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.
Watercolor Cards If you have been loving the watercolor and ombre trend recently, you are going to LOVE this amazing DIY Sarah is bringing us today! She is sharing a sweet way to ask your bridesmaids if they will stand by your side on your wedding day. This DIY is so adorable and super easy! It is even more awesome because this technique can be applied to so many elements in your wedding (hello, fabulous escort cards and favor tags!) It’s DIY time again, lovely readers! This time I have a super “artsy” project for you! Materials Watercolor paper cut into 9″x6.25″ rectangles, folded into cards(size A6: 4.5″x6.25″), 1 per bridesmaidWatercolor paints (the cheap Crayola one will work just fine!) Helpful hints: Using a bone folder to fold the paper is very helpful, since watercolor paper tends to be thicker than printer or scrapbooking paper. Step 1: Cut all of the paper (watercolor and scrapbook) to the sizes indicated above. Share:
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.
Watercolour Pencils Would ya look at that? I'm blogging at night. That's weird. Usually, I like to get-my-blog-on in the morning. BUT. Short-and-sweet-disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert, a teacher, or an art prodigy when it comes to any of these tiplets or media. So, in the true spirit of CREATING and letting go and being loose - leave your mark. Okay. Let's get a little wishy-washy. You need a few things to get started here. The Watercolour Pencils. Alright - rip a page out of your sketchbook (you don't have to!) Throw down some colours. Spray it. NOTE from COMMENTS: I just let it air dry. Look at how beautiful that is. This is a scan of the finished product. A couple of months back I put out an ALL-CALL for starfish... and I got about 35 starfish photos in less that 24 hours. Alright. Have a beautiful night.
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. 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. Then again, after I sew beads onto the page, I like to cover the interfacing side with more paper... maybe a collage.
Art Journal Every Day Q: How can I find all the previous Art Journal Every Day posts? A: Find them all listed by category and linked here. Q: What is Art Journal Every Day? A: Art Journal Every Day is weekly feature on this blog. It appears every Friday. The Art Journal Every Day (AJED) posts are always art journal focused, though not necessarily focused on daily art journaling. Q: What does the title "Art Journal Every Day" mean? A: I do my best to art journal every day. Q: How can I participate? A: Lots of different ways! There is a free flickr group here for sharing photos of your pages. Also, you can grab this button... ...for your blog by copying the text in the box and pasting it into your sidebar. Q: What if I've never art journaled before? A: Jump right in! Q: What supplies do I need to get started? A: You don't "need" anything.
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. 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. Once all the black is cut away, you'll need to try out your stencil. Ta-da! Thanks.
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. 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!
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?