MORE MAGAZINE PEOPLE ART JOURNAL PAGES

Hello again friends!

I've been working on more art/junk journal books that I will be sharing soon.  

But in the meantime, I would like to share two more of my art journal pages featuring magazine people with you.

I really like this page as it has such a positive message.  Chase your dreams and in the process, you may quite possibly inspire others and give hope that they, too, may realize their dreams.  

This page was created basically as the others I have shared so far .... first with a gelli print background that was incorporated onto a piece of 9" x 12" watercolor paper.  I then added more color and then textural elements through stenciling, tissue tapes, book text, napkin images and ephemera. 

I actually love this page primarily because of the background gelli print and the rich, vivid colors.  This page also features several napkin images, fabric scraps, tissue tapes and stamping.  The ART letters are from Tim Holtz' Salvage Stickers. I love the license plate letters here.  

These pages were very loosely based on Shannon Green's Journaling by 5s technique.  

It's a very interesting way to build pages if you're having trouble just knowing where to start.  I get engrossed and don't strictly follow the time restraints though and that's okay.  It's YOUR art, do it YOUR way.

Thanks for stopping by today and sharing a bit of your day with me.  I really appreciate that!

I hope that you are finding time to experiment and create in an art journal.  If not, I encourage you to try it.  You would not believe how much FUN it is and how relaxing and "therapeutic" it can be!

A CANDLE IN THE WIND ... MARILYN MONROE ART JOURNAL PAGES

Happy Hump Day to everyone!

I am fascinated by Norma Jeane Mortenson better known as "Marilyn Monroe".  
I don't really know why.  Perhaps it is because of the dichotomy of her life.  She was loved by millions but could never find true happiness in her own life.  A beautiful girl who had everything yet, in the end, took her own life out of complete dispair and loneliness.  Such a sad ending to such a "candle in the wind". 

"Loneliness was tough.
The toughest role you ever played.
Hollywood created a superstar
And pain was the price you paid."  ... Sir Elton John

I often wonder what her life might have been like had she remained simply Norma Jeane.

I created a couple of pages in my mixed media art journal celebrating her and I wanted to share them with you.

My page on the left might still be a work in progress.  But since the right side has so much going on, the simplicity of the pink background is appealing to me.

I created these pages using all sorts of things; but primarily just images of Marilyn that are saved to my computer, tissue tape, words cut from a magazine and all sorts of movie posters of Marilyn Monroe movies that I used in the right side background. 

First I used a brayer and lightly went over the surface of both pages with DecoArt's Media White Gesso.  Immediately I mixed DecoArt's Media Fluid Acrylics Primary Magenta with Titanium White to create a soft but vivid pink color (reminiscent of the color of the pink dress Marilyn wore in her movie, "Gentleman Prefer Blondes").  Taking the brayer with white gesso still on it, I rolled over the pages again, adding the pink.  This left some very cool texture and variations of the pink color in the background. 

Next, using my finger, I swiped DecoArt Media Fluid Cobalt Teal Hue randomly around the edges of the 9"x12" watercolor pages in my art journal.

The movie posters were sized and arranged to fit on an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper (that would fit through my ink jet printer).  But I wanted the pink background color to show through.  What to do???  Ahh....how about printing on semi transparent deli paper?  

So, I attached a piece of deli paper to the copy paper using a temporary tape runner, cut the deli paper to fit the copy paper and ran it through my inkjet printer.  Success so far!  

But unless the ink was protected, I was afraid that when I started adding glue or Matte Medium or other elements of the page over the inkjet print, I might have a total mess of running inkjet ink.

I wasn't sure if it would work or not, but after very gently heat setting the printed posters (still attached to the copy paper), I lightly brushed DecoArt's Media Satin Varnish over the top of the deli paper to seal it. I was afraid that the colors and ink might run BUT IT DIDN'T!!  I set it to the side to air dry.  But I later tried this again and if you gently heat set the DecoArt Satin Varnish, it doesn't bubble up. 

Next I removed the deli paper from the copy paper, brushed DecoArt Media Matte Medium over the surface of the pink background, laid the deli paper in place and gently pressed it to adhere to the Matte Medium and I let that air dry as I began to cut out my other Marilyn images that I would be using.  I added another topcoat of DecoArt Media Satin Varnish over the posters and gently heat set it. 

I LOVE this stencil from Andy Skinner.  It is available through Decoart.com and now possibly in some selected JoAnns Fabrics stores and at JoAnn.com. JoAnn is now carrying DecoArt's new Media line of products!

 This is a 9"x3" stencil called "Old Film".  But rather than use it as a stencil, I used it as a stamp.  I brayered over the back side of it using DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Carbon Black and then pressed it onto a piece of manila cardstock.  I love the sketchy result!

And it works perfectly in my collage of vintage Marilyn images.  After I layered all of my Marilyn images, I began adding the tissue tape to blend all of the edges of the deli paper into the 9"x12" watercolor backing.  Finally I added the magazine sentiment.

Marilyn's autograph was also printed out onto deli paper.  I tore the paper around the autograph because torn paper tends to meld into a background easier when glued in place using a matte medium or other glue/sealer.  In this case, because I really didn't want any type of an edge to show, I used DecoArt's Media Ultra Matte Varnish to first glue and then seal the autograph in place.  It works so well to disguise paper edges and blend them into the background!  Almost as if Marilyn signed it herself!

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy the rest of your week and the lovely final days of summer.  Take some time to experiment and play with your creativity!

MORE MAGAZINE PEOPLE ART JOURNALING PAGES ...

Hi blogging buddies!

I hope your week has been a good one so far!  It's almost the weekend!

I would like to share two more of my magazine people art journaling pages with you.

I love this gal with her sassy pose.  She's definitely following her heart as she falls in love with Tim Holtz' cute little french gentleman from his French Industrial papers from a couple of CHA releases ago. 

The basic backgrounds for these pages are gelli prints that were done on plain copy paper.  I then glued them to the 9x12 pages in my spiral bound art journal.  Using DecoArt's Media line products, I blended the gelli prints to make them appear as though they were originally put on the art journal pages.  There is lots of stenciling, acrylic paints added, tissue tape, fabric scraps, sentiments and pen work added to the pages in layers.

And with the lazy days of summer winding down, I love how these bright and happy flowers.  They are created from napkins.  I removed all of the ply backings and using DecoArt's Matte Medium, I glued the flowers to the page and then sealed them with the matte medium.  After they had dried, I added the vines and leaves as well as the black pen work detail. 

These pages are loosely based on Shannon Green's Journaling By 5s technique.  And although I don't follow the time restraints, it is a good way to get started if you're stuck on how to build an art journal page.

I recently shared another art journal page from my book that was featured on DecoArt's Media Mixed Media Blog.  If you missed my "Choose Happy" post, HERE is the link.  There is a complete pictorial tutorial for all the steps used in creating that page. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!  Take time to play!  It's food for your creative soul!

CREATING YOUR OWN JUNK/ART JOURNAL

Hello everybody!

As I sink deeper and deeper into my new favorite thing; art journaling, I am exploring how to make my own books.  You can totally customize your books, from the size of the covers to the spine thickness.  Then you can include all of the ephemera and other "junk" you want to include inside.  Or you can make it completely an art journal of your own original creations! 

Over at DecoArt's Mixed Media Blog, I am sharing my latest creation; my own junk/art journal.  It features a twine spine.  The signatures are not sewn in.  Therefore, you can add, move around or remove any pages you want at any time!  How cool is that?  The cover of the book is created using DecoArt's wonderful Media Line products.  From Modeling Paste to Fluid Acrylic Paints, this cover is packed with a dimensional vintage flair. 

There is a complete pictorial tutorial waiting for you!

Here's a sneak peek at a tiny portion of the cover:

 Thanks for stopping by!

I also wanted to acknowledge Ephemera's Garden for the inspiration for this basic journal construction.  She has a wonderful video showing the steps in creating the basic journal.  Click HERE to view that. 

I hope that you will make some
"play time" for yourself today and start making your own junk/art journal!  

CHOOSE HAPPY ART JOURNAL PAGE ON DECOART MIXED MEDIA BLOG

Hello everyone!!

I am so proud to announce that I have a new project being featured on
DecoArt's Mixed Media Blog.

Art journaling is fast becoming an obsession for me, I think.  

I love how your pages can be ANYTHING you want them to be.  You can use all sorts of materials to help you create your pages or you can simply draw and color.  

Here is a sneak peek at my latest art journal playtime creation.  She makes me happy and I "CHOOSE HAPPY"! 

I hope you've got a few minutes to pop on over to DecoArt's amazing Mixed Media Blog.  There are some fabulous photo tutorials there by amazing artists!  And your comments are always appreciated at DecoArt's blog and also here.  

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you find some time for yourself to PLAY and get lost in your own creativity!