Have you ever heard of Feedspot?
They compile databases to save you time from researching. This includes bloggers, influencers, and journalists.
“Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you subscribe to blogs, news sites, and any website you want to keep up with.”
But they are pretty aggressive, and I don’t know how great their assessment is. Ahem!
I only know about them because I’ve gotten a couple of emails from the founder letting me know that my blog, THIS blog, is listed as one of the TOP TEN ART JOURNALING BLOGS. How long has it been since I have posted about art journaling? Ugh, too long. My blog is listed as #9. Seriously?
#1 is Everyday Art, Kasia Avery’s WONDERFUL art blog. I’ve studied with her and also with the amazing Amy at Mindful Art at #5. So because of their presence I’m going to post a link to the list: TOP TEN ART JOURNALING BLOGS
And so that I can bring you up to date, I’ll post today a little something about mixed media collage because I found it through art journaling. Art journaling is what allows you to experiment with new products and just have fun, make a mess even. I try to bring that joy into working on my collages.
I haven’t been able to work on my collages or Hudson’s baby art journal as much as I would like because of working on Scrap promo and the Doll God reprint.
I recently had four new mixed media collages accepted by one of my favorite journals, Anti-Heroin Chic for the fall issue.
Collages come in almost as many types and styles as there are collage artists, and it sometimes shocks me how quickly I found my collage style.
“Found Sound” was nominated for Best of the Net by RAW LIT in 2025
Notice how my collage style is to use cuttings from vintage Life magazines and to place them on neutral backgrounds prepared with mixed media, such as acrylics, pastels, and use of gel plates and stencils.
I particularly love working with soft pastels and pan pastels because of how they work with water and smudging. I like to burn, rip, and stitch things.
As I collect my clippings to arrange on the background themes float through my mind and often times the final result has more of an “edge” than I dreamed of at the beginning.
Have you tried an art journal yet? I have a feeling you will love it!
I haven’t thought about Life Magazine since I used to collect them way, way, way back when.
Wow, that is something that you used to collect them. I can imagine the day you decidedyou wanted to get rid of them, ugh. Wish I’d been there to take them :).
I wish I still had them. It was such a long time ago. Long time!!!
My grandfather had a National Geographic collection then gave it to us when we were first married. We kept it until we moved from Michigan to California but then had to get rid of it. Michigan was a pretty damp place to keep magazines though.
I had some of those too. But after a while, when you see that everything is available on the Internet, books, magazines (and remember encyclopedias?) just lose their value as far as information is concerned. The value then lies mainly in the fact that they have become scarce and are collectors’ items.
I got our encyclopedia set (got rid of it two years ago) one volume at a time at the grocery store.
The trouble with encyclopedias is that you always had to buy the updated yearbook, and that always left me wondering how much else was no longer true in the rest of the set.
I actually forgot about that. If that’s set hadn’t been so big I could’ve saved it for collaging. That would be really cool. Or book covers for our journaling.
Or starting a fire in the woodstove. Our encyclopedias were the boring type. Only the Childcraft set of books that came as a sideline were interesting to me.
Hahaha. Or that. I did have a set of children’s enclopedias also from the grocery store, but only the free first volumes :).
Oh that reminded me that in our household we had the free first volumes of so many kinds of books (cookbooks, et al). That was the gimmick back then.
I wonder how effective it was. My impression is that not a lot of people could afford the other volumes in those days.
I like your clipping art. Feedspot smacks of AI
Thanks, Derrick! It would have to be AI to include my blog in the list. I can tell the founder is a real person though, and he really is the founder. However, the compilation of the list has got to be AI.
I like your collage. Congrats on the BTN nomination and acceptance. Feedspot sounds kind of suspicious.
Thanks, Merril. Feedspot is legit, but unfortunately, probably AI in its compilation activity.
You’re welcome, Luanne.
Your art is amazing.
Thanks, Kate!
Thank you for the art journal lesson! (I’ve never tried it before.) Congratulations on your latest collage acceptance!!
Thanks, Liz. I think you would love art journaling. You just get a book you like and feel you could work with (should open flat) and try out different art supplies and techniques. There are tons of youtube videos teaching different ways of using the supplies.
You’re welcome, Luanne. I’ve been feeling a hankering to try watercolor painting.
Yes, I highly approve! ❤️🎨🖼️🎨❤️
😀
I have a hard enough time keeping up with research and writing to create art. I am not sure how you do it all, plus caring for Hudson and the cats.
Where do you get the old Life magazines? Or were they sitting in some family attic all these years?
I have bought 2 or 3 lots from ebay from non-smoking households. We did get these magazine when I was a kid. Look, also. But my mother is a thrower-outer, not a keeper.
I love your collage style. I keep thinking I should experiment with collage … it would give some use to my snips of yarn and fabric 🙂
Oooh, I love that idea. You can also stitch with yarn onto the background (of whatever you use for background).
I love this recognition of your blogging about your artwork! Congratulations! 💐
Thank you so much. Hah. I think AI selected my blog because one of my tags is “art journaling.” So it just fit the parameters set up.
I don’t know…. the art and writing merit recognition.
You do make it sound like fun! I save all my magazines for a friend who does collage—and yes, a very different style than yours!
You are so nice to provide the magazines! I prefer the old vintage mags, but people create beautiful collages with new magazines.
I adore soft pastels! I look forward to seeing more work. Congratulations!