Category Archives: art journal

Art journal week 3 Schooldays

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This was such a fun page to do but I could probably do a whole art journal about school days never mind just one page.
The prompt this week over at ukstampers is (if you haven’t guessed already) School days.
The page has to include:

  • jot down 10 random things about your school days
  • use lined paper
  • add ink blots and doodles in the margin

Just in case you can’t read my random thoughts they are:

  • pink custard
  • belted for ripping a book (those were the days when the teacher would ask you to hold out your hands, cross them over and the teacher would belt them with a leather strap – ouch!
  • navy gym pants – horrid!
  • climbing ropes – in the gym hall there was a massive climbing frame that could be pulled out from the wall and it had ropes on it
  • Janet and John books (TOGS will know about these) – oops I actually put this in as Jack and Jill but they were in fact Janet and John reading books.
  • walked to school
  • my best chum was Catherine
  • ‘has a tendency to daydream’ was a comment on one of my report cards
  • under 15 junior athletic champion
  • prefect then deputy head girl

I used graph paper as my background paper which I roughly painted white edges on.  I drew on a graph and added doodles.  I used to like colouring in squares and making patterns.  I wrote out the ten facts on lined paper which I then scanned, added ink blots and the ‘remember’ at the bottom.  This was printed onto acetate and I added white paint behind the pale blue ‘remember’ to make it show up a bit more.  Staples and a paper clip hold the two pieces together as they also remind me of school days.  The acetate reminds me of the overhead projectors that took ages to get just right.

Inks:  Black document ink, Distress ink Frayed burlap and Antique Linen
Stamps:  The Artistic stamper Ephemera 1 048A5
Paper:  graph and lined paper from a jotter, acetate
Other:  staples, paper clip, red pen

Art journal week 2 Gifts

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This weeks page is about gifts: we had to include our best and worst gift and also a piece of packaging or card or label etc.
For my best gift I chose cuttings and plants for pals and family to start our own garden off.  When I go around the garden now I am always reminded of each person, so much so that the plant’s name has changed to the friend’s name ie Cathy’s plant instead of saxifraga trifurcata.  For my worst gift I chose a sack of tulip bulbs that a friend gave us,which I have to say was extremely good of them, but we had spent ages digging the same ones out of our garden.  Not really a bad gift but the timing was just bad.  The following year my husband gave me terracotta tub full of exactly the same tulip bulbs too!!  The dragonfly is my piece cut from a recycled card – I think it had been a gift token card but I can’t remember now as I had only saved the picture side of the card.
I am not very happy with this page as it didn’t quite come out as I wanted.  The white pen soaked up the red ink and turned pink even though I had dried the ink first.

Inks/paint:  Stampin up Soft suede and Ruby red ink pads, Ballet pin, Spa blue and white acrylic paint, Distress crackle paint Frayed burlap
Card:  patterned paper from Anna Griffin, Grunge board letters,
Stamps:  Hero arts Single brush stroke, Studio G Alphabet, Dovecraft Fantasy Emblems
Other:  white gel pen, Distress stickles, cut out foiled dragonfly (added pink tinge to wings with a copic pen), brown glitter pen

Art journal week 1 Goals

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To herald in the new year I have given my blog a lovely new background and to start my new craft projects what better way than to try something a bit different.  ukstampers challenge this year is to make an art journal doing a page per week.  Each page should measure 15 x 10cm (mine is slightly wider as I am leaving a 2cm edge for whatever binding I choose) and each week we will be given a prompt and a list of things to include.

Week 1 The prompt is Goals and has to include:

  • handmade background paper
  • 3 things you want to achieve this year
  • a photograph

My background paper is hand made cotton rag paper (from eden project) painted with a mixture of acrylic paint and emulsion then stamped.  The photograph is actually of the journal page itself but reduced in size (and also a tiny  tucked into it).

Inks:  Stampin up Soft suede, Memento Tuxedo black, Stazon black
Card:  hand made cotton rag paper, acetate, photo paper, gold vellum
Stamps:  Stampin up Sense of time, Elusive images Diamond art, Technique Tuesday Bijou borders, Oxford Impressions Steampunk, Invoke Art tickets,
Other:  glossy accents, brad and washer, gold pen, sepia pen, watercolour pencils (to colour the tickets), acrylic paint Prussian blue, white and mauve, emulsion Almost sage