Grab your passport because July’s Artful Adventures are going to be fun! We are going to heat it up around here and start off July with a bang!
First off, we are going to get the scoop on Art Journaling. If you have ever wondered what it is, where to start, and what to use, then this is the perfect adventure for you!
Next, since gesso is a basic product and often used in art journaling, we’ll be covering what you need to know about gesso.
Then it’s off to discover Gelatos! I hope you will love them as much as I do! We will be learning how to use them in a variety of ways, and you’ll be so happy to know that they are perfect for art journaling, scrapbooking, and card-making! I seriously can’t wait to show you!
Cheers to YOUR creativity!
Photo Credit: bayasaa via Flickr Creative Commons License
What do you do when you are totally stuck and really don’t know where to start on an art journaling page or a scrapbook page? Even if you are using a list of simple prompts, you may still need an extra nudge of inspiration! Here is an idea you may not have thought of – a way to look online for very random inspiration!
Layout inspired by music album cover art.
There are many places online to find images. However, we are not looking for something to copy, we are looking for inspiration. A couple of key places to look are Ebay and Amazon! The reason those are great places to look is because there are going to be so many things associated with a word you type into your search. If you are only using one of the regular search engines like Google or Bing, your search will really be much more narrow. The images that come up will be so closely related to your search word, that they will all be very similar unless you scroll down to page 1,000 of the search!
When you use Ebay or Amazon, you should have such random things come up that you might get an inspirational idea such as:
a color palette
a layout
a reminder of a technique you haven’t used in a while or maybe have never tried
Let’s talk a little more specifically. There are often books and packaging that come up in this type of search. Why not use them as inspiration? You may take the layout of the lettering, the graphic design, or the color scheme. That would be three ways to use the look of just one book or package. That’s just the beginning! There are so many ways this could take you
Some ways that you might generate random images could be using:
Do you ever feel like you just need a little nudge getting starting on a scrapbook page, or an art journal page? Let’s talk about that for just a minute! The other day, I announced that you could get a page of Inspiration Starters for free. It has 45 prompts that you can use for either scrapbooking or art journaling. Today, let’s talk a little bit about prompts and inspiration.
Simple prompts make YOU use YOUR CREATIVITY, like an ink blot test!
Some people like to have an idea spelled out for them, in kind of a “take this and do that with it” way. Since I like to urge you to stretch your creative wings, my inspiration prompts are a little more random that that. They are more like those ink blot tests!
If I say “BLUE,” what would you think of? There are many ways you could go with a prompt or idea that is just as simple as one word. Here are some things you might come up with for blue:
the sky
feeling “blue”
baby boy blue
your car may be blue
a favorite piece of clothing
color of your house
a room in your home
a new art product you just bought
the blue eyes of someone special
the nursery rhyme “Little Boy Blue”
your phone may have a blue cover and spend a lot of time on it
your favorite shade of blue
… etc., etc., etc.
See what I mean? That’s what is so fun about getting less information with a prompt! When YOU come up with what you are going to do with the prompt, it is truly YOUR idea! So go ahead and get the sheet of “nudging” right now! When you let me know you want the sheet of prompts, you’ll even get a new sheet every month! By the way, blue is not on this list!
Hi friends! Did you notice the new header today? Cute twist on going on Artful Adventures, don’t you agree? You can look forward to seeing little bits and pieces of travel related things as we go on Artful Adventures together!
Also, there is a brand new freebie for you! It is a page of Project Prompts. It includes:
45 Inspiration Starters
30 Product Reminders of things you may have forgotten about
20 Technique Reminders
With all that, you are sure to come up with some great projects. Project prompts can be such a great starting point, whether it’s an art journal page, a scrapbook page, mixed media….. whatever! I have many projects that are the result of a prompt somebody gave me. It made me think in a different way than maybe would have on my own, on that day, at that time.
PLUS, you are going to love this! When you sign up to get the Project Prompts, you will also start receiving new ones each month! WooHoo!
For those of you already on my list, the new freebie info should already be in your inbox! If you aren’t on the list, look to the right on this page and just send me over your and email. It’s that easy!
Here is another month in our series on art journal calendars. This idea for June is made in a 9″x12″ art journal. This particular journal has tear-out pages, so it can be taken out and added to the rest of pages that have been done this year. Previous pages this year have been made on 12″x12″ card stock, and the months have either been on a single or double page layout.
Here’s the process for this month’s pages:
Background misted with color at the top and bottom of the page. The top is someway blue and the bottom somewhat green.
The June title was just hand written and embellished with a little dot and line work.
Handwritten June Title
I made a stencil of a watering can using my Cricut, and used a yellow PanPastel to create the watering cans, covering the entire shape.
When finished with the PanPastels, I went outside and sprayed a workable fixative over all of it, so I could continue to work over the Pan Pastels.
After realizing it would have been better to have the handles open to see the background, I went in and colored the handles and the open tops with black marker.
Now, it was way too dark, and so a bit of paint was mixed to coordinate with the background, and painted into the handle openings.
Two different green markers were used to create wispy grass along the bottom.
Three colors of stamps were use to create the flowers. Some being stamped two or three times to get different levels of colors.
Wispy Grass and Stamped Flowers
Next, a bit of paint was mixed into the water color, and the open tops of the watering cans were filled in, and the water drops painted.
Finally, Glossy Accents was used over the water drops and the top openings of the water cans.
Glossy Accents added to water in cans and water drops.
Last, but not least, numbers for the days of the month were written onto the watering can spouts.
It is kind of hard to see, but the misting on the bottom also has some sparkle in it! I love sparkle and shine! What are things you like in your projects?
