D'Blogala

On My Mind Mosaic

1. Dublin Doors, 2. London Underground: Mind the Gap !..., 3. june 2nd., 4. Dublin Sampler, 5. 04a London fog, 6. Piccadilly Circus, 7. Last Train to London, 8. gothic arch IRELAND, 9. Urban Architecture , Dublin (HDR), 10. A rainy day in Dublin, 11. Guinness in Dublin, 12. Dublin, Ireland

Rock On!

This page is done:

Moving AGAIN

Well, I’ve decided to go back to Typepad. That change shouldn’t make a difference in your links if you’ve linked to www.dblogala.com or www.dblogala.typepad.com. It may make a difference in your Bloglines or Google subscription, depending on how you’re getting the feed. I just wasn’t happy with Wordpress...it was more difficult to edit HTML and I figured I might as well get my $ out of Typepad since I’m paid up until October. Plus, Typepad has changed a few things...changes I like. I might move to Blogger in October. It depends on what I learn of HTML and if I can build a custom template I like by then. And if I DO move over there, it will still be www.dblogala.com...

Thanks!

More randomness

Forgive me but I love doing these flickr mosaics:
1. owl.medicine.mandala, 2. Wedding Samples, 3. :: a sacred sort of protection ::, 4. "The Minotaur Felt Misunderstood", 5. Day 181: The Simple Life, 365 Days of Being 30, 6. growingup, 7. owl doodle, 8. what's done is done., 9. fox hug, 10. June 2009 Journal Pages, 11. planter-of-cupcakes, 12. prairie1

Blogs I am LOVING right now:
Every Life Has a Story
My Life as a Bunny
I Dream High
365 Days of Being 30
Doodlers Anonymous

Speaking of doodling, The Doodle-Off has a winner: Julia Da Rocha. Julia reached 150 doodles a couple of days ago...But it’s not over yet. I still have to reach 100 by July 1 to be included in the special book.

I have been working on an art journaling workshop for you all and I’ve got most of it written. Now I need to work on the visuals, so I’m hoping to have it available in a couple of weeks. Looks like it’ll  be a 10-week workshop for $15. You’ll receive a prompt a week...I will be releasing more details real soon!

Art Journal tip of the day: Open your art journal and you will open yourself up to more ideas...

Extra tip: Your art journal is your buddy, your pal, your BFF. It will only share your secrets if YOU want it to.

What’s your inspiration today?

Just a few of the things inspiring me...Beautiful cupcakes have been for a while. I may just have to open a bakery some day. Also, notice all the doodly goodness...
1. pa-ta-ta, 2. Chocolate Cupcake w Dark Chocolate Chips and Mint Frosting, 3. paper mache bird, 4. Day 177: Within Us, 365 Days of Being 30, 5. Cupcake sample for a Wedding, 6. waiting, 7. Journal pages May/June 2009, 8. Dream BIG, 9. beinglayout

Doodly Drawers

A couple years ago when I was setting up my studio, I bought this cool little wooden cabinet of drawers at IKEA for my craft table. I put it together and then just left it unpainted, undecorated because I didn't know HOW I wanted it to look.

Lately, with The Doodle-Off, I’ve been doodling on different surfaces as part of the competition. That’s when I realized: cover the drawers and cabinet with my doodles!

As you can see, I’m still working on it, but hope to have it covered in doodles soon!

Ponderings

Some truly random thoughts I’ve been having as of late:

1. What is UP with the Blythe doll obsession? It really doesn’t make sense to me, though I never really was into dolls when I was a kid either...Could someone please explain it to me?

2. I’ve been making dinner EVERY night this week. Unusual. It’s funny how I go in spurts on certain things: domesticity, creativity, procrastination.

3. I really need to explore other avenues right now. But it all takes so much TIME and research!

4. The doodling has replaced full-on art journaling lately. Which bothers me. I LOVE to doodle, but want to get back to the art journal and play with paints, collage, etc. Need to make time for both.
5. Which leads to: getting off this damn computer, or at least, STOP hanging out on Twitter and Facebook. SUCH time suckers. I know this is why the two items above have been neglected.

6. Thinking of you, my readers. This move to dblogala.com hasn’t brought everyone over yet. And I want to jazz this blog up. *SIGH*

 7. Fiber is really on my mind. Stitching, crochet, and sewing. I even have a cool stack of fabric sitting on my drawing table...Need to play with it.

8. I wish I could sleep better. This week has been laden with insomnia. Doesn’t help when your next-door neighbors decide to have a loud gathering on their patio at 1 a.m. on a school night.

 9. And to top it all off: I’m STILL waiting on my kids’ book manuscript, which I want to get moving on so I can share more of it with you. My editor hasn’t been able to get to it because of all the other titles she has to manage for the spring season. It’s supposed to publish Fall 2010...I hope that happens!

What are YOU pondering today? I really want to know!

The Doodle-Off

I continue on in The Doodle-Off, but am struggling to keep up. Front runners are at about 125 doodles, basically at break-neck speed. These are master doodlers I’m among!

In case you haven’t been checking The Doodle-Off blog (and you should, i.e., MUCHO inspiration), I am including some highlights from my doodling. Notice how I’ve stuck with black pen...just can’t stop doodling in black. Oh, and the faces? Don’t laugh...I don’t do many faces and need to do more...

The thing I like most about doodling is you can do it anywhere. I’ve seen online workshops on doodling techniques. Are you serious? There’s really no RIGHT way to doodle. It’s drifting, it’s wandering. I doodle while watching TV. Like below:

Doodling on denim takes me back to high school.

Have a great Wednesday!

New Design Services Available!

Hello, cats and kittens! Hope all you art journal lovers out there are having a GREAT day! Have you shown your art journal some LOVE today? If not, make sure to...your art journal will love you in return. So, on to something COMPLETELY different: I’ve been messing around in Photoshop again lately...did I mention that I used to do digital collage? I've had some spot illustrations published in magazines and did some digital collage/illustration for a few book covers...A few samples from my portfolio below:

   

 

I didn’t realize until just last week how much I missed working in Photoshop. I had started playing with it again for my latest self-promo. Only reason I’m mentioning this and showing you this work is that I am now accepting blog banner commissions. I can design a banner for you in Photoshop with your art...Please e-mail me at dawn_sokol at yahoo.com with questions!