A wonderful work of art

Marit said...

Zentanging the hair... WOWZAH!!! It looks fabulous, as are the colours - the blue against the orange works amazine! I haven't carved stamps in a few months, your background and examples trigger me to get out my carving tools... Enjoy your weekend!

Carole said...

Very artistic. You worked the colors well, and I do like your hand made stamps.

pauline said...

Michelle, your lady is STUNNING!! And those stamps... holy crap, they look like fun to make. i've never done them but i've always loved sculpting in clay or wood, so i can just imagine how much fun this "making stamps" must be. LOVE your contrasting colors (orange & blue) and i don't think the page is busy at all because of the simplicity of the subject (ONE face). Even with all those background patterns... you did a great job! xoxo

Julie Aldridge said...

This is beautiful! Your stamp is and has created a work of art!

DJ said...

soooooo cool!! and i love the zentangle hair. i still want you to teach me those some day!!!

great quote too

Ruby said...

I'm very new to tangling but love the whole idea of it and this is just FAB! What a great way to use our colours and to tangle her hair is just wonderful! Thanks so much for joining in the fun with us over at The Play Date Cafe this week!

Jinny Newlin said...

What a beautiful page! Your colors are so vibrant and happy, and your patterns add such fabulous depth and texture without the bulk! LOVE! Thanks so much for playing along with us this week at The Play Date Cafe!