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She Was Artistic

Hi peeps!  It's Tuesday, and I'm popping in with my very first art journal page that I mentioned last week.  This one uses watercolor crayons, pan pastels, decoupage, paint, india ink and liquid pearls.


I've been taking the She Had Three Hearts art journaling workshop from Christy Tomlinson.  The class is technically over, but because of my crazy schedule I'm just starting the week 2 videos.  They are so informative, covering so many different forms of mediums, doodling, techniques, etc.  You get to go at your own pace, and the videos and curriculum are available for  three months, so it's perfect for people with busy schedules like mine.  This class runs again in late July, so if you've been wanting to know what art journaling is all about, but are unsure what to do and what types of products to get, this is a great jumping off point.

The class title is She Had Three Hearts and it comes from an old Chinese proverb that a woman has three hearts... the one she shares with the world, the one she shares with her family and the one she shares with only herself.  One of the exercises was to ask friends and family what words they would use to describe you.  I asked Mark and at the top of his list were the words loyal (how sweet) and artistic, so that was the inspiration for this page.  I started by laying down some color with Neocolor II Watercolor crayons, then blending with water.  I added some Faber Castell Gelatos for some richer color, drawing and coloring in the red heart, then doodling around it with a Faber Castell Pitt pen.  Since I love music, I wanted to incorporate it as one of the hearts in the page, so I cut a primitive heart from music sheet paper, inked it with vintage photo ink and wrote the word artsy on it, then cut the phrase "and she was" from an old book and added it over the two hearts.  I tried to paint little dots around my heart, but it wasn't turning out as I planned, so I went to my old standby... liquid pearls!!! Here's a little close-up of the detail on the page...


The flourishes on the right side are stamped with paint with a foam stamp I found in the dollar bin at Michael's.  When I was looking for the sheet music, I found a scrap of dictionary paper from some packaging I had saved that just happened to have the word loyal on it!  I couldn't believe it, so I ripped off that section, laid it down with some decoupage and highlighted the definition, then added some pan pastels and watercolor crayons around the edges.  A few scribbled words to finish the journaling and some background stamping with the polka dot background from Bountiful Backgrounds and I was done with my very first page.

For those of you who are interested, I'm using a 5.5 x 8" Strathmore Visual Journal.  I thought I had bought the mixed-media version, but I ended up with the watercolor version, which has a bit more texture and thickness to the page, so it was kind of fun to see how the different mediums worked on it.  I actually enjoyed it more than the smooth paper I used for the next page I made.  But that's for another day, since I've got to run to an appointment now!

Hope you enjoyed a first peek at my art journaling.  Have a fabulous day!


Enabler's List:
Stamps: Bountiful Backgrounds (Verve), flourish foam stamp (Michael's)
Paper:  vintage dictionary and sheet music pages, Strathmore Visual Journal - Watercolor
Ink: Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Jet Black Archival Ranger ink, Faber Castell Gelatos, Neo Watercolor II crayons, PanPastels, Claudine Hellmuth paint, Faber Castell Pitt Pen Brush marker
Accessories: liquid pearls, Primitive Heart die (Sizzix), ModPodge, Gesso

19 comments

Jennipher said...

Wow Julee! This is so cool. I have always wanted to do one of these but, I just don't know how to let loose and lose control in my creations which is the whole point of the art journal. No rules, right? However, when I look at one someones has done like yours, it looks as if you must have followed some sort of guideline as it came together perfectly! Thanks for sharing.

Amy Sheffer said...

Love this, Julee! Hope you'll continue sharing some of your art journaling!! You're an inspiration in so many ways. My 7-year-old and I did some art journaling last fall. Actually, I should say she did and I mostly watched. I long to reconnect with some of that child-like spirit that she so obviously still possesses, the spirit we all no doubt begin with, and then our adult, censoring selves get in the way! So glad to see you exploring this medium!

Marisa said...

I have this wonderful image of you in your studio with a big grin on your face enjoying the creation of this page to the max :) Great mix of elements on the page. Keep them coming!

Ravengirl said...

This is very cool! I like the idea of art journaling. My exposure comes from you ;) I am a bit reluctant to try as I don't know how well I would do.

Ally said...

Beautiful. :-) Thanks for sharing it.

Unknown said...

Ciao mi presento, mi chiamo Silvia sono da poco iscritta al tuo post blog per cercare di imparare meglio la tua lingua.
Sono belle le tue cartoline fatte da te...baci

Unknown said...

Ciao mi presento, mi chiamo Silvia. Sono da poco registrata al tuo blog per imparare meglio la tua lingua l'inglese. Sono molto carine le cartoline che fai,mi piacciono i colori e i disegni. Bye

Keva said...

Wow. This is very cool. It looks so "artsy" and cool. Great colors, too.

Tanya said...

This is so cool, and really looks like a lot of fun!

CreativeMish said...

Very nice! I've been wanting to do some art journaling but I can't quite decide where to start

mel m. m. mccarthy said...

This is SOooooh gorgeous. I love the text and texture and the gorgeous colour. I've got to get brave & post my journal pages. Thanks for the inspiration!

Unknown said...

Beautiful! I am taking the class too and am just on week 2 myself! Gotta make the time this weekend to do some artwork. Thanks for sharing!

suzieq23 said...

Hi. love your journal page. I am also taking Christy's She Has Three Hearts class and just finished week 2 myself. I take notes every video but I am having a hard time keeping all this info in my brain!!! There is so much and I just love the way Christy teaches. Look me up in flicker when you get a chance -suzieq232411

Heidi said...

Julee this is so sweet- reminds me of my high school days when I first started journaling/artsying around. Love the feel of it- and it seems you are so enjoying it all. Good for you. You definately get me inspired girl!

Monika/Buzsy said...

What a great page Julee. Love the red, the words, the pretty rhinestone hearts... looking forward to seeing more. :o)

Jen Shults said...

This is so nice! I love the red and all the rich layers you can see in the page. I really like how you incorporate the stamps with the paint... very nice look. Can't wait to see more!

Debbie Carriere said...

Wow, this is spectacular!!! Great first page - looks like you are a pro already :)

Janelle Stollfus said...

What a great page! I love the layers and brush-y colors. PanPastels, huh? I'll have to check in to all these new "tools" you're enabling me to use. I really do cherish coming to your blog. It's always something great.

Cindy Ellison said...

Just stumbled upon your blog, I love your work!