Is this Love?

I wasn't sure what to do this week.  That's what happens when a good resolutions meets up with bad planning.  It is one of the reasons New Year's resolutions never make it very far.  Carried on the wave of excitement and anticipation I made a decision but didn't put a lot of thought into what that decision was going to mean in real terms.

It is a testament to my dedication that I not only made it through week three but that I have every intention of going froward from here.  But I cannot ignore the fact that I only made it this far with some help.

Stuck for an ideas I went trolling through my favourite source of ideas...the internet.  This weeks page is a reproduction of Limor Webber's mixed media Friday art journal page on YouTube.  You can visit the thread HERE.  This particular page was inspired by THIS VIDEO. 

I used different colours and since I didn't have the templates she did, I either made them for myself using cereal box card.  The repeated print pattern on the (handmade) envelope was made by pulling stamps from different stamp packs that fit the theme onto an acrylic block and stamping them as a single image.

Hearts version 2.0

I discovered Zentangles by accident. I was looking through the blogs I follow when I found this post by Karen Blados. I had never heard about them before but I loved the idea so I followed the links and found - to my surprise - that there wasn't anything to it. Since then I've been doing it any chance I get. (June's last entry into Illustration Friday was just one of many examples.)

I also wanted to get the idea for the hearts right. So I used a stencil this time and found the ability to change angles and have neater lines a lot more pleasing. Adding the Zentangles was my way of giving the background some depth. I can't really be sure if that worked but I like this so that's probably all that counts.

Many Hearts

I'd like to think I was inspired by Valentine's Day but it was a long way away when I did this. I liked the idea of having many hearts but after I was done with it, I realized it would have come out a little better if I had used a stencil.

Clearly the learning process is just that...a process. I'll probably redo this one at some point and maybe next time I'll try for less brush strokes as well. They drive me a little crazy and I'm currently experimenting with a few ideas to stop it from being so...obvious.