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Watercolour

Stamps. Collage. Colour Pencils. Ink & Stains. Writing in your Journal. Oil Pastel Tiplets. Finally! I know, I know it - you guys are saying 'what the heck took this girl so long with the Oil Pastel Tiplets? '. Well, here they are. Before reading further - it's important to say three little words to yourself. This. Is. Fun. Just in case you thought you were in college or being graded or tested or interviewed for that spot next to PICASSO - YOU ARE NOT. My goal here: to get you to create something with your own fingers, perhaps in a medium you are unfamiliar with - TO REMIND YOU THAT THERE IS AN ARTIST IN US ALL. Okay. Alright - let's get to know oil pastels. Step 1: Get the goods.

Step 2: It's all good - and what I mean by that is IT REALLY IS. Step 3: Draw anything. Step 4: Lighten up, Larry. Step 5: Block in colours. Step 6: Keep going. Step 7: MORE! Step 8: Use colours to blend. Step 9: grab a pencil! Memories... Dare... Basic, but still beautiful. Good luck with that! Self Portrail Stencil. I am soooo excited about this one. Please do try it, especially you journal artists. It is a lot more fun than you'd think to manipulate images of yourself. Although I make stencils a lot, it had never occurred to me to do a self-portrait until I read Randi Feuerhelm-Watts' brilliant book, Wide Open.

If you don't have her book, go get it today. So many inspiring ideas! Okay, let's get to it. Materials you need: Clear photograph of yourself, preferably a self-portrait Photoshop, PE (Photoshop Elements), or other photo editing software. Making the Stencil The first thing you need to do is to select a good photograph. Once you find the right photograph, you need to simplify and turn it into b&w in Photoshop or PE. Next, change your image to black & white and simplify it a bit: Image/Adjustments/Threshold. Remember: Everything that is Black you will be cutting away. Finally, Save your document immediately! Cutting the Stencil This is the easy and not so easy part. Ta-da! Thanks. Wax paper and art journals. By aisling d'art ©2006 I use wax paper to separate damp art journal pages so that they don't stick together. Wax paper is inexpensive, very slightly porous (so the pages dry underneath), and easy to use. You'll find wax paper at the grocery store, in the aisle with foil and plastic (cling) wrap.

When I'm separating journal pages with wax paper, I cut or tear the wax paper so that it's slightly larger--at least one-half inch--than the pages that I'm working with. The key to successfully using wax paper to separate them, is not to allow much weight on the wet pages. Generally, I gesso five or six pages at a time. If I was working with a regular, bound journal, I'd watch carefully to see how much the binding "pulls" the pages together. Wax paper usually works pretty well... but it's not a 100% reliable way to keep wet pages apart. I've used wax paper when I've gesso'd in airplanes (very dry air) and here in sultry, humid Houston.

However, glue can be hit-or-miss with wax paper. Tea Staining Your Art Journal Pages. By aisling d'art ©2006 Have you wanted to add "age" to your art journal pages? You can use tea--loose or in bags--for this project. If you're soaking your pages individually in a tray, you can usually stain two sheets at a time. If you add more pages, they're likely to stick together and tear when you try to separate them. If you're staining bound pages, you'll need to protect the dry pages and keep wet pages separated, too. If the tea isn't too hot, you can use sheets of wax paper between your bound art journal pages. If the tea is hot, you may need to use foil, plastic wrap, or some other waterproof, heat resistant materials.

To achieve the color that you want, you'll need to experiment. You can apply the tea to the paper with a brush. You can use the tea bag as a brush, if it's not too hot. Or, if your journal pages are loose, you can submerge each page in a shallow pan of tea. If you're dyeing paper, gently rinse the paper if you'd like it to remain as archival as possible. Gesso. ©2004 - 2006 by Aisling D'Art Gesso is a useful option for art journaling.

It's also used for painting and mixed media art. I use gesso often. However, many (perhaps most) artists never use gesso in their journals. Here's what gesso is and tips for how you can use it. Gesso can go under paint or heavy collage or embellishments, to make your journal pages stronger. Gesso is a primer. Originally, gesso only came in white. Gesso makes the surface a little stiffer. Today, gesso comes in many colors. It's useful for mixed media work as well as fine art paintings. Gesso is different from paint. Originally, gesso was a mixture of calcium--like chalk--in a thin base of animal glue. When you see religious paintings and icons on wood, they were probably painted over gesso. But, gesso changed in the 20th century. In recent years, some artists have begun to question whether or not acrylic gesso is the right product to use under oil paint. When I journal, I use white gesso as well as black gesso.

Homemade Glitter. Homemade shimmery glitter is probably the easiest thing you can make and really pretty to look at. Plus, this version is edible and nontoxic for crafting. Supplies: table salt, food coloring and a tupperware container to mix in. A little silver dust used in decorating cakes adds some shimmer-if you’re a shimmer kind of girl-but it’s not completely necessary. Pour some salt into the tubberware. Isn’t it pretty? Sewing on your journal pages. By aisling d'art ©2007 You can use any page in a book like fabric (to sew on, for example) by using iron-on interfacing on the back side of the page.

Yes, just iron it on, the same as you would iron interfacing onto fabric. It won't always stick 100%, but it will work well enough that you can sew through it. (If you try to embroider or sew beads onto regular pages in a book, the thread tends to pull right through the paper, if the thread is tugged.) You can do the same thing with your journal cover. A strong crewel embroidery needle will usually sew through cardboard... but you'll probably need a thimble to push the needle through. You can then embroider with emboidery floss, yarn, thin ribbon, etc. At left, you can see one of my journal covers that I've embellished with sewn-on buttons. After you've finished your sewing (or other embellishment), you can glue a page or fabric over the ironed-on interfacing, so your stitches are concealed.

You'll find iron-on interfacing at any fabric shop. Mixed-Media Art Journaling Techniques in a Strathmore Art Journal with Pam Carriker.