Mixed Media Art Journal Collage: Finding Intention at Christmas

An art journal technique I love to use in my pages is mixed media art journal collage. I love mixing a variety of paper types and designs to create a unique look to my art journal pages. Today I am sharing a Christmas art journal page using collage, watercolor, and acrylic paints. This page is about finding intention during the Christmas season.  

Finding Intention at Christmas

I believe that every art journal page needs to start with an intention. That intention may be trying out a product or a technique. It may be based on an idea or a quote that you want to explore. This week’s art journal collage was sparked by exploring my intention for Christmas this year. The following questions were coming to mind, “What do I want out of this Christmas? What do I want it to look like for me? What are my hopes for this season?”

So often we go into the holiday season with high expectations. But without setting our intentions, instead of the holidays being fun and restful, it may end up leaving us tired and drained. Part of being intentional about Christmas this year was to define what I wanted from the Christmas season. Using my journal as a place to process my thoughts and set intentions seemed to be the perfect way to record these feelings.  

Mixed Media Art Journal Collage

Choosing Collage Papers

One of my favorite parts of collage is choosing paper. These can be papers from a magazine or book. It can be gelli prints or paper that you have created or altered.  

For this mixed media art journal collage project, I used Christmas themed papers from Wild Whisper Designs. I purposely chose two very different styles of paper. The first was black and white graphical images and the other colorful photography based patterned paper. What I enjoy about collage is taking papers that would not normally work together and making a cohesive design.

Once you choose your paper, rip it into smaller pieces in a variety of sizes to use on your project. Watch for straight edges as it will be very noticeable in your collage. Try to have all the edges soft and torn for this step.

Collaging with Gel Medium

Create the collage by adding gel medium to both the surface of your journal and the back of the paper. Stick the paper to the surface and add another layer of gel medium on top. Continue to do this to all the papers creating layers until the entire surface is covered.

There are a variety of gel mediums that you can use for collage. For this project I used Golden Soft Gel Semi-Gloss but you can use any gel medium for this step. Be aware that the heavier the paper you use, the heavier the gel will need to be to adhere it. For example, soft gel works for lighter weight paper. If you are using heavier weight paper on a project, use regular or heavy gel for best adhesion.

For more information about collage, please check out this article on How to Decoupage in an Art Journal.

Adding Tissue Paper

The layers of collage will often contrast. One way to mute the colors is to add tissue paper to the art journal page. For this project I am using the Tim Holtz Plain and Composer Tissue Wrap. This tissue paper is thicker and feels more waxy than traditional tissue paper. It is also much stronger than regular tissue paper. While other tissue papers will be almost transparent when gel is added to it, the Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap will allow the white of the wrap to show.  

Tear up pieces of the tissue paper and add it to the layout using gel medium. I purposely wanted more texture to the surface, so I crumpled the tissue paper before applying it to the page. Add the tissue paper to the art journal page using gel medium. Let the surface dry completely before moving on to the next step.

Adding Paint Washes

To add a bit more cohesion to the page, add paint washes. In this case I added layers of high flow acrylic paints Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold, Phthalo Green (Blue Shade) and Burnt Sienna. I used high flow acrylics for this step as it is highly pigmented and can be watered down to create beautiful washes. Dry between each layer of paint to prevent from making mud.

To create more contrast around my focal image, I added a bit of white gesso to the left-hand side of the page. Using a baby wipe I added and removed the white paint until I got the right effect.

Adding Stenciling

To add more subtle texture to the page, use a stencil and brush to add texture and imagery to the art journal page. As the colors on the art journal collage were already warm colors, I chose fine interference gold paint to add through the stencil. The fun thing about interference gold paint is that it is a color flipping paint. As you move your page, you will see the paint color change.

Adding Stamping with Distress Oxide Inks

To add more texture and detail to the background, I stamped with a fine script stamp using Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Red Brick ink. By stamping in random places using first, second and third values, this matched the red colors in the collaged background.

Watercoloring Focal Images

I chose focal images from the Wild Whisper Designs Bows and Baubles collection. As the focal images are black and white there are many ways to color these images. For this mixed media art journal collage I chose to use watercolor paint to add color. If you would like to see my tutorial on How to Use Watercolor Paint, click here.

Adding Your Phrase

As with all my art journal projects, I enjoy adding words to these journal pages. When considering my intention for the Christmas season, the phrase Peace Filled Christmas came to mind. Using brush script stamps, I stamped “Peace Filled” on my page using Jet Black Archival Ink. For “Christmas” I added in my own writing using a black Posca paint marker.   With so many layers on the page, this means that the stamping does not transfer evenly. For any areas that the ink did not transfer, use an Posca Acrylic Paint marker to fill in these areas. For more information on stamping techniques and how to stamp on uneven surfaces, please visit Stamping Tips and Techniques.

Adding Journaling

Using a gold paint pen I journaled about my intention for the holiday season. I love this reminder to focus on what is important to me and not get caught up in the busyness of the season. I chose gold so that it blends a bit more into the background but is still readable.

Any Questions?

Do you have an intention for the holiday season? Is there anything that you are hoping to enjoy over the holidays? I hope that you do take time for self-care and creative time during Christmas.

I hope that this mixed media art journal collage technique has sparked your imagination and I would love to see your take on this project! Please leave a comment below or contact me directly. If you have any questions or thoughts about this project, I would love to hear from you!

Project Supply List

• Dylusions Journal
• WWD Pam Bray Christmas paper collection
• WWD Nicole Wright Designs Baubles and Bows paper collection
• Golden Soft Gel Semi-Gloss
• Paintbrush
• Tim Holtz Tissue Paper- Plain and Composer
• Wild Whisper Designs Starry Night Stencil
• Golden Interference Gold (Fine) Fluid Paint
• Stencil Brush
• Golden High Flow Paint: Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold, Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), Burnt Sienna
• Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Fired Brick
• WWD Nicole Wright Designs Ledger & Script Stamp Set
• Distress Ink Antique Linen
• Tim Holtz Mini Blending Tool & Blending Foams
• Winsor and Newton Cotman Watercolor Paints: Alizarin Crimson Hue, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Cerulean Blue, Prussian Blue, Turquoise, Hookers Green, Viridian Hue
• Daniel Smith Watercolor Paint: New Gamboge
• Sakura Pen Touch Gold Paint Pen
• Posca Black Paint Pen
• Wild Whisper Designs Brush Script stamps
• Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink
• Stamping Block
• Be Creative Sookwang Tape

If you are interested in any of the Wild Whisper Designs Products, www.wildwhisperdesigns.com, please use DTNADINE at checkout to get 10% off your order.