MAGAZINE PEOPLE ART JOURNAL PAGES

Hello everyone!   Happy 2016!  

I don't like making new year's "resolutions".  I prefer to call them hopes of things I would like to accomplish this year.  It is my hope to completely obliterate the "fear factor" in trying new techniques or things that until now, I have just dipped my toe in the waters or have found excuses...yes...excuses to procrastinate from doing the artful things I long to do. 

Fear is a huge stumbling block, isn't it?  It keeps us from seeing our own possibilities and from creating what could possibly be our BEST WORK EVER!  

I recently came across a wonderful quote by Vincent Van Gogh and I wanted to share it with you...

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint', then by all means PAINT and that voice will be silenced." 

 There is so much truth in that statement!  

I wanted to share a couple more of my magazine people art journal pages that I have done.  

They have all been created in a very loose format of Shannon Green's "Journaling By 5s".  I used a 9x12 Strathmore Visual Journal.  I have already shared several of my pages on previous posts.  Here are those links if you would like to see them:  

Adventures in Art Journaling

Magazine People Art Journal Pages-August

Choose Happy Art Journal Page for DecoArt Media Blog

More Magazine People Art Journaling Pages

Candle In The Wind Art Journal Pages

More Magazine People Art Journal Pages-September

Magazine People Art Journal Pages-November

Now for the most recent additions:

This page obviously doesn't have a magazine person on it but I still love it and included it in this art journal.  As on the previous journal pages and in loosely keeping with the Journaling By 5s format, I began this page with some spritzes of color spray mists.  These were Heidi Swapp's Color Shine mists.  I layered the page with sheet music, book text, images from tissue paper.  The frame is from an older 7 Gypies tissue paper.  The beautiful butterfly is from Tim Holtz' Melange Tissue Wrap.  "Dream" is from a napkin as are the colorful tulips.  I also added some torn strips of fabric, a filmstrip washi tape and some little metallic accents.  All of these items were layered in place using a brush and Matte Medium first as a glue and then as a sealer as I brushed over the entire page to seal it.  I then added more soft colors using a water brush and Neocolor II Watercolor Crayons.  

This next page is a reminder to enjoy the simple things in life:  birds singing, butterflies, the sweet smell of fragrant flowers bursting with color and beauty.  There is beauty in everything around us, if we just take the time to NOTICE it.

This page began with an acrylic paint base that was just randomly brayered over it.  I added more of 7 Gypsies kraft colored tissue paper with book text, bird and butterfly images. I also added another of their wonderful tissue paper frames.  The flowers and some of the birds and butterflies are from paper napkins.  I distressed a doily and used a piece of it then added some butterfly washi tape randomly on the page.  Little trips of filmstrip washi tape are topped with some copper metallic scroll accents.

These pages are basically just layering items to create a wonderful, cohesive collage of images, thoughts and feelings.  I hope you enjoy them and they inspire you to express yourself through your art!  

MORE MAGAZINE PEOPLE ART JOURNAL PAGES

Hello!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful day.

I wanted to share two more of my magazine people art journal pages with you.

This page is layers and layers of all sorts of different elements.  The original background is created by wiping various colors of acrylic paints onto the gesso'd surface of the page using a baby wipe.  When that was dry, I lightly spritzed some Heidi Swapp Color Shine sprays onto the colorful background. 

Next I added some fibers, a rough textured loose burlap style piece of ribbon trim and corrugated strips using DecoArt Matte Medium brushed onto the background to glue the pieces in place and then dabbing the brush with Matte Medium over the top of those pieces to seal them in place.  

The next layer consisted of a little torn 7 Gypsies tissue paper with book text words that was applied with Matte Medium in the same manner as were the textured pieces in the paragraph above.

Once that was dry, I stamped the various flowers and greenery using a black permanent ink and heat set that in place.  To add the color to these stamped images, I used my Neocolor III Watercolor Crayons and a Detailer Water Brush.  I so love those watercolor pencils.  It's so easy to fill in and blend colors. I lightly sprayed the page with a clear sealer to protect all of my coloring so that when I added my magazine girl, the colors of the flowers and leaves would not run.  After all, they are water soluble and the Matte Medium would activate those colors.

I brushed the page underneath where my girl would go, I laid her in place and then brushed Matte Medium over her to seal her in place.  Once dry, I added the tissue tape around the edges and the teal acrylic paint color to edge the page.

"Love to Create" is a IndigoBlu stamp that was stamped with black permament ink and stamped onto white cardstock.  The edges were torn and it was glued in place over a big pink bow that I thought was a little over the top on my magazine girl.  

This page began as a colorful gelli print that also had alot of exposed white on it.  It was originally done on plain deli paper and glued onto the surface of the gesso'd page using Matte Medium.   

I loved all of the exposed white because it gave me so much area to play with to create a great contrast of the spots of bright color.  My next layer is a piece of Tim Holtz' Melange Tissue Wrap.  It is basically transparent with lots of beautiful stamping on it; featuring his Papillon butterflies and some lovely French script.  That layer was also glued in place using Matte Medium and then another of Matte Medium on top to seal it in place. 

I cut out the lovely black frame from a piece of old 7 Gypsies frame tissue paper that I have.  I love that paper!  So many very cool frames to choose from.  It was also laid in place using Matte Medium. 

Once dry, I added some tissue tape to the page and then some rainbow ribbon trim around the perimeter of the page.  Again, Matte Medium was brushed on to hold it in place and seal it.

The next layer included some lovely butterfly tissue tape and other colorful tissue tapes that were placed randomly on the page.  Then I randomly stamped various polka dot type images on the page using black permanent ink and heat set it in place.  I colored the larger butterfly in using my Neocolor III Watercolor Crayons and a Detailer Water Brush.

I glued my magazine girl (from a Cinderella ad) onto the page using Matte Medium as a glue and then a sealer.  On top of her dress, I glued three butterflies in flight.  These butterflies were images found on the internet and sized to fit the page properly.  I love how they pull everything together and give more depth to the page.

Finally I took a little bit of teal acrylic paint on my finger and wiped it around the perimeter of the page to sort of "frame" the page, as I had done with all of the previous art journal pages.

I hope you enjoy these pages and that they might inspire you to pull out your art journal, a canvas or whatever you like and take a few minutes out of your busy day to find time to play!

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!

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!

MORE MAGAZINE PEOPLE ART JOURNAL PAGES

Happy Thursday everyone!

I hope that you are all having a good week and finding some time to create and play.

Isn't it sad that as we grow up, we sort of forget how to PLAY?  

I wanted to share a couple more of the pages from my art journal that I started blogging about HERE.  These are the next two pages in that journal.  

All of the pages very LOOSELY follow Shannon Green's Journaling in 5s idea.  By very loosely, I mean using the different sessions as a "prompt" for creating each layer of the journal pages.  However, my friends and I did not strictly follow the time restraints and if we felt like adding something that was not specific to that layer, we did it anyway.  But, it was a good way to get started on journal backgrounds.

My pages combine a gelli print first layer and then I added images from calendars, magazines, napkins and books.  I also added pieces of different washi tapes, ephemera, stamped images, tissue paper, fibers and fabric scraps.  I added color or blended colors together using Neocolor water color crayons and a water brush.  Some extra doodling was done using a black permanent ink pen. 

I found these journal pages so relaxing and fun to do.  It's sort of like playing with big girl paper dolls! 

Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!