Art Journal Pages

Here are some art journal pages I have been doing recently, trying out different materials and seeing how I can play with them to create something. The first one I decided to rip a mixture of papers up and glued them to the page, before spraying and painting over the top. I like the textures this created. The second picture I wanted to create a blue page so sprayed a mixture of green and blues and water onto the page and I had some cute fish postcard which I cut out and stuck onto the page. While it isn’t as good as I did hope (it is quite difficult to draw onto the shimmery spray) I am quite happy with it as it is about the process rather than the overall piece and just doing these pages has given me lots of inspiration.

 

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I thought I would share some of the materials I have using recently for my art journal

 

This includes papers and cut outs, acrylic paints, inks, grunge paste, gel pens, sharpies, some watercolour type pencils, Dylusions ink spray, die cuts and some oil pastels (which I got today, yay!)

Mixed Media Is a Blessing And a Curse!

I finally feel like I am finding my way into my mixed media art journal. While it is something I’ve wanted to do for ages, I was struggling to get a balance between ideas for a page and playing with my material. Sometimes I would have it open on a blank page and not really have any what I was going to do. This was frustrating at first, and I’ve often had the ‘fear of the blank page’ but I seem to have moved past it and after playing around with different embellishments, paints and sprays I end up with an idea to explore. Part of me still holds onto the notion that it has to be an amazing piece, but I am trying to let go. That isn’t the point of an art journal, and specifically my intent was just to explore mixed media materials and enjoy the creating process, finding interesting combinations and creating different effects.

One way I have decided to create pages is through themes. The underwater page came to me after I had sprayed the blue and greens on, but I want to try more abstract themes like Memory, Escape and Enchantment. I am sure I could brainstorm a lot just from those words. I have been working on a few other things as well, including the trinket box and a mini scrapbook album. Photos are to come very soon!

Something I’m Working On…

 

 

 

 

 

 

This an altered box I have been working on recently. I spray painted it black so it took a while for it to dry between coats. Now the fun part is to decorate

I’ve Made an Etsy Shop!

I have finally created my own little Etsy shop to sell some of my items. This has been in my head for ages and friends who have seen my crafts always ask if I sell them. Well now I am! It is looking a little sparse at the moment but I am currently making a few things which I plan to put up. Been really busy the last few weeks, and my creating has been put to one side, but not for long x

 

 

Mixed Media Blog Page

I love how this page turned out – the colours and textures work so well together, and the lettering, which was an experiment. I made this as a banner for my blog – I am giving it a new look and this is a great starting point!

New Art Pages

I have been so productive with my art journal, I think because I’m really excited to be using my new materials! This one looks quite dark, I think because I used so many things on the page, including grunge paste which I scrapped into, then dylusions sprays, acrylic paint, pen, and grunge paper I die cut into the flowers, butterflies and hearts. I am still quite happy the way it came out as I think it is quite interesting and gave me the opportunity to play with my art and enjoy the process much more.

I love the colours of this page (which I scanned in) and I used the grunge paste more sparingly with a stencil to get a different effect. I also made my second video of me making this which you can watch here:

Second Art Film

I’d love to hear what you think!

Journaling and Scrapping Obsessions…

I’ve had a pretty hectic week recently so I was glad to book a few days off this coming week and have a four day weekend. I’ve already planned my days as indulging in my new journaling and scrapbooking obsessions! I got a Smashbook and just adore it, even though I have done one page! It is luscious. I think I need to have more focus on the kind of pages I want to make, although the page I have done was experimental and fun to play around with. I’m going to put up some pictures soon. I’ve also been having fun with mixed media in my art journal and my room just looks like it has exploded when I have everything out! I don’t have much space so I use a laptop table and have my materials and tools in boxes around my bed. One day I would really like a whole craft room!

I’ve felt a little under the weather recently, possibly a bit stressed, but am hoping this will go as I really enjoyed making my art video last weekend and am planning another. I have borrowed some equipment from work (handy working in Media!) and am going to make one showing how I do an art journal page. This time I will have more of a solid idea in mind, maybe a theme or word to build an image from. I am enjoying using different mediums and textures and how I can combine them for different effects. I’ve got a few other ideas for projects I have been thinking about for ages, so I am going to busy on my blog again! I’ve found blogging a cathartic experience and gained so much through connecting with other liked minded people. I think it is a great way to share your passions and interests, but also an interesting way to journal your life. I keep a written diary too which I wish I would write in more. Thank you to everyone who takes time to read and comment on my posts, it means a lot x