Art Journal Every Day: Friday Update!

Every field of arts and crafts has their “rock stars”—the folks that newbies look upon with awe as masters of their trade, and that seasoned veterans recognize and admire as ‘one of their own.’ To me, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer is a scrapbooking/art journaling rock star.

I wish I remember how I first came upon her web site; it was only a few months ago, as I was starting my own blog and art journal at the beginning of this year. I now visit Julie’s site daily for a dose of beautiful art and inspiration.

Today, I’m excited to be a part of her amazing web site, as she is presenting weekly profiles of some of the people who are signed on to her Art Journal Every Day challenge. I hope you will hop on over to her blog to read today’s post!

Now for an update of some of my most recent art journaling!

One of my favorite spreads commemorates my recent weekend vacation in Cape May, New Jersey, with my family.  I glued down a map of the town, and gessoed over the top of it.  Then I used a few shades of blue watercolor over that.

Things started out a little rough, as you may notice that I used the wave stencil at the bottom of the page UPSIDE DOWN from the direction it is meant to be used. I actually “owned” that mistake pretty quickly, and liked the effect of the wave stenciling anyway. And, I reasoned, my “error” makes my page enjoyable from multiple directions!

I used pictures from brochures, as well as business cards I picked up in restaurants where we ate.

And, best of all, I used adhesive photos using my new Pogo printer! I love their small 2x3 size—just the right size to make the page really personal, without turning it into a scrapbooking spread, where the photos would dominate.

Another issue arose when I drew lines around my photos in thick marker, and wrote some journaling with the same thick pen. I couldn’t stand how it looked, and the journaling seemed superficial and boring. So, I took the word of all those journaling experts I keep reading, and I painted right over the parts I didn’t like! Then I had a clean slate to re-draw my lines and re-write my journaling with an ultra-thin black pen, which is very much my preference. Catastrophe averted!

Another spread I completed reflects my thoughts on indulging in a little TOO much introspection:

My long-necked girl (learned from Violette’s Journal Bliss) didn’t come out quite as attractively as I might have hoped, but I like the bold lines, dots, and lettering on the rest of the spread. You have to make confident lines if you’re going to use Sharpies on gesso!

My Mother’s Day spread used my stitched butterflies, which I posted about earlier when I used them on a card from my mother.

On the opposite side, I used collage, stamping, and journaling to tell about my special day.

Of course, I had to have at least one page with some tangles.

The difference here is that I used a chisel-tip Sharpie instead of my usual ultra-fine tip…a different experience altogether, and kind of fun!

Thank you for checking out some of my art journaling progress! If you would like to see other journalers who are participating in Julie’s Art Journal Every Day challenge this month, you can find a list on her web site.  There are 101 participants for May!

Have a great weekend.  I’m off to Atlanta to meet my three-month-old twin nephews, while my husband stays home to watch the girls. I expect we’ll all be a little worn out by the time Sunday evening rolls around!