Collage

Facing the Blank Page: Getting Started Art Journaling

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I was thinking about ideas to share with you today. I wanted to offer something unique and different but one of my most popular videos was about breaking in a new art journal and it reminded me that we can all use some inspiration.

I still sit down at my journal and think, “now what?” Sure some days creativity pours forth and I have lots of ideas but other days I just feel stuck. I may not like anything I am making or it might all blend together into a muddy mess. Days like these can make showing up at our journal again feel a bit like work.

Whatever the reason, it can be challenging to know where to start when you are looking at a blank journal page and I wanted to share a few ideas on how I get started.

One of the simplest ways for me is to use a journal that isn’t blank. If you watched my Word of the Year journal video you saw that I made some painted pages for my journal. This is so much fun because when you sit down to work you already have color and texture-some of the work is already done for you.

Another way I like to start out is to write out whatever I am thinking or feeling. It could be worries, gratitude, or song lyrics. You can just scribble on the page to give yourself a starting point-something so it’s no longer blank. If you are really feeling stuck-maybe you are worried about messing the page up-then I would say take a marker and scribble. Intentionally mess it up and then you have an opportunity to fix a mistake.

Paint is one of my favorite ways to get started. I love to cover a page with my favorite color. I start off messy using a card or scrapper tool and then add a few of my favorite paint colors. I almost always follow this up with collage. Not because it’s the right way but because I absolutely love collage. I find that putting down some color, collage and then random scribbles helps my brain to start seeing pictures. That’s usually when the page starts to take shape.

Another thing I just love about collage is that if I make mud or just a huge mess in general-I can cover it up with cut up images and glue. There is always a fix for a page-even it’s to cover it up or gluing 2 page together and pretending they were never there!

In this video I am going to share just a few little ways to get yourself started when you are facing a blank page. If you have a brand new journal that you have been nervous about breaking in-why not grab it, 2 or 3 of your favorite materials in your favorite colors, a magazine, junk mail or an old book, some glue-and let’s have a play. I used a heat tool to dry in between layers but cut it out to save time on the video. If you have any questions about the materials I used please comment below.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Music by Saint Stephen – 50’s Milkshake – https://thmatc.co/?l=352EAE2D

Video: Let’s Make a Cardboard Journal

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Today I have a fun upcycling project for you.

I don’t know about you but I love taking things that would have been recycling or trash and turning them into something fun, useful and pretty at the same time.

Years ago my mind was blown when I watched a video that showed me I could make a journal from a cereal box. I am totally in love with the idea of making something from every day items around the house.

Today I am using a similar package to make a very simple journal. I cut it to size (in my case just under 6×6″) I add some gesso, paint and a bit of collage and bind it all together with some ribbon using a 3-hole pamphlet stitch.

It’s a great project to do if you have limited supplies, time or maybe an overabundance of cardboard you would like to use up. These would make really sweet valentine gifts for kids to give their friends or maybe add some photo memories and give them to a loved one.

I hope you enjoy today’s video. If you follow along and make one yourself please do comment below-I would love to hear!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

 

 

Video: Art Journaling in My Word of the Year Journal-January

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I am in my studio today and working in my Word of the Year Journal.

As of writing this my page is in what, Juliette Crane calls “the ugly stage.” My brain is busy judging it and telling me, “you can’t share this page-you need to make it look better!” It’s so hard when we feel stuck in our creativity so I thought it might be helpful to share what I’m doing.

I reached a point where I needed to let things dry before I moved on so I took a walk-dropped off my rent check, used the restroom then came back into the studio-made another coffee, and sat down to work on something else.

This may not seem like a plan but in my past experience, when I take a little break and come back, I realize that the page isn’t as bad as I thought and I often have some new ideas and a resurgence of energy to keep going.

Sometimes, I still feel stuck and that’s alright too. In those cases you can:

  • Turn the page: Leave that page for now and go to another page in your journal and start over.
  • Cover it all up with paint or gesso. I love gesso for this-it’s almost like an eraser on the page and you can start over. Depending on the page, some of the colors and textures from your first attempt may still show through giving you some great dimension
  • Collage over it: Often times when I am feeling stuck in my own abilities to create art collage is a cozy blanket that restores faith in my own creativity. Not to mention you can be inspired by the images you are using. When I started this page I was looking for some collage elements and I saw quite a few sketchy faces in the magazine and that inspired me to do my own.

Even though I wasn’t loving the page that I was creating-I was still enjoying the process. This is the first spread I have done in my Word of the Year journal and it felt so nice to be playing in this journal. If you watch the video below you will see that when I came back to the page-it completely changed. I ended the page with adding my favorite symbol-a heart. I also plan to go back and add a small note about what I am feeling about my word and what’s going on in my life at the moment.

I thought about working in this journal from front to back but it just didn’t feel write so I am going to write down the date and then add my note so I have a reference of what was going on in my life at the time. This is going to be a really big year for me personally and professionally and anchoring in my word and watching how it supports me is going to be so much fun.

I love this practice because it’s more than just picking a word and thinking about it here and there. It’s really connecting with the word and what it means to me and how I am actively applying it to my life. Have you picked a word? I would love to hear your word and if you are journaling along with me.

Wishing you a lovely day!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Video: Warm Up Art Journal Process “It’s Your Road”

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Happy Monday!

I am sitting in the studio-a fresh cuppa has just brewed and I have another art journaling process to share with you all.

At the time I am writing this I haven’t quite finished the page. I needed to let things dry a bit so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to have another cup, sit in the cozy chair, and write to all of you.

How is your week starting off? I hope it’s going well, that it’s gentle but fulfilling for you. And if your day is less than how you would like it then I hope sitting here with me for a bit, over a cup of your favorite, offers you a respite. A little oasis for you to come to, relax, take care of yourself and recharge.

My week is starting off well-if not exactly how I planned. Schedules have been moved a bit at home and it seems I will get some early morning studio time each week. It’s a really nice addition and a dream I have been having for years now. I am meeting a friend for breakfast a little later but having the early morning to be a time for me to get my work done is really exciting for me. I had hoped to wake early and go to the gym alas I didn’t drag myself out of bed in time. There is always next week to try again.

My hope is to get up, gym, studio and then back home for homeschool and all things family. The really exciting part is that I can, starting next week, offer my creative coaching sessions during the day-something I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to manage. So if you have been looking to schedule a day session you can visit the scheduling page today and see the new available hours.

So now, in the midst of journal pages drying I thought it would be fun to tell you a bit about what I was doing in my warm up journal.

First I should say I have never had a warm up journal before. I created this journal last year and the idea of having a place where I could start off my studio sessions was appealing to me. I wanted something that would give me a place to lay down some color or journal a few words and not feel pressured to make anything. If I am honest, most of my art journals are becoming a space where I have freed myself from the need to make anything in particular. Where I can just create in a free way that feels like me.

Even though I have given myself permission to not make amazing art-I do like a theme for my journals. I love a container that holds the plans, dreams, fears and intentions I have around a certain project or area of my life.

(This concept is something I have learned mainly from Andrea Schroeder at The Creative Dream Incubator-if you would like to learn more you can click here to see her work-tell her Michele says “hi!’ 🙂

Right now I have a home journal, a business journal, my word of the year journal and my warm up journal. Each one is a place where I come to dream, plant seeds and work out what may be holding me back from taking next steps. I am a believer that these sessions don’t need to take long and I often plop down at my desk at home for 2 or 3 minutes to add color or collage to a page before going back to whatever I was doing. Letting the ideas mull over in the back of my mind as I go about the day.

My warm-up journal is where I start when I come to the studio. Today I got to the studio and realized I forgot my planner-then realized I left all my memory cards at home-so back off I went. I was trying to not add to the frustration with the thoughts of, “and you didn’t do the gym like you planned….” and realized I was feeling rushed and as if I was falling behind-and it wasn’t even 9am yet!

So I made my coffee (the first thing I do when I get to the studio) and decided to play in my warm up journal as today’s video.

I had no plan. I was going to start off with my tempura paint sticks (have I ever told you how much I love these?) but then I saw some colors in my Neo Color II that I wanted to play with so I just started scribbling.

My first scribble started to look like a heart so I decided to just go with it and make it a heart. This brought me back to being a kid where I would doodle hearts and stars all over my notebooks so I decided to add a star.

From there I was pulling colors I liked. I did grab my tempura paint sticks and use the peachy color-one of my favorites-to start tying things together. I added some tissue paper as collage and just kept going. I was looking for some neat paper to draw on thinking I wanted to cut it out and add it to the page but found a quote I decided to add instead. Then I noticed the scribbles at the bottom left looked a bit like a river going through a field so I played with some loose scribbles to enhance what I was seeing.

I took a break to start this blog post and then I went back and it’s always fun to see how differently things appear when you come back to a page. I decided to use one of my small rough brushes to add a pathway representing my own road. Then I added lots of trees to either side because if it’s my road-it needs to be lined with trees.Surrounded by them I would say.

I tried to apply this last layer in a way that would allow the previous textures and colors to come through but I always get heavy handed when I start to feel like I am coloring. Learning restraint in art making is still a skill I am developing.

Or maybe not.

I added some sky and enhanced the look of the river and embankment I saw earlier. I loved the sketchy look it had where you just had the illusion of it being there but it didn’t go with the other page so I added some paint. I think I will be exploring some sketchy type scenery in the future though.

So that is my video share for you this week. I hope you are able to take a few minutes today to do something fun for yourself. Regardless of your creative medium just 5 minutes can really help improve your mood or give you a new look on things. If you would like to take some time now-why not join me? You can see my process emerge on screen by watching the video below and play along. If you do create along with me-comment below and share what you made-I would love to hear!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Music by Saint Stephen – 50’s Milkshake – https://thmatc.co/?l=352EAE2D

Music by You ME and the Piano – Merry-Go-Round – https://thmatc.co/?l=4B20EFD1

Video: Studio Art Journaling Session

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How is your midweek going? Mine feels productive but if I were to be honest I am itching for some people time. I feel as if I am working up towards some real shifts in my life-good shifts-but I am getting a bit impatient.

It can be hard to move towards something new while still sitting with the old on a daily basis and it is in the times of feeling uncomfortable or anxious or worried that I do two things: pray and art journal.

Of course that may look different for everyone but when I create in my art journal it allows me to connect sometimes in a more meaningful way. It clears out the noisy thoughts and reminds me to be a bit more aware of what is. And I don’t know about you but it’s much easier for me to focus on what is when there are colorful paints and collage materials around me.

Would you like to have a little midweek creative time with me? You don’t have to work in your journal but maybe 5 minutes with your favorite creative outlet will help you through your day or to unwind from it. I created a little video for you to watch below. If you do join me please comment I would love to hear what you created during our time together!

 

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Music by You ME and the Piano – Merry-Go-Round – https://thmatc.co/?l=4B20EFD1

Music by Julia Pauletti – Yesterday – https://thmatc.co/?l=06E3D048

Video: Early Morning Art Journaling: Let’s Make Time

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Good morning!

I hope that whenever you are reading this (morning or not) that you are having a beautiful day.

I wanted to share with you my art journaling session from this morning. Recently I have been trying to get up earlier (if you have been around for a bit you know mornings are not my default happy place) and to make time for a few things that really support me through my day. They are:

Journal Writing: I sit down with my writing journal and just write it all out. Julia Cameron called these “morning pages” in her book “The Artist Way” (this is an affiliate link and you make a purchase using this link I earn a small commission but it doesn’t cost you any more) and it’s one of my favorite practices. When I sit and just let all the words out-let my feelings out, my worries, fears, anxieties, excitements, hopes, wishes-when I make time to let that all out I always feel so much better. I don’t set a number of pages I have to write (Julia recommends in her book 3 pages each morning first thing) but instead I write until I feel better or feel I have come to a stop.

Prayer: I make time for prayer. This past year I have become more and more reliant on my relationship with God and as I am dreaming and seeing things I long to shift and change, I find that dedicated prayer time in the mornings helps remind me to make talking to God a part of the whole day.

Art Journaling: I also spend a little time with paints and paper and my art journal. I mainly work in the mornings in my special focus journal where I just work on capturing not only the energy I’m trying to be but also how I currently am. Yes, I am trying to bring something amazing into my life but that can feel scary at times. In my art journal I can be real with where I am and use the words and paint and glued images to help me let go of fear and embrace trust.

Would you like to join me?

Regardless of the time day can you spend 7 minutes making a little in your journal? If you don’t have an art journal what about a piece of paper and some colored pencils or crayons? Yesterday I just drew on some pages in my writing journal (I had inadvertently skipped 2 pages when writing so I decided to doodle on them instead). There are no supplies needed to just get some creative time in. You can join me by watching the video below.

I would love to hear what you create-please comment below and share your blog if you have one so we can all come see what you are making.

 

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante