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.

Cut-ups for Cards

More cut-up fun. In May my family has a lot of birthdays, we get together and celebrate them along with Mother's Day. I don't usually make cards but was having such a good time with paper cut-outs I decided to make cards for the family. Especially since the price of a card is about $5.00, or more!!

These images were inspired by a fabulous artist, Mikel Casal from Spain. I have his book Drawing Words and love his illustrations.

My sister loves crosses and her last name is Cross...so thought this was a perfect card for her.

I used circle punches and decided to add the remnants from the black paper to the inside of the cards.

And why not decorate the envelopes as well. I am so obsessed I just ordered more circle punches in different sizes....can't wait to play. These are perfect designs for Zentangle® patterns.

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.

Gelatos on a Paper Bag Journal Page

Rita Barakat is a fabulous Mixed Media artist.....she uses Gelatos by Faber Castell in a lot of her work... I love,love Gelatos. When you subscribe to Rita's newsletter she often includes an art video in which she demonstrates products and comes up with some cool things to do with them.

 This week she was using Gelatos....she made some beautiful cards.  I got out one of my Recycle/Smash Art Journals and turned to a fold out paper bag page to try Rita's technique using gesso, stamps and Gelatos.

 

Scribble Gelatos all over the page, add water and blend with a paint brush.

Rita painted one of her colorful girl characters to put on a card, I decided to paint a funny pocket watch to collage onto my journal page.

I love using cut paper shapes in my journals, this is the finished page...image from a magazine, black paper cut-outs, pocket watch painted on watercolor paper and gel pens.

Quirky Bird

Oh my gosh don't you just love Pinterest. When I need inspiration I love to pour through art and craft books and magazines, I am one of those people who have stacks and stacks of ripped out pages of things that caught my eye and journals full of quickly jotted down ideas. Then along comes Pinterest, I don't have to dig through my closet anymore to find that one page of inspiration or try to find my long lost idea in one of my many journals. I cherish these journals and stacks of stuff and still rely on them.... but really love that quick fix of just looking through my Pinterest boards.

About a year ago I saw some wonderful work on Pinterest using book pages, something I have always loved to do. As a recycle artist I have tons of old and rescued books and love the old pages, even the smell of an old book page puts me in heaven. I combined a little gesso, Zentangle® and Inktense pencils and had a great time drawing quirky little birds. I recently filmed a YouTube for Design Originals demonstrating this fun art project.

I also have a passion for stencils, so many artists are turning their personal styles into really beautiful stencil designs. When I went to the Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show earlier this year I finally got to meet one of my favorite artists, Mary Beth Shaw aka Stencil Girl. What I wouldn't give to have every single stencil in her line...but alas I had to choose. I had some fun with them recently, Mary Beth graciously posted my project on her blog today. Take a minute to scoot over there, she has guests artists on her blog all the time...and they come up with some fabulous ways to use stencils. 

Since I am in love with these stencils I decided to combine one of them with my birds and book pages,  this page was created with Shattered, I used gesso on the stencil and then colored it in with Inktense and outlined it all with a Sakura micron pen......fun!!

Mr. Potato Head

 I admit it I love the old toys that remind me of my childhood....which was some time ago. When I was a kid they introduced Mr. Potato Head and for those who don't remember.....it was a bunch of plastic parts like eyes, ears, noses and hats which had a little plastic stake attached to them....you simply got a real potato and stuck them where you wanted them. I came up with some really cool combinations and remember the smell of a rotting potato to this day! You should never leave a dressed up potato under your bed for more than a day or two.....just sayin'.

Decided to pay my respects to Mr. Potato Head the other day in the studio, this was so much fun.

                                       To begin, a little collage and paint on watercolor paper.

                                      Mr. Potato Head image added and beginning to paint....
                                      I like to add lots of colors in small doses to the image.

Here's to you Mr. Potato Head.....hope to do Mrs. Potato Head soon.

Can I do Minimalism?

I admit it, I have a tendency to decorate a canvas....just seems I get carried away with color and marks and stencils and stamps...oh my!!.....and paper.

The other day while looking for watercolor paper in my studio I found a huge sheet of 300lb cold press paper. It always seemed too thick and coarse before but this time it spoke to me. Already full of texture and weight I decided to use a minimal amount of "decoration".

Chicks

While I normally begin everything with gesso I decided to use a stick of charcoal to draw and then to keep it from smearing while I was painting I sealed it with matte medium. Yikes, it really smeared when I started brushing on medium....but I went with it. Sometimes mistakes make the best art. After it dried I used watered down Golden fluid acrylics....about 3 layers of color.

Drifting

I added more black with oil pastels and black ink......I like it. It's a very restful way of working, simple but colorful....and just a little mark making.

Crosswise

I also love experimenting with small, odd-shaped canvas. This one is a 4 x 12.....a little gesso, Golden fluid acrylics and black ink.