I am loving Daisy Yellow's List Journal Project.  It is so fun to just stick it in my book of days journal.  Plus it gives me something different to include than what I normally throw it to showcase my weeks.  Here's the one I did for my Dream Vacations.

Work has been pretty stressful.  But creating these weekly mandalas has helped keep the migraines at bay and let me relax during my home time.  This week has been very strange with Jamie working at the new job.  We've also hit some random snags here and there - like when my phone randomly died and wouldn't turn on....making us have to buy a new phone on payday.  But now I have a super awesome phone which does EVERYTHING I've been wanting it to do for like 6 months now...  Anyway!  This week I created my mandala with the CD method and decorated it with pen doodles.  I colored it with my glittery watercolors and then used it to document a bit of why my job is stressing me out (as in my backroom is always a mess when I come back and its very pretty by Monday, but I know it'll be a nightmare when I come back from my days off).

Mandala created with CD Method

This is my final page in my art journal. :)

A mandala is a bidimensional design that represents a multidimensional experience.  - Luis Daniel Maldonado Fonken

 Hello everyone!  As some of you may know, I work third shift (Thursday through Monday nights) in a retail industry.  Therefore, my weekend begins Tuesday morning, which can be a little strange.  Since retail is currently gearing up for all of the upcoming holidays, the workload is a bit much currently and only going to get worse.  Sooooo by the time Monday comes around we have geared up, survived and are now recovering from the weekend at work.  Which all equals a very, very, VERY exhausted and drained Andrea.

That's where these beautiful mandalas come in.  Creating mandalas is a very calming and peaceful process (at least for me and many agree...).  Mandala creation seems to have originated with Buddhism and Hinduism philosophies and has morphed into an art form that I really enjoy.  I mix doodles and zentangling into my mandalas.

For my mandala I started on the next page in my Book of Days journal that I had previously glued down some scrapbooking paper and done a little stamping on tissue paper on (during my background making spree).  Then I traced a CD (including the inner hole) so that I could start with a circle shape to doodle in.  After I doodled to my heart's content, I went back over my designs with my pearlescent watercolor paints and a dark colored sharpie.  I really, really love this mandala.  Its so sparkly and pretty.  And I feel so much better after having completed it.  Much more relaxed and ready to really enjoy my weekend, come morning.

My mandala that I created today

Detail shot showing the bottom left side where you can see the scrapbooking paper showing through.

Detail of the center of the mandala.

Detail of the top left of the mandala.  Notice the layered tissue paper beneath the painted mandala.

Check out some of these videos on mandala creation and let me know what you come up with!

• Expressing the Self has a great video to start with, which shows you how to grow a mandala.  This video is especially helpful if you haven't drawn a mandala before.
• Rainbow Elephant does some amazing mandala templates to help get you started.
• Milliande did a video on a zendala - combining zentangling and mandala making.

Any other favorites on mandala making?  Let me know!  I'm always seeking new inspiration.

I'd love to know when you feel really inspired to create mandalas.  Do you create them during stressful/emotional moments, during joyful moments or for other reasons?

Love & Light

New art journal!  I am so excited and proud of my new art journal.  I'm trying a new technique (for me) which is incorporating smash booking/junque journal techniques in my Book of Days.  Book of Days is a visual diary that I write down tidbits of my week in and all of my art making projects (ideas, art journaling spreads from various classes, etc).  Book of Days is an awesome experience that is hosted by the lovely Effy Wild.  You can find out more information about Book of Days by checking out Effy Wild's website.

The idea behind Smash is all about creating a book that you can glue/collage in all those little tidbits of life that mean something to you on to scrapbooking paper.  I love this idea and I love the Smash books and products but I want something that can survive my mixed media techniques that I throw into my art journals so I made my own.  There are all kinds of videos on YouTube about smashbooking and creating your own junque (junk) journals.  However, I LOVE Tangie Baxter's tutorial about her journal made from a composition book.

In honor of my new Book of Days Journal and my new blog (!!!), I decided to make a lovely little video flip for you guys.  So that you can have a peek into what I've done so far since the beginning of September.



I'd love to see what creative art making you are all currently involved in!

Love & Light :)