Brattypants Studio - - Art Journaling Insanity

 

Journaling by 5s

 

1 - - Paint/Ink (background

2 - - Collage/Recycled Materials (texture/interest)

3 - - Stamps/Stencils (pattern, mark-making)

4 - - Words/Images (focal point)

5 - - Pen/Pencil (doodling, detail)

 

Before the Meet Prep

• Do any prep you need to whatever book you are using or making for this challenge.  You need at least 20 single sheets that can handle wet media; we will decorate the fronts only of 20 pages.  You may need t glue extra pages together for strength depending on your paper.  If you want any gesso, have it done before hand, as this averages to seconds per page for each phase.
• If you are working in an actual book and not loose pages, you will need wax paper or deli wrap to insert between pages.  They will still be damp when you go to the next page.  I would recommend clipping the wax paper onto the facing page, so that you can just flip the page and move onto the next.
• Pre-cut or tear out a collection of images you may like to use.  You will need 20+.  Make some extras, so you have variety … but don’t have so much you feel overwhelmed.  You will be making decisions about your focals quickly.
• Cut out any words, phrases, and quotes for each page.  You will want some extras on these too.  You can also consider sticker words or stamped words.  You have to move quickly, so you probably will not want things ae are too fussy in size.

    

 Getting Organized     

1 - - Paint/Ink (background      

• Acrylic paint, acrylic inks, or spray inks would be good. 
•  Limit your colors.  We will take a few minutes to organize our space before we say “go” 😊
• You will need to have your paints open and on a palette, in a jar lid, or however you want to organize depending on how you plan on applying.  I will probably use my gelli plate as a palette, but do whatever makes the most sense to you.
• You will need a method to apply that you can do quickly.  Recommendations is to scrape or brayer … or use a large brush for jarred paints.

2 - - Collage/Recycled Materials (texture/interest)

•  Scraps of book text, decorative paper, tissue paper, and napkin would be good.  Textural elements will be good, but select things that you can quickly glue.
• Arrange your elements in a way that will be easy to access quickly.
• If you are using a wet glue, you may want some open and on a palette, so you can dip your brush quickly.
• Don’t worry about a great glue job.  You can touch up corners or add more gel medium over top after your 20 pages are done.

3 - - Stamps/Stencils (pattern, mark-making)

•  You need a few rubberstamps … think background and interesting shapes or text.
• Limit yourself to one color of ink for your stamping.
• You need a few stencils.  Limit yourself, so you can move quickly and bolder designs will probably be better here, so you can move quickly.
• Limit yourself to only a few colors for your stencil paint.
• You can clean your stencils at the end of your 15 minutes …

 

4 - - Words/Images (focal point)

• Arrange your images in some organized piles - - however it is easiest for you to see what you have and go quickly.  One recommendation is to organize by size group.
• If you are using a wet glue, you may want some open and on a palette, so you can dip your brush quickly.
• If your image has overhang from the page and needs to be cut down, you can do it after the 15-minute session ends.
• Have a bunch of words, phrases, or quotes cut out before we start on Saturday.  Try not to go too tiny or it will be harder to glue quickly.
• You can touch up glue at the end of our 15 minutes 😊

5 - - Pen/Pencil (doodling, detail)   

• Have a collection of pens, pencils, pain pens, etc available. 
• Black, white, and maybe some metallic will be good.
• Think simple doodle shapes, borders, outlines, etc.

 

Finishing Up …

Everything beyond this point will be untimed.  Just have fun and finish up whatever you can on your journal pages.  You can add more paint, stenciling, ink, doodles, whatever you like.  We will just relax and chat while we finish up after our 5 15-minute sessions are done.

Love Sea-Related Stuff!

Posting a sea-themed altered CD I made recently using DecoArts products I am hoping to submit for their Under the Sea Challenge.  I used a few different spray inks, but the primary sprays for this project were DecoArt Media Misters in Turquoise and Yellow Green.  Love how amazing their sprays look on all this layered stuff ... and such good coverage!

Cardboard Art Assemblage

Haven't posted in F-O-R-E-V-E-R ... but here goes LOL  I took some assemblage classes with the very fun and beautiful Finnabair in April -- and I am so in love with this style, her products, and techniques!  The sprays we used with her mica powders were very lovely -- but lent themselves to a bit more pastel look.  I have been combining those with some of my own supplies now that I am back home and I mine are starting to look a bit more lie me, so I am very excited about that!

This little assemblage was done on a piece of cardboard and was a gift for a sweet friend graduating from high school.  My threads and lace were very unruly and coming off the card ... but they turned out so neat after they got gunked up with glue and inks -- so I am definitely going for that look again!

I also used several DecoArts mediums.  I live ... love ... love their crackle medium!  I used it several places on the A.  I also used a couple colors of their sprays on this piece.  So happy with these products!

Advent - Day 7

Admittedly, I have fallen way behind on my advent study ... but still aim to get as much of it done as possible.  I have been so busy this Christmas season ... but also enjoying every minute if it ... and also enjoying every moment I spend with Christ.  But I know from past studies that I am the type that digs deep and it takes me 2-3 days to process when I do this.  And the time I have invested in this study is so worth it!

The day 7 lesson is about control ... what we let God control ... what we don't give over to Him.  I haven't thought about what I do or don't  let God control for a while.  I had to make a conscious effort every day when I first started walking with Him.  I think my focus now is more on obedience ... rather than letting fear set in by thinking about control I am relinquishing.  There are times He asks me to do things that frighten me ... but my desire to be obedient and my trust in Him has been outweighing the fear, so I take that as a sign of progress :)

I did a pretty simple journal page for this one.  I made a gelli print of  large snowflake cut-out and I doodled a scripture from my lesson.

Egyptian Mail Art Swap

I really missed exchanging art with fellow inline artists while I have been in school, so I decided to host a mail art swap this fall.  We altered the front and back of 6x9" envelopes and made tags to insert in the envelopes.  These can be bound into an art book or tipped into an existing art journal or altered book.

We did an Egyptian theme.  This has been one of my favorite themes since I started doing altered art and it was cool to use some of the images and rubberstamps that have been collecting dust.  But I am a technique and texture junkie, as evidenced by my pages LOL

Here are my contributions to the swap:

Fiber Art - Bohemian Dream Catchers

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I got to spend fun time with family ... and we spent a few days working on Bohemian Dream Catchers!  I found so many inspiring photos on pinterest and I wanted to try one and see how I do.  I don't think of myself as a fabric artist really ... but it was so fun!

I got to use up some of the fabric scraps I have been collecting ... and showcased a $3 doily I got at the thrift store.

Advent - Day 6

The focus on Day 6 of my advent study is putting in the right clothes ... but being authentic; changing from the inside out.  This is one of those things I have prayed without ceasing since the day I became a child of the King.  

I try to always be authentic ... to be true to who I am ... but in all honesty I still struggle in these efforts.  I have spent most of my life living in darkness and time and time again, I find I am more than willing to put on the clothes of darkness; it is the clothes of Light I often struggle with.  My change is real, but I feel like my brain often lags behind my heart.  It takes a while for me to trust in transformation.  

Life is hard and during times of hardship, I used to sit in darkness for weeks and months at a time.  It is what I have always known.  Lately, I find that my spirit bounces back from things that would have once been crushing blows much more quickly.  Except my brain hasn't quite caught up yet.  My heart says I am ready to forgive ... accept ... and to love ... but I try to trust in who I used to be ... not who I am today ... and I linger in darkness for a while before realizing that is not who I am anymore.  

I think of a puppy at that awkward stage ... when his enthusiasm and gait is big ... but his legs are still growing.  He topples into somersaults.  That is often me.

The theme of this study was change and a desire to wear the clothes of Christ in authenticity.  It reminded me of a favorite theme sing we always sing at Young Life camp.  I found a cool video with the lyrics and this was the inspiration behind my accompanying journal page.
Beautiful Things

Advent - Day 5

Seems I have lost  quite  few days working on other things, but I will strive to get more on track over the next 2 weeks.  I loved day 5 of this study.  It painted a picture of us waiting on death row hoping for a pardon, but fearful of a death that seems certain and justified.  A Savior coming meant freedom from the penalty of sin, freedom from death, and freedom from so much more.

I look at spiritual life in terms of the way things make me feel; this is just how I am wired.  When freedom from any kind of bondage comes, I feel a lightness of heart ... my load has been lightened for sure.  But the picture this study painted was one of me sitting behind bars before my walk with Christ, so I focused on that imagery for my page.  The amount of bondage I have experienced in my life can only be described as massive, so I cherish every bit of freedom Christ has given me.

I started this page with a scrapbooking paper designed to be a calendar page, but I mostly liked the grid layout with the flowers and fruit.  I added a few colored red and green squares to bring in more of a Christmas feel and some red speckling.  This seems very appropriate, because my freedom was paid for by the blood of Christ.  

I altered a hexagon shaped overlay with inks and glittery embossing powder.  This is meant to represent the prison bars I have lived behind ... but the glitter adds a Christmas touch.  This part of my process was intriguing.  If this weren't a Christmas journal, I would never think to make prison bars pretty.  If you go to a prison, there is nothing pretty about prison bars, but I think we choose many prisons for ourselves that masquerade as pretty things ... appealing things.  I think about the hours I used to spend in front of a mirror as a youth perfecting make-up ... a pretty prison in which to hide ... or escape from who I really am.

It also makes me think of my house.  I have worked so hard to transform it into a beautiful thing -- a 180 degree change from its former life.  But I must be cautious not to let it become a prison of a different kind.  Part of me wants to put off opening my home to others ... to make sure everything looks beautifully maintained when guests arrive.  There is a fine line between having a home pleasing to God ... and letting it become a pretty idol ... or an excuse to keep people away.  I am trying to open my home every 2 weeks ... but this study has revealed potential pitfalls I believe God wants me to be wary of.