Tag : scrapbook journal

25 posts

201701/21

Be your beautiful self

I’ve tried drawing and painting people in the past with very little success. They generally were disproportionate and had really scary eyes. I mean truly frightening. I decided to check a couple books on drawing out from the library to see if I could teach myself.

After paging through several step by step tutorials, I felt a had a much better grasp on the technique. Of course not being someone to make things easy on myself, I grabbed a “mop-up” piece of paper to begin sketching on. Perhaps I’m less intimidated by a messy garbage page than a blank white one.

Since the sketching of the girl went well, I decided to challenge myself further and attempt to paint her.

I had to be really careful not to get the paper too wet as it was only copy paper. You can see that I wrinkled up some of the fibers of the paper in her hair. Luckily I was able to get it to lay back down and not rib a hole in the page.

The words are from a Tim Holtz sticker pack. They fit my mood…being proud to be a woman and no one can take that away from me. And that’s as political as I’m going to get. :)

Linking up today with Art Journal Journey for Every page tell a story.

Out of the mess of everyday life she finds a way to shine ~Hålle

Art | Creativity

art journal, Art Journal Journey, painting faces, scrapbook journal

6 Comments

halleday

201701/16

Dear Diary

I seem to be drawn to this color combo lately. The Bordeaux wines, creams, and Spring greens. Perhaps it’s from looking outside and only seeing bleak tones of white, grey and brown for the past few months. I need something fresh yet a bit moody.

Adding stitching and layers also seems to be right up my alley as well. I can’t get enough texture!

I continue to challenge my machine to see how far I can push it. I used to be afraid to stitch on paper thinking I’d need a whole separate machine for my mixed media pursuits. I realized long ago that I was so very wrong.

I’m linking up with Art Journal Journey today with my Dear Diary journal page for the current theme of Every journal page tells a story.

Since a diary is very personal there are no actual words shown…they are all hidden. I know what is under the layers and that’s all that matters.

Dear Diary art journal page | Halle's Hobbies

This page ended up in my scrapbook journal. I can’t say enough how much I love working in loose sheets. It provides so much flexibility in mediums.

Art | Blog | Creativity

art journal, Art Journal Journey, scrapbook journal

6 Comments

halleday

201611/14

A Tale of Two Pages

This tale is about the “right way” and the “wrong way” to be creative…at least this is how it went for me this weekend.

Saturday in an attempt to kill some time while waiting for some laundry to finish, I decided to challenge myself again to create for the Art Journal Journey theme of Collage~no wings, no leaves, no faces. To begin, I tore a page from a vintage basic electric manual figuring it had some good background to it already. In addition I snagged a couple of random scraps from my worktable and took the works to the sewing machine.

I then did a bit of journalling along the edge of one of the scraps. Ok…still feeling it…the creative spark was there but dim.

I added some color…still good. Then I sprayed some black mist through my circle stencil. It was as if the mist put out the spark. Instead doing the smart thing and walking away at that point to regroup…I was still waiting for the stupid laundry cycle to complete so I just kept throwing more crap at the page.

I’m still not excited about this one but that’s ok. Challenges are just that…a challenge. Otherwise it would be called super happy fun time.

On Sunday while cleaning up my workspace I felt that creative spark again. This time I made a deal with myself not to push through if I wasn’t feeling it. I noticed a freebie art paper I had pulled from an old issue of Somerset Studio. So I had a great starting point…maybe an easy way to redeem myself.

Given the fact that this page has an eye on it it wouldn’t count for the challenge away.

I didn’t do a tom to the background…I used gelatos to intensify the colors in certain places, some outlining in white gel pen, lots of stamping, gesso through a stencil and heat embossing…but all in a very subtle way. After deciding on some layers of goodies including ink stained babywipes I adding stitching over my layers and around the page in a random fashion.

Some black paint splatters and added “eyeliner” were my final touch before looking for words. see possibility everywhere was just perfect.

So my lesson to myself was to know enough when to walk away. You can’t force it. I suppose it’s something like writers block…you can stare at a page but you can’t will the words or art to flow.

Art | Blog | Creativity

art journal, Art Journal Journey, challenge, ephemera, paint, scrapbook journal, stickers

7 Comments

halleday

201611/12

Escape from memory

This art journal page truly was a journal page…although after I spilled words all over the page in random thoughts I covered it up or at least obscured the writing enough as not to be read. The words were just for me and once written they could be forgotten. A mind dump, if you will.

The page has so many layers…I went in with a thought and then took it too far…way to busy of background. I just kept at it until it felt right. I used a Pitt pen and white gesso to create the striped lines.

Washi tape has been a go-to supply lately. I like to tear it before applying to the page so it appears more random…spreading a bit of paint over the washi helps to push it into the background and make a more cohesive look.

My love affair with circles shines through on this page. I have saved caps from bottles and jars in a variety of sizes that I dip into paint for mark making. The imperfection of these marks is the beauty to me.

Linking up with Art Journal Journey.

Art | Blog | Creativity

art journal, Art Journal Journey, challenge, paint, scrapbook journal, washi tape

5 Comments

halleday

201611/03

Taking chances

I had so much fun making this page! It didn’t go the way I planned…like at all but in reality I didn’t have much of a plan. I’m really enjoying blue and orange lately. I used gelatos over the top of a scrappy background that was glued down with ModPodge. I’m not a fan of this glue but I’m using what I have. The thing I do like is that once the surface is sealed with the ModPodge the gelatos move and blend so beautifully. That being said…if you don’t then seal them down with something they will just keep on moving and blending with subsequent layers. So I tried something…I used a foam brush and gently covered the page with another coat of the ModPodge. Shockingly it worked…other than the surface is a very plastic feel. Yet I pressed on.

I added black craft paint through a stencil then some washi tape. I ended up using the washi tape to cover some words I was originally planning to use. They fit in the beginning but by the end my thoughts had changed.

This sticker felt right and I couldn’t agree more. I added a bit of scribbling randomly around the page and a bit of journalling before calling this page a done deal.

Linking up with Art Journal Journey today for the November theme of Collage….but no faces, wings or leaves are allowed. It’s funny how often those things are used in my collages…and I’m sure many others have that same issue. :)

Art | Blog | Creativity

art journal, Art Journal Journey, collage, gelatos, scrapbook journal, washi tape

13 Comments

halleday

201610/31

Autumn’s amazing beauty

Our beautiful maple tree that is valiantly attempting to hang onto its leaves long after most are bare…

inspired me to create another art journal page yesterday.

I was also inspired to try some new things after watching several Journal on Monday videos by France Papillon. In some of her videos she uses a page from outside her journal just as I am…then attaches it later. This leaves you open to much wider possibilities.

Of course not being able to choose just one new technique to try…I did several. I love the added texture and dimension. The more I work on loose pages for my scrapbook journal, the more I like it. I’m not saying it will be my only way of journalling but it does provide me more freedom.

I’m linking up for the last time this month with Art Journal Journey.

Art | Blog | Creativity

art journal, Art Journal Journey, scrapbook journal

6 Comments

halleday

201610/17

Fall is Marvellous

Over the weekend I decided to dig deep into my supplies for a bit of “use it or lose it” type of editing. Not surprisingly my inner art supply hoarder found use for these items so I wouldn’t be able to justify getting rid of them.

I used torn bits of scrapbook papers, book page, mod podge, craft and distress paints, glimmer mists, fine glitter and embossing powder to cover the textured card stock. Honestly I wasn’t sure at this point if I’d gone WAY too far with it.

After layering the fabric, scrapbook paper and silk leaf I knew the page could be salvaged. I dug out some leaf shaped brads then heated and dipped them in several shades colors of embossing powder until I achieved the desired look. The framed letters were leftover from the title I made but never used on the cover of my Vintage Fashion altered book. The “L’s” are in reality “I’s” but you’d never have even known that had I not blabbed it to you.