Weekend Journal

I haven't done a lot of posting, but I have completed a lot of pages in my art journal during the past month.  Here's a sampling of what I've been doing.

Intuitive art journaling offers fascinating insights into the subconscious.  I wasn't the least bit surprised to see this mask and armor appear as I approached each day like I was "headed into battle". 

I'm in a skull and skeleton gallery show this autumn, so once again, it's no surprise to me that a skeleton would make himself known to me.

When I'm working in my art journal, I like to begin by writing thoughts, phrases and words.  Sometimes I just use a regular ink pen.  Sometimes I use a brush and craft acrylics.  Often times, I'm listening to a lecture or music while I'm working, and that's where some of the phrases and words come from that I use in my work.

An art journal is the perfect place to experiment with new media.  I recently purchased a set of Inktense pencils (which I LOVE!).  Experimentation is all about the journey and not the end result.

What better place to determine how acrylics, Inktense pencils, and Neocolor II water soluble crayons interact with each other than in my art journal?   The 9"x12" portrait landscape is perfect for me.

It seems that I was channeling Klimt for this page!

I threw some oil pastels into the mix, and how much fun were those?  It's great to pull out those art items that have somehow gotten pushed aside.   It's easy to get into an art journaling routine.  It's a trap!  Rotate your supplies periodically.

I hope you enjoyed the tour through some my "experimental" art journal pages.   Remember the smaller, "Winter" journal that I made?

I'm happy to announce that I haven't missed one day of art journaling in this page a day book!  I'll be showing you these pages in the near future.

I hope that you're new year has gotten off to a happy and creative beginning, and I hope that you're creative muse is bursting with new ideas for you to explore.

CELEBRATE * LOVE * CREATE

Tuesday Tips and Techniques: Use Your Printer!

When we were on vacation in Missouri, Suzi and I had our afternoon at Hobby Lobby.  (Of course we did!) I was watching my pennies, after all, I still had lots of shopping opportunities awaiting me in California.

While we were at Hobby Lobby, I found a great 12" x 12" sheet of scrapbooking paper that was tiny, handwritten words.  I LOVED it, but I didn't want to pay almost $2.00 for it.  So..........I took out my fine point sharpy and wrote my own words directly into my art journal.

On one side of the book, I wrote down all of the "Momisms" I could think of, and on the other side of the book, I wrote down all of the things that I could think of that make me happy.

 I took digital photos of each page, and now I have them on my computer ready to print out at a moment's notice.  I can alter the tint, reduce or enlarge sections of them, and basically alter them in any way I choose. 

So take advantage of your printer and put it to good use!  You'll save time, effort and money, and you'll have papers that are uniquely your own!

CELEBRATE * LOVE * CREATE

Tuesday Tips and Techniques: Playing with Paper Three

Alcohol and Acrylics

This is one of my favorite techniques for making background papers.  Here's what you'll need:

1. Card stock pre-painted with acrylic paint. (artist or craft acrylics will both work)
2. 91% Isopropyl Alcohol (I bought mine at Walgreens)
3. Craft acrylics
4. Water

Paint your card stock (or other heavy paper) with craft or artist acrylics.  You can use a solid color but I prefer mixing the paint right on the page. ( Using metallic and glitter paint yield striking results!)  Let it dry.

Get your alcohol ready by pouring a small amount into the cap.  A cap full is plenty for one or two sheets of paper.

Set your alcohol nearby.  Now mix craft acrylic with water in an approximate 60% paint, 40% water mixture.  I use an egg carton.  Apply the paint to your page with a brush.  Work quickly because you don't want the paint to start drying.  If it seems like it's drying too fast, add another brush full of water.

While it's still glistening wet, begin dropping alcohol into the wet paint.  I do this using my index finger to flick the alcohol onto the page.  I also sometimes sprinkle the alcohol directly from the cap by tapping my finger on the cap.  Experiment with the application!

The alcohol reacts with the acrylic paint, and the paint spreads out away from the alcohol.  Here I've used a contrasting color for the top layer so there would be more contrast, but for more subtle texture, use similar colors.

You'll have a stack of yummy, textured paper in no time with this technique!

CELEBRATE * LOVE * CREATE