Art Journal

A year or so ago I began my first art journal. Again, the workshop day at Art From The Heart in Harrogate was my inspiration; as well as running workshops on these days there are lots of sample journals, tags, mini books etc to view. I was hooked the minute I clapped eyes on  them; what a super way to use stamps, paints, inks, pens, crayons, collage images and to journal at the same time! I had also seen the Dylusions inks online and fallen in love with them and how easy they seemed to use, so I bought an inexpensive small sketchbook, some inks and templates and tried them out. I started in a small journal as I felt less daunted..less space to fill!

 

Once I had begun, I found the whole process really therapeutic! Some pages took ages, while others were quick. For me it wasn't a race. It was a case of enjoying each bit I added to the page.

 







 

The above two used golden paints for backgrounds. The inks were harder because the pages were not strong enough. In the end I taped two pages together to make a heavier weight; SUCCESS!!

 

 

Inks are much quicker than paints and you never know quite what you will get. I ink 1 page then fold the opposite one onto it, just as Dyan Reaveley shows on her videos; very messy! I had to get a craft scrubbie; excellent for cleaning inky fingers!

 





 

I use all sorts of stamps and collage images in my pages; Stampotique are a favourite as are Dylusions and Paper Artsy, but I will use any that take my eye. I use collage images from Tumblefish which I get from Deviant Scrap and also magazines.

 



 

This page is a combination of stamps and collage images. I saw a lovely froglet in mum's garden and decided to do something froggy...I found my Dylusions frog head and came up with this!

 



 

Once I had worked in my small journal for a time I decided to buy one of the Dylusions Perfect Journals. This is MUCH bigger, and offered more scope in some ways. This journal can take the spray inks without gluing pages together, and is lovely to work in.

 



 

I liked how this background turned out, and I loved using my new Grumpy Koala and Goat Monster stamps, both by Stampotique. Art journalling for me has been a great discovery; I find it relaxing and fun. I can lose myself in it for hours at a time and forget about those worries! I still use the work of others to inspire me, such as Dyan Reaveley, Kate Crane and Teesha Moore, but bit by bit I hope my own style is emerging.