As always the month has gone so quickly! I have throughly enjoyed this months Art Elements Challenge set by our wonderful Lesley and I fell into the rabbit hole that is Pinterest looking for ideas! Unfortunately there were more ideas then month but I managed to finish up a few....
First off I took one of those cheap little sayings books that you always find in the charity shop and I turned it into an art journal, this was done by removing half the pages and sticking every other page together for added strength. once the glue was dry I gave each page a layer of gesso (this part took for ever as I had to wait for the gesso to dry before moving on to the next page)! I then added scraps of paper and stamps to the cover with another layer of gesso and this one is ready for adding lots of colour!
My next idea was to create a junk journal, but I wanted one with a hard cover and an enclosed spine I had not made one of these yet so this was very much an experiment....
This one is a little over 3 inches and rather messy being a first attempt, So I though I would have another go to see if I could get a neater finished item....
This one I like much more! It's bigger at 4 1/2 inches and made of the same things but has a recycled symbol embossed? on the front cover (hand cut from the back of the water colour pad and then glued in place before covering) and this time I did not gesso the pages as they took soooo very long to dry, but there is a lovely mix of old envelopes, music paper and drawings from interesting books! After this one turned out so well I got a little cocky and thought I would try something a little fancier with this beautiful hare focal by our multi talented Caroline....
I love the text in the background and thats what made me want to use it on a book....
But I'm not too sure about this one as it did not turn out as I envisioned it!
I used Carolines focals as the inspiration and mimicked the oval and the swirly edge but I did mine as Celtic and they should have been more art nouveau, still you live you learn!
The focal is set into the cover not just glued on top, but the water colour on the cover looked a little pale so I kept adding more colour, now I'm thinking it would have looked better on a dark leather background!?!
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AE Team
I love the book with the hare on it. I appreciate some of your tips. I feel like I could have a go with a project like this after reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteAll your little mini journals are equally fantastic. I must say that I prefer the one with the hare on it, and I think it would look great on a leather or faux leather look background.
ReplyDeleteLove your books Niky, especially the hare one! I'd forgotten about that pendant, I'm glad to see it on one of your wonderful designs :)
ReplyDeleteI think they're all fabulous! You're all geared up and ready to start art journaling. I agree with you about having to gesso a whole book. I'm so very lazy about it myself. I tend to wait until I have a little extra gesso from a project and will do a page or two in one of my old books with the extra bit. In any case, I can't wait to see what you do with the fabulous books. I do hope you'll share!
ReplyDeleteYour books and journals are fabulous! What a great idea to use a cabochon! This is wonderfully inspirational.
ReplyDeleteI love these :D I received a junk journal from my lovely friend and I love it. I got her to explain the process of choosing the pages and bits and bobs and there is so much to putting them together. I love yours :D
ReplyDeleteI just love your books. You always make me want to sit down and make a book. I do have to admit that my absolute favorite is the last one with Caroline's hare on the cover. And I think the celtic adornment looks great.
ReplyDeleteThe books look delightful. After looking at your creations, I am kicking myself for not making an art journal.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful journals Niky and great ways to repurpose. Thanks for joining int the challenge.
ReplyDeleteLove your journals, Niky! It's neat how you made an art journal from the sayings book, and the embossed look that you've achieved in the other covers is brilliant. I like the idea of a dark leather background for Caroline's hare, but the current background works just fine - the celtic look suits it!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I love love love the way you made the books look embossed and the one with Caroline's focal is just stunning. I think the celtic looks amazing. Amazing work!
ReplyDeleteYour journals are awesome. I definitely would have lost patience for adding gesso to the pages one by one. I like the hare on the blue-green background. Maybe because I am partial to blue-greens.
ReplyDeleteThe personalized sayings book is a fabulous idea! I like all the junk journals but the one with the hare has this very artsy look, too! Neat work on the covers!
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