Behind the Art with Jen

Hi everyone!  I have to admit that I have been so busy lately with life that I forgot to post last week... ** head hanging in shame***... so today you have a double header of pages from me!

First up is a layout that I actually finished first.  It's one that speaks of honesty and intuition regarding my husband.  I just knew that he was a good guy from the first night I met him.

My husband, Matt, is a worrier.  He is not an optimist usually and often sees the flaws in everything.  I am an optimist and try to see the best in most situations.  So, to say we balance each other is putting it mildly.  We clash on a lot of things but when it comes down to certain things we are the ying to each other's yang, the peanut butter to the jelly, the mac to the cheese... well, you get the idea.  He was not my "type"... he was a red head who was skinny and fairly reserved.  I usually went for the dark haired, bad boy, loud mouth types.  But he was sweet and I listened to my inner heart voice instead of my head.  I'm glad I did.

I had the journaling for this page before I had the idea of how I would use it.  I printed the journaling on vellum paper and knew I wanted to use those little sequins for some fun confetti-in-a-pocket look.

  Here's a closer view of the journaling on the page:

 

 I first added paint to the page and then sewed the journaling as a pocket directly to the page.  I added sequins to the pocket and sewed it up with my machine.  Then I added the chipboard letters in our initials. 

 

 This little love bird trinket was perfect for this page!  I took the "this" clip and added the birds with twine.  A bow made it even more romantic in nature.

 Hearts symbolize love and I had this heart stamp (from Close to My Heart) and stamped it over the paint area.

 

Some puffy hearts over the hanging heart area made this even more lovey!  So cute!  

  

I wanted the paint, hearts, and love text to be peeking out from the strip of paper.  Some of it might be cut off but I just added it for background interest and symbolism.

 

I love this page and all that it means to me and my husband!

Next up is my final page of this month. This one was inspired by a recent workshop I had attended about learning styles.  I remembered the Miles-Briggs personality test and how you are made up of different styles in which we learn or react to learning. Often educators use this to get to know students (or at least we did before Common Core when everyone wants everyone else to learn the same) and differentiate learning to fit their needs.  I am ENFP ( Extraverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiving) in my style.  Which is pretty high in intuition when dealing with issues.  Here is a link to the description of ENFP types in more detail.

 If you want to find out what your personality style is try this quiz.  It's amazingly accurate in description.  I made this page to document my style.

 A peek at how I added paints from this kit and last month's kit.  I also traced the mask with a Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft PITT Artist pen.   Instead of using the whole mask, I just made them into doodled circles.

 The clear, vellum pocket was perfect for concealing my journaling on a card that slips in and out. 

So what is your personality type?  Does the description match what you perceive yourself to be?
This kit was perfect for illustrating my personality.

Behind the Art with Melissa: Trust Your Gut

When I begin to prepare my pages around the monthly theme, I like to make sure I'm being honest with myself and approach it from all directions. Intuition is a subject that I can do that easily. I know I have a gift of discernment. I have some amazing friends because of my "woman intuition" and have had moments of truly relying on my "gut feelings".  But, there are also times when I second guess myself. A sense of fear falls over me and I become stuck in it. 

There are many moments in my life that I find myself regretting my hesitation and/or decision to do nothing... because of FEAR. 

The symbolism for this journaling page is pretty simple. When it comes to the lightbulb... I envisioned times when I've had an idea but didn't say anything. I didn't email the person or speak up. Thus, the thread that is used to tie the lightbulb to my page. Ideas that don't go anywhere because of my FEAR.

Hidden journaling can be a design choice but, it can also be a symbolic choice. In my head, the girl has all these ideas that she is recording but... isn't going beyond typing it out because of FEAR. So, she keeps it hidden. Like my journaling.

After creating these pages, I always take a step back and reflect on how I feel. I also ask myself, "Why do I want to share this? Why did I record this?" 

The answers are... I feel good. It feels good to share it. It feels good to read about how I feel. It challenges me to move beyond that FEAR. The reasons I share it and record it? For my own self-healing, of course. But, I also love this platform of designing for Inside Out... I get to share with YOU... our readers, followers and customers... and show YOU that you are not alone. Perhaps you struggle with the same thing. And we can walk through it together. 

Behind the Art with Melissa

Hi everyone,

When it comes to Intuition, do you feel like you have this "sixth sense"? 

There has always been a part of me that seems to know something more than what others might realize. I call it discernment. I attribute it to my faith. It's my belief that we are all wired with a natural gift or two or three. We all have things we are good at. Natural talents. Personality traits. Some of us are outgoing. Some of us are encouragers. Some of us are natural teachers or leaders. And I have always felt this natural discerning quality within myself.

It's an amazing gift to have and yet, I have trouble trusting myself. There is always a hesitation in saying out loud what I am feeling for fear I may be wrong or completely "out there".  For example, when I get to know people, there are times red flags go off in my head without any other explanation other than... it's how I feel.

Regardless of the hesitation or feeling of pressure to get it right, it is something that I'm leaning into. Something that I want to build confidence in. 

This layout is all about embracing the love I have for this part of me. I included lots of hearts and circles while keeping is simple too.

The smears of paint reminded me of wiping off the fog from a window or mirror. Sometimes removing that veil or whatever is blocking our full view of something, is so important. It helps to see the REAL me and embrace it. 

Behind the Art with Jen

 Hi creative people!

Where do you get your ideas for Art?

Well, sometimes I get ideas for art but the act of creation is the hard part.  I think I know what I want and then when faced with the page, I freeze up... doubt myself and my choices.  I get on Pinterest or other artist's blogs and start comparing myself.  It's a no-win situation!  It wastes time and cause procrastination (something I don't need more of btw).  I start doubting my abilities, my creativity, and my ability to come up with something new. That's no good!

 Intuition is there lurking in the background under all that doubt.  I just have to shut down the comparisons and let it come through.  Silence the doubts and close the windows of "inspiration" so that I can just create!

 

For this page, I started with the journaling!  I knew what I wanted to say and typed it out on vellum to be layered over my art.  I just didn't know what my final product would look like.   Once I saw the  lightbulb mask, I KNEW it would light up my page!  I started by tracing the outside shape with pencil.

  

 I then filled in that shape with Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Textural Accents Gesso. 

 

 I also dripped a bit so I went with it and splattered a bit more!  ;)

 The rest came out of opening myself up to creative ideas... I just went with it.  I needed something more so I added some watered down Gelatos® color in Banana to the lightbulb.  Once dry, I used a PITT Artist Pen to outline the mask.  I grabbed the mask from one of our previous kits and  added the arrows with the pen.

The vellum journaling block was added over it all and tacked down with stitching.  I used the Distress paint below it with papers and the photo layered over it. Scribbling over the paint with colored pencils was also added. I just had fun!

I was very happy with this page. It's actually an illustration of what happens when you let go of the comparisons and just have fun with the creative process.

Behind the Art with Melissa

Hi everyone!

So how do you make decisions?

I'm not one who thinks about it for too long. I'll outweigh the pros and cons for a bit but, deep down, I've usually already got my mind made up. And what do I rely on the most? Not necessary my gut. Sometimes I like to pack those nagging feelings way down and go with my emotions.

It's not always the best way to go. 

However, I know that there are many things in life that I would regret missing out on had I not just taken the leap. Hindsight my tell me that the approach could have been different and even the timing but... the overall feeling of satisfaction and achievement usually trump all that.

I used a lot of the heart elements on this layout because most of my decisions in life are made from the heart. 

What does this have to do with Intuition? 

Well, I think it has a lot to do with it because intuition is all about those inner-thoughts... your gut-instincts... and both of those play into decision making a lot!

I love the idea of living with hands wide open. Not clenching anything or holding on... but completely letting go. It's scary. It's liberating.

Life can be so much richer if we would learn to trust our gut, live with hands open and make every moment count! You can do it!

Behind the Art with Jen Matott

Hi artsy friends!  I am back and sharing a layout from this month's "Intuition" kit!  I believe we all have intuition, but some people definitely pay closer attention to it and know enough to listen to that voice. 

 This was my last layout and it was a process where I had an idea and the design of the page came together by accident.  I knew that I wanted to create a page where I shared a time in my married life when my husband had such doubts about his ability and success in his career.  He had taken a new position in the company after much encouragement from management.  He really didn't want to give up the position he had because he was so good at it.  He asked me what I thought and I told him to trust his gut.  I also told him that I didn't want to hear how much he regrets taking the job later. He ended up taking the promotion.  Then for over a year, that is all I heard about... how much he didn't know if he was cut out for this position.  I KNEW he was doing great!  He didn't know... even after telling him over and over.  It was not a great time in our relationship.  My intuition was telling me that this was just a temporary stepping stone to something better.  After 18 months, he was offered another position that kept him closer to home with less travel and he has been happy with it ever since.  I KNEW it was coming!  

 So this layout started with creating some sun rays behind where the photo would be.  I wanted to symbolize how the sun will shine again and chase away the worries.  My husband is a worrier! 

 I used the Distress paint from this kit and the pink from last month's kit too.  I sprayed the whole paper with water to allow the edges to get blurry. Once dry, I outlined with a black pen for more definition.

 The title was funny because I ran out of letter E's in the light blue color.  I used the darker for the BE... after looking at it, I realized that it was perfect because it highlighted "BE" as in just wait and be patient.  Be yourself...  it was an intuitive choice!

Sometimes, even when it's hard and things are not working out the way we want, you have to trust that there is a master plan... that all things happen for a reason.  Sometimes it's our family members that KNOW that it's going to be okay even when we don't think so.  Just wait for the good things. 

Behind the Art with Melissa

Hi everyone!

This months kit, Intuition, really had me challenged. It is definitely a unique twist on visually journaling and thinking about what is going on in my head and heart. I tend to over think things too so, that didn't help!

Thank goodness for journaling prompts! I'm going to share with you the one that inspired this layout:

Woman’s Intuition: What about being female might give us the extra insight into the human condition that we call ‘woman’s intuition’? Do you believe that it really exists?

You can find more journaling prompts by visiting our Inspiration Page HERE.

Interestingly, right as I read that prompt, I was in the midst of watching an episode of Friends. (I love Friends. I have all 10 seasons on DVD and watch them too much!) The episode was one where Rachel and Ross are together and he shares something with her that he thought would stay between the two of them. (Star Wars anyone? You'll get that if you watched the show.) She ends up telling Phoebe who, in turn, teases Ross behind his back (literally) only to have him turn around and see her doing so. Well, this opens up a big conversation between Rach and Ross about how women share things with each other. Then, it got me thinking about my two amazing friends. Yep. We share pretty much everything. There are things I tell them that no one else knows.

It's because I trust them.

And I believe that my "woman's intuition" has something to do with that.

As women, I believe we have this other layer within us. One that helps us know who those people will be, that we let into the deepest part of our hearts and souls. We have this extra gut check hormone... or whatever... and I bet that every woman reading this can tell me at least ONE person they know, that is their TRUE. 

We can't explain it.

We just know.

I chose a large circle as my base for this layout because I like the symbolism of circles. Never ending and it brings people together. Like a prayer circle. Or a game where you have to circle up. Or a huddle before a sport event like football. I think of my friend moments where we huddle up and have a good heart chat with each other.

I used bows and sequins because I like that girly touch. But, I also think that having women like this in my life, help beautify ME. They add sparkle and the like to my soul. I love that thought and imagery!

The title is placed firmly across the top with pop dots. I wanted to elevate each letter because I thought of a sign. 

Bear with me.

A sign announces. It grabs your attention. It states the name of something.  And that's what I wanted to do here. These are my women. My sisters. And I truly believe, because our WOMAN intuition, we knew that we were going to be great friends that were trustworthy, honest and... well... amazing. 

Thanks for swinging by today! And thank you for joining me on the blog this week.