Journals, Gelatos and Paper Punches

I now have quite a collection of paper punches - circles in all sizes and a few squares too. I love using cut up and punched paper and have searched every nook and cranny in my studio to find all of my old paper. Using old paper for cut-ups in a junk journal is a fabulous way to repurpose paper you were never very fond of.

 

This pink paper with big lips has been in my stash a very long time, it works great for a dress for my paper doll and as a border on the adjacent page. The paper doll has been glued to an envelope in my junk journal that I stamped and colored with Gelatos. The sheet music page is actually a fold out with additional cut papers on the inside.

 

This is black cardstock and an old calender page in one of my junk journals. I love the simple beauty of the stark white and yellow on the black page. All I used was a few circle punches and a glue stick.

 The flower side of this journal page is a greeting card I gessoed, then used black paint to sponge on a stencil pattern and colored with Gelatos. The house journal page is a piece of poster board which had previously been used, I gessoed it - added a few stamps in Staz-On brown and colored with Gelatos. When I adhere paper to a surface which has been colored with Gelatos I use a liquid glue such as Elmer's Glue-All.

I have also been experimenting with cutting tools, next post I will give a few tips for how to use some of these tools to come up with fun and funky shapes.

Paper Cut-ups for Art Journals

 Loving the Mid-Century Modern Designs. I recently ordered the book Mid-Century Modern Patterns with artwork by Jenn Ski. These shapes are perfect for using up my scrap papers.
Just got out my scissors and hole punches and started making shapes. It was fun to build upon each page.

         I used black and brown cardstock as well as the inside of an envelope for paper cut-outs.

 Blue cardstock in one of my Smash journals, I cut shapes from the page itself then added cut and punched shapes with black, brown and turquoise paper.

The trick to building all the images and layers on each page is the glue....my oh my how I struggle with glues. I have tried glue sticks, Elmer's Glue-all, Modge Podge, Golden Matte Medium, spray glues, adhesive dots, double stick tape, Zip-Dry....everything I can get my hands on. There is no right glue to use for everything.....Zip-Dry is a favorite of mine for the heavier papers. Glue sticks are great for small images and lightweight papers. But to tell the truth I use them all at some point......the great experiment continues - still seeking the best all around glue!! Open to all suggestions.