Edgar Allen Poe Journal

Hey, everyone… This weekend is the end of July!!!  Can you believe it? Wasn’t it just May?

This weekend, I published a video on how to create of journal from a notebook.  I covered the back and front of the notebook, creating a personal journal, with layers and layers of paint and just did an overall mixed media frenzy on it.  After all the love/hate process and the stages it went through, I love the way it turned out.

I created this as a gift for my amazing niece, Christina, for her birthday.  She loves Edgar Allen Poe and she loves to write. So, I created this journal for her to enjoy and write in.

I hope you enjoy it.

If you do enjoy my channel, whether it be my art or cooking, I’d love it if you subscribe and hit the thumbs up.  Please share with all your family and friends.

I’ll be back soon for another video on some sort of art.. .culinary or mixed media.

Love to hear from you with your comments.

Thanks for all your support and being here.

Judy♥♥♥

 

Give-a-way Winner and some Mixed Media Art

Congratulations, Vivane!!!!  You are the winner of my fabric give-a-way.   WOOT WOOT!!   I’ll be in touch to get your address.

Well, I did get up in the studio this weekend.  I started to play around in one of my small water color notebooks.. about 5″ x 4″.   I smooshed around some paint then added some old dictionary pages to the surface.  I began to draw a face.. nothing fancy, as I am not a good drawer.. just funky fun.. and it grew into this little girl with a dictionary dress and arms.. then I kept going with colors and embellishments.  Look how she turned out..  She a cutie patootie.  I plan on mailing this to a family member of mine… surprise.

This happens to me all the time.  I have a slight plan to start a project then I get up in studio and I do something completely different with no planning whatsoever.   So…. I picked up a large blank pre-made journal (8″ x 11 1/2″).  It was all black and very lonely.  I decided to mix media the heck out of it.

Here’s how it evolved:

Here is the journal.. very basic.. inside is just lined pages.

I began to glue the following:  left over paper towels from clean up, lace papers, fabric pieces, doilies, decorative papers, lace, polymer clay, resin music paper, burlap, coffee filter pieces and tissue paper casting (center piece) that I made.  I added some paint (cobalt teal) in spots that were white or bare..  Then I added a strip of checkerboard duct tape to the binding.

Watch the progress:  and click on picture for close ups and then juicy close up towards the end.

Juicy close up alert on the following pictures.. click and click.

I sprayed PYMII on all my work to seal it.

I hope you enjoyed that progress of my journal cover.  It felt good to get messy again and up in the “Judio”.

Thanks for stopping by.

Judy ♥

Back from art funk, turkey coma and another give-a-way!!

Well, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.  It has been non-stop family and eating the past 3 days and frankly, this needs to stop right now.

Thanks also for your patience while I have not posted.

I have been waiting for this weekend to be here for a while now.  Being gone for a week on a business trip and then having Thanksgiving here at the house has been weighing on my mind (in a good way).. and now, it’s over and I can finally get back in the studio… I think.

Back to my art – Day 1:

Here it is.. early evening, Saturday 11/26.  Can I be honest here?  Thank you.  This hiatus I’ve been on from my art has really put me in a funk.  Where in the world did my “moju” go?   My “get up and go.. got up and went”.    Well, that has to stop now too.  I started to write this blog, but now I will stop to go upstairs to see what I can start to create.

Back to my art – Day 2:

Sunday, 11/27… Taking Megan back to Maine to college.  Do I have any energy to drag my body back up in the studio when I get back… let’s see.

So, I did end up playing around a bit in the studio..

First, I took a small Moleskine notebook I got on my business trip and altered the front and back.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE AND SEE DETAILS.

This small notebook measures 5″ x 3″.

I started with a white gesso layer on the front and back covers (I’m thinking I should have used black).  Next layer of paint was colbalt teal (my fav).. then I added clear crackle medium.  Once that dried.. I rubbed in some dark brown acrylic paint into the cracks and wiped it off.  Once dry, I rubbed in some acrylic white paint and wiped that off.   I wanted to get the brown and white into the crevices of the cracks.  Added letters, as you can see and rubbed a little of distress ink on them to age them.  Then I took red acrylic paint and dipped a credit card edge on it and made some streaks.

On the back of the book, I glued an image and painted around the edge of the image to blend it in with the teal.  I added lace paper with gel medium.  Love that look.. one of my favorites.  Also, added a piece of an old doily to the back.

I may add some polymer clay buttons or some gems to finish this off.

Next……

Now, I’m working on an old passport covers that I got from my mom.  So far, I painted it with white acrylic paint, let dry.. then spread on some maroon molding paste and tapped it with a palette knife with black paint.

This passport measures about 5″x3″.  Maybe add some fabric or poly clay B&B’s (“Button n’bellishments” – my handmade polymer clay pieces).

I’m not done with these little books, but I wanted to show you what I’ve done so far.

More…..

After dropping my daughter off in Maine, we went to a store that has remnants of fabric for really cheap prices.. and then… they have fabric bolts of all kinds for $3.99 a yard.. yes, that’s what I said.  Here are a couple remnants I picked up.

Aren’t they cool?  I love that the music fabric is not consistent in some areas.  I imagine doing a simple fabric dye with walnut ink to stain it.  Can I get an “ahhhh…. ohhhh”?

So.. I feel like sharing in my good deals and in honor of turkeys, my art funk, back to blogging and my readers, I’d like to do a give -a-way of some of my favorite fabrics pieces.  I just love incorporating them in my mixed media work.

As a matter of fact, I purchased 6 yards of fabric for some curtains I’m putting (having made) in my family room.  I’m going to take the excess fabric and add it to a new mixed media canvas I plan on making for the room.  I need to get some art in that room since it’s been painted.

Ok ok.. off track again…  back to the give a way……

If you’d like to win some of my favorites fabric pieces, leave a comment on this post (U.S. only, please.. sorry) and I’ll choose a winner this weekend. (pssst… come closer.. I may add some other goodies too).  After all, we mixed media junkies need more stuff, don’t we?

That’s it for now.. as always.. thanks for stopping by and hanging in there with me.  You’re the best!!

Judy ♥

Art Page Re-make – little handmade journal/book

Hello there friendly people…. I sure hope that everyone is getting some relief from this heat we’ve been having across the country.  It has just been perfect here in Mass. these last two days….  dry, sunny and breezy.. about mid 70’s..  You can begin to smell the fall coming.  I remember the days when I was a kid in school and you knew school was about to start; it was fall and you could smell it in the air.  Funny how things stay with you like that.

Ok.. moving on to some art sharing.

Remember this page I did with Portfolio Oil Patels?  Click here to jog your memory

Well, it was pretty, but I did nothing for me.  The smooshed beads all over the place?; it just needed something else.  SOOOOOOOOOO….I made it into a journal and embellished the front with my handmade polymer clay  “buttons n ‘bellishments”.  Size 5 1/2 x 7.  CLICK FOR LARGER PICTURES.

This is much better, don’t you think?

Inside covers are glued scrapbook paper.

 

The inside pages are made from poster board and each page is gessoed and ready to add mixed media love to it.

While I was making this one, I took the left over torn pages and made a small journal (5×3).  Front and back is covered with decorated duct tape (have you seen all the new styles yet?), some black trim across and a beaded thingamajig.  Inside covers is more old scrapbook paper I had. I used two polymer clay beads I made holding the sewn binding in place.  Made a nice big knot so they wouldn’t move.

I’m always happy to see a Friday come along after a long week of work.   Everyone needs a break.. don’t we?

Thanks, all, for stopping by.  I’ll be doing a give-away next week.. stay tuned.

Judy ♥

Hurry up, patience..

Ok.. so picture this.. this is me…

I hunker down at my computer to catch up on some art videos on YouTube..  I begin to watch a tutorial on an art technique and the artists speeds up the process.. really fast.  I have about 10 minutes to go to the end, so now I’m getting a little impatient and I slide the bar faster so the video is done.. like.. right now.  Ok, got it.. that was cool, moving on.

What’s wrong with that picture… Have I no patience anymore.  Is being a mom, working full-time, chef, wife and artist making me more impatient? It think the answer is a bit fat YES.

The other day I tried doing Yoga from a DVD..  my first time ever doing Yoga… I was bored…but, I get why people love it.

When I go for my power walks, I have music that makes me move like nobody’s business… I just can’t go for a walk without music.  I have a purpose… go go go… get your workout over with and move on.  There, that’s done, thank god.

So with all my impatience and a busy life, like a lot of us lead, I thought I would share an excerpt my one of my favorite go to books, The Language of Letting Go, by Melody Beattie.

“The people who are most successful at living and loving are those who can learn to wait successfully.  Not many people enjoy waiting or learning patience.  Yet, waiting can be a powerful tool that will help us accomplish much good. 

We cannot always have what we want when we want it.  For different reasons, what we want to do, have, be, or accomplish is not available to us now.  But there are things we could not do or have today, no matter what, that we can have in the future.  Today, we would make ourselves crazy tyring to accomplish what will come naturally and with ease later.  We can trust that all is on schedule.  Waiting time is not wasted time.  Something is being worked out – in us, in someone else, in the Universe.  We don’t have to put our life on hold while we wait.  We can direct our attention elsewhere; we can practice acceptance and gratitude in the interim; we can trust that we do have a life to live while we are waiting – then we go about living it.

Deal with your frustration and impatience, but learn how to wait.  The old saying, “you can’t always get what you want” isn’t entirely true.  Often in life, we can get what we want – especially the desires of our heart – if we can learn to wait.”

Ahhhh… feel better?   Take care of yourself.  Pay attention to what you need and nourish yourself with it.  One step at a time.. breathe in and out.   Ya, right, who am kidding.. speaking of steps.. gotta hit the pavement.

No, seriously… I meant that… the part about taking care of yourself.

Thanks for walking by… really fast.

Judy ♥

Snow, Fabric Dying and Journals

Well, here it is April Fool’s Day and that’s what we got here in Massachusetts.. a big ole fat April Fool’s prank by Mother Nature…  I’ll leave you with this… and we’ll move on to art.

Last week, I showed you some fabric dying with beet juice.  This weekend, I was making some pancakes with blueberries.. wait.. blueberries?  I have to give it a try.   All I did was take hot water and threw some blueberries in a container and let them soak for hours.  Then drop in the fabric and let them also sit for hours.

Here are my results on some fabric and lace…  not bad.

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One of my readers asked me if they were colorfast.  I didn’t know the answer, but I did find HERE that if you boil the fabric in water and vinegar before the dying process, it will keep them colorfast.

Ok.. so once again, I refer you to one of my recent posts on my large journal covers, I started to create.  I’m happy to say that I have completed the book and it’s ready for art making.

I used my awl to make four holes for metal binder rings, spray painted the rings white, then smooshed them with some teal paint. I used a lot of the Portfolio Watersoluble Oil Pastel crayons… creamy, smoothy goodness.  I did all my shadowing with them.  Also, included on these pages are polymer clay, ink jet transfers, stencils, metal embellishments, rubber stamping and lots of layers on the bottom using paint, gesso, pastes.   I stained the edges of the inner pages with walnut ink….. LOVE LOVE LOVE ♥

Because I used poster board, one side of each page is a bit glossy.  I think I will need to gesso each page to give it some tooth.  A note about spray paining… I hated it.. the fumes, the smell.. never again.  I even did it outside.  I’ll have to find an alternative.. maybe THIS or THIS.  If they work for fabric, they should work on paper/canvas; unless it needs that absorbancy.   Hmmm.. fabric?  What.. no more beet and blueberry juice?

Here are many pictures of the front, back and closeups.. enjoy.. click to make them bigga…

FRONT COVER – this journal is about 12″ x 16″

DETAILS

BACK COVER

DETAILS

As the Beatles sang.. “All You Need is Love”. ♥  ♥ ♥

There is so much happening on these pages.  I will protect them with PYMII.  Love this stuff.. check it out.

Well, that was fun.. I had some time off from work this week and it was just so nice to not have to worry about anything but me and my art for those hours when the house was quiet.  No running into the home office to check on things.. ahhh.     I’m ready for retirement.  I can dream.

Thanks for stopping by and let’s hope this Fool’s storm is just passing by and will melt real quick

Judy ♥

Sketchbook Challenge – January

If you notice over in the right column of my blog, I have the Sketchbook Challenge badge.  I posted about it at the end of my last post.

I have to say (yes, I have to)…. I took the time to sketch.. Something I am not used to doing.. nor have I really ever done much.  I went to an fine art store recently and found some small visual journals.. one with watercolor paper and one with bristol board.  The notebooks only measure 5 x 3 1/2″.  Adorable.

The “Sketchbook Challenge” theme  for the month of January is “Highly Prized”…

I’m really loving this..  Take my little notebook with my black liner pen and my little  water color paint set and hunker down with a cup of tea and play… fun and portable. I plan on doing more of this.  Talk about feeling like a kid again.. hits the spot.

So, to me.. my home and my family and what’s in my home (not materialistic things, but family and love) means so much to me… is “highly prized”.

Here is my funky doodle-like home… made with love ♥

Remember this is only 5 x 3 1/2″.

I’m determined to learn how to draw trees better.

You can see the flickr group HERE for this challenge.  Run, don’t walk.

Thanks for stopping by.

Judy

Paper Towel Journal

Remember my last post about the paper towel painted backgrounds?  Well, I decided that I liked them so much, I was going to make something out of them or at least one.

Now mind you, I am not a journal maker or a sewing, so I combined two things I am not good at and here’s what I came up with.

Go ahead and click to see details and close ups.

Lots of trial and error here, my friends…  First off.. paper towels still rip.. Even if they are the “quicker picker upper”… they rip.  I still had fun, cuz it was just plain cool.

So, basically.. took the paper towel and sewed some lace trim around the edges and backed it with another piece of cotton.  I used metallic gold and turquoise thread.. and some beige for some of the inside cover.  I then sewed all around the front with gold swirls.. not as easy as I thought.   Then sewed another piece of fabric for the inside covers to putt batting in.. so it would be a puffy journal…   Sewed 3 sides, slid in the batting and sewed up the fourth side.  I took 4 pieces of watercolor paper and sized them smaller than the book size, which is about 5″ x 6”, closed.  I bound the pages with wax linen thread… put fabric beads I made with some other acrylic beads to dangle on the tail.  Sewed a polymer button I made to the front, highlighted with gold wax.  Made a loop-di-loop string to wrap it from the the back.  Does all that make sense?  Did I mention that paper towels rip?

Badda Bing.. Badda Boom.. there you have it!!  Quick and dirty paper towel journal..  Ok, it wasn’t quick it took me a few hours.. and my back.. oh my back..hanging over the sewing machine… glasses on.. glasses off.. change threads, change bobbins.. dog wants to pee.. string in my hair.. now I gotta pee.  Fuhgedaboudit!!

My thoughts:  I will definitley give this another try.  I wouldn’t use a paper towel again, but there are other non-fabric materials to use.. I think of Tyvek envelope paper for my first thought.  Of course leather is just..well, perfect.

I’m sure the front of this journal will not hold up if I abuse it, but it’s only for play… I think I will try to seal it with gel medium to make it stronger.

I’ve been playing with some used coffee filters.  Oh messy and vintagy.. love it.  I’ll be showing those soon.

I also finished my textured canvas piece that I showed  in the same blog post I linked above; that’s also coming up.

Thanks for stopping by.

Judy

Kelly, Journals and Fun.. oh my

Hey Blogsters..

Well, let me tell you about my workshop last weekend with Kelly Kilmer.

First, if you ever get a chance to take a class with the Kell-ster, you have to. A fabulous artist and person. Makes you want to pull up a couple of comfy chairs, grab your favorite liquid consumption and snack (why do I always have to include food?)  and chat all night long.

The weekend was held at a private studio… AND.. thank you Susan, for hosting us.

Being my first class with Kelly, I was a bit nervous to learn how to make/bind a book, but I  felt immediately at ease with her and following her instructions was a breeze.

Ok.. let me stop the chit chatting and get to some pictures, since you’re all so impatient.. geesh.

.. and here she is our fearless leader…. and I do mean fearless.. hey she’s from LA, what do you expect…. just kidding, Kelly.  She is originally from the Bawstin area.

Let’s get to the journal pictures…

This would be my front cover… and my few pages below, top.

and another couple of my pages…

Ok.. screeeeech…let me stop for a second.. and show you the decorative tape that Kelly brings with her for her students…

.. and I have a feeling this isn’t all of it…  My name is Kelly Kilmer and I have a Tape Addiction.  Now, this is the kind of addiction I want to have.. where do I sign up?

Moving on to MORE delicious art…

So, there you go.. a fabulous weekend with Kelly Kilmer.  A great experience for me.  I definiely made some new friends that I will keep in touch with.

And here we are all journaled and focal pointed out.

(I hope I was able to capture a page or two from everyone’s journal; if I missed anyone, I apologize).

Fun, fun, fun… I need a nap.

Thanks again Kelly.. please don’t be sad to see us go.. we feel the same way.

Published!

Hey Bloggersnooks..

Well, I’m excited to say that I am part of a self-published book that was created on our Ning site called Lovin Mixed Media.  This is the same site that the ATC Swap resides that I made my polymer clay ATCs for.

This book is a is the end result of a year long (maybe longer) Create and Pass Journal project.  Four journals, each started in Norway by our Ning King, Gary Reef (check out his YouTube vids) and traveled the world to about 70 artists creating their pages and then finally making it back to the organizer.

“Many Lands, Many Hands” is book self-published on Blurb, see it here if you want to order one.  What a GREAT coffee table book.

Here’s the cover:

Here’s a shot of my page:

You can actually get a look at Journal 1’s pages here. (I’m in #1 @ the 2 min. mark)

I can’t tell you (well, I actually can) how excited I was to be part of this amazing journey and this book.  My hat goes off (I actually don’t wear hats.. I have too much darn hair and… oh wait, never mind) to Gary, all the artists and our wonderful organizer Mary Helena.

Thanks for stopping by!

Judy

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