journal class with kelly kilmer

i had a ton o' fun taking art journaling classes with kelly kilmer this past weekend! catherine posted a little note on her blog last week about the classes and on a whim, i thought, "why not??" it's not that often that instructors teach classes in my back yard, so i set up a string of sitters (thank you, dad, raul, and brielle!) to watch the baby and i was good to go! ) ;) i didn't take any photos durring class (i always get to lost and absorbed in the moment!) but i did manage to take a few photos of the finished results.

friday evening was one of my favorite classes, it was all about using japanese deco and washi tape.

i am obsessed with tape at the moment. it's great. you can cover a page in no time and it adds the most interesting borders and little details.

kelly had an AMAZING stash of tape in all colors and sizes and patterns. i was in tape HEAVEN.

saturday was a class all about PENS! (another obsession!) we mostly took notes on all the cool pens in kelly's stash (sakura glaze, souffle, and micron pens, sharpie poster paint, signo, pitt pens, just to name a few!!) the funny thing is that i HAVE some of these pens, but i just didn't know how to use them. the souffle pens, for example. when i heard they could write on ANY background, i picked up a few. when i went to write with them, i just got a clear, watery mess. :( what i didn't know is that you have to WAIT for them to dry...that's where the real magic begins! :) they write clear and dry matte. i ended up giving them to my daughter...uh, oh. now i'm going to have to try to "steal" them back! ;)

on sunday, we made journals from start to finish. we painted the pages with acrylic washes and then when they dried, we stamped and stenciled to our heart's content!

and of course, we added more TAPE!

we painted the canvas covers and stenciled on the outside and the inside flaps (below).

wow. if kelly is ever in your area, TAKE A CLASS with her! she is so relaxed and full of great ideas and tips. and she is so generous with her supplies! in these particular classes, she let us try all her tape and pens and she supplied the paint and the paper and ephemera and EVERYTHING! you could walk in with not a single art supply and walk out with an amazing collection of artwork.

i cannot wait to get started journaling in my new journal. i'm not sure what i like more, using them or making them!