Collage 46

This collage contains some of the same images as no. 45 i.e. it's the same Buddha but smaller. The postage so exactly matched the message of the collage that it felt quite eery! An other great example of synchronicity in art.

The collage was done (as were all of the others) in a 5 x 8" Moleskine journal.

The Naked Eye

Our mission this week for Joggles Art Journal Adventures was to do something with the prompt: Eyes. I love to use eyes in my artwork and that meant I had a lot of supplies to play with. I started by cutting out eyes from various magazines and catalogues as well using a vintage eye image. Then I grabbed some eye related rubber stamps: The All Seeing Eye from Uptown Design Company, Face in Square by MoonRoseArtStamps, and The Look by Stamp Oasis.

The background was started by brayering on paint and addind more texture by stamping with an artfoamie called Ring Tictac designed by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. I then added the stamping and the collage. I outlined around each image with Distress Crayons and used the medium stencil from the September 2017 Stencilgirl Club to rub some of the crayon away to make pattern.

 Then the tear like pattern was stencilled on as shown using the same stencil and titanium white paint.

I did some outlining using black and white markers as well as watersoluble oil pastels. I glued on the title (from a magazine) and also wrote on a different quotation along the edges of the pages. It reads: "Behind the most beautiful eyes lay secrets deeper and darker than the mysterious sea" (yld).

Wonder

The prompt on Joggles Art Journal Adventures this week was: Wonder. I used a quotation by Abraham Joshua Heschel that reads: "Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge". 

As I was one of the Voices for Stencilgirl Products this month I had received the July 2017 Stencilclub stencils early (and utilized them for my Voices project that you can see here). I used the flower part as well as the circles of the large stencil for the background of these pages, done in a 5.5 x 8" art journal.

 I added multiple layers of paint but always the same parts of the stencil i.e. the flowers and also the circles.

To show "wonder" I collaged on the eyes and then added the large orange flower (both from magazines) and was amazed by how much that made the page look like a face.

Some more eyes were added with eye themed washi tape from Jane Davenport. I outlined the flowers and some of the circles as well as the large flower using black and white markers. The text was collaged on with words and letters cut from a variety of magazines.

My Eyes

The problem with waiting to upload my spreads in the art journal is that after a few days I lose track of how I made them! These pages were made for The Documented Life Project 2016 where the theme last Saturday was still the May one: A Look through my Eyes - gaining new perspective. The art challenge was to play with a stamp. I took that to heart and played with many stamps.

Before that though I made the background using acrylic paints and the L265 Flowers, Pomegranates and Leaves stencil from Stencilgirl. To that I added glued on imagery from a paper napkin with flowers and some vintage sheet music text.

Then I started stamping as you can see with masked figures, little circular images, eyes as well as the word JOY. I  added the quotation "What is this life....." as well.  I also used some foam stamps which I have had for ages and which I think came from a home decorating store.

I knew I had the eyes image (from a fashion magazine) in my stash and they proved to be just what I needed for this spread, just like the mask I added on the left hand page. I spend some time in the winter evenings cutting all kinds of things that attract me from a variety of magazines. I admit that I buy some magazines just for the sole purpose of using them for collage?!

I stencilled with my large circular sequin waste using white and then added the stamped quotation which was done onto vintage paper, torn out and glued on. The spread was made last weekend but the words were oh so appropriate for this entire sunny week.

New Eyes

The May theme on The Documented Life Project 2016 is: A Look through my Eyes - gaining new perspectives. The art challenge for this week is: add your name in a creative way.

I love using eyes in my art so I'm looking forward to making this month's spreads. I'm working in the 8 x 8" Dylusions art journal for all my Documented Life work this year.

The background was made using red, orange and turquoise paints with the large stencil from the December 2014 Stencilgirl Club. Stamping was the next step, using the It's all perspective text from the Vintage Artist stamp set by Creative Expressions, the All Seeing Eye - Ornamentum stamp from Uptown Design Company and one side of the Thin Lines Cube by JudiKins.

The two masks were stencilled on (from Behind The Mask stencil by Stencilgirl) and I added the actual eyes cut from a fashion magazine.

My name was added (twice) using letters from the Uplifting Words stencil, also by Stencilgirl. Outlining was done with black markers. The quotation I used was written on white paper and glued on as shown. It reads: "Discovery consiss not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes" by Marcel Proust.

Finally I added the blue squares using the April 2016 large stencil from the Stencilgirl Club.

Play your Conflict Card

Layering seems to be my motif du jour at the moment and while in the process it's very easy to loose control of just what is added to the background. At one stage it looked such a mess that I gessoed over it and started again with only little bits of the previous background peeping through. But the next layers made it quite confusing again.  All I know for sure is that it involved the use of only one stencil: the small one from the August 2014 Stencilgirl Club.

One of the reasons I was a bit mixed up about what to do is that there was no clear theme for The Documented Life Project 2016 this week. We were still working with the January Going Out on a Limb theme and the prompt was to add a piece of a receipt from the previous week.

That in itself was a bit problematic as I hadn't been anywhere but I eventually rustled up a receipt of sending a recorded letter at the Post Office. I tore it into three strips and added it as columns to the page. They made me think of trees and that led to the addition of the triangles (from the Row of Triangles stencil by Stencilgirl).  I then added the words (Wonder, Inspire etc. from the Now is the Time stencil

At this stage I wasn't very happy with the spread and wondered how I could bring it back from the brink. I started by adding the leaf shape (from a foam stamp) just to get larger shapes on the page to balance all the small details.

Then I went to my box of cuttings with no clear idea in mind of what else to add. The first thing that caught my eye was an eye! As soon as that was collaged on, the page immediately felt a lot improved. I rifled some more and the text How to Play your Conflict Card felt like the right words for that angry eye as well my conflicted feeling about the spead, done in the 8 x 8" Dylusions journal.

Outlining was done with black and white markers as well as with a blue glitter pen and water soluble oil pastels.

Embrace Quiet

It is pure coincidence that this spread is published today. I made it in my capacity as Guest Designer for Stencilgirl Products and it was made quite some time ago. However the message is particularly suitable for this time of year when we are all running around trying to get as much as possible done for the upcoming festivities. I'm as guilty as the next person but seeing these pages reminds me that I need time for myself too and that mental preparation is as important as physical one.

This spread also shows you one of my favourite art supplies: the humble paper napkin. They are available in all kinds of designs and colours and I have a HUGE collection. I just wish they would sell them in mixed packs instead of 20 to a pack of the same design. I'm always on the lookout for such mixed packs and sometimes discover them on Etsy or Ebay. In the meantime I have gathered enough napkins to keep me going for the rest of my life. If you want to find out exactly how I made this spread you can find a step-by-step tutorial on Stencilgirl Talk.

I used stencils from the August 2015 Stencilgirl Club designed by Terri Stegmiller. I love circles so instantly fell in love with these forms. I'm a keen Stencilgirl Club member myself, and it's so worthwhile joining up as starting January 2016 you receive monthly discounts for buying all the regular stencils too. And when you join you can order the club stencils from previous months and years as well! Membership would make a great Christmas present that keeps surprising you every month!

Meanwhile, don't forget to schedule in some quiet time in the coming days!

Seeing the Light

I must plead guilty to not sticking very closely to the brief making this spread for The Documented Life Project 2015 . We are staying with our October theme of Translucent Papers. The art challenge this week is: glassine, and the journalling prompt: Windows in my Mind.  Partly this was because I had only one tiny envelope made of glassine to play with, and even though I used it (on top of the windows) it virtually disappeared from view once I had glued it on. It also  covers the word light but again this is almost impossible to see.

I used some Golden acrylics which had been put into the wrong drawer during the summer and I discovered them when moving all my art supplies indoors. It seemed only right to add them to this spread in my Dylusions journal as they hadn't been used all summer. I love the magenta especially. I used the stencils from this month's Stencilgirl Club in the background.  The main windows come from their Church Window stencil.

 In the background there are many vintage images some of which you can just about still see such as the vintage angel images. I added rubber stamping including the eye stamp (The All Seeing Eye - Ornamentum from The Uptown Design Company which doesn't seem to exist any more).

 Then I added the other collage elements (the woman and the mask). 

As soon as I read that the journalling prompt was: Windows in my Mind, I thought of the following quotation that inspired the entire spread:

The eyes are the mirror of the soul

and reflect everything that seems

to be hidden, and like a mirror

they also reflect the person

looking into them. 

(Paulo Coelho)

Of course I couldn'leave the page alone before I had added some postage stamps in matching colours.

Let There Be Light

We are still journalling with photos for The Documented Life Project 2015 in September. Our art challenge for this week is: silhouettes, and the journalling prompt: There is no shadow without the light. I have shamelessly borrowed various elements of my own art for this page. The circular sunset photographs come from my Instagram presence where I tend to put them whenever we have a spectacular sunset. I also like sunrises but am not often up early enough for them! I had them printed out by Printstagram and then used a circular punch. The photo top left is from one of my journal quilts. This one is called: You Leave me Cold. And the idea of two facing silhouettes comes from a sketchbook I did for the Sketchbook Project called: Passioneyes.

I used complimentary colours toning in with these pictures to make my background, as well as the Ripple Effect stencil from Stencilgirl Products.  I also used some vintage text in the background and a stamp by Stampotique, designed by France Papillon.

For the silhouettes I borrowed a face from a fashion magazine and outlined it with white paint and then added blue Radiant Silk glaze on top. The text too came from a magazine.

Finally I added the quotation by Helen Keller: "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow" around the two silhouettes and added the postage stamps.

Let's Face It

The August theme on The Documented Life Project reamins: Faces, Human Form & Characters and it is perhaps time to admit that I'm not mad about faces in my art journal. They are not my strongest point and I also simply don't like them staring me in the face! But needs must and I'm doing my best. Can't say that I will be sorry when we get to September though! Our art challenge this week is: Painted, and the journalling prompt: How do I face my biggest challenge?

As per usual I started with the background on which I used acrylic paints and a variety of Stencilgirl stencils (S172 Runes Stencil, and stencils from March 2015 as well as one from March 2014 Stencilgirl Club). I also rubber stamped some text as well as a fossil image(from Stampotique, designed by France Papillon).

I then added collage in matching colours using paper from the Flow Book for Paper Lovers. I have to tell you Flow is my newest discovery and I have fallen head over heels in love with it. I think I found out about the Paper Book they publish somewhere on Instagram and it sounded fun, so I clicked through and arrived at the Flow website to order it. And it wasn't till I was paying for it using Paypal that it dawned on me I was paying in Euros rather than dollars (my only excuse is that the exchange rate is rather similar). A bit more investigation revealed that this gorgeous and adorable magazine is published in the country of my birth. Don't worry though, they have an international edition in English, published 4 times a year. Of course I can also read the original Dutch version, and my mother brought me the latest issue when she came over recently.

Despite the fact that I'm cutting back on my magazine subscriptions (as I just don't have the time to read them all, more than anything) I simply couldn't help myself and subscribed, as well as giving myself a treat by ordering some of the back issues. And yesterday I had a wonderful time reading some of them sitting in the sunshine. I don't often endorse products here but I recommend the Flow Magazine unreservedly. It's subtitle (translated) reads: a magazine that's not in a hurry, about finding happiness in small things, different choices and a simpler life. It is produced beautifully, full of the most stunning graphics and illustrations as well as hidden surprises such as little cards in envelopes. Simply having it in my hands makes my heart sing and in itself is a small piece of happiness! Go and look for yourself on their website here.

Continuing with the page, I added the face (painted with a mix of acrylics as well as water soluble oil pastels and pencils) and with tears added(using dripping down acrylic ink). The page is deeply personal to me at the moment so least said the better. The letters all came from that same Flow Book for Paper Lovers and the reason that the last T is different is due to the fact that there was only one T available in the flower alphabet. The 3 faces too came from that book.

Strangely, although I'm not keen on faces I do love eyes as regular readers of this blog will probably have realized by now, and the above image shows the part of the face I'm most happy with. The final touch is a butterfly postage stamp.

 

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Cry me a River

The Documented Life Project 2015 theme's for April remains: exploring inks and paints. And the Art Challenge this week is: Acrylics while the journaling prompt tells us to: Cry me a River. Acrylics are my favourite art medium so that wasn't hard to do. I thought about the journalling prompt long and hard and overnight from Saturday to Sunday I contemplated how to picture it. That's when the idea came of making the entire page a river and then isolate tear drops from it. Tears fall from eyes so adding an eye seemed logically (and I also love eyes in art!).

The entire page was painting with short brush strokes and using a wide variety of water coloured acrylics. Then I grabbed, entirely at random, a old book page, drew an eye on it, cut it out and glued it onto the page. I was so pleased when I discovered the words "impressions of the outer world" just above the pupil. Sometimes the universe hands out such gifts and all you can do is be grateful.

 I then made 3 different sized tear drop masks (by folding paper, drawing one side of the shape and cutting it out) and filled the rest of the page drawing around those tear drops using a permanent black marker.

The next step was to paint around the tear drops with azure coloured Silks semi-gloss acrylic glaze. It worked better than I could have imagined. As it is only semi opaque you can still see the previous acrylic paint marks through it. I outlined the tears with with markers and iridescent white oil pastel. Finally I wrote the title with a white marker at top right.

Design Vision page

The theme for February on The Documented Life Site remains: Layers you will love. Knowing that, I made a start on the page(s) for this week by for once working in the Dylusions journal that most people are using for the project this year. Thus far I have made my page the size to fit into my planner.  I suddenly had a desire to work larger and as you can see I made a spread, which amounts to 16" wide in total by 11" high. I knew layers were the order of this month so without knowing more I started to make some layers using Stencilgirl stencils and a variety of acrylic paints in colours that grabbed my attention when I looked at my paint drawer.

Then on Saturday I learned that the art challenge for this week was: Cover up good stuff, and the Journalling Prompt: Going Undercover. Well, to be honest, every time I put on a new layer of painting and stencilling I fear that I have covered up the previous layer that I liked. At other times, I'm quite happy to cover up something that didn't work as well as I had hoped. The secret is to keep on going past those stages and eventually you arrive at what will be the end of the layering. Don't ask me how I know! It's an intuitive feeling that tells me to stop right there.

When that point arrived I knew I wanted some eyes. Partly to echo all the circular shapes I had already been using and partly to keep in tune with the Going Undercover prompt. The eyes were cut out of a magazine.

And once the eyes were in position I had already grabbed the Design Vision text from my box of cut out words that might come in handy one day. This was the time that that was the case for these words. After all the elements were in place I proceeded to outline with markers and watercolour brushes as well as watercolour pastels and a sparkly pink pen.

As always there are parts of the spread that I really love. Little details that somehow end up being extra special (at least in my eyes) such as the second picture from the top in this blog. Fortunately I can isolate it, import the detail into my computer and start playing with it and even transfer it onto fabric and use it again in my art. So even when a piece is entirely on paper with no stitching element involved I'm still thinking about how to use it on fabric. All my art in the end only leads to one place!

Of course this spread was far to large to fit into my planner, so I printed the image out to size (of my planner) onto sturdy paper and tipped that into my 2015 Garden Diary. Two birds with one piece of art!