Beginners guide to Art Journalism

Hi friends,

Today I am on the ITSYBITSY  blog as guest designer sharing my first page in my mixed media art 

journal.I was very excited when Itsybitsy sent over their newly launched mixed media journal and the

color splash sprays and grainy paste to me.I am a big fan of art journals and needless to say I was

over the moon to receive the goodies.My heartfelt thanks to Rashmi Harish for thinking of me and 

Anitha Mallesh for the prompt delivery.

First and foremost it is important to demystify the process of creating an art journal.Most of you 

would be thinking WHY and HOW and WHICH journal to use.

In simple terms  as to the WHY my answer is:

1 .I create a page in my journal to celebrate some important event in my life or just simply to 

document my life with the help of art

2. It gives us a small substrate to experiment with mediums and techniques which otherwise may

seem very daunting to you.

3. It helps as a therapy as you can use art as a way to express your emotions /insecurities/stress of 

daily life in a small page.This can be just for you and need not be made public.

4. It is great fun to fill the pages as you try new things.

5. It also acts as a reference point when you get stuck in your other projects and need some 

inspiration.

6 .It also helps me in developing my style of work and reflects my progression in my art journey.

I think they are enough reasons for anybody to take up art journalism.Now comes the HOW part.Just 

pick up a journal and begin with whatever materials you have in hand.Mediums like

acrylics,pastels,watercolor, gelatoes ,pastel crayons pencils,markers,gel pens all come in handy as    

 you explore the artist in you.There are no set rules and as one would write a diary ,you go about          

making art that you feel like doing.Now comes the WHICH part.It is quite a pleasure to introduce  

 the newly launched ART JOURNALS by ITSYBITSY. The mixed media one which I would be   

using has various different kinds of substrates to work on.It has kraft paper,corrugated paper,burlap    

 jute and handmadepaper which lets you experiment with different textures.The best part is that this  

journal is all ready to use.They come in two very functional sizes.

                                     ART JOURNAL PAGE:TRAVEL THEME

Now it is time to talk about the page I created in mix media  journal.As the months of May and June 

as vacation period for kids in north India ,most of us travel for recreation.Thus I choose to create my 

travel theme page reflecting my recent visit.Will try to explain some step s involved in making this 

page too.

The process:First gather all your supplies and think of any theme or objective/reason for creating a 

page.It can be very specific pertaining to your life or quite general like you are feeling happy so want 

to create or want to try some technique or medium.

.

As I discussed earlier I wanted to do something related to my recent travels so I picked up a picture

 which I printed on my inkjet printer in the appropriate size and one brochure given to us at the site.It

 is always a good idea to pick up some extra brochure which can be used as backgrounds.

 One more thing that you need to organise is undersheet which you place below your pages so the

 color does not seep in.Also I like to use baking sheets as inserts to my done pages so that they do do 

stick to each other.I randomly tore a picture from the brochure and pasted the same with decoupage 

glue on to the kraft sheet spread.As the color scheme was quite earthy I choose the Kraft sheet to 

work on.

 Next I took some white gesso and used color splash lemon zing to give it color and than 

randomly spread on the page with brush.

 Also used a stencil and modelling paste colored with color splash spray to give interest to the page.

 I also wanted to use one die cut on the page which again I colored with the spray(tangerine).The 

sprays are quite pigmented and give bright colors.

I than did some stamping with archival ink pad and colored my chipboard with black mont marte 

gesso.I stamped the destinations on watercolor paper and pasted all my various elements together 

.Finally I did some dry brushing of Tinted metallic twany glint on the chipboard and the 

textures.Hope you like the page and will be inspired to create your own.

List of products used from Itsybitsy:

Art Journal

Color splash tangerine

Color splash lemon zing

color splash mocha

Mont marte modelling paste

Thanks a bunch for being here and going through the post.Happy crafting.

Ruchi

Projects made using ITSYBITSY Embossing texture paste and Mica flakes

Hi friends ,

Today I would like to share some interesting projects that I did yesterday. I was sent some

lovely products by ItsyBitsy which they launched recently.I was happy to lay my hands on Mica

flakes and Embossing paste.It was a delight to work with them.

First I will share the projects I created using these products and than tell you a bit about the usage 

and my feedback of these products.I created a TAG and a MM board to try these out.

For the first  project my inspiration was the Japanese style of pen paintings.I am always fascinated by

 the apple blossom flower and found this project interesting as created the paper flowers that go with 

it.Please see the step by step pics to know how I created this.

First I took a soft board size A4 approx. and did the outline of the design.Than with a knife took the

 paste and made the design(thicker branches).For the thinner branches I made a cone and filled the 

paste in it for better control.

Once I covered the design with embossing paste.I let it rest for few minutes and than with the heat 

gun gave the embossed effect.I was careful not to give too much heat as I wanted controlled bubbling

 effect which will look more like natural nodules of branches.                     

Next it was time to add the mica flakes to make the moon pop up.For this I used glue from the store

 and pasted the flakes in side the circle.

After this I gave the whole piece a coat of black gesso as wanted the moon to really shine.Also than

 took some tinted metallic paint Twany glint and did dry brushing of the branches to bring out the 

texture.Lastly I added some apple blossom flowers that I made for this project.

Second project:TAG.For this I took  a mdf tag and used stencil to adhere the embossing paste.Refer 

pics for step by step.Have again used both the products on this also.

 

My experiments also included trying the product on diecut shape and on burlap cloth.Refer pics.

As I begin to write about the product would like you all to please refer to the below links for 

complete information about the usage and properties of the embossing texture paste.

1.http://blog.itsybitsy.in/fun-craft-with-embossing-texture-paste/

2.https://craftyflirtations.blogspot.com/search/label/Review

I begin by saying that  the the embossing texture paste was a pleasant surprise because

1.It is very creamy in texture and very easy to apply with knife

2.It is heat set in a very unique way of creating bubbles which are quite fascinating and cannot be 

achieved by any other product.

3.It dries to a lighter color and very subtle color emerges.

4.Can control the consistency of bubbles or embossing by the controlled use of heat gun.

5.Works well on fabric too. 

Some tips for using the embossing paste.

1.Do let the paste rest for few minutes before you start applying heat.

2.Similarly wait a bit for the project to cool before you start applying colors or inks.

3.Takes inks and acrylics very well.

4.It gives a very different texture and can be used in projects where you wish to create natural bubble 

effect,i.e.underwater elements,creating texture of fruits,natural branches,centres of flowers,brick 

effect apart from creating some awesome backgrounds for mix media projects.

Mica flakes is also a interesting  addition to my  stash.

1.Can be pasted with any glue that dries clear.

2.Can be cut into smaller pieces and broken down into thinner slices.

3.Lovely sheen on them which can enhance any project.

I had fun using both the products and hope you too enjoyed the projects and will attempt 

them.Thanks for being here and going through a long post.Best regards,

Ruchi

Glass Jug makeover.

Hi friends ,

I am back again with another recycling project.One of my glass jug broke(it just cracked on its own)

 and became unusable.So decided to makeover the same for decorative purpose.For this I used only

two colors of fevicryl:Black and white.This is also my official entry to #FevicrylCreativeChallenge

by Hobby Ideas India.

 https://www.facebook.com/HobbyIdeasIndia/photos/a.1607096492835113.1073741828.1574111372800292/2111005199110904/?type=3&theater

The pics are attached here for your reference.Thanks for being here.