• Art - Blog - Creativity

    Feeling the art journal love again

    September 27, 2022 - By 

    It’s taken a while but I’m getting the urge to create at least in my art journal.

    In fact, this was the second page I created on Sunday afternoon.

    While searching through my stash I found some watercolor color experiments. The colors spoke to me in that fall sort of feel.

    The lined page to the left was a shiny paper from junk mail. I didn’t want to cover the lines but at the same time didn’t like the shine. I used some glimmer mists to knock it back.

    Yesterday was a rough day for me. I was very emotional which is not my usual state of being. I’m a very stoic person…I’m Norwegian raised in the mid-west. It takes a lot to crack my shell.

    I did what I like to call a mind dump on my page. I like to write very messy and somewhat layer the words. This makes it difficult to read. This is purposeful. I need to get it out but I don’t want to go back and relive it later when I’m paging through my journal.

    I saved this label from a beer my neighbor shared. (using as my drink reference as well…it’s a twofer) The beer was really interesting. You could taste a hint of orange and copious amounts of honey. I’m not sure I loved it but I did love the label.

    It’s not my favorite page in the journal but it served its purpose.

    Today is a work day of course with some grocery shopping on the way home.

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?
  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    Fall vibes

    September 25, 2022 - By 

    I do love Fall. The crisp mornings, the rustle of fallen leaves, flannels, jeans, hoodies…all the pumpkin goodies. The warm colors of autumn are also my favorites. You’ll find them all over my house and in my art.

    I had so much fun pulling together items to layer. Bits of wallpaper, book spine, scrapbook paper, ephemera postcard just to name a few.

    I used some distress oxide to bring the background colors together.

    I then dripped water and blotted to make the cool light spots. Love that look. This is my first distress oxide ink pad, and I know it won’t be my last.

    I’m nearing the end of this journal. Just a few pages left. It’s been a really fun challenge with all the different types and sizes of papers.

    It has gotten quite chunky. Good thing I made the cover with a long wrap around tie to hold the chunkiness in.

    When it’s complete I’ll do a recap at least of my favorite pages.

  • Blog - Crafts - Creativity

    Small journal love

    March 31, 2022 - By 

    I was recently inspire to create some new journals. These are single signature journals.

    I’ve never thought to create small journals such as these but I realized that these are going to come in very handy.

    I used scraps of heavy fabric for the outside of the cover and recycled posters for the inside of the cover.

    The denim cover is from a pair of jeans that my now college-aged daughter wore as a preschooler.

    Since the embroidery was so cute on it, I saved the leg. Waste not, want not.

    I used about 15 pages of various papers for the signature.

    I wasn’t worried about them all being exactly the same size, in fact, I prefer that there is some variation.

    The rose on the left is a digital creation of mine. I had a group of mine printed at Kinkos to make sure that they would print properly if I were to sell them as digital downloads. I have not taken that step yet but maybe someday. In the meantime, I have some fun and uniquely me pages to play with.

    The right side has one of the tags I have created from the masterboards I’ve been creating with scraps. I like to stitch around them both for interest and to secure the edges.

    Here’s yet another tag slipped in a side tuck on the page. The tuck is from my stash of mini colleges. Also a scrap busting project.

    Both masterboards and mini colleges are things that I tend to do when I’m lacking that creative spark. They are quick, use lots of scraps and are great to have around for later projects.

    Here is yet another example of both being used on one page.

    Attaching an envelope to the edge of a page then folding it to the back creates a fun flip out that can hold a secret note or photo or whatever you want to tuck away for safe keeping.

    I’m really having fun with these journals. They are quick, no pressure of strict theme, multi use and just really darn cute.