Challenging Art Journal

I used this particular Dylusions journal for 2 years of calendar journaling.  I thought I would use it again so I ordered another.  Then I changed my system ... again.  So I have the journal.

I’m going to try it as an art journal (it’s original intended use).  The challenge with it is that I can’t just tear out bad pages.  The pages are stitched.  This is why I like a spiral bound journal.  I can discard bad art pages.  

So I began altering the cover.  I found some text gift wrap tissue to glue over the existing cover.  (Sorry Dyan Revealey)

   

Then I stopped.  I realized I didn’t want to put the time in to put art on the cover if the inside pages might not work out.  My personal challenge with this is all double page art spreads.  There will be 24 page spreads.  They all have to be keepers.  That’s the scary part for me.  My art pages are not always keepers.  They don’t need to be perfect, just keepable.

One down, 23 to go!

The inside covers need to be used and they are not designed.  They are an off-white color.  First challenge was to figure out how to blend it with the existing color and design.  I used Distress Spray Stains.  Good enough (keepable).  So I did some stamping and stenciling.

Next I wanted to use this guy.  I stamped him on the rough side of tracing paper.  Then cut him out.  I like the transparency of the tracing paper when it is glued down.  I used spray glue.

I then added some ephemera.  These pieces are all from a Tim Holtz spiral bound stickers booklet.  The stickers are quite thick.  I wanted them quite thin so I peeled the design layer away from the sticker layer.

And a little more ephemera.

I wanted some words but didn’t know what.  I searched the internet for man quotes or sayings.

I finally came upon this quote by Luvvie Ajayi and knew right away it was the one.  It has meaning for me.  The words in black are die cut and in white they are handwritten.

I now have my first keepable page spread!  I’m so happy.  But will I be able to do this 23 more times???  I will certainly try!

I’m linking this mixed media art page to Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge Blog

Altered Junk Mail and Craft Bags

I’ve had a bit of play with these junk mail return envelopes.

I watched a couple of YouTube videos then dove right in.

I was about to write a letter to my pen pal so I decided to present it a bit unusually.  

You seal the envelope, cut it to the size,  then trim the open corners.  Fold down one of the top flaps.  You then have a pocket.

Cover the various parts that show with decorative papers and embellish as desired.  I tucked my letter inside the pocket then put it all in a regular envelope for mailing.

   

I next made tags for birthday gifts.  They are made the same way as the letter pocket.

   

These were fun to make.  They are kind of tedious to make but it’s so surprising to see a big transformation from a junk mail envelope.



I had some fun altering boring craft gift bags.  First I slapped some Gesso on the bag fronts.

Next I chose some ephemera pieces to glue on collage style.  These are stamped and/or photo copied onto tracing paper.  I like the transparent look that tracing paper provides.  I glued all the pieces onto the bag, added some stamping and finished the bag with a die cut greeting. 

   

The second bag is made similar.  I began by gluing a piece of decorative paper over the Gesso.  Then added a bit more Gesso over the paper design to mute it somewhat.  This bag includes some washi tapes and a small talk sticker.

   

The backside of the bags looked so plain.  I made tiny tags to hang there.  

The tags are decorated on both sides so if they get flipped, they are still fun looking.

   

These are not very large bags.  About 8” tall and 5.5” wide.  I have a lot of them to use up.

   

I don’t really have many occasions when I actually give a gift (other than these two people).  So I don’t know how many bags I will get to alter.  These bags were returned so that I’d fill them again next year.  Ha!  Maybe I’ll try some Christmas bags next.  I hope to improve on my altering designs.

Vintage Art Tag

The theme for the Tag Tuesday challenge blog is VINTAGE.

Vintage is easy when any of the Tim Holtz paper dolls are involved.

I started this tag by die cutting the tag shape from digital printable paper I purchased from Etsy.  I stenciled a brick wall with Transparent Texture paste tinted with Distress Oxide Spray Antique Linen.  It didn’t show as well as I hoped it would so I lightly blended over the bricks with Archival ink Potting Soil.  That was more the look I was after.

I then die cut another tag shape from a sturdier paper, 98lb Canson Mix Media to sandwich the printed papers onto.  I then added my ephemera pieces and inked around the outside edges.

I didn’t need to do much on the back as the paper was doing all the work for me.  I just added some text  with a favorite ‘Curiosity’ stamp and the date.  I also stamped the same text on the seam binding.

Vintage and grunge are a favorite style of tag for me.

This tag challenge runs through Monday the 12th of July.  Come join in the fun.

78,489 Daisies

Daisies are in bloom...right?

I don’t keep up with the blooming schedule of all flowers after Daffodils, Tulips and Iris’.  A daisy is blooming on my art journal page.  I assume there must be 78,489 blooming daisies in a specified area.  What else would those numbers mean?

My page began with a book page glued down.  That did not glue down well so I tore out the loose parts.  I then sprayed some Distress Spray Stain colors on the page.  That looked bad so I Gessoed over that mess. That looked better so I continued on and inked large numbers from a stencil.

Then I added more numbers.  A little text stamping and modeling paste through a stencil.

There was no plan, just see what comes next.  Some grunge circles, rubber stamping, ink with a stencil and little bits of book page.

I went looking for more ephemera to make to add to the page and a die cut daisy painted with Tombow markers.

I added black paint splatters before gluing on the daisy and exhibit pieces.



It was time to STOP!

It was probably time to stop sooner, but I struggle with that part every time.

I’m linking my art journal page to Creative Artiste Challenge Blog 73rd challenge.  The theme is always Anything Mixed Media.  

Papercraft Postcard Tutorial

Papercraft Postcard Tutorial

You can see all the handmade papercraft postcards I’ve made over the years here

I’m sure there are many ways to make a papercrafted postcard.  This tutorial is how I make many of mine.

The most important thing in making a papercrafted postcard is to make sure it is sturdy and nothing added to it will come loose in the mail.

I began with a 4”X6” piece of 70lb sketch/drawing papers.  I sprayed them with Distress Oxide Spray then sprayed one of them again through a stencil.  I chose the one on the right to work with this time.

I’ve rubber stamped the words with a waterproof Archival ink and toned down the brightness of the background paint by rubbing the ink over it lightly and darkened the edges.

I’ve used cutting dies to cut flowers and leaves from the same 70lb sketch/drawing paper.

I’ve painted them with watercolors.  (Sometimes you just have to hope your mail won’t get rained on.)

Before gluing the flowers to the postcard, I splattered thinned black acrylic paint to the background.

I use a spray glue to adhere the flowers and leaves to the background.  I then press them down firmly with a Brayer.  When dry, if there are any loose edges, I use a fine tip glue to get underneath the loose area and glue it down firmly.

When my postcard front is finished, I glue it to a heavier paper.  This Canson XL paper is 98lb.  I glue it to a piece larger than my postcard then trim around the postcard.  Set the postcard under a flat weight so that it dries flat.  Check the edges to make sure they are one.  Any loose edges can be glued with a fine tip glue.  If you don’t have a fine tip for your glue, put some on a toothpick to smear where needed.

It is now a sturdy piece of art that will travel through the mail easily and not get caught in any of the postal machines.

Art can sometimes leave the finished piece warped and even messy on the back.  Working on one paper to create your art then adhering it to a clean paper will help to flatten the piece and you don’t have to worry about a messy backside.

The back can be decorated also, just like any other postcard.

Within the United States, a papercrafted postcard can be mailed at the regular postcard rate (unless you’ve added something that will make in non-machinable.  In that case, extra postage is needed.

There are so many different ways to make a papercraft art postcard.  But as I mentioned previously, make sure it is glued and put together well and that it is sturdy enough to withstand the traveling it will do.  

Most of my handmade postcards arrive at their destinations as if they were hand delivered.

If you have any questions at all or need some further detailed info, I am more than happy to help out with both.

Happy Mail Day!

Annie