Handmade Journal II: Part 2

Posted on 29th April 2016 by perfectly4med

In my last post, I showed the start of my hand-bound art journal in response to Wanderlust Course Week 10. I promised some more pics of the inside pages… and here they are. The scrap pages allowed for some overlapping designs across spreads, and the different colour backgrounds inspired some of the colour choices.

I’ve had fun doing various different techniques and experiments, varying my style and choice of media – there is something about the informal scrappy pages that releases a more creative side than normal. Just two and a bit more signature bundles to go to complete this particular journal, but in the meantime, I have another two more formal ones on the go 🙂

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Handmade Art Journal II [Wanderlust Wk 10]

Posted on 22nd April 2016 by perfectly4med

With one or two other things going on, I am not keeping up with my Wanderlust course! I did however catch up with Karen Michel’s class, where she showed how to make our own journals using the cover of an old book, some fabric and lots of scraps of paper and card. It’s a far more informal journal than I’m used to, and as a result, it invites creativity as some pages overlap others, and each page has a different colour and texture. The fabric I chose was one of Tim Holtz’s Eclectic Elements designs. I’ll post the inside pages at a later date.

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Handmade Art Journals I

Posted on 22nd April 2016 by perfectly4med

Over the last two days I thought I’d construct my own art journals. I’ve adapted a slot-and-tab technique to make the inside pages from 160gsm white card. Each journal is A6 in size. The brown has a grungepaper cover with greyboard support behind, coloured with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress Sprays and sealed with DecoArt Media Soft Touch Varnish. The grey has a wrap around cover in the same card, decorated with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics and with a grungepaper and baker’s twine closure. Now all I have to do is fill them 🙂

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Art Journal Page: Word Of The Day

Posted on 18th April 2016 by perfectly4med

I have a new journal, a Toned Gray Strathmore art journal (5½ x 8″). I chose the grey background as I have previously enjoyed the mid-tone which allows both black and white work top. I wanted to explore the journaling side of the art journal and came up with a ‘word of the day’ theme – choosing a word that described either what I had done, or how I felt. The doodling on the facing page started to reflect the words and was completed a little at a time each day. Continue reading →

Art Journal Page: Pictures [Pick A Stick Challenge]

Posted on 15th April 2016 by perfectly4med

I’ve taken the opportunity today to complete this month’s Pick A Stick Challenge. Ten steps, in order, mixing up the media and adding collage elements. There are more and more taking part in the challenge, and it’s the perfect way to journal when the artistic muse has wandered off.

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Matchbook Art Journal: Life Experiences

Posted on 14th April 2016 by perfectly4med

Though I’ve not posted in a little while, as before, a quiet period online often hides a frenetic few days in the studio. Crafting took a small back step last week as a party loomed and the house had to be cleaned and beds prepared, and clobber hidden away from the seventy or so guests! This week I’ve been working on a couple of differently styled art journals, and this is the first to be ready to share.

Inspired by an article in this month’s Art Journaling magazine by Stampington, I’ve created my own matchbook journal (3×3″) with six pages. Unfortunately the supplier listed has discontinued the matchbook used in the article, so of course that didn’t deter me and I created and cut my own using my Silhouette Cameo. I’m going to add more quotes and cuttings as I find suitable ones, but you get the idea from the first page.

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Art Journal Page: How Will You Know?

Posted on 7th April 2016 by perfectly4med

Part of art journaling is using a journal as an experimental area. Today I tried a method of creating weathered wood using paint layers, distress inks and archival inks, and it sparked off an idea for the layout. Somewhat annoyingly, it took longer to find a suitable saying to match my idea than it did to make the page!

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A Graffiti Journal

Posted on 5th April 2016 by perfectly4med

I’ve been fascinated with ‘proper’ graffiti since a child – I love the colour, the vibrancy, the illegality of the hobby and the absolute control of the medium and the application. I’ve also owned a ‘how-to’ book for a number of years, well-thumbed but never used. That all changed when I made a journal from corrugated cardboard and once I’d started tearing off the surface layer, the idea developed to make faux rusty corrugated iron complete with requisite graffiti. I’ve tried different styles and colouring methods, starting with Sharpie pens, trying an image transfer, then Pitt Artist Pens. Then I had a sudden thought of how to replicate the aerosol can at this small scale – I got out my LetraJet air brush attachment for my Promarkers and thus smooth blends appeared. Lots of Posca pen use as well to finish things off.

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Art Journal Page: Nature

Posted on 23rd March 2016 by perfectly4med

In between planting out onion sets, garlic and shallots at the allotment, teaching scrapbook layouts, supervising a learner crocheting and making tea for the landscape gardeners, I slipped in an art journal page! It just goes to show that if you aim to do a page a day – you can. Just! I wanted to try my inverse silhouette technique with something other than black ink, and I think it worked really well 🙂

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Art Journal Page: Excellence

Posted on 21st March 2016 by perfectly4med

Next month’s art journal session at The Studio (Mon 4th April, 7:30pm) is all about pattern development. We’ll be carving our own stamps from Speedball Speedy-Carve before stamping with paint or ink to create our personal and unique designs on our pages. I’ve taken three of my tangle pattern designs to make my stamps: Curly Braces Too, Flared and Circo. And in the process I discovered a new way of using tangle patterns: layering them. Something to explore further in drawn work I think!

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