New Funky, Messy Journal...

Hi everyone and happy Saturday! Last night I worked on another technique in the Child's Play Workshop. The technique was to emboss with gesso and stencils. For my first attempt I used some kid's alpha stencils and added a little apricot paint to my gesso. Here's how it turned out...
I decided my gesso is a little too watery for this technique. The word dream turned out a little muddied. For this page I still like it tho cuz it looks sorta dreamy - no? I might do a little scribbly outlining around the letters to define them more.

I decided I needed something thicker, so I found a super old (we're talking about 20 years - ha) tube of white paint that had gotten really thick, and used that along with a crafter's workshop stencil.....
That worked a lot better. The image is thick and crisp. This truly feels like child's play and I am having so much fun with it!

Next, I used Alma's tutorial and turned all of my prepped magazine pages into nice thick and messy journal pages. I sandwiched five plain magazine pages in between two prepped pages and sewed them up...

I'm so excited cuz I now have enough to make a nice thick, juicy journal! Here's another view of the stack...
I'm thinking I might bind them "Urban Journal" style with some more sewing.

Now, I just need to wait for my spirograph to arrive and I can do the very last assignment in the Child's Play workshop.

While I wait, I think I will finish up my Goddess Guides Page.

What are you up to this weekend?

Spin Art Fun...

One of my favorite things at the State Fair every year has always been doing Spin-Art. Just in case you're not familiar, Spin-Art is done by dripping thin paint onto paper that is spinning on a machine. The fact that you don't have control of how it turns out if half the fun!

I was excited to see that using a spin-art machine was part of the fun in the Child's Play workshop. I purchased a kid's spin-art toy at Wal-Mart and was amazed at how well it worked! Here are how my samples turned out...

Oh, I should say that I didn't like the poster paint that came with the machine, so I used my own craft paint and it worked great. It just has to be thin enough to spread on the page.

The first one was done in just the regular way, with the paper that came with the toy...

Then I tried using colored cardstock for a background...

I also tried using some spray mist before adding the paint...

On this one I took a waterbrush to the green paint on the first layer to give it a different effect. Then added a regular layer on top...

Here's one done on a book page...


These next two were done by touching a paint-filled brush to the page as it was spinning. Topped with a layer of dripped paint...


Here I added some india ink to the page at the end...

This is one of my faves - it's a mini cupcake liner. I think it will make a great journal tab...!

and here's the whole lot of them together. Which one is your fave?

While I was feeling nostalgic for my childhood, I also purchased a vintage spirograph from 1967 off of ebay. It's the exact model I had as a kid! I loved that thing! Can't wait to get it. I will be sure to show you how it works!

Did any of you love spin-art as a kid, or an adult? How about spirograph?

It's Child's Play...

Hi everyone! I spent all night last night playing like a child and let me tell you it's so therapeutic. The third workshop I am taking as a part of 21 Secrets is called "Child's Play" and the super-talented Alma Stoller is the teacher. I'm so excited to share what I've been doing!

The first thing we did was prep magazine pages. I played with five different techniques and prepped over 40 magazine pages for journaling or collaging with! Here's just a sampling of magazine and book pages drying in the scraproom...

Then, I made my own stamps out of sponges. I used the expandable sponges, which start out almost as thin as paper, so you can draw on them and cut them out pretty easily...


Then you add water and poof, they turn into sponges! Here's how mine looked after I was done stamping with them...
The circle stamp with the strings on it is another technique we learned in the class. Very fun and unique.


and here are just a few of the papers after they were prepped and them stamped on...
I will definitely be doing more handmade stampmaking. This is taking my journaling to a whole new level - it's a real horizon-expander!

I will be back next time with another Child's Play update! Thank you so much for visiting!!!

One Project Finishes and Another Begins...

My "Becoming Brave" Journal is all finished and ready to use! My last divider was for being brave in life...


And I found this poem in "O" magazine and thought it would be perfect to add to the inside back cover...
In case you can't read it, here's what it says:

"In a serener Bright,
In a more golden light
I see
Each little doubt and fear
Each little discord here
Removed."
~Emily Dickinson

I put some watercolor paper between each divider, and bound it with rings and here it is, all done...

I can really see putting this journal to good use. Whenever an issue comes up that requires some courage to deal with it, I can bust out a page in this journal. I could also see using the dividers as prompts to think about courage in each of these areas of my life. Another thing it could be used for would be periodic check-ins with myself about how each of these areas of life is going. In any case, "Becoming Brave" was an awesome workshop - thanks so much Erin Kenepp! If you want to know more about Erin, you can visit her blog right here.

The next workshop I started over at 21 Secrets is "Child's Play," with Alma Stoller. Wow oh wow is this one therapeutic! Tonight I prepped over 40 magazine pages for journaling! No stress, just playing - so much fun! Here's a peak at a few of the pages that are drying...


If you want to know more or sign up for 21 Secrets, click here to go to the info page.

Another thing I want to mention is that I am going to be doing a guest blogpost for the Art Journal Every Day project over at Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's blog on April 22nd! I'm very honored that she asked me to contribute and I hope you will stop by over there and say hi! Thanks for the invite Julie!

That's it for today but I will be back soon with another update! I hope your week is going well! Thanks for visiting me!

Day Three of 21 Secrets...

Hi everyone! Today I finished two more dividers for my "Becoming Brave" journal!

One for being fearless at work...


and one for being brave in love...

I only have one more divider (the one for being fearless in life), and the journal will be all done and ready to use! I should be able to finish it by tomorrow's post. I think this journal will be so much fun to fill up!

Thanks for visiting and I will see you again tomorrow!

Day Two of 21 Secrets...

One thing I am really loving about 21 Secrets, is the diversity of the teacher's artistic styles! I can take a break from one project to let it simmer in my brain a little; and while I am doing that, start something completely different! For me that really keeps things fresh, and the amount of learning that happens grows by leaps and bounds!

Today, I worked on two projects. I did another divider page for my "Becoming Brave" workshop. This one is all about being fearless about taking care of your body...
I'm loving working with this color palette, and plan to carry it throughout the creation of the journal. Right now I'm working on the "Fearless About Work" divider. I will share that with you tomorrow. This project is 8x8 on chipboard.

Next I enrolled in the "Connecting with the Goddess Within" workshop, which includes a guided meditation; followed by creating a journal page about it. Here's my journal page in progress...

That's me with my spirit guides. The rabbit is a new one I just met on my journey today. The raven comes with me everywhere, he is my spirit totem. The deer greets us from time to time on my life's path. I sketched this out in pencil and am filling it in with colored pencil and a black pitt pen. It's going in my Soul Journal, which is an 8 1/2 x 11 sketchbook.

Another cool thing about 21 Secrets is seeing the gallery fill up with all of this gorgeous artwork from all the different workshops! It's so inspiring!

That's it for today, but I will be back tomorrow with another update. Thanks so much for visiting and for your comments! I really appreciate you!

Becoming Brave...

21 Secrets has been amazing so far! I got access around 4am on Friday morning, and couldn't wait to get into the forum and check it all out. It's set up really well, with a welcome area, and even a checklist, to help you navigate all 21 workshops.

I was tempted to spend all day just looking at everything, but I knew I wouldn't get anything done then, so I picked one workshop and got started.

The one I picked is called "Becoming Brave," and the teacher is Erin Kenepp, who is a mixed media artist and Art Therapist. You get to make a journal to help you become brave in a number of different areas of life. I figured I could use a little bravery right now, so it was the perfect place to start.

So far, I finished my cover and I'm really liking how it turned out...

Tonight I'm working on the inside divider pages and it's really alot of fun! If you haven't signed up yet, there's still time! Click here to find out more and/or register.

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's "AJED" April signup is posted - check it out here.

Thanks so much for visiting and I will see you again soon!