Easy Art Journal Pages and Inspiration

Easy Art Journal Pages

When I need some inspiration, or if I'm struggling with something, or if I want to try out a new technique, I start a page for my art journal.

1. Shiva Paint Sticks

This is a page using Shiva paint sticks - a little project that takes about 20 minutes.

There are 2 pics of the final product, one using a scanner and one using a camera, at the start and end of this post. This shows the variation as embossed images can be tricky to photograph due to light reflecting.) Step 1: Grab some paper and shiva paint sticks. You have to peel the skin off the paint sticks to start the paint flowing. I used red and purple for my background.

Step 2: Build up layers of colour. I added blue, pink, peach, and green.

Step 3: Use a baby wipe to blend and remove colours. Add additional colours as you feel they fit.

Step 4: Pick a stamp. I used a magenta one below. Stamp in archival ink and emboss with clear embossing powder.

Step 5: Build up colours....... Just go in any direction you want.

Creating art journal pages lets you have free expression - something to create without a set of precise instructions and something based on how you feel at that moment....... a good time to try out new and crazy things, too.

2. Angel Page

I made this page, again, when I was thinking over things... Art journals are good for working through feelings and situations.

I painted the background black, and then I blended in water soluble oil paints to colour the background. I left them to dry overnight.

I then stamped the angel wings (Stampers Anonymous) and the letters (Making Memories) white white brilliance ink. I blasted it with the heat gun to set it. Inspiration for Art Jouralling Here are some links for some great inspriration for your art journals.

Lynne Perrella http://www.lkperrella.com/ Alphabetica http://www.amazon.com/Alphabetica-Z-Creativity-Collage-Artists/dp/1592531768/sr=1-1/qid=1170036501/ref=sr_1_1/102-2398784-3728133?ie=UTF8&s=books

Artists' Journals and Sketchbooks

http://www.amazon.com/Artists-Journals-Sketchbooks-Exploring-Creating/dp/1592530192/sr=8-2/qid=1170036403/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/102-2398784-3728133?ie=UTF8&s=books

Beryl Taylor

http://www.beryltaylor.com/

Mixed Media Explorations

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A267435&page=1

Maggie Grey http://www.workshopontheweb.com/

Paper, Metal, Stitch

Raising the Surface

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-1458728-2363625?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=maggie+grey

Techniques and Blog Eye Candy - More Inspiration

http://tryittuesdays.wordpress.com/

Claudine Hellmuth Cloth Paper Scissors

Quilting Arts Art by Laurence Menhinick - felt bags, felt beads, textile manipulation, mixed media( Laurence Moni)

Assemblog of Michael deMeng michelle ward

be crafty be happy Etsy Labs magstitch Purple Missus Tejae's Art http://20six.fr/anne/cat/211512/0/Mixed_Media The Artful Mama Stamping-Art

[i] LoveLife Nina Bagley

Aisling

Keeping an Art Journal

If you are interesting in starting an Art Journal or just looking for a project for 2008, be sure to pop back tomorrow. We have something planned that is so exciting!!!!!

Joy!!

HELP!!!

We are desperately trying to locate "Heather from Scotland" and "Sharon Peters" who both won prizes during our October Boobs campaign. Please send your addies to acreativeworld@hotmail.co.uk and we will send your prizes to you. If anyone knows these girls we would appreciate your help in contacting them

And just a reminder that our Just Giving Page is still open!!! Thanks for your generousity!!!

Altered Clipboard – Blackboard

Hello all, hope you are still enjoying what we are bringing you each day. Today I am doing an altered clipboard with a bit of a twist, I am sure a lot of you have already played with altering clipboards with paint, paper and photos, but today I am turning one into a blackboard to use as a shopping list because I know that whenever I do a list at the last minute to go shopping I ALWAYS forget something, well not anymore I write down things we need as we are running out then transfer it to my paper list to take with me. I started with a plain MDF bingo board, you can usually find these in pound stores, I started by sanding down the edges a bit as they were a little rough, then gave it a coat of white acrylic paint, just roughly painting it. When it was dry I gave it the first coat of blackboard paint, mine is by International and was bought at FOCUS, it takes 2 hours to be touch dry and needs a good 16 hours before you apply the second coat. I painted back and front with two coats. When your blackboard is completely dry you can decorate it as you wish, I used Moda Fabrics paper by DaisyD’s in a vintagey style of pale blue and pink to cut the title, cream cotton lace for the border and lashings of pink and pale blue ribbons of all different weights and designs. I punched a hole in the bottom left corner using my cropadile for some ribbon to hold the chalk and just tuck it into the bow to stop the kids from fiddling. I hope I have inspired you today, enjoy playing Trish xxx

Guest Designer time! Welcoming Jakey :)

Hi! Jakey here, and I’m very honoured to be invited by the Creative World team to share a li’l technique of mine with you today. I’ve been playing with transparency – well, who hasn’t, eh? And I’ve had some fun making and adapting my own ‘ghost lettering’ to add to cards, layouts and other projects. Transparent letters can be quite expensive to buy – but they’re so easy and economical to make! Great fun too, and they give you a fab opportunity to get your hands grubbied up with paint and inks… now what could be better? So, to start with, you will need some supplies – but it’s almost certainly the sort of stuff you have in your stash already! You’ll need: Inkjet transparency sheets Assorted acrylic paints A pen that will write on glossy surfaces – a slick writer or gelly roll. Inks – chalk and/or alcohol Any bits you want to add… beads, glitter, bling, buttons… whatever. You’ll also need access to a PC or some lettering templates. I make mine in Microsoft Publisher, but you could use Word, or whichever DTP program you use normally. If using good old fashioned lettering templates, just place template over the acetate sheet and trace the letters! Cut out, and decorate – nothing could be easier. If you plan to make them with Publisher I have added some instructions here for you to follow. For the beginners amongst us, I have assumed no prior knowledge - so all you PC whizzkids, do not be offended please! Open publisher and choose blank page > word art (left hand side). Select highlighted box on top upper left, giving you an outline font. Type your title word. Select edit text and choose font >choose bold. Click text box to select and stretch word to the size you require. In edit text choose format text > grey > at 1 point. The reason you want grey is to avoid deep black outlines. You are going to cut these letters out and the grey outline is for guidance only. Cut just inside the lines, so your transparency letter is clear of any markings. (This, you may like to add back in later with a slick writer style pen for a freestyle look). Print title word out at desired size. Cut out and you're ready to play! Do remember to set your printer to ‘mirror image’ or reverse printing and to print onto the rough side of the acetate. This way, you can flip it over once printed, and the good smooth side will be the side that shows on your project. So - You now have your blank ‘ghost letters’, which you can grunge up, jazz up, colour up, doodle on – however your mood takes you! 1. The letter has been cut out and dry brushed with acrylic paints. 2. I’ve added some scribbled circles to the letter here. 3. Next I blobbed paint onto the circles. 4. Then added some doodling detail – and I’m done! Took minutes! A different style. Flowers and dots! And again, but with a bit of chalk ink smudged on the back – who says you can’t do freestyle lettering? Lol! Read on for some tips on having fun with these versatile letters – but why stop at lettering? Print out butterflies, birds, flowers, stars… anything you like! Paint them, doodle on them, add glitter, bling, alcohol inks…. your imagination is your only limit! A few tips for enjoying these versatile letters/shapes! The transparency will accept acrylic paint very well. Paint on the back (rough side) for more durability. Or paint on the front and scratch some paint off for a grungy look. You can completely cover the letters with paint or dry brush as I have here. Use a slick writer to doodle outlines, circles, flowers, dots or stars… or whatever you want to go on them. Write on them, add glitter, buttons and beads… Alter the colour with alcohols inks, or stamp over them using stazeon inks for a permanent finish. Why not paint first – then stamp over? You really can do so much with them – and can customise them easily to fit your project. I’m sure you can think of lots more ways to use this technique. Just remember to have fun whatever you do! Happy Scrappin! Jakey xx A HUGE thanks to Jakey from the Creative World team - there's a little something on it's way to you in the post!! ;)

Altered memories.....

Hey hey it's Friday!! And time for the weekend, which means shopping, family days out and often a party to attend. And here at it's a creative world we like to make gifts that are a little different and meaningful. Now I wonder how many of you have little wooden boxes lying around your house, just because you're an artist and CAN'T possibly throw anything out :) I know I do and in fact I have had one in my side table drawer for about 8 months that I knew I would use one day....um actually my lovely DH found it and brought it home for me ;) So today we are going to turn a plain, ordinary, little wooden box............... .........into a treasure chest! A place to keep all those tiny precious keepsakes, those things you know you could never part with, those things that take you back to the days you held your tiny baby in your arms, those things that would get lost if you didn't have a place to keep them safe.

Give the box a light sand to start with, then a few coats of acrylic paint. I wanted to give it a slightly worn look so I sanded it again making sure I exposed the wood on the edges, it also gave the paint a smooth look, cause I am a bit of a streaky painter! Then you need to add some embellishments and this is the part where you can really let your imagination fly and create some awesome effects with kitchen roll and PVA glue, or decoupage. And then finish off with a few layers of sealer, I used modge podge, just to give it a little protection.

So there you have it, from plain, to gift in a few hours, and of course this idea is not limited to baby showers, you can make boxes to keep treasures from weddings, special birthdays, childhood, earings on a dressing table.....the list is endless!

Thanks for visiting and as always from us here at it's a creative world, have a great day and happy creating!

Caz

xx

Kids Creating Art

I'm sure that all of us deal with Children in one way or another. Whether you are a parent, carer, teacher or someones relative we all are involved in some way. What better way to create a keepsake than by getting the kids involved in the Art itself. Some of the us ladies on IACW have been getting crafty with our children and here are some ideas you might want to have a go at! Enjoy!!! Cath xx Andrea I am a teacher in A Special Needs School and also the Art Co-ordinator so the children in my class do a lot of art! A couple of weeks ago I set them a challenge to make an art gallery to brighten up a corner of the classroom. They really took the challenge to heart and produced some fantastic pictures on the theme of 'landscapes'. I thought I would share this on It's A Creative World as I know a lot of you will be at home with your children over the long summer holidays and will need to fill in the odd rainy afternoon.

These pictures were all made with just coloured tissue paper and pva glue. I was so amazed at how well they came out, especially when you take into consideration that these children all have very severe special needs and are only 7 and 8 years old. Just tear the tissue into strips, glue onto the background using pva and then cover the whole thing in another layer of pva to seal it and to give it a shiny finish.

This method could be adapted to create colourful art for your home by taking on a theme of spaceships, seaside, sunshine, under the sea etc. and your children could make an original work of art for their bedroom.

Love from Andrea x

Cath

I decided to get my son Corey involved in making a canvas for my kitchen. Not only did i make a work of art but also a unique keepsake. Keepsakes are very precious to me. Corey was a very sick little boy when he was born 12 wks early and spent 5 months in hospital. During those times, not being a scrapbooker then, i didn't value the concept of keeping everything so to have memories for the future. I truly understand how important it is now.

I picked up a canvas at Home Bargains for £1.99 and used the paint i already had so that is literally all this cost me! This really couldn't be any simpler. I basically painted Coreys hands with a variety of colours and the pressed his hand down on the canvas to make the pattern.

You can obviously just let the child go for it but i wanted something that was somewhat neat. But if you aren't bothered about that then just let them rub their hands in paint and go for it. The result, i think, is a stunning work of art and one that will have pride of place on my wall! Thanks! Cath xx

Joy 2 fabulous projects from Joy!

Shells

Materials: Shells, bag/bucket, water, Adirondack inks, plastic tubs, paper towels/newspaper/messy mat, spatula, bowl

This is a simple project you can do yourself or with kids of any age. My 2 year old son helped me, and he's still talking about it :0)

Collect your shells from the beach... Look for bright colours - anything that grabs your interest. (I even gather little rocks - heart shaped ones - for other projects.) Wash them thoroughly, and leave them out to dry.

Then fill small plastic tubs with water and add a few spritzes of Adirodack colour wash of your choice in each tub. You just want enough water to cover the shells you place in each tub. Leave them overnight to soak.

Have a messy mat (or old plastic table cloth - something you don't mind getting paint on) and paper towels ready. Line the messy mat with paper towels. Gently remove the shells using a spatula or spoon. Pour the excess water down the sink (but leave the water running a bit to rinse any dye from the tub). The shells should be ready for use in a few hours.

Then pick a lovely bowl for display. :0)

PAINTING with your kids with Berol Water Soluble Wax sticks opens up a WHOLE NEW WORLD of creativity... I had the adult version for messy play, and I went looking for some for Calum that would survive little hands. These fabby little things are coated in plastic for easy grip, and the break down easily when dipped in water to make opaque paint - so easy, so much fun, and something just a little bit different to try with kids....

Trish

I used 2 6x6 canvases

Anitas acrylic paint

Anitas metalic acrylic paint

Black felt tip pen

The hands of 2 small children

The handprints, outlines and writing on each canvas were done by my 6 year old and 4 year old kids.

It says ***** right hand, aged *

They had great fun doing this and getting covered in paint, a lovely gift for a family member.

Art Room Sign... MeSsy pLaY

Hi, it's Joy here, *waving madly* at everyone!!!! It’s time for some

MESSY play. This project is just about letting yourself go… and only doing a little bit of creating at once…

say for 15 minutes… then putting it down and coming back to PLAY a little bit more. You have to stop to let stuff dry, but it will also give you time to let your CREATIVITY do leaps and bounds while you see what directions this project takes you. And it can be ANY STYLE. Do what YOU like. And please leave me a link so I can see it. :0) Materials You can do this with ANY MATERIALS – there are NO RULES for messy play :0) But I will let you know what I used just for fun…. Small canvas board Scraps (I used painted hearts (oils but any will do) as things to add to your sign.) Queen of clubs (face and hair) Traced stamps and images for wings and dress Artgirlz crown Artgirlz and Blonde Moments rubber stamps Clear embossing powder Glossy accents Brilliance ink. Versamark ink Microbeads Glue (I like thicky sludgy mod podge or gel gloss, but use what you like)

PAINTS – Use any acrylic paint (something thick to give you texture). Also metallic paints are good for highlighting. I used twinkling H20s, lumieres, acrylics (Ranger), Stewart Gills, watercolour crayons.

Melting pot – wax, UTEE (or both) Paper (to be painted)

Ribbon

Hole punch

Baby wipes to clean stamps and your fingers…

Cling film technique – Collage Discovery Workshop – Beyond the Unexpected

The Messy Play Adventure Preparing….15 minutes or so…. PAINT your sign (canvas board or card – anything sturdy) first. Just do one layer – one or two colours. Also PAINT your paper in varied colours. You’ll make BEADS out of it later. LEAVE it all to dry. FIND your scraps. I chose previously painted hearts. Any thing you like will do – paper, images, leftover pretty things… Whatever calls out to you. GATHER your favourite stamps and paints and set them in front of you for inspiration. Adding…Part 1… 15 minutes… Everything should be dry now. :0) ADD some more layers of paint to your canvas. I used watercolour crayons (colours dipped in water – GREAT FUN!!!!)

to streak colours and draw hearts (not visible in the final canvas). I think used thick acrylic paint and cling film to create texture in various paints. This technique is described in detail in Collage Discovery Workshop. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collage-Discovery-Workshop-Beyond-Unexpected/dp/1581806787/ref=sr_1_13/203-2622484-6921513?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181495295&sr=8-13.

Now is also the time to cut and ROLL your paper to make beads (use your glue). Leave everything overnight to dry. Adding… Part 2… 25 minutes. Start adding images and texture. Stamp and emboss… Put your main image on and colour with paint, ink, markers, anything you like. Squish it, make dots, make swirls, use as many colours as you would like. Paint over things, add in paper, just PLAY. I added the queen and hearts at this stage and some stamped words (“dream it, see it”- Artgirlz http://www.artgirlz.com/ and “Create, Play, Enjoy” – Blonde Moments http://www.blondemoments.com/ ). If you use paint – leave it overnight again.

Adding… Part 3 – 20 minutes. This is all about adding LAYERS and building up images that you like. I then stamped over my scrap hearts and embossed them with gold brilliance ink. I added more embossed (Artgirlz) stars and moons over the painted board. I used clear embossing powder on everything. You can keep going until you are happy. And the best part is if you don’t like – you can work over it. :0)

Adding… Part 4 – 20 minutes. More texture…. I have to confess that this was an accident. I wanted to use UTEE, but I couldn’t get my wax out of my melting pot. So I added UTEE and flex to the wax and melted it all together!!!!! I inked my stamps with Versamak at the same time. I used my melting tool spoon to pour bits of wax on the canvas, and then I put my inked stamps in and pressed…. When I took them out, I gently highlighted them with metallic paints. Beads… 15 minutes.

You can add as much as you want. :0) When you’re done with your sign, make two holes in the board to string some ribbon through. Weave your beads through the ribbon, and tie it off. You know have a dedicated art room (or other) messy play sign to lift your spirit.

We hope you're all enjoying reading our blog and picking up some ideas for projects of your own. Leave a comment for us today or tomorrow for the chance to be entered into a draw to win a *fantastic* kit from the fabulous ScrapaGoGo!!