Better Late Than Never

Over two years ago, we (and by we I mean my collaborative art journal peeps and moi) started a new round robin with an asian theme. I thought I was finished with that ages ago, and in fact, have had my own book back for over a year now. Turns out, due to a glitch in the mailing process, Marita's book skipped me, and it was only recently that I was able to do some pages and mail them to Marita so she could finally have a completed book. I used a stencil technique I learned from the wonderful Lynne Perrella. When you find an image you love, you make a bunch of photocopies of it, and then using a craft knife, cut away only parts on each copy. You also carefully cut out the entire image on one, so you have a silhouette as well. That way you can create (or maybe I should say recreate) the image, but using your own colors, textures, designs, etc.

The two facing pages:

Close-ups:

Most of the color comes from acrylic paint (some are metallic), though there is some embellishment with markers, paint pens, and glaze pens. Lots of stencils were used. You can see how using Lynne's technique allowed me to decorate each part of the image differently. Surely not authentic, but I love how it came out. I have been zendoodling almost daily, so couldn't resist doing some of that on the quote. 

Since I was working on loose pages, and not in the book, I used that opportunity to add some texture with some machine stitching. I don't know how much of that is apparent in the photos, but it's there.

So happy to have finally done this and gotten the pages into the mail. I really do hate being so late with something, even if it wasn't my fault.

Distress Markers/Inspired by Asia

Before I sat down to work on my friend Lori's (no, not Lori of I Been Thinkin' 'Bout Inkin' fame; another Lori) Asian inspired journal, I decided to head over to Linda's blog to check out this week's Compendium of Curiosities 2 challenge.  As luck would have it, the technique (on page 50 of Tim's book) coincided with my plans for the journal.

It's all about distress markers this week; using them for coloring, using them for stamping.  Here is the page where I used them on just about everything:

 

The kimono (a Judikins stamp I've had forever) was stamped on Ranger's specialty paper.  I used embossing ink and black powder.  I like to emboss the outline of a stamp I plan to color; the embossing helps keep each color from straying into other areas.  The color palette used:  tattered rose, worn lipstick, scattered straw, shabby shutters, crushed olive, and wild honey.

 

You can also see those colors in the background, which is layered.  I started with paper run through a Cuttlebug folder (from their Asian set).  I highlighted the raised areas with worn lipstick and shabby shutters, which came out way too bright.  So I covered the whole thing with tissue paper.  That helped a little, but not enough, so I then dry brushed some gesso until I got the look I was after.  Then the bamboo leaves (a Stampin' Up stamp) were applied around the edges and colored with crushed olive.

 

The kimono was attached with pop dots to paper that had been embossed with another folder from that Cuttlebug set, colored with worn lipstick (and then some vintage photo to tone that down), then sprayed with Perfect Pearls Mists in forever red for a little sparkle.  Here's a closer look at the kimono:

 

 

 

This is what the two page spread looks like.  The background for the other page is similar.  Bits of joss paper were applied and covered with dry brushed gesso to soften the bright colors.

 

 

 

The photos on the bottom came from an old Japanese catalog, given to me by my friend Kyoko on the last Tim Holtz cruise.  I've made great use of that gift in this particular journal group.  And by the way, the bits of color in those photos came from.....you guessed it.....distress markers.

 

 

 

I haven't said it lately, but thanks to Linda for hosting these challenges; they always inspire me.  And if that isn't motivation enough, this week Linda is going to randomly select a participant to receive a gift, courtesy of Mario and Tim.







 



Anyone For Tea?

It's been about three months since I've had any books to work on from my Asian inspired journal group.  On Saturday, I received two, and just finished the pages I did for my friend way up north, Lillian.

With these collaborative books, sometimes I know exactly where I'm going and sometimes I just start and hope for the best.  All I knew this time, is that I was going to use the stencil technique I've learned from workshops with the incomparable Lynne Perrella.  Using multiple copies of the same image, stencils are created by cutting away different parts on each copy.  Paints, inks, stains and pastels are applied in layers, decorative stencils are also used in sections, creating a final image that while inspired by the original, is unique and totally belonging to the artist.  I love this technique!  A bit of upfront work, yes, but ultimately so much more satisfying to me than simply cutting out an image, altering it in some way, and gluing it down,

First, the two page spread:

 

 

Here is a little closer look at my teacup holding lady:

 

 

 

She was done on watercolor paper, and I mainly used fluid acrylics.  Some details were done with glaze pens and souffle pens.  The characters were heat embossed, as was the teapot on the bottom.  The background paper is from Graphic 45's new Bird Song stack.  It was originally a pale pink, but I changed it to green with one of the acrylics, which is very translucent, so the original pattern is still visible.  The bamboo shoots on the right were heat embossed using Ranger's verdigris powder (one of my favorites).

 

An even closer look:

 

 

 

It was the teacup in the image that led me to the facing page.  I did a little online research into the Japanese tea ceremony.  The four words are the principals behind this ritual.

 

 

The background paper is also from the Graphic 45 stack, and it was altered with gold fluid acrylic paint, and the heat embossing in black and pink on the bottom.  The teapot was stamped on a piece of scrap paper that had been previously covered with that verdigris embossing powder, and it is stacked on two other pieces from the Bird Song collection.  Each layer was attached with pop dots, though I don't think that is obvious in the photo.

 

 

 













 



Asian Art Journal Pages

One of my favorite collaborative journal projects is the one with the asian theme.  Everyone went all out in this group, creating their own books, and using some lovely and interesting bindings.  Last week I received journals made by my two local friends, Pat and Teri, and spent this week working on them.  They are both on the small side, easily held in one hand, and the pages done before me are, as usual, a combination of elegant, whimsical, classical and eclectic styles.  Pat receives journals from me, so when I hand these two to her next week, she will be seeing her journal for the first time in nearly a year.  And when Pat finishes Teri's book, that one will be going home as well.  My own book came home a couple of weeks ago, and that was a thrill.

Here are my pages for Teri's book.

I did the floral watercolor on the second page, and then selected some stamps that I thought complemented it for the facing page.  They were embossed with black powder.  The backgrounds for both pages were just me playing with sprays, stencils, pages of Japanese text, gesso, and probably a dozen other things I can't recall.  I was just grabbing whatever was on my table.  Many of us have added a haiku to our pages.

Pat's pages are quite a bit different, very shiny and bright.  I made a lot of use of my joss paper, which is where all the gold comes from.

The image of the woman is kind of a hybrid.  It started out as a xyrene transfer, which I heard about on the asian group message board.  Taking care to work in a well ventilated room, you lay a toner copy face down onto your surface and then rub the back with a xyrene filled blender pen (the kind used for blending alcohol based markers like Copics or Prismacolors).  As it turned out, I had one (never used) in my stash. 

Because I was trying to apply the image to a very textured surface, only parts of it actually transfered well.  Hence the word hybrid.  I used a Sharpie to fill in some of the missing lines.

There is also a bit of stamping, and I added the beaded edge as well.

I know there are several books in this group that I have not yet worked on, so I have something to look forward to.  Love these journals!

Art Journal Marathon

You know that expression, "when you're hot you're hot.....," well nowhere does that apply more than in what we do in the mixed media world.  Sometimes you stare at blank paper for hours without a bit of inspiration, and sometimes you just can't stop creating.

When I sat down at my work space Saturday afternoon my intention was to work on one of the three asian themed collaborative journals I had in my to-do pile (along with other stuff).  Saturday rolled into Sunday into Monday, and I had finished all three, plus one Artistic Evolution journal as well.  When the muse is so willing, the body just better cooperate.

First up, the pages I did for Sox.



Golden fluid acrylics and Dylusions sprays on text for the background, then lots of stenciling and some stamping.  The fish are from Wendy Vecchi's Art For Men set, and were stamped with black archival ink and colored with distress markers.

The next two pages are for Val's journal.

Some paper collage and stencils over text for the background.  The female figure on the left is a stamp, colored with a variety of things, not all of which I remember.  I know I used watercolors and distress markers.  I also did some stenciling on top of the clothing.

The male figure on the right was cut from a Japanese catalog my pal Kyoko gave me on the last Tim cruise.  I've been using it lots in these journals as it is a treasure trove of beautiful images.  The little pocket sewn onto the page is actually fabric, and it was part of a gift from Naomi, another cruise pal, this one given to me on the New England Tim cruise.  I love being able to incorporate things I've received from one friend in something for another friend.  It just feels good.

Sue's book was created with signatures of four pages.  We were only obliged to work in the center two, but if we wanted, we could do something on the first and last pages of the signature as well.  Sue said she has plenty of beautiful paper to fill in the blank pages, so no worries.  As I was definitely on a roll, I did all four pages.  The first was a no brainer.  Ever since I did this tag I knew it would find its way into someone's asian journal.  All I did for the background was spray some color on a page of text, then stamp the grass with pigment ink and add some embossing powder.

This is the two page spread followed by each page individually.

The stones were created by scraping gesso through a stencil.  When dry they were inked with a variety of brown, gray, and black.  The seated woman is a stamp.  The bamboo was done with a cuttlebug embossing folder, colored with distress inks and carefully cut out.  Other stamping (the foliage) was heat embossed.

The last page in the signature was done with another embossing folder.  On this one I applied broken china ink directly to the folder before running it through my machine to create the water.  The koi were colored with distress markers.  The piece was matted on a piece of decorative paper.

The last journal I worked in was Sue's Artistic Evolution journal.  Her colors are the colors of Provence, green, amber and purple.    I was thinking of fields of flowers, and did a lot of stamping, added texture by applying fiber paste through stencils, sprayed, doodled, and created some flowers with bits of canvas.  The decorative edge on the right was done with Tim's tissue paper,which I first inked with dusty concord and chipped sapphire.

It's good I'm finished, because I just heard that two more asian journals are heading my way!



Journal Pages With An Asian Twist

One of my favorite collaborative journals is turning out to be the one with the Asian theme.  Something about it has made everyone in the group create the most beautiful books for us to work in.  Every one I've received so far has been hand made and they are all just lovely.  The other day I received two in the mail from my pal Lee in Australia.  Yesterday I was housebound and worked on them all day long (well, with a few breaks in between to watch a White Collar marathon on tv).

First up, Daisy's book.  All her pages have a white border and black to work on.  Very dramatic.  Daisy also requested that we use no bulky embellishements or dangly things, so for interest I turned to texture.

Above, the two facing pages.  I started out by embossing black cardstock with Provo's Asian set.  The first page has the bamboo, the second the cherry blossoms.

I then swiped the embossed parts with clear ink and sprinkled some of Ranger's antique gold powder over top.  Sure, some of the powder went to the unembossed areas, but I didn't let that worry me, as I knew I'd be adding other bits to the page.  The gold strips are from torn up joss paper, which you can find online or in many shops in any Chinatown.  The flowers and bird are from a decorative napkin.  The chinese characters are stamped with clear ink and embossed with black powder.

Now, I know I'm mixing up Chinese and Japanese images, but I claim artistic license, and I hope no one reading this blog belongs to the purist/factual police and certainly don't mean to offend anyone.  The kimono is a Judikins stamp which I colored with metallic mica paints.  The gold frame around it was done with sticky tape and gold microbeads.  BTW, I covered the beads with a layer of Ranger's matte Glue N Seal, so they will stay put forever.

The close up above is a little fuzzy, but I wanted you to see the flower....fussy cut from a napkin, and after it dried I outlined it with a fine black permanent ink pen.  You can also see the embossed bamboo on the background.

I'm not sure how much of the shimmer shows up, but the entire kimono does have a subtle metallic glow. 

Next up, Carla's pages.  I started out with red textured paper, over which I glued a decorative napkin which featured cherry blossoms, but in an unexpected color palette....the whole thing just black, white, and gray.  Some of the red peeks through as pink, and I really liked the look.

After the tissue paper tried I stamped over it with clear ink and embossed the images with plain (not antique) gold powder. 

The square above is a stamp from an unknown company, found in my stash, embossed with gold, and popped up on the page with a few foam dots.  A heart shaped "coin" dangles from it, and I added some gold German scrap....not exactly Asian, but it works.

On this page I did something I've been wanting to do for a while.  I acquired a few small brass latches a while back and wanted to use them on a "door" on a page.  I used grungeboard so it would withstand bending from opening and closing it.  And yes, there is something to see inside....some images I took from the catalog my friend Kyoko gave me on the cruise. 

I glued a few select images together and then added the gold embossed stamping of the dragon and the dragonfly.  The red paper you see on the inside of the doors is really just there to cover the prongs from the brads used to attach the latches to the doors.















The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 6

The tag Tim did for today features embossed metal, painted and distressed and very vintage looking.  Tim used one embossing folder for his tag (one I don't have), and I used three folders.  I cut them into sections to create the collage look of the folder Tim used.

I used the holiday, snowflakes and sheet music folders.  This tag was not difficult to do, but it does
involve some drying time.  Also, as Tim states clearly, after painting the metal you will most likely think that your tag is a hot mess.  Don't be alarmed.  The following steps really do make it all work.  I think it's a wonderful look.

The embellishment (I don't have any of the Christmas charms) started life as a truly ugly overly bright piece of thin cheap metal.  Applying the paint and embossing it really transformed it.

By the way, Tim used Ranger's self adhesive foil.  I used metal from Ten Seconds Studio.  But......if you have neither, this is what I used to do before I had any metal sheets.  Adhere some heavy duty aluminum foil to your cardstock and then proceed as directed.  As long as you are a bit gentle with your sanding you won't tear the foil and it is a good substitute for the real thing.



Yes, I'm Still Here.......

......and can't believe it's been more than a week since my last post.  First I was out of town on family related business, and then I was too exhausted from that, and then it was suddenly Thanksgiving.
That's it for me; I'm all out of excuses.
Right before I left I received Elena's journal from our asian themed round robin group, and today I finished my pages.

Above is my two page spread.  Elena had requested that we have a black border or frame, so I cut my watercolor paper about an inch smaller than her book and used black distress stain to make the border.

What I like most about these pages is that I think that everything I used on them is something that I received from a friend.  Here are closer views of the two pages:

The first layer on the paper is a bunch of small squares cut from colored paper I received from Lee.  Over that a coat of thinned out gesso, followed by some asian text from a newspaper I got from Teri.  The gold and orange you see is joss paper and I think I got that from Sox.  The bamboo is from a decorative napkin and if I'm not mistaken, Elena sent that to me.  The beautiful images of the Japanese books are from a catalog that Kyoko brought all the way from Japan and gave to me on the cruise.

For better or worse, the haiku is all mine.  I know Elena loves to read, which was the inspiration for these pages.

Still Headin' East, And Getting Closer

Remember this?

Yep, the cover of my then unfinished journal for an upcoming round robin.  The paper I ordered came, I created my signatures, did my sewing, completed the back cover and even worked on an art page to get the party started.

I totally copied Sox's great idea of wrapping a strip of colorful paper around the fold on the outside page of each signature.  That way, when you look at the spine (this is, after all, an exposed spine technique) you don't just see boring white.  I used some very beautiful origami paper.  Here's the spine:

And this is what the pages with the origami paper look like inside.  Whoever works on these pages can incorporate the papers into their art or work right over them.  Up to the artist.  I only did this to further decorate the spine.  Though they do look pretty, don't you think?

As for those stray red strings in the first photo, they are what's leftover after binding the book.  They can be tucked into the spine, but I read somewhere that one of the book binding gurus said that those strings are the sign of a handmade book, so I'm leaving them alone.

Here is my inside front cover.  I used more of the origami paper to reinforce the book tapes.

Same idea on the inside of the back cover:

The back cover itself is all fabric, lightly padded.  Here's a secret and a tip for any fellow lazy efficient workers out there.   I didn't feel like moving a dozen boxes to get at my fiberfill or whatever that stuff is called (since I didn't get to it I can't read the name on the package).  So I just took some fabric I really don't care for, folded it a few times and used that as my padding.  Works well and I never would have used that ugly cloth for anything else.  The fabrics that do show,  I found in a shop in Bar Harbor on last year's Tim Holtz cruise.  I think they're beautiful.

Since everyone in this journal group will be doing a two page, side by side spread, I did the first (single) page myself.  It may or may not be finished.  I'm still meditating on that.

The very last page is also a single.  I just used some paints (the scraped paint technique....apply paint, use plastic card to scrape it into the paper.  Apply more paint....etc.), some text and a coat of glaze.  Depending on the final total of artists it may stay as it is or become a sign in page.  We'll see.

The funny thing is, when Elena first suggested this journal I said I'd love to but only if it started in October, because I just KNEW I'd not have time to get it started any sooner than that.  And here I am, in August, all ready to go.  Well, if everything turned out the way we imagined it that would make for a pretty predictable and boring life, no?