2021 Topic 15: Journaling Gratitude with HP {by Nikki Acton}

2021 Topic 15: Journaling Gratitude

Nikki has gone all 'mini' in her gratitude exploration and there are some really gorgeous tiny details in this mini book with plenty for the recipient to lift, turn and explore. We often need prompting to be thankful and this one is just the ticket! 
~ Keren

Hi everyone, it's Nikki here today from Addicted to Art, sharing my Journaling Gratitude project.

When I saw this theme I firstly thought of a journal page with lots of colour and words! But when I sat down at my desk I decided to make a mini gratitude book with pockets and space to add grateful thoughts later. I was inspired to make this style of book with all the little elements by Tracy Evans.

To start my book I created some gel prints using a selection of PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics Cerulean, Pistachio and Vanilla. These became the background for all my pages.

These were very quick prints - not overthinking or seeking perfection! I grabbed a few stencils that were close by including Tracy Scott PS201 and PS234.

 

Having created by blue / green backgrounds I also took a few rough prints using some Peach/Pink tones - to add contrast elements to the pages. I used photocopy paper or book paper for these. Colours used were PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics - Orchid, Peach Nectar and Peachy Keen.

 

Each of my double pages are 14.8cm x 10.5cm (A6) making the closed book 7.4 x 10.5 (A7). I decided to have a page a day for my gratitude prompts and notes! For each page I tried to incorporate different ways of creating spaces for these.

 Monday had a reversible tag and Tuesday a little book

 

PaperArtsy Hot Picks Extra - HPXT08 is a great journalling stamp set, I used this for my days or the week. I added embellishments and background stamping using Gwen Lafleur Stamp Set17 (EGL17)

 

Each double page followed a similar process - adding some background stamping and my embellishments using the pink toned prints or white card.

The tickets on Gwen Lafleur Set 21 (EGL21) come in lots of sizes - you can see how I have layered some here.

 

And when you are working with Hot Picks stamps - there is none better than HP1506 - with the gorgeous butterflies - always a favourite!

 

For Friday and the weekend I tore a little frame out of some of the painted book page as a backdrop for another butterfly and little note book.

Some of the tickets on EGL17 are great for cutting out little strips of numbers for embellishments.

 

 

The circles and also the letters making up the word 'Gratitude' on the book cover are from another Gwen Lafleur Set - EGL16.

 

 

To finish by book I added front and back covers and adhered some fibres to the spine and to secure the book shut. These books are small and easy to make - just glue the back of each double page to next one. 

Happy Christmas to you all! 

Nikki x

Blog: Addicted to Art

Instagram: a2a.craft

Pinterest: nikacton

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2021 Topic 15: Journaling Gratitude with EEG {by Autumn Clark}

 2021 Topic 15: Journaling Gratitude

Do blank pages scare you? Afraid to make mistakes? Autumn has the perfect solution to inspire us to start creating using the junk around us. Check out her creative use of hands and twine on one of the pages too!

~ Keren

Hi everyone, it's Autumn Clark from SewPaperPaint with you today, and I'm here to share with you a fun & messy handmade journal project that you can make from recycled packaging. The beauty of this type of project is that you can really let yourself loose and play because if you mess up, you've only wasted what was already garbage. But often working with "junk" releases a creative freedom and the results are far greater than we could have imagined...

I have wanted to paint every single page of a journal for some time now, because that blank page feeling can be overwhelming. I thought why not have a gel print session onto journal pages themselves? But as you know, everything is harder to find and more expensive these days so rather than purchase a new journal, I made one from thick white corrugated cardboard that came in linens packages. As a bonus, I got this pile of cardboard I'd been hoarding out of my way, saving space in my small studio.

I always have the most fun choosing a color palette. For this journal I wanted to use earth tones because I knew I wanted to grunge everything up. I chose a gorgeous array of PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics to include: Toad Hall, Space Cadet, Brown Shed, Toffee, Caramel, Jade, Midnight, Sage and Heavy Cream. I went about gel printing the front and back of each piece of cardboard. They measured about 8x5.5" so I used an 8x10 gel plate and was able to print two pieces per painted plate.

Now, the prints didn't cover every bit of the white cardboard because it was uneven in texture.  When I didn't like how it looked, I just printed it again. In the end I decided that I had too much white along the edges, so I decided to dip each page's edges into PaperArtsy Infusions. I used The Sage for the blue/green pages and Golden Sands for the red/brown pages. I spritzed the painted area with water to let the Infusions bleed out so I wouldn't have hard lines. I always use the backs of my 11x17" paper pads for a drying surface when doing batches like this. Here's a peek at the entire book. I've bound the pages with rings for now for ease, but will do a nicer binding after the pages are finished. See how those Infusions add the grunge factor?!

 

For this spread, I found gel printed paper I made for THIS Lynne Perrella post using PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics in Blush and Caramel on which to stamp the hands from PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Emma Godfrey} Collection (EEG26). I cut them and mounted them holding a length of string.  Beneath I stamped the bricks in blue. Below I embossed the tile repeatedly in white.

 

Back when these Emma Godfrey stamps were released I shared THIS post detailing how I cut the sign stamp apart. I also explain the tissue stamping techniques used below in greater detail. I stamped the modified sign onto gessoed book page to make my own sign for this spread. It's ironic that the stamp had the number 22 in it and I was writing to encourage myself in the coming year, 2022. I stamped my focal sentiment with  PaperArtsy {Ink & the Dog} Collection (Words Plate 2). I added journaling in my messy script using a white paint pen and a black fountain pen.

 

For my next spread, I had some awkward streaks in the paint from printing, so I used some torn book pages I had used to mop up stenciling when printing to cover those areas. I used a baby wipe to apply more PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylic in Heavy Cream through the same stencil at the top of the page for continuity. PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Sara Naumann} Stencil (PS092) is one of my most used stencils!

I used the abovementioned tissue technique for the door stamp from PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Emma Godfrey} Collection (EEG25). I filled in with the tile stamp and pattern from PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Seth Apter} Mini Stamp (EM41), along with more journaling.

 

 

Throughout these pages I incorporated some of my postage stamp collection in the collages. On this spread I attached an old glassine envelope, which flips up to store a tea stained paper with more journaling to continue the theme of using leftover bits from previous projects. I tea stained a pile of paper for my journal in THIS post. Part of my journaling gratitude is recording how events have transpired and led me to something beautiful, though at the time I was confused or afraid of what was happening. What better way to do that than by using pieces from my past?

 

I have lots more room in this journal on which to play! But for today's final spread, I used the window stamp from PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Emma Godfrey} Collection (EEG26). Oh I love this window! The white tiles were embossed onto tissue. Yes! You can stamp and emboss on tissue. The main reason to take this extra step is so that a large image doesn't stamp improperly onto an uneven surface OR because you want to add color to the image with Fresco paint (painted on the back side).

I just had to incorporate one more stamp set, PaperArtsy {Ink & the Dog} Collection (At Home 2). I love how this sentiment works with the windows and doors from Emma Godfrey's sets! I used it with tissue behind my envelope pocket and then embossed it, adding some embossed handwriting with an embossing pen to completely change the saying. I used the postage collage stamp in the corners of this spread for texture.  For even more texture, I applied Grunge Paste through PaperArtsy  Eclectica³ {Sara Naumann} Stencil (PS218).

  

 

The tag was made with mop up paper from using The Sage Infusions. I used it as a large journaling space. I covered the back with tea bags so it feels luxurious when pulled out. These torn envelopes were saved for me by my coworkers, as well as some of the white cardboard book pages. Those little details fill my heart with joy in remembrance. And that's just what a journal should be, a place to reflect on moments and feelings in this busy life.

 

So what's calling you to reflection these days? Please, let me encourage you to get it out on paper!  It's funny how sometimes we ponder the day to day and find new ways of seeing things that maybe we missed while we were busy living it. When we force ourselves (through a gratitude journal perhaps?) to ask what good things are happening, we are often surprised that the list grows as we start writing. I started this project in hopes of getting one good journal page off of my chest and onto paper and ended up with three spreads! And each one reminded me of another thing I am thankful for that I could add to the next page! 

Regular journaling will help you define your artistic style. Your  journal will probably look nothing like mine, because you will hone in on your own likes and dislikes and refine yourself creatively as you go. I truly hope you are encouraged from the posts of this topic to get started.

xx  Autumn

Blog: SewPaperPaint
Facebook: Autumn Clark
YouTube: SewPaperPaint
Instagram: @SewPaperPaint
Pinterest: SewPaperPaint

2021 Topic 15: Journaling Gratitude with VID {Jennie Atkinson}

  2021 Topic 15: Journaling Gratitude

How do you create a textured background that's full of interest and different textures but that doesn't 'fight' with the sentiments or front forward details? Read on, and Jennie lists a number of techniques to get you started. Wouldn't we all like to see her drawer of unused delicate gel prints too?!

~ Keren.

Hi everyone, it's Jennie (Live the Dream) with you today, and I'm here to share with you a journalling page using Vintage Ink and the Dog stamps - perhaps not everyone's first go to for a journalling page.

I find that many of the VID sets have small stamps which are just perfect for adding to a torn collage background and for this double spread I decided to use some papers previously created on the gel plate using PaperArtsy Fresco paints (and possibly like me you have a drawer full !) I like using torn collage as it allows me to get some different colours onto the journal pages which I find difficult if painting direct.

I have also used a single set of quote stamps by Alison Bomber relating to Time. Time is something that I seem to have had in abundance this last couple of years but it still goes as quickly and both the situation we find ourselves in globally and a couple of personal events have really made me think about the moment, looking neither back or forward, but to be grateful to live in the present.

If you are a fan of gel plate printing you will know how easy (and quickly) you can accumulate many different sheets of prints, parts of which might be beautiful and amazing and the rest of the sheet quite dismal. There's always that chance of pulling another beauty so you just keep going.

I chose some colours which I thought might go together, along with some small pieces of old text paper which had been coloured with Infusions and a bit of stencilling. 

At this stage of a journalling page I never have a plan ! but I do start with a good quality thick watercolour paper so I can throw as much at it as I like. I started tearing some bits of the printed papers, along with some more open text and music. My notes on the back of the papers indicated that I had used a combination of PaperArtsy Frescos and I used two of them to carry through to the pages.

Sage                    Granny Smith

Aquamarine        Captain Peacock

Chalk                    Sorbet

Once I had a bit of an idea about colours and placement I chose my Vintage Ink & The Dog stamp sets. Each of these sets has text and number stamps which work well on the printed papers.

ID08

ID09

ID10

Once everything gets stuck down it starts to look a bit more organised but still very basic.

The success of this type of paper collage is to use different techniques to push those papers into the background. It takes time and sometimes needs experimentation but I have found these techniques to work. 

Firstly I use a light colour of PaperArtsy Fresco paint (Chalk) to blend in around the edges of the torn paper. I use my finger to add the paint and a dry brush to spread it out. You can see the difference already between the two pages.

I then go in with a darker colour (this time PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Sage) which will give me some darker areas for the next stage however the beauty of using paints in this manner is that you can always tone colours down by going back in with a lighter colour later).

Another means of knocking back the papers and tying everything together is to use a stencil and texture paste. I like to keep the stencilling open but with a definite shape which can be seen. Over-stamping with the same stamps using second and third generation stamping also ties the individual layers together and knocks those papers further back!

PS178

I am not a great fan of my own handwriting but I am a great fan of Alison's wonderful quotes. 

 

EAB17

Sometimes I use whole quotes but more often than not look to isolate individual words which sum up what I want to say. 

Tea dyed paper always seems to work well and is strong enough to withstand gluing onto a textured surface.

My final technique for pulling the pages together is to use machine stitching both around the edges of the pages and to highlight vertical and horizontal areas. Sometimes this is very useful for hiding a bit of a ragged edge which escaped the painting stage!

A thoughtful image was needed as a focal point and this is one of my favourites. I managed to find some gel plate papers which had a little white on them which meant her face remained relatively clear. 

ID07

The paper was very thin, so I layered it onto some matt board, but this did give me the opportunity of being able to layer other elements underneath.

I have used more of the Sage on this page but I love how the blue pops around the outside edge.

Journalling is a very personal means of creativity and sometimes difficult to share publicly. However during the creative process you think about the sentiments; what is important to you and it can be quite an uplifting process.

That said, all the techniques I have utilised can be used in many different ways and in many different projects, not just for journalling. I looked through most of my collection of Alison's quotes in order to find the right words and that was a lovely process in itself. 

Paper collage can be fun but I find it works best to start without any great expectation of the end result. Just go with it and enjoy the process. I am pleased to report that it made a slight dent in my drawer of gel plate prints!

Thank you for joining me and happy crafting.

Jennie x

Blog: Live the Dream
Instagram: atkinsonjennie