Registration is Open!

Art Is...You: The East and West Coast Art Retreats opened for registration today! These wonderful retreats...in Petaluma, CA and Stamford, CT...will bring you more joy, laughter and artful fun than you can imagine.

I'll be offering workshops in Stamford on Saturday and Sunday, October 6th & 7th; look for future posts with all the specs. In the meantime, check out ALL the amazing workshops offered. Choose a coast and off you go!

Weekend Journal Pages

Have I mentioned I love to play around in my art journal? Well, I really, really do.

I also love to share my passion for art journaling with others and I have two workshops in the near future. On March 17th I'll be teaching a free three hour workshop at Jerry's Artarama in West Hartford, CT and starting on May 1st I am back at the Sharon Arts Center School of Art & Craft in Sharon, NH for a three session class in mixed media/art journaling. I think I enjoy the workshops as much as my students. SO MUCH FUN!


How about it? Are you ready to "get your journal on?"

© Nancy Lefko

Illustration Friday ~ CAPABLE

No doubt, with Mom in charge, you are in very CAPABLE hands!

Take a trip over to Illustration Friday and check out all of the marvelous artwork there is to see!

© Nancy Lefko

Art Journaling Workshop

If you're in the area, I'll be teaching a three hour *free* workshop in art journaling at Jerry's Artarama in West Hartford, CT on March 17th. Visit the store link and call or email to register...space is limited. Hope to see you there :)

And It's Done...Plus a Journal Page

The canvas started over the weekend is now complete and soon to be in my Etsy shop. It joins two others in a "be" series already in my shop.


Of course, when the canvas was finished I stayed at my art desk long enough to complete the journal page that I'd started with a Magic Foam Stamp and acrylic paint.


© Nancy Lefko

Sunday Afternoon Work-in-Progress

Today I took some time to work on a canvas that I'd sketched out in my idea journal quite some time ago. After the application of paper, rolling on acrylic paint with a brayer is one of my favorite techniques.


Rather than waste paint, I rolled the extra on my Magic Foam Stamp and created a texture-rich background on a journal page.


Add a little more texture and design by printing with bubble wrap...


...and then corrugated cardboard (thanks to Dunkin' Donuts coffee sleeves :)


A section of green acrylic finishes off today's work on this canvas. Stay tuned to see the completed piece.

Happy Sunday!

© Nancy Lefko

Making Time

While a canvas in progress was drying, I took advantage of some free moments to play in my art journal.

I hope you have time for creative fun this weekend!


© Nancy Lefko

Coming Soon!

Before long the Spring issue of Art Journaling by Somerset Studio will be hitting the newsstands. I am privileged to have contributed to this issue.

If you act now (by February 25th) you can reserve your copy, get $2 off PLUS free shipping. If you're anything like me, who often has difficulty locating this title at the bookstore, you'll welcome this news.

There are many wonderful titles that offer savings on advance orders. Happy shopping!

Journal Joy

Many of my journal pages begin with a rich and textured background; here I have used a Magic Stamp and the Gelli Arts Printing Plate with robin's egg blue acrylic paint. The texture on the Magic Stamp was created by pressing into plastic mesh from an onion bag; a subtle texture, but lovely nonetheless.


A wash of acrylic paint in kiwi green creates an entirely new look.


And then I create the journal page with collage elements, ink and markers; my thoughts flow onto the page speaking of the art girls that I adore and miss so much when we're apart.

© Nancy Lefko

More with Magic Stamps & the Gelli Arts Plate

I especially liked the Magic Stamp I created using a long strand of faux pearls. It created deep circle imprints and they translated well to my journal page. Again, I printed from the Gelli Arts Plate and also used the Magic Stamp with acrylic paint to stamp directly on the page, creating two different looks. You can see the difference above; a positive and negative effect.


A spritz of turquoise Glimmer Mist and the page was a bit more colorful. Add some collage, markers and charcoal and voila'...a completed page.


Stay tuned for more fun with these fabulous products!

© Nancy Lefko

Magic Stamps, Gelli Arts Plate & More

Awhile back I ordered a Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate but had yet to make time to try it out. However, when I was lucky enough to win Magic Stamps from Joan at the Gelli Arts blog, I just had to try out the stamps with the printing plate and create textured backgrounds in my art journal.


The stamps are easy to use, super fun to play around with and work absolutely great with the gel plate. My favorite stamp was created with a strand of pearls; it made a stamp with deep little circles.



I made a print in my journal with gold acrylic paint and also printed directly with the stamps themselves; I followed that with a generous spritz of turquoise Glimmer Mist.


Another new tool I used on this journal page was the Wite-Out fluid correction pen. I'm always searching for a really great white pen to use in my journals and this one, although not really a "pen," glides easily over the acrylic paint and works great!


Needless to say, I had a lot of fun playing in my journal today with new tools, new stamps from my friend Pam Carriker and a great new "pen." I love Fridays!


© Nancy Lefko

Illustration Friday ~ POPULARITY

There was no denying this Broadway diva's POPULARITY.

Take a trip over to Illustration Friday and check out all of the marvelous artwork there is to see!

© Nancy Lefko

Chambered Nautilus

An amazing sea creature...the chambered nautilus...and one of my youngest's favorites. One of his prized possessions is the beautiful, and very fragile, nautilus shell he bought in a Maine shell shop a number of years ago. He shares a passion for seashells with his mother; as a child I also collected shells on the beach and bought the really exotic kind at shell shops.

I adore all those little nooks and crannies, perfectly measured spaces, in the nautilus and wonder if they're not so different from the myriad of private spaces in all of us.

© Nancy Lefko

More for the Sketchbook Challenge

Thanks to Kathryn Antyr I was inspired to sketch and paint lobster buoys in my art journal today. Like Kathryn, I love the buoys we see in Maine every summer...love their wonderful weathered colors and the way they decorate cottages and shanties without even trying.

Taking an up close and personal look at buoys for the Sketchbook Challenge, I created this page in my journal using a fine line Pitt pen, Peerless watercolors and charcoal pencil.

© Nancy Lefko

Sketchbook Challenge ~ CLOSE-UP!

Pictured is my entry for the February Sketchbook Challenge and the theme is, "CLOSE-UP". Although I love to "get messy" in my art journal, I find just as much enjoyment working with only a few materials. This journal page was created with a fine line Pitt pen, Peerless watercolors and one watercolor pencil. Easy peasy...and very relaxing.

If you need a little push to get yourself creating...then the Sketchbook Challenge is just for you!

© Nancy Lefko