All posts tagged: Art Journaling

A New Sketchbook for my Holiday.

Published by

I am going on holiday soon and as usual I have to have a sketchbook ready and waiting, preferably one I have made specially. So I squirreled about in my old book stash and Enid Blyton’s ‘Five Run away Together’ popped out as bring just the size and thickness I needed.  I got this book from the library sale cart for nostalgia reasons although I never really liked the Famous Five, I thought the Secret Seven were way cooler! I removed the book block and kept a few illustrations for future art journaling use and added my own pages. These consist of watercolor paper and a few images from an old book of photographs. I used clear gesso on the photo pages so that I can add marks or paint when I am filling the book. Some pages are smaller, others fold out and I included a mini accordion page because I love to work on fold out pages of all varieties. I am hoping to find some book paper while on holiday so that …

Wanderlust 2019

Published by

We are now a month into Wanderlust 2019 and I am having a blast!  Wanderlust is a year long series of tutorials, ideas, techniques and inspiration for all of your art making and art journaling needs. I am biased because I am teaching this year and my class will be live in the Rivers theme in March.  Having said that I have no truck with a class I don’t enjoy and Wanderlust is so varied and prolific that if there is a class or a theme you are not feeling, fear not, another is just around the corner. I made my journal which should last all year and I am looking forward to seeing it fill up with a variety of work, ideas and art. For all the information and enrollment details, follow this link Wanderlust 2019 information  Please note that the above link is an affiliate link. Happy Sunday x

Get Messy Art Journal Season of Freedom Beginnings

Published by

The new season in the art journaling community of Get Messy is the Season of Freedom.  What a perfect way to end the year and begin the next, the freedom to create and create what you want! Of course there will be prompts and tutorials to keep us all inspired and working in our art journals, but they will all be freeing (see what I did there!) and full of ideas. I have made my little journal using book rings which hold together a variety of vintage envelopes, recipe cards and plain postcards.  It is higgledy piggledy and that is how I like it. Some pages have been started and maybe finished, I will see where the season takes me. More information on Get Messy can be found here. Happy Friday x

Art supplies to go

Published by

Tomorrow I fly from the mid-west over to Portland, Oregon and I am a combination of nervous (don’t travel by myself much) and super excited! I am meeting some of the wonderful ladies from the Get Messy Art Journal community who I have got to know over the inter webs and I am thrilled to be meeting them in person this weekend. As we are gathering to make art as well as see some of Portland and eat good food, I am taking a selection of art supplies and sketchbooks. How to decide!? Airline regulations help somewhat as I am not checking a bag so I have to abide by the liquid/gel rules so I am not taking any acrylic paints or inks.  I am sure I could take a small amount but I don’t want to risk losing them. So I thought I would make a new watercolour set and team it up with a selection of pens, brushes , a water brush, some Inktense pencils, a glue stick and some hair bobbles! I …

Get Messy Season of Seasons week 1.

Published by

The season of seasons is upon us over at the Get Messy Art Journaling community. I have to admit that it took me far too long to decide on a journal to use for this season!  Eventually I decided on the Airfoil instruction book and a pile of vintage library catalogue cards. I thought that this way I can work in the book and on individual cards which I have recently been enjoying.  I have some glassine envelopes on the way so that I can include the cards in the book and ensure a cohesive journal. Well, I can’t promise cohesive but at least it will be all in one place. Once I had decided on the journal (s), I wanted to make a little ‘kit’ to see me through the season without having to decide which supplies to use for each page, of course my little kit got bigger and bigger and I am pretty certain that my vintage typewriter will have a major part to play too. I am still sure that this …

Get Messy Season of Story Week 5

Published by

For the Season of Story over at the Get Messy Art Journaling community, I made a journal which I love and I am super proud of and then I left it at home when I went on holiday to England for two weeks.  I left it because I didn’t want it to get squashed or damaged or worse, ignored.  All of these things would  most likely have happened to it, so I am pleased I didn’t take it. However, what also happened was that I didn’t do much of anything in the way of art journaling in my new journal for another couple of weeks afterwards.  It is a chunky little number and it needs to be filled! This week I saw a bird egg which I decided to paint in order to capture the colour of it, then I searched my old photos for suitable candidates for the season of story.  At the same time I pulled out some old National Geographic magazines which I had recently bought at an estate sale and I …

Get Messy Season of Kindness Week 2.

Published by

  I am enjoying this Get Messy season so far, and working in my little hand made journal is a good place to be. However, I seem to have started a trend last season when I made a small journal and then I made a big one to give myself more options and ended up filling them both (bear in mind that I don’t put hundreds of pages in my books!). Following this apparent new tradition, I made another journal this season too!  I really do like to work in different sizes and on different paper when the mood/idea strikes.  For my new book I removed the text block from a children’s cook book and replaced it with hot press watercolour paper and a couple of pages of brown paper from a grocery bag. The new sketchbook (on the right) is a book I found in a thrift shop and it is the American version of my first cook book when I was a kid in England. I remember making food from it and I …

My year of art journaling

Published by

All of the journals I filled in 2017 including my daily Moleskine planner. Books I used solely for art journaling. Books I filled as daily challenges, travel journal (Cape Cod Folks), general Moleskine sketchbooks and my daily Moleskine.   I was looking back at my art journals from last year and I was surprised at what I found.  Even though the years seem to fly by, a year ago can seem so much in the past and some of the pages and even the sketchbooks seemed so distant to me. When I was pulling out journals, I concentrated on the handmade ones because that is what I thought I had used all year.  I didn’t realize that I had spent the first three or four months using random sketchbooks including a Moleskine and a  Dylusions book.  I like these sketchbooks a lot and what I made in them, but I really enjoy the handmade books I made for each Get Messy season and for some of the monthly challenges I played along with via Instagram …

Handmade sketchbook for the Season of Nature

Published by

I am beginning to get a bit obsessed with making books!  I love to make all the sketchbooks with different papers in different sizes with fold outs and accordions.  The more I make the more ideas I get for another one or two or three. We are about to start the new season over in the Get Messy Art Journal community and it is going to be The Season of Nature.  I found a book called ‘A Field Guide to Animal Tracks’ not long ago and thought it would be perfect to make into a sketchbook for The Season of Nature. Once the pages were out I was ready to go! I made two signatures and stitched one to each inside cover of the book so they open away fro each other.  I used pamphlet stitch to fasten them onto the edge of the cover. I have made a pretty backwards book which started by stitching the papers onto the opposite side than expected, but I like the way the two books are working together …

‘I Like’ Friday. Picture books for art inspiration.

Published by

I keep getting the best ideas from children’s picture books. I check them in and out at the library and every so often, one will catch my eye. I have a look at the beautiful illustrations and get some ideas for my art journal. Some are just plain gorgeous and some are sparking ideas left and right! These are some examples of what I have found recently. There are lots of ideas in these books which will keep me going for ages! Yak and Dove by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Esmé Shapiro. These buildings are inside the covers and I just love them. Another inspiring inside cover from Kali’s Song by Jeanette Winter. Looks like some gorgeous collage and pen drawings. These fabulous ladies make me want to gather all the leaves and sticks to make wings and crowns and skis!  From Fairy Friends Seasons by Merrilee Liddiard Images to inspire from Shackleton’s Journey by William Grill. The drawings are deceptively simple and very effective. These last two pages are from The Story of …