Hiya sistahs,

Today I wanted to talk a little about ART JOURNALING and how it has changed my life.  Honestly, it really has.  I want to show you that it is not something to be scared of, intimidated by, nor is it something you should avoid.  I am going to talk to you about how I started, what triggered it, what keeps me going, who inspires me etc.  So grab your Starbucks, have a seat and enjoy the journey.  ok? OK!

Approximately 2 years ago, we had an event in Bellaland and one of our friends/customers Anna W. (I will always “blame”/”hug” you for this obssession sistah!) showed Dena and I a VERY empty journal of hers that she brought with her.  The pages were sporadically done (you don’t have to start at the first page.. I just open my journal and start from wherever I open it), different mediums used and at the same time, quite impressive.  Dena and I immediately ran to the book store to get some books that Anna suggested we start off with.  My first reaction was.. “ARE WE CRAZY??”… what are we getting ourselves into???  I am the FURTHEST thing from an artist… let alone a writer (although I do enjoy writing :)).

Well, of COURSE, since I immediately became obssessed, I immediately began doing some research.  Some MAJOR research.  One thing I do love to do is learn everything i can about the subject I am interested in.  I swear I am a walking encyclopedia at times.. (do Encyclopedias still exist?)…  The great thing about art journaling is the inspiration you can find everywhere.. artists who have different styles who can teach you different techniques.

First and foremost I have to thank KELLY KILMER as she was my first and continuous stop on this journey.  Her journals are BEEYOOTIFUL.. and she expresses herself via collage which is so LIBERATING.. finding images that pertain to you.. using your embellishments.. YUMMMM.. she teaches amazing online classes too which I have taken 🙂  I recommend Kelly HIGHLY!

I am also inspired by one of the pioneers in art journaling- TEESHA MOORE.. you can detect her style from a mile away!  Also involving collage, paper piecing of sorts, image altering.. so colourful.. so amazing!

Julie Balzer is a WEALTH of information and so talented and the fact that we have her designed stamps makes me so proud.  Her use of color, her boldness, fearlessness, her product knowledge is incredible!

Christy Tomlinson– has just hosted 2 online classes which are life changing as well.. playing with product, color, stamping, paper piecing  .. you name it!  Take a look and see! you will not be sorry! and she has a 3d class on the way!

Daisy Yellow – lots of fun and also extremely inspiring..

Ihanna– is so much fun!! so full of information

Now please forgive my definitions, opinions etc.. they are VERY subjective.. I am speaking from my perspective only so I am not sure whether I am right or wrong in describing what art journaling is but I am definitely going to tell you what it means to me and what it has done for me.

Some people are not comfortable with writing/journaling yet they still feel like they need to express themselves somehow.  Enter VISUAL journaling or ART journaling where you can express yourself via an artistic process..  The greatest thing about art journaling is that it is YOUR place to dive into.  You are not being judged for your work, you are simply enjoying the process and MORE IMPORTANTLY, ALLOWING yourself to enjoy the process.  Accompanying your art, you can write as well.. whether it be a word, a quote.. something to symbolize your feelings and mood but there is no necessity for prose.  no pressure at all.

An art journal can also be a place where you test out product.. you know those bags you have brought home full of product that you have yet to touch because you don’t know what the results will be?  Well, you can test it out in your journal!  colour, splotch, spray, scribble, dab, wipe, color, stamp, paint, glitter.. you name it.. again, it is YOUR own place to hang out in… it doesn’t have to be perfect.. it doesn’t have to be a “layout”.. the process of  “designing” your page should not be stressful.. should be fun , exploratory, and exciting!

Ok so how does one get started in this mysterious Art Journaling bidniss?

Well, the first thing you need is an Art Journal, of course! A journal is a very subjective thing.. you need to love it when you look at it.. when you hold it.. when you hug it.. so the only thing I recommend for one is that it has heavy pages in it so that it can take the “abuse” of mixed media….  you will see if you like a spiral, if you like “connecting” pages like in a moleskine.. or simply loose water color pages you can bind later on!

The STRATHMORE VISUAL journal is one option.. they have different types of papers for different things you want to play with!  Not only that, but if you explore the website, there are amazing art journalers on there giving FREE classes for inspiration!  Take a looky! Explore! have fun!

As I mentioned, you can also use an old book, a MOLESKINE journal (my FAVORITE in SKETCH and in WATERCOLOR), a leather bound journal etc.

I don’t have my journal here.. but take a look at DENA’s SCRUMMY YUMMY DEELISH moleskine (this picture does not give it justice).. OMG I want to marry it..(see I am already going back to my baby roots…LOL)

Now if the pages are thin, you can always coat them with a coat of GESSO.   Gesso is a primer for your page.. makes the page stronger and thicker while creating a white background with ‘tooth’ to grab on to whatever media you decided to layer on top of it!

Now I don’t want to give EVERYTHING away, as I am going to make this a regular post.. every monday we will discuss… now not only will we discuss, we will be INSPIRED.  And what I mean by that is that I would like an excuse to play more often in my journals, rather than thinking about what medium to buy next (I can’t help it!!). and in order to do that, I need to CHALLENGE MYSELF.. and along with CHALLENGING MYSELF, I was thinking of challenging da sistahs as well.  So, every monday I will post an art journaling challenge and the following week, if anyone wants to share their work (no pressure at all as this exercise is meant not to stress you) I will post on my blog with PLEASURE.. and I will post my work as well.

The first challenge will be to use children’s CRAYONS on your journal page.  Now I am not going to limit you.. you can use paint as well, cut out words, scribble etc.. but I want at least one element of your page to have crayon on it.  Think about what you can do with crayons besides scribble?  Sharpen them and take the shavings and glue on your page randomly or in the shape of something?  Sharpen, place on your journal page, lay a piece of wax paper over it and iron and see the results! play play play!

The reason why I want to start this with crayons is because I want us all to go back to our childhood.  How happy were we when we opened a brand new box of crayons.. the smell, the colours etc..Some artists actually keep a box open next to them to inspire them..

The most amazing thing about children is that they are not intimidated by colour, paint, paint brushes.. they hold the brushes as they wish to, they dip in any colour that they feel like at the moment.. and I want YOU to become like that as well!

So that is this week’s challenge.  I don’t want you to be scared.  I want you to enjoy.. relax and take this journey with me.  I am here for all questions as well.  Now you may feel *ahem* weird scribbling with crayons or doing any of the prompts I will ask you to do.. but I want you to get all of that out of your minds.. forget it.. just DO.. I promise you will feel SOOOO GOOOD… PLOMISE!!!

So who’s in?

MWAH!!

Em

email

Twitter

Pinterest

Facebook

I KNEW I would get your attention.. I JUST KNEW-I-T.  LOL.  Ok so there is this Ek SUCCESS SMASH CUH-RAZE going on… if you don’t know what a SMASH book is, I recommend you watch this video.  I am in LOVE with this video.  I want to MARRY this video.  hmph.  I have watched it about 10,465 time, have made my friends watch it (friends who are not even INTERESTED in knowing what a SMASH is.. now want “a SMASH”.. or to get SMASHED as I say it 🙂 ).. My kids have watched this video..  Frankie has watched this video.. well you get the idea.  Not only is it ADORABLE and CUTE and YUMMY and has a GREAT song, I admire this video for it’s marketing value.  It hooks you right in at “hello”… kinda like me, no?

Ok take a looky if you have 2 minutes to spare.. and sing out loud.. n’k?

http://youtu.be/_PFsArr4Z1s

Basically what a “smash” journal does is it removes the ANGST that comes along with the “fear of the blank page”.  These are kind of a hybrid book between an art journal and a scrapbook and a daily “log book”.  It is a PHENOMENON.  NOT ONLY is it a BOOK but it has tons of embellishments, clips, bookmarks, stickies, pockets.. OMG.. it’s SMASH HEAVEN.   Bellaland had 45 books and they all sold in 2 days.. so basically this post is a TEASE.  and I am sorry but I MUST educate you before my NEXT shipment comes in 🙂 LOL.

If you would like to see great samples of what people do with their SMASH journals.. take a looky here

The smash book comes with a handy dandy pen on one side and glue stick on another for those emergency moments where you just HAVE to glue something in your journal.. so if you collect a business card, a receipt etc.. you can just glue it in right away.  The pages in the book (I believe there are about 6 different styles) are SO adorably (is that even a word?) decorated.. and it is just so much fun to fill in.. ( just ask my friend/customer COREY.. she just pulled an all nighter with her daughter filling it in and had a BLAST doing it!)  so whether you would like it themed (summer holidays).. or just an everyday memory..it is truly an amazing thing. 

This book is basically meant for pen and ink.. so what I do is, I keep my messy art journal on it’s  own for learning new techniques and expressing myself artistically (will do another post on this).. and the Smash journal is more for writing and memorabilia.. I truly believe that these journals that I keep will be a legacy for my kids.. either they will appreciate how crazy I am, or they will really doubt that I was even human.. (OMG JUST GIGGLED OUT LOUD..)..

Here is a 2 pager that I did in my PINK smash book… I Have this obssession with doors and windows.. (among other things *ahem*).. so I decided to download some images from PINTEREST that really expressed what I was feeling at that moment, printed them out and SMASHED (oh that felt so good) them in… I stamped, and wrote as well..

take a lookie.. here’s my pink SMASH book :).. still in it’s pristine plastic (which I didn’t know I should remove..LOL)

Here is my double paged spread.. pictures of the doors :).. the SMASH TAPE, the smash CLIP

Here it is closeup 🙂

Here is my journaling page.. I USED JULIE’S JOURNALING LABELS and JULIE’S WORDS to LIVE BY which I just love :).. I also doodled with a black permanent marker

 I GOTS to tell ya.. I had SUCH a good time with this.. have already continued working on it.. and will DEFINITELY KEEP YOU POSTED!!

Now for a WINNAH of the LOVE COLLAGE stamp 🙂

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

13-CATHY P! you win the stamp!  please email me and I will send you the stamp!

Timestamp: 2011-07-12 20:08:02 UTC

So what do you think of the smash?  you lovey?

Mwah to da sistahs who wanna get smashed.. cuz I do 🙂

Em

email

Twitter

Pinterest

Facebook