activity book

January Art Journal Recap

In The Studio

With the stormy weather that one weekend setting me back, I managed to fit two pages into the following week and kept to my goal of 1 art journal page a week for the month of January. It’s a start, and I’m really enjoying the self-imposed deadline each week that helps me get my butt in gear (and in the seat) and do something in that journal I made!

So far I’ve been painting more than anything and, while there’s nothing wrong with that, I think I’ll challenge myself to collage more in February. Amusingly enough, collage used to be my go-to start to any project, so having to tell myself to collage more strikes me as quite the turnaround.

For the sake of completeness, I’m going to include the first page/video here, even though I posted it before.

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Just Floating Along (youtube link)

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The Time of Our Lives (youtube link)’

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Swirl of Confusion (youtube link)

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What Do I Stand For (youtube link)

So far I have to say I like the graphic look of the last one best of all, but I think the way the second came together is a close second. It’s one thing to have a particular idea in mind and get pretty close (like pages 3 and 4), but to have only the vaguest notion and then end up with a pretty stellar image, that’s a cool thing. Sure, had I been planning and plotting I might have arranged some of the elements in Time a bit differently, but you surrender editing control and the like when you work in an art journal.

I’m still working out the kinks in the filming department, but i’m sure I’ll have it mastered by the end of February (so she says…)

One other thing I’ve been remiss in mentioning over here is the other project that was keeping me more than a bit busy at the end of the year and beginning of the new one. That would be the first issue of my Activity Book for Grown-Ups!

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Click the image above or this handy link right here <Click Me for Fun!> to read through or download your own copy so you can print out the coloring pages, the other printables, and the puzzles for your own amusement. The next issue is set to come out towards the end of March and I’d love any feedback you have on the magazine itself (what you liked, what you didn’t, what you want more or less of, that sort of thing).

A Grown-Up Activity Book to Take 5 and Grow Your Business

Everyday Adventures
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Don’t your brains deserve a break?! Take a mini-vacay with this mini-activity book!


For me, part of the fun of going to the beach as a kid (or anywhere, for that matter) was getting an activity book or two to take on the road with us. I’ve even been known to pick up one as an adult on road trips or just because it’s Tuesday and I feel like a little playing is in order.

Because (as you know, if you’re a regular reader) I believe that a little bit of creative play never goes amiss. Sometimes you need to give your brain a break so it can rest, other times you need to focus on something unrelated so you can work through a problem in the back of your mind. And while you could do the dishes or clean up your closet as a way to distance yourself from a problem, I think getting out the crayons and a coloring book is far more fun!

Play-testing my activities (and the cocktail, of course, too!)

Play-testing my activities (and the cocktail, of course, too!)

With that in mind, for my part in Nicole Fende’s Take Your Business to the Beach tour I’ve created an activity book with some fun projects to take your Brain to the Beach and give you the benefit of a mental vacation.

64 Arts Beach Biz Activity Book download via Hightail (formerly YouSendIt)

So grab your crayons and glue, and have fun with my Take Your Business to the Beach gift to you! Featuring some musings about business allergies and how a business is like a cocktail mixed in with some artsy-craftsy things, too. Hopefully something with spark inside of you and give you the creative nudge you’ve been looking for. And I’d love to see your finished goggles and other projects, so link to them in the comments, okay?

(Oh, and after the above play-test I realize I left too much border on the canary mood strip–you’ll need to trim to two long edges a lot closer to the canary squares to make it slip through the window in the Tiki hut.)