art equals happy.

While grandmas takes her nap. :: South Africa Snaps.

One day, after lunch- when Grandma takes her nap - I took some little shots of thier house. Enjoy the glimpses. (Digital. Grandparents house.)
Honestly a calming, inspirational place to be. So much light and yellow. Especially at this time of day, time seemed to slow and the world seemed to hush.

Edition one. :: South Africa Snaps.

Here begins the stream of South Africa sharing. [: I've been trying to figure out how best to do this... One option was to do it day by day, sharing photos, film photos, animations and journal pages from one day all at one go. The trouble with this is that, that's a lot to co-ordinate for one post, and some posts would be really really long and others super short... So I've decided to go for sharing things in bits and pieces. Some Snaps, some Styles, some Stories and some Sketches. And happily, they all start with an 'S' so we've got some kind of continuity.

Without furthur ado, here are some Snaps of Mum, Dad and I chilling out in the back garden of Grandma and Ted's house.(Digital, taken in the first week.)

Negs and I :: Flat 5.

We love having visitors over. We love looking out the window on a rainy day. We love dancing to music on the record player. We love cuddles in bed. We love knitting. We love chasing paper around our desk.Thanks for the photos amy, they are lovely. :]

Down Memory Lane... :: Scrapbooking.

Do you ever sit down and go through old family albums, or spend a few hours looking through photographs- and before you know it, you've lost your afternoon to sentimental things?
 The other day, I was looking through some older scrapbooks (up until 2006) of mine, and even though those times feel like miles away from my daily life today- I am so happy I documented at least some of them, because it was wonderful looking back and knowing that those feelings/thoughts/moments aren't lost- in fact, they are right here. 
I took the liberty of photographing some of my favourites, want to come down memory lane with me?(From when I worked a scrapbooking shop in usa.) (photoshoots in my living room without a 'proper' camera)(printing my own darkroom. gosh- i miss that!)(best friend during the summers. we used to play pokemon, ride bikes, swim in the river, go to campfires, identify ferns, play N64 and I would pretty much always beat him at cards, but he'd beat me at races.)(the day i fell in love with scooters)(studio at home, and darkroom at school)(christmas i got my DSLR camera)(Music and dreams and family)

This has made me really want to continue documenting my life. I've taken quite a bit of break. Thanks past kimself for inspiring present kimself. You're pretty cool.
Do you have a favourite photo album?

I started Art Journalling by Briana :: Guest Post

On Keeping an Art JournalHi Everyone!  My name is Briana from Courageously Creating. I am so excited to be here. 

Let me start with a little background.  I started watching Art Equals Happy back in the fall of 2009 when Kim and I were both in the first Indie Business online class taught by Leigh-Ann of Freckled Nest and Jill of Lune Vintage.  I’ve really enjoyed watching Kim’s blog change and grow as she goes through school and life.  Some of the things that I love about Art=Happy are Kim’s fun, arty photos, as well as her sketchbook pages.  I love how Kim uses ink in her drawings, sketches, and lettering.  She has a great, loose style that I admire. 

Speaking of sketchbooks, if you are anything like me, you might have a few blank journals around your living space.  Some are great for drawing, while others with thicker paper are more suited toward paint and collage.I have been keeping visual journals for many years now. I started learning a lot about visual journaling through classes I took at a local book arts facility called The Minnesota Center for Book Arts (aka MCBA).I ended up taking a ton of classes from one teacher in particular (Roz Stendahl),and I am currently a part of her visual journaling group that she facilitates once per month called, The Visual Journal Collective.  We meet at MCBA once per month to learn new journaling techniques, share our visual journals, and to sketch.  Roz is a huge advocate of sketching in your journal.  You can see some her amazing work on her blog here.

If you want to keep an art journal, there are a few things to keep in mind.  Are you going to need special paper?  Do you want your journal to be portable?  Do you want to make your own custom journal to work in? 

If you want to purchase a journal, there are several great options these days.  There are, of course, the Moleskine journals, which come in a variety of sizes and paper types. Strathmore has also recently come out with a series specifically called the Strathmore Visual Journals. Roz Stendahl taught a free workshop through the Strathmore website, which you can find here.

If you would like to bind your own book for visual journaling, I recommend the following online teachers/classes/sites:

LK Ludwig  

Mary Ann MossFor more visual journaling inspiration, check out these cool folks:

Juliana Coles

Journal Fodder Junkies Dave and Eric (Yup, these are dudes).

Traci Bunkers

Roz Stendahl

If you have a blank sketchbook lying around, or if you’ve been thinking about getting one, I hope you grab it quick.  Life isn’t slowing down, and your creativity is important.  Document those inner visions, thoughts, and emotions today.  Whether you call this special place an art journal, a sketchbook, or a visual journal is really up to you.  The name is far less important than the activity. 

Thanks so much for reading this post.  I hope you feel at least a teeny bit inspired to work in your journal!  Go!  Run!  The art supplies are calling to you . . . 
Smiles,
Briana

Hey, it's official! Renegade! :: Shop talk.

Well, there you have it! Art Equals Happy is going to be a vendor at the London Renegade Craft Fair! :] Check out all the other amazing vendors here. It's kind of surreal to see my name up there, when I've always thought of it as a little bit unattainable. Just shows you what hard work and a little bit of courage can do.
Speaking of Renegade, I've been knitting my fingers off, getting product ready! Here are a few peeks into the process of making Swatches.Teeny tiny stitches! Nothing makes me happier than to see all the little stitches behaving nicely in little rows. I have a question for you guys! Are there any colour combinations you really really really want to see? I'm doing my best to get a good variety, while still in-keeping with my look and feel- but I'd like to know if you've got any favourites. [:

Just for interest sake, these swatches are knitted on 2.75mm needles with wool that's pretty close to 4ply in weight. So they are nice and tiny and complicated and beautifully intricate (if I do say so myself. haha!). 
It's exciting to see my product pile keep growing as the weeks wear on. Hope this weekend treats you well. Kimxo
p.s. instagram photos. 

This and That pages for Kara. <3 :: Scrapbooking

Sweet Kara Haupt asked me to do a few pages as examples for her newest and greatest class called This & That. I've been following along and I've got to say it's super inspiring! The format of the class is really easy to access and the pages she's shared are beautiful along with all the tips that make it worth while! See some examples by other bloggers here. These are two pages I've made so far...Prompts 14. and 15.
One of the great things about this class is that all the technique tips and prompts can be mixed and matched. 
Products used: Hand Screen Printed paper by me(from an old school project). Yellow vintage office folder. Elsiecake's instax stickers (from 'Our Story' set). Various cardstock. Hambly overlay. Brown lick and stick paper tape. White pen(Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip), black pen(Pilot G-TEC-C4). Staples.That's a picture of my Grandpa while he was travelling around with his marionette puppets. <3(please excuse the messy hair)Prompts 18 and 4. 
Products used: Amy's photograph. Half Calf paper by Mandi. Crocheted Doily. Lined paper. Black pen(Ball Pentel Fine Point R50). Yellow star and brown circle 'Tower' office labels (South African). White pen(Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip). Thread.I haven't journalled or scrapbooked in a long while, so it was really great to get back into it. In fact, I spent today doing some more pages. Definately owe this new surge of inspiration to Kara. Thanks. :]

12 ways to get more out of Art Journalling by Corey :: Guest Post!

Yay! I'm excited to share this with you. I've admired Corey's 'papercuts' for a while now & she has such a good eye for colour & paper combos. I think you'll find this useful, as well as her pages inspiring!

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Hi! My name is Corey Marie. I’m a kinda nerdy illustrator/designer. One of the things that I blog a lot about over at  corey marie ♥ com is art journals. I'm an avid art journaler and I also make recycled art journals with mixed media pages and covers from reclaimed vintage books.

I normally talk a lot about art journals, the noun, but today I thought it’d be fun to talk about art journaling, the verb. Ok, technically “art journaling” is a gerund which is still a noun.  Regardless, I’d like to talk about the act of art journaling, and yet, here I am going on about parts of speech.  (To be fair, I warned you that I was nerdy. ;D)One of the things I love most about art journaling is how great it makes me feel.  No matter whether I’m writing, drawing, or just pasting something neat I found into my art journal, it is spiritually fulfilling and really helps me to get in touch with my deeper thoughts and feelings.  Art journaling has helped me work through difficult times and also helped me celebrate positive ones.   

Here are 12 ways you can make your own art journaling experience a fulfilling one:

1. Make Time for Art Journaling 
It’s not always easy to find time (as a wife, mama to a 3-year old, and small business owner, I definitely speak from experience,) but when you really start to think of art journaling as a type of therapy, it’s a little bit easier to “make” time. Try to schedule time in your daily or weekly routine the same way you would for a gym membership or a doctor’s appointment.  

2. Separate Yourself from Distractions 
When you sit down to spend time with your art journal, do so in a quiet, comfortable place - even if privacy is hard to come by, do what you can to separate yourself from distractions.  Get away from your computer, put your phone away and turn off the TV.3. Create the Right Environment 
This time should be a time of reflection and relaxation.  Your environment must be one where you feel comfortable and creative.  You may choose to art journal in a quiet room with a mug of hot tea by your side, or you may find yourself dancing and singing to music while you art journal. Try both!  You may find that you create entirely different pages by changing your environment.4. Revisit & Reflect 
When I sit down to art journal, the first thing I do is flip through pages I’ve already worked on.  This allows me to not just revisit ideas and thoughts that I might have forgotten about, but it also allows me to reflect on them from a new perspective: The person I was when I wrote in my journal six months ago is not the person I am today.  You may be surprised at how much different you feel about a subject that you were intensely frustrated or flustered by just a short time ago. 

5. Don’t Wait for Inspiration 
Artist Chuck Close says it better than I ever could:

"The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that's almost never the case."6. Keep it Positive 

Avoid putting negative statements and imagery into your art journal.  When you revisit and reflect on negativity, no amount of time can turn negative messages into positive ones.  When you find yourself in a tough place, fill your art journal with the encouraging messages, instead. The act of writing these positive affirmations will be comforting healing, and when you revisit and reflect on these pages in the future, you will be able to feel positive about the growth you’ve accomplished.  You’ll also find yourself revisiting your own encouraging messages when you NEED encouragement -- and they’ll always be there for you. 

7. Make it Meaningful to You 
Not everyone is a poet or a philosopher. That’s OK. Your art journal pages don’t have to be “deep.” But the more honest you are, and the more open you are to exploring your inner self, the more you’ll get out of art journaling.8. The Meditation of Writing 
Both the contemplative act of choosing words to describe our thoughts, and the pen strokes themselves can be a type of meditation. The art of shodō (書道, a type of Japanese caligraphy) is a part of Zen Buddhism.  Find a pen, pencil, marker or brush that you enjoy and feel comfortable with.  Most of us learn to write as children, and soon after stop thinking about the act of writing.  See what happens when you write slowly and watch yourself write.  Spend time focusing on the letter forms that make up the words that you write.   
9. Try a Mantra 
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is usually repeated over and over.  Mantras are used within several Eastern and Western religions as part of spiritual growth.  You don’t need to learn about other languages or other religions to use mantras in your art journal.  In very frustrating times, a simple mantra can be very effective to help you put things into focus.  Try a short sentence such as, “I am ______.”  
Once, on a very tough day, I felt the all-too familiar signs of a panic attack. I pulled out my art journal and wrote the words “I am strong.” Then I wrote them again.  Then again.  After writing these words only three times, my breathing and pulse had already slowed and I felt more in control of the situation.  I read them back to myself, repeating the phrase in my head three times.  “I am strong.  I am strong.  I am strong.” and instead of panic, felt an incredible sense of calm. Fill an entire page with your mantra, making sure to spend time repeating it to yourself in your head.  Focus on the act of writing and the repetition and rhythm of the words. 

10. Take Your Art Journal with You 
I bring my art journal with me almost everywhere I go.  If inspiration strikes, I am ready. If I am in need of encouragement or direction, I can consult it.  When your art journal comes with you everywhere, it becomes almost like a part of you: a literal and figurative extension of your creative self.11. Keep it Private 
You may not wish to share your art journal pages. That’s OK. If you are adding to your art journal in a public space and someone gets too nosy, just inform them that “This is a private journal.” and return to what you were doing. No one is entitled to see what you create unless you want to share it with them. 

12. Or, Share It 
However, if you do feel like sharing all or a portion of your art journal, don’t be afraid to do so!  Share it with people you know you can trust, or seek the community of an online art journaling community. It can be very empowering to share personal thoughts, dreams, ambitions and observations.  You may find that sharing your art journal will inspire others and start great conversations.

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You can see even more of her beautiful pages here.
or say hi anywhere here:

Blog: http://www.coreymarie.com

Twitter: @coreymarie

Shop: http://www.PAPERCUTShandmade.com

Etsy: http://coreymarie.etsy.com

 
Thanks Corey! Keep rockin' that blue hair! 

 

Sharing Sketches with Will :: Guest Post.

I'm William, located in good old Wellington, New Zealand. Lately Wellington has been debate over a copycat hollywood sign the airport wants to put up.Some cleavy fellow creating a app to make your own Wellywood sign! Check it out here  What does your Wellwood sign say?Sharing of links and information is a important aspect. my Most of my links are found though blogs/twitter/stumbleupon/shared with me. Links are saved to my delicious account. What better way to get motivation then look at others masterpieces! I've also recently created a facebook art page - William Mckee Artist . I've started sharing a few links on there that I like - Facebook tends to be more confident for people then delicious 

Anyway - here's a self portrait:Created in my journal with a ink pen and acrylic paint (watered down so they can work a bit like watercolours!)

I also do works in pencil, crayon, and watercolor paint, spray paint, pens and whatever else I can get my hands on. I'm always developing and exploring different styles/media/techniques. I enjoy focusing on a certain media at a time teaches the property's of it and become familiar.Funny enough I use to be scared of paint and colour. Along with painting I draw. People are my main subject. Working from a life model and from photo reference gets me my best results. As a work develops I move away from the reference... Beginning with a reference gives a good starting point - who knows where it will go from there!

Here's a portrait of Luna Lovegood I did at the start of the year. I know Kim really digs Harry Potter so very appropriate that I attach this.Pencil use to be my main drawing tool of choice. I still do the occasional pencil work but most of my time now is spent filling up journals with ink and paint. I've started transferring what I've learnt to a larger and a more display friendly means.

Seeing a artists procress teaches and inspires - I have recently started making speed drawing videos again. I've only got 3 of these up currently but planning more for future. Watch my creations come alive!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE_DSgZd_34

Well thanks for reading my guest blog, if you like what you see be sure to check my blog. I can also be found on my facebook page at William Mckee Artist. For those that are into tweeting I am also on twitter. Lastly I would like to thank Kim for allowing me to be a guest blogger!

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Thanks William Mckee!

My weekend in instagrams. :: my life

Riding in the car with my sweetiepie on my lap. Being at home again. Taking Instax photos. Lots of visitors.My uncle and my dad.Chilling with the cat. Lazy times inbetween busy times. Scrapbooking a little bit.Snuggles with Negs. Watching Harry Potter. Knitting.AND getting a macbook! [: That's going to make life easier. I love having a desktop- the big screen, the space... but sometimes you just gotta blog from bed. Am i right? [:
Big loves, kimxo
p.s. in case you were wondering the app i used for the last 2 photos is called ClassicTOY and it does great double exposures and fun film camera effects.
p.p.s. this week's guest posts will be Art Journal themed!