some of my favorite sketchbook pages...

...are actually the ones i like *LEAST*. i realize that sounds like a contradiction, but hear me out: a big part of the point of a sketchbook (imo) is to practice, experiment and try new things. and seriously, when did you ever do something perfectly the first time?? so i get sort of excited about the "clunker" pages, because they mean i'm not playing it safe all the time. give yourself permission to make something "UGLY" once in awhile; i guarantee you'll make something you would not have made otherwise. (it's also really fun!) meanwhile, here are some pages from the last few weeks, of all different levels of like and dislike:

this thing is wonky as heck, but i really like it. the #BackToPattern prompt was "QUILT". i'm not sure how it wound up covered in citrus fruits and pizza, but it makes me smile every time i look at it. :)

 playing around with fonts for the #FallLetteringChallenge... the prompt was "ACORN" as you may have guessed...

more #backtopattern, this one was "WAVES". some days i think it's really vibrant and beautiful; some days i just go, "ack". i really like the blendy + not-so-blendy bits of color burst on this, though, which i got by sprinkling various shades of the pigment powders onto my wet paper and letting them do whatever they did.

"DOTS" for #backtopattern. absolutely hate how this looks. 

(WOOHOO-success!)

last week's #SistersWithHeartInArt prompt was, "YOUR GO-TO" which i think was a brilliant thing to ask for. it turns out almost everybody with a daily art habit does have a "go-to" subject or format they return to again and again. i've found my tribe, lol.

one last B2P for the day: "LEAVES". i wanted to practice drawing this sort of big tropical palm-type foliage, i've always mangled the shape up to now. turns out, if you draw the same thing over and over and over, you kind of cannot help getting better at it. does that sound boring? how about if ya get to paint them in super-crazy, bright shades of color burst at the end??! ;)

i hope you're having a beautiful, fun and creative sunday... try to squeeze in some art time, k?! ♥

Woohoo!

It seems a bit of a shame to be posting a completely non-seasonal card just when Mother Nature is providing the Eastern United States with picture-postcard Autumn weather, but the brand new Eyelet Outlet Banner Brads were burning such a hole in my creative pocket, that I just couldn't wait one more minute to use them on a card.

Ok, so, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "This is a lovely minimalist card with a plain backround... so just WHO ARE YOU and what have you done with Lauren?!!"  Because yeah, I'm not exactly known for my CAS sensibilities when it comes to card-making. Au contraire. But these Banner Brads are just so fun and so colorful, I found that I really didn't need much more to round out my card. I've used the Pastel selection but they also come in Brights. I sketched the "path" of my bunting very lightly in pencil before heading to the sewing machine. I happen to enjoy machine stitching, and I love the texture it adds to my cards, but I realize not everyone does. However, you could get an equally cool effect with hand- (or faux!) stitching. There are also loads of great stamp sets that have pennants of a similar size that I think would work wonderfully well!

You could personalize the sentiment with a name or an occasion (new baby, promotion at work, stellar report card) but sometimes a general "Woohoo!" kind of says it all, right? And I absolutely love to have a few pre-made cards in my stash for an unexpected celebration. I stamped and colored the letters in my favorite fun font and added some colorful 1/16" Mini Round Brads between the pennants... and my card was complete.

I hope you'll be inspired to help someone celebrate the big --or little-- triumphs of life with a banner card of your own!

pretty in (GAH!) pink

woohoo! it's time for pink christmas again at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥! if you've ever hung out with me in october you probably know the drill, and there's an FAQ type post just above this one, but basically: every year in october, in honor of breast cancer awareness month, stephanie and i host a jingle belles challenge where we ask everyone to make holiday cards that are, (as the title suggests, lol) *PINK*... and then we each donate $2 to the breast cancer research foundation for each card that gets linked up. if you're wondering why this year it's (GAH!) pink christmas, you may remember that our friend leslie hanna (aka the crooked stamper) who passed away last december, was always a big cheerleader for this event, despite being a famously ardent NON-fan of what she always called, (GAH!) pink. so it just seemed like this year we should make it a bit of a tribute and remembrance of that lovely, snarky, crafty, fun lady. in fact, we've asked a few friends from SOS to come along and help out, so be sure to hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and see the bumper crop of (GAH!) pink christmas cards we've assembled! meanwhile, here's my card:

patterned paper: dcwv, my mind's eye, american crafts, lawn fawn; sentiment badge: kaiser craft; snowflake and dot stickers: my mind's eye; floral: from an old bouquet; ink: colorbox; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine

my card combines a few different paper lines, old and new, assorted embellishments and a FAB SKETCH (#432) from sketch saturday, whom i thank very much indeed for the shout out on my "aloha birthday girl" card from last week!

and now why not hop on over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ where miss stephanie and a few of our lovely friends have some gorgeous (GAH!) pink cards to show off! ♥♥♥

It's that time again...

What is it? 

A challenge to make and link *PINK* holiday cards in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Where is it?

jinglebellesrock.blogspot.com

When does it start?

At midnight!

(technically, at 12:01am (EST) on Friday, October 7th)

Whom does it benefit?

Lauren and Stephanie (aka the Jingle Belles) are each donating $2 per linked up card to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

How many cards can I link?

As many as you want, there's no limit!

What if I don't celebrate Christmas?

You're welcome to make pink Hanukkah, pink Solstice, pink Kwanzaa or pink New Year cards instead.

Does my card have to be ALL pink?

Nope! But it should be noticeably pink, so there should be more than, say, the blush on Mrs. Claus' cheeks, if you see what we mean?

What's with the "(GAH!)"?

Our friend and fellow papercrafting blogger, Leslie Hanna (aka the Crooked Stamper) passed away last December. Each year, Leslie was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of this event... which was pretty cool, seeing as how she really REALLY did not like the color pink, at all. A fact she wrote about quite hilariously on many occasions. So it's a bit of a tribute, and a way to have her with us in spirit!

Please join us to Think Pink and Link Pink at Jingle Belles!

♥♥♥♥♥

♥PINK♥ halloween

one of my favorite groups of crafty blogging ladies happens to be the sisterhood of snarky stampers, and one of my favorite challenges they have each year is ♥PINK HALLOWEEN♥!!! so here's my card:

patterned paper: basic grey; black glitter cardstock: doodlebug; pink glitter cardstock: making memories; adorable spider mini brads: eyelet outlet; heart stamp: hero arts; scribbly alphabet stickers: sticko; chipboard alphas: thickers/american crafts; pens: faber-castell pitt artist pens in 1.5, S and XS nibs; ink: ranger archival and colorbox chalk; adhesive: sewing machine

ok, so, yes, my eyelet outlet mini spider brads are making another appearance, because i really love them! and also because, frankly, i don't actually own allllllllllll that much halloween stuff. i do own quite a few pens, though, and i was happy to have an excuse to try out my other arachno-centric halloween card idea, which involved doodling a zentangle-inspired web. which was absolutely as much fun as i hoped it might be, so you'll no doubt be seeing this idea again. like next halloween, i'm guessing. :)

i had so much fun with this part of the card that it wasn't until quite near the end that i realized i hadn't actually *STAMPED* anything. so the hearts are admittedly a bit of a retro-fit, but they kind of tie the card together, and focus the eye on the sentiment, so i'm callin' it a win.

i'd also like to join the fun with the simon says stamp monday challenge: halloween 

as well as the paper players' theme challenge #315: halloween

meanwhile, the unicorn challenge blog's current theme of "pretty pinks or halloween" suits me for both options, lol, so woohoo!

please hop over and see the amazing cards from the sisterhood of snarky stampers and link up your own ♥PINK HALLOWEEN♥ card!

duck... duck... GOOSE!

we're celebrating our fine feathered friends this week at shopping our stash by making projects with a bird or with a feather on them. and no, it doesn't have to be a duck or a goose, but isn't that a fab title? i'm pretty sure you're expecting to see a flamingo card from me --and goodness knows i was verrrrrrrry tempted-- but after i saw the current curtain call inspiration, i changed tack entirely and made this:

beautiful, funky bird fussy-cut from a piece of 1980's wall paper and outlined with faber-castell's pitt artist pen (XS/.1mm); floral layering stamps and inks: hero arts; patterned papers: pion design, basic grey + a bit of vintage dictionary paper; pearl flourishes: prima; velvet florals: petaloo; scalloped muslin trim: pink paislee; leafy ribbon: may arts; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine

before i tell you more about it, i s'pose i should really show you the curtain call challenge graphic so you'll know why i wanted to use it:

factor into this equation the fact that i was lucky enough to have the lovely miss june here for art camp last week, and she brought along some gorgeous floral hero arts layering stamps and inks in exactly the right colors. since i was already longing to use those, it wasn't hard to make this strikingly lovely bouquet my starting point. i reallllllly wish i had taken a photo of the floral collage BEFORE i attached the vintage-wallpaper bird, because it's quite beautiful; a fact that you cannot see AT ALL because the bird hides most of it. the biggest occupational hazard of collage is that sometimes the really cool stuff in the bottom layer gets covered up.

something which can never be covered up or diluted is the brilliance of my SOS dt sisters. they're all birds of a feather, with gorgeous cards to show you... why not treat yourself to an eyeful of their inspiration right now, darlings?! ♥

sketchbook sunday?

i didn't plan on this being a regular feature, but it turns out i still have a few "retroactive" bits and bobs that've been posted to instagram or facebook, but somehow never blogged, so here ya go. coincidentally, most of these are watercolors in which i've used color burst pigment powders by ken oliver crafts; and for some reason there's a really strong predominance of green. i guess i was in a green phase...?

i'm really proud of this one, because i think it might be the best watercolor i've done of anything realistic without a sketch underneath, just going in with paint and thinking about shapes and color. 

(which is harder than it sounds, lol!)

rarely does a week go by without someone asking, "hey lauren, do you know how to draw an artichoke?!"* yes. yes, i do!

about a month ago, ken oliver posted a color challenge on his blog, to create something with turquoise, chartreuse, yellow ochre and burnt umber color burst. so i painted a mandala...

...and also a little beachy scene.

speaking of mandalas: this one's got a pineapple theme!

(which is sliiiiiightly less weird than it sounds; "PINEAPPLE" was the prompt that day in the #backtopattern challenge on instagram)

another #backtopattern entry: this one was "STRIPES".

meanwhile, the #sisterswithheartinartprompt last week was "SUCCULENTS".

(and YES, if you haven't already noticed, my "default drawing" is almost always a mandala.)

finally, a fish. one that's so pschedelic, i almost think we should call him a PHISH, lol. i'm honestly not sure what the inspiration for this was, i found it waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in my sketchbook before this one. i do really like those waves though... and i've used a bunch of different shades of color burst together, but you can still see distinct patches of most of them, which is kinda cool...

*this is a total lie, no one's ever asked me that, not in my entire life. but artichoke was one of the prompts in @AisFor Anika's #BackToPattern challenge on IG and it made me think, "i wonder if i know how to draw an artichoke?" (right there is EXACTLY what i love about challenges and prompt lists: they make you wonder... and sometimes create... things you'd never consider on your own! ♥♥♥