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Tuesday 28 February 2012

Art Journaling Designed for Happy Daze



I decided to have ago at making an art journal (not really a journaling sort of person, never kept a diary before so will see how  I get on with it) using some recycled packaging to make the cover. I started with some plain white card and applied some distress stains in pine needles and dusky concord. Then diluted some distress re-inker in dusty concord and added some mica powder then sprayed on the the card. I lightened the page by adding a wash of watered down gesso. Then used bleach on one of my rubber script stamps and stamped it randomly accross the page & overstamped in black archival ink.
I used paper bag studios Be Happy cling stamp  and used distress inks to colour. This stamp so reminds me of photos of myself when I was younger. I sadly sported exactly the same haircut with the short wonky fringe, had my Mum to thank for that, she always cut my sisters and my hair really short LOL!  I remember one particularly bad haircut she gave me she decided to put some rollers in to try and make the best of a bad job, yikes it was dreadful, I think she scarred for me for life, but I did manage to let her keep me off school for a few days as compensation. Anyway I then stamped artistic outpost whimsical melange. I added some words ( tongue in cheek) I printed on the computer and used matte medium to glue the page to thick grey cardboard.

It does look rather dark for a journal they are usually bright affairs, but I blame successions of bad haircuts for that, told you I'd been scarred by the experience!!!!



The back of the journal was created in the same way and the stamp used is Paperbag studios windsong . I cut up my own paper to put in the journal a mixture of watercolour paper and thick card as I find a lot of the ready made books have quite thin paper.

 A quick reminder about the current Happy Daze Challenge which  you still have time to enter. It is Love, a Technique you love to use. It could be new or a your favourite tried and tested technique.  One lucky winner will be drawn at random to win a  £15 voucher and free P&P to spend in the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person & you must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.
  • You can enter by blogging you address to the linky widget here
  • emailing your picture to info@happy-daze.net
  • uploading your photo to their facebook page
Thanks for looking & Happy Crafting xx

18 comments:

Fliss said...

Would never have guessed you hadn't done this before Paula as these are just fabulous! I love the colours too, dark on not and all the textures in the background look amazing.
I know where you're coming from with the hair too as I had a cut like that once.
Wasn't scarred by that though, just by a frock my Mum made me which was an orange and brown floral print and even at the age of around 8, I knew that it looked awful with my blonde hair (guess who's never worn orange since!)
Hugs, Fliss xx

ScrappyDandyDoo said...

Absolutely stunning work Paula, love everything about it xx

Anonymous said...

Hi Paula. Sorry I am still giggling about your Mum cutting your hair. I now have a vision in my head of you looking like one of the Beetles! LOL! Super journal pages. You certainly are a talented lady who can turn her hand to anything.
Regards Florence xx

Astrid Maclean said...

Paula, this is AMAZING with a very big A. The background is incredible and I love these darker tones. All the layers shining through gives it so much dimension. The stamped images are just the icing on the cake. This is what I call ART. Totally and utterly incredible. Moira is so lucky to have you on her team!!

Netty said...

The haircut description made me laugh....I was given the pudding basin hair cut once by my mum and oooh the shame and heartbreak of it...
Loving your coloured and stamped journal pages am sure you will continue having fun with these. x

Elly said...

I really enjoyed the story about the haircut. Sounds like something out of my youth, too. Your Art Journal looks fantastic. I have to try the bleach - stamping - technique. Very cool effect.
Elly (:o)

Cath Wilson said...

Gorgeous work - love the images you used and the script stamp is perfect here. Lovely colours, too - mine aren't always bright, I'm afraid - all depends on my mood. Hope you do keep it up cos this is a stunning start x

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Wow, Paula, I'm missing words, these pages are fantastic. Love the background and the colors.

Ana Márquez said...

Wow!! It's great, I love those colours, dear! And the children vintage images too. Good work! :-)

Big hugs from
Vintage Collages
.

Maria said...

I love this Paula, I think you've done a fantastic job. The backgrounds look really stunning with the stains - not too dark at all, but lovely and rich. My bleach stamping didn't work too well when I tried, I must try again, lol. Love the story - my sister did mine in a very lop-sided pageboy style (the shame of it!) when I was kid, I only got one day off school though (I feel quite cheated now).

Maria x

Zuzu's Blog said...

Gorgeous work Paula.... very moody. x

Sue said...

Lovely work Paula. I'm just discovering art journalling myself. Still not sure what I'm doing but I'm having fun doing it!

Ann B said...

That's it now Paula, you are hooked and thank goodness for that it's a gorgeous set of pages - will look forward to seeing lots more in the future.
Think we were all scarred in one way or another by our school haircuts. I had mine permed when I was about 13 - horrible. Before that my Dad would cut it, not quite a pudding basin but not far off. Maybe I should journal that.

AngelicaS said...

Stunning!!!
Love your work!

Redanne said...

Paula, it is a beautiful journal, I hope you will use it! The colours are wonderful and love the words you have used too. Careful - you might even get hooked!

kjjc said...

lovely pages Paula.Superb colours. (Explains why you now have long hair-lol)

Barb said...

What an amazing journal, luv the colors and the PaperbagStudio stamped images you used.
Thanks for sharing,
Barb

Gerri Herbst said...

What a gorgeous journal. Love your style, I would definitely continue making these, you are a natural. t/c, gerri