Gelli Plate Play

 I challenged myself to get out my gelli plates and play one day. It was messy but so much fun!

I had made a junk journal  awhile ago using just junk mail. (Is anyone else getting bombarded with cruise flyers? At least they are a good weight and make great bases for journal pages, journal cards or tags!) After I assembled approximately 12 pieces of mail, I folded each in half, nested them and stitched together with a three-hole pamphlet stitch.  Then I gessoed them to ready them for the next step.

I used my 3" x 5" gelli plate and stuck it on an acrylic stamp block. I used assorted acrylic paints, a brayer and various stencils. I used the gelli plate like a stamp and pressed it onto different pages multiple times. This is much less messy way to work! I did this over and over until I had filled all the pages with some color and pattern. 

It is now quite colorful and is a great start for 24 art journal pages. At least I don't have to worry about the blank white page syndrome!

Here are a few photos. Remember they are not finished pages, just the beginnings of backgrounds.

If you have a gelli plate, pull it out and make some fun backgrounds!

Collage Challenge - Weeks 3 and 4

 

I have caught up with the weekly collage challenges. I can't believe we're almost 4 weeks into the new year!

Week 3

Prompts:

1) barcode (I used a barcode from a piece of scrapbook paper.)

2) photo or portion of a photo (This photo was taken by my kids when they were in Vietnam and I had an extra one after scrapping their trip.)

3) a thing (lots of things in the photo above - fruit, hats, bicycles etc)

4) clothing tag (I didn't use this - it's been a long time since I've bought new clothes!)

5) text in a different alphabet (pieces of Chinese newspaper)

Bonus: handwriting (the writing on the right side of the page is what was printed on the page itself)

I also added a scrap of origami paper and a printed Chinese paper - Zodiac sign maybe?).

Week 4

Prompts:

1) numbers (stamped)

2) graph paper or lined paper (graph paper in background)

3) art scrap (Used a piece of gelli plate print in upper left as well as cut out stars from another print)

4) book page or portion (on right side as well as two illustrations from an old dictionary)

5) old sticky note (turquoise and "Keep it Simple" pieces in lower left of page)

Bonus: instruction (upper right corner - instruction for setting up a room air conditioner)

I'm not thrilled with this page but every one can't be a work of art, right?  At least I finished it.

Margarete Miller Weekly 5-Prompt Collage Challenge

Last year during the pandemic I was bored and decided to do some art challenges. I discovered Margarete Miller's weekly prompt challenge. Since it was in the middle of the year and I had already missed many weeks, I ended up doing one month of daily challenges. I had an old 9" x 9" coil-bound stamp catalog and removed all but 30 pages. It was a great challenge.

Fast forward to this year and Margarete published a coil-bound planner with the weekly prompts. There is a spread for each week; the right page has the weekly calendar plus a list of the prompts for that week and the left page is printed with a light neutral image of some kind of ephemera for building the collage on. In the back, there are also two pages of printed ephemera to cut out and use for collage plus a pocket page for storing bits and pieces.

I treated myself to this planner since I needed a 2021 calendar and thought it would be a great way to store the collages for the year.

The first week was the week of Dec. 27 through January 2. Here is my collage for that week.

Prompts:

1) something fast (train image from travel brochure)

2) postage stamp (I used five)

3) piece of map (upper right side and lower left)

4) border or frame (floral wreath frame)

5) portion of brochure (image of foliage)

Bonus: form or part of form (portion of a passport)

I also added a few tickets, a butterfly and a stamped number to flesh out the collage.

Week 2

Prompts:

1) a person (image from a card I received)

2) image from magazine (rose image in background)

3) doodle (under the butterfly and at bottom of page)

4) piece of washi tape (several striped pieces)

5) tea bag cover (portion under the image of three bees)

Bonus: illustration (didn't use)

I added a few green patterned papers, the butterfly, bees and mushrooms.

I'm hoping that I will be able to keep up with this as it's only one collage a week.

January Vintage Junk Journal Page Swap

I am hosting a bi-monthly vintage junk journal page swap this year for my online group. The pages are stand-alone 5" wide by 7" high. The left edge is kept to a minimum of decoration so that the pages can be bound together if desired.

This month's theme is "Valentines."

For my page I used a card (those that come in the mail from various organizations asking for donations). This was the perfect size for the page. I turned it inside out and border punched the right edge of the front. Once everything was decorated, I sewed the top, bottom and left edges together to form a pocket.

I covered the front with an old Valentine paper from Basic Grey, then added a "snippet roll" across the middle for a horizontal belly band and added a triple pocket made from music paper underneath.

Below you can see the triple pocket on the left with little journaling cards added, the "bare" front in the center, and the large journaling card for inside the pocket on the right.

Before I covered the back with avocado-dyed paper (who knew that avocados produced such a lovely pink dye!),  I glued on an envelope with a reproduction Valentine card inside for a side flip. The envelope is covered with patterned paper, a doily, stamped heart and stamped faux stamp.

I hope my partner enjoys it.

 

Challenge using a Cereal Box

My online art group is doing weekly challenges this year. Last week's was to create something using a cereal box. I didn't have one but substituted a cracker box instead.

I cut the box apart at the top and bottom and along one side seam.

 

Then I cut it down to form a small box 3.5" x 5" with 2" sides. I scored and cut into the corners.

Here is the box with the corners glued together.

I covered it with paper and used washi tape on the edges to reinforce it.

Since I had one side of the box left over, I cut it to size and folded it to

make the divider. It fit so perfectly that I didn't even glue it down.

Now I have a small box to sit on my desk for all those tiny paper scraps 

that I like to save.

This isn't an amazing project but I did accomplish the challenge and it's quite practical.

December Daily - final days #26-31

I've finally completed my 2020 December Daily! As you can see below, it has grown tremendously since I the beginning of the month. It's quite "gator-mouthed" now.

Days 26 & 27

Day 26 has mostly photos, along with a strip of washi tape
and a glittery ribbon.

Day 27 has a belly band made with a plaid ribbon, a strip of
washi tape along the bottom and a folded pocket inserted under
the band.

The pocket is made from a #10 window envelope. I glued down the flap and
sliced a thin piece off the right side (holding it vertically). Then I folded up the
bottom and cut it at an angle to form the small triangular pocket on the front.
After decorating with scraps of papers I added a journaling card to the large pocket.
It's made from the front of a cute gingerbread card I received this year.
The small square card is a watercolor I painted from an online tutorial and
it goes in the slanted pocket.

Days 29 &30

Day 28 has a journaling spot made from a lined scrapbook paper
and a printed bow embellishment. 
Day 29 is a tag flip attached with a strip of washi tape and has
a "whale' punch tab. Below shows the tag open with journaling and
photos.

Day 31 (New Year's Eve)

Last page! We were still at our daughter's house and had

a very quiet NYE. I added a small card stock block for

brief journaling, some washi tape and a velvet bow.

Now looking forward to making another next year!

Christmas Loaded Pocket Swap

Before Christmas I participated in a "loaded pocket" swap. The pockets were to be received before Christmas and opened Christmas Day but didn't have to contain holiday items.

The pockets were made from a 12" x 12" double-sided patterned paper and had a double pocket on the front. On the back you could add optional pockets or a belly band to hold extra goodies. I can't remember the exact tutorial we used to make these but there are several online if you do a search.

In the rush of the holidays I forgot to take photos of the one I made but this is the one I received. It was jam packed with lots of fun items ranging from handmade tags and a notepad folio to a brush pen, transfer pen, winter ATC kit and lots, lots more.

Front

Back

 

These are so fun and easy to make. They can be adapted for any occasion an

are a pretty way to give a gift. 

December Daily - Days 23-25

 Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a happy holiday! Now we can move forward with a new year filled with hope and an end to the pandemic.  

I am now catching up with the last few days of my December Daily.

Day 23

On this page I attached a window folded pocket made from two #10
 window envelopes. I cut off a bit of the end of both envelopes
 without the window and folded both in half. I nestled them together,
inserted some images and "confetti" between the two windows and
glued them together forming a shaker-like flap. The other halves
were glued together to form a side pocket, the back of which was glued
to the page. Then everything was covered with paper scraps and I made
a journal card for photos.

Here you can see inside the "booklet" showing the pocket and card.

I love how this turned out and it's a very simple way to make a 

shaker card.

Day 24

I did a double-page spread for Christmas Eve using a belly band on
the right page and a side tuck from a journal card on the left page.
The tag has photos on the back and the journal card has journaling
about what we did that day.

Christmas Day

This is another double-page spread with a pocket and tag on the 
right page. I added photos, washi tape and a wide ribbon on the left page.
The right page has a tag on which I journaled. The circle opening shows
a handprinted scene on muslin mounted on a small tag which I 
received in a Christmas swap this year.