Be Kind Journal Page

Sometimes I journal as if I'm leaving important messages for my grandchildren.  I want them to be kind, brave and honest, among other positive traits.  I want them to speak up for themselves, and as I'm writing this, my mind is formulating a journal page titled Speak Up.  But for now, I'll post this page that began with a coat of gesso, then some distress ink around the edge, gessoed circles over that, then colored with watered down acrylic paint allowed to drip down the pages.  I added some strips of scrapbook paper, then some altered playing cards, and a fussy cut of a nuthatch painting I completed several years ago. I also used a piece of floral fabric under the nuthatch instead of a piece of doily.  I wrote across the whole page before adding the collage elements on top.

All Creatures Journal Page

When I paint small works of art for the Art*Bar exhibition, I'll try to do a variety of subjects, but songbirds are one of my favorites, and I like to keep track of them by uploading onto the computer.  When I'm in an art journaling mood, sometimes I will make miniature prints of my "serious" paintings and incorporate them onto my pages.  That's the story of this page.

I added strips of gelli prints onto an unprepared book page, then layered some pieces of vintage doily, an ATC and fussy cut the image of the Goldfinch and placed it on a dark purple background.  I recently started using old playing cards as ATCs, and like the look of this one on the left page.  Looking back, maybe I should have incorporated a bird figure on that page too.  Oh well!

Circle Journal Page

This altered book page began with a coat of gesso, then some Dylusions spray inks dripped from the top.  Then I added a small piece of kitchen towel (it already had paint splattered on it), and some pieces of gelli prints on top.  I gessoed some circles and then added color to the circles with oil pastels.  On one side of the spread, I placed a torn piece of book paper, added a doily

on top of that, then layered a few pieces of gelli print and topped that off with some rusty washers and a safety pin.

Ticket Please Journal Page

I have been watching France Pappillon on YouTube.  I love her art journaling videos--she has some wonderful techniques, and she narrates them, so very easy to watch.  Anyway, I've incorporated some of her techniques into my more recent altered book journal pages.

 

 

No Limit Journal Page

I was so busy painting minis for the Art*Bar show, that I seriously put my art journaling to one side for awhile.  I've since created some very satisfying altered book pages.

This page started with watercolor crayons and then stenciled over in blue acrylic paint. I cut a piece of lace and tore a piece of paper, then edged that with distress ink.  I had been playing with watercolors on watercolor paper, and had this piece left over after cutting some tags, so adhered it to the page with a fleur de lis.