Blog Hop & A Blissful Play Date, too!

First, I HAVE TO share this Journal Page with you...created by Kelly!  I love the colorfulness of it, how she incorporated her name into the piece, and I think the flowers are beautiful.  She has also created an AWESOME BLOG HOP...and invited others to join in, ;)!  You can find the Blog Hop here, to the right, under my "Blog Archive"...or you can find it on Kelly's Blog.  Please travel along with us, find new inspiring friends, and share inspiration with so many other artists ~~ what fun!  I've found some beautiful new friends here, and gained so much inspiration and support through this Hop.  My heart is shining today, 8-)!!!

Another big reason my heart is shining today is due to my "Play Date" with my 29-yr-old niece, and 8-(almost-9)-yr-old great niece whom both joined me yesterday for hours of playing with artsy stuff...and beginning their own Art Journals!  We had so much fun together!!!  Last nite, my great niece journaled about our day together, writing that it was an "awesome day" ~~ the best day she's ever had, only surpassed by a day at the amusement park at the beach, lol!  It truly was the best of times...to see them totally enthralled and enjoying art with me, and discovering something new that we will share now and, hopefully, forever ~~ our passion for art journaling.  I believe they have both "caught the journaling bug" as my niece is "on the hunt" for arts and crafts stores locally to purchase some more supplies ~~ gosh I'm such a bad influence on her already-suffering-budget ~~ sorry Mist!

Here are a few of their journaling pages, beginning with my great-niece's pages.  Don't be concerned about our appearance, as we were "down and dirty" in art supplies...and heading off to the pool afterwards, lol:

She said this page was inspired by her Papa, whom "loved flowers," :) ~~ how sweet!  Here, she learned the fun of using Glimmer Mist to color a few of her flowers ~~ oh yes, we went through some Glimmer Mist, lol.  I need to restock my Glimmer Mist supply now.

This page is her Beach Trip 2010 page...I believe.  She used some spray paint on this one (the dark circles) and one of Marah Johnson's cardboard, die-cut frames.  (Yes, I'm 'attempting' to get her into "upcycling!")

Now for my 29-yr-old niece's pages:

This was my niece's first page ~~ what fun!  She drew the zebra print with a Gelly Roll pen, and if you look really closely, you can find her name in the print!  How clever!  She also used one of Marah's cardboard frames...but she's not happy with the "2010" inside of the frame.  However, she knows she can change ANYTHING!  She also used some of  the Tim Holtz tickets, ;).  I've taught them right, lol!

This is her UNC-G page ~~ very important to her because she was just accepted into UNC-G last week, and plans to pursue a degree in nursing.  Her Mom, Dad, and Granny would be SO proud of her, just as I am, ;).

Lastly, this is her "Wicked" page.  A great friend took her to see Wicked for her 29-th birthday last weekend, and they won lottery to get awesome seats at the show ~~ a great memory, after a tragic week prior (when her Dad suddenly passed away).  Here, she discovered the blissful world of using stamps and embellishments, ;).  Now she's debating over what to write on the page ~~ what fun!

Then we were off to the neighbor's pool where we splashed each other, floated around, and enjoyed our last moments of the day together.  What a great day together, that we will remember for decades, and hopefully will lead us to share many more artful days together.  This is why my heart is so happy today, ;).

I hope each of you will find something to make your heart sing today, and please check out and join Kelly's Blog Hop ~~ there are some awesome blogs and artsy souls to be found there!

Happy Living and Creating to each of you, today and always!  Let Your Light Shine Today and Always, xoxo ~~ Jeanne