Just finished up the final Creative Jumpstart video and I can't say enough about what a great class it is. All 25+ talented artists are so inspiring and passionate about what they teach. Some of the artists I'd never heard of, and some are longtime favorites. I've taken many online classes and sometimes don't even finish them because I either get bored or it's information overload. I found myself anxious to see what was coming up next with CJ. The class itself is easy to maneuver through and the artists respond to question and comments in a timely manner. Although there is a link-type show and tell sharing section and comment area for each artist's video, the only thing I would add is a Facebook group for more interaction and ease of sharing. I always like those groups because it creates a sense of community. Thank you Nathalie Kalbach for putting the whole thing together!
For my own creative jumpstart I love to make backgrounds in one of my art journals, usually using a stencil. I have dozens of them and love to combine interesting color combinations by adding and subtracting and repeating the design. Sometimes I look at them and ask myself, "How did I do that?!" They turn out so cool that I don't want to add anything on top! I thought I would share some of them with you.
For our blog hop today we are focusing on health and wellbeing. Make sure to check out all of the talented designers to see how they interpret our theme this month. You will find the links at the end of my post.
Health and Wellness Art Journal Page
Art journaling is my way of figuring things out in more ways than one. It's a place where I play with a new product or technique. But it's also a way of purging or recording thoughts, quotes, ideas and feelings in a visual and creative way. There is something very therapeutic about writing my thoughts and feelings onto a blank page then covering them up with paint, stamps and stencils. Here is an art journal page that I made to remind myself to keep mind, body and spirit in balance for my own health and wellbeing. For this page, I used the large format, 12" x 14" Gel Press Plate.
Balance Art Journal Page
See my process creating this page in the snapguide below.
An easy way to make a quick journal is to use Gel Press® prints and bind them using a Bind-It-All spiral binding machine. If you don't have one, office supply stores like Office Depot have inexpensive spiral binding services. Check out my video showing how I made the covers using Gel Press® Plates.
Sometimes just making backgrounds in my art journal is therapy! I loved making these pages using some of my favorite StencilGirl Stencils. Each one started out as a gel print.
The idea behind an art journal is not to make a masterpiece but to play, work out ideas or use a new product. Here are a few more pages in this art journal doing just that.
Art Journal Page Using Face Stamp
An Exercise in Letting Go of Perfection
Junque Journals
My favorite journals are the ones I learned to make while taking Julie Balzer's "Make Your Own Junque Journal Class". They have a hand-sewn binding so there is no gap between pages like on a spiral bound journal. I made five junque journals, most using gel prints and patterned paper. The covers are created using canvas panels, Gel Press® prints, stencils and stamps.
Here are some of my favorite Junque Journal pages.
Collage Art Journal Page
Collage Art Journal Page
Thank you for visiting my (long) blog post today! Here are the links to the other designers blogs:
Check out my blog post today over on the Gel Press® blog where I have a tutorial on how I made these E-Cards.
What's an e-card? Well, I've had this idea for a while because I am shamefully bad at sending my family and friends birthday cards despite having dozens of handmade ones on hand. I am, however, very good at making sure to wish them a Happy Birthday on Facebook. So I though I could make a handmade card that I can share over and over again online while still share my art with them.
I often use my art journal to work out ideas for projects and this page was my "warm-up" for my project today.
What I learned by doing this was that I needed more of a focal point. As an artist, it's invaluable to use my art journal in this way. Honestly, I didn't want to show you this page because I didn't think it was good enough to put out there on cyber space for all to critique. But I thought it was important to show my process and how I work through ideas. Many people think that artists are born with talent, and a lucky few are. But most of us learn through trial and error, schooling, or a few classes here and there. How do you work out your artistic struggles and get inspired?
Thanks for visiting the blog today and don't forget to check out the Gel Press Blog for my tutorial.
I used hand painted fabric from my stash mixed with a few pieces of ribbon and denim.
June 22
I found the leaf rub-ons that I had didn't work well over all of the texture so I used gold paint and a stencil. The word rub-ons worked well though. Love the colors in this one.
The next two pages I experimented with image transfers using photocopies of artist, Frida Kahlo on pages in my art journal that I had cleaned off paint brushes and brayers.
I used a beautiful gift bag that I bought a few years ago at World Market as inspiration for the next pages. I really love the way it turned out!
Gift Bag
The reason I love art journaling so much is that I can do a "test run" of something I want to do on canvas and incorporate what I learned into a final project. I will probably do that with the last page, so stay tuned!
