Another month

February already! I had been meaning to make a new wallpaper, but I didn't get around to it. February just came so fast all of a sudden.

But, I finally took up a paintbrush again! I experimented with some lessons from Juliana Coles in "Extreme journaling". And I'm keeping up with my weekly sketching!

This week I felt more like making a kind of fantasy girl:

I like to switch back and forth between more life-like drawings and these big-eyed girls :-)

And here's how my journalpage started out:

Lots of black (not my favorite ....) and lots of text

doing an assignment and then incorporating what came out of that into the journalpage. For me these images represented what this page was about

trying to quiet down the background. Not easy with all the black

so out came the gesso!

for me this page was to be about Australia, and how homesick I sometimes feel for this beautiful country that I've lived in for more than 3 years. So I used colours that remind me of Australia

adding the blue of the oceans and the sky

and then suddenly finding another creature in there

And this is the finished page:

In Juliana's workshops text plays an important role, which is also the reason why I like her work.

Someone on Facebook commented that I should "fix the eye and get rid of the fish". But every single thing on this spread has a certain meaning for me and a reason why I made it like I did. Extreme journaling isn't about making pretty pages, it's about digging inside yourself and letting out what's in there. And I just loved how everything came to me while I was working on it. Definitely a great way to journal!

That's what I did this week. And now I want to show you a surprise I got in the mail from a dear friend of mine: Jackie from "creating without crayons". She makes the most beautiful stuff, and is always so inventive in how she uses her materials. Take a look at her blog, she always shows progress-pics and it's great to see how her creations are "born":-)

Beautiful tag with a real flower on there! (good thing that I don't live in Australia anymore, it would never have gotten past customs ...)

And look at that gorgeous paper! I'm going to scan it and use it in future projects :-)

So I was a very happy girl :-) Thank you Jackie ♥

I'm linking to Paint Party Friday once again. I'm so happy that this party keeps going. It feels as if so many people stop blogging, and going instead to Instagram, but I still like to read and see a bit more and get to know the person behind the art. 

Well, this is a long post already, but I'll throw in some funnies anyway :-)

And some sweet / wise ones:

Have a great day and thank you for paying a visit! I'll be back next week ♥ ♥ ♥