Starting an Art Jornal by Dana Sanchez

 

Art journaling and mixed media are fun because everyone can do it.  No skill level is required.  Supplies are whatever you choose.  No measuring is needed if you don't want to.  Art journaling is your story.  It’s that memoir you always wanted to write.  It’s that list of goals you’d been meaning to make.  It’s favorite quotes.  It’s your story and no one else's.  

I highly recommend the Ranger Dylusions art journal.  I have purchased cheaper blank page journals. However, in my experience, they don't hold up to lots of liquid use and inks bleed through the pages.  I think anyone who buys this journal will love it. My local Craft Warehouse has a lovely stack of them - and they are just so tempting. I'm pretty sure I need to stock up for the next few years.  

For this spread, I sprayed one layer of  Vibrant Turquoise, moved it around with some sprays of water and a baby wipe (also known as an art wipe). Once I let the blue dry, I used the Dylusions Shattered Stencil with a few spritzes of the white color.  I couldn’t just have one color when I want to play with so many colors. Another benefit to these inks visiting their buddies is that they do blend beautifully. I would advise against too much fraternizing between the colors to avoid an over-abundance of dirty dark brown. 

One way to use these sprays is to layer elements on different pieces of paper. I sprayed yellow and pink on a separate piece of paper, dried it, then used Tim Holtz Distress paint with Tim Holtz Hearts stencils. Lastly, I randomly applied the Dylusions Checkered Dots all over the paper.  The Distress paint is slightly thicker to hold the shape of the stencils a little better.  It’s not perfect, but this is play time. This is learning what I like and what works for each piece I create. This is not a test.  This is art.

The yellow and pink make these amazing dawn colors.  Which helped me know what I wanted to make – a sky.

I enjoy mixed media because I get to use different kinds of supplies.  

Trying new things keeps my projects new and interesting to me.  I'm don't feel like I am really great with a paint brush, but I saw the Niiji water brushes and knew there were lots of things I could do with one.  I loaded it with a little of the Pink Bubble Gum Delusions Ink and water and used it to paint my word of the year.  

Have you tried any of the Wink of Stella brushes yet?  They come in different colors, and have this lovely bit sparkle to them.  They are filled with water based ink in a pen complete with a brush on the end.  If you like stamping, these would be so lovely to add a bit of extra sparkle just in areas you wanted.  I played with the pens a bit to get the feel of them. Once I felt comfortable with their application, I used them to highlight my word and a few other things --- it was really hard to put them down.  

I cut clouds out of the peachy dawn papers, and made a bird from a free pinterest download. The next step was creating a trial layout to get an idea where I was going.

Can you see the sparkle in this picture?  These pens are really easy to use.  The ink flows without much effort, and the delicate glide of the brush is sublime.  The pens are much easier to use than I expected. As a bonus, they didn’t pick up too much of the Dylusions which was an initial concern.

I used: GL Red 029, GL Pink 027, Gl White 000, GL Clear 999.  I like the basic black as well, especially for writing but I didn’t think this spread needed it.

I also used a Uniball Signo White pen.  This is The White Pen - the pen on every art journalers must have list.  Opaque,  it glides onto a dry surface and it will write over matte or glossy gel medium or Mod Podge. There are other pens available, however I've only found them online.  Those other pens don’t matter though.  Craft Warehouse has the Signo - and that is all you need.   If you come to Vancouver I can even show you exactly where in the store.  I don’t work at Craft Warehouse, but I like to visit these pens often and invite a couple to come home with me.

My word for  year is Fearless, because I am going to live and create Fearlessly. Do you have a word for 2015? I’m learning to avoid comparing  myself to others and put myself out there.  I am so honored to share my art journal with you here on the Craft Warehouse blog.  You can see more of  my play with these products on at my blog, Dapoppins.com.    That’s my story for 2015.    What is yours?