Happy New Year!

I created this on my new iPad and stylus from the app, Procreate. It's a great app!

These are "Chunks Versals" that I will be teaching on

Lifebook 2016.

But you will be using just a plain ole pencil and paper!

Be sure to click the link and take a look around at

the upcoming class. You will make a wonderful

year long journal with fabulous art. 

FUN!!

Joyful!

During my holiday downtown (yeah right!) I decided to treat myself to Stephanie Ackerman's Bible Journaling Class just to see if it would jump start me back into Bible Journaling. She is precious and her Bible journaling is happy and wonderful and I just had to learn from her. I highly recommend it. Her lettering if fun and doable and you can totally make it your own. Love her!

BLACK FRIDAY SALE!

BLACK FRIDAY SALE!

GET 25% OFF OF ALL MY

CLASSES FROM

CREATIVE WORKSHOPS

November 27th-30th

Stock up now so you can be ready to

learn some cool stuff in the new year.

And don't forget

LIFEBOOK 2016

Many wonderful teachers will help 

 you create a fabulous journal

and...

I will be teaching

"Five Minute Flowers"

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Chunky Versals"

Lifebook 2016

Click here for more information

about Lifebook 2016

#colordropflowers

Lifebook 2016!

On "LIFEBOOK 2016" I will be teaching you how

to draw these Chunky Versals and write the

word that brings you comfort, happiness and joy.

I have many such words!

So if you would like to learn to draw these letterforms 

I will be teaching them in Lifebook 2016!
Also there are many other wonderful teachers scheduled also.

                                                 
                                           Click here to view more details

 Hope to see you there!!

SIGN UP TODAY FOR LIFEBOOK 2016!!!

Today is the day!!!

Sign up for Lifebook 2016!!
It's going to be the best ever!!!

Click here to view more details

AND THE WINNER IS...

JJ SOLBEY

CONGRATULATIONS, JJ!!!!

REMEMBER TO GO HERE

and you can sign up for a free class for many more days

and a chance to win!!
Scroll down and pick the next teacher.

And also remember to come back to this blog to sign up!!

Click here to view more details

and to sign up for LIFE BOOK!!!!

Life Book 2016 Blog Hop & Give Away!

Hello everyone!

I have some wonderful exciting news! I am going to be teaching on Life Book 2016 next year!

And even MORE exciting news is that I can give away 1 space on this amazing year long art course! Keep reading if you want to find out more about Life Book 2016 and if you want to find out how you can win a spot! 

First let me tell you a bit more about Life Book in case you haven't heard about it yet!

“Life Book, a celebration and honouring of YOU” is a year-long mixed media art class

organized by Tamara Laporte from Willowing Arts.

Tam is joined by 23 incredible art teachers who are all gearing up to share their mixed media techniques, tips and tricks with YOU! Themed around self-development and healing, you’ll be creating several loose mixed media art journal pages per month which by the end of the year you will bind into a glorious journal (a Life Book)! You will have a wonderful keepsake that you can treasure for the rest of your life!

I will be teaching "Chunky Versals" which is a fun and creative take on the traditional versal letter that was used in old manuscripts. These versal letters were adorned and decorated and were usually used to start the first letter of a paragraph. But we will bring them into the 21st century and add doodles, watercolor and even real gold!

Registration opens on October 5th 2015 and the class begins on January1st 2016.

So if you want to start the year with a fabulous creative BANG and spend 2016 with a wonderful creative community of like-minded souls, learning more about art and how to be kinder and more loving towards yourself, be sure to join once registration opens!

Keep my blog bookmarked so that you can sign up the moment it goes on sale but I will also be sending out a newsletter and post the link here on my blog the day before it opens so you can sign up here on my blog.

You can find out a lot more about this wildly popular course (it has been joined by over 8700

people in the past!)
Click here to view more details

Now then, onto the give-away and blog hop!  I can give away 1 space on Life Book 2016 to 1 lucky winner.  And if you follow the blog hop (see below for links and dates) you can up your chances of winner a space by entering all the other give-aways also!

To enter my giveaway just leave a comment below letting me know why you would love to join Life Book 2016.
I will count up the comments announce the winner on Sept 20 at 8:00 pm. after Mr. Random. org picks a number.
Here is the list of the other amazing teachers who will be teaching on Life Book – they too will be giving away a spot on Life Book so go check them out and enter their give-aways!

Just look at the line up of teachers!!!  It's gonna be GREAT!

7 Sept 2015 Tamara Laporte http://www.willowing.org/

8 Sept 2015 Annie Hamman http://anniehamman.com/

9 Sept 2015 Kristin Dudish http://kristindudish.com/

10 Sept 2015 Effy Wild http://effywild.com/

11 Sept 2015 Faith Evans-Sills http://harmonyandfaith.blogspot.com/

12 Sept 2015 Gillian Lee Smith http://www.gillianleesmithartist.com/

13 Sept 2015 Ivy Newport http://ivynewport.com/

14 Sept 2015 Jane Davenport http://janedavenport.com/

15 Sept 2015 Jenny Grant http://www.flowbyjenny.com/

16 Sept 2015 Angela Kennedy (Pennystamper) http://pennystamper.blogspot.com

17 Sept 2015 Lisa Viger http://www.lisaviger.com/

18 Sept 2015 Martha Lever http://marthalever.blogspot.co.uk/

19 Sept 2015 Mary Beth Shaw http://www.mbshaw.com/

20 Sept 2015 Melody Ross http://bravegirlsclub.com/

21 Sept 2015 Pam Carriker http://pamcarriker.com/

22 Sept 2015 Pauline Agnew http://www.paulineagnew.com/blog/

23 Sept 2015 Rae Missigman http://rae-missigman.squarespace.com/

24 Sept 2015 Renata Loree http://renataloree.com/

25 Sept 2015 Roben-Marie Smith http://www.robenmarie.com/

26 Sept 2015 Roxanne Coble http://bybun.com/

27 Sept 2015 Shiloh Sophia McCloud http://www.shilohsophiastudios.com/blog

28 Sept 2015 Donna Downey http://donnadowney.typepad.com

29 Sept 2015 Tracy Verdugo http://artoftracyverdugo.blogspot.co.uk/

30 Sept 2015 Wyanne Thompson http://www.wyanne.com

COME JOIN US!!!!!

This is just funny!

Maybe at some point I will do some artwork again. 

Looks like I am taking the summer off.

Actually I adopted a new little doggie that was not

housebroken so I can't take my eye off of her when she is out of 

the crate so I haven't been able to gear back up.

Here she is--she is smart!

This just made me laugh...

and also...

thank you all so much who

bought classes through the 

Christmas

in July Sale!!

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

SUMMER SALE!!!

ALL MY CLASSES 25% OFF

FOR THE WHOLE MONTH OF JULY!

Click HERE for class information.

Thank you!!!

Play Area!

The More Space Place here in Jacksonville are such a great company and I loved working with them. I really do enjoy sitting here and painting and whatever else strikes my creative juices at the time.
They wanted a picture of my area so this is the one I sent for their Facebook page. The small floating shelves on the left are from Ikea.

Little Country Cottage

I don't have many photos that I have taken myself that are paint worthy.  I am so glad that the
Paint My Photo has great copyright free photos that you can paint. That's the point of the site. There are some really nice photos in this site can can be painted exactly as is or modified with cropping etc. This is one of those photos. I did modify this one because in the foreground were rows of lavender and after painting all those rows I decided it was just too busy so I painted over it to let the little cottage be the focus.

I Love Anything Boho!

I have been wanting to make some of these Boho bangles for quite some time now.  I had all the the supplies here at home except for the zip ties. I got the 8" which wasn't long enough. The 11" would be much better. But I just taped two together to get the size I needed. I used Artist Tape rather than Scotch tape and small duck tape would even be better. Can't wait to wear them.

Here's link to the how to video by Mark Montano. Enjoy!

Pretty and Really Smart

I have been having so much fun drawing these girls. Danielle Donaldson

has the most wonderful class called "Creative Girl--Storybook and Studious Girls"

and her girls are so just adorable. I highly recommend her class.

My girls are a bit different which is what I was striving for. It's all about

"creative practice"---learning from someone you admire but then making it your own.

Take lots of practice!

For the Love of Duck Tape

 As I was painting some fun girls (ala Danielle Donaldson--love her!) the thought occurred to me that I should do something to this boring 'ole folding chair so I whipped out the only patterned Duck Tape that I had and went to it. So easy and fun. Just used a box cutter to trim it. Goodness, think of the possibilities!

Steal Like An Artist

Today, I am going to get up on my artist soap box just for a minute.  In this age of blogs, Facebook  Instagram, Pinterest and Flickr, etc, it seems that art work is out there ripe for the pickin'. 

 And yes, you would be right.

If you love someone's art, or style and you copy it and post it as your own---

well, this is not stealing like an artist. It's just stealing. And I do understand that some 

people just don't know that it's wrong. In the beginning, I didn't either.

But if you study someone's art that you love, copy it, figure out the process and work on that style long enough (this might take time) and begin to transform it into something that is your own--- then, and only then should you post it as yours. The original artist's flavor can still be there but in many ways it has evolved into something different--something that is more you than the original artist.  But even then you should give the original artist credit for your inspiration. All artists learn this way. We are inspired by other artists and even the Bible says:

"...there is nothing new under the sun."

Ecclesiastes 1:9

Ok, I will step down from my soap box and let you watch the video.

This is a highly recommended book for any artist new or old.

Thank you Jeanne Oliver for this recommendation.

Spotlight Artist for DLP!

Hi Everyone! 

It's me, Martha, in my favorite hat. 

I just can't express my excitement for being a

Documented Life Project Spotlight Artist

for this week!

This month's theme has been "Making Your Mark"  (Doodles and Mark Making). Goodness, how can you not love that one!!

The art challenge this week is "Create a Custom Element" and the prompt is a great quote by Gabrielle Roth--
"Ride the Energy of your own unique spirit."

As I thought about making my custom element within the mark making month I got to thinking about what a custom mark or element could be. I first thought I would make a rubber stamp and go with that which would have been fun. I love making custom rubber stamps! Then I thought that I really wanted to try and make a unique mark that I hadn't done in a while.  So I rummaged through all my ancient supplies in search of this soda pop folded pen that I made at a calligraphy conference many many years ago.  I hadn't used it since then so I decided that the marks this pen would make would be my unique calligraphic marks.  By the way---ANY mark that YOU make whether made by a brush, a pencil, a marker or whatever is your own unique mark.

I love the quote so I decided I just had to make some word marks.

So I just started marking while still thinking about where my quote would go.

Sometimes trying to figure out the layout with lettering can be quite challenging.

I also added some water to make the ink flow and run a bit to add some unexpected excitement!

As you see in this one I did use a regular calligraphy pen and a Tombow marker brush pen.

I was thinking about what type of layout would go into my journal so I decided to try and find some interesting 3x3 squares to cut out that might work.

Pretty cool!

So I guess it's time to show you how I made the marks. I used different colors

of fountain pen ink. Did I mention that I LOVE fountain pens?

So, here goes!

Making My Unique Marks! from Martha Lever on Vimeo.

Here is what finally came out. I had so many marks that I loved it was hard to choose so I did two layouts.  The one on the right was rather "energetic" so I decided to just write the quote

out on the left using the Italic calligraphy hand with a Speedball C-4 nib with red gouache.  

The paper has gesso on it to make for a better writing surface. 

It was so much fun to make my own unique marks for this week. 

Just remember--you are unique so every mark you make will be uniquely your own.

On your mark,

 get set,

GO!

(I just couldn't resist that one! :))

Elegant Writer Tulips

One thing that I always strive to do when I draw is to start with a pen and just go for it. Yes, some lines will be wonky and some will be off but I just try and go with it.   It makes for a freer, looser drawing. I used an Elegant Writer calligraphy marker to draw the lines then dampen the lines with water. It makes a wonderful blackish, pinkish color. Very fun to do!


Tune in tomorrow because I will be featured as the Spotlight Artist for the Documented Life Project!
So excited about that!!!

Little Still Life

I have been sick all week with either the flu or a virus--whatever it is it's been terrible.  I haven't done anything art wise so today I just had to rally enough to paint a little watercolor from a set up I put together. This is one of my new pitchers from ebay.

I didn't have the energy to get out the oil paints but hopefully this little set up can become an oil painting too.

Mixed Media Batik-ish

This was from a guided lesson I bought from Katie George.  Her batiks are so beautiful so I thought I would purchase a few of her batik step by step lessons to make sure I was doing it right.  I lost my way at some point but saved it with painting the whole thing in acrylic. I am sure it was just me not following directions properly. I am "follow directions" challenged sometimes. She is great so if you want to learn to batik--she is the one!

Russell Portraits

Precious little Russell, the Piglet.

More Batik Pears

I decided to paint this pear design again with different colors and added Sumi ink for the final coat. I learn something new everything I do one of these watercolor batiks. They are really fun--and you never know what you'll get!

What Lies Beneath--Cover up the Good

This is a combination of a couple of weeks about this month's theme for DLP
February Theme
Layers You Will Love!
February 14
Art Challenge:  Cover Up Good Stuff
Journal Prompt:  Going Undercover

A few weeks back I didn't get a chance to do the "What Lies Beneath" challenge so I decided to just try and combine a couple of weeks.  What lies beneath the layers of paint in this one is sticky shelf liner and an image from transfer paper. I still haven't been able to get the transfer paper to work properly but it was enough to see the girls face.  I haven't don't this type of mixed media layering in quite a while and it was fun to go and revisit!

This is Batik #3.  This one is ok but I don't think I am experienced enough in batiking quite yet to do something so intricate.  It's all still really fun though but actually quite time consuming with all the steps.

Pears Watercolor Batic on Rice Paper

This is watercolor batik #2 on rice paper. I think it's such a fun process but it really is like a box of chocolates--you never know what you're gonna get.  I had to do a little color correcting in the background with some acrylic and I lost some of my wax splatters but for try #2 I'll say it's done---and ok.  You know how I love pears!

Don't stop!

I wanted to do a double page spread in my DLP journal for this week for the challenge but couldn't figure out what to do with the quote, "Don't stop till you get enough."    All I could think about was Michael Jackson who BTW I loved and was so sorry when he died. I think that this is what ultra superstardom does to people. It's a curse--not a blessing. But so much for that...
I decided to give myself about 30 minutes and not stress too much over it and just get come color down on the two page spread. I always love spraying paper with spray inks and adding some lettering. The quote is stamped with my hand carved Neuland stamps. I always love using them.

Batik Watercolor on Rice Paper

I have been researching how to do this batik technique on rice paper and today I decided that I had read enough, watched enough and was ready to jump in.  It's a rather lengthy process with hot wax used as a resist for the watercolor but I think it will be something that I might enjoy doing more of. I love texture in paintings and with this technique there is definitely texture! I think this one is a bit too much texture but I think I know how to fix that, hopefully. I ripped the paper in the process hence the "deckled" edges. Anyway,  here's to embarking upon a new fun creative adventure!

Thy Word

I love this Scripture form Psalm 119.  I am really enjoying journaling in this "journaling Bible" with the wide margins.  The journaling does take quite a while to figure and lay out how all the letterforms will work together. Trial and error for sure.

Agape

This is my latest entry for Journal Bible Community. 

Love this Scripture about Love.

"Believe"

I have been drawing and doodling in my bible for years. I can listen to the sermon and draw. But I have always tried to sit on the end on the row with Chauncey to my left or right so no one will see me.  But now this Journaling Community has given me "permission" to come out in the open and draw, doodle or sketch in my Bible. I think it's great and I am really enjoying thinking about the Scripture that I am featuring. I am thinking that I will try and fill 2 up for my grandchildren as an heirloom for them.  That will take a while!

And here is the painting from yesterday. It's the lighthouse on Sapelo Island near Darien, GA.

Fun to paint.

Today's Art

I have a couple of things to post today. I am in two groups that I am really enjoying but are keeping me busy. But busy is good! Here is my lasts entry for the Bible Journaling community.

I love this Scripture.

And here is my painting from Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 days but I will certainly not have 30 paintings when the month is over. But I do have some. Here is today's painting. It's wet on the easel.

This is the Sapelo Lighthouse near Darien, GA. It was fun to paint. 

Bible Journaling-TRUST

I am suppose to be painting 30 paintings in 30 days but I much prefer journaling in my bible.

Here are the tabs I made from a circle punch. I used painted papers that were thin enough to punch from my stash.

Bible Journaling

 I have joined a new Facebook group called Bible Journaling. I just got my new journal
bible in yesterday with wide margins so there is room for art journaling. 

This is the first page on my bible.

And this is my first entry.  The paper takes the markers pretty well.

I will be busy this year because I am apart of several Facebook groups including the Documented Life Project 2015 as well as 30 Paintings in 30 Days so...

I think I better go paint something!

St. Catherine's--30 paintings in 30 days

I won't make 30 paintings in 30 days but if I can get 3 a week I'm doing good!  This is St. Catherine Laboure right across the street. I have always admired this little gazebo so I decided to paint it. 

Documented Life Project 2015

 This is week one and two combined along with the journal prompt quote. I think it's a good quote!
We were to use book paper and the next week was gesso.