99th post: Professional Development & GIVEAWAY!

This week, I met Kelly Kilmer, a mixed-media journal artist who I've known about for years.  She led a class at the Artist's Nook called "Pen Work" and I attended and had a lot of fun.  Here are the three collages I made in just under 2 hours.

If you click on them for a closer view, you'll see the details better.  Starting with the first collage, Kelly challenged us to "be different" with our writing.  Use different kinds of styles, including script, capitals, tiny, big, thin, thick.  She had about one million pens that we could try out.  She provided instructions all throughout, which I liked, about writing, techniques, just new ways of using pens.  I didn't have to think about design, which for me takes a lot of time.  She had designed a layout, and we interpreted her design in our own ways.

The third one was certainly the most different for all of us.  Kelly said, "For this one, you'll need a face.  One that takes up most of the page!"  I've had an Anthropologie catalog in my stash for years that had the two ladies on the cover, so it was fun to use it in this new way.  Kelly instructed us to journal on the faces (!) in small writing, and doodle.  The best part:  that it didn't have to be perfect, or that it was ok to write "I don't know what to write" if we couldn't think of what to write.  At one point, Kelly mentioned that she hates how art journaling has developed a reputation in the magazine world that it has to be perfect, and it's not any good if it isn't.  That isn't what journaling or being expressive is about at all.  It is just about creating.  Making mistakes, or doing things to experiment, help us learn.  Kelly's instructions and encouragement really made me feel free.  It helped me open up and not worry about the details so much.  It was a lot of fun.

The winner of last week's giveaway: Steve-o!  Steve-o won by liking me on Facebook.  :)

This week's giveaway is a famous HLM bike band!  You can buy 'em for sale on my etsy or in a couple of Fort Collins shops, or you can win one right here.  They are great for protecting that pant leg when you're riding around town to your next destination.  Here are some examples of what I've got in stock:

To enter this week's giveaway drawing, you can do one or more of these things:

1.) I re-opened my "Up-cycled Envelopes" poll to the right because I need more input!  Fill it out and leave a comment below saying you participated (you can just type "I voted!"--otherwise I don't know who fills out the poll).

2.) Like Parsley Art Studio on Facebook!  (Anyone new since August 3 will be entered.)

3.) Tell your friends!  For anyone who either leaves a comment (and tells me you sent them) and/or becomes a follower, you get another entry.

4.) Leave a comment saying where you might next take a bike ride to.

Anyone can enter--I'll send a bike band anywhere in the world.  This drawing will close at midnight (mountain time) on Tuesday, August 9, and I'll announce the winner in my next post. 

Next week will be my 100th post, and you will NOT want to miss out on that one!  Come back again to see what I mean!