Category Archives: Altered Books

365 A Daily Creativity Journal – Day 67 & 68

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Wishi-Washi

This page is a previously created background with journaling on. It wasn’t very attractive so I didn’t bother posting it. However, I’ve been hankering after some washi tape and decided to have a go at making some. It was good fun and I wrote a hub about it: “How to Make Decorative Tape“. Smash journaling seems to have taken off as people want pretty journals but don’t want to go to all the trouble and mess of art journaling. With smash journaling you simply grab your memorabilia, ephemera, quotes, tickets, photos, etc and ‘smash’ them into your journal with glue or tape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This page was made as part of Joanne Sharpe’s Letter Love course. I ‘drew’ the letters on to Bristol paper, doodled on them, cut them out and glued them into place. The background was done with markers and Neocolor lls.


365 A Daily Creativity Journal – Days 59 & 60

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Banish the Grumps

Three times I tried to finish this page… and it’s still horrible! After the first disaster, I rescued it and wrote beautiful lettering (well, y’know, I tried) all over it. Half an hour later I picked the book up and my thumb managed to smudge the still-wet ink. Grrr. Got a damp paper towels and swiped the lot off. I give up. Boring girl, boring old  collage, boring old acrylic paint and boring old black marker.

I mentioned I was taking an online lettering class… well I just got started and it’s lovely. Check out Joanne Sharpe’s Whimsperations for details. I’ve also joined her new class, Color Love 101 starting on June 11. Here is one of the first exercises. The earlier ones were working on creating our own fonts/letter-forms and that is an ongoing part of the course – very addictive!

This little journal page was a set piece with specific instructions. Joanne told us to add color to a doodled and lettered page with Pan Pastels. I don’t have any Pan Pastels so made do with using my Neocolors as watercolors. The flowers were done with alcohol-based markers. The lettering was made with various black pens: Sharpies, Microns, Copics. Playing with this process has driven away my grumps!

 

 

 

 

 

365 A Daily Creativity Journal – Day 56

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Imagination is the Key to Creativity

It’s all very well imagining it, but you still gotta do it.

Had so much fun doing yesterday’s page that I had to do another just like it!

Started by spraying inks over stencils. Then stamped with my new favorite thing, home-made styrofoam stamps. After that I doodled some flowers with marker pens and painted them with acrylic paint.  Back to the markers and outlined the petals with black.  Doodled some wavy lines and added the text.

The quote goes, “Imagination is the key to creativity. Take all the possibilities you’ve ever noticed and weave them together.” Abe-Hicks.

 

365 A Daily Creativity Journal – Day 55

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Flower Doodles

Had to do something with that stencil-ink-spray background I did the other day so turned the blue stamped circles into flowers. Very roughly painted and outlined with black marker. Added some nonsense text and tally-ho! I do like a quick one sometimes! I’ve just signed up for an online course in lettering, so look out for improvements in that department soon.

 

365 A Daily Creativity Journal – Day 51

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Everything’s Just Wonderful….

I had to write another article for HubPages – “Using Mixed Media in Painting“, so made a step-by-step sort-of tutorial, ending up with this. I could tell you how I did it but wouldn’t you rather go and read the article? Of course you would. Off you go…

365 A Daily Creativity Journal – Day 50

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Moments

I have been creating. Honest!

Was accepted onto an intensive 6 month writing course with Hubpages and have been completely absorbed. I made this:

How to Paint Rocks

and this:

How to Deal (Spread) Tarot Cards

and this:

Techniques for Mixed Media Layering

and this:

How to Read Tarot Cards

and this:

How to Read Fives in Tarot

and this:

Foot Reflexology Techniques

Back to the book. A quick reminder… I set myself the challenge of creating something every day for a year. The main theme of my challenge is to work in THIS BOOK altering it, one page at a time. Sometimes I have to veer away, as the past week shows. However, barely a day has passed during the last two months when I haven’t made something. If you want to apply yourself to a shorter challenge, then have a look at Make Something Every Day, which has loads of ideas for a one-month creativity fest.

This page was created by stamping the page with a homemade styrofoam stamp and acrylic paint, collage, text, white-out pen and a quick spritz of diluted acrylic ink. My kids have both got colds right now and I hate to see them feeling less-than-great, so I wanted to remind myself to appreciate them at their rambunctious best, however irritated I am by the noise and general family rumpus.

 

365 A Daily Creativity Journal – Day 47, 48 & 49

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My Internet Connection Hates Me

Which is only one of the reasons I am late with my updates.

I was not inspired to work in The Book over the weekend. Instead I had put down some backgrounds in a Moleskine a while back and wanted to bring them to fruition. The journal has already been written in and some pages have Zentangles on them. I’ve been giving them makeovers with color washes, layered with gesso and more washes. Stamping, collage and lettering added.

Last night I returned to The Book and created another background by spraying diluted acrylic ink over stencils and a plastic comb abandoned by my daughter. I tell you, leave anything around and it will end up in an art journal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

365 A Daily Creativity Journal – Day 45 & 46

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Layers and Layers and Layers, Oh My!

Idly trawling around Youtube yesterday wondering what to do with some black styrofoam/polystyrene saved from a couple of frozen pizzas, I came across this video. I was on it right away and created this cool background (and several more) with one stamp and some heavy-bodied acrylic paint, including gold. I white gessoed the page first but, yep, that is a pink elephant peeking through.

So today, I simply went to town with layering – I can barely remember what’s on the page, truth be told. Collage, stenciling, shading, corrector pen, journaling, doodling, and finally I rubbed on some yellow then white soft pastel to give the page a distressed look.

365 A Daily Creativity Journal – Day 44

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Make Something Every Day

Made a Squidoo lens today “Make Something” and this was the intro image. Page coated with clear gesso. Sprayed with diluted acrylic inks, stamped, painted and pretty silver stars and doodle hearts image glued on. Very quick and much fun.