Last weekend I did some editing on a video that tied up my computer for the rest of the week, and I think I know what went wrong, so hopefully that won’t be happening again…I think.
Because my computer was otherwise engaged, I am behind on all my projects and project sharing, so let’s get started!
I had more fun with this page than I have in a very long time! I pulled out some of my favorite techniques from my first few years of art journaling. It’s a slower process with all the paint, mediums, and layers, but a much more satisfying result.
I realize that putting this much time into a page in a journal that will probably just sit closed on a shelf may seem like a waste of resources, but getting back to this style has inspired me to work on a few art pieces. As a matter of fact I have one almost finished right now.
If you would like to see the video of this page’s process, the video is right here:
This has been a big week for journal pages! So, I’m going to just get right to it…
The first part of the week I was feeling like I just wanted to hide under the covers.
Or take cover, this has been a really sad and scary week!
My brain felt a little like this, a bit of a twisted jumble.
I needed a safe place to write down my feelings, so I added a pocket page …
…with lots of room for journaling. As the week progressed and I got my thoughts on paper, things seemed to improve a bit.
Another way to express feelings on paper.
I’m still wrestling with sleep, but improvements are happening.
This was supposed to be a video, but too many tech. issues got in the way
The fairy girl was an add on after the video was up, Mister Mouse looked like he needed a fellow traveler.
If you would like to see my process of this page, the link is in the sidebar. There is a part 2 in the works, but right now I’m going to put my feet up…and maybe under the covers.
I like to name my art journals, but I’m not sure if this title will stick. Maybe I should call it “Wings on Things”.
Because EVERYBODY gets wings in here!
This is one of my page “re-do’s”. I pulled off the retro-kitsch decor and gave it a botanical fantasy makeover, like what I did in the rest of this journal.
I didn’t really like the direction it was going, so I decided to tear out pages I had already worked on and replaced them with pre-painted pages. I’ll find a use for the pages I tore out, that can actually be a lot of fun.
I filmed a video this week where I go into a little more detail about why and where my art journaling has been taking me lately. If you would like to see it, hit the link-ity link on the sidebar.
A mouse pondering how to use wings.
In a nutshell…life in the outside world isn’t all it’s cracked up to be right now. My little world is doing great, but as being an ingredient of the world at large, it’s hard to ignore everything that’s going on. This isn’t a place to pick sides, all sides seem to be struggling about something right now…so there you go.
This is a place where I create a little world of my own to visit when things get a bit grim. Much like I did when I was a kid, reading books, listening to music, and making art.
As a matter of fact, I decided to purchase some my favorite childhood books , and a few new ones, on the Audible app to listen to while I work on my journals, this has been so fun!
The other thing I have been working on this week is my creative spaces, yes I have more than one…what?!
Anyway, I started following “The Unexpected Gypsy” on YouTube, and she has really inspired me me to take all things creative a lot more seriously for my overall well being. I highly recommend making any changes in your environment to support your creative life. Any and all changes, large or small, will make an impact, so I’m going to just keep at it! I hope you will too!
Let me know in the comments how you are doing, I love hearing from you!
The last installment of the Holiday Journals series, Yay!
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to move on.
I used my journaling pages for memory keeping and devotional tracking. The library cards tracked the date and scripture I read that day, and the tags are for memory keeping. Between social distancing and the weather, we didn’t get up to much, but there were a few things worth noting.
I had so much fun making these pages and decorating my tags that I’ve decided I want an entire journal of tags and pockets. Coming to your local blog soon! (The ugly sweater tag was a gift from a sweet friend=memory)
A selection of the tags from this journal. I loved having painted backgrounds with an addition of tissue paper or clear sticker paper, and then playing with the tags and pockets.
And now it’s 2022! Well at least in my journal.
Like I said, I’m really chuffed with these pockets. So much so that I went thrifting with my daughter and picked up as many “Discarded” library books as I could find, just for the pockets…so much fun!
Well, I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I did, but I’m ready for something new! How about you?
There’s so much inspiration out there, but so little time!
Well, I’m still plugging away at my “Holiday” journal. Today I’m going to share a few thoughts about coffee/tea dying, whatever beverage you prefer.
This post is very photo heavy, so I’ll keep the narrative minimal.
There are a lot of super cool dye techniques out there, but my main objective is to take the glaring white out of some of my paper bits.
Before and after: I love how “aged” the stained paper looks.
I also wanted to share how I sometimes print in black and white to use a printable in a different way and make it look a little more vintage. I love the gradations of black and gray.
As you probably know, I use a lot of doilies in my back grounds, and they’ve gotten a bit pricey. I’m really more interested in using what I have on hand at this point and not buying more. Plus, white doilies are so much more readily available, hello Dollar Store! (I’ve dyed them with food coloring too, super cute!)
Journaling spots: that piece of paper in the middle is from a larger piece that I used to dry some coffee dyed bits on, they made all kinds of interesting stains on it. Then I cut some of it down to 8.5″x11″ (letter/A4 size) and printed graph paper on it then cut out some tags
Tags and such: sometimes I’ll switch out the string for bakers twine on these and use the stained string on my colorful scrapbook paper tags, just to mix things up a bit.
My collection of dyed ephemera. I try to dye in batches so I have a selection to choose from…or give away 🙂
If you made it this far, I’m impressed! That was pretty darn dry!
This is the basket I throw things into for future dyeing projects. Sometimes a good “staining idea” will hit me and I’ll throw it in here, the seam binding being a case in point.
I was able to get quite a few pages done this week, thanks to my organization!
And I have at least one more technique I’d like to share from this journal.