art

Artistic, musical, creative, and entertaining topics in Journal's workplace sphere.

What Are Low-Content Books?
I came across several videos on Youtube and TikTok showing how to make money using a combination of Canva and Amazon's KDP service. Since Amazon took over from Createspace, it has been easy to create paperback books using KDP. Well before that, Lulu Press has been printing paperbacks from Indie authors for many years now. There's a lot of options now, but the Canva and KDP combination seems to be the easiest and free one to do. Canva now has an option where you can import PDF files so you can import template files from Amazon and edit everything straight there.
By Chloe Gilholy5 years ago in Journal
Through the Eye of a Needle
When the world fell sick and silent just months after my divorce, I picked up a needle. Knitting was almost as foreign to me as injecting myself into oblivion, but so was being single at 45 and facing a pandemic alone.
By Joy Johnston5 years ago in Journal
Knitting a path to recovery
When I was young I learned how to knit and crochet. I earned some badges for Girl Guides and made some hideous dishcloths that my mother might have used once before "accidentally" losing them in the wash. Then as time passed I tried making other things. I finger knit scarves, and crocheted bathmats. I once made my best friend a mitten. I was so proud of that thing until she put it on her foot and pretended to be a monkey. I apparently had the gauge off. But I never tried to make the second one of the set. In fact, I put my knitting away completely for a few years.
By J. Langer5 years ago in Journal
Mr Squiggle and the Inner Pyramid
I decided I was to be a writer when I was four, the surest decision I have ever made. Four was a big year for me. The onset of kindergarten (yes, it felt like a disease) stands out most of all.
By Bradley McCann5 years ago in Journal
Stitch with Mik
When I was little I use to take a needle and thread and stitch things together to make blankets, pillows, and little toys, these didn't always come out great because I was young and didn't really know what I was doing but I remember how much fun taking that needle and thread and just sitting there for a whole day pulling the thread in and out was. At that time I didn't know what embroidering was and years later I still didn't, I found embroidering during this pandemic when everyone was stuck at home finding hobbies to do to keep them sane, I found embroidery.
By Mikaela Gillett5 years ago in Journal
Threading the Needle
Ahhh, where to even start on this story. Growing up – I seemed to be the only one in the family who had zero interest in learning how to sew or knit. Based on the occasional crafts you had to make in school, it also seemed that I had zero talents on that front, so maybe it was for the best. At the age of 20, I was about to move to Ireland for six months, and my mother thought that teaching me how to knit socks would be a perfect bonding experience before I took off… after three attempts, where she had twice pulled it apart and exclaimed that she had never seen any socks that ugly, I decided my career as a knitter was far behind me. And it still is!
By Catharina E Santasilia5 years ago in Journal
The Art of the Written Word
There are two things I absolutely love about the idea of art. The first being it embodies the principle of speaking profoundly and in volume. Art can say what men cannot in regular speech. The second thing I love about art is that it takes on many forms. Art is not confined to the canvas or the stone block; music, literature, dance are just a few examples of the omnipresence of art. I personally choose the written word as my medium, using Microsoft Word as my canvas, my mind as the palette, and my hands as the brush. The process in of itself is an adventure. Specifically, fleshing out and breathing life into a parallel reality---all composed in a word document!
By Donovan Graham5 years ago in Journal
I Am What I Am
I don't know about inner peace, but there's an inner "piece" that seems to be missing anytime I go too long without utilizing my creative outlets. Yes, that's outlet(s), plural; for I am a Creative Arts Specialist by trade. That's how I brand myself anyhow. It saves a lot of time explaining what it is I do.
By Ryan Barbin aka “Dirt”5 years ago in Journal
Making art during the end of the world
I always say that the world ended in March of 2020. It is a joke, as we are obviously all still here, but it was my way of cheering myself up when it did seem like the world was ending. “It took less than a week,” I would joke with my mom. “Thursday I was in class, Saturday I was at work, and by Monday the world had ended.”
By Cam5 years ago in Journal
A Jay Gatsby Dream
The printed word has flowed through my blood since I first understood its meaning. I would read them; I would write them. Then, during an eleventh grade honors English course, I stumbled over a project that would provide years of self-care. Though there were many reasons to be enamored by The Great Gatsby, the encounter with a certain owl-eyed man was one that inspired my own journey of building a library. Since I was first exposed to this scene, the owl-eyed man’s proclamations regarding the books’ authenticity has remained in my mind always.
By B. M. Valdez5 years ago in Journal
Stitching Beauty Out of Ashes
In the pale light of the morning, I force myself out of bed. Every Monday to Friday I dress myself through pure acceptance of fate. This is my reality from 8am to 5pm. A quick breakfast or perhaps a toast to take, I race to the certain uncertainty of another work day at stake. Tick…Tock…every second counts in the morning rush hour. Rushing to eat, rushing through traffic, rushing up the stairs or perhaps rushing to the elevator if I got lucky that day. Always performing under time pressure, the clock ticking and managing my actions every second of the way.
By Stephanie Alvarez5 years ago in Journal
The Art of Knitting. First Place in Threading the Needle Challenge.
Magic, that’s what it is. When I pick up my knitting needles that is the key to unlocking the sorcerer in me and different places of my own creation. The trick is in the yarn, that is the location. The colors, textures, intertwining into one as my needles lock them into place, any place I desire. The knitting needles are a portal to a different realm, a completely different reality.
By Shams Bahadly5 years ago in Journal