Strathmore Visual Journals

     Most of the time my preferred medium is acrylic paint. They work so beautifully with the recycled journals I normally work in. I also love the Strathmore Visual Journals...they have drawing, mixed media, bristol board, and my favorite...watercolor paper.  After watching Strathmore's latest online workshop, Watercolor Sketching with Cathy Johnson I decided it was time to experiment with my long ignored watercolors. Until I picked up a few tips from Cathy's workshop I had always felt like all I created with watercolors was a muddy mess.

     I discovered my favorite pages were the ones I first laid a little color on, either leftover color on a wet brush applied to the page or wetting the page first and spreading dabs of color. Once this was dry I then drew shapes with a pencil and started painting. Drawing the same basic shapes on different pages gave me a chance to perfect the brush strokes needed for curved areas. With a little practice I was able to create light and dark areas.....my favorite watercolor effect.

    Of course I had to add a few tangles to one of them, most of the patterns are from Sandy Steen Bartholmew's books. I first erased the pencil lines I had drawn for the original shapes...this gave me a chance to come back in with watercolors and create an aura or shadow around them.

     I also learned just one swoop of color on the brush isn't enough for me....I let some areas dry and came back in with at least another brush or two of color to deepen portions of the image. All of these pages are now ready for journaling or zentangle art...which one?

Colorful "Stash style" cover for Art Journals

     Several people have asked for more detail on how to create the journal cover I used for the front of my book 'Stash and Smash'. Here's the trick, I use both my fingers and a palette knife to apply the paint. If I use a brush it looks too blended for me. I make sure each layer is dry before adding a second color on top, and keep a baby wipe handy to scrub away a small portion of the paint.

     The base I used is chipboard, or in my case the back of an old watercolor tablet. I cut it to desired size for my journal and apply two coats of gesso to each side. One coat of gesso horizontal, when dry the second coat vertically...more texture that way.

     I then apply sheet music and colored tissue paper with Golden matte medium.

     Using my fingers I add patches of heavy body acrylic paint all over the cover, more of a "hit and miss" style of application rather than lines of color. When this layer is dry I use a palette knife to skim over portions of the previously applied paint. Sometimes I will add a third layer on top, it just depends on how I feel about the overall look of color.

 

     When these layers of paint are dry I add white tissue papers which have been stamped with a couple of my favorite stamps, the eye and the crisscross pattern are both on tissue paper.

     I use heavy gel medium to add the wine bottle eyelashes, as well as the coin, plastic palm tree and El Musico card in the picture below.

  
     The matchbox cover and other paper ephemera are stuck on with duck tape. After all the objects are affixed to the journal cover I use my fingers to lightly blend paint colors over them so the piece will seem more cohesive.

 

  The last step is regular stamps (I always use Staz-On ink pads since they are permanent) and a white gel pen for embellishments.

  I bind this type of journal one of two ways.
     Punch holes in it and use binder rings or bind it with a Zutter or other spiral binding machine. You can also take it to your local office supply for spiral biinding. If you do take it to the office supply be sure the side to be bound is flush, they are not able to bind irregular shaped journals.....I found this out the hard way!!
     Tip: Add watercolor paper, scrap paper and old art pieces cut to size as journal pages.

Journal, journal, journal.

Seems that's all I do these days. I look forward to creating in my journals every day. It's been a really busy week for me - I've taught two "Stash and Smash" journal classes - my husband was in the hospital for knee replacement - and don't even get me started on everything else my week held. Thank goodness for journaling, it's a great way for me to unwind and let go of it all.

                                                                CHA make and take.

I really enjoy sharing my journal ideas with others. Making them from recycled materials seems to take the pressure off...less fear of your art not being worthy...or some such thing. The recycle journals I make are from paper bags and old envelopes - free stuff! I add gesso, paints, papers, images and  markers to really layer them up. A lot of my images come from old magazines. I love this one it reminds me of one of my favorite, fun songs - "On Top of Spaghetti" - remember that one?

                                                                Recycled journal page

At the end of January I attended the Craft and Hobby Association conference to premiere my new book Stash and Smash ... art journal ideas. It was wonderful...Sandy Steen Bartholomew was there doing make and takes as well as Mark Montano and Joanne Fink. Suzanne McNeill received a much deserved  Industry Achievement Award. Mark Montano even set in on one of my make and takes....so exciting, he is a real sweetheart.

                                   Sandy Bartholomew, Suzanne McNeill, me, Mark Montano. 

Zentangle® Art Show

In October 2011 I had the great pleasure of attending Certified Zentangle Training in Providence, Rhode Island. The Providence Inn was a delightful hotel and was mostly occupied by us tangle types.  Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, the founders of the Zentangle drawing style, are very inspiring and such a pleasure to spend time with.  I have been happily drawing and experimenting with Zentangle for over a year and am so grateful to now have more knowledge about this art form and finally feel successful with the ones I found difficult to draw. Yay ....I can now whip out a W2 and Huggins pattern quick and easy.

There are other CZT's in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Angie Vangalis is one of them and has been spreading the Zentangle message for a while now. For the second year she has put together a Zentangle Art Show at the Irving Arts Council in Irving, Texas.  I entered some of my art in the show.  There are some very creative pieces in the Zentangle art exhibit. The opening is January 15th, 2p til 4p. The show is on now and runs through January 27th.

 A piece I entered in the show, "What a Hoot".  Microns and Inktense pencils on Bristol board, coated with gloss medium, 9"x9". I framed it in a black square 12"x12" frame with a black mat.

 Two of the pieces I saw at the show were created by someone who is not a CZT, but had taken classes from one of my fellow CZT students. Sandhya Manne became a CZT in October at CZT7, the same time I was there.  She has begun giving classes and should take great pride in the fact her teaching has already blossomed in this artist who has presented an intricate silver point on black piece and a marvelous acrylic canvas piece with Zentangle patterns. Becoming a CZT is a worthwhile endeavor and promotes our own artistic venture, it only makes it more worthwhile when as a teacher of Zentangle you see your students go on to create their own individual works, Congratulations Sandhya ....you done good!

                         

                                                  

Jeepers Peepers and Zentangle®

Every Christmas I make a few things for a local art and craft bazaar. It's hosted by Martha Howell, a Mixed Media artist who clears out her studio space and invites artists and crafters from the Dallas/Fort Worth area to offer their wares for sale.

                                                Drawn on paper before adhering to lens.

One of the items I made this year is a favorite recycle craft of mine. I turn old eyeglass lens into pins and pendants by decoupaging images onto the backside of the lens using gloss medium, matte medium or Modge Podge.  This year, since I am hooked on Zentangle, I decided to draw images using tangles. I love 'em, and they are super easy to make.

                                                               Image adhered to lens.

Instructions for Jeepers Peepers

Trace the shape of the lens onto paper
Tangle your design inside that shape.
Cut the shape out.
Cover the inside of the lens and the image with gloss or matte medium, then press into place.
Rub really well for no bubbles and cover the outside of the image with the medium, let dry.

                                                              Image attached to lens.

I then painted the back black, and coated it again with the medium.
I liked the look of the pin better when I went around the outside lens rim with a black Sharpie...it masks the clear rim of the lens.
When it was completely dry I used E6000 adhesive to attach a pin back. (You can also purchase pin backs with a pendant attachment so it can be worn as either a pin or necklace.)
For added durability I glued a small piece of black felt over the pin attachment.

                                                                       Back of pin.

That's it, I call them Jeeper Peepers, after that fun old song....sung by Louis Armstrong. These eyeglass pins have sold well for me, people love the story and the re-purposing of old eyeglasses.

This is Martha's 38th year...she is aiming for the 40 year mark.  If you live in the area you really should attend, so many amazing handmade items for gift giving. Here is a link to the Ladybugs 38th Annual Christmas Collection.

A Fascinator...made quick and easy.

     I don't wear hats. Some people look marvelous in them...but not me. My mom, my sister and I have discovered we can't wear hats because we have small heads. Who knew...but it's true, hats just don't fit.

     A couple of years ago I was at a craft show and saw a booth of amazing little hats. They were small, fit on the head with a headband and chock full of the most outrageous and gorgeous “stuff” I had ever seen on a hat. Recently my mom asked me if I had a hat she could borrow for a program she was attending the next day at her local Women's Club. “Nope, mom I don't wear hats, but I will be right over to make you a Fascinator.” I had learned this term when I approached the hat lady at the craft booth. These marvelous little pieces of art “for the head” are called Fascinators.

                                                              Completed Fascinator

     Don't you just love YouTube?, I quickly did a search for “how to make a fascinator” then ran out to my studio to gather up some things I could glue to a headband, stopped at Michaels for a few flower picks and some tulle and hit the road to mom's.

                                          Felt cut in circle, applied around rim with hot glue.

     I don't generally care a lot for using hot glue but this was an emergency...so I hot glued all the items to the headband. I am sure the hat lady in the craft show nicely sewed her items on and carefully constructed them, but for a quick headpiece you just can't beat hot glue.

                              Felt covered lid, additional circle cut from felt to cover completely.

Basics of it are ….take a headband, any headband..hot glue ribbon around it. I used a lid from a margarine tub for a round base (got this idea from YouTube), which I covered with felt and then glued all these fun items to. It is basically just gluing a bunch of stuff to the base and then gluing the base to the headband. Check out YouTube for additional ideas.

                                                              Mom and Fascinator. 

     Mom called me after her meeting, everyone loved it! Yay!!..thank goodness, wasn't sure if mom was really into this “fascinator hat” as much as she pretended !  This is fun.... try it for the holidays. Think about it ….you could glue anything to it, my next one may be a little miniature mixed media art piece.

Inktense Pencils Rock!!

Okay...it's been a year since I posted  anything on my blog.  Guess it is about time I  get back in the swing of things.  There are many fabulous artists and crafters sharing online.  I have learned so much from them.  Almost any technique or product you can think of now has a  YouTube video or a blog with related instructions.  I love this!! So I decided it was time to share more of mine.

This year has been a busy one for me, I was really excited when I was asked last year to write a book about Bottle Art, it was published June of 2010 by Design Originals.  I have been saving old bottles (mostly wine bottles) and jars for years.  The wine bottles line my flower beds and become bottle trees.  They also make some great assemblage art, glasses and jewelry...just use the small broken pieces.  In my studio very little goes to waste. Some of my best times creating art comes when I have to brainstorm new ways to use recycled materials.

                                                       I love to draw eyes in my creatures.

Recently I have been doing a lot of journaling, it has now become one of my favorite art forms.  Each page can be devoted to a new technique, thought or theme and it gives me the chance to try out my many art supplies. Are you anything like me?  Gotta use those coupons from the craft store so you end up with art stuff you simply forget about.  Or worse...don't even know what the heck it is.

I have heard several artists rave about the Inktense pencils from Derwent...so with one of my coupons I purchased a set.  I had assumed they were like most watercolor pencils but kept hearing how intense the colors were.  They are aptly named,  the Inktense pencils are so...so wonderful.  I have used them in a lot of my art now and journal pages...these are perfect for mixed media artists.  They can be added to your other art work, small touches with them can make a big difference.

 

My favorite way to use them right now is simply to draw with a Sakura Micron pen on an old book page and color it in with my Inktense pencils.  I normally gesso everything before working on it but this is an experiment in minimal materials...usually done at night before bed.  Just me, the book, the markers and Inktense pencils.  I also use the refillable water color brushes, the H2O watercolor brush that comes in a little plastic tube with a brush on the end. Heaven...love the color in my creatures...I plan to fill the whole book with these fun and colorful drawings.