Christmas Cards

In 2013, I decided I would make christmas cards! I'm sorry this post is coming so late, but I hope it will give you some ideas for your 2014 christmas cards!

I began by drawing christmas decorations... Colored simply with watercolor.

Those, I drew a lot! It's almost meditating to draw them. Again, colored with watercolor.

I used a Sakura white gel pen to define the contour of the drawing.

Now here... I drew on random paper, I used ink, acrylic, watercolor to create abstract pattern and texture on paper. I used a lot of pages from an old book. It was super fun to make! Then I cut out the leafs and assembled them using glue (the lines on the leafs are made with different sakura gel pens) and finally made the little dots with Tulip puff paint.

I also cut out some trees from my papers! I used scrap papers from previous projects

Here's what I did with the scrap's scraps. I made a super recycled tree! Decorated it with gold glitter glue.

The glue in question (and my favorite paint: cheap, bright colors, mostly opaque).

Sadly, I didn't take any picture from the final product! But, I can tell you that it made everyone who received one very happy! I wrote my best wishes inside and my boyfriend made different drawings for everyone! It was fun!

Photowalk and parks

Earlier this year, a photo walk happened. Pictures were taken, cats were seen, and the sun was shining.

I think this library looks fun and I could spend a lot of time there!

The beautiful Parc Laurier

My boyfriend's name happens to be Paul, and on that walk I saw his name everywhere...

Paul's Boutique was closed, but the windows were full of interesting things!

A little park along the saint-laurent boulevard was a good stop for more pictures.

One of the many interesting architecture details in Montréal, I never get tired of photographing them!

Making an album

Recently, I celebrated my two years anniversary with my boyfriend. We usually give each other a gift, and so this year since I starting making hand bound books, I decided to make a photo journal of sorts. I took an old book with a sturdy cover and painted it blue. After that, I used duck tape (fancy one!) on the spine inside and outside the journal to make it sturdier. I got my favorite pictures printed (on my "to do in the future" list: figure out if I can print on photo paper with my printer, and do it!) and got to work! 

I used watercolour paper in the journal, it is thicker than regular paper and has a nice texture. I glued all pictures before I added washi tape around some of them. All rectangle pictures were printed elsewhere but the ones with special frames like the round ones (thank you hipstamatic) I printed at home on regular paper, and I think it looks good!

We went on so many adventures this year, and I had a lot of great pictures! I can't wait for the next adventures!

This project took 2-3 days to complete. I hand bound the journal in an evening, but then painting and letting dry the cover took some time, and when everything was done I added a coat of medium gloss gel to give shine and varnish to the cover, and for added protection.

Old Port of Montreal

I love my city. I also love taking walks and take pictures just for fun - and to use in projects later. I went on a walk with my best friend recently and it was very very windy so I didn't take that many pictures, but I am still happy with what I brought home!

My athlete friend.

On agendas and painting

The end of the year is coming fast and soon we'll be in 2014 without realizing it! And I needed an agenda.

I like to buy myself nice ones (that cost at least 20$) because I intend to keep them forever (and when I'll be tired of that, I'll turn them into journals or collage books), except this year I am on a budget (a LOT of projects!) so I took an agenda I can get at my workplace for free. The cover was o.k. but nothing exciting, and I like to have a fun cover since I will carry this book around with me for 365 days! What I did is I printed a booklet Mary Ann (from dispatchfromla ) made for The Artstronauts Club (it is fantastic and you should subscribe!!) and took one the pages I liked and that would fit my cover perfectly. I cut it to size, glued it with a glue stick (the paper I use to print is a not too thin paper but I didn't want to get it all wavy because of medium acrylic...), decorated with washi tape, paint markers, glitter glue, and other things... It is drying as I type this, and I am looking forward to 2014 to use it and personnalise it even more!

My desk is always cluttered like this.

On another subject, did you know that I paint? Well, now you do! My main "subject" is portraits, because I love to draw and paint faces obviously, I think to look at a portrait of someone you know or a stranger, it is always entertaining to imagine what is going through their mind, what is going on in their lives when this portrait was made.

At least a year and a half ago, I made a deal with a creative friend. She would make me  a certain number of journals (that she made from A to Z, with the greatest paper in the world!)  and I would paint for her two portraits. The first I did was one of her best friend, and the other one I made of her. This is it.

My first hand-bound journal

This November, I stitched and glued and constructed my first hand-bound journal!

I bought the class of Mary Ann Moss from Dispatch from LA called "Ticket To Venice" a.k.a TTV. It is pure happiness: in this class, we can come along to her Venice trip and look at all her pictures, watch videos of her in Venice, and she also shows two or three stitching techniques, plus a very user friendly how to to learn how to make a journal (or a travel journal, since this class is centered around her trip in Venice), fill it, use it! I think I bought this class in October, but I first tried (and successed) making a journal in November.

It was a wonderful experience and I bought quality equipment so I am ready to make many more journals! Let me show you what I did:

Here is the cover of my new journal, I bought an old italian dictionary to use the cover, and covered it with a special wrapping paper.

I used the beginner's stitch.

This is at the end of my journal. I used a stamped flower to decorate, some paper from a moleskine pamphlet, washi tape, and duck tape

My first page! It reads: Productive day in the studio.

I used a variety of papers: some watercolor paper, some decorative paper, bits and pieces of this and that, and magazine pages cropped to fit the journal for the only purpose of writing.

Here you have decorative paper, covered by a smaller page of heavy watercolor paper, and a postcard taken from TTV class.

One of the magazine pages

Another

I've had this paper for years and didn't know what to do with it, until now!

And finally the cover of my journal!

I made my first journal smaller than the ones I usually use (I have a friend who made me several art journals) because I wanted to get back to the habit of daily journaling. I am still working on it, but I am so happy and so proud of the result!! I love using a journal that I made myself, it adds so much to the experience!

Coming back from Mexico

What a trip it was! And now, we're already in november, and it might snow today. Time goes by fast.

My trip to Mexico was amazing, and sometimes stressing (but that's just me who stresses too much). It was hot, sunny everyday (it only rained two times, for 15 minutes each time!), it was exotic, the food was excellent, and I had a great time. I went there with my brother (I also live with him so we made the entire trip together), my father, his girlfriend and her son, who is approximately my age. My brother and I stayed a week only, and I think it was enough for a first time there. I had so many objectives before I went, like how many pictures I would take, how I would draw everyday, bring so many special memories, buy gifts for everyone..... Well, it didn't happened exactly as I planned. First, it was HOT. And humid. So humid! I didn't do very well in the hot and humid temperature, I just felt tired all day everyday (except when we went shopping to Playa del Carmen, I don't know why that is....), and didn't have as much energy as I would have liked to do all my creative things. I did try to write everyday though, but the last 3 days or so I didn't write much, or at all. I'm happy with the pictures I brought back, but I feel I don't have enough! But the essential is there, at least.

Here, a couple of pictures for you to enjoy!

At our airport gate, there was this sign... Ohh Starbucks! Oppened at 4h30 am if I remember correctly!

One of many breakfast

La playa

Drink: Coco Loco

La cerveza... was even better because the temperature was so hot!

Lobby of one of the hotels

Playa del Carmen

Cigars

Another playa

My hat. I actually left it at the hotel when I came back. Not sure why.

Morning writing, before breakfast

 View from the dining room!

one of the pools

Margarita, oh my.

My father and a street musician, it was beautiful! I don't remember what he played.

Loved this store, didn't go inside I think.

The moment I should have stopped and buy some skulls

Regular sight on la playa

We spent a day on a catamaran (big boat), it was fun!