Thursday, January 24, 2013

VARYING THE SIZE OF YOUR ART JOURNAL

My first art journal, and one in which I continue to work occasionally, is 5-1/2" x 8".  As a newbie to art journaling, I found the smaller size journal a bit less intimidating than the larger ones.  I have created about 20 art journal pages in that journal.  I enjoy especially working with this size now when time is limited.

The next size up for me was 6" x 9", and contained water color paper.  I bought the watercolor paper journal as a required supply for an online class I took (where the journal was never used).  Since I am not watercoloring in this journal, I have found it a bit more difficult with which to work.  I have created only three art journal pages in this book.

As a birthday gift to myself, I bought Dyan Reaveley's new Dylusions Creative Art Journal (from Ranger), where the pages measure 11-3/8" x 8-1/4".  I have only completed one page in my new journal, but will share that with you today.  

Since in her videos, Dyan never says whether or not she has pre-Gesso'd her pages (or whether they are already pre-Gesso'd when you buy the journal), I was hesitant to start adding inks directly onto the page.  For this reason, I took a piece of patterned paper, cut it to size and adhered it to the journal page.  I then was confident about adding my inks!  I love the look since my patterned paper had an embossed "chicken wire" element to it.  I then added stickers, including the title letters, and some mail ephemera.  Here's the result:


Thanks for continuing to visit my art journaling blog.  Working in my art journal(s), regardless of size, gives me great pleasure.  One of the lessons I have learned in this new endeavor is to embrace imperfection!  You see, in art journaling, there really are no rules!  And, it's more about the process than the end result.

Joy to you!


11 comments:

  1. Hi Kay! I like your page really much! Do you write letters? Letters on paper?
    I know what you mean with varying the size of the journal. At the moment I work in a book (altered book or how that is called). That one has a really unusual size. One page ist about 17 cm x 26 cm. A double page ist 17 x 52 cm !! It is really a challenge for me to paint on that pages, but it is fun and brings me up further.

    Love
    Beate

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love this page Kay.... if the pages in the art journals are NOT watercolour paper what are they? just normal card....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am no expert, but watercolor paper seems to have texture, where other pages in journals I have found are smooth (like cardstock), but much heavier. When I use the watercolor paper, I have started using two coats of Gesso!

      Delete
  3. Hi Kay,

    Thanks for the follow on pinterest. I like your scrapbook layouts and your journaling. xox

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just started an art journalling class and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were given Dyan's book and I quite like it. I too have to embrace imperfection and also try not to over think each page. I totally look forward to your emails. Thanks for sharing your motivating ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Kay,

    this is so beautiful, I love the colors!
    Have a nice weekend!
    Rachelle
    http://all-my-craft-creations.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Also, me again, I saw that journal, it is really nice. If I didn't have so much paper around I would pick one up to. The hard cover will keep it for a long time. xox

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love, love, love this Kay!!! Really beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOVE IT KAY! I've ary journaled quite a bit on patterned paper...I always love the look. This is a beautiful page!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking a moment to leave a comment! Your kind words are appreciated and serve as inspiration to me.