Mixed Media Journal

MY INSPIRATION JOURNAL...


Mixed media art is everywhere and my addiction is growing! My friend Renea' is an awesome paper artist and after months of oogling and wishing, we took the plunge and decided to give mixed media journals a whirl. With her support and a few supplies I bravely stepped away from my sewing machine to try out our new craft.

But where to begin??

There are tons of amazing project examples on the internet and in magazines but I was still lost and not even sure if I had what I needed to get going. (I didn't even know that Gesso existed, or how to pronounce it for that matter.) Fortunately for me I came across Ashley at lilblueboo.com during my search. If you wanna be completely, overly, stupendously amazed at the crafting ability of a single human being I highly suggest you check out her site. And, again, I say WOW!

We chose her "composition book art journal" example to get us going and took it from there! Renea' dove in like a mad woman while I took a slower approach. (I'm still afflicted with flashbacks from grade school art class where it was painfully obvious a master painter I did not make!).

Some tools of the trade.



Doodle artist Traci Bautista's brand of mod podge.


So, half a glass of wine and a few loose directions later, I let myself be seduced by the no-rules approach to slapping on mod podge, colored paper, paint and whatever else tickled my fancy. I've kept a written journal for years and decided I wanted to make an Inspiration Journal; a place where I can put favorite quotes or images that inspire me and insights I want to remember and look back on later. These journals take time so instead of powering through I decided this will be a great project-in-progress. No pressure and I can apply different techniques to new inspirational ideas as they come along. I figured since it's for me and me alone I could let go of worrying about whether it actually looks like a first grader made it (besides, some of those kids are crazy good!!).

Here are some humble beginnings and I will be sure to share new pages and fun things to try as they come along. I'm excited to see how my journal grows. Hope you like it and maybe decide to try one of your own!




My first flower doodle. The ladies were printed from Stampington's inspirational quote of the week email and the big flower was outlined and painted from craft paper. I love how the typed lettering torn from a vintage dictionary and my writing add a layered look from under the paint.



This tag was soaked in coffee to age it, painted and covered in glossy mod podge. I love the loose texture of the ribbon.



The page as a whole.

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