Dianne Art

Dianne Fago Art, formerly PackerDi

creativity

My Nomad Journal

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This week, I started working in a new journal. Well, it is sort of new. I began working in it quite awhile ago actually. So long ago I’m not exactly sure when and since I have an awful habit of forgetting to date my pages (I am really, really, really….I mean REALLY! trying to work on that) I have no idea how long ago it’s been.

All ready to be filled with collage

During my “moving around of all of the things” in my studio, I found it on my bookshelf and as soon as I felt it in my hands and opened it up, I knew I needed to start working in it again.

I’m not sure what it was that made me feel that way about it, but I knew it was important for me to not ignore that feeling of creative excitement.

Vintage tray full of images


I even had a tray in my work area where I had been collecting images these past several months. Images I pulled from magazines and store flyers.

The first thing that I did was to film a video for you all sharing all about the book and my plans for it. You can find that video below. Then I got to work!

It has been a very busy week here for me and it took me two days to complete these two pages. That is a big thing that I’ve finally been able to do recently. Start working on a project and stop for the night and then come back to it the next day. In the past, I rushed and made myself complete a project from beginning to end in one sitting. I’m not sure if part of that was because my children were a lot younger and I knew my creative time was very limited or what. Now I am able to stop midway through and pick things up when I’m able to at a later time. I’m glad I did with this one, because I had almost stopped at just adding the images. I woke during the night after beginning the pages above and saw myself adding more elements to the pages…flowers and butterflies…so that is exactly what I did when I began working on it that next day. And I am so glad that I listened to that night time creative whisper.

I can’t wait to do more pages in this book and I am actually getting ready to start flipping through a big, stack of magazine images and see where they want to live inside my journal. I’m not planning on gluing anything down just yet. I just want to start adding things here and there and as the days go on, see how each page builds into it’s own creation.

Be sure to scroll down to see the links to my two, current videos about my Nomad Journal. The first is my sharing about it and the second is the process video for the pages pictured above.

As always, think you so much for being here and for all of your support. It means the world to me.

Creative blessings,
-di

Monday Vlog – on a Tuesday

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….and sharing on a Wednesday

A bit of a vlog update about my week of struggling through a hard day to new creative stirrings coming to be.

Here are my photos of that pesky, musk thistle I mention.

So, so beautiful but apparently quite the trouble maker.

The colors and texture of it is what drew me towards it. And why I took it’s photo.

It looks like something you would find on another planet.

And after my experiences with sharing this photo at a Nebraska photography Facebook group, many people wish that it was on another planet and had stayed there.

It spreads quickly and takes over farm and cattle grazing land rendering it unusable and is a lot of hard to work to get rid of and keep under control if one decides to sprout up.

I emailed the vice president of the Nebraska Weed Control Association and superintendent of weeds at Douglas Country Environmental Services and shared with him the location of the musk thistle and that it was on city land and he responded that he would let the proper City of Omaha officials know.

Creative blessings to you…
-di

Ready for Anything – a junk journal page

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Ready for Anything – a junk journal page
a direct link to my process video for this page is at the end of this post

Some time ago last year, I received a beautiful, hand made card that was full of wonderful bits and pieces of ephemera, including printed tissue paper, music paper, a vintage receipt, and some clipped words and quotes from a magazine, as well as some other goodies. I say “some time ago” because these past twelve months have been a blur for me and through a lot of it, I was going through the motions of each day and pretty much hanging on for dear life along the ride. I have no idea when this card showed up in my mail, but I am every so grateful it did.

layers and layers…

During my studio cleanup last week, I discovered her card and safely tucked it in the basket of current journals. I kept seeing it there beside me and one day I knew. I finally knew that it was time. It was time for me to start creating again. So, I opened that card up and really, really looked at each piece and was almost brought to tears as I flipped through them. It was very obvious to me that each and every piece had been especially chosen to be sent to me. Each one had special meaning, especially the words. “Ready for Anything” and “believe”. Yes, yes I was. Yes I am.

trimmed edges from the painted image

My video camera was set up and I knew the only thing holding me back from creating was me and I wasn’t going to let myself do that to myself any longer. When I first looked at the ephemera I thought I would turn them into ATC’s (artist trading cards) and I even got out my stack of pre-cut ATC papers. Then I looked at them again and realized that the last thing I wanted to do was to cover up these treasures with paint and glue, plus I really wanted to use the front of the card, because it was so beautifully painted.

…yes, yes I was…Yes I Am.

I looked at the words again and instantly saw them on a page in my junk journal. I saw a photo of myself surrounded by these layers and layers of pieces of paper. And I saw it as the first page. The first page in the new junk journal that I had just placed in my “working journals” basket earlier that week. A fresh new journal, ready for a fresh new start. By a fresh, new Me.

a little tag holding a big message is tucked inside
celebrate each milestone

I wanted to be sure to use the two quotes that had been clipped from a magazine and the best way for me to make that happen, was to make a little tag and place on on each side. So, I trimmed down a piece of paper from what I was sent and added scraps that were left over from creating all of the layers around the photo.

welcome new possibilities

The last sentence of the second quote did not have a period at the end and as I was working on that side of the card, I saw the word “believe” on my table. “Life has an interesting way of opening” is what it says and as I kept working, I new I needed to finish that sentence to make it apply to Me. Out came my paperback, fiction book and the search for “when” and “I” began. A few snips later and it was ready.

Life has an interesting way of opening when I believe.

It felt wonderful standing there creating this page. When I was finished, I stepped back and realized I had effortlessly fallen into that place of creating when I feel no time or space. It’s just Me and what I’m working on.

One of my biggest fears during my almost year-long, creative dry spell was that I had forgotten how to create. How to be creative. I hadn’t. It’s been in there all along.

I just had to be ready.

And I am now.

I am ready for anything.

Creative blessings to you,
-di

Art Studio Tour

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I have been promising this video for at least 11 months and I an happy to say that I finally did a video tour of my new studio space.

Whew. What a relief!

My studio and supplies takes up a good piece of my bedroom as well as my closet. My work area is made from two, lower kitchen cabinet units with a piece of kitchen countertop placed on top. The countertop is not connected to the lower units, so it is easy for me to completely move, if I ever decide to switch the wall it’s against, etc. I have been using this set up for several years now and it was very cost effective for what I needed and could afford.

My main studio work area

Beside my main work area, I have several drawer units. This is where I keep the images that I use for collage and ephemera. I have a few other items in the bottom drawers, like my die cuts and stencils, but these are mostly full of paper items. If you buy several of the same units, you can remove the top and combine two or more together to create a taller unit. This is what I have done for a couple of these units and I also have a different brand stacked on there as well. I don’t worry about them moving around too much, because they are secure between the wall and my work area. In the video, I share how we had to cut part of the inner shelf inside of the cabinets so they were able to accommodate the depth of the drawer units. I have two units inside each cabinets which hold all sorts of embellishments, which are all organized by color.

Hutch full of supplies

I am repurposing my china hutch to hold supplies and journals. Before I moved, I wasn’t sure if I was even going to be able to keep this piece of furniture and then I discovered it fit along this wall just perfectly. I love having my supplies inside, because it looks pretty holding my supplies and while the rest is contained behind closed doors. Since my studio takes up most of my bedroom, it was very important to me to have things set up and displayed in a pleasing way. It is my sanctuary and having a peaceful and calm space is very important to me.

Buffet drawer full of washi tape

In the past, my studio was in the formal dining room of our house and I also had a large amount of supplies in the basement. Now that I am in an apartment, I had to find a way to make all of that fit into basically one area. I keep my main supplies in the buffet or at my work area and the rest are kept in my closet on bookshelves that I was able to fit inside. Many things are stored in plastic tubs, including all of my rubber stamps, fabrics, printed tissue papers and napkins, etc. I also keep books that can be used for journals and all of my art business supplies in there as well.

Please be sure to visit my YouTube channel to find the video of my walking through my studio and showing you my set up and how I have things currently organized there. From time to time, I move things around on top of my work space, but the rest has generally been organized in this way for many years. For me, drawer units are a life saver! I can have things sorted nicely by type and things are kept contained well without causing a lot of clutter and unneeded “noise” in my visual space which can cause me to feel anxious and that impacts my creativity and ability to work well.

Please visit me on YouTube, like and subscribe!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them for you!

Take care and creative blessings to you,

-di

Darren & Dianne Discuss – Current Journals & a Big Announcement!

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My view at 8:30 a.m. in Omaha, NE

Darren and I decided to change the scenery a bit and sit outside for this weeks Darren & Dianne Discuss video.

We have had many long talks while sitting “together” at my little, red table on my balcony about everything you could imagine and our conversations always end up circling back around to our need to be creative and planning in some way or another. We both tend to switch from digital planning to paper planning, back and forth between the two and both at the same time.

Darren’s view at 2:30 p.m. in the UK

Last week we both decided to set up our planners and check back in this week, so that’s exactly what we did and we share what we have done in this weeks video. Darren started a new set up in two different Midori Traveler’s notebooks and I started back in my bullet journal, but after seeing him setting up his Midori, I couldn’t resist and had to get mine out and decided to set up a planning system in mine as well.

During our talk, I would say the biggest thing that came out of our conversation for me was realizing that it is okay to switch planning systems. For some reason, I have always felt like once I have moved into a planner or started a new system, that that was it. Do or die. Make it work no matter what, even if what I’m doing is not working at all. That’s not the case though. I am seeing how where I am in life greatly affects how I am able to plan and it is totally fine for me to switch around to whatever system works best for me at that particular time in my life.

As far as my big announcement goes, I share a little bit about how came to be the new hostess of NaNoJouMo (National Nonstop Journaling Month) this coming November. I have a page started on my website that is devoted to NaNoJouMo and I will begin to start adding more information to it in the next few months. I am so excited that Dawn Sokol has given me the opportunity to reboot this project she created and hosted for years and I can’t wait to share with you all that I have planned for it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C7eUqOrC-8&t=2006s

Until next time…

Creative blessings to you!
-di