Reading Challenge 2016 - COMPLETE!!

Yep! I did it. I completed my book challenge for this year today. I read 42 books of various topics, genres, authors and pages in 2016. (Frankly a couple more if you count the ones I completed before I started my challenge). I fell into this challenge late. It was the end of March when I found the Popsugar list and decided to give it a whirl. I was stuck in a rut looking for new books to read and new authors to fall in love with. The variety of this challenge allowed me to step out of my comfort zone. I researched books that would fit the topics. I skipped a couple that I simply COULD NOT FINISH and found others to replace them. All in all it was a great experience for me.

Loves This Year:

1. Sunlight and Shadow (Once Upon A Time #6) by Cameron Dokey -  I really enjoyed this author. I also read "The Storyteller's Daughter" for another category this year. Her stories are adaptations of fairy tales with a twist. Light reading of a story you may already know. 
2. The Devil's Intern by Donna Hosie - In this story "dead" people living in purgatory decide to turn back time and change the conditions of their deaths. I was not sure if I was going to enjoy this book. In the end I thought it was great and look forward to reading the next book in the series.
3. And on the order of devils, The Devil's Grin (Anna Kronberg Thriller #1) by Annelie Wendeberg - This was a nice beginning to a thriller series for me. I am not one for gory stuff. This delivered for me and started me on a new series as well.
4. Everybody's Got Something, by Robin Roberts with Veronica Chambers - I laughed out loud. I cried. I recommend this one to all.
5. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyers - I could not put it down!! Another adaptation of a fairy tale and the beginning of yet another series for me to read. (Do you see a pattern here?) Imagine the world in the future, fairy tale princesses and CYBORGS!!! An unusual combination, but done so well.

Not A Fan:

1. Sand In My Bra And Other Misadventures, by Jennifer Leo and Jessica Maxwell. I expected it to be super funny with all the chapters written by different comedians, but there were more chapters that were less funny than ones that made me laugh.
2. The Drowned World by J.G. Bullard - One word: SLOW!! It could have been great and maybe in its day it was. For me, not so much.
3. Out Of The Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis - EVEN SLOWER!!! Enough said...
4. I may be shot for this one, Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen. Jane, I love reading your stuff, but this one took me forever to finish and I was annoyed with it when I was done.
5. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote - I really wanted to love this one. I have seen the movie so many times. I even own two copies of the DVD. 

To see the rest of my choices this year, flip to the Book Challenge 2016 page of my blog. Please excuse the size of the print. Blogger has been messing with me all evening and I can't get it quite right. 

Popsugar has posted a new list of books to entice you to read more styles of books for 2017. I decided to skip the new list. I have many new series to complete thanks to this challenge as well as ones I had been working on prior to the challenge that I really want to get back to (Outlander!!) Hope you find lots of good reading material this year yourselves. If you read anything great, send me a comment. I may add it to my list for 2017.

Until next time...

A Couple of Days Of Tags

I have had an interesting week. Baking cookies. Viewing Twinkle light displays. Shopping for gifts. Wrapping said gifts. Attending a holiday concert. Stopping by urgent care to top it all off. Needless to say I have gotten behind on my listing and Advent art tags. So today while I have been doing laundry, icing gingerbread and making dinner, I have been trying to catch up.

This shows the placement of the tags in the book.
Just look for the number circles.

This is day 1 which i listed previously,
but is complete now that I added it's number.
The art journaling on the back is listed in the
previous post.

Day 2
Guidelines from 30 Days of Lists:
Activities I would like to try this month
From Mickie's Niche:
"Let It Snow"

Day 3
From 30 Days of Lists:
People Always Ask Me
From Mickie's Niche:
Glitter or Glitz: Use glitter, sequins, or other sparkles

Day 4
30 Days of Lists:
I Find Magic In
Mickie's Niche:
Santa Claus is coming to town!

Day 5
30 Days of Lists:
Things I Learned About Myself This Year
Mickie's Niche:
Use ribbon or lace

Day 6
30 Days of Lists:
On My Desk This Week
Mickie's Niche:
Be inspired by the Nutcracker

I have flipped to the next page in the book.
Number 7 is first and foremost on the page.

Day 7
30 Days of List:
How Can I Be Helpful?
Mickie's Niche:
Add wings to something that doesn't normally have wings.

I love the snowman with wings. Off to my next "catch up" duty.

Until next time...

December Lists and Daily Art Journaling

I am almost finished with my Book Challenge for 2016!! Time to start working my way back into the creative, artsy stuff!! This December I have decided to participate in a daily art journaling prompt as well as a daily list project. Both of these promise to not take up much of my time. But knowing me, my OCD will make it take a little longer than it should. 

Here are the links: 

Mickie's Mind

30 Days of Lists - December 2016

 I am using a December daily book I created a couple of years ago that has just been sitting around waiting to be used. It was made with manilla folders and lots and lots of Christmas papers and embellies. It has lots of nice pockets to stick tags and art work into as the month goes on. I am happy to have the chance to use it this year. 

For today's prompts I tried to just stick with the time frame. Mickie's wanted us to use a napkin in our art. My list prompt was my favorite things about December. I know I have a number 1 around here somewhere in my stash, but I will add it later. 

Flamingos for Christmas?! Yep, it was the only printed napkin I had in the house!! 

Until next time...

I Made It To #19!!

My photo editing program has been giving me grief. Here's where I am so far...

 

 

 

Until next time...

Up To List # Lucky 13!!!

Catching up on my lists. Enjoy...

 

Until next time...

Day 8 of 30 Lists (plus #7 too)

I debated if I was going to publish Day 7 as there are a few in the past I have not published so that I did not hurt anyone's feelings. But heck, get over it!! So here's number 8 with number 7 thrown in for good measure.

Until next time...

Day 6 of the 30 Days of Lists

Until next time...

Creative Alert! Creative Alert!!

Today I find myself doing something crafty. I am participating in the 30 Days of Lists Challenge on Facebook. For the month of September I will receive a daily prompt to list journal. I found a small book in my stash of crafty "stuff". Here are a couple of pages to share.

     

Until next time...

Mixed Media Morsels Part 1

Yes, yes, I know. This "I am not going to craft again any time soon" idea apparently was a false statement. I have been crafting almost every day since i said it, except for days that I am doing some binge reading. So what'cha gonna do?

I found a wonderful little YouTube channel by Cat Hand called Mixed Media Morsels. It is a video series where Cat shows us different techniques to use in our crafting on a small scale. I am creating a 5 x 5 inch journal with examples of all kinds of techniques I can use in bigger projects. I will just have to browse this little book for ideas when I hit a wall.

I am a little behind on the series, but that's ok. I can catch up at my own pace. I am trying to do a small craft every night to keep the juices flowing. Also, I want to use up some of the many, many, MANY products I already own here in my studio, so I may be doing things a little differently to accommodate my situation. Here's a few samples from this week so far:

MMM 1 - The plastic wrap background

In this example we were to make our page very wet with paint and water. Then we laid plastic wrap on the surface, wrinkled it up and let it dry over night. Well, I don't own regular plastic wrap. I have Press 'n Seal which is textured. The substitute worked, but it left little spots from the textured wrap. I am good with that. I really kind of like it.

MMM 2 - Collage Background

Here we were to take tiny scraps of paper we had laying around and make a collage. Then we embellished it with pens. I used a decoupage medium that did not like my markers. I did a second collage with various letters I just had laying around the desk. The decoupage medium is all used up now and I can buy something new for next time that I can write on. Problem solved! Hee! Hee!

Using up my supplies with a second collage

MMM 3 - Alcohol Background

This one is my favorite so far. We painted a coat of paint and let it dry. Then we painted a second coat of paint. While it was still wet, we used a paint brush dipped in alcohol to create the droplet affect on the page. It was so cool!!!

I took a page I had already painted from another project. The colors were greens and browns. Then I painted the purple on top. My alcohol was downstairs. It was late and I did not feel like heading down to find it. So I had a bottle of anti-bacterial hand gel on my desk. I dipped my paintbrush in it. It's mostly alcohol anyway and it worked great! I can't wait to try it again.

MMM 4 - Glue Resist Background

This technique was a snap. Paint a background. I once again used one that was previously painted. Use a bottle of white glue to draw images, lines, words, squiggles and allow it to dry over night. Once it was dry, cover with a coat of paint. Then use a baby wipe to rub the paint off of the glue.

Simple, right? This page was a problem for me. I did not have regular white glue. So I used tacky glue which is much thicker. It made it hard for me to squeeze the bottle and create some beautiful squiggles. Then instead of using acrylic paint, I used a shimmer acrylic glaze I have had sitting around forever. I figured it would be pretty and shiny. Well that glaze did not want to come off of the glue!! So I did the best I could and told my OCD to calm down. I did not have to be perfect. 

MMM 5 - Tissue Paper Background

I also really like this one. In fact I used it before on my textured pallet I made in my Artisan group a while back.  It gives such a nice textured background. You just want to touch it when you see it.

In the journal I used dark blue tissue paper left over from a gift of the past, white craft paint and black ink. On the pallet, I used the same dark blue tissue paper and masking tape, with peach colored paints and brown ink on top. Next...

Previous project using the tissue paper background.

MMM 6 - Inchies!!!

These are inchies. They are 1 x 1 inch squares that you create using paints, stamps, stickers, anything you have just laying around. And we all know I have LOTS of stuff just laying around. I used three index cards and painted them with Inka Gold Metallic Rubs. Then I stamped and stickered with some old tiny stamps DD left behind when she moved out. I cut the index cards into 1 inch squares and used a Sharpie to doodle on the edges.

Then I glued them onto the 5 X 5 inch page of my journal randomly. Issues: Inka Gold did not like the stamp ink I used so the ink kind of smeared when I used the matte medium to glue it all down. Also, the matte medium dulled the shininess of the Inka Gold, duh. Bad choice on my part, but oh well, live and learn. Also the page is SUPER THICK because I used the index cards and covered the whole page in the journal. It feels really out of place with the other pages in the journal. Once again, live and learn.

All in all, I feel very accomplished this week with all my effort. The pages are really cool and I am anxious to move onto MMM 7. 

Until next time...

Journal By 5's - Complete!

A friend who knew I had been rather burned out with crafting recently introduced me to a new type of journaling. Well, new to me; maybe not to others. Journaling by 5s was a challenge put out by Shannon Green that was to inspire you to set aside your control tendencies and just enjoy the act of creating. After creating the book itself out of a typical composition book, we started the process with a 5 step program for completing each page. We had 15 minutes to do each set. After we had completed all five steps, we were to start at the beginning of the list and go through those 5 steps again. In total we were to have a completed journal of 20 pages in 2 1/2 hours.

Step 1: Background: Paint/Ink

Step 2: Texture: Collage/Craft, Recycled

Step 3: Pattern: Stamps, Stencils

Step 4: Focal Point: Words, Images

Step 5: Details: Pen, Pencil, Doodling, Drawing

I have to tell you, this was so hard for me. I had to do this journal twice. The first one I finished I totally had a "devil may care" attitude and just went with the flow. I did not like the end result and NO ONE will ever see it. I decided to try again but put some of my own style back into the process. In other words, I allowed my OCD to move in a little bit. I used the 15 minute timer for each section, but I limited my paint/ink colors as I had too many in the first journal. I made sure the collage materials I had available were more color coordinated with the paint/ink I had used. I limited myself to 5 stamp sets so I was less overwhelmed when choosing for each page. I specifically looked for focal point images that had the same theme as the collage materials and paints I had chosen. Finally I searched out quotes for each page that related to the focal point in some way, even if it was rather vague. I really like the end result for this one.

Tonight I completed the cover and now it is ready to share. Enjoy!

Now to figure out my next project.
Until next time...