FEBRUARY CALENDAR PAGE

Running a little behind...I have so much to do and keep adding more to my plate. My goal for today is to catch up with my calendar journal by finishing the January journal entries so that I can move on to February.  I'm almost there!!!  At least I have the February page completed and ready for the journaling to be added.

This is how I made the February page:

I used Dylusions sprays for the background and date squares and Tombow markers for the basket of hearts and the background behind the heart basket.  I was pleasantly surprised how the yellow Tombow marker matched the yellow color of the Dylusions and how well they blended together.

The basket of flowers is a on a fold-out page.  When closed, you can see the quote that was part of the January page.  I planned the February page first so that the shape or cut-out would follow the shape of the hearts....then I made the quote page fit the shape.

The basket is made by using a Zentangle pattern.  It looks hard but is easy peasy. A little time consuming but easy just the same!  Here is how you do it:

Next up...MARCH!  Hmmmm....I'm thinking March flowers!  March is the month to plant flowers and vegetables in Florida.  Maybe I will fill the page with lots of flower doodles.

Until next time!
Hugs!!!!
Ginny

JANUARY CALENDAR 2013 PAGE

OK...Now I am ready to start the pages for the months of the calendar.  

Where do I begin?  I love the look of all the snow scenes that everyone is 

doing but that really doesn't fit since I live in FLORIDA!!!

 So I think that I will start with the color....I am still thinking snow

 so I will make it blue with a splash of green.  

That seems like a good mix of the two!  

Blue for snow and green for the lush tropical Florida.

I was somewhat afraid to use the inky sprays inside my handmade journal because I could just imagine them bleeding through the spine and onto other pages.  That would be a disaster!  Or maybe not...after you journal for a while you become pretty good at fixing your messes! Anyway, what I am worried for?  They make gesso don't they and that is a great coverup for wayward inks.  Anyway the thought of wayward ink stuck in my mind so I decided to play it safe and use the Faber Castell Gelatos!

I usually gesso the pages before I use the Gelatos because they sometimes grab the paper and are difficult to smooth out.  But being in a hurry...I am already three days late to this party and need to get my pages finished...I jump right in without first priming my page.   See the scribble on the page below?  That's where the crayon grabbed the paper but not to worry...It will be covered by the squares for the days of the month.

I wanted a contrasting border around the page to write my New Years Resolutions but since I had a foldout page that would be seen when you opened to the February calendar, the color needed to coordinate with February's page.  In addition, I envisioned a bouquet of heart shaped flowers for February and for the cut-out shape of the fold-out to follow the shape of the heart flowers.  I can see now that I need to give thought to more than one calendar month when there is a foldout involved. The shape and colors for both sides of the fold-out must be planned and coordinated together!

Anyway, I chose purple for the color of the border because it would transition nicely into the reds and purples that I plan for February.

For the calendar's finishing touches, I used Dylusions sprays for the date squares, Derwent Inktense pencils for the border on the fold-out page and various markers to finish off the lettering and journaling in the date squares.

The calendar project is a great way to journal everyday if you work and only have a few minutes in your day to be creative.  Once the page for the month is completed the journal entries can be done in the evening just before you retire for bed or if it works better for you...at the breakfast table the next morning.

Try it!  Your Calendar doesn't need to be anything elaborate.  It can be a store bought journal, an altered book, a school composition book or even an old calendar torn apart and repurposed with your own artistic flair added.  Be creative...use your imagination and make a calendar that works for you...one that will have MEANING in years to come!

Next up...Calendar page for February!!!

Hugs!
Ginny

MAKING AN ART JOURNAL CALENDAR FOR 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

I hope that you and your family had a fantastic Holiday Season and a great New Year's celebration!

We are three days into the new year and it is now time to get busy working on those New Year's resolutions that we made with much thought and trepidation.  I hope that one of your resolutions was to make more ART!!!  I know that was one of mine.  Fact is....I signed up to do the Facebook "Art Journaling Calendar Challenge 2013" by Kate Crane.

Kate is a published artist best known for creating the most wonderful calendar pages using artistic journaling techniques.  The Facebook group that she created is a great place for other artists to share their work, techniques and questions.  If you have never joined a  FB group of other artists, you will find that artists are the most supportive, generous and creative people on this earth!  It is a great place to make art friends and to become part of an artistic community....one that shares your art interests whatever you medium of choice may be.

Before I get started on how I am making my Art Journaling Calendar I would like to say that my method is a bit elaborate compared to what everyone else is doing. You don't have to follow my example...there are no set rules!  It is completely up to you how elaborate or simple you make it.  You can make your calendar by using a store bought journal, an altered book or from scratch using watercolor or bristol paper.  If you feel comfortable drawing and holding a paint brush, you can be very artistic and draw or paint illustrations on your pages. Maybe your artistic interests lie more toward rubber stamping or even collages using ephemera or magazine clippings.  This journal is simply a place where YOU can artistically record the events of your day on a calendar page painted, drawn, stamped or collaged by you!  It's your artistic expression so make it using a style or medium that works best for you.

SO...are we ready to get started making an Art Journal Calendar from scratch?

Lately, I have been into making my own journals by cutting watercolor paper to size and binding it by stacking and stitching the pages together.  I started making my own journals because I could control the size and number of pages.  If you are doing a themed journal or in this case, a calendar which will have exactly 12 months of pages, you may want to make your own from scratch.

I got my inspiration for making this journal from the Teesha Moore You-Tube video on how to make a 16 page journal and from the beautiful painted journals by Valerie Sjodin.  Valerie also has a You-Tube video showing a journal with fold out pages.

These are the supplies that I used:

• 18" X 24" Strathmore watercolor paper, 140 lb.  If you use a different paper, make sure that it creases without tearing.
• Craft knife or scissors for cutting the paper to size.  You can also tear the paper if you have a long metal ruler and like that look.
• Bone folder or something to crease the paper.
• Black Pitt, Copic multiliner, or other permanent black ink pen in extra fine and medium.
• White pen, fine.  I love Uni-ball Signo but others will do.
• Ranger Distress ink pad in "Soot" and Ranger sponge or felt dauber to apply ink.
• Stencils and masks.
• Dylusions and Ranger Color Wash sprays.
• Awl punch or tiny spring hole punch.
• Waxed thread and needle.
• Ribbon to tie around the journal to hold it closed or velcro.

My journal is 10" X 13" and has seven pages including the cover.  The cover page is 10" X 13" with a 4" flap on one side that I cut into a decorative shape.  The inside pages are 9" X 13" with a 6 " fold out on one side.

Cut one cover page and using a bone folder crease the center fold and flap.  Cut six inside pages and use a bone folder to crease the center fold and a flap on one side.

Now, gather all your paints and stencils because it it time to decorate the cover.  I like to decorate the cover before the journal is assembled because it lays nice and flat for painting with spray inks.

I decided that I wanted to use the silhouette of a girl on the front and birds on the back but I first had to make a mask for the girl figure.  Rummaging through my collection of magazine cut outs, I found a girl that was just the right size and pose. To make the mask I used mylar sheeting and traced the outline of the girl and carefully cut it out so I would create both a mask and a stencil.  For this process, I used both.  If you don't have mylar, you could also use card stock and use graphite paper to transfer the shape.

Before I used my spray paints and stencils to make a pattern, I wanted to add ephemera and a wash of color to the background.   Leave the paper white if you want white paper showing through your pattern.  This wasn't my desire so I painted the whole background with a neutral color, yellow and a very light coat of gesso.  I later covered the paper with so much color that the ephemera didn't show through.  So much for that process.  lol!  This is not the first time this happened. Will I ever learn?

To paint the girl on the front cover, I first positioned the stencil of the girl on the cover sheet and using various stencils and colors of Dylusions and Color Wash sprays, I painted a design over the girl figure.  Next, I placed the mask over the girl figure and did the same for the background.  A word about working with spray mediums...they tend to be very wet and dense in areas...blot with a paper towel. This will rid the painting of the sprayed look.  Don't forget to use that beautiful paint left on the stencils by blotting it on the back cover or a separate piece of paper for use later.  I try not to waste any paint!

I did the same for the back cover using the bird masks.  To make a black shadow around the girl and birds, I used the Ranger black soot ink and a sponge dauber...protecting the girl and bird images by covering them with the masks.  I pounced the ink away from the figures and lightened it the further it got away.

Now it is time to embellish the stenciled painting.  I always say that paintings go through an "ugly stage" and need to be saved or spruced up with doodling or mark making.  So gather up your pens and maybe a little gesso and lets start making marks!

I like to use both black and white pens because it gives so much more dimension! Your marks don't have to be elaborate...just find the shapes in the stencils and embellish them with circles, dots, hatch marks, or write works following a line.

One technique that I learned from one of Joanne Sharpe's classes is that if you paint over the water reactive inks or paints, the gesso will bleed through and be tinted the color of the paint underneath.  This is the process that I used for the banner with the names of the months.  I first painted the banner with a very thin coat of gesso and then after it was thoroughly dry, I did the lettering.

I kept the flap for the cover simple and painted it with acrylic paint because I thought that it would take the wear better than water reactive paints.

NOW!  Let's assemble this baby!!!

First...decide how you want the fold-outs for the pages to work.  Do you want the fold-out on the right or left or a combination of the two.  If you want a combination, which months do you want a fold-out and which ones do you not want a fold-out?  For my journal, it was important for me to have a fold-out for February, March, May, July, October and December.  This doesn't mean that the other pages won't have a  flap to decorate...it just means that they will not have a flap folding inward that you can use for the that month's theme.  Another words, you don't want the flap from the 4th of July folding on top of the month of August. Or maybe you do?  lol!!  Anyway. decide how you want the pages to stack and line them up!

Because my journal is so large, I punched 7 holes through the spine.  I first made a template so I would know where to punch the holes.  You can either use an awl and punch through all 7 pages at one time or you can do as I did and punch each hole separately.

Now that the holes are punch, you are ready to stitch this baby up!!  You can use waxed bookbinding thread or make you own like I did.  I found that DMC "5" 100% cotton, 25 ml embroidery thread works quite well and it comes in colors!  I first wax it with beeswax for added strength.  (I find this at JoAnn's.)

Measure a generous portion of thread that equals a minimum three times the length of the journal.  Thread a large eyed needle and start at the top outside hole and go to the inside, then down to the next hole and then to the outside.  (Make sure that you leave a long enough tail on the outside for knotting or even stringing beads later.)  Keep going in and out down to the bottom hole and then in and out back up to the top.  When you reach the top, do not go back into the inside...just tie it with the other outside thread.  I am planning to string some beads on the tail after the journal is finished and somehow incorporate the date so when it is sitting on a shelf, the date will be visible.  Anyone know of any beads with numbers?

Additionally, if you do not want a thread or knot on the outside of the journal, some individuals start on the inside middle hole, go out and in to the bottom, in and out back up to the top, in and out back down to the center and then tie a knot on the inside middle of the journal.  Cut the thread short.

Taa Daaa!!  (Drum roll please!)  We're done!

Coming up next...making the pages for the months!

Until next time!
Hugs,
Ginny