When I became a member of the AJP crew, I also inherited a challenge of a different kind, where and how to store my pages. I have very limited space and so a binder to collect them in was out of the question. So I have been creating mini journals for them by altering the AJP sheets.
The above houses my AJP Challenge for February “Fairy Tales” and I took a little different approach on my binding. For the challenge I used Tangie Baxter's AJP Sheets 149 and 150 which are part of the Art Journal Pockets Workshop.
I altered the pockets by cutting them on the horizontal and then binding the 3 sheets with a brace cut from a freezer bag. I used two braces, 1 between top and middle and 1 between the middle and bottom portions. The braces are approx. ¾” by 3”, by positioning the end of top portion a little off the middle to the brace and then fusing it with The Fuse Tool by We R Memory Keepers, then the beginning of the middle portion on the other half of the brace and fusing it, at that point the two sections are one and the same process with the bottom portion to connect all.
Once it is one horizontal strip I can then accordion fold them and create a storage cover it.
The spine of the cover was created using a piece of corrugated cardboard, I spray painted inside and out with Design Master® TintIT™ sprays, dripping the Gold Shimmer color so it would run from the bottom to the top, creating the sea plants for the seahorses to swim in, I then outlined the plants with black micron pens. I created a block for the “Once upon a time…” and then distressed it using Tim Holtz®Distress Inks.
The metal chain and photo corners are also by Tim Holtz®. The Seahorses on the front cover are elements created and cut with the Silhouette Cameo® from TB Sheet 149 which is part of the Art Journal Pockets Workshop and colored with Derwent® Inktense pencils.
The Octopus is an existing charm I already had. The dimensions of the carrier is 3 ½” X 4”. The AJPs were attached to cover with red line tape ¾” . My little Fairy Tale is now all ready to be stored away in a very small place. There is peace and organization in the lane.
Here's a different approach to Art Journal Pockets: Download the Apple Juxtaposer App Tap : Start New Session, the screen will come up and have two sections: Background and Top Image. Select Background and add the Blank drawing from your images (your photo images).
Select Top Image and add paper choices on head wrap and blouse, I used Rebecca Mcmeen's Kendra kit. Using the tools in the app cut out head wrap and blouse to fit blank drawing. Next tap: Add/Replace Image. This is where the real fun begins.
Simply choose what elements you like and embellish the page. Use a lot or a little.
Next using the art app of your choice add some color to the eyes, lips and cheeks.
Credits: Tangie Baxter's Mint To Be Kit, Rebecca McMeen's Em, Kendra and Tansy Kits. Now I would love to see what you guys come up with.
Hello lovelies. It’s beginning to feel like spring in my little part of the world. The days have gotten warmer, robin’s have suddenly appeared and the birds have begun to sing. Spring surely seems to be heading this way. Susan here with another week of Art Journal Emporium goodness.
First up is a wonderful page by Sian. Love the colors and quote.
Our next bit of goodness is by Rese. Lover her mixed media creation using paint, vintage papers and fabric scraps.
Rese's Credits: AJC January Itinerary No. 3 & 4, water colors, vintage papers and fabric scraps.
Next is Catherine’s super quirky page. I just adore her gal made from scribbles.
Catherine’s Credits: AJC January Itinerary No. No. 4 and Neo Color II’s.
William is closing out this week’s highlights with a colorful fun page. I love his “wild” man.
William’s Credits: February’s TB&CO Grab Bag #18 along with February AJE 2016 Collage sheets (part of the AJE February Goodies, available at TB&CO as a Collage Sheet Workshop in March).
Many Thanks to Sian, Rese, Catherine and William for sharing their amazing creations with us at the Art Journal Emporium. Don’t forget to leave them some love!
Grab Bags are only available for a limited time once a month and are priced on a sliding scale, so act fast for the best deal! For more information visit TB&CO Grab Bags.
I belong to a Facebook Group which sends out “Happy Mail” to people who are going through a tough time and need a little happy in their lives. For example, when I went through surgery a year and a half ago, I received “Happy Mail” from 3 different people from around the world. Believe me, it made my day because they knew I was an artist and they either sent me a card or art journaling ephemera to keep me occupied in bed during my recovery. Over the past two and a half years, I have send out a few “Happy Mails” myself. They go to people who have major depression, who are battling cancer, or other difficulties.
This particular happy mail is going to Australia to a mother who is battling several different diseases at once. She has two children and a very supportive husband. I thought that this beautiful Art Journal Pocket set would cheer her up! I know that it would put a very big smile on my face if I received it in the mail!
Random Ephemera from my stash including: brads, ticker words, flowers, arrow paper clips, dot stickers, feather stickers, the letter L
Color Theory Ink Pad in Coral Bay
If you would like the contact information to join such an uplifting and charitable group, you can email me at messyjessycreatesart@gmail.com or you can contact Rachel Thomas, who is in charge of the closed group enCouragement Art on Facebook!
Art Journal Pockets are cute enough as they are to use as Valentines. However, I wanted to personalize them and add a little bling. Here's a video showing how I did it.
I started out with TB147 and TB148 Art Journal Pocket Pages, available as part of the Art Journal Pockets Workshop. I decided that I wanted to start out the new year by mixing these to create a two page spread with my intentions for the new year. I then arranged the cards for each page.
I applied PanPastels® to the white cards in coordinating colors with the colored cards.
Then finished off the cards with misc. scrapbooking ephemera to illustrate my intentions for 2016.
I’m often asked about how I start my Artist Trading Cards (ATCs), which are the basis for Art Journaling Pockets (AJPs). What is the process? Do you start with an element, a paper, an idea or what?
I think that there really is no process that I go through. An ATC/AJP, for me, is a free form expression.
Of course, now that I’ve said that, I realise that there is one constant, which is the image. I usually start with an image; everything else just follows on from there.
I sometimes see an image and I know exactly what I want to do with it, other times, I grab random papers and elements and see what happens. That can be fun. It’s surprising what can be achieved doing this.
It goes something like this:
Go through your photos or stock images or whatever other resources you have for images. The first one that catches your eye, grab it.
If you are doing this digitally, open up a new document in your graphics program or, if you are doing this ‘hands on’ lay out a fresh piece of paper (hmm, smell that fresh piece of paper, wonderful, isn’t it?). Doesn’t matter what size document or paper; I usually have something larger than the image.
Place your image on the document or piece of paper
Now, if you are doing this digitally, open up a random paper or, if ‘hands on’, grab a piece from your scrap stash (you know you have one!) and put that in your document or on your piece of paper. Grab some random elements and put them on there too.
Move them around. Change them, blend them, layer them, paint them, rip them, or whatever, just go with the flow.
You don’t like some of what you chose? Doesn’t matter, remove it and grab some more, or leave it and come back later. It’s amazing how much it seems to change when you haven’t seen it in a while.
Keep going until you have something you are happy with.
See, that was fun, wasn’t it?
I find it’s also a great process for when you have lost your mojo and have absolutely no clue as to what you want to do next. Often, you may not keep what you started with, but it does get the inspiration flowing. The result doesn’t have to be over the top, or it can be, it’s entirely up to you.
First let me wish the crew Merry Christmas and have a happy and safe Holiday Season.
Since this is the month of December and at some point a gift may pass our hands. I got to thinking we as crafters, artists, hobbyists and any other creative labels have the perfect inventory for gift giving to our creative buddies. I know that anyone who partakes in workshops or art classes probably has an art stash that could help rebuild a major retail craft business in the event of low inventory. (Smile). So why not create some awesome emergency mixed media art or collage art kits, that your recipient would surely love to receive. I know I've been to workshops that a kit like this would have been very useful. So much easier than trying to buy all those bits and baubles.
First thing to do is to organize the stash you no longer have a need for. Paper, broken jewelry, ribbons, stamps (tip: stamp some of your favorite stamps on tissue paper, great for decoupage), beads, paint, glue etc.
Evaluate them and sort. New, barely used, not useful to you (one man's trash), and items that may have lost their appeal to you.
Tip: Partially used scrap paper cut up into squares bundle with ribbon. Place strips of scrap paper in a small bag.
Once you've done this use one of those photo boxes you bought and never used (smile). An old or new canning jar or spaghetti sauce jar works good too. Decorate the container so the recipient can reuse it for storing future items. Think of what your recipient likes to create. Gather items from your stash and fill the box or jar. Create a tag that has the message "Emergency Mixed Media Kit". The next time your buddy needs bits and baubles for a project or workshop they will know exactly what to grab.
Tip: Great gift for elementary school teachers, senior centers, community after school programs etc.
A saying I use all the time is "if life gives you scraps, create something with them"!
Today I would like to share a brief look into my creative process for making my most recent AJP for December - Abstract. I really loved this freebie sheet, available as part of the Art Journal Pockets Workshop, the colours and shapes are just gorgeous.
I printed the sheet on plain white 200gsm card stock from the local office shop. Then I cut it up, collected some things from my stash and sat down to begin playing with combinations. When I had a fair idea, I began adding the background detail with markers (Montana, Posca and Sharpies) and added a little bit of washi to one of the sections.
Once happy with the background, I added further details, such as pinwheels, butterflies, flowers and triangles, perhaps not so abstract, but the background is, and it is what I felt like doing at the time.
I love playing with colour and these little pockets are the perfect playground to do so.
Thank you for joining me today. I look forward to seeing all your creations in the December gallery for Challenge number 7 if you are using this freebie sheet from Tangie.
