miles beyond the moon

Amelia :: A FREE Friday Download

It has been wayyyyy too long since we have had a FREE Friday Download to play with.  So today meet Amelia.  She is another vintage girl from my collection of old photos.  Don't you just love her crushed velvet dress, and what a hat!  Click here to download Amelia.

Today is Art Friday, and I can't wait to get back to The Mermaid Circus.  I really wanted to take this class since it is Teesha Moore's first ever online class.  To be able to sit with Teesha and watch while she creates one of her journal pages is a rare treat.  And I am loving Jane Davenport's illustration and painting lessons too.  She had me enjoying drawing again.  Take a look at these cuties :-)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and have some time for art play!

Published!

 

I am thrilled to be featured in the current edition of Art Journaling magazine.  You could say I am over the moon :-) 

 

 

Four digital journal pages that I created for the Art Journal Caravan are featured.  I also wrote an article about how I create my journal pages - everything from that first spark of inspiration, to process of gathering images and finally arranging them on the page and adding my journaling.

 

 

I never know exactly where I am going when I sit down to create a new journal page.  It is that creative journey that is the most important part of art journaling for me.  I am convinced that our art journals are more than just pretty pages.  I believe we can use our art journals to move our lives in the direction we want to go.

 

AND I feel so fortunate to be featured in an issue that also includes Teesha Moore.  Teesha is the person that really got me excited about art journaling in the first place.  I feel as if I've come full circle.

 

 

Sweet Charlotte: A FREE Friday Download

I've been playing in my digital art journal this week.  I've been enjoying combining images I've purchased from some of my favorite digital designers along with some of my own vintage images.  This page began with a wonderful new kit from Tangie Baxter called You Are Magnificent.  I've added my own image from an 1869 edition of Godey Ladies Book which I digitally painted in Photoshop so it would coordinate with the kit.  This is such a fun way for me to play with my old images.  I always did enjoy coloring :-)

Would you like to play along?  I have created a template with layers so you can create your own version of this 1869 girl that I've named Sweet Charlotte. I've also included a copy of my original scan of this image from Godey's.  Take a look at the copy of that old page, and you'll see how Sweet Charlotte got her name.  Just click on the image below to download everything. 

I really would love to see your own version of Sweet Charlotte.  Leave me a comment below so I can come and take a look.

Not Just Another Pretty Face: A FREE Friday Download

Well, I'm a bit late, but I wanted to post this today, even though Friday is almost over, since I haven't shared a free download for awhile.

 I scanned these ladies from an 1867 copy of Godey Ladies Book.  I think they have the most interesting collection of hats - although none of them seem very happy about it.

I thought these quirky faces would make a great addition to your journal, so I cleaned them up a bit in Photoshop and made them into transparent .png files so you can digitally layer them over other papers just the way you would apply a rubber stamp.  Or you can print them out and cut them up to add to your journal.  They are not just another pretty face :-)

Click on the image above to download.  Enjoy!

 

An Abundance of Fairy Tales

There is a brand new store-wide collaboration over at DeviantScrap.  If you like stories about castles and dragons, or dashing knights and beautiful princesses, or tales that end with "and they lived happily ever after" - all with just a dash of whimsy thrown in -  then this collab will be irresistible to you.  Each of the Deviant Scrap Designers has created a kit with the theme of Once Upon a Time.  Here are some of the Fairy Tales I have been cooking up over the weekend.

 

Dragonkeep ~ Images from Holliewood Studios

 

Once Upon a Time Long Ago ~ Images from itKuPiLLi Imagenarium

 

The Tale of the Seven Swans ~ images by itKuPiLLi Imagenarium and Holliewood Studios

Tiny Dancer ~ images by Hidden Vintage Studios, ItKuPiLLi Imagenarium, and Pink Lotty

Snow Princess ~ images by Hidden Vintage Studios, Eena's Creations, and Holliewood Studios

Once Upon a Time ~ images by Tumble Fish Studio

 

Happily Ever After ~ images by Tumble Fish Studio

So much fun!

The Wait is Over!

The wait is over for Downton Abbey fans.  Tonight Season 3 begins and we can return to the ancestral home of the Earl of Grantham and catch up on what the family has been up to - both upstairs and downstairs.  It is the Edwardian age in Great Britian and you can be certain the family will be facing up to all kinds of new "modern" changes as the outside world begins to encroach on the manners and customs of the Downton world.

One of the things I love most about watching Downton are the gorgeous period costumes.  I've created my own Downton Abbey art dolls here - dressed to the nines - with the help of costume essentials from Studio Rebecca.  The background is pure art journal from Tangie Baxter's Art Journal Caravan.  Luckily the first itinerary in our round-the-world Art Journal Caravan is the United Kingdom.  A perfect first stop in my Grand Tour!

You can bet I'll be tucked up on the couch tonight with my feet up enjoying a cuppa something hot, my eyes glued to the telly.  The good news is that there will be a Season 4.  Jolly good!

Oh My Brave Traveler

This is a page from my journal, a letter to myself at the beginning of a journey.  It is a reminder that if I look too far into the future I lose sight of the small steps I have to take each day to get where I'm going.  All I am given is today.  I plan to make each day count.

 “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”  A good maxim to live by.

Art Journal Caravan 2013: The Grand Tour

This will be my third year as part of Tangie Baxter's Art Journal Caravan - a year-long journey in to the world of art journaling.  I'm really excited that Tangie has created the 2013 Caravan with the theme of World Exploration. I have envisioned the idea of A Grand Tour for myself - a journey with no end of possibilities.

Traditionally an extended Grand Tour of the ancient cities of Europe was a way of completing a classical education. It was a chance to see places you had only read about in books. In the Victorian age it became possible for even an ordinary person to travel to the farthest corners of the earth. If you were inspired by the adventures of such renowned explorers as David Livingstone and Richard Burton, you could experience the wilds of South Africa. Why, it was only a steamship ride away and, just like that, extraordinary worlds waited at your fingertips. With the journey of a few weeks it was possible to sip tea on a terrace in Darjeeling or gaze at Mt. Fuji from the balcony of your hotel room in Tokyo.



I will use my journal as a way to explore undiscovered worlds, examine new ideas, expand my horizons.  I will try new techniques, play and experiment, tell stories and document my thoughts along the way.  At the end of the year I will have a visual journal of my discoveries.  I can't wait to be off on my first adventure.

FREE Friday Download :: A Holiday Gift for You

By now you know I have a real fondness for the vintage images that were printed in Godey's Lady's Book.  I've re-colored this image I scanned from my original 1867 copy and created a holiday dress for her to wear.  If you prefer the original, well I've got you covered there too.

You can download these images here.  And as a special holiday surprise for you I've also included the original scans of these images so you can add them to your collection.  Everyone likes surprises, right?  Download the holiday surprise here.   This image is one of my most favorite Godey ladies, and I wanted to share her with all of you.  Happy Holidays everyone!

Stella Rose :: A FREE Friday Download

Somtimes it is just good to get away.  To play in the corners of your imagination.  Photoshop is good for that :-)

 

I had so much fun creating this!  It all started with the photo of an old fencepost with little trees growing out of it.  I shot this photo in the Oysterville Cemetery on our weekend photo retreat.  I felt as if I was looking at something straight out of Fairyland.

 

I've had this image in my files for awhile.  She is part of the Hugh Mangum Collection at Duke University.  I've been looking for just the right home for her.  With her impish grin she seemed like she would be right at home in this Fairyland.  Now I just needed to give her a name.

 

 

When I started recoloring her dress and painting her hair the name Stella Rose came to mind, and it seemed like a perfect fit.

If you would like to have your own copy of Stella Rose to play with, just click on her image above to download the file.  I hope you'll send her off on more adventures.  I'm sure she would love it!