Hey Friends, just a quick post to let you know I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth.
I have been keeping busy organizing and using up several years worth of ephemera.
I usually just organize then loose interest, but this time I am actually putting it to use.
…and I have almost filled up a journal at this point!
Let me know in the comments how you are doing and what you’re up to.
As always,
Thank you for the visit,
Have a great week,
~Patty
This is one of those things that I wish I would have thought of a lot sooner! In my last blog post I shared about getting a lot of inspiration from YouTube and Etsy digitals. Well, last week I put “Bright Digitals” into my Etsy search and found a shop that sold some beautiful digital copies of her art. Bingo, into the cart!
Then, while running errands the other day (I get my best ideas while driving), it occurred to me that I might be able to do the same thing with some of my painted pages.
Before.
These are some of the backgrounds that I had painted for pages in my art journals. I had muted down the color a bit with tinted watered down gesso because they were super bright.
But I wanted “Super Bright” pages to work with in my art journals. Hmmmm…
After!
I scanned them into my computer as a .jpeg so my photo editing app would accept them, and turned up the dials. There were so many options on how to manipulate the color, I was in heaven!
Now, I know that these are a little blurry from all the playing around I did on my computer, but this is just a start. Besides, these are to tear up or use as backgrounds so no worries. Also, I have quite a few more painted background pages to work with that I can paint over, stencil, and do all kinds of colorful decorating on before scanning.
Where it stared.
That little pink paper scrap in the background is from a page I painted a while back. I loved how it came out by combining it with digitals and a few of my own “art scraps”, but I was using up a favorite painted page! Now, I’m all about downsizing and using things up, but if you scan it before using it up, then it’s no longer taking up space, and you know where to find it. Which is a game changer in my world, you have no idea how much time I spend looking for things…but that’s another story.
Matching up colors.
I’m in spring mode right now, so I wanted to use a more muted art paper in the background, all I had to do is tone the color down a bit before printing. If there is a particular image or focal point that you want to match, it’s easy to just play around with the color a bit to match them up.
I have so many of ideas I’m playing with right now and I will share more of them here soon. I hope you will try this out. Please let me know in the comments.
Until next time,
Thank you stopping by,
Have a great week,
~Patty
Trying new things is what pushes my style forward more than anything else. Sometimes using the same technique over a period of time can start to feel stale, then I get bored and have to walk away for a while.
Then a new style or project inspiration comes along that really excites me, and I’m off and running and there’s not enough time in the day!
I should appreciate the down times more, I’d probably get more sleep!
Have you ever had an idea that kept you up at night? You can’t wait for the morning, and then when morning arrives you’re too tired to work on anything. It happens to me all the time, actually it’s been happening to me a lot lately. I’m no ‘Spring Chicken’ I need my sleep!
But what’s the alternative?
Just about everything gets worked around my creating, not the other way around, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I have tried to picture myself pottering around the house, cleaning and generally taking care of things, like I probably should…and then all I want to do is hide under the covers…(with my art supplies)
Jumping from one project to another.
Sometimes I’m so inspired that I find myself in the middle of 4 or 5 projects at once and that can get pretty messy. Not to mention the amount of clutter that it can produce in my home, and in my head.
I’m pretty sure this falls under the heading of “First World Problems”!
So when I have exhausted myself, and I have run out of space, I tidy and organize my projects, then try to come up with a plan (easier said than done). The main point is not to give up out of frustration, accept the facts of how my brain works, and stop the judgement.
I’m seeing a pattern here.
I’m in organizing mode at the moment. All my projects are staged and ready to work on…now I’ obsessed with organizing…here we go again! Lol!
I need a nap! zzzzz
As always,
Thank you for stopping in,
Have a great week,
~Patty
I’ve been busy with all the projects that have been floating around in my brain, and my desk, for quite a while. I have too many ideas and not enough time…or maybe energy?
But there’s lots to do, and I’m slowly getting things done. Slowly being the operative word!
Making journals into fodder.
My latest ephemera packs have been half finished for a couple of years. They started out as a way to use some of my very early art journals for my shoppe. You see, I had to go through my journals when we downsized to a smaller home a few years ago. Some of my journals were not hard to let go of, but I also couldn’t just toss them out either. So I took them apart, played around with them, and turned them into things I could share (sell, let’s be honest)).
The little gypsy is from a tag journal from many moons ago that can be a journal spot, and I made some pages from another journal into tags. I added some gesso and strategic paper pieces to cover my journaling, but most of them are double sided and have some creative potential.
A bit on the grungy side.
I had fun putting it all together, rusty paperclips with fabric clusters, coffee dyed coin envelopes, dyed vintage lace, more journals spots from one of my early index card journals (that makes three journals used up!), old book pages, tea dyed journal papers, and more. This ephemera pack is pretty muted in tone, but as you know, I’ve always loved playing with different styles and colors.
Keeping organized.
These packs have a lot more handmade items than my old style of ephemera packs which were filled with mostly “found” items. I have a lot of ideas I want to use in the future, so I made this ‘Idea Book’ for notes, resources, and creations. I have made something like this in the past, but this feels more like a journal, more hands on and useful.
So much inspiration!
There are so many awesome ideas out there, added with a few of my own, that there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day for all of them, but I’m giving it my best effort. I decided to include a few photos of my latest ephemera pack into this journal for reference along with some fun ideas for projects.
(I made a video of this journal, the link is in the sidebar if you would like to learn a little more about it.)
Another trip to the vet.
The biggest reason I am having a hard time keeping up with all the things right now is our lil’ fur baby Lily is reaching that time of life where things are starting to fail and I want to spend as much quality time with her as I can. It’s going to be pretty rough when we loose her, she’s my little bestie, so I hope I can keep up when we do. Meanwhile we are doing what we can to make her comfortable and happy!
Until next time,
Sending Joy and Love to you and yours,
Thank you for the visit,
~Patty
This probably seems a bit strange to quit when I’m almost at the end of this challenge, Day 26, but I need to move on. I did a page spread a day during the Holidays, even when I was under the weather, so I have been ‘at it’ for two months now and I need to get other things done. I’m going to try to finish up this journal using the prompts, but not every day. There are five left.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had nothing but fun doing this challenge, I just hit a bit of a slump creatively (at least for this project) and want to work on something else. But since I have finished four more pages, I thought I would share them with you.
Day 23: “Texture”
A scrunched up doily, a paper cluster, some layered paper pieces painted with gesso, a bird holding some dried weeds, and some dollops of pink paint. This page spread brings to mind a bit of the reason why working in this journal has become a bit daunting…it’s massive! I realize I am the one who decided to add all the layers, but I think next time I do one of these challenges, I’ll make two journals.
Day 24: “Fabric”
In my attempt to cut down on pages in this journal, and to help keep it closed, I made this quilted cover. These are so easy, and so much fun, to make. Although I used an old quilt for this one, these are just as easy to make with two pieces of fabric and some batting…and a little decor. I want to make a video of how I create these. Let me know in the comments if you would like me to share the instructions here too, I could do both then share a link to the video.
Day 25: “Ombre”
This one had me thinking. I looked up ‘ombre’ online to get some inspiration, but it was mostly hair styles. I had been experimenting with watercolor on tissue a few months ago, so this background piece was ready to go. I looked around my stash for ephemera that might match the colors as they graduated across the pages, and this is what I came up with. I still think it looks a bit of a mess, but it was fun to try.
Day 26: “Translucent”
This is one of my favorite pages. I kind hit the ‘easy button’ with this one, stickers and envelopes, but I love the mix of neutrals and color. I needed a couple more tuck spots for my journaling pages, although I’m not sure I want to fill that pocket on the right, I like seeing all the layers.
The biggest reason I have decided to take a break from art journaling every day is because I am working on some new ephemera packs for my shoppe. I’ve had a lot of success with my “curated” ephemera packs. In case you haven’t been to my shoppe in a while, my curated packs are filled with bits of ephemera I create, not just images cut from books and gathered with other ‘made’ items. They are pretty popular and don’t stay in my shoppe for long. I will also be selling journals that are stitched and not ring bound pretty soon, I might even try putting some of my hand stitched covers in there. This has become one of my favorite creative projects, and when it comes to creativity, you have to go with what ever makes your heart sing…so I am!
It has been fun having an excuse to come on here more often and catch up with you and I hope I can keep that up with other projects. I will share the last pages of this journal as soon as I get them finished.
Until Then,
As always,
Thank you for the visit,
Have a great week,
~Patty
Patty Radish 