I've Got No Strings

I’ve been seeing this ad using the song from Pinocchio “I’ve Got No Strings” by Dickie Jones. Below are the words to the songs. Read them. They are profound.

I've got no strings

To hold me down

To make me fret

Or make me frown

I had strings

But now I'm free

There are no strings on me

Hi-ho the me-ri-o

That's the only way to go

I want the world to know

Nothing ever worries me

I've got no strings

So I have fun

I'm not tied up to anyone

They've got strings

But you can see

There are no strings on me

Here is the YouTube video if you want to hear the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_UlphMDLrA

Why are we creating Cinderella when we are reading a song from Pinocchio? Cinderella had a lot of strings attached to her. Her step-mother and step-sisters pulled her strings all the time, making her clean and served them day and night. She wasn’t free to have time to herself or allowed to do anything fun.

Can you remember a time when you had strings holding you back from being free to do what you wanted? Imagine yourself as Cinderella and the pumpkin is your carriage to the ball. If you had to leave the ball when the clock strikes midnight, would you run or would you stay and have everyone see you as Cinderella and not as the mysterious princess.  This is your story. Remember, you got no strings and you are free to be loved as you are. There is nothing to fear. What would you do?  Your prompt: “At midnight, when the magic disappears, I would …”

Watch my video to see what I would do.

https://youtu.be/gB06RkidGVo

Winner of the Travel Kit Watercolor goes to Kris G!! Congrats, Kris!

For the month of November, I am giving away a 24 set of Portfolio Series Oil Pastels.  Please enter your work on the Secret Page or send me an email.

https://www.amazon.com/Water-Soluble-Pastels-Portfolio-Crayola/dp/B00HKYGBOI/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1477888922&sr=8-16&keywords=portfolio+series+oil+pastels

Loose Ends

Welcome!  For those who worked on single watercolor papers, we will learn how to stitch all the loose papers into a journal or a book. This is great method to stitch anything together.

I created my own YouTube video, but then found a really awesome artist who has many great videos on bookbinding. My job is to share knowledge with you so you can learn to express yourself. Please view Sea Lemon's link to learn Coptic Stitching. Her tutorial is much more simple and clearer than mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04vt8YfT7XM

I highly recommend you stitch extra blank pages to your project for future art journaling. If you find time after stitching everything together, your writing prompt for this week is called, Loose Ends:

1.    What loose ends do you need to tide up before the Holidays? I know I need to unpack all my boxes since my move to New York before friends and relatives come to visit.

2.    What would you like to accomplish before Halloween? Thanksgiving? Christmas?

Just a reminder, I'm giving away this watercolor kit. Name will be chosen next week, so please share your work on the Secret Page.

Next week, we will work on creating our own Cinderella and her pumpkin.  Print out a black and white picture of a pumpkin; enlarge it big enough to fit Cinderella. We are going to tell our own Cinderella story.

All About Face

Welcome back to our third week. Here is my final product for last week:

First, please take time and paint the background to your journal first with watercolor or ink as you please. This week, you will learn the basic way of drawing a face. However, for our prompt, this is the face of your superhero/superself.

The book I am referencing is a book about make-up. It’s not the best for basic face drawing, but it has a lot of good examples. https://www.amazon.com/Making-Rex-Diana-Lewis-Jewell/dp/0517569558/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476741955&sr=1-1&keywords=making+up+by+rex

Watch this video on how to draw the basic face:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJdDxHWVn1w

Then write today’s Prompt:

Write what your superhero can and can't do. What are her superpowers to help with everyday lives?  People, in general, feel better when they try to help others. Think of ways she can help. To whom can you help? How will people benefit from knowing you or your superself?

Think of this exercise as creating a mask. With that mask, you are able to be self-expressive. Use whatever color, medium you want. I'm trying to use minimal supplies, because art supplies can be expensive.

On that note, I'm giving away one (1) a travel side watercolor kit by Koi (Sakura XNCW-24N, 24 Assorted Watercolors Field Sketch Set with Brush –a value of $25 plus shipping and tons of happiness.)

To enter for the kit, please join the secret page on Facebook, and post one of your doodles or art journal pages with a sentence or two on what you have learned so far.

Contest ends Oct. 30. Winner will be announced on Oct. 31. I will mail out the watercolor kit on November 1, 2016.  I now live in New York, so it might take a few days to get to California.

Also, I mentioned gratitude in my video. Watch this video if you want to learn more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHv6vTKD6lg

Items needed for next week. You can buy then anywhere, but these are examples of what I am talking about:

--Lion Brand Yarn 400-5-5002 Large-Eye Blunt Needles, Set of 6
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0021GN2BA/ref=ox_huc_add_on_msg_title_1?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

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           -- Waxed Threads

https://www.amazon.com/Colors-Cotton-Strings-Necklace-Making/dp/B00SWLE18Q/ref=sr_1_24?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1476754796&sr=1-24&keywords=waxed+thread

--Washi Tape (optional)

--Watercolor paper

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Happy painting, everyone!

Linh