My new Midori style Notebook by Jennifer Harvey

My custom 6" x  9" painted canvas Jenndori. Arrived today and I LOVE IT!

Thank you Jennifer Harvey! Doing the happy dance!!!

The front design is hand painted, and has my "One Words" from the last few years, and the words that are in the running for this year.   I wanted them front and center, where I can see them everyday, multiple times a day.

I was surprised at the number of pockets!

Twice as many as my smaller Jenndori.

I love the feel of the painted canvas.

 

 

Over the next few days, I will be creating the planner and notebooks to place into this beauty.

Here is the link from a previous post, on how I plan to use this Jenndori as well. 

 http://ja-bella.blogspot.com/2014/05/trying-to-get-organized.html

 

 

Browse Jennifer Harvey's etsy shop at  https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChicSparrow

 

 

 



Books to Inspire you to Journal better

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Creative Battle by Stephen Pressfield. Even though Pressfield is a writer, this book isn’t really a writing book, per se. It’s equally as applicable to any creative endeavor. Its main focus is to help you overcome your natural resistance to pushing forward through what is hard about creativity. This book has changed my perspective about creativity more than any other book I’ve read. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it For Life by Twyla Tharp. Tharp is a choreographer and dancer, so it follows that this, too, isn’t a book just about writing. It focuses on creative processes, how to establish them in your daily routine and then how to let them help you thrive. It includes assignments and exercises to help you develop your processes, as well as stories from Tharp’s life that illustrate real-life applications. One of the things I love about this book is how varied her examples are—you don’t have to be a dancer to see her perspective.

Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity by Ray Bradbury. The thing I love about Bradbury writing about writing is his enthusiasm for the task. There’s no whining or moping around about how hard it is. Instead he revels in how fun it is. “If you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun,” he says, “you are only half a writer.” This little book will help you find more of your complete writing self.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. The fact that this book, published in 1995, is still in print is testament to its endurance. Lamott explores the writing life, from writing a first draft to the final publication. Even if you don’t want to write novels, what she writes about writing itself will inspire your journaling.

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg. Goldberg manages to connect spirituality and creativity in this classic book about finding your inner writer. Her words are so securely confident and assertive that your own confidence cannot help but grow as you read it.

Tell a Story

Today’s assignment is two-part.

 

During the day today, watch for a story to happen. It can be an experience you have with anyone—your child, your spouse, your sister, the rude lady at the grocery store. Just watch for a story, or an event, with some drama involving two or more people.

 

Part two will happen tomorrow: find someone to tell Today's story to.  As you retell the experience, try to make it as exciting, anxious, funny, terrifying, annoying, silly, or exhilarating as it was when it happened to you.

That’s it—just find a story, then tell it. Being observant, watching for a story, will help you start to see how your life is full of narratives

Story Templates by Amy Sorenson

Story Templates are a way to structure a story, the way of shaping your words.

1. Basic:  Start at the beginning and tell it to the end.
2. What It Isn't:  Start with the samll details and build to the important ones.
3. Write a list
4. Use dialogue
5. Fairy Tale (or other story):  Once upon a time...
6. Multiple point of views:  Ask everyone the same question.
7. Process:  How it happened or how you thought it might
8. Don't start at the begining
9. Time or Chronoligical

Shaping your Journaling by Amy Sorenson

1. Pick a Topic:  something that you have been thinking about.  You don't need pictures.  Think about your topic for 2 minutes, then write for 5 minutes or longer.  Just write, brainstorm.
2. Search through your documentation
1. Which idea or statement has the most signifigance?
2. What am I most emotionally connected to?
3. Which statement communicates something specific?  Goes deeper then the obvious?
3. When you come across something significant, highlight it.
4. Draw a line through the things that you want to get rid of, or is repeative.
5. Eliminate Ideaness.
1. Too many ideas in one spot
2. What is the idea I want to express?
3. How can I say it most clearly?
4. Are there two or more ideas that can be combined into one?
5. What is the quickest way to get right to the point?
6. What do I want to include no matter what?
7. What can I eliminate?  Does it add to the story or start a new thread?
6. First Sentences matter.  It is what catches your attention.  Start with something intriguing, challenging or maybe the ending.
7. Arrange your writing in a logical order.
8. Think quality over quality, write with a mixture of short and long sentences.

A Moment of your Own by Amy Sorenson

finding a Moment of your own.

 

 Mostly this requires you to pay attention to your everyday, simple pleasures. What makes you happy? What makes you pause to think? What seems irreplaceably valuable?

 

When you find yourself in a Moment, pay attention. Try to remember what you feel, think, or learn from it. And then do two things. (The order you do these in doesn’t matter.) One, snap some pictures. Second, do a quick write. Listen to what your heart tells you, and try to write that down along with a concrete, specific description of the objects, scents, people, or textures that are contributing to your Moment.

 

Think about what your camera cannot capture, and try to find words for that. If you need an impetus, remember that quote I shared with you in the audio file, from Vincent Van Gogh—remember that creativity comes from loving your topic and wanting to share how you feel about it.

 

Try to not do this from memory—do it right after your Moment. When you do this exercise, you might find yourself writing in a different kind of voice than you usually use. It might feel more dramatic than you’re used to. That’s OK. You probably won’t write all your journaling in this voice, but it is part of what you are in that moment, and so it is true—it is significant.

Journaling Summary by Amy Sorenson

It's a good approach for event-based journaling because it helps you focus on the important parts without getting bogged down in the "and then"s. Plus, it provides a structure for your journaling, so all you have to do is plug in your words. Today, your assignment is to write a journaling summary.

 

Follow the first steps of the vignette journaling process: think, write, ignore. Then, when you're on the shaping step, use the summary structure (outlined below) to organize your draft.

 

Here is the structure of a journaling summary:

1. The main details. In two to five sentences, discuss the main details of the experience. These details can be two different types. The first option is to focus on the events-the things that happened. If you're focusing on the events, try to find a way to convey the sequence without using "then." For example, use words like first, next and finally to start your sentences, or before, during and later. Don't include everything that happened, just some of the most important events. The second option is the sensory-the sensory items that created the experience. Work the sounds, sights, textures, smells, and tastes of the experience into a few sentences that recreate it for the reader.
 
2. A transition. This part of the summary is shorter than the details part-about one to three sentences long. The transition creates a connection between the events (#1) and the conclusion (#3). Think of it as a sign to the reader-we're moving somewhere else. One great way to transition between the event and the conclusion is to ask a question that you answer in the conclusion. "The end result?" for example, or "What will we always remember from this day?" You can use repetition in your transition: pick a word from the main details that will also be useful in the conclusion, and use it in the transition as well.
3. A conclusion. This is the "so what?" that moves your journaling from basic who-what-when-where stuff to the more significant why and how. Don't think of "conclusion" in the sense of ending, but in the sense of finding something significant-figuring out some piece of knowledge that you gained from the events. Try to connect something from the main details with something in the conclusion. Remember item # 2 in the QWSC: don't waste your time on fluff; spend it on finding the original thought. Think of the conclusion as a sort of subset of original thoughts.

Theme-atic Journaling by Amy Sorenson

Find 1-3 pictures with an obvious event, something like a birthday or holiday celebration, a hike in the woods, a ride on a Ferris wheel. Now, use the vignette journaling process to write a thematic mini essay about the pictures, without discussing the event. Remember that a theme is the point you want to make about a specific topic. By not writing about the obvious subject, you force yourself to uncover the myriad ideas and emotions that are always a larger part of any experience (if you look for them).

 

For example, say you picked some photos of your daughter laughing with her best friend at her sixth birthday. You’d not write any details about the party itself. Instead, let the photo act as an illustration for some other idea. Maybe you could write about how the two girls became friends. You could write about why they get along or what happens when they don’t, memories of your own childhood friends, what you think makes for a strong friendship

.

Use the vignette journaling process to write this journaling. When you’re in the process of shaping your draft, keep in mind the goal of writing a theme: putting into words an idea that relates to the topic. Strive to say something significant, something that reveals something true about the people in the photograph or about yourself.

 

As always, in the “ignore” step, you can either make the layout to go along with the journaling and pictures, or you can ignore the writing in some other way. If you don’t make the layout now, make sure to save your journaling in a place where you won’t forget you wrote it!

Write Now: Homework for a class that starts on November 1

write some journaling.

 

We'll use this during the first week of class as a starting spot for a piece of polished journaling (and maybe a layout if you're up to it).

 

Chose a person you have a relationship with, and then spend just a couple of minutes thinking about him or her with this idea in your mind: what do you hope life brings to this person? Then, spend about ten minutes writing down a list of those hopes.

 

As you're writing, try not to censor yourself; don't worry, for example, about sentence structure or grammar or even spelling. Just get down as many possibilities as possible. Not censoring yourself also means that if your thoughts take you in an unexpected direction, don't fight it—go along for the ride. Save this journaling somewhere you can find it.

 

You'll also need to have a photo (printed, if you are a paper scrapbooker) of this person.

Art Journaling with Jenny & Aaron: class #3

 

 

We're beyond excited to have all of you back for our third installment of Art Journaling with Jenny & Aaron! We have so so many plans for future classes that will cover a wide range of techniques, mediums, and tools. In these initial classes we're hoping to cover the basics and get everyone comfortable in creating mixed media pages in your journals. If you've been participating since week one you'll begin to see a specific pattern in the way we like to put things together. And of course, all of these tips and steps are never meant to be seen as "rules". Art Journaling is meant to be a very free art form. Our role here is less teacher, and more helpful-well informed-cheerleader. We're sharing some of our favorite methods because we know that these things work for us...and hopefully they'll do the same for you!

So now that it's week number three, we have successfully created spreads in three separate journals. First we used Aaron's marble composition notebook, then Jenny's moleskine, and this week's pages are in Jenny's Strathmore Visual Journal. We'd like to say that we did it this way strictly for our student's benefit, solely to show you guys the range of possibilities no matter what type of journal you own. But we also did it for our own selfish reasons ; ) Because we wanted to work on pages in each of our books...simply for our own bit of fun!

So, without further ado...let's get to class # 3, in Jenny's Strathmore Visual Journal. It's got a larger page size ( 9 x 12), a ring binding (no need to reinforce with tape), and heavier stock pages (no need to reinforce with papers).

 

 

 

As with class 2, we made a video slide show. Of course on it's own it only gives an idea of each step, so we included full detailed instructions for you to follow along. In the upper left corner of each photo in the slide show you'll see a title. In the instructions we've titled each step with those same titles so that you'll have an image to match each step. You can view the video once, or twice, or more...pause where you'd like, rewind, fast forward...watch it here on the blog, full screen, or on youtube.

 

gesso your page. Brush a thick coat of gesso onto your pages. We used Blick Artists acrylic gesso. Let dry.

choose spray colors. On one of our pages we're using a stencil and some acrylic mists by Mister Huey. These are a really cool product because they blend right there on the page. We often spray a couple of colors over our stencil to get the desired color on our pages...like mixing a blue and a green to get the perfect aqua tone. Just spray one color and then the other.

 

 

lay stencil. I knew I was only looking to get the stencil pattern in the middle of my page so that's why I weighted down the edges of the stencil with butter knives (the butter knives elicited an eye roll from Aaron). You can use little bits of masking tape to hold down your stencil. You just want it to stay pretty flat while you are misting. I wish I knew the brand of this stencil but there is nothing on it to indicate the brand. I got it years ago at Michaels. It's really just a laser cut foil-like paper...but I use it like a stencil. Definitely lay down some newspaper behind/around your journal...there is a lot of overspray.

 

 

mist. As I said, I'm mixing colors...so spray one, and then spray the other til you get the mix you desire.

dab. I'm not looking for my pattern to come out perfect...I'm going for a more watercolory, hazy patterned look. Dabbing it right through the stencil while it's still wet will give you this effect.

 

 

remove stencil. Removing a stencil when using Mister Huey's is easy. It's a lightweight mist that isn't drippy at all. So you can just lift the stencil and reveal the magic beneath. Let dry.

 

 

mix a wash. Just add a bit of water to some acrylic paint. I'm using a brown tint to give my pages an antiqued look.

 

 

apply wash. With a 3/4 inch brush apply the wash to your page...thin the paint to your desire. I was able to brush the wash on the entire page before having to dab it due to having coated the page with gesso earlier. If you'd like even more "open time", you can seal your pages prior to doing a wash.

 

 

dab wash. Dab with a clean dry paper towel to achieve a mottled, parchmenty look.

 

 

add more wash. Again, I'm not looking for a perfect stencil pattern. In fact, I'm going for a deconstructed, beat-up, and worn feel. So I brushed the wash around the edges and crept into the middle section just a bit. But I didn't want to totally deconstruct it. Mister Huey's will smudge right into nothing unless it is sealed...so only brush the wash in places where you want the pattern to smudge away.   

 

 

dab & blot wash. I dabbed and blotted, turning some of the aqua pattern into an antiqued blur...but I left the center untouched so that I'd retain some pattern. Let dry.

 

 

seal your pages. Now that the pages are dry, apply a sealer coat of matte gel medium. I use Golden brand. This will keep your stencil pattern intact and keep your antique wash just the way it is. Let dry.

 

 

adhere papers. After selecting papers and choosing where they'll go on your spread, then it's time to make your final tears and cuts and adhere them to the pages. To adhere papers brush on decoupage medium and lay the papers on the wet medium. It's better to be generous with the medium. If you apply too little you won't get good adhesion. Smooth and rub to eliminate ripples and bubbles.

let dry. We never brush right over top of papers that we just adhered to the page. We find that you get much better adhesion if you decoupage them down and then let them fully dry before applying a sealer coat.

 

 

seal papers. When dry, apply a thick even coat coat of matte gel medium over your spread.

mix gesso wash. The same as a paint wash. Just water down gesso until it's the consistency you desire. In this case I'm looking to simply "cloud" the colors and patterns of my spread. So it's just a skim milky type of wash.

apply gesso wash. With a 3/4 inch brush apply the wash over desired areas and dab away with with paper towel.

 

 

mute papers. Some papers and patterns I wanted to soften a lot, so I applied a thicker gesso wash and didn't dab as much of it away.

 

 

back photos with watercolor paper. To back it with watercolor paper just brush decoupage medium onto watercolor paper, lay the photocopy down on the wet medium, and smooth out just like you did when applying your papers to your pages. Let Dry.

cut out photos. Cut away the excess watercolor paper.

 

 

adhere photos. Now adhere the photo in the desired spot using the same method as above. We often use a clean, dry paper towel to press down photocopies just so our possibly damp fingertips don't muss the picture. Let dry, and then apply a sealer coat of matte gel medium. The sealer coat will protect your photos etc. from the speckling and washes in the next steps.

mix speckle wash. Our speckle wash is dark but that doesn't mean that we used more paint in the water to paint ratio...we simply used a darker color. The wash is probably the same consistency as our previous washes.

 

 

speckle pages. We use a #6 round brush...load it with the watered down paint...hold the brush a few inches above your page...and just tap the metal end with your index finger. Do it to your desired effect. We love speckling for it's imperfection. It's messy and haphazard and perfect in it's own way.

bottle cap rings. Again, we love the messy, imperfect look that bottle cap paint rings provide. Just apply paint to the rim of the cap and then press down on your page.

glue stick dots. We seem to always add messy, randomly spaced polka dots. We do this by either dipping a glue stick into paint or the eraser end of a pencil. Just dip your round tip object into whatever paint color you like and press dots onto your pages in areas that might need a little pop of color.

add sepia wash. This whole spread has a time worn, sun faded appearance. After getting to this stage, with a lot of our imagery in place, we felt it needed an overall sepia wash. Tan paint, brown paint, some water. An easy way to get that tobacco stained, aged effect.

brush around images. When you brush the sepia wash around your imagery you are able to age the overall page and still keep some of the images a bit more vivid or bold. And again, blot and dab with a paper towel.

distress edges with paint. We love to "distress" the edges of our pages with paint. In this case we used colors that gave an antiqued feel...browns and tans. This process is very imperfect. Just dip your thumb or finger in paint and rub the very edge of the page.

add fun bits. Adding fun bits is the fun part. These bits of ephemera are what will set off the look of your entire spread. Ribbon trims, ticket stubs, date tags.

 

 

grab your sharpie pen. Please get well acquainted with your Sharpie pen. In fact, make it your best friend. It's an invaluable tool for any Art Journal. It's a way to personalize any spread...not only by adding personal details...you personalize it because it's your imperfect hand that's doing the rendering. Your doodles are never the same twice and can't be bought in any store.

 

 

add faux stitching. Faux stitching gives any "store bought" detail a hand rendered effect.

 

 

more stitching. And vary your types of faux stitching..."sew" each piece on using a different type of stitch.

add washi tape. Washi tape is so great for Art Journaling. It's often one of the very last elements we'll add to a page. It's great to add to the corner of a photo...gives it a taped in, scrapbooky feel.

accent elements with pen. Now, beyond your doodles...this is more about taking the imagery that's there and accenting it with your sharpie pen. In this case we made the roses stand out a bit more...pulled them from the background into the foreground. Even if you cannot draw per se...it'll look like you can if you just follow along with the lines of the image.

 

 

outline elements with pen. All of those glue stick dots look better if you give them a little outline. They will pop more and again, they look more hand done...especially if you purposely don't do a great job at outlining them...purposely make your lines start and stop instead of one fluid stroke.

 

 

handwritten words. Instead of writing directly in your journal, grab a piece of watercolor paper and write out a phrase or two. We used a Sharpie pen but went very bold and big with our letters. Then cut out each individual word, or even each letter if you'd prefer, and adhere them into your journal. Your words will pop more and you'll add texture and interest...and the bright white watercolor paper stands out.

 

 

consider your pages. You might be done...or maybe not. You've been working on your pages for quite a while so it might be a good time to take a break for a few and then look at your spread with fresh eyes.

 

 

more faux stitching. We did exactly that. We thought the page was done...but then we saw that the bottom of the page needed more of a human touch. Up top has all that stitching on the scallops, so we balanced it by adding faux stitching to the big polka dots on the bottom of the page.

 

 

do you need to add anything? Look closely...

 

 

feeling good! Are you happy with it?...

do you need more washi?...

more doodles?...

more dots?...

is there anything else you'd like to say?

looking good! hmmmm...you just might be done. It's totally possible.

 

 

Hooray! Yes, you are done!

.....................................................................................

Supplies used on these pages:

 

Papers Used:

1. Echo Park Paper Co.- Teal Large Dot and aqua stripes are on the reverse side of Aqua Tiny Dots
2. October Afternoon - dark grey and antique white stripes are on reverse side of Candles
3. Crate Paper- Papercloth (yellow antique lace) from Pretty Party, collection
4. Kaiser Craft- newsprint from the Timeless Collection
5. Canson - plain white watercolor paper
6. *All other papers are vintage.

 

Assorted mediums and tools :

1. Stencil
2. Golden - matte gel medium
3. Golden - acrylic paints
4. Blick Studio - acrylic paints
5. Blick Artists - acrylic gesso
6. Mister Huey's - color mists in mint julep and bonny blue
7. Sharpie pen
8. assorted paint brushes
9. scissors
10. assorted washi tape

 

 

Thanks so so much again for joining us! We had a lot of fun with this third installment...mainly because we've been seeing how you guys have been following along and implementing a lot of the tips and tricks into your own Art Journals. When we put these pages together it felt like you guys were in the room with us. Honestly...and not in some corny way...this feels like a group effort. There will be a lot more nitty gritty details in the weeks to come. Please grab the badge above to share on your page and please link up below to share your Art Journals with us. Blog about it like crazy...we wanna see...and everybody else wants to see too!

 

 

til next time! Keep Art Journaling!

 

xo Jenny & Aaron

 

Art Journaling with Jenny & Aaron: Class 2

 

 

Let's get right to the fun stuff!! Thanks for being here!

As with class 1, we made a video slide show. Of course on it's own it only gives an idea of each step, so we included full detailed instructions for you to follow along. In the upper left corner of each photo in the slide show you'll see a title. In the instructions we've titled each step with those same titles so that you'll have an image to match each step. You can view the video once, or twice, or more...pause where you'd like, rewind, fast forward...watch it here on the blog, full screen, or on youtube.

(There is a delay on music editing...Youtube assures us it will be tip top in a bit)

You probably noticed right away that the pages you see here are not from my Strathmore Visual Journal. I did this spread in one of my other books of preference...a moleskine. I have only a few blank pages left in this one and I really wanted to finish it off. The pages are thin in a moleskine so you might want to reinforce them in the same way you would a marble notebook. You can glue in some heavy weight paper like card stock or kraft paper, or even collage layers of regular weight paper and then gesso or paint the pages. In the case of my book, the backs of these pages are already filled up and adorned, so my pages are already sturdy. I just needed to prep them with a coat of gesso.

prep pages. As always, I taped the seam with masking tape.

gesso pages. And then applied a coat of gesso.

light sanding. We received a couple of comments about certain brands of gesso being chalky or gritty, or the brush strokes are heavy. A good solution for this is to give your gessoed pages a light sanding with some fine grit sandpaper. (totally optional)

mix a wash of color. We watered down some pink paint.

paint! We brushed the page with the wash...and don't worry about being neat. This is just a base coat.

lighten w/ gesso. We wanted the center area of the page to be lighter than the edges, so after the pink wash was dry on the page we then watered down some gesso and brushed it over the area we wanted lighter. let dry

gather papers. Get an idea of colors, patterns, and generally just pick some stuff you'd like to see in this spread. Most times we barely have a clue as to where the spread will end up.

draw shape. I often like to put my focal point image within an arch or an oval. In this case I wanted my cake in an arch. So I cut an arch out of some vintage baking book pages. It's great when the ephemera has a link to the imagery. Play around with shapes...find what makes you happy.

cut out. As you can see, there is no science to my drawing and cutting...it's a decidedly primitive affair. Aaron raises an eyebrow quite often over my shoulder at how non precise I am.

adhere. Brush decoupage medium onto your page, lay down shape, press down and rub out wrinkles and bubbles. let dry.

lay papers. Make decisions as to where you want to put your selected papers. It's good to lay them down and move them, and move them, and move them...eventually you'll like what you see.

adhere papers. Adhere papers using your usual decoupage method described above.

lay papers. I usually give my arch a base. In this case I just so happened to have the perfect paper for the job. This aqua chevron print from Heidi Swapp's Sugar Chic collection.

adhere. Adhere papers using your usual decoupage method described above.

paint shapes. I'll deliberately leave blank spots on my page knowing that I'll fill it in with some painted shapes...some doodles of paint. This scallop/cloud shape is a go-to for me. Again, it's about color and vibe...not precision painting.

seal & lighten. Make sure everything is dry. Apply a sealer coat with the medium of your choice. I used matte gel medium by Golden. Let totally dry. As we did last week, I watered down some gesso to make a wash which I then brushed over any "loud" areas...to quiet them down, or mute them.

dab gesso wash. Using a clean, dry paper towel I then dabbed the wash. Again, apply the wash and dab to your own desired effect.

add color outline. Outlining your shapes with paint is a great way to add color and texture...as well as drawing attention to your focal point. I hand painted the shape of the arch using a #10 round brush. For me, there's hand painting and then there's "art journal hand painting". In your Art Journal the rule is to loosen up and have fun. In the place of precision, instead go for bold fluid strokes.

more color! Have fun with it. Do what feels right. Again, since it's "Art Journal hand painting" I didn't worry about one color going right into the last color.

speckle & splatter. To speckle you'll have to water down the paint in your palette the same way you did with the wash. We use a #6 round brush...load it with the watered down paint...hold the brush a few inches above your page...and just tap the metal end with your index finger. Do it to your desired effect. We love speckling for it's imperfection. It's messy and haphazard and perfect in it's own way.

distress edges. We love to "distress" the edges of our pages with paint. We use colors that contrast well. Darks against lights...lights against darks. This process is very imperfect. Just dip your thumb or finger in paint and rub the very edge of the page.

bottle cap rings. Again, we love the messy, imperfect look that bottle cap paint rings provide. Just apply paint to the rim of the cap and then press down on your page.

cut out stickers. We used our very own stickers from our Scrapbooking and Art Journaling sticker collection. We designed these ones specifically for projects like this...they're left black and white so you can color them yourself. Of course you can use actual photos in place of these...a photo of a real cake...a pic of your own adorable little face ; )...or a black and white drawing that you can cut and paste.

color them. We used a small detail brush, round # 4, and using color washes we just simply filled in the images. You could always use color pencils, watercolor pencils, or your favorite markers.

stick them. Ours were stickers, but we actually didn't use them like stickers. We did not peel off the backing. We adhered them with decoupage medium because we wanted more thickness and opacity so that the background wouldn't show through. Similar to how we backed imagery with watercolor paper last week. After adhering with decoupage medium, wait about a minute for it to dry and then seal it.

water color pencil. Sometimes when I use pink paint I like to accent it with some red watercolor pencils. I just scribble willy nilly along the edges of the pink paint.

add water. "Activate" your watercolor pencil with a brush dipped in water.

dab. Much like with a color wash just dab with a paper towel until you get your desired effect. It's super easy and if you correctly sealed your pages earlier then this step can be very forgiving. Take away or add as much color as you'd like.

draw a bubble. I like the idea of a wonky thought or dialogue bubble. I drew this in pencil on a piece of watercolor paper. You can also use card stock.

paint & speckle. I applied a coat of aqua and I didn't even worry about staying in the lines. When the aqua was dry I then used a speckling effect.

cut & adhere. Cut it out and adhere using decoupage medium. Wait about a minute for it to dry and then seal it.

washi tape time! Washi tape is a great way to add color and pattern wherever your layout is lacking.

add to seam. When working in a moleskine or any bound journal, I always add washi tape to the seam. It's just my personal preference. To me it just looks right.

more tape! Wherever you think you need a pop of color and pattern.

add a word! The word hooray happens to be made from vintage game tiles that I placed on my scanner and printed. Think outside the box!

grab your sharpie pen. I've said it a million times...Sharpie pens are great for Art Journaling. Little bits of black are always welcome in my book and fine line details add another layer of texture.

sharpie pen time! Again, it's not about perfection. Doodling and outlining the shapes and dots around the page is a great way to add more interest and texture.

faux stitching. These are the little details that make your pages special. Use a sharpie pen to create faux stitching around shapes for a sewed on look.

tiny date tag. I think it's great to date pages. I never name a specific day...usually just month and year because I know I'll come back and mess around with a spread.

a cupcake sticker! I thought that this would be a fun pop. It's actually from a sticker and stationery collection that we designed and were sold at Michaels craft stores. I layered it on top of a paper punch and a gold foil sticker.

hand written bits. Write some words and phrases on card stock or water color paper, cut out, and adhere using your usual decoupage method.

journal spot. Now is when you add your "deep thoughts" to your thought or dialogue bubble...much like my love of french fries, chihuahuas, and coconut ice pops!

Hooray! Ok, this spread was busier and messier than last week's. And I thinks it's totally fitting that it's in MY journal.

If you have any questions please leave a comment. We are so excited to see what you guys take away from this class. We'd love to see and hear about your art journaling, so please make sure to link your blog post back to this post so we can all visit and cheer each other on. Submit your link at the end of this post and please grab the below blog badge! We hope you enjoyed this week's class. We will be back next Thursday (much earlier in the day). Happy Art Journaling!

xo, Jenny &Aaron

http://everyday-is-a-holiday.blogspot.com/2012/08/art-journaling-with-jenny-aaron-class-2.html

Art Journaling with Jenny & Aaron: class 1

 

Oh my gosh, we have been working like two nuts over here. First, let me tell you that this was a learn-as-you-go sort of thing. We considered doing the class as an actual moving video, but it just seemed as though you really don't get perfect shots or lighting, and the narrating thing could be awkward. So we decided that the best angle of attack would be with lots of detailed photos put into a video format! Of course on it's own it only gives an idea of each step, so we included full detailed instructions for you to follow along. In the upper left corner of each photo you'll see a title. In the instructions we've titled each step with those same titles so that you'll have an image to match each step. You can view the video once, or twice, or more...pause where you'd like, rewind, fast forward...watch it here on the blog, full screen, or on youtube. We definitely think that this was the clearest way to get our points across and give you crisp, bright images for you to reference.

We also went back and forth over whether we'd use both of our journals or just one journal. We decided to collaborate on one spread in one journal. If we did two spreads there would be like 200 photos! And we already kinda went photo crazy...which is another reason why we needed to go with a slideshow in video format. It's exciting that this has forced us to jump into using our youtube channel! eeee! This could get nuts! Just a warning. I'm thinking some vlogs could happen too.

This week we decided to use Aaron's journal. So he had the initial choice as far as color scheme. But the singularity stops there. This was definitely a full on collabo. So much so, that I'm wishing this spread was in my journal! Haha is that weird?

 

( in the first steps below we're using Kraft paper, but you can substitute it for any paper at all. Use all the same methods described but change the words Kraft paper to whatever you like. These steps simply describe how to add a paper base to your pages. You can use a full sheet or even torn or cut scraps. Jenny often uses phonebook pages to thicken up her moleskin pages.)

reinforcing with kraft paper. Since marble notebook pages are flimsy we like to reinforce them. In this case using one of our favorite supplies, Kraft paper. Just cut a piece thats a tiny bit bigger than your page. You can trim off the excess later. And even if you aren't using a marble notebook Kraft paper is still a great base to work upon. You can glue it into any journal.

brush on medium. With your 3/4 inch brush, brush on a thick layer of decoupage medium. You'll notice the notebook page rippling quite a bit but don't worry, the Kraft paper will solve that.

lay kraft paper down. Once you've got a nice thick coat of medium then lay down your piece of Kraft paper. Every time we teach a class we'll see that people like to lay the paper down and then immediately brush medium on top of it. We don't not subscribe to that method...brushing wet on top of wet will add bubbles and ripples. As described in the next step we smooth out the paper with our hands and let it dry and fully adhere.

smooth paper. With heavy hands smooth out the Kraft paper, eliminate any ripples or bubbles. Keep on rubbing until you know that it's fully adhered.

crease edges. To make sure that you get a nice adhesion all the way to the ends of the page run your thumb or finger along the edge to crease it.

flip page and trim. If you have excess paper turn the page so you can see the excess and trim it off with a scissor.

gesso pages. For this spread we decided that one page would be Kraft paper and the facing page we'd reinforce, or bolster, with a thick coat of gesso. In this case we used Americana brand gesso. It's super thick and when it's dry your page will almost feel like vinyl. We really like this.

reinforce seam with tape. After your gesso is dry run a piece of masking tape down the seam of the journal. This actually does reinforce your binding and it makes for a smoother transition from page to page.

select papers and elements. Think about what type of color scheme you'd like, what types of patterns, bits and pieces. This is the fun part. We wanted to go with a tight palette...a more masculine feel being that it's Aaron's journal. He has an affinity for the letter A and the number 9.

tear and cut papers. With a bit of an idea of where you'll place things start tearing and cutting your papers and elements.

play around with layout. Before gluing anything down it is always a good idea to play around with your layout. Just place things on the pages until it feels right. There are no rules.

adhere papers with medium. To adhere papers brush on decoupage medium and lay the papers on the wet medium. It's better to be generous with the medium. If you apply too little you won't get good adhesion.

smooth papers. Just as you smoothed and rubbed the Kraft paper, do the same in this step. Eliminate ripples and bubbles. But be gentler than you were with the tougher Kraft paper.

consider your design. At this point your pages will start looking like something. Take time to pull back and consider where you really want to go with the spread...like where you might place writing spots...or photos...or doodles later on.

finish adding elements. Add the next layers of stuff. The details like our letter A and number 9. The scrolly writing spot. Your points of interest. All of ours are adhered with the same decoupage medium.

trace shapes. We used a couple bottle caps to trace circles onto the page. Why? because we thought a couple of white circles would look good right there. And later we could add some text maybe.

paint in shapes. We used a #6 round brush to paint in our circles with white paint. It only took one coat because it was quality white paint. You might need two coats if you want a solid look.

seal pages. After all of our papers that we adhered were dry and after the painted circles were completely dry we then sealed our pages with a coat of matte finish gel medium by Liquitex...we also recommend Golden brand. When sealing pages be sure to apply a thick even coat...and get FULL coverage. Later on, if you apply washes etc...if you miss any areas with this sealer coat then those areas will be "vulnerable"...meaning washes will totally screw up any raw sections of paper. So just be sure to apply a nice even coat.

make a color wash. We used a tan paint that sorta matched the Kraft paper, but you can use ANY color you like. With a #6 round brush we dabbed some water into the well of paint on the palette. It's not an exact science...you just want to water down the paint a bit.

brush on wash. We thought the white was a bit stark so we "aged" it a bit with the tan wash. Just brush it on the areas where you want the wash. And start small and light until you get a feel for it. Don't brush the wash on a giant swath of page because you might have trouble working with it in the next step. The key is to go little by little. Maybe like 4 square inches at a time.

blot wash. With a paper towel blot the wash that you've brushed on. Again, one section at a time.

blot and dab wash. This is pretty much the same step but we made it into two just to emphasize the blotting and dabbing. You're just doing it until you get your own desired effect. We wanted a parchmenty, tobacco stained feel. You can do your whole page or just accents.

speckling. We did speckling in two different colors...black and pale aqua. To speckle you'll have to water down the paint in your palette the same way you did with the wash. We use a #6 round brush...load it with the watered down paint...hold the brush a few inches above your page...and just tap the metal end with your index finger. Do it to your desired effect. We love speckling for it's imperfection. It's messy and haphazard and perfect in it's own way.

crosshatch with DIY stamp. Last weekend we made some stamps by wrapping yarn around a wood block. Here we applied paint to the stamp and created a crosshatch design. We really only wanted an accent up in the corner of the page...bet you can stamp all over the place if you want.

gesso wash to mute areas. Sometimes you want certain colors or patterns on your page to be less bold. In this case we watered down some gesso on our palette...the same way we made a wash with paint. Then brush the gesso wash on the areas that you want to mute and blot or wipe off with a paper towel. Again, do this to your own desired effect.

gesso and paint wash. This is pretty much the same as the previous step but we added some of the tan paint to our gesso wash. We just wanted to carry over some tan to match the Kraft paper on the opposite page.

consider your progress. At this point you've accomplished a lot and your pages are really starting to look like something. Now is when to consider some fun details...the little things...maybe add small pops of color and texture...doodles...heck, even glitter. Pull out some supplies.

"glue stick" paint dots. We seem to always add messy, randomly spaced polka dots. We do this by either dipping a glue stick into paint or the eraser end of a pencil. Just dip your round tip object into whatever paint color you like and press dots onto your pages in areas that might need a little pop of color.

bottle cap paint rings. Again, we love the messy, imperfect look that bottle cap paint rings provide. Just apply paint to the rim of the cap and then press down on your page.

"distress" edges with paint. We love to "distress" the edges of our pages with paint. In this case we used colors that contrasted well. Aqua against the Kraft paper, and white against the aqua polka dot paper. This process is very imperfect. Just dip your thumb or finger in paint and rub the very edge of the page.

backing photocopy with watercolor paper. We knew we wanted to add an old photo to this spread, and we knew it was gonna be placed right on top of those bold stripes. Since the photo was a photocopy we had to first back the photocopy with watercolor paper. This way those stripes won't show right through the paper when we adhere it to the page. It also bolsters the photo a bit. Adds some texture to your page. To back it with watercolor paper just brush decoupage medium onto watercolor paper, lay the photocopy down on the wet medium, and smooth out just like you did when applying your papers to your pages. Then cut out. Again, we did not brush medium over the photo.

adhere photo. Now adhere the photo in the desired spot using the same method as above. We often use a clean, dry paper towel to press down photocopies just so our possibly damp fingertips don't muss the picture.

faux stitching with sharpie pen. These are the little details that make your pages special. Use a sharpie pen to create faux stitching around shapes for a sewed on look.

outline paint dots with sharpie pen. Again, it's not about perfection. Doodling and outlining the shapes and dots around the page is a great way to add more interest and texture.

add bits of washi tape. Washi tape is so great for Art Journaling. It's often one of the very last elements we'll add to a page. In this case we wanted some metallic gold to set off the vintage photo. Even though Mr. Moustachio is securely adhered already, the washi tape gives him a scrapbooky feel.

Hooray! Yes, you now have a dazzling spread. For this very first class we wanted to take our pages to the step right before you write in them. Adding text is a very fun step and you might fill in your pages with words right away...or you might take your time and wait until you have your thoughts in order and you can really make your Journal statement. We have so so many pages that are at this stage...just waiting for text.

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Ok guys, this was our first week. As you can see, there are so so many steps and the text takes up a lot of space. This is why we went with the slide show video format instead of trying to squeeze the photos and text into one post. That would be a whole lot of scrolling. If you have any questions or suggestions...please please send them our way. We would love to hear from you and see your results. Below is a link-up that is reserved specifically for this class. So if you have a blog and you are participating in Art Journaling with Jenny & Aaron...This link-up is for you. We want to hear all about it and see all about it! Whatever you do this week...call it "homework" if you want...or if that conjures bad memories...call it something else...just try make it a point to come back to this post and use the link-up below. It will be so much more fun for ALL involved...getting to see and hear about your own Art Journaling.

Again, our pages are an example...it's just what we do...our style. Don't for one second think that there is one ounce of rigidity in Art Journaling. Do what you want...How you want. We just hope we can offer a hand.

Also, we'd love for you to grab the button above and put it on your page, spread the word, all that good stuff. This was really fun for us...and if we've added even a smidge of creativity to you life then we are as happy as can be!

'til next Time! Keep on Art Journaling!

xo, Jenny & Aaron

Art Journaling by Jenny and Aaron

After a lot of requests I've been promising to provide a list of materials that I use for Art Journaling. But then I said...why stop there?...why not get right down to it? This is the site that I refer to frequently for Art Journaling inspiration, and I can't say it beetter.......

 

So here goes:

 This is the formal introduction to their:  

Art Journaling with Jenny & Aaron series! 

"This is something that we're both very passionate about. We know how much Art Journaling means to the both of us...how much it has enhanced our lives, and how much it will enhance yours. And we can't wait to share every bit of our knowledge and experience with you. Each week we'll bring you a comprehensive "class" right here on the blog for FREE! These classes will be for everyone: The beginner who has never even touched an Art Journal...The scrapbooker who's looking to up the ante a bit, get their hands dirty, play with paint, expand their palette...The seasoned Art Journal pro who's forever interested in exploring new styles and methods for getting creative between the pages.  

    We've been Art Journaling in some form or another for as long as we can remember. My first Art Journals were full of fashion inspiration...doodles of outfits I wished I owned, skirts I wish I could sew, and random happy bits like glitter, sequins, and paint swatches. Later on, in our furniture making days, we filled notebooks and albums with furniture ideas, sketches, and tear sheets from Vogue, Elle, Country Living, Elle Decor, etc...For nearly 18 years we've been professional artists, and Art Journals have always been an integral part of our creative process.

And now we're going to share that process with you!

Art Journaling is hugely popular. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel with any of these classes. We're more into shining some light of a brighter tint upon your pages.  If you like our paintings...if you tune into my Friday Favorites...whatever it is that brings you here...we'll be carrying over those inspirations...those esthetics...into our Art Journaling classes and challenges. Yes challenges, each week there will be a link-up here on the blog so you can share some of what you did from the week before...your homework so to speak. So with each new class there will also be a recap of some of things you did in the week leading up.

Ok, enough talk...this will be a weekly thing...there'll be plenty of time for talk later. Lets get to some starter details...some fave supplies of ours...some recommendations...that kind of thing:   

(Note: since me and Aaron have different Art Journaling styles I'll sometimes show you his way and my way. Or supplies he likes and supplies I like. So when I'm saying "Jenny uses..." I don't want you to think I'm a creep speaking in third person for the heck of it. I just wanna keep things clear.)

Jenny uses a Strathmore Visual (mixed media) Journal. Meant for mixed media. Thick pages, perfect for adding layers, playing with paint, ink, stamping, etc.

Aaron has been in LOVE with "Marble Notebooks" forever. He has dozens filled with sketches, short stories, song lyrics, ideas, and more than anything else...LISTS. He is a chronic list maker. Lists of things he likes...things he wants to do...books he wants to read...top ten lists...they go on and on. He just started using marble notebooks for mixed media Art Journaling. The pages are very thin so he reinforces them in fun and unexpected ways!

Both Jenny & Aaron also use Moleskin sketchbooks. The pages can be a bit thin, so adding gesso and scrapbooking papers to "thicken them up" is a great idea if you plan on using paints. If you are more of a doodler...or plan on sketching and keeping things more on the "clean side" ...not a messy/painty hands person...these are perfect!  

 

 

Paint:

 

We use acrylic paints. Golden is our fave brand. It's a premium paint, which means it can be pricey...but the colors are fantastic and the consistency can't be beat. Golden's "fluid acrylics" are thinner but still just as potent with color. The fluid acrylics are great for washes, drips, and flecking. We find White to be the most important color in our palette, and Golden's Heavy Bodied Titanium White goes a long way. It's thick and bright and makes pretty pastels out of your vibrant tones.

We love to have a lot of paint on hand...so we also use craft grade acrylics.These are way more affordable and you can get great results. There are so many straight from the bottle colors to choose from. This is great for backgrounds and larger areas of color. You won't have to worry about your palette drying up and having to try to mix that same color all over again to match it. 

Gesso:

 

We very often base coat our pages with Gesso. It creates a nice even surface to work on, and it bolsters the page. Gesso is also great for muting backgrounds by dry brushing it over work that you already did...you can then wipe it off etc... Or you can take a detail that was meant to be in the foreground...mute it with some Gesso and push it to the background...there are lots and lots of uses. There are many brands of Gesso and all of them are different. Golden is great...medium thick and the white factor is fairly potent. We also like Bob Ross...it's thinner and very easy to work with. The Gesso from DecoArt is super thick...almost glue-like in consistency...you can add a lot of texture with this brand. Aaron likes to add it to the paint colors in his palette to thicken them up and make them paler at the same time.

Paintbrushes:

 

We use a handful of different brushes for Art Journaling, and it just so happens that you can find convenient sets that contain the variety  you need. You'll see two similar sets pictured here. What both have in  common is that they're soft nylon...or taklon, which is basically the 

same. Either white nylon/taklon or gold nylon/taklon...it doesn't really make a difference. We just don't like the rough bristle brushes...which are better for oil painting. You'll see in both of the sets that there is a 3/4 inch brush. You'll use this one a whole lot...for base coating entire pages, mod podging etc. And aside from that you'll use the smaller round brushes for detailing, and the smaller flat brushes for little wash areas, stripes, etc.  Don't go 

crazy buying brushes right now. Once you've got a handle on what you really like then you can upgrade. They've got discount sets like these at Michaels and AC Moore...they're about 12.00 or sometimes even 7.00. Always remember to print off a coupon before making the trip to either of these stores. 

 

Art Journal papers & elements:

Once you have your eyes open...you'll be amazed at how many "found things" will find their way into your Art Journaling supply stash. Yardsales and flea markets are chock full of "instant relatives" (meaning- old photos of people you are not related to but you can pretend that you are!) The odd cast-aways like business cards, matchbooks, playing cards, bits of ribbon, buttons...you know...all that good stuff. There are also tons of peeps on etsy doing the editing for you. You can find great shops full ofephemera there. And we have loads of scrapbook papers in our arsenal. You can never have enough patterns like polka dots, stripes, florals...and all the rest.

And don't forget magazines and catalogs. Due to lack of space we had to start thinning out our saved piles years ago. But tear out some of your fave images and keep them in a box or drawer. You'll glue these into your journals at some point and embellish them like crazy. Even the most basic pic of a living room can turn into magic.

Kraft Paper. We love this stuff. We do a lot of shipping so we actually use postal grade wrapping paper. You could even use brown paper bags. Aaron uses this a lot to reinforce the pages of his marble notebooks. He cuts pieces to fit and then mod podges them right onto the white college ruled pages. You can work directly on it, making the brown your background color. Or load it up with as much paint and scraps as you like...it's a perfectly sturdy base.

Watercolor Paper:

 

We always have a pad of water color paper on hand. It's thicker than regular drawing or copy paper, we go with 90lb, and has a little texture to it. We'll paint things on the watercolor paper and then cut out those things and glue them into our Art Journals. It's a way to add layers, and painting is very easy on watercolor paper. It doesn't really curl or warp...and again, the texture gives it a good look. Sometimes we'll paint entire pages of watercolor paper and glue the entire sheet into the Art Journal, thus resurfacing the page. It's also great for decoupaging images onto...like color copies or pics from magazines. After decoupaging the image to the watercolor paper you can then cut it out and it's sorta like a diecut that you can put into your Art Journal.

 

 

Mediums & Glue:

 

 All of these can be used like glue and all of these can be used as a sealer, or clear coat. I'd say Aaron uses Decoupage by Americana the most...both as a glue and clear coat. It's similar to Mod Podge but has a less tacky feel when it's dry and a smoother consistency when you're brushing it on. Jenny is mainly a Gel Medium girl (Golden Regular Gel Matte). It's got a real matte finish and is way easier to work on top of with pencils, marker, paint, whatever...and washes take to it a little better...whereas with Mod Podge a wash will wipe right off of the glossier finish. We've taught so many classes and there isn't a clear consensus on what the best brand is. Everybody has their own favorite.

Markers:

 

When it comes to doodling, writing, outlining etc. We loveblack Sharpie fine point pens. They come in a 4 pack! The black doesn't run. You can write very tiny if you want...or push harder and firmer for a bolder letter. The tip holds up pretty well even when doodling over paint.

When it comes to color...Copic markers. Use 'em...Love 'em. The colors are endless. Of course paint is our favorite medium but Copic markers are so so fab for coloring in your black and white imagery...colorizing old black and white photos. Lettering, doodling...fill in tiny areas or big spaces with ease. They blend great and the variety of colors opens up so many possibilities.We purchase ours here. The Copic Sketch marker has a brush nib and a broad nib. Fast-drying, permanent, and non-toxic.

 

 

Tape:

 

Assorted washi tapes, which can be found on etsy by the thousands! They add pops of color and pattern to your pages! So many ways to use them! 

We also love plain ol' masking tape! Great for reinforcing journal pages along the binding... and lots of fun techniques! Great for writing on too.

Assorted Stamps:

 

As far as stamps go...we really don't think you can have too many! We never pass up a good deal on alphabet stamps. A great place to look is onetsy or ebay for lightly used sets! You can find great deals on groups of stamps that are pretty much brand new! We just scored a Jumbo foam alphabet set for under 5.00 on ebay last week!  We also carve our own stamps as well as using unconventional household items as stamps. One of Jenny's favorite things...bottle caps! 

Ink pads:

I LOVE StazOn inks, the black especially. They're serious about it "Staying on". This ink will stay on anything it touches, even your hands and clothes.

 

 

The Tim Holtz Distress Ink is great for staining the edges of your pages, papers, and photos ...giving them an old worn, weathered, and distressed look. And there are lots of colors to work with.

Watercolor pencils:

Derwent Watercolor pencils. These professional-quality, water-soluble pencils work like paint but are way easier to use...way less scary for the beginner. Use them to shade on dry paper, then quickly wash over with brush and water to get a blending effect. Jenny LOVES these. You can get a dreamy glow around lettering...get very subtle color effects...or even bold pops of color if you use them with a heavier hand.

Again, this is just our basic starter list. You may already own all that and then some. If not, everything is fairly easy to find and you can do a whole lot of Art Journaling with it. So gather your supplies and join us next Thursday for the very first installment of Art Journaling with Jenny & Aaron. Grab our badge to put on your blog so you can link up with us and spread the word. Every Thursday we'll be asking you to link back to us with your work from the previous week's class.This is going to be so much fun and we expect that we'll be more inspired than ever once we get too see what all of you are up to! Thanks so much for getting creative with us!"