Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Colleen's paper napkin art journal from round 6 has arrived home.

Thank you so much to all those who participated in my journal. 
This is the cover back, front & inside, title page & my spread.



Pam was the first to receive my journal
Beautiful roses & Butterflies & dragonflies.


Then Robyn.
So cool & inviting.


Then Roz.
Very country & I love the chook.


Then we have Lisa's page.
Beautiful butterflies & florals.


And then Louise.
Tree of life, stunning gold & such an interesting napkin.


And Janie.
Gorgeous oriental page. Love these colours.


Then Deb.
A great Girlie page with issues. Ha ha.


And Annabelle.
Such a beautiful face.



Then we have Jenny.
Jane Davenport napkins, beautiful.


And last but not least Sharon. 
Lovely pastel look & wonderful humour.


I never knew there were so many more napkins that I don't have.
I love each & every page &  shall treasure this journal for ever. Thanks again to you all.





Monday, January 28, 2019

Haiku.

This has been a really difficult journey for me.  I have had such a battle to keep going and but for my daughter I would have withdrawn.  I couldn't come up with a theme I liked and then when I did I froze and couldn't start.  I even had a cyber art lesson.

I have managed to get started and I hope that now we are off and running I will be OK.  Art doesn't come easy to me and every month when a new journal arrives I go through sheer terror until I manage to get an idea.  You would think after all this time I would just wing it.

So here is my Art Journal for 2019.  It is approx A4 size made with good solid paper. I forgot to take pictures as I went.


My Cover.




My Title Page.




My Spread.
 


Please don't forget to sign and date your work.  It is so important.
Have fun.

Lisa's Book Page Art Journal!

For this round I chose Book Page Art... and may have given some participants heart palpitations!  

But please don't worry!  There are heaps of ideas on Pinterest - here's my Book Page Art board.  There are lots of ideas on Google too.  

If you're hesitant on tearing out book pages, well, my first book was hard too!  But now I figure, I've read it, I don't want to read it again, and this way it will go to good use!  Op shops often have cheap  old books, and some have foreign language books too.  Markets can be a treasure trove too!

You can also find free book pages online that you can print out - try The Graphics Fairy, or just Google "Free printable vintage dictionary pages".  If you're happy to buy vintage stuff, check out Rosellas and Roses on Etsy.

So here's my journal.  It's about A5 size, and was made from A2 size 225gsm paper (you get 3 pages from each A2 page).



I stencilled the background first with three different Dylusions colours.  I made a cardboard template for my petals, so they'd all be the same size, then cut them from book pages.  These were then watercoloured, and finished off with white gel pen. The centre of the flower is a book page with a teabag laid over the top.  I then added some old dictionary page strips, and found these letters in an ephemera book  that Sue sent to me recently.

My contract is on my inside left cover.  I just added some teabag flowers for a bit of interest!


Next to this is my attempt at black out poetry.  This is where you get a book page and highlight some of the words, to make something completely different!  This is a bit hard to read, but it says Maybe time is infectious.  Watch the years trip by like a pretty wild ride.  It didn't quite work out like I was hoping; the words were in two columns hence I had to go up and down.  Should have cut them into two and placed the second one underneath... Oh well!  I painted this page black and then added the mantle clock and leaves with white gel pen.  The leaves were then coloured with pastel pencil, and the page sprayed with fixative, but it really dulled the colour.  Hmmmm...





I then did a spread on the middle page, again using black out poetry.  This one says  My favourite happiness level - music.  I just drew my girl and then dotted around my words in black liner, and then pink texta.  Added strips of music paper on each side, which I whitewashed.  Then stamped with a couple of stamps I made a year or two ago.


For those that really don't want to tear up a book, I've added a few spares that peeps can use!
And here's my inside rear cover, which is the posting order.  These are page book circles which were then covered with teabags (chamomile I think, looking at the colour!).  Black dots cut and added, with leaves made from bits of teabags that were watercoloured.










I look forward to seeing what peeps do in my journal this round! 

Happy arting!

Cheers, Lisa xx











"Bucket List" Megs Journal



Hi for my Journal I chose the theme Bucket List!

I would love if you would fill it with things you dream ,wish or have no time to do!!

I made a cover out of card stock gesso'd it , added a large envelope in the back cover for any bits it may acquire during its yearly travel 


Then I used a Gelli Plate for the base of my Background for my Journal page

Then I lay down  gesso and layers of paint and stamps,Stencils  then gold and silver leaf
to complete my journal page 

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Janie's "Nature" makes its debut.

The initiation of my journal for the Round 7 travelling journal. I changed my mind from Australiana to Nature to make it, even more, broader for your imaginations to flow. This year I have chosen a smaller journal to work in. It is 8" high by 5 inches wide when shut. You will all be working on a double spread of 8"x10" in landscape. If anyone wants to add an extra flap, there is plenty of spare pages. Thank you for looking: Janie O'Brien



This is the outer cover which is a linocut of pandanus palm from where I live in far north Queensland.
 These are common along our shores.
 I photocopied it onto deli paper. It turned out well.

The actual journal itself inside the named cover with some collaged elements


My first collage comprises fussy cut fungi against a background of torn papers and tissue.



My second collage depicting various heliconia flowers seen in most far north Queensland gardens, together with a lovely purple & pink hibiscus.

Monday, January 21, 2019

Robyn's World Fashion


Robyn's new journal for AAJS7 World Fashion 


This is my World Fashion Journal for 2019 swap.
 It has a fabric flip cover with a wrap around closure has 3 signatures.
  

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Vintage Circus Bear on a Tricycle

This is my page inside Sharon's Vintage Circus journal... the first thing I did was scour the internet looking for vintage circus ideas. But while searching through the really old photos, I found myself getting angry and teary at all the abuse and neglect the animals suffered (at the hands of people who should have cared for them). I printed out a few pictures and attempted to start... but the more I was scribbling and drawing, the worse I felt. 

It wasn't fair how they were all treated... its now all in the past but it will always be remembered. Thankfully, more and more people and organisations are looking out for animals and their rights. I know you all agree, animals deserve our love and respect. Always <3

artwork featuring a bear on a bike and other bears by Jenny James copyright 2019
Drawing them (above) with hats and signs saying "Free the Bears" didn't help. I wanted this to be a happy page, one that was positive not full of anger and hatred at humans. So it was put aside for a week or more because I wasn't coping.

artwork featuring a bear on a tricycle by Jenny James copyright 2019
A few weeks later, with a fresh mind I refound the photoshopped looking image of a bear on a tricycle I saw and used it as a reference as I drew my own bear. He's drawn freehand on Strathmore Watercolour Paper with pencil then inked with fine black felt tipped pen.

watercolour painted artwork featuring a bear on a tricycle by Jenny James copyright 2019
A few days later, I erased the pencil marks before painting with watercolour paint. I used sample spots (swatches) of Daniel Smith Watercolours (saving for the tubes now!) and my trusty waterbrush. The bike frame was painted first, then the wheels, all while reminding myself constantly, to let areas dry before going further.

watercolour painted artwork featuring a bear on a tricycle by Jenny James copyright 2019
The next day, after the bear's basic colours and shading was completely dry, I used a very fine brush (and the same colour brown) to paint in some fur structure, more shading and with a white gel pen, added highlights.

artwork featuring Tim Holtz Stamps by Jenny James copyright 2019
To start off the background, I stamped images from Tim Holtz Stamp Set, Theories. Tim's antique style engravings were perfect for this, as was his quote from the stamp set, Handwritten Thoughts : Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder. The characters were stamped using Ranger's Archival Ink in a dark brown and the quote is stamped using black.

The background was coloured using an Ink Blending Tool and Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pads... patchy blends of Antique Linen (cream) and Tea Dye (light warm brown) were first, then splattered and splashed with water (using a Water Spray Bottle) before being dried with the heat tool. Tumbled Glass (pale blue) was blended over the page next, then Walnut Stain (dark brown) was blended around the edge. More sprays of water were splattered and then it was all dried again.

watercolour painted artwork featuring Tim Holtz Stamps by Jenny James copyright 2019
The next stamps to be printed were from Tim Holtz's Psychedelic Grunge Stamp Set. The faded dots across the base of the page were stamped using Tea Dye Oxide Ink. The larger circles were printed using the Tea Dye and Tumbled Glass together, then across the base only using Tea Dye.

watercolour painted bear on a bike by Jenny James copyright 2019
While the inky background was drying, I cut out my bear using scissors and a craft knife for inside the spokes.

watercolour painted artwork featuring a bear on a bike by Jenny James copyright 2019
The above photo shows my bear placed loosely on the page to see how he'd fit. He seemed happy enough so continued :)

watercolour painted artwork featuring a bear on a bike by Jenny James copyright 2019
Next... I stamped the bicycle of three riders (also from Tim's Theories set) onto the bottom of the page, then covered it with washi tape and the matted printout of the vintage poster because I didn't like it! lol :) I added stamped wheels to the left hand side of the page in black after stamping the bicycle at the top. The poster and bear are glued down with Ranger's Dylusions Glue Stick.

To finish off the page, I used a couple of stamps from Tim's Tiny Things 2 stamp set. I gave the bear some music to ride along and "tied" gramophone onto the high-wire with a brown fine felt tipped pen. Both images were stamped using the Distress Oxide Walnut Stain Ink Pad.

historical photo of bears on a bicycle with a sidecar
The back of the page features a picture I found at the beginning of this journey (bordered with washi tape).
While this historical photo is from the era of abused animals, I live in hope that these two were looked after well. They seem ok apart from being skinny and muzzled.
Rather than waste the printout, I've included it with a few thoughts (white gel pen)... Free the Bears!

The end result is a good one... my bear looks content to be peddling along his musical path while the circus world carries on around him.

Thanks for reading! Hope it creates a smile :D xx Jenny

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Stuff and Nonsense Art Journal Finale

Thank you everyone for such a wonderful year of creativity! Being part of this journal swap has improved my mixed media skills enormously, helping me understand about the tissue collage multi layering techniques especially. Thanks also to whoever tied on the beads too, they're a little bit awesome as well :)

The following are best viewed large, so I've uploaded them fairly big... such amazing artwork with gorgeous colours, fabulous textures and so much personality within each page. Love them all :)

Sharon : 'Walking on the Moon' - off for a picnic on the moon! A most fantastic way to use washi tape :)

Colleen : 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush' but these two peoples are hungry! lol :) - Such a wonderful colourful page with 2 groovy South Aussie birds... a galah and budgie :D

Pam : 'The ballbearing bird never been seen, the ballbearing bird never been heard' ... such a fab flock of steampunk style flamingos... or flamencos as my Mum calls them, cos they always look like they're dancing!

Robyn : I have no words... this is so cool! If I didn't know anything about myself, all I'd need do is gaze upon Robyn's page. Its amazing! LOVE all the gorgeous little frogs, butterflies, lots of greeeeeen and the quotes are perfect too. I didn't notice the pics were of me at first either. A fly on the wall would have lost his grip on the wall from laughing at my reaction! lol :) Love it all <3

Roz : So much to look at in this amazing collage from Roz. Its an incredible amount of work! Lots of stuff and plenty of nonsense. Check out the triangular sign... steep slope ahead with crocs waiting for dinner! lol :) Every time I look at this I find something new!

Lisa : a beautifully handpainted masterpiece featuring a gorgeous hungry lion and his favourite tucker with a Spike Milligan poem :)

Louise : 'Stuff and Nonsense' lyrics by Split Enz (a groovy 80s band I loved) with many layers of fabulous colours and patterns!

Janie : 'Go Bravely' ... lots of wise words and sayings amongst so much crazy! She was tempted to cause a scene, and so she should. Love it!

Annabelle : 'All this stuff and nonsense in my head!' ... the teabags are like little kites! Just like an artist, its calm appearance (sometimes) and chaotic within (always).

Deborah : 'Santa's Journey' ... featuring a city that never sleeps beneath all the trails of hearts and swirls. Beautiful colours and all those little lit up windows are raised (feels really cool).

So that's my book, home and living on my shelf so I can look at it whenever I want :) So grateful for all the work you've all done in my book. Love it all. Thank you!

xx
Jenny