Art Journal pg 10

Page 10 of my art journal lives opposite page my page 9. I prepared it and painted it at the same time. From then on I worked on the two pages treating them as one. I figured when  the page was opened, you will see both at the same time, so they have ended up similar, but not exactly the same.

Both were prepared with mod podge, both were painted and stamped, and yes I hated both. Both got the cut out paper treatment . The cuts were randomly done on the paper, so the holes are different shapes. The patterns that I drew inside and around the holes are also different, but the two pages flow well together.

In the beginning I hated these pages, but by adding the paper and patterns in and around the holes,  the pages have been  brought to life.

Art Journal Pg 9

For this page I mixed up three colours of  paint, a green, blue and white, then proceeded to paint onto a previously mod podged page. Then using a cork, I stamped little splodges for my numbers using white paint.

The numbers were then outlined in my wedge tipped felt marker to make them stand out.

At this point, I didn't like my page very much, it was too green. I am more of an aqua green person, so the page sat there while I decided what to do with it. I had this idea that I could cover it up with something else.

The something else turned out to be a scrap of recycled paper, I used the other side of something already printed. I first cut it to size to be a bit smaller than the page, then folded it onto sections and cut randomly along the folds. This created lace type effect, still letting in some of the green but not all. I also cut the shape of the number nine out of the white paper to make it more visible, then glued the cut sheet over the top of my painted page.

This left some lovely holes now that were open to some decoration. The decorating came in the form of my trusty fine tipped felt tipped pen.

In the end I love how this page turned out. It is definitely a 'me' page, full of holes and lacy effects. I will certainly be one that I will use for inspiration for my stitching.

Art Journal Pg 5

Page five of my numbered art journal is finished. I experimented with a few different things this time.

After the last two pages (where I washed them with a tea/coffee colour wash) bucked under the wetness and crinkled my pages, I purchased something called "Mod Podge" which was supposed to be a water based sealer/glue/finish.

 So page number five has been firstly sealed with Mod Podge, then wet sponged with an aqua colour paint. After letting it dry, I worked with my trusty ball point pen and drew my number five. Mmmmm........ I could hardly see the line on the coloured background, so I went over it with a wedge tipped black marker.

From there I continued with the wedge tipped marker, and added in some basic shapes that continued on from the number five.

By this stage I felt that the page was getting very heavy and needed some lightness, so changed to a fine felt tipped pen to add in further patterning.

I quite like the page, it is a bit different for me using a wedge tipped marker on such a small scale. I usually like fine work in anything. Wedge tipped markers in this house are reserved for marking food items in the freezer . This time though I think it has added some dimension with the use of two different tipped markers as well as paint, and the page has certainly given me some inspiration for stitching.

Art Journal Pg 4

My art journal continues, if somewhat slowly. I have been a bit slack with the ten minutes a day thing, but I do try when ever I have time, or manage to think about it.

This is page four, which lives opposite page three. It is coloured with the same tea/coffee wash that I used on page three. I actually colour washed the pages at the same time so they would be ready when I was.

This page continued on with the drawing of some seed heads, as well as some words and some patterning. I find that  I like making patterns the best, and as yet am still using just a ball point pen.

Now I have started with the number thing, I think I will continue with it. It gives me a starting point each time.

The other thing I have found is  the ten minutes a day thing can very easily stretch out into 30 minutes as I get lost in this mark making world. Just as I get lost in my stitching world, I end up in some other place for a short time, escaping reality, and creating inspiration for my future stitching.