Win a spot on The Journey Within 2016 - GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY - GIVEAWAY - GIVEAWAY

I have 2 spots to giveaway on the course

1st place: One full year registration

2nd place: single quarter registration (Jan-Mar 16)

You will be aware by now that I am teaching in a course called The Journey Within A Year of Handmade Art Journals, and we are in the middle of a blog hop challenge.

You can check out HERE the challenge I set for Kiala on my blog hop day, and also see the blog hop schedule.

The course officially starts on 1st January 2016 and will last for the whole year but you also get a December mini course so you can test the waters, see how you can pace yourself.

Each month, Kiala will teach you how to make your own handmade art journal, give you prompts, tips, and techniques for filling the pages, and there are 17 other guest artists to share their art journaling process.

I will be teaching 4 lessons created just for this course for the year and I am looking forward to sharing with you!

Why not Join us for this amazing adventure and have your most creative year yet.

For a chance to WIN a place in the course, complete some of the tasks below - each one gives you two chances, or Sign Up anyway and if you win a spot you can bless a friend!

The Journey Within E-course 2016: a Year of Handmade Art Journals

Recycled Projects - 'John Lewis' art Journal

How many times have you come across a catalogue that you were not really interested in the products, but the paper that it was made from?  Not to say that I don't like John Lewis products, but when I came across this catalogue I thought that I would put it to use.

You can make a journal out of anything, putting the pages together for yourself and creating to your hearts content.  The fun lays in taking something made for one use and totally changing it, and seeing what each page will eventually become.

My use for this journal is as a jump start to get my creative juices flowing using some of the pictures as inspiration and for when I have a limited supply.

I first set out to decorate the front using paints, stamps, modelling paste, and markers to remind myself that its purpose was to inspire, not get overwhelmed with what I wanted to create, but just play.  

On the back cover I wanted to create a painting but it also had to be durable as it would be taken around, thrown into bags and experience rough and tumble.

Using tissue paper glued randomly to the back, applying paint and then sealing it all in means that it is a journal that will stand the tests of time, or there about.

I proceeded to stick several of the pages together to create a strong surface that would take paint well, and then I see what images inspire.  Each page has a selection of beds, bedding and household furniture and I either use the room settings as the basis for the page, or draw something totally unrelated. 

Here is a page that I chose to do create a scene with, after it is chosen and I start to draw round the items I want to keep in charcoal. 

I get a sense after a while of the characters that may be present in the room, and this young man found his way in the room, and decided to jump all over the bed.

Using gesso I block out those areas that I don't want to keep and think about either adding additional characters or thinking about paint.

This little girl couldn't resist joining the little boy to jump all over his parents bed, and so that's how I have been using the journal to think about ideas and stories about the lives of the people that join me on the pages of the journal.

I have yet to finish this page, but finishing is not the main objective or motivation, it is to continue to take the time to be creative if possible every day.

Here are a few other pages that I have started, and work on bits when the mood takes, and I look forward to working on them.

On some of the pages I have been working on, stories waiting to be told.

Some stories tell of hope and looking to the future.....

thinking about the past, and being present.......

But most of all working in this journal has been a fresh way of looking at things, often those things that we see day after day and making something new.  I really do encourage you to look at some of the things that you can recycle and use for creative purposes.  Check out some of the other Recycled projects that I have made.  Over the next few weeks I am looking forward sharing other recycled art journals, and ones that you can also make and bind yourself.  Until then stay blessed!

Journal Celebration Art

I grew up writing in a diary.  My first was one of this girly ones with a clasp and a lock to keep prying little brothers eyes out.  I didn't really understand how to use it but would write things like my favorite pop stars names in, favorite colours and such.

As I grew up I would use note books to write my thoughts, the angst of a teenager filling the page, no one seem to understand - little did I understand myself.  My older and wiser self could have offered much wisdom to the 18 year old who felt that she knew everything about the world.

Off and on I would share my thoughts on the pages of numerous journals, the years passing, experiences, joy, and pain found their places. When I was introduced to art journaling I was thrilled, being able to capture images, or thoughts, It could be as short or as long as I wanted.  As I have matured I realized that my journals could be what ever I wanted them to be.  I like keeping many journals, I enjoy creating in the art journals as they capture a mood for me and can be as complicated as I require, and with each morning I am drawn to work in my 'morning pages' journal doing my 3 pages free flow writing - check out The Artist's Way Starter Kit by Julia Cameron.  Many an idea has sprung from these pages, or a solution to a problem been found.

I have also grown to love altering books and since taking the book binding course have become a fan and love the different types of binding methods that can be achieved, especially with the spine of the book.  I am coming to the end of my book binding course at Shepherds, the five weeks have just flown by.  Tuesdays is the last session and we will have made a total of 5 books. we have been using some beautiful Japanese hand made paper and cloth, I have been in my element, and I will share the books made at the end of next week.

Mother and Child with their Journals

I celebrate my joy in learning more about making my own books and created this painting which shows a mother sharing her handmade books with her daughter, who is getting her first book to start filling with her own adventures.

I am looking forward to making many more journals and sharing them with you here.  What creative activity are you looking forward to getting started?  let me know and share what you are doing, blessings!

Making Handmade Books

I won a prize draw!  The book came today in the post, Making Handmade Books by Alisa Golden (Lark Crafts) Looking forward to trying out some of the projects.  It came with a lovely book made by the author.
I have been getting into making my own books and altering books so its a lovely treat to be able to learn even more techniques.
Another book that I started this week was Wreck this Journal

I used to feel overwhelmed by blank pages either on my canvas or my journal, this book provides prompt for stepping out and getting over the fear by doing random things in it, experiment and see where the adventure takes you....  A couple of the suggestions

Some others include:

Hanging the journal in a public place and invite people to draw on it - could be the start of an interesting project or journal page, Tongue painting, cutting, tearing, writing with the pen in your mouth....and much more..should be interesting....not sure about the tongue painting, might adapt that one...but hey, thats the fun make it what you want it to be....post a couple of pages to friends, get them to do something on it and post it back...or give you some ideas for your own journal prompts.

Some might be asking why regarding some of the prompts for 'wreck the journal', I guess it's part of keeping up the creative process, we often complain about not having enough time and some of the things you can do in the book only take a couple of minutes of thinking outside of the box, and may lead you developing your creative projects further and release a bit of tension :)  It would be great to see what you've done if you have one of these books, or thinking of getting one.  It would also be great to hear about any new techniques your learning.  Stay blessed!