Listen To Your Art!

Hi everyone! Christmas is over and now is the time to start thinking about those New Year's resolutions. One that is always good and productive is keeping a journal but wouldn't it be more fun to keep track of your art journey?! 

The new 'Hey Crafty Girl' paper collection from Simple Stories is full of vibrant and fabulous patterned papers and the cutest embellishments for any craft you can think of! I took all of these papers, along with the coordinating Simple Basics paper pack, and made this art journal that is perfect for documenting my crafty endeavors throughout the year!

The front and back covers, which are made from heavy weight chipboard and measure 6.24" x 8.75", feature four different patterns of the gorgeous paper. It was so hard to decide which ones to use! I loaded up the front cover with a combination of chipboard, stickers and Bits & Pieces and layered them over a charming 4x6 element card. I even tied on a sweet tag at the top!

Inside are 30 patterned paper and white card stock pages. Four of them are tabbed dividers which have been highlighted with some fun sentiment stickers to help keep me organized. They, along with all of the other pages, have been decorated with the phenomenally cute embellishments, stamps and stencil of the collection. There are pockets galore, journaling pages and plenty of room for photos or mementos! Below are some of my favorites in the journal!

If you are a crafter of any sort, this dazzling collection is for you! The possibilities to create are endless and the papers and every other adorable piece of this collection will definitely put a smile on your face! I'm so excited for the New Year to start documenting my art journey! If you want to make an art journal of your own, please visit my YouTube channel for a tutorial and look through the entire journal or you can click on the video below! 

Thanks for checking out my blog! Bee Happy!!

Supplies Used:

Mixed Media Fun!

Hi everyone! I like mixed media but usually just in small amounts, one thing at a time. Some watercolor here, some stenciling there.... not a lot of mixing of all the types! But recently I took a class with the awesome Vicki Boutin  at the Ready, Set, Create event and had the opportunity to try out her mixed media products and boy was it fun! 

We started with the gesso and then moved on to her super colorful art crayons and topped it all off with her stencils and fabulous iridescent glaze! We even got to use some of her stamps too! I am definitely a mixed media convert!

The whole class was based on layouts which I definitely DO NOT do but I knew I needed to use these  gorgeous works of art that I created along with the 'Inked Rose' and 'Carousel' paper collections that were included in the class. When I got home from the event I had the brilliant idea to turn them into a travelers notebook and inserts! The 12x12 sheets, even though covered in gesso, paints and glaze, were very pliable and strong. 

I picked out one sheet for the cover and cut it down to 8 1/2" by 11"for  a nice sized travelers notebook. I punched two small holes at the center top and bottom, and then threaded yellow elastic cord through each hole twice so the notebook could hold four inserts- two smaller notebooks and two folded sections made with the patterned paper!

The notebook inserts were made with the other two beautiful mixed media art sheets I had created. I added plain copy paper into one and some grid paper in the other and then sewed them each down the center with my sewing machine. Each has 10 sheets total so they have a good amount of pages for journaling or mementos!

I made the other inserts by folding and cutting the 12x12 paper collections and then stacking them together in an interesting mix. The 'Carousel' chipboard pieces, along with more patterned papers and sequins, are layered on the front cover for decorations! Please watch the video below, or visit my Youtube page so you can see all of the great details of this gorgeous travelers notebook!

Thanks for checking out my blog!  Bee Happy!!

Supplies Used:
We R Memory Keepers 'Inked Rose' 12x12 paper
sequin mix
sewing machine