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How to Create a Wine Bottle Flower Vase
As Mother’s Day is just a few days away, I wanted to share a creative project that is “off the page.” Most of us stick to flat surfaces such a journal to create in. But today I wanted to share with you how to create a wine bottle flower vase. With Mother’s Day just around the corner, this is a simple project that make a great gift for that special person in your life. The Inspiration The inspiration for this wine bottle flower vase came from a problem that I often have during the summer months. When working in my garden I often come across flowers that have been…
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How to Design a Scrapbook Page
Do you ever struggle with how to design a scrapbook page? As it is National Scrapbooking Day, we will be talking about techniques for creating stronger layouts. If you have never tried scrapbooking as a creative practice, give it a try! It is a great medium that gives you an opportunity to reflect on memories and journal about your experiences. Looking back through scrapbooks is also a fun way to remember the amazing experiences of our lives. Designing a Scrapbook Page When learning how to design a scrapbook page, there are 3 things that help in the creative process. Tip 1: Using Coordinating Papers Start with coordinating papers…
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How to Create a Traveler’s Notebook
There are so many fun Traveler’s Notebooks available for sale, but have you ever tried creating your own Traveler’s Notebook? Today I will be demonstrating how to create a Traveler’s Notebook using a stitched binding. Why Make a Traveler’s Notebook I have shared about how to use a Traveler’s Notebook in a previous post. In that post I share some of my ideas on how to use a Traveler’s Notebook in a variety of ways. Traveler’s Notebooks are not only fun to use but are also quite easy to make. The process of cutting the paper, sewing the binding, and assembling a book can be a great self-care activity. It…
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Monochromatic Art Journal Project
Have you ever tried using a color wheel when designing an art journal layout? This week we will be learning how to create a monochromatic art journal project and talk about the color theory behind this concept. What Does Monochromatic Mean? Monochromatic means “containing or using only one color.” When applying this to an artistic application, it is choosing one color as the basis of our project. It can be challenging only using one color in a project, but by understanding how color values work, we can create a very dynamic layout using only one color. What are Color Values? Color values refers to the lightness or darkness…
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Using Alcohol Inks with Stencils
Have you ever tried using alcohol inks with stencils on a large project? It can sometimes be challenging using stencils with alcohol inks because of the loose nature of the medium. If the stencil is smaller than the surface that you are using, it can leave harsh lines detracting from the overall design. Layering Alcohol Inks One of the ways to prevent harsh lines in your alcohol ink project is by layering alcohol inks. One thing to keep in mind when using this technique is that when you add more ink, it rewets and often resists the ink below. When it resists, the ink will push the previous layer of…
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Coloring with Inks and Watercolor Crayons
Coloring with inks and watercolor crayons is an essential part of a creative self-care practice. By learning to color with these mediums, they will teach you many things. This includes how these mediums blend, how they react with certain papers and surfaces, and how you can incorporate them as layers within your mixed media projects. Caran d’Ache Watercolor Crayons A new product in my art practice is the Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Watercolor crayons. I had originally purchased these to use in my acrylic painting classes. They are a very useful when creating basic sketches on canvas. But watercolor crayons have many more uses than just sketching out images.…
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Scrapbook Page Design Tips
Do you ever struggle with coming up with a strong design on a scrapbook page or art journal page? This week I will be sharing scrapbook page design tips that will help you create pleasing compositions with ease. Creating a Strong Layout Creating a strong layout seems simple. But it can feel like a struggle to get the photos, papers and mixed media elements work well together. Here are 3 tips that I use for creating a strong scrapbook page design: Tip 1: Rule of Thirds By using the rule of thirds when placing your photos and images, this will help create a stronger design. If you are not familiar…
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Gelli Printing with Die Cuts
Have you ever wondered how to make those lovely Gelli print backgrounds and how to incorporate them into your projects? This week I was playing with combining Gelli printing with die cuts and Pan Pastels and had some fantastic results! Gelli Printing with Die Cuts Gelli printing with die cuts is a great way to combine and duplicate images in your art pieces, cards, and journal pages. I love using die cuts in my prints and then cutting these same images for use as focal images on my page. I find that using a repetitive pattern in my pieces bring cohesion to my art. What to do with Gelli Prints?…
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Valentine’s Day Slimline Card
As Valentine’s Day is just days away, I wanted to share with you how to make a Valentine’s Day slimline card. Valentine’s Day cards are fun to make, but what if you want to move away from more conventional colors for these cards? In this tutorial we will be creating a card that does not use red or pink, but the more muted greys and greens. Slimline Cards Slimline cards seem to be everywhere. The style and dimension of these cards lead to some great creative possibilities. The panoramic style of them allows you to approach creativity and cardmaking in a different way. When used in an upright format, the…
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Altering Paper on a Journal Page
Have you ever had paper that you wanted to use in an art journaling project but were uncertain how to add it to your page? In this week’s project, we will be altering paper on a journal page. We will be focusing on two different ways that you can use a piece of paper on one journal page. For this week’s project I wanted to share with you one of my new favorite paper lines by Wild Whisper Designs called Carefree. I love this paper because it is so bright and cheery. In my city, we are experiencing a typical Canadian winter. With the snow and gray days, I often…
The Art of Self-Care
