Summer style art journaling.

Background stencil by Dylusions

Quote stamp by me! for Stampotique Originals

Paints and Journal by Dina Wakley Media line for Ranger.

Teaching a regular art journaling class at Art from the Heart definitely keeps me on my toes. Nothing like a looming deadline to get the creative juices flowing ... LOL! I teach this class approx once a month and aim to do something completely different or a new technique every time.

A while ago I painted a vintage caravan on a pebble which I then hid for someone to find (see Love on the rocks on facebook). The design was very popular on both facebook and Instagram, so I decided to turn it into a journal page.

Who wouldn't want a vintage caravan in a style like this?!

Masquerade!

Ooh masks can be a bit spooky and creepy can't they?! When I taught at the latest Ministry of Mixology event (fabulous event but the way!), there was a theme of 'masks' on the first 'meet and greet' evening. I racked my brains for a while thinking about what to do, and then I came across a plain white plastic masquerade mask (for my UK friends - this was £1 fromThe Works! Bargain!)

After a coat of gesso I used the *new* DecoArt Americana Premium acrylics in: Primary Magenta, Primary Yellow, Cobalt Turquoise Hue, as the colours are so pigmented you really do get beautiful bright colours.

A bit of stencilling, finger painting, and stamping using stamps by Andy Skinner, along with some doodling using Posca pens, and some final touches of glitter and a few feathers.

I gave the whole thing a few coats of spray varnish to protect it a little and it left a beautiful satin sheen too :-)

A circular journal.

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be one of the teachers at the totally fabulous Ministry of Mixology mixed media retreat in Coventry UK, organised by Tando and Andy Skinner.  This is one amazing retreat with the most friendly, welcoming atmosphere, and the BEST team of helpers. I have been fortunate enough to teach at this event on three occasions now and it just gets better and better every time. 

This time I taught alongside Antonis Tzanidakis, and we both created kits and projects specially for the occasion ... all cut by Tando of course!

I created a round journal which we threaded up the centre using silk sari ribbon. There was lots of painting, stencilling, stamping, doodling, spritzing and general shenanigans to create our journals and everyone did a great job :-) 

DecoArt very generously provide us with al the paint and mediums we need for the occasion. We used the *new* Americana Premiums to paint our journals. These colours are amazing!

We cut our own circular pages by simply tracing round the kit pages and then cutting out. Simple yet effective! I *KNOW* that circular pages are tricky but what can I say? I like circles! We used some very nice quality cartridge paper from Art Way as they generously provided us with enough paper to create everyone's books (all 72 of us!) and  more!

And here we all are with our fabulous finished journals. Such a great weekend!

Art journaling catch up.

For my recent regular art journaling class at Art from the Heart I decided to do self portraits, something which has been on my mind for a while. This isn't a self-portrait to look like me, more a representation of who I am, so you will spot the colour palette (Bad Ass Studio stamps) and the colour wheel! 

We also made watercolour papers and cut our own butterflies. I love these scrappy bits when added to the Burlap pages in the Dina Wakley Media journal.

I also taught a mini art journaling class recently and I wanted to use the new-ish Tim Holtz stamp set - Entomology. We made some faux entomology cards but then, although these are really small mini art journal size, I decided to stick these in my Dina Wakley journal too.

You can see details of all classes at Art from the Heart *here*.

And finally, it's the last day of the early bird sale for Art Journal Summer School 2018. I really LOVE this class - full of short, accessible, inspiring fun classes for on the go journaling in the summer. Sign up *here*. Hope to you see you there! 

It's Art Journal Summer School Time!

Yay! Yay! Yay! I love this time of year because this means that it's almost time for Art Journal Summer School again, organised by the wonderful Marieke Blokland :-)

Click *here* to enrol.

I genuinely love the concept of this on-line collaborative course. Each individual class is only about 10-15 minutes as it has been designed with summer holidays/vacations in mind, with a limited number of materials. Personally I have the attention span of a small flea, so these short sharp snappy classes really appeal to me, and what you actually get is full classes which have been cleverly condensed and edited into short manageable watchable videos. Did I say I love this course?!

Enrol on Art Journal Summer School today to profit from the special early bird sales price. (Valid until May 31st)

So, who else is involved? Just look at this for a prestigious line up. Holy Moly!

Here's a short introductory video so you can see what it's all about.

I do hope you'll join us for this fab fun summertime course!