My Tag Pages for the Journal Journeys Challenge

This month's challenge set by Dawn over at Journal Journeys (click on the link in the sidebar to check her blog out) was to add a tag or inclusion to your journal pages.  Coincidentally ..... definitely not intentionally .... on the same day I also posted a challenge on my blog for Journalling Tags (great minds and all that *LOL* ....... don't forget to sign up for this one, by the way, if you fancy having a go - it's not due till the end of the month and all details are over in the sidebar too).  Anyway .... I digress .......

Okay, I thought, I had an idea to add some tip-in tags to my pages, having done something similar in an altered book round robin swap, so I merrily set to and gave the next pages in my journal (the Khadi handmade papers one I'd set aside for the Journal Journeys challenges) a "soaking" with watercolour paints ...... oops! next thing I know, the pages are peeling out of the book because the water has loosened up all the glue binding them to the spine.  Disaster !!!  What to do????  I couldn't throw them away and start again because on the back of one of the pages was the first challenge I'd done (the pink and orange one) and I didn't want to lose it.

Time for some quick-thinking - okay, I'll put them in my other art journal; fine, but the pages are different sizes, which meant a bit of juggling around, cutting down pages and taping the new ones in so they were all the same size.  In the end, it worked well and I was happy with the result.  The theme of my pages is Heaven and Hell Is ....... I cut down one page into just a strip and adhered the tags to it, then wrote a random selection of my own particular "heaven and hells" on each side. 

These are the Heaven and Hell background pages - I used a mixture of watercolour paints, glimmer mist sprays, stamps and images, bits of lace and glitzy stickles

Close Up of the Heaven page - the image was one I spotted in my local paper and gave me the idea for the pages

The image for the Hell page came from a page-a-day calendar we have on the subject of "magic"

Here are the pages as they look with the tag inserts (Heaven side) - I added eyelets and fibres to the end of each tag

Tag inserts showing the Hell side

I had great fun making these pages, even though they ended up being a bit fiddly and time-consuming, and I'm fairly pleased with the results.

Things I have learnt about art journals - firstly, the art journal that I am now using is one I purchased from Paper Chase in Manchester last year.  It's pretty sturdy but the pages are paperbag brown and quite heavy, which means I have to cover each page with white gesso, acrylic paint or paper before I can start journalling and all these extra layers are making a lot of the pages rather stiff.  Also, the book is in landscape mode.  I'll know in future to choose books with white pages, maybe not so heavy and either square or portrait layout as I think that'll be easier to work with.  I've also learnt to check out the binding of the journals carefully too in order to avoid another journal falling to pieces on me when it gets wet (I'll have to make sure I don't use anything too wet near the spine of the Khadi book from now on - it's a lovely book to work in though, the texture of the paper is super, so I shall definitely be using it for some other journalling or poetry)!!! 

Finally, I've learnt to just have a go in my journal - sometimes I've followed journalling prompts or challenges, sometimes I've just created a page out of my own head, how I'm feeling on a particular day (not necessarily how I'm feeling the next day), some pages are more successful than others, some I might want to keep secret, but it doesn't matter if they look messy or neat, serious or funny, nonsense or intelligent ..... each and every one of them is a way of expressing my feelings in any one moment of time and it definitely doesn't matter if I make mistakes, how else do we learn?

Hope you've enjoyed looking at my entry for Dawn's challenge and maybe you'll feel inspired to have a go at journalling yourself too.  Have fun!

JOURNALLING TAGS - A New Challenge

Today, according to the weather people last night, is the first day of autumn - not so sure myself, but there's definitely a freshness in the air and the sun has been shining wonderfully all day - it certainly feels like summer is sliding down into autumn and it's one of my favourite times of the year.  Anyway, it put me in the mood to come up with a new challenge swap for you all and this one is all about "Tags".

I'd like you to create three tags, approx size 3" x 5", each with a different theme :-

1)  Season of Mellow Fruitfulness (Autumnal)

2)  Vintage Birds

3)  The Daydreamer

The idea is that these tags can be added to your art journals (for those of you who journal) or used as gift tags if you don't, so please leave some plain areas on your tags so that the recipient can add their own journalling or words.  Please also lightly decorate the back of each tag with paper, inks and/or stamping and include your personal info around the edges, so there's room on the back of the tag for more journalling if desired.

Usual rules apply - tags to be with me by 30th September and please include an SAE (large letter stamp/sturdy envelope) for returns.  Email me to sign up and if you have any questions.  I've added the details of this swap in the sidebar too. 

Hope this challenge swap appeals and I can tempt some of you to join in!  Look forward to seeing what you all come up with.

Flying without Wings

It's almost the end of the month and, with a spot of cheating, I'm just about in time to post a pic of a "fairy" page I've created to add to my 2011 Art Journal, so meeting Dawn's Journal Journeys challenge theme of Fairies for August.  I say cheating because I actually made the page some while back for a round robin swap which as sometimes happens didn't materialise.  I've really been short of time this month for making much art at all and the "fairy" theme kept slipping away from me.

However, when I re-discovered this page (during a tidy up) I thought it might just fit the theme - at the time "Flying without Wings" was playing on the radio, hence the words I added to complete the page - hope it fits the bill ! 

Looking forward to seeing what Dawn has in store for us in September!  Go check out her blog (link above) if you fancy having a go at her journal challenges.

Pink and Orange

I came across a new journal challenge blog the other day and as I want to do more journalling I thought I'd give this one a go.  Check out Dawn's Journal Journeys blog to find out more.  Dawn has begun the challenges this month and will post a new one the first of each following month.  For July the challenge is to create a page using the colours PINK and ORANGE, not a combination one would normally associate together.

I've already started one journalling book using prompts posted in one of my online groups, but decided to start a new journal for this challenge.  Well, I have a blank book of handmade papers which I picked up in Paperchase in Manchester last year and was waiting for the right moment to use it ...... the paper is made from recycled cotton rag and suitable for ink, watercolour, paint, etc, has torn edges and a lovely feel to it ..... the book itself is 6" x 6", a comfortable size to work with.

This is the page I created ............

I used a mixture of Distress Inks (Spun Sugar, Wild Honey, Dried Marigold and Spiced Marmalade) to create the background.  I drew some cloud shapes on paper scraps, cut them out and used them to mask off parts of the sky, before stamping the Sun image in Spiced Marmalade.  I then bleached out the background colour from the clouds and tinted them with Weathered Wood ink.  I swooshed the same colour along the bottom edge, sketched in some dark pen lines and sponged some areas with Fuschia Pink Stazon ink.  I drew the silhouette of the girl onto black paper, cut her out and collaged her onto the page along with some rock images.  I added three bird shapes to the top right-hand corner for balance.  I found the quote in a book of meditations that I have and it absolutely expressed the feeling I had from creating this page.

Really enjoyed having a go at this challenge - thanks, Dawn - and look forward to seeing what the next one is in August!

I've been asked if I can show some of the journal pages I've created (not many to date, due to lack of time recently) and have finally gotten around to finishing some and photographing them, so I'll be posting pics of them in the next few days. 

Don't forget my bookmark swap (details in the sidebar) which is running until the end of July.  I've already received two sets of bookmarks and I can tell you, they look great, so if anyone fancies joining in with this one, there's still plenty of time to do so.

SCD Challenge - A "Bling" Torso ATC

I decided to join in the challenge over at Something Completely Different (link in sidebar) - it looked so much fun, I couldn't resist having a go.  The challenge theme for August is "Torsos" - we have to create and decorate a torso-shaped ATC, this week it has to have "bling", so this is what I made:-

I drew my own torso-shape to fit an ATC then covered it with paper from Crafty Individuals' "Travels in Italy" book.  I stamped the female image in Staz-On Vibrant Violet and the "Goddess" word in D.I. Dusty Concord (both stamps from Invoke Arts).  I edged the torso with more Dusty Concord and a Gold Krylon pen.  I stamped another script flower (a freebie from Craft Stamper mag) in the top right corner, using Brilliance Cosmic Copper ink, brushed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls.

I stamped sript in black ink over two paper flowers, then attached them with a gemstone brad, then rubbed a bit of Rock Candy Distress Stickles over them.  I added a feather, a bit of glitzy rik-rak, dictionary words, a small heart gem and finished off with more Stickles in gold and lavender, sprinkled with Beadazzles.

What do you think?  It's quite sparkly in "real life" so I hope it's 'blingy' enough for the swap at the end of the month.  I really enjoyed making this so will be looking out for next week's challenge - this is the first time I've joined in an SCD challenge (or any online challenge actually), but I don't think it will be the last!

Oh - and before I go - I thought I'd just mention that Lindsay has created another blog where she - and you - can let off steam and have a good rant (with a little bit of humour thrown in as well) about anything that's "got you going" recently!