Inspirational Video

Balzer Designs’ Art Journal Every Day – my fast forward video

Julie Fei Fan Balzer has this amazing series on her blog called Art Journal Every Day. You can commit along with her to do something small every day in your Art Journal. It is such an awesome concept and it works. You can play along for just a week or a month or the whole year- it is up to you.

For the next weeks Julie has some Art Journalers as guest bloggers lined up to show in a fast forward movie how they create their Art Journals.  Mine was up last friday on her blog. Here is the video:

Julle also asked me a couple of questions – you can read all the questions and answers on her blog– but I would like to put part of it on here too:

Q: Why do you art journal?

I actually call my art journals: Art Mournals – I usually only art mournal when I feel not good or when I’m angry -in a not so good mood. I am a very happy and optimistic person. Once in a while though there is something that upsets me or is unusually long on my mind. I need an outlet for expressing me that is uncensored and raw. I censor my lot in some of my work because it is used on websites or is work for someone else. In my art mournals I do not care what people think. And often after I worked on my page…I ‘m actually good again – all bad feelings or thoughts are in the page and I can move on and be the happy me again.

Another reason is that for me the process of creating something is often even more important than the outcome. I enjoy creating the art mournal pages as I can also get lost in the process of making them.

supplies used: White Gesso (Gerstaecker – thick gesso), Claudine Hellmuth’s Multi Medium glossy, Brush, old hotel key card, Crafter’s Workshop Stencil Circle Grid TCW203, Tattered Angels Screens, Staz On, Darkroom Door French Script Background Stamp, Eco Green Crafts Acrylic Paints, Eco Green Crafts Artist Medium Matte, Eco Green Crafts Artist Spackle, Eco Green Crafts Artist Glue, Magazine Image, Sassafrass Lass Paper, Typewriter, PanPastel, Derwent Inktense block, Heidi Swapp Chipboard Letters

I am so obsessed with pink red, yellow and also- not on this page orange right now.

Do you art journal/mournal and if so, why do you do it?

Have an amazing day !

Nat

Comments (4)

  • france papillon

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    wow, so much going on on this page, that’s what i love! layers and layers of creativity :)

    Reply

  • Dottie

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    I have a similar experience with art “mournaling”, I have had a job loss that has been really devastating for me over the last months. I started art journaling and it has been amazingly helpful. I loved your video. watched it first on Julie’s blog. I am more convinced than ever that art heals!!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      I am so sorry to hear this Dottie! Our job is such a big part of our life, it has such a huge impact on us. You are so right in “Art heals” . Huge hugs from one art mournaler to the other :)

      Reply

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Old Paper Art Treasures – Or the Value of Craftsmanship

I love when you find old treasures because of a concert or something else and then you learn something knew. Just last week I learned about Lotte Reiniger – a German Silhouette-Animation-Movie-Maker. I watched parts of the 1926 movie of  The Adventures of Prince Ahmed – and what you have to know first and foremost is how this is made! But here is a scene of the movie first:

Ich liebe es, wenn man alte Schätze findet, manchmal aufgrund eines Konzerts o.ä. und dann lernt man etwas völlig Neues. Letzte Woche lernte ich was über Lotte Reiniger – eine Deutsche Silhouetten Animationsfilmerin – und Scherenschneiderin. Ich habe Teile ihres 1926 gedrehten Films Die Abenteuer des Prinz Ahmeds gesehen – und was man darüber vor allem wissen muss, ist wie das ganze damals gemacht wurde! Aber hier ist erstmal eine Szene aus dem Film:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS4jit16Fd8]

And here is how she did it – she built a table with a glas plate which was lightended from underneath. She cut out each of the figures from black cardstock and then out the figures onto the plate. She photographed each little movement of the paper figures – 16 photos a second. Look at how detailed some of the figures are – did you see the shadows of the girls in the lake- all made with paper pieces . In later years she even used patterned paper to create colored movies. Look at this awesome little movie (it is 17 minutes long-but I promise you it is worth it) about how she made those movies- it is AMAZING.

Und hier ist wie sie das ganze gestaltete – sie baute einen Tisch mit einer Glasplatte, die von unten beleuchtet war. Sie schnitt jede einzelne der Figuren aus schwarzem Tonpapier aus und legte die Figuren auf die Platte. Sie fotografierte jede kleine Bewegung der Papier Figuren – 16 Fotos in der Sekunde. Schaut wie detailiert manche der Figuren sind – habt Ihr die Schatten von den Frauen im See gesehen – alles mit Papierstücken gestaltet. Später hat sie auch gemustertes Papier verwendet und Farbfilme gedreht. Hier ist ein wunderbarer kleiner Film, der zeigt, wie sie diese Filme herstellte – (er ist 17 Minuten lang- aber ich verspreche, die sind es wert) GROSSARTIG

[dailymotion id=x4wc6s_the-art-of-lotte-reiniger-1953-1971_shortfilms]

(if the video is not working in here- here is a link to it: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4wc6s_the-art-of-lotte-reiniger-1953-1971_shortfilms)

The amazing thing about it is the amount of time and craft that was put into it. Today our lifes are so difuse and we are so distracted we don’t find this level of craftmanship anymore. And that is what I love about Scrapbooking and Mixed Media- you use your hands, you create something that takes time but has intrinsic value.

Die Fasziniation liegt für mich in der unglaublichen Zeit und Arbeit, die hier eingebracht wurde. Heute sind unsere Leben so weitschweifig und wir sind so abgelenkt, dass wir noch noch selten diesen Grad von Kunstfertigkeit finden. Und dass ist es, was ich so an Scrapbooking und Mixed Media liebe, Du benutzt Deine Hände um etwas zu kreieren, das Zeit kostet, aber einen unschätzbaren persönlichen Wert hat.

Have a gorgeous creative weekend :)

Euch ein wunderschönes kreatives Wochenende :)

Comments (2)

  • Sue Clarke

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    Totally different from anything that I’ve seen and uber cool!

    Reply

  • Mandy C

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    Well said Nat, the artists who created the scenes for Disney’s beautiful feature movies are what lured me into art. Being hands on with our products is a wonderful feeling on creating something.

    Reply

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29 Ways to stay Creative

Love this video!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb2pYQCZKpc]
What do you do to stay creative?

  • Viviana

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    Muy bueno, gracias por compartir

    Reply

  • Conny

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    also da fehlt ein punkt – wo kommen die süssigkeiten vor??????

    glg conny

    Reply

  • Tanja

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    Sehr genial, – Punkt Nr. 4 ist wohl beim mir die Hauptbremse zum Kreativ sein: ich hänge einfach zu viel vorm PC rum….*aaarrrhhh* Ich gelobe Besserung! Liebe Grüße…Tanja

    Reply

  • Tanja

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    Hi Nat! Obwohl ich deinen “alten” Blog auch schon sehr gerne besucht habe, finde ich deinen “Umzug” sehr gelungen und hab dich gleich auf meinem Blog verlinkt, – damit ich jetzt auch gar nix mehr verpasse ;-)
    Liebe Grüße…Tanja

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Vielen Dank Tanja :) ja- hihihi- bei mir ist auch das Aufräumen des Studios die Bremse ;)

      Reply

  • Linda

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    Hi Nat!! Have spread the word at facebook and linked our logo to my blog. Will post on my blog with my post today, just have to create it first ;-) Big Hugs and congrats on your new ‘look’

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Linda- you are the best!!!! Have an amazing day!

      Reply

  • Sherry Mendoza

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    You are AMAZING and this new site ROCKS!!! <3 <3 <3

    Reply

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The Lost Tribes of New York City

I love this video – check it out!

Ich liebe dieses Video – schaut es mal an !

[vimeo width=”400″ height=”300″]http://vimeo.com/2860274[/vimeo]

  • Michelle

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    Love that concept. The end titles were fun too!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    I can always count on you for a little something different to start my morning. Happy Friday Nat!

    Reply

  • Daniela

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    Ja, ist DAS klasse! Lieben Dank fürs zeigen!

    Reply

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Graffiti Knitting :)

So…what you think about this? LOL …and no – it is not a new art form for me…I’m to impatient for this ;)

Und…was haltet Ihr davon? LOL …und …nö – das ist keine neue Kunstform für mich …dafür bin ich zu ungeduldig ;)

[youtube width=”325″ height=”271″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKPMi646rXg[/youtube]

Have a good one :)

  • Daphne

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    super! Just a while ago I missed at one day the world guerilla knit day..
    it looks terrific and I love the thought behind this!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Neat stuff but a lot of work for a very slow knitter like me. Colorful and harmless as well. I would be sad to see my work taken off though.

    Reply

  • Sylvia

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    LOL, yarn storming… not bad!! i’m a slow knitter, so i’d feel sorry if my work just disappeared…

    Reply

  • Liz

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    LOL…. yeah, I’ve heard of it before. It was all the talk on one of the knitting boards I visit. Odd… but heck, there’s worse than ” a bit of wooly sunshine”. See ya in a few.

    Reply

  • Michelle LaPoint Rydell

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    “a bit of wooly sunshine” I love it! That is great! Anything that brightens up the world is alright by me!

    Reply

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The one about Inspiration

I stumbled over this wonderful video and wanted to share it with you. It is by Carlos Lascano – love it!

Über dieses wunderbare Video bin ich gestern gestolpert und wollte es unbedingt mit Euch teilen. Es ist von Carlos Lascano – ich liebe es!
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=316384&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Inspiration (stopmotion) from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.

  • Pamela Young

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    Great pics! LOVE the paint roller one! :)

    Reply

  • heather

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    Oh so sweet and oh so Europe…Spanish, si?

    Reply

  • kristii

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    Wow! that was fantastic! Thanks for sharing it!! Hope you have a great week!!!

    Reply

  • Michelle

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    Very cool! Did you know that I used to do stop motion animation? Nothing as cool as that but I really appreciated seeing that!

    Reply

  • Kerstin

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    Himmel, is das fein! Was mir das sagt? Ich werd am nächsten Wochenende wohl mal endlich wieder raus in’s “Nix” gehen … Danke!

    Reply

  • Daphne

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    Beautiful colours and the music is great too!
    Love it..how did you “stumble” upon it?

    HUGS

    Reply

  • Sylvia

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    Thanks for sharing!! :)

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Interesting. Gives new meaning to creating the world you want to live in!

    Reply

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Layout: Yo Man….or Hömma Samma…

Hömma Samma, brennt Dir die Mütze? – ist ein Spruch, der sich aus häufig benutzten Spruchteilen von Schulu und mir zusammensetzt. Danyeela hat uns gleich einen Stempel hierfür hergestellt – was für ein Schatz! Ich fand der Stempel passt sehr gut zu Liz‘ knuffig supercool aussehender Tochter :-)

This is my friend Liz‘ daughter- she is too cute how she plays this serious role with her hat. There is a quote that my friend Christiane and I use to say that doesn’t translate well into English – it is kind of like: Ey, listen up, man…are you off your rocker? – So our friend danyeela created a stamp for us with that saying.

*Yo Man*

Journaling reads: LOL Hayden you are a real little city kid. No doubt about this – so cute with your hat!

supplies: Lazar Digi Werx Paper, Acrylic Paints, Prima Paintables, Orange Chalk, White Signo Ball Pen, Fontwerk Paper, Making Memory Journaling Spot, Basic Grey Paper, Danyella-HÖmma-Stamp, STaples, Fancy Pants Felt, Maya Road Chipboard and Glimmer Mist.

Also – wenn Ihr dem Spruch dann irgendwann hört, wisst Ihr, wer ihn in die Welt gesetzt hat :-)  Euch allen einen schönen Sonntag!

Wishing you a gorgeous sunday!

Comments (10)

  • Tanja

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    Klasse LO und er Stempel ist ja echt der Hammer!! Sowohl Text als auch Ausführung!!

    Reply

  • jana

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    *gg* das ist so geil- der stempel ist der hit!!

    Reply

  • Daphne

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    The background is to die for!
    And love the stamp!!!

    Reply

  • vivian

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    this page is sooo cool!

    Reply

  • Aline

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    Hervorragendes Layout und der Spruch ist der Knüller! :)

    Reply

  • D@nielle

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    what a pretty girl, love the lo and how great you have a stamp with your favorite line !

    Reply

  • Magpie

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    Woohoo, watch out boys, in a few years this one will knock you off your feet! Love the layout, Nat!

    Reply

  • Birgit

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    ein starkes Layout!!!!

    Reply

  • Conibaer

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    Auch wieder toll geworden! Und auch wenn ich den Spruch nicht wirklich verstehe, finde ich ihn doch klasse! *gg*

    Reply

  • Liz

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    I realize I am prejudiced since I happen to think that she is one of the coolest kids around (unless she is driving me nuts), but this has to be one of my favorite LOs of all times.

    Reply

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