More Art Journal Pages!

I've totally been on this kick lately! I just love doing these art journal pages... they are so fun and easy to do. Very meditative as well - they make you feel GOOD! I have 2 pages out of my art journal to show you... and I did these between yesterday afternoon and this morning; it goes to show you just how quick they really are! I'm going to basically give you a step by step of each page so that you can recreate it in your own way if you so choose. The first page was just me experimenting a little bit. Here it is:



I started out thinking that this was going to be a really bold page since the colors black and red are usually very striking when put together. So those were my base colors. I painted my background black, dried it with my heat gun and then painted strokes of red over top. I thought that since my background was already dry that it would be okay, but, as it turns out, I didn't let it dry ENOUGH so the colors blended slightly in some places into a maroon like color. Since that wasn't quite the way I wanted it, I painted over top of the RED again and it become more bold it some places. I then added strokes of violet over top of the red and black. Then the page just felt really dark to me and so I decided to add lime green to the top - a lot of lime green! Since lime is my second favorite color, I think I kind of overdid it a bit, but it looks okay now. For the strips along the bottom, I used a strip of corrugated cardboard to stamp lines. The circles I stamped with a piece of corrugated cardboard cut into a circle (freehand) and the dots were put on in yellow with the handle of a paintbrush.



This next page was actually for a challenge that I started on scrapbook.com called the August Inspiration Challenge. The challenge was to watch the very first episode of TMNT (teenage mutant ninja turtles) and to make a piece of art that used something that inspired you about that episode. I chose a quote from Raphael that says "whatever they were - they're junk now!" I decide to use a gray for the background because it reminded me of metal... which is what I think of when I think of junk! Like the last page, I stroked on several different colors of paint - a lighter shade of gray and a lime green. Even then, I wasn't quite feeling it, so I added the corrugated cardboard stamp across the WHOLE page! I liked it a lot, but I still felt like it was missing something. I added the black strips along the top and bottom and a little on the sides. I then felt that I needed one more color to brighten things up, so I decided on red circles (in honor of Raphael's mask color, I used red). I actually used the bottom of my embossing powder to stamp them... I painted the bottom and stamped away! Lastly, I added the quote, highlighting the word JUNK since it was my whole inspiration for the piece. I used crayola colored pencils to write. They worked perfectly!

I hope you enjoyed looking at some more of my art journal pages, and I hope to share with you all some more scrapbook pages here really soon!

~Jordan~

Multitasking

I have this weird little habit of working on many things at one time. Literally. Most of the time when I feel like crafting I take one of those plastic tubs and fill it with around a half dozen projects. I then work back and forth on those projects. Even though this isn't the most practical way to complete projects, this is one way that I won't get bored and give up on any given project. Today I'm just going to share what I did get completed today and a few other works in progress.

First off is my Dear Jane quilt. These first two blocks that I am about to show you were actually already completed. The third I finished today.



Here is the block that I did complete today. I just might have to redo this block when I get more experienced in applique... as you can see, the actual block part is not centered.


Next, I have some coasters. They are double-sided so I just showed you both sides. They need their binding. When these are complete I will link to my ArtFire shop.


Here is the binding that I would like to use, though, as you can see, is not folded yet.


Here are the pieces from SackBoy from the previous post.


And this is what he will look like once he is assembled.


Here is a table runner that I am working on. This too will also be located at my ArtFire shop when it is completed. As you might be able to see, the center is attached on the far left, while the middle is only part-way appliqued down. None of the flowers are down yet.


I am going to be trying to complete a hexagon afghan during the Olympics, so here is my practice block. I am not allowed to use this in the actual afghan, though, because the official starting date is the 12th.


And here are some of my tiniest balls that I am going to be using in the hexagon afghan.


Also, I got a couple beading books from the library and am enjoying both of them. Their titles:

- The Beader's Color Palette and
- The Beader's Guide to Color

They were both written by Margie Deeb and I would highly recommend them both. (Note: Each of these books include color palettes that are beautiful and I am going to be using some of them! Until next time, have fun crafting!