I feel like I was in a bit of a creative rut this month. But I was eventually able to crank out these two pages based on the Get Messy prompts.

These prompts were so much fun – I wish I had more time and inspiration to work on them! But the nice thing is I can always let them inspire me over and over again.

For these pages, I experimented with my latest purchase of Tim Holtz Distress Inks. I really wanted to maximize the inks so I played around with them to get different effects.

Things I love

I drew a free hand heart in pencil before blending distress ink in milled lavender in the center, using the pencil lines to guide me. I tried adding some water to soften the lines and help the color blend a little better but it didn’t change much. Either way, the distress ink helped to create a soft background for me to write my list of current loves, which was so interesting to come up with.

Note to self

I chose A. A. Milne’s quote as part of my love note because sometimes I need reminders like that.

On the art prompt front, I also used distress ink in festive berries blended with water to paint these flowers with a watercolor effect. Then I stamped the middle with shabby shutters distress ink.

I definitely wouldn’t consider myself an artist but I love how these flowers turned out! Can’t wait to try more next time.

Have you signed up for the Get Messy membership yet? You should, because there’s so much good stuff there.

I can’t wait to keep doing this art journaling gig.

See my other Get Messy art journal pages here.

So Get Messy is back after a break!

If you signed up for the Get Messy newsletter, you would have received eight different prompts + challenges for you to work on. I loved the variety of prompts and how they really challenged me to think out of the box!

That said, I wish I had had more time to work on these during the break. But I do have two new pages to share today, based on the prompts.

Challenge #5:

Journal prompt: Choose one word to sum up this past year. Write it, stamp it, type it boldly. Add no explanation, your word will speak for itself.

Art Prompt: Use a full page from a magazine as your background for your word.

2014 was such a good and full year for me. It was full of new experiences, full of lessons learned, full of friendships formed, full of opportunities.

Challenge #6:

Journal prompt: Set one crazy bucketlist goal for yourself this year. Choose one thing, that if you really work and plan for, you can accomplish that is so far outside your norm it scares you a little. Go skydiving, ride an elephant, get a tattoo.

Art prompt: Find photos, words, etc to represent your goal and get you excited about it! Make 2015 the year you surprised yourself with your own bravery!

So much fun getting back into art journaling and I loved how these pages turned out. I can’t wait to do more soon!

P.S. I’m linking up at the new Get Messy art journal website today and you should too. Also, check out the brand-new membership program, which is totally exciting news!

– Washi tape

Yep, always.

– Chipboard, wood veneer, die cuts, enamel dots

I like the dimension that these add to my pages. But if you prefer to keep things flat, then steer away from the chipboard, wood veneer, and enamel dots. But if you don’t mind it, then go for it!

– Magazines, flyers, advertisements

Sometimes I find a well-designed ad which I love, and those find their way into my pages.

– Dried flowers

Vanessa does this beautifully, and she’s my constant inspiration for using dried flowers.

– Stickers, manila tags

MAMBI stickers are still my favorite. But really, as long as I love the sticker, I include it on my pages. Tags also add another element, and a spot for journaling.

– Patterned papers

I have too many patterned papers for my own good and art journaling helps me to use them up!

– Instax photos

Especially when those instant photos don’t turn out, like when the lighting is off or the photo is out of focus, I find that my art journal is a good place to turn those “bad” photos into a masterpiece.

All these extra bits are really part of the fun of art journaling and creating. I’ve used all of these supplies in my Get Messy art journal pages before, in case you need ideas on how to use them.

This is my list of my must-haves and favorite supplies. But since art journaling can be anything you want it to be, I want to hear from you: What is in your list of must-have supplies? What would you add to this list?

Take the break to gather some supplies and get messy. I can’t wait to see all those pages when the all-new Get Messy returns!

I’m getting into the Christmas spirit with this week’s pages – complete with gold stars, Christmas stamps and motifs.

Although I’m not much of a doily person, I’ve been wanting to include one in my art journal pages, which I finally did.

And I love it. YAY.

The tags are from IKEA, and the stamps are by Allison Kreft for Webster’s Pages.

Despite this week’s pages being rather impromptu for me, I actually really like how they turned out. The gold is a total win for me and these might be my favorite pages to date.

I’m so excited for Christmas, you guys!

P.S. Have you heard the latest Get Messy news?? Hop over to Lauren’s and Caylee’s blogs to find out. I’m so excited for how this Get Messy journey is evolving!

Get Messy is an art journal challenge where a gang of crafty vixens are sharing art journal pages we have created to practise our skills and push past our creative limits with hopes to inspire. We share our pages without restraint every week, and once a month we create around a prompt. Go check out these crazy talented ladies who are creating pages who each have a unique perspective and style. We will be sharing our work around social media so follow the hashtag #getmessyartjournal.

Today I am blessed.

This week’s pages are based on Andrea’s prompts for November:

Journaling challenge: Pick one word that describes you right now. Just one word.

Art challenge: Play with the word you picked. Use letter stickers, cut out your word from magazines and create a collage, write your word a hundred times on a piece of paper and use it as a background, use paint to write your word… The main focus should be on your word.

I was stuck on these prompts for awhile. Then I decided that the rubber stamp from my friend Kellie was the perfect way to convey my word.

And my word is blessed.

Which is perfect, considering the fact that today is Thanksgiving.

And even though it isn’t a national holiday here in Singapore, I love being reminded to stop and count my blessings, to pause and be grateful for all that I’ve been blessed with.

For friends and family. For freedom and faith. For grace and strength. For His new mercies every morning. For good health and strong bodies. For abundant provision. For protection. For wisdom in decisions and school work. For the ability to stay connected through technology, and disconnected when I need to be. For the support, love and friendship of this online community. For words to write for this blog. For lessons learned and experiences gained. For opportunities to grow and be stretched.

I am truly so, so blessed, and have so much to be thankful for. And that’s not even the whole list.

I guess this turned out to be more than just an art journal post.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. May we never cease to be thankful for how much we have been given.

Get Messy is an art journal challenge where a gang of crafty vixens are sharing art journal pages we have created to practise our skills and push past our creative limits with hopes to inspire. We share our pages without restraint every week, and once a month we create around a prompt. Go check out these crazy talented ladies who are creating pages who each have a unique perspective and style. We will be sharing our work around social media so follow the hashtag #getmessyartjournal.

I initially had absolutely no idea what to do for this week’s pages.

Sure, I had a couple of ideas and prompts scribbled down, but I didn’t feel particularly inspired by any of them.

In the end, I found this printable from One Little Bird’s Hopscotch journaling cards while rummaging through my stash and decided to write a note to self since I’ve been feeling rather unmotivated this week.

I splattered Mister Huey’s on the background, handwrote “Keep Going” on a tag, stamped the date, and called it done.

This is my first time spreading a design over two pages in this art journal so far, and I liked it.

Get Messy is an art journal challenge where a gang of crafty vixens are sharing art journal pages we have created to practise our skills and push past our creative limits with hopes to inspire. We share our pages without restraint every week, and once a month we create around a prompt. Go check out these crazy talented ladies who are creating pages who each have a unique perspective and style. We will be sharing our work around social media so follow the hashtag #getmessyartjournal.

For this week’s pages, I had the left-hand page completed a couple of weeks ago, but I finally decided what I wanted to do for the right-hand page so I’m showing you both of them together today.

Inspire others

I had an out-of-focus Instax photo that I didn’t want to waste and my art journal was the perfect place to put it! I layered a MAMBI sticker over the Instax photo and I adore how it looks.

Oh shoot

I’ve had these mistable Studio Calico camera stickers for far too long and I was happy to find a place for them in my art journal.  The “Oh shoot” stamp from Avery Elle was a serendipitous find as I looked for the perfect sentiment to pair with the cameras.

Simple and good, yet again. Just the way I like it.

Get Messy is an art journal challenge where a gang of crafty vixens are sharing art journal pages we have created to practise our skills and push past our creative limits with hopes to inspire. We share our pages without restraint every week, and once a month we create around a prompt. Go check out these crazy talented ladies who are creating pages who each have a unique perspective and style. We will be sharing our work around social media so follow the hashtag #getmessyartjournal.

Even though my pages are pretty simple each week, I love how Get Messy forces encourages me to use supplies in my stash that are often forgotten about.

For this week, I dug around and found these older colorful “love” tags, which I was inspired to use. I added gold sequins and Studio Calico’s chipboard hearts for some flair. And I stamped an arrow from an Avery Elle stamp set and hand wrote “Do everything in love”.

Yep. Sometimes we all need that reminder.

Get Messy is an art journal challenge where a gang of crafty vixens are sharing art journal pages we have created to practise our skills and push past our creative limits with hopes to inspire. We share our pages without restraint every week, and once a month we create around a prompt. Go check out these crazy talented ladies who are creating pages who each have a unique perspective and style. We will be sharing our work around social media so follow the hashtag #getmessyartjournal.