Journaling by 5s

Hello All!

Today I thought I would share with you an absolutely fantastic idea called Journaling by 5s. It was invented by an artist called Shannon Green and I came across it whilst watching journaling videos on you tube.

The idea is that you break down a journaling page into 5 stages and each stage is timed (1 minute per stage per page) It is absolutely brilliant for those of you starting out as it makes the process nice an easy but also encourages you to let go, relax and just enjoy the process. For those who aren't beginners it is great way to get many pages done it very little time. I adore that I can be creative and produce full pages even if I only have a few minutes here and there to spare.

The stages are:

1. Background - paint, ink etc
2. Texture - collage, recycled materials
3. Pattern - stamps, stencils
4. Focal point - words, images
5. Details - pen, pencil, doodling

They are so much fun to do and very addictive. Here are a few I have been doing:

You can do these on loose sheets, old packaging, index cards, in journals or on old leaflets. Whatever you fancy really! And why not try adding extra stages of your own! I hope you all have a go! and please go over and check out Shannon Green on You Tube as well!

Bye for now!

xxx

Bank holiday creative madness!

Hello All,

This lovely long bank holiday weekend saw me go creative mad! I started so many different projects at once and flicked from one to the other. My brain was filled with so many ideas and I couldn't wait to have a go.

Firstly I did a few journaling pages:

I was feeling happy and so inspired and I think the colours I went for in these pages reflect that. I just kept flitting back and adding a layer to these then moving on to something else and coming back once they were dry to add some more. I am really pleased how they turned out.

The other thing I was getting really excited about this weekend was some upcycling. I love the idea of taking something old and giving it a new lease of life. I have done a bit of this, some of my journals for instance are made from old boxes etc, but I would really like to get into this more. I was watching you tube vids for example Sealemon and Hermione Chantal who have some fab ideas. Turning something plain or forgotten into something that looks great. I particularly like DIY decor. I started thinking that once the kids are back at school I will start going around junk shops and seeing what I can find to revamp. I felt so inspired I couldn't wait and took a trip to my local poundland and chose a few bits to start with.

I am in the middle of turning a ice cream glass into a tea light holder and I also bought a few frames to do up:

I turned one into a shopping list by painting the frame and adding some nice paper inside. I found some little letter magnets in the shop too and glued these on to form 'shopping list' all it needs now is a whiteboard marker :) the little pot next to it is a pen holder made with craft foam. I got this idea from a sealemon vid and it looks really cute on my windowsill.

I hope you like these as much as I enjoyed making them! I will have a go with the other frame and finish the glass and post them up to see what you think! 

Bye for now xxx

Bookbinding

Hello All,

Recently I have been watching a lot of bookbinding vids on you tube. I would like to learn more myself and I have in mind a bookbinding workshop, creating a 'art journal to go' where all the pages will be bound with pre-done backgrounds making it great for travelling.

I found a fab you tube channel called Sealemon with lovely clear tutorials on different stitches and bookbinding ideas. So I decided to follow one of the tutorials and try out coptic stitch using sketch pads for the signatures and the board at the back of the pads for the covers. Here are the results:

This should be a perfect stitch for what I have in mind. I plan to also include my own video tutorials as part of the workshop so watch this space!

Bye for now! xx

September Art Swap

Hello All,

This months art swap on journalworkshops.ning.com  was to create two ATC's (artist trading cards) in an Art Deco style. I was partnered with Tora from Iceland. This was right up my street having just participated in a 1920's style dance show. I do love getting dressed up with all the costumes and make-up :) Here is what I made for Tora:

And here is what I received from Tora:

I particularly like the stained glass one she made me, it's lovely!

Also as promised I did film myself making these cards and so here is my new video, hope you enjoy it!

Bye for now! xx

Shopping!

Hello All,

This week I been watching quite a few you tube vids and it inspired me to purchase a few new things. I found that a lot of people are using dylusion paints and the colours look really good so I have ordered a few to try and also a few fab stencils from www.stencilgirlproducts.com.
The other thing on the way is some mapped colorpeps smoothy crayons which all the reviews I have read say are very similar to gelatos (but cheaper) and that the colours are really vivid. Looking forward to it all arriving so I can have a play. I hope to make a new vid, trying out some of the stuff.

Also on you tube this week I watched a fab vid by Julie Fan-Fei Balzer. If you haven't seen her work, check it out, she is really good. Her You Tube channel is:

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYS7gznVtfxvVQsKOW1Jiww

The vid I watched shows Julie using some simple but very effective mark making. Mark making is something I like but more often than not forget to do. I decided to create a background in my art journal inspired by Julie:

I started with a gelli print, pealescent paint, brushos and modelling paste before adding stencils and my mark making. I think I am going to attempt a portrait or a figure of some kind over the top but not sure yet. I will post a piccie up again when it's finished.

Bye for now xx