Handmade Art Journals!

Hello my fellow Artists!  I am learning how to make my own journals.  I have always wanted to learn bookbinding, and it was one of my goals for 2010 – to learn some new art-related skills.  So, I found Julie Prichard’s online classes, and I am totally LOVING her teaching methods.  The techniques I am learning are so inspirational!  Right now, I am doing her Art Journaling Super Nova class – Part 1.  Part 1 is teaching me how to make 3 homemade art journals.  I have completed 2 of them.

Book 1:

This is actually the back of the journal.   I covered the mat board with some beautiful handmade paper that my hubby gave me for Christmas.  I didn’t plan to have that circle in the centre of the cover, and I don’t really like it there, but it’s okay for the back.  The inside pages are hand stitched, using waxed cotton string.  The pages are 120 lb watercolor paper.  The outside spine is covered with duct tape, which is all I had on hand.

Here’s book 2, which I LOVE!  It is 6″ wide by 11″ tall.  I covered the mat board covers with handmade paper.  The spine is vinyl woven gaffer tape, which I like much more than the duct tape.  The inside pages are made with white cover stock, and every page is collaged.

I have almost completed Julie’s Layer Love.  There are nine lessons within this program.  I am still adding some finishing touches to the 9th lesson, and I will share it once it is complete.

Here are a few of my completed projects.  Keep in mind – the idea of this course (Layer Love) was to learn how to layer Golden Acrylic Fluid paint, and how to use the various Golden mediums with the paints to create a grungy, distressed kind of background.  I plan to use them in my art journal.  The photos do not really show the depth and texture of these pieces.  I absolutely LOVE this look!

This one is actually gray and blue – it looks almost brown/bronze in the photo.  We layered in Ranger Distress Crackle with the various acrylic mediums paint to get this effect.

That’s all for today.  I have lots more to share, so check back tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that 😉

Look What I Got!

Hello my fellow art journalers!  I am so excited to share this!

A friend of mine works in a nursing home, and they were cleaning house, and were going to throw these away!!! *GASP*  Can you believe it?  OMG…the smell of these books is…well, anyone who loves books will know what I mean.  The one I’m most excited about is the 1974 “Book of the Road” atlas, by Readers Digest!  It’s the U.K. version, and it’s full of fold-out maps, and miscellaneous pictures and stories….omg….I am a relatively new collector of ephemera, and I think this may be quite valuable…does anyone know how I would find out?  My original intention was to cut it up to use as collage ephemera, but I’m a bit reluctant to do that!

 

Next, my inspiration to learn to draw:

My niece is the talent behind this beautiful drawing.

More Art Journal Love!

Hello my fellow artists!  It’s been a while since I blogged…because I’ve been taking an online mixed media painting course with the Uber Talented Julie Prichard!  I’ve seen her name mentioned on various blogs and art journaling networks, and have tried to find her blog, but I had been spelling her name wrong!  So, I finally found her, and I’m so glad I did!  I have been taking her Layer Love course, and absolutely LOVING it!  She is such a fabulous teacher, and her work is so very inspiring!  She is being featured in the current issue of Art Journaling, too!  I just picked up my copy today, and can’t wait to devour it!  I have purchased the last 2 issues, and have read each one at least a dozen times!  What a fantastic magazine!  Actually, picking up my first issue of the mag is what got me started art journaling!  I highly recommend it – not only for art journalers, but for anyone who wants some inspiration.

So, I’ve completed the first 5 lessons of Layer Love, and here are my results of Lesson 5.  Keep in mind, I have very little experience working with acrylic paint and mediums, so I have a long way to go!  I do think I’m getting a little better at Julie’s techniques with each lesson.  Her style is grungy and aged, which is quite different from my usual style.  That’s the reason I took the course.  I have tried to get the look of grungy, and just haven’t been successful with it, despite reading several books on the subject.  I guess I’m more of a “show and tell” kind of learner.  I need to SEE the process.  Still life photos just don’t do it for me.  So, the idea behind this lesson was to use the techniques learned in the first 4 lessons and interpret an inspiration piece in the layered and grungy style that is so Julie Pirchard.  We had to choose something to inspire us – anything at all that had a pleasing colour combination.  That was the easy part for me.  I found this photo online (a photo by Gail Crosman Moore).  Aren’t the colours absolutely YUMMY?

Okay, so I proceeded to put paint on my paper, and it didn’t start out so well.  It just looked a bunch of blobs of colour on a piece of paper!  lol  This is when I got stuck, and sought advice from Julie.  I was about ready to start over, but with her encouragement and advice, I kept painting.

Here is Day 2.  A little better, but I still didn’t really like it.  I added some collage elements, and more layers of paint, and acrylic mediums, but it just wasn’t doing it for me.  Again, Julie gave me some very helpful tips. 

Here is my final version.  The photo isn’t great.  The colours are a bit more vibrant than they look here, and the texture just cannot be captured in a photograph.  I’m surprised that it turned out “pretty good” – Julie gave me a gold star!  🙂  I tried a bunch of different techniques, and mediums, including Neocolor II watercolor crayons…*YUMMMMMMMMMMMY*. 

On to lesson 6!  Thank you so much for stopping by!  Please let me know what you think!  It’s definitely grungy, right?  🙂

{Art} Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder

So, I admit it….I’m a relatively new “artist”.  I would never have called myself an artist until very recently.  I’ve always considered myself creative, not artistic.  At what point does one say they are an artist?  Well, ANY TIME  I WANT TO!  LOL  I say I am an artist, so that makes it so.  My “craft room” is no longer my craft room.  It is now my studio.  I purchased an easel.  I have Golden fluid acrylics and GOOD paintbrushes.  I have mediumS, and I know what some of them do!  I have paint under my fingernails.  I know what Quinacridone means.  All these things, and more, make me an artist.  So there.  I said it.  I typed it.  It is so.  I AM AN ARTIST.   So, today I am going to show you some of my ART.  I’m pretty excited about this new chapter of my life.  I have signed up for 2 online art courses.   This was one of my goals for 2010.  I am taking “Layer Love” with Julie Prichard, which I have already started.  Starting on January 25, I will be taking “Fabulous Faces” with Willowing (Tam).  Layer Love is teaching me more about acrylics to make fabulous backgrounds.  Fabulous Faces will teach me how to draw and paint faces.  A good start, if I may say so my ARTISTIC self!  😉

So, I have been sharing some of my art journal pages over at Milliande Art Community for Women, and Willowing & Friends.  First, I have to say it took a lot of courage to share my art journal pages.  They have some pretty personal journaling on them.  I’m not the type of person to share my innermost thoughts and secrets easily.  I worry far too much about what other people thing, and, ultimately, being judged.  I am working on changing that, so this was a small step for me in this process.  So, I have been rather selective about which pages I do share, and have even blurred out soem of the journaling before I posted it.  But, Milliande began a “journal page a day” challenge on January 1st, so I have been playing along with her daily prompts.  My first few pages were “post worthy”, so I had no trouble putting them “out there”.  I’ve had a few comments on NING, but for the first few days on Milliande’s home page, I did not get even one comment on the pages I thought were pretty good.  So, along came a challenge to use a tree in my layout.  I spent hardly any time at all on my pages (I did them on my lap in bed one night), and almost didn’t post them because I didn’t think they were “good”.  But, I was/am surprised at how many comments this spread has gotten!  So, that brings me to the point of this post, and the reason for the subject of this post – {Art} beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  But, it has certainly crossed my mind that perhaps I am getting comments on this page because it IS really BAD, so people want to encourage this poor non-talented artist.  That could be the case, but, you know what?  IT DOESN’T MATTER!  I am creating this art FOR ME.  I do like to get positive comments, but, if I don’t, I am not going to stop making art!  I love it, and I will keep doing it!  🙂

So, if you’re still with me – here is the spread that has been getting all the comments.  The story behind this spread – well, first, the Milliande prompt or challenge was to use a tree on your page.  It felt like I was channeling my inner child.  I was going for a child-like look.  I had found these whimsical trees on the Milliande Art Community Ning site, as a free download, so I printed them, and doodled on them, cut them out, and stuck them down on to a couple of pre-painted pages in my Moleskine.  Then I added the snow and the sentiment with my Bic Wite-Out correction pen!  That’s it!  No collaging, no layering, no spritzing, no journaling.  Go figure. 

January Art Journal

Helloooooo out there!  I had my first visitor today!  *woot*  I wish she/he had left me a comment, though.  I would love to know who it was!  I guess he/she wasn’t impressed.  Oh well.  That’s not why I art journal.  It’s for me, not to please other people.  The only reason I post is to INSPIRE other people.  So, I may or may not be accomplishing that.  Maybe down the road…it always takes time for a new blog to get noticed.

So, today I will be showing  you another page from my “January page a day” challenge I am participating in at Milliande Art Community.  I’m a couple of days behind.  I have completed day 5, and she has completed day 7!  I don’t know how she does it!  Not only does she do a page a day, but she records it, and uploads her videos, too!  I figure, since she is going to all that trouble, the least I can do is try to play along!

So, the prompt (inspiration) for Day 5 was to use an old calendar or daytimer page.  I used two – a Goodlife Fitness class schedule, and a page from my little purse-size daytimer.  I’m pretty sure I ended up covering them up though…after adding layers of collage and inky goodness! 

So, here she is:

I definitely went in a different direction than is sthe norm for me with these pages.  I went for a messy, inky, vintage look.  I started with a layer of collage papers – vintage sheet music, my calendar and fitness schedule, along with some other odds and ends that I had in my stash.  I then added borders with Making Memories patterned scrapbook paper.  The next part was the messy/fun part…I started adding ink – using some Time Holtz distress ink reinkers, and some Stampin’ up reinkers.  I moved the ink around by spritzing with water, and/or dragging through the ink with an old credit card.  I only used 2 colours – green and blue.  I then added the vintage images of the typing ladies.  I outlined the images with my Portfolio Water Soluble oil pastels.  I then applied a bit more ink and spritzed with water and blotted with a paper towel.  Next came the letters and numbers (Making Memories and Jenni Bowlin letters, and Jenni Bowlin numbers).  More ink, spritzing, blotting and playing.  Then, I found the “just my type” sticker which just happened to be the name of a sheet of letter stickers by Doodlebug! But it was much too pretty, so I inked it up too.  This page just came together without much thought…just random playing.  That’s when art journaling is SO FUN!  Oh, and I added some random areas of fluid acrylic paint in zinc white and titan buff.    Oh, and the last thing I did was the circles – used Golden Zinc White, with a bit of water added, and an empty toilet paper roll to stamp the circles.The written journalling was added with a ball point permanent pen (Pilot, I believe) – it’s around the border.    I basically journaled about the fact that when I took typing in high school, it was one of my favourite subjects, and I never realized how important it would be in the future!  But, my second fave subject – not so much – Pitman shorthand…remember that?  I know…I’m dating myself.  Here are some close-ups of each individual page:

So, that’s all for today….happy journaling!  🙂

Art Journal Love

I am REALLY enjoying this newfound artform of art journaling!  I am so inspired by Milliande over at Milliande Art Community for Women.  She is offering daily prompts (along with videos!) to inspire us/me to play along!  So, here is my Day 4 contribution.  The challenge was to use a checkered border on our page.  I had so much fun with this one!  There are at least 4 layers on this baby!  😉

AND, I finished another Zentangle last night.  I do these after I get into bed, on my lap, lying down, so that may give you a little more appreciation for them!  LOL!  This one was created using a CD – I used it as a template – both the inside circle, and the outer ring.  Then, I got out my Sakura red glitter pen, and my Pitt Artist Pen in black, and embellished and coloured away.  The glitter just doesn’t show up in the scan, though…you’ll have to trust me that this zen is sparkly!

Some More Eye Candy

Here I am again – day 2 of this new blog.  So far, no one has stopped by, but I guess it takes time for people to find me.  So, today I have some more art journal pages to share with you.  

These journal pages are from a collaborative art journal that I’m working on with my artsy niece, Heather.  We each have a collaborative journal, and we trade journals every few weeks.  There are “no rules”…so we can do whatever we want in each other’s journals.  FUN!  These first few pages were started by me, and finished by Heather.  Truly collaborative!

These next few are “all mine”…in the same journal.  The size is 8×10”.

I created the next few pages for a challenge over at Milliande’s Art Community.  She is offering one prompt per day, starting January 1, complete with videos!  Her work is so inspiring!    The first 2 challenges, for January 1 and 2, were to create a 2 page introductory spread.  Here are my pages:

 

Day 3’s challenge was to use at least one large circle.  I did another 2 page spread, with a circle on each page. 

Well, that’s more than enough for one day!  Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment…it makes me smile!

I LOVE Art Journaling, and Zentangles!

What can I say?  I have become hopelessly addicted to art journalling.  Not that that’s a bad thing…just never thought I was talented enough to make actual art.  Don’t get me wrong – I have always been creative.  My mother tells me that I was “making things” before I was even walking!   So, a little bit about me…and how I came to start blogging about art journaling.  I started my first blog when I began teaching scrapbooking and cardmaking.  I have been a papercrafter for about 10 years now, although, like I said, I made things from paper, fabric, and anything else I could find, since I was very young.

I discovered art journaling when I picked up a magazine (another one of my passions!) – called “Journaling”.  Since then, I’ve purchased several books, and I believe I have four art journals on the go at the moment.  My stash of scrapbooking/cardmaking supplies is being put to good use!

So, I have joined a couple of Art Journaling groups, and I thought it was about time I started another blog. Art Journaling, for those of you who may be new to this form of art, is a visual form of journaling.  I have found it to be very therapeutic. Today, I’ll share some of my favourite pages.  Oh, and I have also found Zen-tangle/doodle/dala-ing, so I’ll be sharing some of my Zenworks here as well.  So, in no particular order, here are some of my creations.

First, a few art journal pages from my first Moleskine.

And a couple of Zentangles:

That’s it for now!  I have a lot of catching up to do.  I should have started this blog sooner!  😉