Journaling page tutorial & summer photos

i thought it'd be fun to take some photos of my pages as i put them together.  i love seeing how others' journal pages come together, so i thought i'd do the same. ;)   first, i start by adding washi tape to the edges of the pages to create a fun border. there's no rhyme or reason, although i tend to use darker or bolder colors to act as a kind of frame.  i also add scraps of paper to get rid of all the white space. 

paper i like to use:  old book pages, maps, tags, tissue paper (LOVE!!), scrapbook paper, etc.

i fill in smaller gaps with tinier pieces of scraps (like the ledger paper piece on the left).  then i start to add smaller images on top like decorative tags, childrens book illustrations, playing cards, and scrapbook die-cut images.

at this point, i start to add more tape.  i'll add bits of tape to some of the tags and images (to make it look like those things have been taped in).  also, i add tape to the borders of some of the paper pieces.  

then comes the "title" or a quote in large stickers and stamps.  i like to use scrapbooking letter stickers and large letter stamps.  

i also like to include the date somewhere on the page and then i'll journal all around.  or i might stamp a quote or part of a journal entry or a list in the larger areas.  well, that concludes part one!  i'll have to finish the page and show you what i came up with in the end.

meanwhile, i have been thoroughly enjoying taking photos with my android and using fun apps to alter them to look old and artistic!  above, i've used the app little photo.  and below i've used urban camera.

urban camera is so much fun.  and it's FREE!!  you can choose from 5 different "cameras" to take your photos and you get these instant, distressed images!  you can even choose from taking pictures in black and white or color on most of the cameras.

i think these make my photos look so much better! especially since the quality on my phone camera isn't the greatest.

it also saves me hours of time in photoshop or iphoto trying to get my photos to look "just right."

and it's just too much fun! :)  i'm going to print them out to see how they look.  i recently purchased a pogo portable printer (EEE!!!) and so far they print out really nice!  (i'll share my experiences with the pogo in another post soon!)

so fun and mysterious! i love it.

hope you are all enjoying this fabulous summer (or winter, if you're in the southern hemisphere!) :)  here's to another whole month and a half of warm weather, sun hats, cute bathing suits, flip flops, swimming, watermelon, and everything that is fun about summer! :)

collage painting step by step

well, i guess it's a backwards kind of step by step, but i think you can figure it out. ;) i recently took a class at Big Picture Classes with Emily Falconbridge called, "Got Paint?" and this painting was our final project.

Here is my crazy, messy dining room table (turned art studio for the moment!)

and a close-up of the first phase. here i've just placed random pieces of somewhat-coordinated scraps of paper (i knew that keeping those little pieces would come in handy! ha!)

a little gesso (or white paint) dry-brushed and wiped away here and there to hide/reveal parts of the canvas. the middle design is made with vintage sewing paper. i traced my design from an old calendar. you can trace any image you can think of. i thought about just leaving the collage like this. i really like the look of the antiqued paper against the colorful background. but, i decided to keep pushing it. (always scary, always fun!)

oh, this is just a close up of my cute little bowl i've had since i was a kid! it was on the craft table filled with midnight snacks (chocolate ice cream treats from Trader Joe's!) the bowl used to have a mug and a plate and if you piled them all up, you'd have a 3-D girl! (the plate had a printed image of shoes and the mug was her "body" with a cute little dress.)

this was the fun part...adding all the paint splotches and drips and texture with all sorts of fun painting tools (bubble wrap, corrugated cardboard, pizza cutter, shaped sponge brushes, stencils, etc--most things you have at home!) i just picked a few (ok, a lot) of my favorite colors and that's how my color scheme was born. i'm really gravitating toward these bright colors lately. and a few pastels for balance. i love red, aqua, sky, pink, sea foam, and rose.

so, it's not a very detailed step-by-step. i don't want to take away from the amazing class i just experienced. if you're looking for a fun, laid-back, go-at-your-own-pace kind of class or you just need a little boost of inspiration, i HIGHLY recommend this class. tons of fun.

i would love to see what everyone is up to these days. now that spring is upon us, what colors are inspiring you lately?

journal page step-by-step

So I've had a chance to work in my XXL moleskine journal and i thought i'd share a few photos of some pages and how they evolved... (disclaimer, i did not invent any of these techniques. i am simply using what i've learned from various artists, classes, books, etc over the years)

I start off with a magazine image for the focal point (usually a face i find intriguing or fascinating). and i dig through my bag o' scraps (those precious little paper pieces i can't bare to throw out! yes, you can use up every little bit!) i just glue down the focal image and surrounded it with paper that i find pleasing to my eye (i don't spend too much time on this step since it's going to be covered up anyway!) what's funny is that i really love this part and it's sometimes (most times!) hard for me to go on to any other steps (paint, stamps, spray paint, etc). but i push myself to try new things, so...

i squeeze out acrylic paint right out of the tube and onto the page. little drops here and there. i try to keep analogous or harmonious colors together (avoiding those colors that fall opposite each other on the color wheel--otherwise when you blend them, you end up with muddy browns and blacks and greens). this part is actually really fun. i use an old gift card or credit card to scrape the paint around the page. i also smear the paint around with my fingers and wipe the colors off on other pages-in-progress (i love to work in multiple journals at once). on this page, i also played with stamps (to add texture to the background), copic markers (to add color to the face & around the eyes) and puffy fabric paint (tulip brand, the squeeze kind that has the thin applicator tip). the puffy paint is fun to draw with, adding patterns, details to the face/body, just playing with (i learned this from anahata katkin. i also used ink to make drips on the page and turned the book so it sits upright so the ink will drip down--also learned from anahata) i've also outlined the eyes & mouth with micron pens and colored them in with sharpie poster paint pens.

ok, this is my favorite part (wait, haven't i already said that? i guess once i get going, it's all fun!) this is where i lay down spray paint. i've been using montana cans and various stencils i've collected--my favorites are by crafter's workshop. (i have to give credit to mary ann moss for inspiring me on my newfound love of spray paint and stencils!!!) so, i don't know if it's finished yet. i still would like to add some journaling and maybe draw in some patterns or designs here and there.

here's two other journal pages i shared previously. these were in the early stages. just cut out images from magazines and added some spray paint.

then i smeared & scraped the paint around and added ink drips and stamps, spray paint and outlines with fabric paint.

here's the other side of the two-page spread. this is the one that inspired me to go kind of tribal with the other pages. i had some red paint on my fingers from smearing paint around the pages so i just wiped it off on the face and i liked what i saw. i also filled in this face with acrylic paint. nothing fancy. just off-white. i like to paint in faces ala misty mawn, but that technique usually takes a little longer and i didn't have the right colors to blend for face tones, anyway.

so, aside from playing in my journals, i've also managed to participate in speckled egg's petit inspiration box swap again this year. the theme was "flea market style" so i filled up the boxes with all of my sweetest vintage (and vintage-inspired) goodies!

the outsides were fun to decorate, too. i got to go through my wonderful collection of vintage-inspired scrap book papers and put them to good use! :) each box was decorated a little different for each of my two swap partners. i tried to tailor it to their interests as best i could. that's always fun--to make something special with someone in mind. :)

i won't say who they're going to so i don't ruin their surprise! :) but i thought i'd post a little sneak peek here to inspire you. (and encourage you to join swaps! i'm always up for a good swap, by the way. just email me or leave a comment!)

well, that's all for today. i hope you've been inspired to make something and try new things. as always, i love to hear from you in the comments. i love to see what others are up to!