Collect Beautiful Moments

Happy Creative Monday, Everyone!

Tanyalee's sharing a great tutorial how to make your own little journal from scratch. You'll see how easy and fun it is to create!
And like always - the possibilities are endless and you can take Tanyalee's creative tips and use them with your favorite colors and your own style.

What will you put into your own little journal this week? :)

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This month my tutorial for you is using Finnabair’s Resist Canvases and I am going to turn them into a journal and then decorate the cover.

I selected two resist canvas sheets and cut them down to 6x12 inch pieces so that when they fold in half they will make a 6x6 inch journal.

I also added some plain white cardstock for extra pages and to back the resist canvas sheets.

For the cover I sewed to pieces of canvas together using a simple running stitch. I was going to machine sew them, but my old sewing machine just didn’t want to do that. It has new entered it’s final resting place I’m sad to say.

Once the cover was finished, I backed the remaining canvas with cardstock by glueing the sheets together.

I then constructed the journal using a piece of ribbon threaded through two holes in each sheet and tying it off.

I started the cover by adding a stencil and some Paper Paste through the 'Doily' stencil.

This created a lovely extra textural space to the cover, but I ended up covering it up with gauze and decorations in the end. :)

The gauze added texture as well and gave the paint something to soak into and added visual appeal.

Next I used the dabbing brush with some Metallique paint in Romance Pink and Soft Satin.

I wanted it down in place to allow the resist elements on the canvas to really stand out.

Once the background was painted I started placing the ephemera pieces so that they created an interesting montage, but didn’t end up too bulky so the journal was still workable.

I coloured the cover more with Mica Powders and added Mini Art Stones and Micro Beads.

As a finishing touch I added some text and rubbed Metallique Wax in Rose Gold over the edges of the journal and the Mechanicals pieces.

Please enjoy my video and see step by step how I created my little journal.

And that concludes my journal making tutorial.

Have you ever made your own journal?

If so, I’d love to see them, tag me on Instagram, I’m @tanyaleekahler, so I can see them.

Yours in messiness

Tanyalee

 

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Tell The Story

Hello Friends!

It's another inspiring Friday with my Creative Team!
Sanda is here with her brand new stunning artwork and today she's telling a beautiful visual story (something I love doing myself!).
There's a video tutorial and lots of tips from Sanda so I'm sure you'll feel inspired to join her and create something special this weekend!

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“Stories, like people and butterflies and songbirds' eggs

and human hearts and dreams, are also fragile things”

― Neil Gaiman

Hello, dear friends,

I am sharing with you today a mixed media collage/assemblage titled “Tell the story”.

My inspiration was sparked by some lovely old photos from Finnabair and three small tea light holders I had laying around on my table. I just love old photos and the stories they tell…

So I created a kind of vintage with a twist look project to compliment these wonderful Ephemera pieces.

After I gessoed a piece of MDF and dried it with my heating tool, I pulled out one of my favourite Finnabair stencils (the 'Harlequin' one) and I drew and shaded with a 2B mechanical pencil.

Next, I spread through a different stencil a generous layer of Paper Texture Paste (this is one of the most gorgeous texture paste ever to work with!!!), using a silicone brush. I dried this layer thoroughly with the heat tool.

For my first layer of colour, I chose two Art Alchemy Impasto paints (Cobalt and Black) and mixed them until I got a wonderful, rich and deep turquoise-blue.

After spritzing some water, I applied my paint with a brush, spritzed more water and tilted my board, to help the paint move and drip. With some baby wipes, I removed the excess.

I dried everything again and then, I glued down three recycled tea light holders using Heavy Body Gel and left it dry for a couple of hours.

For my next step, I sponged some Heavy White Gesso – this is one of my favourite techniques when I apply gesso. I simply love watching how the gesso catches the texture underneath, helping it to reveal itself in all its glory. 😊

I worked the gesso more towards the edges, as I wanted to keep the concentrated colour in the middle of my panel.

I created another layer of texture using Art Stones that I adhered with 3D Gloss Gel.

I left the panel dry completely and then I added more texture and colour using Rust and Patina Pastes. Do I need to tell you how much I love them? :)

I applied the pastes going from dark to light, using the new dabbing brushes (they are fantastic!).

TIP: To ensure you never have problems with your Rust and Patina Paste, like drying in the jar, when you work with them, try scooping out of the jar the amount you need and close the lid back immediately. You can always go back and scoop some more.
Sshhh, don’t tell anyone, but sometimes I forget my own advice too! LOL

To bring everything together, I sponged another coat of gesso.

Next, I added some subtle background stamping, using the 'Old Town' and 'Dirty Walls' sets and a few embellishments (wire, two air dry clay birds, rub-on transfers, a word sticker, two Finnabair Ephemera pieces and a few Mechanicals).

As a finishing touch, I painted all the sides with the same mixture of Cobalt and Black Impasto paints and with the leftovers, I did some splatters.

Here is my video where you can watch my creative process and see the products I used.

Enjoy and have fun!

I hope you’ll get inspired by this project and try some of the techniques in your artwork.

Have a lovely day, my friends,

xoxo

Sanda

Products used: