Rainy days are good for Art

Yesterday I played hooky.  I admit it.  I drove in the sleet and rain to the shop on Thursday and I couldn't bear it again friday so I called in sick.  Haha.  My boss is very understanding, she said "just chillax Carrie," so I did.  I vegged all day, in my sweats.  munched on everything in the house, joined Constant Contact to help me organize my Hip Chick customers and then I made a journal page.  Here it is...

How I started this was first I was practicing my lettering by using a calligraphy book as a guide.  I thought of a shield with the different aspects of my life as a form to hold the words and I penciled them in before going over them with markers.  Then I shaded each word and thought of what to put inside the  compartments.  I started with the marriage, I had just read a story in Real Simple on this woman's marriage,and she had a nice quote I wanted to use, "marriage: a conversation that lasts a lifetime."  So this is in small text with an image of a couple holding hands, then I added an image of a man and lady dancing.  Easy-done.  I did friends next and I didn't want to just put pictures of friends, rather a symbol of what friendship represents, and I found this image of a girl splashing in puddles.  So I cut out her legs and put her on my shield in puddles, thus symbolizing friendship to me.  Friends are companions to play with, to let your self be completely free with and just laugh.  Next I did family, I found this tree stamp and it seemed to go perfectly, obviously trees are symbolic of family, and they represent nature and the Earth.  I kept this simple with just my core family names and painted the background with watercolors.  Lastly was Art and I made a heart as art is close to my heart, and then added the word "creativity" and some wings as they are my spiritual symbol.  I didn't know what else to put in the space and I saw this shoe that caught my eye so I decided to draw it and hang it by a string, like some eye candy.  Lord knows I couldn't walk in them but I do love them and I appreciated their style.  So all in all this probably took a couple hours and I was pleased with it's outcome.  I felt somewhat productive making some art on my 'sick' day and really it was the right choice.  I watched it rain ALL day and I was thankful I was inside, on my couch all cozy, contemplating life.
Today however, I must go in, I am going to get a run in as I am much overdue, this weather has hampered my motivation.  Brrrr.  Then it's off to the shop to create more art and hopefully make a few sales.  Hope wherever you are that you have a good day today, try something new, it's the best way to learn.  Thanks for stopping by, I love your support!