Art Journal Volume 3 Complete

Oh my goodness do I LOVE a completed art journal. It is just so glorious to sit back and stare at this fat book of oozing goodness. Let me clarify that I am not saying that each page is a work of art. Ha! That is what makes an art journal SO special. It is the heart and soul that drips from the pages. This journal has really covered a huge variety of emotion...happy days, sad days, frustrated days, days for trying technique or colors, sweet girls, bright flowers...all kinds of things. That is what is so fabulous about having a place to just be free and get messy - it becomes sacred. :)

I am super happy that I have finished this volume 3 art journal because I can't wait to start another one. This time around I think I am going to order the 8x10 Strathmore Visual Journal. The 9x12 was wonderful, but I think a smaller size will help me "get it done" if you know what I mean. I want to stay active throughout the year with lots of art journal practice. A smaller journal may be exactly what I need. Also, I DO really like the Strathmore Mixed Media Visual Journals. I like that the paper can handle lots of media and doesn't start falling out or apart on me.

It has taken me a loooooonnnng time to finish all the pages. I do work on other things at the same time as I work through my main journal. I have a small journal with just faces, a junk journal made from recycled stuff, altered books, canvases, shop goodies as well as mini albums & scrapbooking projects. So there is lots of creating going on. BUT, I do want to be more intentional this year about spending time working through the new art journal that I get. I NEED to spend more time...make more time really I guess. Time...I think it needs to help out a bit and slow down. There is just too much FUN stuff to do! ;)

Here are some pages...

I can't wait to share new pages I create!

Happy Creating,

Fun, Festive Christmas Mini Album

Happy New Year!

Can you believe it is 2014? I know I can't. I honestly can't believe Christmas already whizzed by too. It came so fast this year. I could not keep up. :) It was a beautiful time for my family, but man...I blinked and POOF - it was gone!

To keep the holiday cheer around for just a wee bit longer I like to work on Christmas mini albums in January with the loads of pictures I took. This year I used my iphone for so many of our pictures. SO convenient, right!? It takes such great pictures and it is so much easier than my big Canon. BUT...nothing beats the quality of the photos when I use my Canon Rebel. So, I did use it as well. What do you do with all your holiday pictures?

Today I want to share an album I made for 2012 with all kinds of Christmas goodies from me & my BIG ideas. It is a December Daily style of album where I made 25 pages - one for each day.

The cover is made from pieces of chipboard that came in some packaging. The interior pages were all made from the mambi CARDS in an INSTANT, 12 x 12 paper stack, and a few transparent pages made from an old office folder. Pages are super easy to make. All I did was fold them in half and run my tape runner inside to seal it shut. EASY!

 

On the transparent pages I used a stencil and white acrylic paint. Once the paint was dry, I added some festive stickers. Remember, whatever you use will be seen on the back. I always plan a little cluster of embellishments on the back too.

Pockets were easily made by applying adhesive to three side of a cute me & my BIG ideas Specialty Card, then sticking it down. It is a perfect place to hold things you collect like ticket stubs, receipts, tags for journaling, cards, etc.

You can see that I repeated the use of some elements like doilies and vellum to have some continuity throughout the mini album. That really helps the flow of any book you are creating. :)

Another tip: Sometimes certain paper patterns or stickers are too bright for what I am working on. I tend to favor neutrals, faded colors, watercolor, and small muted patterns. However, in this album I wanted bright, traditional, festive color. The tree in the upper left picture is a chipboard sticker that had a pattern that did match the page. The shape was perfect for what I wanted, so I simply painting some white gesso over top. Gesso can be your best friend! It is just right for toning down bold color.

 

Thank you SO MUCH for visiting! 

I am looking forward to working on this year's Christmas mini album, as well as my Project Life pages for December in the coming weeks. I will share it all!

I'd love to hear what you plan on doing with your holiday pictures.

You can also see this Christmas album featured on the mambi blog right HERE. 

Happy Creating,