Looking for this project and tutorial? This post has now moved to my website!
It's that time again... when I make a new journal and assemble supplies so that I can document my next adventure while I'm on the road. This year I'm heading out on the trip of a lifetime (I feel like I've said that before... lol) as I start in China and follow along the Silk Road in the footsteps of Genghis Khan and Marco Polo. We'll be keeping mainly to the Northern trade route through Western China, starting in Xi'an and then traveling by private train through five of the seven "Stans."
Of course, I'm going to need to document this year's trip of a lifetime. I've been making travel journals for ten years now, starting with my first trip to China in 2008. A decade later and things are coming full circle as I head back to China for the third time, only this time with a much different approach to my journaling. Below you can see the progression as I've continually refined the format and style of my journals over the years.
I started with a simple book made from cardstock, office supplies, a few scrapbook embellishments, and ephemera picked up on the road. This book was done as a project / scrapbooking class during my trip to China (back then I was still doing a fair amount of scrapbooking, it was a scrapbooking focused trip - with Heidi Swapp, which was a lot of fun.)
Next I tried some small 3-ring binders for shorter family trips, then took the Scrapbooking on the Road online workshop with Ali Edwards before my Foreign Business Excursion that was a part of my MBA program back in 2011; I used that method to document that trip. I loved it - that book is still one of my favorites, but I've found that between the amount of writing I do, the volume of paper and ephemera I collect, and the length of my trips, that using those giant metal rings is not my favorite way to go. (Not to mention, carrying a hole punch with you will get you stopped at airport security every time. Guaranteed.) I nevertheless continued to use that method over the course of the next few trips (Peru and Southeast Asia are the other two you see above,) before I decided to try binding my own journal, which I did for Bali, China / Mongolia / Russia, and then India. I found that while I much preferred the format, having to pre-determine the number of pages was a huge challenge that I only got right on one out of three tries.
That brings me to this year's journal. I decided to try a different approach that would still allow me to finish with a case-bound book, but which would give me more flexibility along the way so I wouldn't end up with way too many or too few pages. I decided to create a Midori-esque journal and make my own case and inserts... Boho style, of course! When I get home, I'll take the completed inserts out of the cover and bind them into a hardcover book. Then I can reuse this cover.
I set it up so that there are only three inserts attached inside the book at any given time, but I made four more so that I can swap them out as I fill them and also keep the book from becoming too unwieldy as the trip progresses.
In the first photo above that shows the cover of the first insert, you can also see an envelope. Right now it has my itinerary and travel watercolor set inside (more on that below,) but it's also great if I get larger photos or postcards so I can put them safely inside and then bind or tip the envelope into the final book. Each insert has a sheet of scrapbook paper as the cover - the back of each sheet is white so I can add writing if desired. I keep the rest of the pages pretty plain - there are four sheets of drawing paper, a sheet of watercolor paper, and a sheet of cotton rag paper. The size of the insert is about 6" x 9", and with seven of them, I should have plenty of room to journal as I go. (I also like to get postcards and hotel stationary and tip them in as extra pages.)
Of course, that brings up the question that I get the most when it comes to creating a travel journal... what do I take with me? I used to take a lot - alphabet stamps, ink pads, letter stickers... all kinds of stuff. The problem ends up being the obvious one of space and weight in your luggage (and when you travel by airplane in China, your checked bag has to be under 44lbs and your carry-on should be under 11lbs, so that's not really feasible!) The other issue with hauling all that stuff is that your journaling just takes a lot more time and space to accomplish. So while the format of the book is still evolving, I think I've perfected the travel journal kit itself - at least for the way I like to journal.
Here's what I'm bringing with me:
Yup, that's it! Here are some closeups of what goes into the supply case so you get a better idea. This year I'm using a case that's meant to store and organize your electronics and cords, etc... but I pulled out the dividers in the bottom half and filled it with journaling supplies. The top section has adhesives, journaling and drawing pens, eraser, pencil sharpener (important to have one that contains the shavings,) a mini stapler, and travel scissors. This particular pair cuts really well, but has the added benefit of blunt tips. While it's okay to travel with scissors in your carry-on in the US as long as the blades are under 3" (or is it 4?) when you're abroad, they don't care how short the blades are if the tips are pointed, so these are perfect. Sometimes Security will make me pull them out and show that they're blunt, but I've never had them taken away! (Obviously... lol.)
The bottom section of the case holds my colored pencils, water pens for watercolor, and drawing pencils. The little pocket has a few embellishments - a few rubons and a popsicle stick (again - nothing sharp,) some little pockets and envelopes that I can add in to hold various ephemera, and then my pre-made labels. I started doing this quite a few years ago and it's really the main thing that lets me cut out so many supplies but still make the pages look a little more designed. When I get my itinerary, I go through and stamp labels for the countries, cities, and major landmarks or places of interest that we'll be visiting. Then I tuck in a few blank labels if anything gets added along the way.
For my travel watercolor set, I cut a regular manila file folder in half, then cut about an inch off of various sheets of Peerless watercolors (which are watercolors that are actually dried on paper instead of in a pan - ideal for travel!) and adhered them into the folder and labeled them. I keep a sheet of deli paper inside to keep them from touching each other when the folder is closed. The slick surface also works great as a palette when I'm using them. I just bring a few water pens with different sized brush tips, and I'm good to go!
The only other things I bring are a mini photo printer and film so I can print off highlight photos from each day (this year I switched from a Fuji Instax printer to a new Kodak printer that I like a lot better so far,) and a few rolls of washi tape to add in photos and ephemera. Here are a few of my journal spreads from my last two trips so you can get a sense of how it all comes together:
That's it for the pre-trip work... now that my journal and supplies are all put together and ready to go, I'm excited to get on that plane and let the adventure begin!
Today Lynda Edkins Wyatt from the Artist Tribe is kicking off July with this fabulous turmeric flip journal:
Linda used my new Boho Striped Circle stencil along with some our our Tribe favorites, the ever-popular Turkmen jewelry parts. Make sure you stop by her blog to see lots more photos and details about this fabulous journal!
And... I'm excited to share that it's time for Mary Beth's Birthday Sale over at StencilGirl!
Receive 14% OFF all my StencilGirl stencil designs! Make sure to use code MBS14 at checkout.
Surprise! I bet you thought that with last month's stencil release that I was done for a while, right? Nope! I'm thrilled to share that I'm the StencilClub designer for July! This month's collection is called Ceramic Tiles - I think you can see why. Here's a little peek at the stencils that will ship to members on July 15th:
I also filmed a quick introduction where I share the background on the design inspiration as well as a few fun little tips and tricks about how the stencils can work together:
Of course, I also have few samples using this months designs... (and seriously, now that the cat is out of the bag, I'm going to be using these all over the place!) First up, I've started yet another new artist book, and the first two spreads both use these new stencils. This is a handmade book, and the pages are a bit under 8" x 8." On the opening page, I used the 6" x 6" Fleur de Lys tile and cut out the center - that's backed with a vintage letter written in a beautiful Slavic script, and then I used the center of the 4" x 4" design in the middle.
On this second spread, you can see where I used one of the medallions from the 9" x 12" repeating Circle Tile stencil as part of the focal point:
One of the perks of StencilClub is that each month's collection comes with a mini online class... you get a sneak peek in the video above, but here are a few photos of the project we'll make in the class, which is a mini art journal made from a single sheet of paper.
In the close-up here, you get a better idea of what the 4" x 4" stencil looks like when you repeat it to create a full medallion:
During the video, I also create one of my collage papers as part of the process:
These stencils are exclusively available to StencilClub members, but it's only $25 a month and there's no commitment. You get all three stencils, plus the online class and downloadable PDF! Not to mention the fabulous and supportive Facebook group and a monthly coupon. If you're interested and you aren't already a StencilClub member, you can sign up before July 15th and this will be your first kit. (Plus, club members can order any previous StencilClub collection, including my December 2016 collection, Heraldry.) So what are you waiting for?
I'm excited to announce that I'll be teaching two all new workshops at Papercraft Clubhouse in Westbrook, CT next month - June 8th and 9th (Friday and Saturday.) Both classes center around fun, technique-driven projects and I'll be sharing lots of new tips and tricks throughout both days. Registration is now open! You can call or visit the store to sign up (860-399-4443.)
First up, Friday June 8th we'll be Getting Abstract with Crunchy Collage...
Class is $105 and goes from 10am to 5pm with an hour break for lunch (bring a lunch or plan to order from one of the local restaurants.)
In this class, we'll work on an 11x14 canvas panel to build a background using paints, stencils, stamps, and collage. Then we'll use my "crunchy collage" technique to add some really cool texture. You'll also have the option to add in some dimensional pieces. You don't have to do circles or flowers - I'll show you how to use this technique to create pretty much any shape, and colors, motifs, etc... are all up to you!
Check out the class page on my website for more photos, class details, and supply lists, or you can call the store to register (860-399-4443.)
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On Saturday, June 9th, we'll be making my Translucent Art Journal - a 5"x7" accordion style art journal with watercolor paper, and of course, a few cool translucent pages.
I'll show you my "faux resin paper" technique, and we'll make some translucent papers to use in our journals. You'll have the option to add in skeleton leaves or dried flowers, or bring something from home! (It needs to be quite thin, though.)
I'll also show you some fun background techniques and we'll use paint, stencils, stamps, and collage to prep some backgrounds in your new journal, and then we'll assemble it so that it's ready to work in when you get home!
You can see more project photos as well as class details and supply lists on the class page on my website. The class will go from 10am-5pm with a one hour break for lunch (bring a lunch or order from a local restaurant,) and the class fee is $105. I'll be providing the paper for your journal and supplies for your translucent papers. Interested? Spots are limited, so make sure you call and sign up soon! (860-399-4433.)
Any questions? Feel free to shoot me an email or message me on Facebook.
Hope to see you there!
My attempts at catching up with posting pages from this art journal aren't happening quite frequently enough for me to actually BE caught up... lol, but I'm trying! Here are the July pages from my ARTifacts journal :)
For the first spread, I just used a few colors of paint in the background, then stenciled lightly with ink and my Art Deco Sunburst Background stencil. I added some washi tape along the spine and to attach the tag, then used a bunch of old Basic Grey rubons to embellish.
The tag on the left flips up to show photos and journaling for my July StencilGirl projects...
The tag on the right side pulls out to show the Christmas stencils that were released earlier this month - I had gotten the test stencils and was checking them to make sure they didn't need edits before going into production.
Here's the second spread for the month...
On the left side, I used an old enveloped and stenciled my Art Deco Flower Medallion Repeating Corner on the inside of the flap, then added some stamping, old rubons, and a Dresden crown.
The card pulls out of the envelope to detail my insane bead buying spree (which is now, finally, resulting in some handmade jewelry being made! That was the intent, so at least I'm following through, even if it's slow in coming!)
The envelope flips up to show the design from my Art Deco Bookplates stencil that I'd stenciled and then heat embossed with the Emerald Creek Mirror Gold embossing powder.
The right side shows the collage image for the HUGE shop update that I did that month... I also used a few kinds of washi tape, and the marbled paper is from my Going Global Collage & Embellishment Pack.
That lifts up too for some journaling about the shop update...
Whew... that's it for July! Now I need to get back in the studio and get busy catching up on new pages, and then try and do better about getting them blogged!
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Looking for my blog hop post featuring tutorials a file folder art journal with stencils and Distress Oxide Inks? This post has moved to my website.
See the full post along with all of the video tutorials on my website or check out my full list of mixed media tutorials.
You can also still see see these posts from this blog hop for even more inspiration:
October 18: Adirondack Alcohol Inks
October 19: Distress Oxide Ink Pads
Hi all! Today I'm up over on StencilGirl Talk with the September edition of Gwen's Gems! This month I'm getting ready to travel, so I'm showing how I use my stencils to help prep my travel journal so it's all set to go on the road with me :)
Head on over to see lots more photos, as well as a little overview of how I used stencils to make the covers and decorate the inside pages of my journal. Enjoy!
Hi all! I'm over on StencilGirl Talk today with the June edition of Gwen's Gems. This month I'm using lots of stencils and even more molding paste to make a layered and textured cover for a new 9"x9" handmade art journal.
Head on over to the blog for more photos and a tutorial on how I made the cover! Enjoy!
Hi everyone! Welcome to day 2 of this week's blog hop with StencilGirl Products and Amazing Casting Products! I'm excited to be joining in since I love using molds and resin in my work, and using them with stencils was even more fun!
For this project I took some left-over packaging (it was the box from the ceramic Peking Opera mask that I used in a panel I shared last week,) and turned it into a decorated case for a mini handmade book. Can you tell where I used molds and resin with my stencils?
I put together a little tutorial for you, including a fun technique I came up with using Amazing Casting Products mold making putty and resin with a few of my stencil designs.
First up, my new technique. I wanted to use some of my new Art Deco stencils (here I'm using my Art Deco Borders stencil,) but I wanted to work with a smaller size. So, I inked the part of the design I wanted to use onto a piece of Shinky Dink film.
Next I used an X-Acto knife to cut out the inside pieces. Since this was going to shrink a lot, and since it takes a fair amount of effort to cut through the film, I only cut out the details I really wanted to have show that were big enough to look good in a much smaller size.
Then I cut around the outside of the design with a pair of sharp scissors. I repeated this process using my Art Deco Medallion stencil, then followed the instructions on the package to shrink them in my oven. It did take a few tries reheating and uncurling the plastic for the medallion, but in the end, they both worked!
Now that I had my stenciled designs in a smaller, 3D version, I could move on to the next step - making molds so that I could create multiples! (Please keep in mind that all of StencilGirl's stencil designs are copyrighted, so you should only do this for your personal use, or for use in one-of-a-kind artwork that you sell.)
I took my Amazing Mold Putty and made molds of both of my mini stencil designs.
Then I took some white casting resin and cast both molds. When they were cured (which only takes about 15 minutes!) I cleaned them up a bit and then they were ready to use!
Before I started I had a few ideas for how I'd planned to use these, but once I got to this point I realized that the shapes I'd picked would fit together perfectly to make some really cool embellishments! I got out my Aves Apoxie Clay and mixed up a small amount to start connecting things together and then to start adding to the structure.
You can see above (middle photo) where I added thin ropes of clay around the edges as a border and then used it to start adding other bits onto the structure. I also put dots of clay in a few spaces and then indented the middles in order to create a space to add a jewel or pearl or something later on.
Next up, I painted it. I used gold and bronze metallic acrylic paints as well as a patina colored paint to make it all more cohesive. I also added a metal gear and a random piece of Turkmen jewelry and painted those as well so they'd all go together.
You can see in the photo above right that I did end up adding some jewels, and also glued one of my embellishments to a scrap of Chiyogami paper so that you could see some of the color and pattern through the holes.
With that done, I set my new embellishments aside to dry and started working on the box. I taped off the metal corners and spine (it had a cool design I wanted to keep) and then gesso'd the whole thing.
Then I used metallic gold and turquoise paints... you can see where I used my heat gun to bubble them a bit (I love the texture it adds!)
Once the paint was dry, I used my Art Deco Sunburst Corners stencil and some gold embossing paste and added a bit of dimensional pattern to the cover of the box.
With the outsides of the box painted and ready to embellish, I started working on the inside. First, I stenciled a piece of blue mulberry paper with my Art Deco Sunburst Background stencil and bronze paint.
I tore those down to the sizes I want and then adhered them (inking the edges of the piece for the inside cover first.)
To embellish the inside cover, I decided to use another molded piece. This time I made a mold of an old vintage metal face that was sent to me from Latvia and then cast that with resin and painted it to look like the original piece.
The resin takes paint so well - it was actually almost hard to tell which was the original when I was done!
Once dry, I took my new embellishment and layered it with some other metal pieces and adhered them to the inside of the cover.
Next up, to embellish the back of the box, I taped off a section of my Art Deco Borders stencil so that I could just stencil the middle circle I wanted to use. I stenciled on deli paper with pigment ink and then heat embossed with a mix of Emerald Creek embossing powders.
I cut that out and adhered with matte medium.
To finish off the inside of the box, I attached some different trims, then added a bit of gold dimensional paint.
Whew... that's done. Back to the outside of the box!
With my resin & clay medallions cured and dried, I could finish up the cover. I adhered the medallion with the Turkmen jewelry pieces to the front in the center, then used a Tsukineko irRESISTible Pico Embellisher to fill in some of the stenciled sections.
Voila! The cover is done!
While that dried, I moved on to make the handmade book that would fit inside. I measured to see how big it could be, then cut down some pieces of Davey board and made a little 3"x5" book using the single-sheet Coptic binding. I painted the covers with a turquoise background paint by Matisse, then used a section of my Art Deco Bookplates stencil and some gold pigment ink to stencil the cover.
I heat embossed the stenciled area with gold embossing powder, then adhered my other resin and clay medallion into the center and embellished it with some acrylic rhinestones.
When all was dry, I put the book into the box - all ready to have the pages filled and to be a fun display piece when I wasn't using it.
Here are a few more photos and close-ups of the finished project so you can see some of the details:
There you go! I hope you enjoyed today's project and tutorial. Of course, this wouldn't be a blog hop without a GIVEAWAY!
One lucky winner will receive both a $25 Gift Certificate to StencilGirl Products
AND a $25 Gift Certificate to Amazing Casting Products!
Visit the fabulous designers from both teams and comment for your chance to win!
The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN! (One comment per person per blog please.)
You have until Sunday, April 23rd at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.
Winner will be announced on StencilGirl's Facebook page and Amazing Casting Products’s Facebook page on Monday, April 24th.
Here's the lineup of blogs for this week - make sure you visit and comment on all of them to increase your chances to win!
April 19
April 20
April 21
Hi everyone, it's time for Gwen's Gems again over on StencilGirl Talk! This month I'm tackling a new technique that I've wanted to try for a long time... I used ICE Resin to coat stenciled papers (so fun and cool!) and then used those papers to make a handmade art journal with window pages and covers.
Make sure you head over to StencilGirl Talk to see the full post with instructions and more photos of the finished book!
If you're looking for my original blog hop project and tutorial for this embroidered book using stencils & Kraft-Tex, it has moved to my website.
You can see the updated version of this post and tutorial on my website or check out the full listing of my mixed media tutorials.
If you're looking for more inspiration from the original blog hop, you can still see those posts here:
February 15
February 16
February 17
I was thrilled to be asked by Seth Apter to create some projects with his new stamps and Wood Chips from PaperArtsy. For these projects, I thought it would be fun to take inspiration from the Library of Memories masterclass I took with him in 2015 and make a new version of that class project.
The main tutorial for this project is available on StencilGirl Talk and the additional tutorial on using Seth's products to make collage papers to go inside the handmade book that fits in the case has been moved to my website.
Don't forget to check my website for the tutorial on making collage papers with Seth's stamps, stencils, and paint. You can also always go to my site to get the full and up-to-date list of all of my mixed media tutorials.
Hi everyone, I'm up on StencilGirl Talk today sharing some mini stenciled junque journals that I made to give out as gifts. Here you can see the books I made:
You can head over to the StencilGirl blog to see more photos of the books as well as a little tutorial on how I made them. Enjoy!
If you're looking for the post from this blog hop along with the tutorial for this stenciled and stamped art journal cover, it has moved to my website.
You can find an updated version of this tutorial on my website, or check out all of my mixed media tutorials.
If you'd like to see all of the wonderful inspiration from the original blog hop, those links are still available here:
Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything that wasn't for an assignment I was working on! Life is as crazy as ever, but I've also been in a bit of a slump where I haven't worked on much besides what I'd already committed to. Sometimes you just have to wait those out, you know? I'm starting to pull out of it, and what better to get me excited about new projects than a big trip that needs a travel journal?
I'm getting ready to head out on this year's adventure which I started planning more than two years ago. To think that it's almost time to actually go is a little weird - it hasn't quite sunk in yet, but at the same time I'm very excited! I ran across a word the other day - "resfeber." Sounds like something that someone made up, right? But the definition is "the restless race of the traveler's heart before the journey begins, when anxiety and anticipation are tangled together; wanderlust." That's exactly how I've been feeling lately! But enough of that, on to the journal!
For the last 5-6 vacations I've taken, I've made a travel journal from scratch. I started with the Ali Edwards Scrapbook on the Road approach, using binder rings to hold them all together. I love the three journals I did that way, but I take big trips and save a lot of stuff, and the rings were HUGE - it makes the books a bit unwieldy and it's hard to turn the covers and pages. When I went to Bali last year, I made a case bound book and it worked really well, so that's what I did again this year.
Here you can see where I've already made the signatures (14 of them!) and started pulling out things I thought I might use to decorate the outside and maybe some of the pages.
In case you couldn't guess, China is on the itinerary this year! I had a few bits and pieces I've picked up recently, along with some things saved from when I was there 8 years ago. Also some Russian book pages (because I'll be in Siberia / Russia!) I'll also be in Mongolia - I don't have anything specific to that (go figure,) so I just made do with what I had in my stash. I bound the book - here you can see where I left the end papers to dry overnight. I made the spine bigger than the text block (which is also bound a little loosely) so that I'll have room to add brochures, photos, and other ephemera as I go.
When it was done, I used my Decorative Curvy Repeating Ornament stencil with some molding paste on both covers, leaving room for where I knew I was going to wrap fabric around the spine. I glued down letters for the title, then painted the whole thing gold. When it was dry, I added some color into the decorated area on the front cover, then I clear-coated both front and back and then waxed them lightly. I had a piece of beautiful Chinese silk that I cut to size and wrapped around, then added some dark blue flower trim along the edge.
Now for the inside! I had some Asian looking wrapping paper in my stash and I used that to cover over the end papers on the inside covers - I clear coated those too to help protect them since the paper wasn't all that durable. Then I started adding a little to the pages. For the front, it needed a title page! I had this awesome stamp of a map of Asia from Studio Calico (it's huge too!) and I stamped that and then added in my route and colored the countries I'll be visiting.
The title on that page comes from the fact that I will go in a complete circle around the globe on this trip - I'm really excited about that! You can also see all the labels... I've learned through experience that it's much faster, easier, and better for luggage space and weight if I prepare as much as possible in advance, so I take the absolute minimum of supplies with me. I go through my itinerary and make labels for the main things we'll see - cities, countries, points of interest... specific activities that we'll be doing (like sleeping in a yurt in Mongolia!) Then I just tuck them all in an envelope and I don't have to bring stamps, letter stickers, or anything like that. I do throw in a few blank labels so I can add dates or put in something that I did during free time.
I made a pocket on the back of the title page to tuck in the official itinerary. This is handy, plus it covers up where you can see what I stamped on the front of the page :-P
In the second picture above, you can see where I added a few rubons to one page right at the front where I'll probably put travel info from my flight, add a ticket stub, etc... I also stuck in a fun Chinese envelope from my stash and stamped with a custom designed chop I got in China last time I was there - it spells out the phonetic sounds of my name in Chinese characters. The third picture just shows a fun piece of paper I had that I stuck in the book to make it interesting.
I had very little to use for the Russia section of the book, so I carved a quick Matryoshka stamp to add into my book.
I mentioned it when I shared this stamp on Instagram / Facebook, but I tried a new kind of rubber for this one (Speedy Cut, ) and I did NOT like it. I keep checking around to see if I find anything new that's really wonderful, but I'll be sticking with my Moo Carve and Speedy Carve for now! I still like the stamp, even if the rubber was too soft for the detail I originally wanted.
Below you can see where I used the stamp along the bottom of one of the pages in my journal:
I also added a few rubons here and there, and I collaged in a piece of a map I happened to have that shows an area of China where we're going to be traveling.
The above-left photo has a little tipped-in glassine bag for ephemera, and I stenciled it with the 6x6 stencil from the August 2016 StencilClub kit - it's actually taken from a map of the Moscow metro! We're going to ride the metro while we're in Moscow in order to see some of the historic stations, so I tucked that in toward the end of the book for when we'll be there. Above-right, I found this stamp set by Lynne Perella for Paper Artsy and immediately fell in love. I think it's supposed to be Japanese, but I put her in my Mongolia section - I don't know why, but that's what I thought of when looking at her! I colored the image with watercolor pencils.
Just a few more shots of some of the more interesting spreads in the journal... most don't have anything extra done to them. Top left, I added a layered dragon diecut I've had in my stash for at least 10 years. Anyone remember L'il Davis Designs? Some flocked 7 Gypsies paper I've also had forever that I love... top right, I collaged in some Russian book text on a flap - I'll probably clip something to it. We'll see! Bottom left I've shared before, that uses the July 2016 StencilClub kit - I thought it looked a bit like Russian Folk Art, and since I didn't have much for that section, I just went with it! Bottom right is just the last page of the book.... I have this fun "globe" trotter stamp that I thought was great for the very end - I think that's from Evalicious.
That's it for the interesting (or even sort of interesting) inside pages - they'll hopefully be very cool at the end of the trip! Each signature in the book is made up of patterned paper, a sheet of watercolor paper, drawing paper (mostly for journaling,) and some of the signatures also have manila folders.
Here's what comes with me in my carry-on to work in the journal on the road:
I made a travel watercolor palette by cutting off small rectangles from my Peerless watercolors and gluing them inside of a partial file folder - I have a piece of deli paper that I put in to keep them from touching when it's folded. A few sheets of labels and my pocket of pre-made labels, water brushes, a small pair of travel scissors with blunt tips, a mini stapler, some clips and a little twine, a few rolls of washi tape, a glue stick, a tape runner (with a refill,) and a few pens and pencils (plus an eraser and pencil sharpener.) I bring ball-point pens since I've learned from experience that trying to use Microns or similar pens on drawing paper will dry them out quickly - I just use those for sketching.
Here's the final package of what will come with me:
I also have a pouch with colored pencils that will be dual purpose - I can use them in my journal (since I'm really hoping to be able to add some sketching to this one,) and although I haven't gotten into the adult coloring book fad (despite owning several that I bought for the patterns,) I found one at Michael's recently called Imagimorphia that looks awesome - I figured it would be great for long plane rides when I need some variety to keep me sane.
So that's it! Depending on how much wireless access I have on the road I'll try and post some photos of the trip or maybe do some travel blogging. Hopefully I'll have a cool, bursting at the seams, travel journal when I get back :D Now I just have to get everything packed for a 3 week trip and still under the weight limit with room for souvenirs. Somehow I think I'll manage... I always do!
Hi All! Just popping in to let you know that today I'm up on Nathalie Kalbach's blog sharing a project featuring several of Nathalie's stamps and stencils. Our theme for this month centered on a letter to our future selves (like 10 years from now selves.) I thought it would be fun to make a little mini art journal where I could write out advice to myself. It's 2"x3" and I picked 5 pieces of advice to include:
Make sure you head over to see the full post - there are pictures of all of the inside pages as well as a little tutorial for how I made the entire thing. Enjoy!
It's StencilClub inspiration day over on the StencilGirl blog! This month's exclusive club stencils were designed by Terri Stegmiller and are perfect for Spring! Of course, my project ended up going in the opposite direction, but I still absolutely love it.
This month I made myself a new art journal - it's a 6"x8" codex-bound book and I used the stencils to make the covers and binding.
Head on over to see the full post with more photos of my project as well as more fabulous inspiration from the team!
Hi Everyone! So excited today to be part of the blog hop for a brand new StencilGirl product launch... StencilGuts! Yup... now you'll not only know what happens to pieces that get cut from stencils, but you can get your hands on them to use in your projects. They're super versatile and fun to use as well. For my project with them, I decided to put together a new handmade art journal that features the StencilGuts in lots of different ways.
Without further ado, here's the cover of my journal:
On the cover, I coated the entire background with gel medium, one section at a time, then just grabbed pieces from the Random DirtyGuts and pressed them into the gel. I kept adding pieces until it was pretty full, then let it dry. At that point, I brushed on some green paint and some brown ink, then I covered the entire thing with a brown glaze, waited a minute, and wiped it back so that the only part left was in the holes between the StencilGuts. I love how it turned out - it really highlighted the edges and made a cool pattern!
I also used two different sizes of the same shape from the Geometric StencilGuts Shapes as the basis for a clay medallion to put as the focal point. I just took some air-dry clay and smoothed it out over the shape, then pressed some marks into it and added little details. I did the same with the smaller shape and then put it in the middle to make it two-tiered, then stuck a jewel in the middle while the clay was wet. After it dried, I just applied a few layers of paint to make it look kind of like antiqued metal. In the background, I actually took a strip of mylar that came with my Random DirtyGuts and diecut it with a Spellbinders die. Yes, you can diecut them! Of course, if you use a detailed die, not all of the pieces will come out and you'll need to run it through a few times. But it cuts and embosses beautifully!
First page of the book and the inside front cover:
On the left, I used some underpaper that I really liked to put over the inside of the cover. On the left, I traced another of the Geometric StencilGuts Shapes and then cut it out slightly smaller to make a window. I used alcohol inks on the shape itself and then glued it onto the backside of the page to make the window. I used my Ornamental Compass Screen stencil around it to add some pattern to the page.
Check out how cool it looks when you put the light behind it - it's like a stained glass window!
Here's the next spread:
The back side of the first page with some embellishment and it's hard to see, but I used my Ornamental Floral Screen stencil in the background with gold ink for a subtle touch. That stencil has really become one of my favorites! On the right side, I created a pocket and covered it with patterned paper, then inside are different leaf shaped StencilGuts. As of right now I don't think there are any of these available, but what's in stock will change depending on what stencils are being cut, so check back! Anyway, I used more alcohol inks on these and then added some word stickers and tucked them into the pocket (the top one is glued in place, though.)
Next up, the third spread:
For these pages I used Dylusions paints, stenciled on top with my Ornamental Petals Screen stencil and gold ink, then edged the pages with more ink. On the right corner, I got two of the same shape from the Flourishes StencilGuts Shapes pack and I knew I wanted to use them back to back on the corner of a page like this. I used gold crackle paste to do the front of one and the back of another and let them dry. Then I glued one in place on this side and cut off the cardstock around it on the corner.
Then I added the matching reverse shape on the back and decorated that page.
For this one I used more Dylusions paints and gold ink, this time with my Ornamental Circle Cluster Screen stencil. On the right side, I used the same technique as on the first page with two smaller shapes from the Geometric StencilGuts Shapes pack.
Here you can see the back side of that page:
And the full spread:
I used my Ornamental Compass Screen stencil again, and added a little flap on the right side with another shape from the Flourishes StencilGuts Shapes pack along the edge - I colored this one with a gold paint pen.
There's a fun little space tucked away in there just waiting for some journaling, collage, or whatever I want to add!
Second to last spread:
This spread uses my the Birds StencilGuts Shapes along with my Ornamental Embroidery stencil on top of more Dylusions paints and some collage. I coated the birds using a white, oil-based paint marker and let them dry, then glued them in and added some shading with a Stabilo All pencil. I love the bird shapes pack - there are a lot of different StencilGirl stencils that use birds, and you get a great mix of them in here!
Last page in the book...
I used a larger piece from the Geometric Shapes StencilGuts pack and diecut and embossed it with another Spellbinders die. I just left this one plain since I liked how it looked. (Again, to get some of the details I had to run this through the diecut machine several times, then use my scissors to help some of the pieces come out.) I used my Ornamental Petals Screen stencil one last time along with a bit of collage. More painted underpaper on the inside of the back cover (you can see some hints from the March StencilClub 9x12 stencil on there too!)
So that's it! The entire book, all done and ready for some journaling (or not!) I hope you enjoyed it and are feeling inspired to use StencilGuts in your projects!
Now for the part you've all been waiting for!
I'm excited to be heading back to Connecticut to teach at Papercraft Clubhouse again on April 8th and 9th! I've been sharing lots of peeks of class samples on Instagram and Facebook, but now it's time for full class descriptions with all the photos!
Stamp Carving
Friday April 8th from 6-9pm
Cost: $40 (take $5 off if you already have your own carving tools and tell them when you sign up)
Come join us and learn to carve your own rubber stamps! Perfect for scrapbooks, cards, art journaling, and mixed media, hand-carved rubber stamps help you add your own unique mark to your work. This class is for all experience levels, whether you're a beginner or already carving your own stamps. We’ll go over the basics, including creating your stamp designs, and of course, carving! We’ll make several stamps in class including repeating patterns and word stamps. As a part of the class, you’ll get a stamp carving starter kit that includes a carving tool with blades and rubber. (If you already have carving tools, tell them when you sign up and you can take $5 off the class and we’ll still provide the rubber.) There will also be sample designs for you to use, or you can design your own!
Students should bring: a cutting mat (glass is best if you have it, self-healing will work) an ex-acto knife, pencil, ball point pen, and a ruler. If you're bringing your own carving tools, make sure you have a #1 or detail blade.
File Folder Mini Art Journal
Saturday April 9th from 9:30am-1:00pm
Cost: $55
I've slowly been working on filling the second of the 4"x4" mini art journals that I made for the StencilGirl / Inchie Arts blog hop last month and I finally finished! All of the pages have been posted on Instagram and Facebook, but I like to have them all together in a single post.
First, a reminder of what the covers looked like - this is the one with all the gold crackle paste that I just loved. It's the one on the bottom in this photo:
Here's a little close-up of the texture - both the front and back covers looked like this. I used my Ornamental Compass Screen stencil on top of the crackle - I love how the stenciling kind of floats in there.
Here's the first spread in the book - inspired a bit by the work of Jill Ricci.
I used the Marrakech Mix stencil to trace the main shapes and then lightly stenciled in off white with my Ornamental Flower Screen stencil. I got a lot of questions about the lettering on the left - unfortunately I didn't do that (it would be so awesome if I could letter like that!) but it was cut from an insert in an issue of Uppercase Magazine.
Spread number two uses another word from Uppercase, along with a lot of stamping with a hand-carved stamp I made back in December. I added some diecuts from a Spellbinders set (Persian elements,) washi tape, glitter tape, and the arrows are a diecut border - I think it's an old one from KI Memories.
Spread number three was inspired by nearly 60 degree weather here on President's Day. Yet another cutout from an Uppercase Magazine insert and some fussy cut collage pieces. I went over some of the open spaces with gold ink and my Ornamental Compass Screen stencil again.
Last but not least, I kept going with the theme of cut out words that all kind of worked together. This time it was from a page in an old Smash Book that I've been using for patterned paper. The background was crackled with DecoArt Weathered Wood, and I used my Ornamental Circle Cluster stencil across the background and then heat embossed it in white and distressed with ink.
Naturally some dots, glittery stuff, and Liquid Pearls made their way onto the spread. I love this sentiment... it seemed like a great way to end the book!
So that's it for this one, but I'm working on turning this into a class so you'll be seeing more soon... we'll see how that goes!
On Tuesday in my post for the StencilGirl and Inchie Arts blog hop, I shared the covers for two mini handmade art journals that I made using the 4x4 Art Squares from Inchie Arts. Today I thought I'd share the inside pages for one of them (I was originally going to put them in Tuesday's post, but that seemed like it was just too much!)
Here are the books again:
I used the one made from the black 4x4 Art Squares (but the other one is going to get filled too!)
Here are the inside pages. I had a sheet torn from the Art Institute of Chicago member magazine for an exhibit with Indian art that I thought was really beautiful. I used imagery from that page throughout the four spreads in my book. There's lots of collage, and of course lots of stenciling too! I'll list all of the stencils I used at the bottom of the post just to keep things simple.
Spread number one:
Here's a close-up of page one - handmade paper in the background, washi tape, my magazine collage images, an old stamp, and stencils, of course! I added some gold Stickles in the centers of my stenciled images.
On page two, I used a razor to cut a window in the page and put a piece of old 7 Gypsies printed transparency on the front (I knew I wanted something to fit into the window from the back.) I added a scrap of embroidered fabric and more stencils.
Here's spread number 2:
Here you can see the back-side of my window, but as I mentioned, the transparency is on the other side so that the 2x2 art square on the right side page will nest right inside of the window when the pages are together.
On the left side, I used a patchwork technique that I learned in my class with Seth Apter back in October. With a collaged butterfly and some stenciling on top.
On the right, I stenciled over the background in gold. I placed the 2x2 Art Square so that it would fit into the window, then I stenciled on top and added glitter and Liquid Pearls. I cut out some gold and silver metallic and glittered circles from a piece of handmade paper and added some other collage and stenciling on top.
The third spread:
Back to my Indian imagery with this one (I seem to be very drawn to this lately.)
More stenciling in the background with gold, then collage images. On top I have Liquid Pearls and rubons, then more stenciling. I'm loving the effect of the different stencils layered on top of each other in gold and then white.
On the right side I used a red paint marker to bring out some of the stenciled design in the background and tie everything in a bit more.
Finally, the fourth spread in my mini art journal:
Lots and lots of stenciling on this one with just a little collage.
More of the layered stenciling that I'm loving, and a gold diecut from a Spellbinders set with Persian motifs. I distressed it with ink and added lots of Liquid Pearls, naturally.
So we come to the end of this quick little mini art journal! I loved working with this size... so fast and enjoyable, but still lots of room for experimentation. Using the Art Squares on this project was really fun too - they're perfect for making a good solid book, and take all kinds of media really well.
Here are the supplies I used:
I hope you enjoyed seeing the inside of my little book... now to finish the other one!
Hi everyone, welcome to my stop on this week's blog hop with StencilGirl and Inchie Arts! Talk about products that are made to work together...
I got to use black and white sets of 4x4" Art Squares, cream colored ATC Art Squares, and a lovely gray 2"x2" set of Art Squares along with my StencilGirl Stencils. I love that Inchie Arts makes their products from mat board - that makes them perfect for pretty much whatever I wanted to do with them! In fact, they were so much fun to work with that I couldn't stop with just one project. I made two 4x4 art books / mini art journals with the 4" art square sets, and of course I had to make some ATCs!
Here are the individual projects, starting with the ATCs. If you're looking for the tutorial for the ATCs, that has now been updated and moved to my website.
Of course, just making ATCs wasn't enough for today... as I said, I had a few packages of 4" Art Squares in different colors. Since the Art Squares are made out of mat board, they're absolutely perfect for making into books, so I took each set of Art Squares and bound them into mini art journals using single-sheet Coptic binding. Here are the two books that I made - one with black pages, one with white (maybe next time I'll mix them!)
Here you can see what the binding looks like - it's actually very easy to do! I use the tutorial from Boundary Press - I find it very easy to follow.
Here's a close-up of the first cover - I used my Ornamental Petals Screen stencil along with some of the gorgeous new copper texture paste from Art-C as the base layer for the covers. Then I used the Ornamental Petals Mask and stenciled onto black cardstock with copper paint, cut it out, and mounted it on the cover with foam for some dimension. Finally, I had a polymer clay flower thingy that I'd made during my jewelry-making phase a few years ago. I'd tossed it in a bin as a failure, but pulled it out and repainted it and I love it on my cover! Naturally I added Liquid Pearls for my dots, and I tucked in some bits of DicroFibers (Angelina Fibers) for a little extra texture and bling.
Finally, here's a close-up of the second book. I painted the covers, put down a layer of gold crackle paste (leaving a few places where the background shows through,) and then used Archival Inks and some turquoise Luxe paint from Art-C to add extra dimension and interest. I actually stenciled with my Ornamental Compass Screen and black ink after doing the rest; it gives it a softer look and it feels to me like it's more a part of the whole rather than an obvious stencil design on top.
Now I'm just working on filling the pages of these fun little books :)
If you missed it, you can now find the tutorial for the above batch of ATCs on my website, or you can see all of my mixed media tutorials.
You can also still see the links for my day on the original blog hop below:
January 26
StencilGirl Talk
Maria McGuire
Gwen Lafleur <-- tutorial now on my website
Dina Kowal
I've got a new project over on StencilGirl Talk today - it's my monthly installment of Gwen's Gems! (I still giggle a bit when I type that.)
This month I've made a mini art journal out of a manila file folder. I've wanted to do this for a while, so I used my stencils along with my winter Art Bento Box to make this month's project.
Make sure you head over to read my post on StencilGirl Talk to see more photos and details as well as a tutorial so you can make your own!
Last week I had the privilege of attending Art is You - Stamford where I had the opportunity to take several amazing classes. The first of my classes was a 3-day masterclass - Library of Memories with Seth Apter. I'd always heard wonderful things about his classes, so I was really excited to get to take one myself. It did not disappoint! If anything, it was even better than I'd anticipated.
The morning of our first day was a group expedition to New York where we got to do a little shopping and see some of the sites. We took the train into Grand Central and then spent most of the time in or near the Garment District - M&J Trimmings was like heaven! (I was too busy shopping to take many pictures... LOL.) We also found beads, paper, and spent some time shopping for metal findings to take back and use in our projects. It's probably for the best that I didn't know about some of those shops while I still lived in Branford - it would have been dangerous!
This is one of the few shots I got - we were in the basement of a very cool Japanese bookstore across from Bryant Park.
Back in Stamford, we got to work on our projects. The main goal of the 3-day class was to build and complete the box, as well as assembling the handmade book and then hopefully at least getting a start on it. There was such a great vibe in the class. There were twenty of us, and it was so fun to see the evolution of everyone's projects! Here's a quick little shot that Patty got of Donna and I during our second day of class:
After our last day of class finished, there was a mini exhibition for all of the projects in each of the masterclasses so we could see what everyone else had been working on. There was so much wonderful art made in these classes! We went around oohing and ahhing at all of it. Of course, I still think that our class was the best ;)
(Me, Patty, and Seth.)
I kept working on my book pages a few evenings in the hotel after class was over, and have pushed to finish it at home before I move this week - I didn't want to lose my momentum since I know once I get fully into moving mode, it's going to be a few weeks before I'll be able to really get back into the studio.
In any case, I finished and so with no further ado, here's my completed project.
First up is the front cover of the case that we made:
I haven't done much of this type of collage and assemblage, but I'll definitely be doing it a lot more from now on.
Different pieces of metal, findings, paper, book covers... all kinds of fun things found there way into this project! I found that carved face on our expedition into New York.
Here's what it looks like after you open it up:
The left side was more collage with just a few bits of assemblage type work. I really loved blending lots of different styles and types of materials into a single piece. (One of the women in class told me after it was over that she'd watched me making this and didn't think I'd be able to pull it off. Once it was finished though, she loved it! She thought it was very Bollywood. Not quite the vibe I was after, but I'll take it!)
The right side of the case cradles a little handmade book. We actually brought in our own book covers and made a new book from them. I used a vintage copy of Kenilworth by Sir Walter Scott. It had some cool debossed areas on edges of the cover that you can still see under the collage.
Here's a view of the completed book so you get an idea of the layers on the cover:
Moving to the inside pages... I used some wrapping paper printed with Turkish patterns for my end papers. The pages themselves were all originally just kraft cardstock. I started working on them in class with what I had and what I liked - initially there was no rhyme or reason to what I was doing, I was just looking for things that would look good together and keeping in mind some of the tips Seth gave us in class for making the pages.
I started out doing the patchwork technique that Seth showed us on a few of the pages. This one has a few other bits collaged on top, rubons, liquid pearls, and a bit of stenciling on top.
I mainly worked on the foundation of the pages first and then went back and added most of the words later - I had pulled out a bunch of French vocabulary cards thinking I'd use them in one of my other classes, but I ended up liking them here better. The page on the right was a tipped-in transparency. I had a whimsical moment where I decided to add this soldier stamped on vellum (an old Stampington stamp that I've had for years.) I went back and colored him in with colored pencils and used a tiny piece of a stencil to make him talk. It seemed fairly a propos and now he's one of my favorite parts of the book.
The "hope" didn't get added until toward the end... I thought it fit nicely with the sentiments on the tag. As for where the inspiration for THAT came from, I couldn't tell you... not quite my usual thing, but it worked! More stenciling and rubons on the top layer here.
I just randomly pulled the image on the left hand side from some Japanese block print book pages that were in my stash. All of the pages were built in stages - I didn't work on any of them from start to finish. I really like how well it all integrated into the book as I kept working, though!
The right hand side images are from a quarter repeat hand-carved stamp that I made a little while ago. It's painted with acrylics with some other detail work on top.
I'm going to say that I totally planned the way everything lined up through the opening even though I didn't.
Another random Japanese block print - I initially used it because I thought it was cool looking, then I found this sticker in my stash that said "Eyes Wide Open" and I thought it fit my Samurai so I went with it.
I love all of the flaps and folds - the interactive aspect of this project was very fun!
I don't usually like to use red as a main background color, but it ended up working pretty well here, I think.
Aesthetically, this ended up being one of my favorite spreads in the entire book. Again, totally by chance. I had the different pieces that ended up on the left-hand page on my desk and they kind of fell on top of each other. I would probably never have put them together on my own, but I love how it turned out!
I stenciled "Time" with one of Seth's stencils and embossed it with gold. (For those who are interested, all of the stenciling I did in my book was done using his stencils.)
Finally, the last page and the inside of the back cover. The flap on the right was painted red and then I used another hand-carved stamp and heat embossed it in gold. You can't tell in the photo, but the texture is very cool!
That's it! My completed project, and one of my favorite things that I've worked on in quite a while. I'll be back soon to post the projects from my other classes.
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to my stop on the blog hop with StencilGirl and USArtQuest! I'm so excited that I got to participate in the hop... so many fun products to play with!
I'll get right to the project and then show you a brief step by step of how it evolved. A little background on how this came about - I love to make books, and I LOVE to travel! So naturally, I make books to use as travel journals. Usually I do a 3-ring book and don't actually bind it, but for my trip to Bali this month I decided to try something a little different, and I thought that using StencilGirl stencils and products from USArtQuest would be perfect!
Here's my finished book (pre-trip, of course!)
And now for a little how-to... I started with the covers. I picked out some 8x10 canvas panels to use for those and started decorating. First, I did the back cover. I took a beautiful half-sheet of USArtQuest Art Papers and decided that I would add a little copper Perfect Pigment Fluid Acrylic paint to the background to make the flowers stand out. I won't lie... this took a while, but I find it pretty relaxing, so I didn't mind.
Next I started working on the front cover. I used more Perfect Pigment paints to cover the background, then stenciled the main image using the Bloom True stencil by Flora Bowley.
If you look closely, you'll see that this stencil comes in two parts - the outline, and then the actual flower mask. I left the pieces together for this part so that I could add an outline later. I used the Perfect Pigments paints again - I mixed Magenta and Wheat to get the lighter color for the flower.
I knew I wanted the cover to be inspired by batik fabric designs, so for the outline (you can see above that I removed the mask) I used Duo Gilding Adhesive to put down a layer of glue so I could go back through and gild the outline. Once the adhesive was tacky (follow the directions - "when it's white it's not right, when it's clear it adheres!) I put down the Gildenglitz Leafing and then buffed off the excess.
I used the Spring Fling stencil by Flora Bowley and repeated this process so that I had some leaves. Then I added a few other details and a title. I glazed both the front and back covers to they'll stand up to travel and handling. While that dried, I assembled my inside signatures. I separated the trip into travel time and then actual days in Bali and set up a signature for each day there and then one at the beginning and end for the travel (it's almost 2 days each way!) I bound it all together, and there you go!
For the inside, I used more of those beautiful half-sheets of artist papers to make the end papers of the book. Here's the inside of the front:
and the back - this paper is really iridescent - so cool!
I also went through with stencils and Perfect Pigment paints and stenciled designs on some of the blank pages. I liked the transparency of some of the paints, because it makes good backgrounds for writing or other things I might add during the trip.
Above, I used the Going Global stencil by Mary Nasser along with the beautiful pearlescent green paint.
On the next ones, you can see where I bound this gorgeous textured artist paper into the book, and then added some stenciling next to it:
I used the Floral 1 stencil by Traci Bautista and the Flower and Leaf stencil by Daniella Woolf for these.
And last but not least, the finished and bound back cover:
I hope you enjoyed today's project!
No blog hop is complete without a giveaway... one lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to StencilGirl as well as some of the USArtQuest Decorative Papers and Perfect Pigment Acrylics that you're seen us use in this week's hop!
Make sure you visit all of the stops on this fun, 2-day blog hop and leave a comment on each to increase your chances to win! (One comment per person, per blog please.) The giveaway closes on Sunday, Sept. 19th at 11:59pm Central.
Today's blog hop participants:
Picking up where I left off yesterday, today I wanted to share a quick recap of the projects I did as part of the bundle of Junque Journal classes I took online with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. The second of the two classes is called "30 Days in your Junque Journal," and I did a pretty good job of keeping up, I think! Especially since I was traveling during the class.
So let's just dive right in, shall we? For most of the class, I didn't copy Julie's sample pages exactly (there was a video for every day of the 30 days,) but I tried to stick to similar theme and composition while I was getting the hang of this junque journaling thing.
First pages... Julie had a face, I had to have a face! Since I was still pretty new to faces at this point, I pulled out my "Eve, A Modern Woman" stencil by Andrea Matus deMeng and used that as the foundation for the page. Note my super fancy low-tech redaction technique here... I write a fair amount about work in my journal, but I want to make sure that doesn't get out in public, of course! (I blurred that stuff for the rest of them, as you'll see.)
Next up, there was another face on Julie's, so I opted to try something different by using Jessica Sporn's Krishna Deity stencil in the background. (Julie's background papers in her book had lots of more interesting stuff on them - things she'd drawn, samples and stuff like that, whereas my pages were pretty plain. So in an attempt to make them even half as cool as hers were, I added all kinds of stuff before applying the techniques from the class. Extra work? YES! But I'm glad I did it... love the results.)
The third spread I kind of followed and kind of deviated... I loved the idea of adding the earth - that was my deviation. The lettering was pretty copy-cat of me. I drew the earth, the leaves were a hand-carved stamp, and the flowers were the Imaginary Bloom and Nonsensical Bloom stencil and mask sets by Rae Missigman.
Fun intermission spread! I followed Julie's instruction to use a reference photo and draw my own face with markers and paint pens. The quote on the right was an insert in a Studio Calico kit I got sometime last year.
This next spread is one where I started to deviate a bit more from what Julie was doing on her pages... and I love how it turned out! I started with a Dina Wakley stamp, along with some techniques that I'd learned in her classes last year. The light bulb is a stamp I made from a stencil in the April 2014 StencilClub kit. On the right, I used a tag I'd made with the April 2015 StencilClub kit, as well as some hand-carved stamps.
This next page was kind of fun, even though it's not much to look at... I used scraps of paper where I'd cleaned off extra paint and tested out some new pens. Also some test stamping with new hand-carved stamps.
Next up... another slight deviation. Julie had a big face on her page, but I decided I really wanted to use this funky drawing. In one of my art classes at SAIC last year, we were working on our final piece based on inspiration from the museum. I'd sketched a very cool African tribal mask and wanted to kind of combine it with a Picasso painting I loved. This was a concept that I whipped out on the paper covering the table, and I loved it so much I cut it out and kept it.
Another face... I drew this one free-hand on some book paper.
And yet more following along closely with the lesson... I used purchased and hand-carved stamps along with some doodling. The arrows were from the Pointing it Out stencil/mask by Rae Missigman. You can also see lots of fun stuff peeking through from the base pages.
Yet another face as I followed along closely... hand-drawn from a reference photo:
Almost there! I started deviating again (I was watching lots of Teesha Moore videos on the Artstronauts site.) Lots of collage and the quote is another insert from a Studio Calico kit.
Last but not least (okay, it's kind of least... lol) I followed along with Julie pretty closely on this one (shapes were all me, though.) I was traveling at the time so I didn't want to get too fancy!
So there you go! 30 days in my Junque Journal... hope you enjoyed it! As I'm sure you've seen on Instagram, I've continued to work in here, so I'll have another update soon with more of the pages I've done since the class finished.
In my never ending quest to get somewhat caught up with the list of "posts I want to put up on my blog," I bring you part 1 of my Junque Journal classes recap!
I'd been eyeing these online Junque Journal classes by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer since she first put them up on her site, but I was hemming and hawing a bit over the price so I hadn't yet jumped in. Then, I went and spent a weekend taking in-person classes from her at the Papercraft Clubhouse in Connecticut, which I LOVED, and decided after seeing her journals in person that I had to take these classes. I signed up immediately after getting home.
I went with the Junque Journal bundle, and I'm really glad I did! The first of the two classes was one where we made our journals from scratch. Since I love making my own books, this was lots of fun! We started by making our own covers from 9x12 canvas panels, then created the inside pages and bound it all together. Here's how my book looked when I was done:
For my front cover, I used a few different stencils... the Aztec Sun Large Stencil by Lizzie Mayne for the background, then on the smaller panel I put on the front I used the Angel Circle stencil by Kate Thompson. I had fun using dimensional paints, embossing paste, and beads to get lots of texture. The whole thing is sealed with tar gel. On the spine, I used the Numbers stencil by Seth Apter.
Here's my back cover, which I really like!
I used gelli prints, tissue paper, and the center is from a vintage French comic book. It's kind of a cool poem! I added some fun sticker words and again, sealed the whole thing with tar gel.
Here are the end papers - these were just made from gelli prints on deli paper left over from my classes with Julie.
and the back...
I had received a package of washi tape I'd ordered on Etsy and it came from Hong Kong covered with the cutest stamps! I peeled them all off and collaged them inside the back cover of my book.
The inside pages were really fun to make - this is the "junque" part of the journal. They were made from lots of scrapbook paper, gelli prints, magazine pages, and lots of washi tape! I didn't take pictures of all of them, but here are several of the inside pages before working on them so that you can get an idea for what all of my base pages were like.
I travel as much as I can, so when I get home I like to take the luggage tags off of my suitcases and add those (along with the baggage claim stickers) onto the empty pages. There are quite a few scattered through the book!
On the one above, you can see where I've got an art journal page tipped into the book - this will obviously not get covered over! I have a few of these throughout the book, and I've added some decorated tags as well.
I've taken this book with me on several trips (at least three that I can think of off hand,) and it's holding up really well! It's pretty sturdy, and I've loved working in it. I'm getting close to finishing this one off (as I'm finally posting the beginning of it... ha!) and I can't wait to make another one!
Coming tomorrow... part 2 - the journal pages from the "30 Days in your Junque Journal" class.
I'm pretty excited to share this project... it's been under wraps for a while! A month or so ago, I got a chance to work with Maria's new stencil from StencilGirl called Doodle It Borders.
Pretty cool, huh? I thought this would be awesome to use with some of the Pergamano techniques I've been playing around with, so I pulled out some vellum and my embossing tools and started playing. In the end, I decided to make all the pieces into a book and I LOVE it!
And, in my first ever blog video, here's a walk-through of the inside of the book. (This was just a quickie with my iPhone... one of these days soon I'll get an actual video camera with some editing software! But this worked okay for my first video, I think. Apologies for the vertical view - I wasn't thinking about how it would look when I uploaded it. Oops!)
Here's a quick overview of how I did the vellum pages. I'll admit... it can get a tad tedious. I did most of this sitting in front of the TV which helped a lot.)
First, I embossed the borders. Just use a stylus and a foam pad underneath - I have a Pergamano pad, but you could probably use some thick craft foam or something similar. I use wax with my stylus to help it glide better. You have to watch your pressure or it will tear through the vellum. I might have done that a few times, but you can work around it.
Next was the paper piercing part. (Say that 5 times fast!) I used Pergamano tools, but you could just use a needle or skip this part. I wanted to get some more texture into the design. I also cut out a few pieces from one of them.
Then I got some watercolor pencils and started coloring. This was about the point where I decided each one was going to be its own color, but I hadn't yet thought about keeping each signature the same color.
This is the "ugly phase" that my project went through. I almost chucked it and went another route, but decided to see if maybe my Liquid Pearls could save the day. (Duh. Of course they could!!!)
As I was getting everything ready to make the signatures and start binding, I decided it would be really cool to have each signature be the same color, so I dug out patterned papers that went with each design and cut it all down to size, then bound it up.
The cover was painted with iridescent Pebeo paints and DecoArt black gesso, then detailed with more Liquid Pearls.
There you go! My finished book. The Doodle It Borders stencil couldn't have been more perfect for this project... I can't wait to play with it some more! (And while you're looking, check out Maria's other stencil that was released today - Doodle It Bigger!)
Hi everyone, I'm over on the StencilGirl blog today sharing a new project... a shaped hand-made book made from stencils! I can't tell you how much I love how this turned out... there are some better pictures and an outline of the process in the post, so head on over and check it out!
P.S. This is one of the projects we'll be making in my stencil classes at Papercraft Clubhouse on October 17th-18th in Connecticut. So if you're in the area, get more class info in my last post and on the Clubhouse newsletter and Facebook page for more details. There will be 3 designs for you to choose from in this class (You need to sign up by 10/1 to be guaranteed the design you want,) and the class will come with the stencil! This should be lots of fun... hope to see you there!
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you've probably already seen me posting, but I wanted to put everything together in one place - I have three new classes that I'll be teaching on October 17th and 18th at Papercraft Clubhouse in Westbrook, CT. So if you're in the area and interested, give them a call to sign up!
Here are the classes... they're all mixed media, based on working with stencils (naturally!)
Friday night from 6-9pm, I'll be teaching Beneath the Surface. I'm totally in love with these projects, and I hope we'll get plenty of people coming out for this one! Here are two samples of what kind of painting you could make... we’ll be using stencils and acrylic paints to make an 11”x14” painting (on canvas) where we focus on building up layers and images and then using the Marrakech Mix stencil by StencilGirl (included in your class kit) to create little windows in our top layer that allow us to see what’s underneath. You can choose whatever images and colors you want in the base layers - these are just ideas.
And here you can see the individual paintings:
Then on Saturday there will be two classes, both 4 hours. We'll start at 9am with 25 Ways to Rock Your Stencils!
We’ll learn more than 25 techniques for using your stencils in your projects as during class, we’ll create 25 sample tags (with a few technique variations) that you can bind into a reference book to use at home. You’ll see how you can use stencils as a go-to tool in your studio to create tons of cool effects. This should end up being a lot of fun with lots of ideas on how to really get the most out of your stencils and mixed media supplies.
Finally, at 2pm we'll be making Stenciled, Shaped, Handmade Books. We’ll use paints, inks, stamps, and stencils to create a shaped, hand-made book out of cardboard. If you sign up by 10/1, you’ll have your choice of one of three designs: Elephant March, Opera House Empress, or Dragon. (The stencil you choose when you sign up will be part of your class kit. If you sign up after 10/1, you'll still get a stencil, but choice will be based upon availability. So sign up early!)
We’ll also make the signatures to go in your book, and you can choose to bind with holes and book rings (which we’ll do in class like the elephant book above,) or you’ll have the option to do a Coptic binding (which is what I used on the Dragon and Opera House books.) You should walk away with a fun, finished book ready to be used as a note book, art journal, mini scrapbook, travel journal, or whatever you want!
So there you go! I'm so excited to be heading back to the store to teach, and I hope I'll be seeing lots of familiar (and new!) faces in class!
If you want to sign up and / or want more details, make sure to head over to Papercraft Clubhouse (or on the Clubhouse Facebook page) or check today's newsletter! I shipped my samples off to the store today, so hopefully they'll be there in person this weekend :)
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