Life Book Love Stories – Deanna Hogan & An Interview with Jane Davenport

Hello guys! Over the next couple of months I’ll be sharing a bit more about Life Book, what it means to me, and how it came into existence! I’ll also be sharing some of the Artist Interviews we’ve run in past years, share snippets and timelapses videos of some of my lessons, showcases of my art work AND share some Life Book Love Stories by previous and current gorgeous students! :) Yay!

Previous Life Book Love Stories

1. Watch a time lapse video of my very first Life Book lesson plus read Simone Alves' Love Story

When I first designed Life Book I was (still am) passionate about bringing art, celebration, healing and personal growth together to inspire and support people from around the world to grow both artistically and personally. 

In addition to providing inspiring creative art lessons I also wanted to share Artists Interviews with participants. This way the participants get a wonderful insight into the lives of creative entrepreneurs. The artists share helpful hints and tips about how they run their businesses, how they deal with their inner critic and they share what it's like living life as successful artist! :) These interviews are usually very popular. :) 

Below I share the Artist Interview I did with my good friend and artiste extraordinaire: Jane Davenport. Jane's art has wowed (and continues to wow) people around the world! She has taught on Life Book since its inception and will teach again in 2014 too! Jane and I are also planning on holding an 'arty party' together and have a few hush hush secret projects in the pipe line too! ;) I love her dearly, she is a mermaid in disguise this one, and I decided to publish our Artist Interview that was first published as part of Life Book 2012 for free so it can be enjoyed by everyone! :) Each year, Life Book includes about 5-6 Artist Interviews with the teachers that teach that year. Enjoy! :) 

An Artist Interview with Jane Davenport

Here is some of Jane's beautiful art work (copyright Jane Davenport): 

As part of my sharing more in depth about Life Book, I’m also sharing some “Life Book Love Stories” from some of the wonderful participants whose lives have been touched by Life Book, today, I share Deanna Hogan'sStory. :) Thank you Deanna!

 
Dear Tam,
I think I was in the right place at the right time last December, stumbling upon an online discussion about Life Book. I’d never tried art journaling (and, boy, have I dabbled in a lot of arts and crafts). So after much consideration, and influenced by the very enthusiastic discussion, I took the leap and signed up. It has been worth every penny.

Life Book has been the perfect catalyst to explore a new, yet complementary, art form. I’m no stranger to the necessity of having a creative outlet. Art and music have always been a very important part of my life. My passion (until Life Book came into my life) has been creating cloth and mixed media art dolls. The thought of drawing faces didn’t fill me with apprehension, but the relaxed, unstructured process of making journal backgrounds sure did. Now that I’ve gotten my feet wet, I’ve gained much more confidence and can approach my pages without trepidation.

Life Book has not only allowed me to experiment with different media, it’s given me an opportunity to let go, play, and explore the healing that journaling can facilitate. I’ve always been the kind of person that bottles up hurts, frustrations, and feelings. I’ve loved the exercises that make me really think about what’s going on inside, putting them down on paper, and then hiding them from the world. I still know what lies beneath the layers.
Before the course started I resolved to complete every lesson, even the ones that were “out of the box” for me because it’s been all about exploration, building a technique repertoire, and letting go. All the Big Names in the art journaling community were completely unknown to me, and it’s been fun and exciting to see what new and innovative things each teacher brings to the table. It’s opened up a whole new world of art (and art supplies!) for me.

While participation in Life Book has been a significant time commitment, it’s been so beneficial to place priority on scheduling creative time for myself each week. I’m the kind of person that likes to take my time when making things with my hands – I realize I’m a perfectionist. I can admit it. I take great satisfaction in the process as much as the end result. I’ve found some of the more abstract lessons to be quite challenging for me, so it’s been delightful to branch out and expand my repertoire. I’ve amassed quite a body of work.

Life Book has admittedly taken time away from my doll business (LIFE takes time from my doll business), but I can’t help but believe it will enhance my doll making and art in general. I know I’ll continue to make art pages, and hope to someday have some made into prints. I’ve already signed up for Life Book 2014.

I’m both excited and apprehensive to start creating pages without lessons or prompts. I haven’t done that yet, as I’m still working on the weekly lessons. I realize I’m a long way from having my own style, but know it will develop and evolve over time. Every few weeks I take my finished pages to work with me to share with my coworkers. I’ve had nothing but positive feedback. I hope to entice (enable?) others to join me in this adventure.

Deanna Hogan

www.blueherondolls.com

www.blueherondolls.blogspot.com

So, would you like to experience the magic of Life Book 2014 too?

OVER 1100+ AMAZING PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY JOINED!

Come SIGN UP HERE! :D

WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU DARLING!

Blog hopping with Jill Berry's Stencils!

Hello friends! :) I feel so lucky and happy to be participating in blog hops when my artsy friends bring out new products! I get to play with their awesome new artsy products and show off some new art created yay!


So the fabulous Jill Berry also has a new set of stencils out with Artistcellar. These babies are texture-based and I just love them. I particularly love the stencils that look like lettering of some sorts though I can't figure out what kind of lettering it is and to me it looks like Elvish (LOTR)! So magical! :)

So I used some of these stencils in my journal this week. I love using stencils as part of my layering and background making (many of you who follow my work or have been on my classes will know this!). :)

This week I also filmed & prepared my first lesson for Life Book 2014 (eeeee, only 2 more weeks or so until this fabulous art feast begins - make sure to sign up to experience it all from the beginning by the way!). 


In my first lesson we'll do a variety of things, first we listen to a meditation in which we are guided to meet our 'inner artist guardian angel' :). She is the person inside of all of us guarding us against any negative inner critic thoughts and talks that many of us suffer from. :) So in the meditation we meet this wonderful being and we are also guided to find our 'word for the year' and our 'colour that resonates the most with us in the moment'. We then take some of the imagery from the meditation with us into our art exercises. :) 

We start with a warm up exercise in which we do some really easy techniques for those with 'blank page fear' and we learn more about colour theory too. (We create bright colourful paint feasts such as in the image above!)

Then we do a main project in which we draw our artist guardian angel in a mixed media style. Lots of layering/ distressed and textured effects. :) It's allll so yummy. :-)

As a side note: I've chosen the word 'presence' for 2014. As in: I want to become more present to my life, my feelings, my needs, the now. :)

Anyhoo, I mention what we do in my first lesson because I felt so inspired by the "inner artist guardian girl" I had created, that I wanted to create her again in my journal which is also when I grabbed Jill's stencils and used them too. 
 
So here are some photos of what I've done: 

You can do truly fabulous things with these texture stencils! :D 


Follow the blog hop to see what other artists are doing with them, here is the list (note: US date format: mm/dd): 

12/7 Artistcellar www.artistcellar.com/wp

12/8 Kecia Deveney http://www.lemoncholys.blogspot.com

12/9 Sketchbook Challenge/Jill http://sketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com/

12/10 Brian Kasstle http://apaperbear.wordpress.com

12/11 Mel Kolstad http://reliefpress.blogspot.com

12/12 Kim Rae Nugent http://www.kimraenugent.blogspot.com

12/13 Jodi Ohl www.sweetrepeats.blogspot.com

12/14 Effy Wild www.effywild.com

12/15 Tamara Laporte www.willowing.org/blog

12/16 Jane Davenport http://janedavenport.com/

12/17 Chris Cozen http://chriscozenartist.typepad.com/my-blog/

12/18 Guadalupe Brizuela Cabal http;//guadasartplace.blogspot.com.ar/

12/19 Jill Berry http://jillberrydesign.com/blog


And woot woot: I can give away 1 set of Jill's stencils to a lucky winner! 

To enter the give away, leave a comment below telling me how you'd use Jill's stencils if you won them. 

Love always,
Tam x

Life Book 2014 - Scholarship Information

Life Book touches the lives of so many people in so many ways; it's pretty mind blowing. I receive emails daily from people sharing with me how Life Book changed or enriched their lives. (How lucky am I to be running it?!) :) 

Last week I got an email from a wonderful person so excited about Life Book that she wrote this to me:

Dear Tam, I would like to gift a place on the course anonymously to someone unknown to me who could not necessarily afford the course themselves.

What a wonderful thing to want to do! So our anonymous donor is offering a scholarship for Life Book to one lucky person! 

If you want to apply for this scholarship, please email me on willowing AT gmail.com answering the following questions: 

1. Have you done Lifebook before?

2. Why do you think you are the right candidate for the scholarship (Pls describe this in approx 50-100 words)

3. How do you think you will benefit from Lifebook 2014? (Pls describe this in approx 50-100 words)

4. What's your favourite art journal background technique or favourite art supply?

I will forward your applications to our anonymous donor who will then choose a lucky recipient. 

I will announce who receives the scholarship next week Friday 22nd November.
 

Remember that if finances are tough for you but you still really want to participate in Life Book 2014: payment plans are available - if you want to know more about monthly plans or plans for the different packages just email me! :) x

Over 660+ gorgeous souls have already signed up and are happily making friends in the private FB group! :D If you want to spend the year developing your artistic abilities, learning from some of the best artists out there, grow on a personal level and meet new artsy friends from all over the globe, then you've GOT to join us! :D It will be an experience you won't forget! :D PS. All videos are downloadable so even if you need to take a break or if you run behind you can always watch the videos at a later date. See you there darling! :D

Mixed Media Art Doll Angel (and other dolls!)

Oh you guys. :) I'm sooo proud of this mixed media art doll angel which I created for my 'Artsy Ornaments' workshop lesson! I'm kind of a closeted art doll obsessive! Ha. The majority of my work is mostly 2d (painting/ drawing/ collage/ illustration) but I oh so love quirky art dolls, stuffed toys and making other 3d things! I just don't have the time to do it that much (they can take up a lot of time and depending on the materials you use: make a huge amount of mess too!) :)

Anyhoo, when Christy asked me if I wanted to teach on her 'Artsy Ornaments' workshop I was super excited and thought it was THE PERFECT time to do a mixed media art doll lesson, yay! :D

So, this is what we'll be making on the workshop:

Isn't she SUPER PRETTY? I think she is one of the prettiest things I've ever made!!! :D
If you want to learn how to make her, come sign up to the workshop here, it opens on 19th November and you not only get my lesson but ANOTHER 11 lessons by 11 other fabulous teachers too! 

Awesomejuice, yep.

Here are some other art dolls I've made in the past! :D I simply LOVE creating 3D dolls out of my 2d characters! :D

  Hope you enjoyed seeing my little collection of art dolls! I often don't put them up for sale as they are so close to my heart, but if you're interested in one, let me know! (The 'You Matter' one above is already sold though). xoox    And remember, if you want to learn how to make a doll like the angel, come join the Artsy Ornaments Workshop Here. xoox

Tam's Happy New Stencils, Yay yahoo and wuzzah!

When Lisa from Artistcellar first asked me to work on a set of stencils with her, I tried to do cartwheels but failed. I used to be a pretty good gymnast when I was young, but rheumatism and gravity have worked against me, so instead I boogied around the room to karmachameleon, which is my happy party song. Then I replied to her email saying: Hell YES! And the rest is history. I went to work on whimsy designs (and later on "word" designs too) and now these babies are flying out into the world making artists happy! :D Yes, this is quite the dream come true people!

Some of you know: we've been blog hopping for the last 10 days or so with some of my favourite artsy and creative friends and today is the big blog hop FINALE with me doing a big happy celebratory blog post in honour of these babies! :D 

To celebrate, I did a video for all you moonbeams demonstrating how you can use my stencils which also ends with a time lapse video of me creating a painting that includes several of my stencils (ok, I went a bit overboard, I'm enthusiastic, can you blame me? ;)).

To celebrate the release of my stencils I'm giving away not 2 but 4 sets! 

In order to enter the give away, I'd love for you to leave me a comment with one of your favourite childhood memories related to a whimsy experience (perhaps a book/ a Christmas memory/ a film you've seen/ art project you did in school, anything, I'd love to read about it).

I will choose 4 winners on Friday 22nd November!

However, if you can't wait to see if you won a set and you want to buy some NOW then make sure you get your set(s) here: 

For US/ Canada/ South America: Artistcellar

For UK/ Europe: Tam's Etsy Shop (Please note: my batch is on its way here not quite here yet but you can pre-order them with me and we'll send them out as soon as they come in)

For Australia/ Asia/ Africa: Institute of Cute

I hope you enjoy this demonstration of you can use my stencils:

Here are some close up shots of the painting created in the video:

Some of the give aways on my artsy friends blogs are still open, so if you fancy trying your luck make sure to visit their blogs and leave a comment!

10/26 Artistcellar http://www.artistcellar.com/wp

10/27 Jill K. Berry http://jillberrydesign.com/blog

10/28 Dawn DeVries Sokol http://www.dawndsokol.com

10/29 Carla Sonheim carlasonheim.wordpress.com

10/30 Micki Wilde thesecrethermit.blogspot.com

10/31 Carissa Paige http://carissapaige.blogspot.com

11/1 Effy Wild www.effywild.com

11/2 Gracie Howle http://graciehowle.blogspot.com

11/3 Jane Davenport http://janedavenport.com

11/4 Chris Cozen http://chriscozenartist.typepad.com/my-blog/11/5 Tamara Laporte www.willowing.org/blog

Thanks for being here today moonbeam! :D lots of love xx 

PS:

Artsy Ornaments of Christmas Workshop - I'm Teaching, You're Invited! :)

Hello again my fabulous creative friends! 

I'm super excited to announce that I'm one of the teachers on Christy Tomlinson's "Twelve Artsy Ornaments of Christmas" workshop! I love being part of collaborative courses where teachers share their own take on the theme and the group of teachers on this course is SO wonderful! I'm super honoured to be part of the group. We'll all be sharing a fun way to create a holiday ornament!

I will be showing you how to create a mixed media art doll angel which can be placed around the house. I've been wanting to run an art doll workshop for a while now and this is the perfect occasion for it! To find out more about the workshop click here or you can sign up now if you like, it's only $24.95 - that's quite the bargain for 12 awesome lessons! :) - I'm SO getting into the holiday mood! Falahalaahahal la la la LAAAA! ;)

PS. please note the pictures and teachers on the current sales page on Christy's site are examples of other years. Photos of this year's projects will be up soon! 

 

Christy's Project from 2012 

Here is some more information for you guys:

Official Name: The 2013 Twelve Artsy Ornaments of Christmas Workshop

When does it start: Tuesday November 19th

What is it: It's a Five day mini workshop that include 12 fabulous artsy teacher! Each day for five days (Tuesday- Saturday) 3 new ornament/holiday projects will be posted by 3 of our fabulous teachers! We will have all sorts of fun projects including ornaments, holiday decor, gift giving projects and more! 

12 Artist come together to bring to you 12 Holiday Project.. for decorating your homes, trees for the holidays, and wonderful gifts you can give as well! Because we ask 12 artist.. all from different areas of the creative field, you always get a GREAT mix of artistry.. mixed media, fiber, papercrafting, paints and more! In the end you walk away with a beautiful mix of everything you need to create a festive fun Holiday!

Who is involved: This workshop will include the following teachers: Amy Tan, Jenny Doh, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Margie Romney-Aslett, Maggie Holmes, Junelle Jacobsen, Tamara Laporte, Jeanne Oliver, Teresa Collins, Alisa Burke, Chrissy Gardner & Christy Tomlinson

 

Ornaments by Alisa Burke from 2012

Info about the workshop and how it works: The workshop will all be hosted on a private website and all instruction will be in video form and include up-close pictures of each project and supply lists and PDF"s where needed. Supply lists are ONLY available in the workshop, once the workshop begins. We will have a private facebook group page for those in the workshop as well. to share photos, get to know each other and the teachers better. We will also have instagram and twitter hashtags that students can use to share their work as well!

 

(Chrissy Gardner's project from 2012 workshop)[/caption]

Class Access: you have access to the workshop for an entire year; you can access the material, night or day.. from any computer.. for an entire year! Class is NOT live, so you won't miss a thing if you can't be there right when it starts. You can watch the workshop at their own pace.

So, you coming to zhe ornaments parteh moonbeam? :)

Sign up now:

$24.95

Hope to see you there beautiful! :)

My stencils are out and a list of happies!

Hey-ho my creative friends!

Life has been a bit challenging in the last couple of weeks. Lots has been going on 'behind the scenes' leaving me quite stressed and shakey, and the fantasy of a 3 month holiday in the Bahamas where I lie on a sunbed on a sandy beach being waited on by kind people while the dolphins are splashing in the sparkling ocean in front of me, is popping up in my head more and more BUT, instead of focusing on the stress, I'm focusing on the happy instead. There, take that stress! I'm gonna erase you with all the happy! hahahahaha! ;)

So, here is my list of happies. :D Before I do that though let me tell you that I appreciate you for reading my stuff, supporting my livelihood, spending time with me in my online livingroom and just being allround awesome lovely people. Thank you for your kindness and compassion. You are loved and needed !

Happy nr 1. I have 2 sets of stencils out with Artistcellar! :D It's been in making for several months now and some of you realised it when I dropped in some my sneak peeks here and there but they are now finally officially released and I can talk about them and openly celebrate them!!! Yayyyy! :D I feel so proud and accomplished to have my name on such a lovely product! :D

About the Whimsy Stencils:

"Including whimsy in my paintings is a way for me to reconnect and capture the innocence of childhood. Most of my paintings contain childlike and fun whimsy elements. With my new whimsy stencils I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to include that little bit of magical whimsy into their paintings and art creations too. They are fun and quirky and can help you bring that extra bit of sparkle to your journal or page." 

About the Stylised Uplifting Words Stencils:

"So many artists complain about their hand writing! Whenever I run a class that includes writing, students shy away or avoid the writing bit because they don't like their writing. This set of stencils can help you add writing to your pages without having to write it yourself! Or they can inspire you to develop your own stylised handwriting. The words themselves are meant to uplift you and bring a smile to your face when you've added them to your page. Enjoy!"


Stencils can be used in such a wonderful variety of ways! They can be used with ink sprays and acrylics, but they can also be used as 'masks' and you create fabulous texture with them if you use moulding paste or texture paste through them. You can use them as part of layering on your backgrounds or you can use them as standalones and make hand made cards with them for instance! All fun stuff!

Today is the beginning of the blog hop with some of my artsy and creative friends! They'll all share with you how they used the stencils and they are holding give aways too, so if you want to win some, make sure to follow the hop, here is the list:

10/26 Artistcellar http://www.artistcellar.com/wp

10/27 Jill K. Berry http://jillberrydesign.com/blog

10/28 Dawn DeVries Sokol http://www.dawndsokol.com

10/29 Carla Sonheim carlasonheim.wordpress.com

10/30 Micki Wilde thesecrethermit.blogspot.com

10/31 Carissa Paige http://carissapaige.blogspot.com

11/1 Effy Wild www.effywild.com

11/2 Gracie Howle http://graciehowle.blogspot.com

11/3 Jane Davenport http://janedavenport.com

11/4 Chris Cozen http://chriscozenartist.typepad.com/my-blog/ 
11/5 Tamara Laporte www.willowing.org/blog


As you can see I'll be rounding off this hop with my own blog post and give away! I'm currently preparing an instructional (free) video too to show you how you can use these stencils! :D It will be posted on the day of my blog hop day. :) So keep an eye out!

Here is some art I created that includes some of my stencils (gratitude comes from the word stencil set):

 

This is from the whimsy set, here I used the stencils as a mask and it leaves this wonderful grungy print effect behind:

These are just 2 quick examples, on my blog hop posting day there'll be a lot more! :D

So I'm super duper excited about this! :D

If you want to buy any sets or individual stencils, you can buy them from:

Artistcellar here best for those based in US/ Canada/ South America

I'll be selling them in my etsy shop soon (but not quite yet) for UK/ Europe

And my friend Jane Davenport sells my stencils in her shop which would suit Australia/ Asia & possibly African countries too. Yay. 

Happy Nr 2. As an empath I get affected by the troubles of the world a lot, often feeling helpless and upset about not being able to make much of a difference. I give money to quite a few charities (kiva, friends of the earth, amnesty, local ngo's in Sri Lanka who do conflict resolution and chestnut-tree house looking after terminally ill children & their families for instance), but lately I've been feeling the call to do something more pro-active than giving money (I think giving money is BRILLIANT if you can btw, no dissing the money giving AT ALL). I just wanted to do something awesome and big and active when it came to improving the world and when Upworthy sent out an email (I subscribe to their newsletter) with a deeply moving and inspiring video about building water supplies in Indian cities helping in particular a people in India called Dalits (or the 'untouchables'), I was so moved and inspired that I thought: THAT! That's what I want to do! I want to start my OWN WATER CAMPAIGN and do something FABULOUS for the people who donate money to it. :D So, I started thinking and came up with ideas and have subsequently been working my face off to get some stuff together for this campaign. Basically myself and Gracie (who works with me in the office and is an AMAZING singer) have been recording a song with beautiful meaning and a lot of depth and soul (won't announce the song title yet, want it to be a surprise). We'll make a music video with it too plus, I'm preparing a mini art lesson on canvas which people who donate to my campaign, will get free access to. Anyhoo, all the details are still not completely formalised, but I'm so psyched about this. All the money donated will go to building water systems in villages that need them! Sooo, keep an eye out, because if you donate to my campaign, for as little as $5 or more, whatever you are able/ willing to give, you'll get a music track, music video download and access to a mini art course on canvas (I'll likely be showing you how to create a mermaid on canvas to stick with the 'water theme)! How fab is that?! :) More on this soon too!

Me in the home made studio, photo taken by Gracie;

Happy nr 3. Few people know that my parents work in fashion. My dad is a fashion designer (bona fide!!) and my mum a pattern designer, they own a company together that produces clothing wholesale and my mother does a lot of pattern design work for large clothing companies. I have, for a while now, been wanting to bring out more 'Willowing Arts' products and so my parents and I have been brainstorming about bringing out some fashion/ clothing/ comfy trouser and shawl/ scarf line with Willowing Arts. This is all still in its embryonic stages to nothing to show you yet, but again: I'm peeing myself with excitement over this! I'm particularly interested in producing funky/ artsy/ comfy trousers that artists can work in but that are also stylish and bohemian looking. Cool idea no? But also we're going to produce fabric with my art designs on them and make shawls or bags or something like that! :D So fun! It's great when you have artsy parents in the industry! ;)

Happy nr 4. Other behind the scenes preparations are happening for my yearly digital calendar(s) with Tam Art. I produce mine digitally each year so you can print them out yourself because that way they are more affordable. You can check out last year's calendars by clicking here.

Happy nr 5. I'm going to be offering some of my popular Life Book lessons from 2012 & 2013 as stand-alone mini courses (self study). Like the Quirky Birds lesson and some others too. I've been preparing a Halloween lesson for Life Book this year and that one will also become available as a stand alone some time this month! So if you love Halloween make sure to join this one, it's a fun one! :)

Happy nr 6. I am going to be involved with a fabulous collaborate art course which opens up soon. Can't quite announce which one it is yet, but can do in about a week or so. :D

Happy nr 7. I discovered glitter hair spray and now I can't stop spraying it in my hair every day, glitter makes everything better! ;) I'm also going through a phase of wearing 60ties/ 70ties head gear, can't seem to stop for some reason. ;) I think I'm channeling my inner Olivia Newton John in Xanadu, no? 

So that was a pretty good list of happies n'est pas? :D I'm counting my blessings in spite of the sucky stressfest that's been my last 2 weeks. I hope you too can count your blessings dear one! If times have been tough for you too: I send you light huge and big. (The suckiness does seem to be going round at the moment!)
 

Now, gotta go sleep and get ready for -apparently- a bit of a mega storm for tomorrow!

Good night beautiful bunch. I rather heart you.