i am such a lucky girl!

i got an email a few weeks back from an accomplished author, teacher, artist, doodler named Traci Bautista. You may know Traci from her book, Collage Unleashed or her line of Collage Pauge products by Aleene’s. She also travels a lot, speaks to groups, teaches her craft, offers tons of online workshops,  and generally rocks it in the creative community. And she’s just adorable too, isn’t she!?

Anyway, Traci’s new book, Doodles Unleashed just released and she’s touring the blogosphere sharing the love and doing lots of giveaways with artist friends and colleagues. i get to be one of them! Traci thought my book, Creative Doodling and Beyond would be fast BFFs with her book if they met each other on the street. i’d have to agree….don’t they look cozy together? They’re on the way to the craft store for some new micron pens. Good times. : )

So follow the book tour! She’s got a slew of stops already posted on her blog here. Tons of fun. I highly recommend.

Aaaaanyway……for our post, Traci asked me to create a Tag-Team art piece with her! A cross-country collaboration of doodly goodness. i was given the task of beginning our project by laying down a whole lotta my signature color and texture. Here’s a little peek….

i used  textile dyes to paint on watercolor paper. The intense colors just make me sooooo happy! i snapped photos and sent her my part. Then SHE worked her magic to make a completed artwork. When you are done reading here, you should pop over to her blog and see a whole bunch of  juicy, vibrant still photos she has of just HER part! They are super cool. But here’s a little hint at how she approached the collaboration to pique your curiosity!

Are you intrigued!?

We also videotaped our process. And Traci edited it into a fun time lapse movie because she is WAY better at that than me so far! Wanna watch?

To finish off this little stop on the “tour,” we’re also both offering signed copies of our books to some lucky commenters. We each came up with a burning-hot doodle question for ya to answer. Here on my blog, i want to know your fondest doodling memory. Did you have the best Trapper Keeper in the 8th grade? Did you doodle your high school sweetie’s name all over your composition notebook and then go on to marry that sweetheart? Did your kiddo give you a doodle-rific birthday card last year? i want to hear! Comment below to enter and i’ll use a random number generator to choose a winner. Then hop on over to Traci’s blog for another chance to comment, win, AND see more of those photos i told you about taken during HER part of the artwork collaboration! The giveaway closes on Saturday, March 10 at 12:00am. Good luck!

This has been a serious amount of fun, people. Thanks so much, Traci!

….and Happy Doodling!