Upcycled Magazine Art Journals and Stencils

As you may already know, I can't stand tossing things that I know can be turned into something beautiful!  For example, every year I splurge on a fancy home decor magazine from England called The World of Interiors and I have stacks of them going way back.  Because this magazine is printed on thick, yummy paper, in college I would use the old ones for smash books.  Now, I cut them in half and make art journals with them.  So much better than tossing them, right?  You can use Citri-Solve to dissolve the ink on each page OR you can just add some white Americana Acrylic over each page to create a base in which to paint.  Up to you!  Either way, this is an economical way to have tons of art journals for your creative adventures.  Use what you have, my sweet friends, and always

Make Your Mark!

Get the magazines cut in half at Staples with their guillotine machine!

I used a 5" x 7" Gel Press to create my colorful pages!

Make your own stencils with plastic salad lids and a Creative Versa Tool from Walnut Hollow

Watch how I made mine here!

And so the day begins!

Happy journaling!

Art Journaling

Last week I got to teach an Art Journaling class at Craftcation in Ventura!  What an absolute blast I had, too.  The first thing I emphasized when I began the class is that there are no rules in art journaling.  None at all!  I mean it, too.  What I'm sharing here today are the techniques I use to create my pages.  Of course I use DecoArt paint because I love it and the colors are just amazing, as you can see.  So with that, cut a fancy magazine in half or grab an empty notebook and start creating your art journal.  I guarantee you'll be more healthy for it!  Remember to use every color in the box and always Make Your Mark! 

 A few of my pages

 Stenciling, clip art, rubber stamps...Oh my!

Watch how I art journal here!

STUFF I USED

Gel Press and brayer

Americana Premium Tube Acrylics

Americana Premium black and white gesso

Americana Matte Medium

Americana Neons in Sizzling Pink

Magazine Art Journals

Art Foamies stamps

DecoArt Stencils

Book pages, masking tape, plastic cups & clip art

HERE'S HOW

1. Bray orange and hot pink on your Gel Press

2.  Press an art journal page on the Gel Press to transfer the color

3.  Bray green and teal on the Gel Press

4. & 5. Create circles with the mouth of the plastic cup and transfer to a book page

6.  Apply strips of masking tape to the plastic Gel Press protector

7. & 8.  Load the Gel Press with hot pink and yellow, create squiggles with a comb and press on the masking tape to create washi tape

9.  Press more yellow and teal on another book page

PART 2

10.  Stamp the journal pages with Art Foamies using white and black paint

11.  & 12.  Rip and adhere the printed book pages to the journal pages

13.  Cut and adhere clip art to the journal pages

14.  Dilute paint colors to add a color wash to the clip art

15.  Add some of your printed washi tape

16.  Stencil some large flowers using the white gesso

17.  Color wash them with diluted paint

18. Stamp the pages again with the Art Foamies

DONE!

Don't like a page?  Keep adding to it until you do! 

Happy journaling!

Magazine Art Journals

For years I've been subscribing to a very expensive magazine called The World of Interiors.  I rarely splurge on things like this, but I'm addicted to this magazine and I have STACKS AND STACKS of them!  It has wonderful, inspiring photos and thick, gorgeous, glossy pages.  When it's time to declutter, I save my favorite issues and turn the rest into art journals.  For some reason because these art journals are recycled, I feel more at ease going CRAZY in them.  I fill them with tons of color, experiment with all kinds of paint techniques and have no guilt about "wasting" pages.  It's liberating!  I thought you might want to know how I make them so here it is.  Remember to find ways to re-use and recycle and to always MAKE YOUR MARK!

Just a few of my journals

Americana Acrylics are the best because they're matte and don't cause the pages to stick together!

Watch how to make them here! 

STUFF I USED

Art Foamies Stamps

Drill

Americana Acrylic Paints

Magazines with thick paper (National Geographic works, too)

Ribbon

Band saw

Citri Solv (Natural Cleaner)

 HERE'S HOW

1. & 2.  Mark and cut your magazine in half with a band saw

*I prefer a band saw to a jigsaw because it's easier to control the magazine

3. & 4.  Drill holes at the binding 1" from each edge and then thread and tie ribbon in a bow or knot

*This keeps the pages from falling out

5.  Coat each page in Citri Solv to dissolve the ink a little

6.  While wet, close the journal and let sit for about 20 minutes

*When you open the journal your pages will look mottled and marbled!

7. When the pages are dry I like to stamp them with Art Foamies using Americana Acrylic Paints

*Americana Acrylics dry matte so they're perfect for glossy pages (no stick)

8. & 9. I create ombre effects by blending paint on the Stamp Buddy and then carefully pressing my Art Foamies into the mixture

10. Next I embellish the pages any way I want

11. & 12.  Go crazy with different Art Foamies designs and paint away!

Don't forget to paint your covers, too.