May in Photos

Products I Cannot Live Without

Here is a list of some of my favorite go-to products for everyday creating. 

X-acto rounded corner punch and smash date stamp

StazOn ink in Jet Black and Uniball Signo pen

Lovely patterned paper 

washi tape

bakers twine- from My Minds Eye

Stencils 

Acrylic Stamp Block and Rubber stamps

Ceramcoat Acrylic Paints

Liquitex Gesso

Jelly Rolls 

Paper Clips and O-rings

what a gorgeous day! well, i should say gorgeous week! For being March and living in wisconsin, we are not used to such lovely weather. Its been in the high 70's low 80's all week. What a perfect way to start out spring! The trees have started to bud and bloom...all in a matter of a week. I think this is the fastest ive seen phenological events take place. Trees are green, birds and singing, and the sun is shining! Today Bharath and I went downtown for a walk along the lake. It was beautiful. I took pictures while he walked Brooklyn. It was very relaxing and much needed. Its been a while since we've gone on a walk together. I had the day off today. I spent most if it online looking for birthday ideas for Bharaths 30th GOLDEN birthday! I want to do something special for him and get out of town for the weekend just me and him. but i just don't know what to do. I feel like all the things I look at are more geared towards me than him...and thats not fair! we are so different in our hobbies and our likings. its kinda funny. But i will figure something out. :D Also today i worked in my little mini books and played around in my smash book...i wrote a lot in my journal as well. I feel so much better when I write whats on my mind...I want to make a daily habit of it...weather its on here or in a journal, as long as some way some how im documenting my life and recording my feelings.

Alright, off to read my book - Life by Louise Hay...totally recommend it. It makes me feel happy to be a human being and to know that im capable of anything

February in photos

Hello! 

Its been a very productive and awesome day. Ive been working on my to-do list like a mad woman, checking things off like crazy. What a good feeling it is! One of the things on my do to list was to make a photo collage of pictures ive taken in February. Ive never done it before and I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! I cant wait to do one for march.

(click to enlarge)

 Another thing I worked on today was writing my list of goals for March... they are pretty basic and for the most part, attainable. But they mean something to me and I want to be able to accomplish them. 

 Im the kind of person to set goals but never actually take the time to accomplish them, or just forget about them in general. So Ive created this cute simple list and printed out four copies to put in places so that I see this everyday...no matter what. I will be back with an update to see how it goes! 

hope all is well

Love Alexandria 

DIY Affirmation cards

Hello Lovelies

Here is a cute set of affirmation cards I made today. 

I just love the way they turned out! 

Today has been a very creative day for me. Ive started two mini books and worked on these eight affirmation cards. What a glorious time it was!

a peek inside the studio

Its been a wonderful relaxing day. I stayed home sick from work today and got some much needed rest. I've been working on my blog layout and upcoming posts. Makes me happy. 

Below are a few pictures from around my studio. 

my first canvas painting..work in progress. 

a snapshot of my surroundings

the projects i am working on:

 project life, canvas painting, 2012 goals mini book and my life in lists mini book.

papers i used in my life in lists mini book

peek inside my art journal - work in progress

experimenting with watercolor and india ink

i think my new favorite color is orange :D

Getting Things Started

So last night Bharath and I were sitting on the couch watching United States of Tara when all of a sudden a huge rush of inspiration for my blog came to me. I grabbed a piece of paper and started scribbling away my goals for my blog and what i need to do to achieve them. I have great dreams for this blog becoming successful and having many people flock to my page. Just thinking about it makes me happy, and this is only the beginning. I have a little work to do, and eventually things will just all fall together and my blog will be my own little space on the net.

Today I sat down and made a blog schedual. I made a calendar of february and mapped out when I wanted to post what. I hope this helps me in posting on a somewhat every day basis. This week one of my goals for the blog is to create the about me page. Once I start posting on a more regular basis and actually have folowers, I will add some more content to the blog. But for now, it is as it is. 

And life is grand. 

IM EXCITED

What a productive day its been!  So far today I have made this new blog banner, a new mini book, i've written in my goals journal, and I have also uploaded pictures! Accomplishing all of this feels amazing! 

Im on my way to making my creative dreams come real! 

I havent updated in a little while, but hey, thats okay.

 currently i am:

enjoying wisconsin's 50 degree weather.
drinking tea.
loving my nook.
developing a slight obsession with paper.
and patterns. 

inspired.

happy.

creative.

making mini books. (makes me happppy)

(my goals mini book)

taking lots of pictures.

loving 2012

and

documenting my life

IM BACK

Alright, so I have managed to neglect my blog. I how feel about this, I dont know. But the good news is that IM BACK and ready to get on my journey again. A lot has happened since Ive last posted. who knew that 3 months could go by so quickly? Literally it feels as if last week it was just July, but here we are - the beginning of November. Its crazy to realize that Christmas is only two months away and yesterday in Wisconsin in the midst of all the glorious rain...it started to SNOW! Little dashes of white flakes dropped from the sky , sprinkling the world with love. It was a wonderful experience.

But the truth is...lately Ive been having my doubts....the ones that every artist or aspiring artist has : "ill never be good enough" "i cant post this online" "whos going to like my work anyway" "maybe its a waste of time" ...etc etc etc.

So this month I am focussing on what makes me happy. what silly little things make me tick. what gets me giddy. I am going to start to peal back my skin and search the girl who lays under it. I am going to be happy and discover myself in new ways.

I want to create openly and share my passion with the world. I want to be able to talk to the world and connect with them in such amazing ways. I want to be more.

Love Alexandria

right now i dont quite know how to explain how im feeling. its like last week i was riding this huge wave of inspiration and amazing ideas, and this past week, ive just been blah, like im giving up. I dont know if its because i didnt create on a regular basis this week, or if i didnt get in touch with my inner being this week. I want my creative dreams to become real, and i want to be an inpiration to others. I want people to wake up and instantly log onto my page to see whats new in my world. i want to create lovely meaningful art that  talks to others. i want to be free and connected with my feelings, this earth and my lovely little self. i want to feel love all around me and be glowing from the inside out. I want to live the life of my dreams. i want to  pick wildflowers, read books under big shady trees, and sip tea while watching the birds. i want such a relaxing, meaningful life. AND IM READY TO START THE JOURNEY NOW.

Bharath has been home from work more than usual this week, maybe thats what my deal is. sometimes i just dont know how to be myself around him, it feels as if hes watching and criticizing my every move. Like i cant do anything right. He has something to say about everything i do. Like "did you wash your hands?" "did you put the toilet seat down" just stupid little everyday life things. And maybe its getting on my nerves. We went out to pasquals for breakfast and we got in a fight about my parking job. I tried to pull in and it didnt work the first time, so i was just gonna go turn around and he started yelling at me " your 22 years old, you need to learn how to park....ETC" and it made me feel really down. Its not that i dont know how to park, i just didnt feel comfortable parking in that spot from the angle i was at...and is that NOT okay? and then later once we were okay with eachother he brings it up again "you need to learn how to park...what if you cant find the easy way out sometime and you have kids...youre not gonna walk a mile with kids...blah blah blah!!!!!" and also, ive been yelled at twice for going to the bathroom and not scrubbing the toleit because there was cleaner in there....once i didnt know...and once there really wasnt cleaner in it. its not like i look at the water before i pee...i sit down to pee..i dont stand up. GRRRRR. so theres my venting. i probably needed to get this out. and im glad i did.

when i got home from pasquals i did a chakra meditation and i worked on a couple of art journaling pages. i really need to make myself a real art journal and stop using all these loose pieces of cardstock. hmmm. and i need to get my butt back into writing down todo lists....i feel it keeps me very focused and more motivated to get things done. :D indeed.

well....peace for now.

Alright creative beauties!

 Stop what your doing, grab your journal, canvas or a piece of paper and CREATE!!!! Do something that you've been wanting to do for awhile, experiment, explore the possiblities and CREATE something. Stop procrastinating, and make your dreams come to life. Fill the pages with your thoughts, how your day went, scribbles, doodles, random blobs of paint. Create until your heart is content.  Be spontaneous and most of all, enjoy yourself.

What a lovely day its been. I woke up (later than i would have liked) and felt inspired to paint. Ive been trying to paint or create on a regular basis now, and so far so good. I love the feeling that I get when I accomplish a painting, or even just start one. It makes me happy to do the things that I love. It gives me this rush of feel good energy and sometimes inspires me to create other projects. Lately ive just been experiementing, figuring out what I like and what works for me. Ive tried a couple of new techniques and bought some new supplies. My favorite right now is using my mini-misters. I dont have any stencils, but they will soon be on the "to buy list" as well as the adirondack spray inks! I WANT THOSE SOOO BAD. why doesnt michaels or joann fabric sell them!? ohhh well. it will be well worth the wait. I did however pick up the Adirondack alcohol ink...dont quite know how to use them yet. I did put a little bit into one of my mini misters, but its not really the consistency or color that i was going for.

One thing i really want to work on is drawing and writing on journal pages. I feel like thats where i just stop. Maybe I have a fear of not letting myself just go with the flow. I feel like if I write on it or draw on it, somehow someway i will ruin what i just made. But that is part of the process, part of experiementing. Samantha Kira over at www.journalgirl.com had a wonderful inspiring post on drawing in art journals yesterday. It made me want to just let loose and let the fear go. So that is going to be something that i will work on. 

On another note, I just made a new journal. Its going to be my journal of dreams and gratitude. I would like to start remembering my dreams, and figuring out what they are trying to tell me. I have done this in the past, and its worked quite well. So time to do it again.  Also, I want to write down what im grateful for and things that I love. I want to be more in touch with who i am and enjoy life to fullest.

Well, thats it for now. Off to get ready for a wine locker event that the lover and i are attending tonight!  

Lots of Love

things i want to do on a regular basis

"Do More of What You Love"

- things i want to do more of -

smile

be thankful

create

paint

drink tea

write in a journal

enjoy life

meditate 

drink more water

dream

eat healthy

exercise

things that make me smile :D

owls are one of my favorite animals. when i was younger my grandmas house was decorated with owls and it terrified me. 

an awesome idea for some extra jars laying around. 

this makes me giddy! oh i love love it!

how lovely. 

TAKE ME HERE NOW! this is so perfect

amazing. love the pattern.

really diggin the plate wall collage lately

this is probably my dream home. just needs a cute little porch, and a tree house in the back :D 

must do this! its lovely.

isnt that the truth. except i need my kitties too. 

*all pictures found on pinterest*

Lots of Love

Alexandria

my first time filming

This is a video I made the other day of my playing around with differnt techniques on a piece of card stock paper. This is my very first video and am rather pleased with how it came out. Look forward to many many many more. 

List of Materals Used

*found paper

*craft paint

*gesso

*watercolor

*washi tape

* fabric

* magazine

* copic

* bird embellishment
* mini misters


Lots of Love
Alexandria

New Blog

     Hello lovely humans, my name is Alexandria. I am 21 years old and live in Madison, WI. I am engaged to a wonderful loving man named Bharath. We have 2 cats, Squeek and Harlow,  and a beautiful Yellow Lab puppy, Brooklyn.  I work at Panera Bread, and enjoy reading, drawing, painting, and art journaling. I love to create and see the beauty in little things. I love life and the entire existence of our beautiful planet. Im a hippie at heart and enjoy nature.

  Well, its been many years since ive last written in a blog. Somewhere along the line the habit was broken, and the years went by. BUT Im back and ready for another go-around.

   Unlike my other personal blogs before, this blog is going to be focusing on my art journaling. How its done, my favorite techniques, videos, pictures, inspiration and MUCH MUCH MORE. Welcome, come along and enjoy the journey.

This is my LIFE 

Me and my Love,  Bharath

Brooklyn and Squeek

part of an art journal page

Lots of Love

Alexandria