Finally did a little work on the junk journal project.
It took a couple tries putting an edge on the cover – the first attempt was not good but I’m happy with how it ended up.
Next I went through the signature pages to see how the tags will look – okay; it’s not as full and decked out as a lot of the ones I’ve seen but I’m going to call it ready for assembling.
It was late by the time I got around to creativity tonight so I spent a some time cutting out these pictures to use in collage, junk journal pages, bookmarks and tags. I’ll do some random cut outs later too.
One of the reasons for doing this challenge was to become okay with making bad art.
Don’t get me wrong, I have always created bad art but lately I have been creating less art so when I do create, it isn’t as good as it would be if I’d been creating more which has made me not want to make art…catch 22!
I haven’t really been able to get “into the zone” and get excited about a project. What I really want to create – a junk journal – gets me feeling stuck because it’s new to me.
I love the idea of mixed media and I have more ephemera than anyone really needs but it’s a struggle to put it together. Maybe I’ve watched too many YouTube tutorials – when I try to make my version it just doesn’t look very good.
So I’m sharing these wonky mandalas – out of balance and poor line work – and that’s okay. Next I will share some bad junk journal pages!
Listening to Laura Horn Art Podcast #76. Dina Wakely – Why its okay to make bad art was helpful too. She suggests we lower our expectations and have fun creating…sounds like a great idea!
My go to when I’m having a hard time with a project – especially a tech project is a mandala.
It’s easy on the mind to make the lines – I’m really happy with how this is looking. It definitely will get some shading at some point!
Websites are a pain in the butt – my difficult project. I don’t know what I’ve done but somehow I can only get in using a random login and password…computer generated, which means it’s not easily memorized.
And I can’t add photos from my phone…everything is much more time consuming this way.
I did get another challenge going at aleapintolife.com though. A 30 day Challenge to help me learn to let go of some of my stuff. Day one today! At the end of the challenge I will be 465 items lighter – I’m excited about it!
I spent the day with this little cutie and her mama – I’m so blessed!
I decided to add another challenge into my life on an alternate website. A 30 day purge challenge. Clear the clutter challenge. Learn to let go challenge….
So I spent a good chunk of the evening trying to set up the website – without success. I’m hoping I’ll have better luck now that I’ve installed updates on my computer – what that has to do with anything I’m not sure but fingers crossed.
While my computer was updating I found a book page that had a watermark doodle through the center. I got out a micron pen, did some tracing and added a couple of basic lotus flowers on the top and bottom.
Beautiful sunshiney day in the Okanagan today.
Perfect for walking and picture taking.
The view of Okanagan lake was fantastic. 🙌🌞
I was pulling pictures from a discarded book I got from work and this one called for a mandala!
A good excuse for a relaxing Friday evening using my new Micron pens.
They draw so smoothly and needed no pressure at all. 😊
Had an idea to make some hidden paperclips with wire words on them so that’s my next project.
The wire I used is welding wire; it’s very hard and holds its shape really well – it will break if you bend it too much though.
The coffee dyed papers didn’t need to go in the oven which was a nice surprise.
Some of the edges are really saturated with coffee, seem a little sticky and have a really strong coffee smell. There are some really pretty ones though.
Hmmm, since I have some dyed papers I’ll have to assemble a junk journal!
I did a fruit tea dye yesterday, leaving the papers in the pan over night then putting them on drying racks through the day. I could tell they weren’t going to be that vibrant – a really pale greyish mauve.
I put them in the oven tonight – at 250 degrees and checked on them every 20 min or so. They dried up really nicely, I could pull a couple of the top papers off every time I checked.
I was a little disappointed in the colors so I decided to try an instant coffee dye.
I may have gone overboard on the coffee – I didn’t measure just poured a few spoonfuls (probably more than 3 heaping!) into a cup and went for it.
I wonder how much caffeine you can absorb through your hands – we’ll see if I can sleep tonight!
The papers were left in the coffee for a couple of hours, when I checked they were VERY dark. I drained the coffee off and rinsed them a bit.
I tried to rush it and put them in the oven before letting them drain over night – it didn’t work out very well.
They were in for about 15 minutes, when I checked the pages were getting sticky and the edges were looking burnt. There is a lovely pattern on the bottom sheet though!
They are going to air dry until tomorrow night then I’ll try them in the oven again. Fingers crossed they aren’t too saturated!