Emotions and a look at alternate journals - journal Heart week 12

Hi Everyone!!!

I cannot believe how quick this year is flying by!! Spring is making a brief appearence this week - hope it lasts!

Now this week's journalling is very personal and I completely understand if you don't want to share lots of pages BUT for me my journal's are an important cathartic release from everyday stresses or more. I have never shared these pages before and won't again but I feel it is important you see this aspect of journalling. I urge everyone to try it at least once to see if you can capture a mood or rid yourself of ill feelings

I have a couple of journals specifically for this - I don't always want my very private feelings floating through my general journals. I want them in a seperate place - once I have put them to paper they are "out" and no longer drain me (if they are negative)

For some reason - and I can't explain why - I like to use alternative journals for this ...

....these are 2 of them. An old diary and a free book that held no interest for me.....

So I christened it with this page.......

These are very simple journal pages I use nothing but pens in them so that I can carry them anywhere, trains, coffee shops, tour buses, street cafes, the garden, the park etc and work easily.

When it comes to pens I have a wide range but I love my Posca Pens, my Sharpies which I carry everywhere and my pencils (H, B, 3B and 6B and my Spectrum Noir blendable pencils) for use at home

With these journals it is important to only do them for yourself - they are more like diaries than journals and often contain pages with a darker edge....

or a quote or lyric that captures a feeling or a moment...

All of my pages are freehand which I accept is not everyone's preferred skill but you could use your stamp collection as a starting point and then add your own doodles and marks and lettering (ooooo that dreaded word......!!!)

I love the way the words are still visible I think it adds for an interesting background so why not find yourself an old book and be brave......I do not use Gesso as a primer on any of these pages because I want the recycled look. If you are not feeling inspired emotionally why not skip through a page and look for a single word that may inspire you? If you look under the eye above you will see the page talks about crying.....in this case a happy accident BUT it could be an inspiration...

So happy journalling folks!!!

Feel free to share - you are amongst friends but if you want to do it as I normally do and keep it private go for it. See if it captures or releases a mood......

Crafty Cheers for now

Love

Rae

xxx

Collage pages.....Journal HeART 15 Week 11

Hi guys!! This week group member Tracy has taken the time to share a page about art collage. Tracy is an experienced journaller but dont be put off she has broken it all down to really manageable steps that we can all follow - so show your support and give it a whirl.....So over to Tracy....

This week is a very Teesha Moore inspired collage page.

(you can insert the final image if you want)

A key element in this style of journaling is collage. I prefer to use ‘download’ collage, which is available from various sources, and as the name suggests you download it for a small fee and can then print again and again.

I especially love the content on Mischief Circus and Teesha Moore collage sheets available on Etsy.

http://www.mischiefcircus.com/shop/

Ok lets get started. First of all add some colour to a page. Any acrylic paint is fine, apply it all over with a wet brush and immediately blot with kitchen roll. You just want the paint to be a thin covering and not have any grooves or paint brush marks in it as this will affect your pen work later. Also you don’t want the page to get too wet or it might wrinkle which again will not help later.

Here is an example of some pages I have prepared.

Then you can start collaging. The key here is to keep the collage dry – I stick all mine to the page using a tape runner pen. Be very careful with wet glue because any ‘seepage’ out the sides of the collage will act as a resist to your pen and pencil later.

Cut out interesting shapes and patterns to place around the border, with interesting pieces on the corners, and find a focal image for the centre of the page. You might want to use a different ‘body’ and a different ‘head’ and maybe put a funny hat on the character. Its not supposed to look ‘real’, its supposed to be a bit abstract and quirky.

Here is where I have got to so far with my page; I have mostly used Teesha Moore download collage images to create this page.

Next you want to add depth and dimension to the page. You could use various mediums to add shadow such as pan pastels and gelatos, but I usually use my Prismacolor colouring pencils. You can use a couple of colours but on this page I just stuck with one colour everywhere. Go darker with the colour in the crevices to create depth.

When you are happy with this first layer, think about adding paint pens and gel pens. In this page I have picked out the detail in the border and extended the flowers using a couple of colours. Think about a colour that you want to be the ‘value’ colour and emphasise that colour. Also evenly distribute your doodles – so if you have something in the bottom corner, put something in the top corner for example.

Build up these layers of doodling and colour – try using a white pen to add extra sketchy lines or dots, or use a black pen to outline things.

When you are happy you can then think about the writing. I always pencil where I want to do my writing before I commit with pen. I like using quotes on these pages.

Now I am happy with the pencil, I am putting in the writing using a black posca paint pen.

Finally, go back over your page. Add more shading, add more paint pen and gel pens, and as a final touch add a shadow line to your writing. Its subtle but adds a lot more depth.

Thank you so much Tracy for your really detailled guide to simplifying the collage technique! I hope this has inspired you all to give it a go. Have a look on you tube and pinterest at Art Collage/ Art Journal Collage and see what you can create!!

Happy Journalling and Crafty cheers for now

Love

Rae

xx

x

Photo it!! - Journal HeART 15 - Week 10

Howdy all!! Welcome to Thursday week 10!

Due to minor mishap on Tues I apologise for typo's and a slightly briefer write up than normal!!

This week's art journalling is all about including a photo in your page.....take inspiration from some scrap book layouts if you want! I love adding photos to my journal's it can make them much more personal and more diary like if you want it too.

The page I am sharing is one I started off at a Finnabair art journal class recently.....it starts off with paper peicing, although I chose to use the overlapping style I did with Hels Sheridan a couple of years ago

Simply cut up peices of patterned paper and cover your journal page - FANTASTIC way of using up scrap bits of paper. ( why not try just using peices of white from off cut cardmaking)  Then the Fun bit find yourself a Photo.....ANY photo - a selfie, a scenic shot, or...............;-)

I added some embellies to "bed the photo in and make it part of the page - something really important stops photo's "floating" in a page. Now you could go mad but beacuse this was in my mixed journal I kept it flat to avoid problems on other pages.

Then its time to add texture and more colour using 3d clear Gel / modelling paste / stamps / co-ordinating sprays and paints...

Its important not to put these add ons all over but group them - I did this by bringing the the gels across and down behind the photo....

I then printed off the lyrics in mixed fonts and added them to finish the page.

So thats the project and plan guys ...... go and give it a try - just remember add a photo. Even a mag clip if you are worried about using a precious photo...

Happy Journalling and thanks for your joining in.... 

Crafty cheers for now

Love

Rae

xxx