Art Journaling: Bargello Masterboard

Regular readers of this ‘ere blog know that I am a quilter. This month at the art journal session, we combined mixed media with a quilting technique (which I have yet to try in fabric). We made a watercolour masterboard and then with a lot of slicing and pasting created a bargello-style background in our journals. With some basic stitched panels as a focal point we ended up with this:

Art journal layout using a watercolour masterboard cut and pasted to create a bargello-style background

Rooted in the historical tradition of the Bargello Palace in Florence, Italy, the Bargello quilt pattern is characterized by its use of long, narrow strips of fabric meticulously sewn together. This technique creates an illusion of dynamic movement and depth within the quilt.


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Art Journal Session: PanPastels

Next week’s Art Journal Session at The Studio will still take place on Monday (6th May) at 7:30pm, despite it being a bank holiday. We’ll learn about PanPastels and use them with rubber stamps to create our spreads. There’s no online tutorial this month as capturing the techniques is tricky as a step-by-step (and I didn’t have a chance to do a video), so you’ll have to book in and come and try for yourself! Here’s my sample page:

Art journal page using rubber stamps and PanPastels
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Art Journaling: Heat mouldable foam stamps

As I post, we’re having fun with thermoplastic memory foam here at The Studio. I have some heat mouldable foam blocks that once warmed with a heat tool and then pressed onto a textured surface will retain the texture once cool until they’re reheated. Using water-based inks, you can use the stamps to print a background in your art journal before a quick wipe clean and repeat the process with a new texture. I’ve got out all my pre-printed die-cut ephemera for a bit of decoration and came up with this sample layout to inspire attendees at the monthly art journal session:

Art journal page with background images stamped with heat mouldable foam.
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LIM DT: Autumnal one layer card

One Layer Cards (OLCs) are often the trickiest of the Less is More challenges. All the elements must be directly on the cardstock used for the card itself. No die cuts, matting layers, or indeed most embellishments are allowed. The card itself must retain the clean and simple rule as well. This week’s theme is ‘autumnal’ and I’ve used a previous art journal page as inspiration for my card, which I think would be suitable for a sympathy card.

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Art Journal Page: Black and White

art journal page - black and whiteJuly’s theme for my art journaling session (spaces are available) is ‘black and white’. This is my example art journal page… I photocopied a magazine page and used it for an image transfer on the left side with an inked vignette effect using blended archival ink. The text is stamped in white picket fence distress ink using with the ‘colour’ cut from the original magazine page. There’s not much contrast between the coloured word and the black – I’m still not sure what to do about that as I’m not keen on outlining it and distracting from the colour itself.

Used in this layout

  • Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook

Art Journal Page: Whizz Bang Pop Fireworks

It’s time for my monthly art journal session on Monday evening, and it coincidently happens on 5th November – fireworks night. It seemed fitting, therefore, to have a suitably explosive theme ‘whizz, bang, pop’. There are spaces available, just let me know if you’d like to come.

Here’s my take on the theme:

fireworksUsed in this layout

  • [amazon_textlink asin=’B0027IPO9K’ text=’Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’themanicstamp-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’7a4aab6a-deb9-11e8-a7db-5beea6900017′]
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’B005IW0V5E’ text=’Pebeo India Ink’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’themanicstamp-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’53a18e8d-deba-11e8-b0cb-df05dd28237d’]
  • Ranger / Tim Holtz Distress Stains: Picket Fence/Candied Apple/Mermaid Lagoon/Mowed Grass/Mustard Seed
  • Ranger Stickles: Xmas Red/Tickled Pink, Yellow/Gold, Blue Bayou/True Blue, Green/Firefly

Art Journal Page: Collaged Chrysanthemum

It seems that for the last few days my corner of blog land has been out of service due to a duff plugin. Apologies! Here’s another art journal spread to make up for the absence (not that anyone noticed and let me know!). I experimented with collaging papers for the background and unifying the whole layout with a blanket stencil design. Masking off the area intended for the stamp and covering with gesso helped take the busyness away behind the ‘mum. It’s the first outing for my new Dusty Concord Distress Oxide ink pad. I’m not sure if it’s all a bit much, but experimentation is the name of the game in my journal.

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Art Journal Page: Cool or what?

Next month’s theme for my art journal session (Monday 6th August, 7:30pm) is ‘tints, tones and shades’. I wanted to try a cool ombre effect as part of my suggestions (tint, white added, lighter; shade, black added, darker), so that’s what forms the background of this layout. Then a quick play on words for the shades and a suitable quote and this page is complete.

Cool or what?

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Art Journal Page: Want to Fly

Want to flyIn my last art journaling post, I wrote about knowing when a page is finished. This time around I went a step too far and completely spoiled the layout. See the staining through the gesso middle left and bottom right? That’s archival ink soaking through several layers of gesso. I thought once the butterflies were on, and the gesso painted around them that I would stamp more butterflies over the top. What a mistake to make…

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