I promise, this is the last journal page.

For awhile anyway.  I finished the second page of the Pam Garrison journal page (from the Teresa McFayden Journal of Interest on-line class).  Of all the things that I have created last week, this page has been my favorite. 

The colors just make me happy.  I bought a huge package of Crate Paper and have just loved the entire set.  This is all paper from that series, plus a few vintage pieces.  Still working out my thoughts what it is to be happy.  Gotta say, this page makes me happy.  


That's a good start.  

Journal page leads to other things....

Ahhh, yes.  I could do the required eyebrow waggle here, to indicate something naughty or luscious.  But the boring truth is, it just lead to more painting.  Which, in and of itself is not a bad thing, just not as titillating.  LOL.

So, I'm still playing with Teresa Mcfayden's Journal of Interest course.  And I'm jumping around a bit.  Her guest artist on there, the fabulous Pam Garrison, was one of the reasons I wanted to sign up for this class.  Love her.

Jouranl page by Pam Garrison, Guest Artist on Jouranl of Interest

Above is Pam's page, which you have no doubt seen on Pinterest, several times.    

My version ended up like this.  Not quite as open, but I was still happy with it.  And I could not find my dip pen, because I did want to do that, and I've got several around, but that's what it is to be UN-organized.  ugh.

So the page starts out like this, a mix of paper and water colored page (here, I used inks).  And then one begins to fill in the space with painted details replicating what is on the printed page.  I stupidly forgot to take a pic.  Because once I got going, I drug out the paints and went crazy.  Numerous projects began to follow.

And then, since I had already drug out the paints, well, I just decide to make a card (upper left corner).  This really is a lovely technique, and it lends itself well, not just to journal pages, but to cards, layouts, etc.   By then, I was on a roll, and ended up digging into my canvas stash as well.

So see, creativity, like any muscle, once stretched, who knows what one can do.  Wiggle your eyebrows here.

Happily little Heart collage

Give someone a smile today.  Two-fold result, it will brighten their day and warm your heart as well.  

Page Layering for Journal

Learning.  I want to learn more.  For me, classes seem to be the way to go.  I'm not really an explore on my own kinda girl.  A class that I can take in my pi's, with a cat underfoot and coffee in hand, sounds perfect.  On-line classes are the way to go.  One of the classes that I signed up for ages ago, but am just now doing, is Teresa Mcfayden's, "Journal of Interest".  

Vintage ledger, sewing pattern, and book page glued to card stock.

Layering is something I want to get better at, not only in my journals, but in other aspects of creativity as well.  I have a tendency to want to make every element of the page important.  And that does not make for good art.  So, I want to learn how NOT to do that.  LOL.  My first page started out (above), layered vintage pieces of paper elements, glued to card stock.

Ranger Inks added some details at top and bottom page, as well as random color overall.

Teresa used watercolor, but I was too lazy to drag any out, inks were on the desk, and that seemed like a great sub.  Here I just began to smear inks (shutter, sugar and straw) in a random fashion.

More collage elements were added, ticket, butterfly, paper scraps, label, wash tape.

Once dry, I began to collage on some paper elements, vintage and new.  A label and a little washi tape.  I also lightly stenciled some clock faces and numbers as well.  And then I began doodling.

Doodling, swirls, hand-writing elements were added.

I doodled around elements, boxes, onto some of the collaged elements and filled in my box that would become my book page.  I also added the cool ex libris I cut out of an old reader's digest.

White highlights and Prisma Pencil added a little more interest.

I wanted a little more color, so I began to add some Prisma pencil.  Dots at the bottom of the page, scribbles under the roses, etc.  I also added some highlights with some Copics.

Stitching for texture.

I stitched around the page, just to finish it off. I also took some of the ink pads and just built up some inks in some textured areas (mainly on the sewing pattern).

Stencils on the left added a little more depth and finished the page.  

White dots added some highlights.  And I added some damask stenciling on the left hand side to add a bit more depth.  At this point, it felt finished.   Thats one of the hard calls for me to make sometimes.  When is it done?

Writing detail

With so many great classes to choose from, easy to find something to work on.  

Page two is done in copies and inks only.  

This is the second page.  Done with inks and Copics.  Stencils and doodles and stamped wording.  I think my journal is going to focus on the theme of "happiness".   My favorite part of this page is the light word "happy" stenciled on the right.  All of the info on the page above came from The Dennis Prager show.  


I look forward to creating this journal, and hope to learn as I go along.  

Journal/Scrapbook for Sam

On occasion, I get a chance to work on a commissioned work for a customer.  That was the case for a project that I finished this week.  

I am so proud of the way that this book turned out.  Sam, being a creative person himself, inspired me to be a little more creative on some to the pages.  

I incorporated my hand-writing where I could.  Used lots of Dyan's sprays and Ranger inks and stencils (so fun) and added bits of vintage here and there.  And sewed.  I think I sewed on every piece of paper in the book.

The first page is always the hardest, its only when I'm four or five pages in that I begin to really feel comfortable on the project.  But what I did love about this page was the vintage picture of the men's feet.  I just seemed the perfect thing to use from someone starting out on their own journey of life.

This seemed a perfect quote to tie into that first page.

But this was my favorite page.  Since Sam is also into art, I wanted to do a page that he could put his own art on.  And even finish coloring the page if he wanted to.  The piece with the quote on it is a pocket, so that a photo or art work can be slipped under.  I wanted to keep it clean and simple, and I loved the quote.


Thanks Sue for giving me the chance to work on such a lovely project and to get to know Sam a little better.  This was a fun book to create, and I hope Sam will make it his own.  

spring journal page

Deciding.  Deciding whether or not I'm really happy with this page.  I'm sitting on the fence about it.  I keep adding things, in an effort to get it to "take my breath away".  Honestly, its just not happening.

Here's how it started out.  A page done with Dyan's spray inks.

But, the page was to bright.  I wanted to mute the colors down, so I tried laying down just some plain white chalk, over the dried inks.  I wiped the color into the page with a paper towel.

After choosing some of the elements that I wanted on the page, it still felt too bright.  So I grabbed my gesso.

I watered down the gesso.  Allot.  Sheesh.  Then it felt to white, so I warmed it back up with a little Distress Ink.

I layer out the elements and began to glue things down.

Dropped in some journaling at the bottom.  LOVED the quote that I found by Truman Capote.  It reads, "Aprils never ever meant much to me, autumn seems that season of beginning, spring".  It's from the movie 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'.  And since I am more more of an Autumn, rather than Spring kinda girl, and with so much brown on the page, it just seemed fitting quote to use.

But then, I move the little bird and tag elements over.  And decide to do a large hand-written word at the top.  It does not work.  Too cutesie for what feels like a more serious page.  So, I lope the entire top off.  Which changes the feel too.  I like allot of "white space" and now that's been taken away.

Some stitching, crayon scribbles, and smaller letters at the top, just feel a little better.  But do I like it?  Dunno.

A few paint splatters, some inked dots and I think I like it a little better.  Maybe.  All of the elements are vintage, except for the little bee circle.  Still sitting on the fence.  But it is funny to see how bright it started and how it ended up.

And good grief, I need to take a photo taking class.  For the love of Pete, all my pictures suck.  LOL.

smashing

my version of the smash book


Long before there were "smash" books, I started a journal that was just a catch all for pages that had a more "scrapbook" feel.  Pages that usually ended up with a dimensional element or two.  More quirky

than my art/diary journal, a little bit of everything ends up in this book (above).  

Soul Journal page detail

This is one of my favorite pages in the whole book.  For a long time I wondered what my style was, and this page pretty much defines it.  Here, I used an old watch face. I loved the way that it added just a bit of texture, to the overall page. And brought the focus in on the image underneath.

Soul journal page details

This week, I've tried to carve out a little Studio time each morning.  For me, working on a journal page is not only a nice way to "warm up" for other projects, but allows me to continue to find and define my style.  Just like practicing a piano, working on a quick project every day, makes me a better artist.