Wanderlust 2026 - weeks seven to thirteen - roots and wings

As promised, here are the other pages of my Art Journal course which I particularly enjoyed, from the first theme of Roots and Wings.  Above is a nameless photograph of a member of my Dad's side of the family.  We have a lovely Victorian album but absolutely no idea who any of these people were, which is really sad.  The photos were taken in studios in Scotland.  We had to look into our ancestry and choose some art work to turn into stamps.  I chose ancient Celtic symbols carved into rocks.  We also incorporated some weaving which was fiddly, but the end result is very pleasing.  

Using vibrant watercolour inks was the next media to use to create a sort of map of challenges and happy things in our practice. 

This week was all about creating a Polish style of hanging decoration.  As I am keeping everything in my journal, I  translated this to a 'washing line' style of decoration.

Creating our own inks was the next challenge and I used walnut ink and tea for the backgrounds and stamping, with the bright yellow turmeric ink for highlights.

Probably my favourite week was the one by Alison Bomber who I follow on Youtube.  We used a multitude of media for this triptych and I used crackle paste for the first time.  It was very satisfying (once I had got the lid off - and Chris had to help me with that!)  I added pressed leaves and flowers from the garden, which I had collected last year.

Finally, this week was a gentle journey into collage and thinking about a safe and happy place.  

So, on to the next theme which is Paper Alchemy (should be right up my street!)

Experimenting and making

I have been making some things this week and experimenting too.  Above are some polymer clay brush rests, made from scraps.   

Yes, I know they look a bit like multi-coloured slugs, but they will do the job of stopping my paintbrushes rolling around.  I made some others a while ago, (see the blog post here) but they weren't as useful as I had thought because they require more space for the brushes to lie flat across them.

Other experiments involved using shrink plastic for the first time.  I had initially wanted to make some colour swatch earrings, but these ended up a bit too big for that.  However, they would make good keyrings or bag charms.  More experimenting needed I think.

Finally, here is a paper napkin or serviette made into a textured net.  I had my sewing machine out and after watching this video on Youtube ('Distressing paper to make fabric' on Kari's Mixed Media Art), I thought I would have a go.  I shall probably use it to add texture to an art journal page or a tag.
 

Artful August Challenge...in January! Week One

I am busy with a new daily journal challenge called Artful August.   I found this through a flip through on Youtube, but it is hosted on Instagram, I think.   I missed this in August as I don't 'do' Instagram, but when I came across it on Rachel Greig's Youtube I decided I would do it during January, when it seems a long month and the weather is a bit grey.  There are daily prompts and it is then up to you what you choose to do.  I made a little journal from packaging cardboard and binder rings.  I have stuck to my mixed media, and incorporating some things from my Wanderlust courses. Above is 'Garden'.

The next prompt was 'Shimmer'.  This page does shimmer as I used pearl paint and a bit of glitter on the main collage image, but the camera hasn't picked that up.

'Number' came next and I enjoyed the inks, texture paste, stamping and stencilling I used.

'Soft' had me scratching my head a bit but then I used some of my handmade felt and various trims, with a soft colour scheme too.

'Envelope' was fairly straightforward...

...and I added a little card inside...

...with a fabulous Jane Austen quote on the back.

This prompt was 'Linear' and I used a washi tape technique I had learnt in Care December.

'Bright' meant I could revisit another Wanderlust lesson (one of my favourites) and use stamping and stencilling with zingy colours.

I'll post the next seven shortly.
 

Crafting and Baking

I have been making a card for my sister's birthday and went full on mixed media for it - hope she liked it! It has a die cut leaf which I coloured with acrylic ink and then clear embossed, so it looks as though it is wet.  The background is a mixture of book pages and collage papers and the envelope has leaf stamps on it.

I have been inspired by some Youtubers - I think this one was Ceri Griffiths.  I made three postcard sized collages using lots of bits and pieces of papers and stamps and the odd digikit thrown in..

The inspiration for these was Crafty by Toni here - inking and then stamping onto self adhesive labels.  I used Tim Holtz stamps 'Field Notes' here.

This stamp set was another Tim Holtz set called 'Eccentric'.  I really enjoyed this and now have some lovely bits and pieces for art journals or cards.

I tried a recipe for Devon Apple Cake which was on Corners of my Mind blog here  It was really easy to make, smelled beautifully of cinnamon and mixed spice and tasted even better!  It is great as a pudding with custard, or with cream or yogurt or just on its own.  As it has apple in it, it won't keep for that long, but that wasn't a problem in our house!

Wanderlust 2021 - Weeks nine to twelve - Serendipity

Here are the pages I made for weeks nine to twelve of the Wanderlust mixed media art journaling course.  'Serendipity' was the theme - things coming together just at the right time.  It was also about not over-thinking and just going with the flow.  The focus of the page above was a new flower stencil which had just arrived.

Week ten was very enjoyable but went through a few ugly stages before it was finished.  Enjoying the process could be a theme of this whole course and the words were going round in my head as this page came together, so they needed to be my focus. 

The background for week eleven was made using layers of gesso and paint and then swirling them together with the end of a paintbrush. (I may have got a bit carried away with this technique!)

We made pockets and journal cards and were asked to write down things that had come together for us. My journal cards included things I enjoy - birdsong, chocolate, the scent of winter flowering honeysuckle, the feel of silk and velvet etc. and my art and craft journey - things had come together to enable me to undertake a Foundation year course in Art and Design - definitely one of the best things I have ever done.  

Week twelve was about creating pieces which could then be used in art work - collage focal points, bleeding tissue paper sheets etc.  This page has two collage focal points and the colour scheme was dictated by one of the papers I used on the collage piece.  

The theme for the next four weeks is Silhouettes.

Over the weeks, the journal I used (which is in my photos above), although lovely, is breaking at the spine binding because each page has doubled in thickness (at least) with the addition of all the layers.  While it is a great journal, it is not quite up to this job.  So, I have ordered a load of watercolour card and am going to make a simple journal with binder rings. I like the size of the double spread pages above, so will stick with that.  The new journal will also have the benefit of being able to take the pages out as I am working on them. It's a shame that the whole course won't be together in one journal, but I think the new journal will be better for all the mixed media materials which will be thrown at it!

Wanderlust 2021 - weeks five to eight - Ephemera

Week five was the start of the Ephemera topic, which I was really looking forward to.  I used an old photograph of my Granny with her sisters as the focal point and really enjoyed creating the background.  I asked Chris to give me a colour (I would normally go for blues and greens or other cold colours) and he chose red (a bit of pink and orange also made an appearance).  

Week six was split into several different ideas.  One was to use collage as the focus.  I decided to do this in my cardboard art journal.  I love the drippy paint effect and the way you can see the collage pieces.

I then did the 'collage as texture' and stuck my collage elements in place.  I liked this as it was, so took a photo of it as by the time I finished, you wouldn't be able to see it.

Here's the finished page.  You can see some bits of the collage if you look closely, but it is pretty much hidden.

Week seven was focusing on photos and making ephemera your own by adding scribbles and marks to it.  I did this on a piece of music paper and then scanned it in to the computer and printed it out, so that I can keep the original.    I did  this with some garden entry tickets I had kept and one featured on this spread. The colour scheme would be taken from the ephemera used. The photos again feature my granny, but in the right hand photo, she is with her children - my Mum is on the right of the photo.

Week eight was a bit more of a challenge. It was about focusing on your ideas and plans and then making a pile of ephemera including some material that had been stitched into.  Most of the ephemera was stuck down under another piece so that the maker was the only person who knew exactly what was in the pile. With my current 'circles' obsession, they appeared all over these pages.  I used an acrylic paint pen to draw the 'stitched' details, but there is real stitching on the material on the left hand page.

I am still loving the course, enjoying some weeks more than others, but giving everything a go!  It is giving me a lot to think about.

Exploring Mixed Media - Small Abstract Landscapes

Following on from my inspiration book, the second workshop by Laly Mille was about using the inspiration book and creating four small abstract landscape collages.  We were shown the process step by step and I took lots of notes so that I could remember what to do!  I cut the watercolour paper and backed it on cardboard to make the pieces easier to work with and then stalled.  

However, I decided one afternoon that I needed to get on with them.  I drew in the horizon line with a watersoluble black crayon and then smudged it with some matt medium. I began by making four bundles of collage pieces - the same one for each picture.  These were then stuck down on the four pieces and I was off!  I tried to make different shapes with the pieces. Once the collage pieces were in place, I had a cup of tea and a break. 

The collage pieces were a mix of paper scraps, tissue paper, printed papers and  gel press prints.  Once theses were dry, I could begin adding colour and texture.  I used texture paste, acrylic paint, white gesso and watercolour crayons.  

The finished pieces are more blue than the teal I had envisaged, but I used my inspiration pages to find contrasting colours and darker colours and I like the colour mixes.  I think I like the one on the bottom right best as it reminds me of standing stones, although they could also represent trees!  I haven't done anything like this before and I really enjoyed the whole process, once I actually got going. 

The third workshop was creating a mixed media canvas.  I haven't done this yet - I am thinking about it a lot though...

Exploring Mixed Media - Inspiration

I recently took part in an online mixed media art workshop with Laly Mille.  I really like her mixed media work and this was an opportunity not to be missed.  It was a free course to celebrate her ten years as a mixed media artist. 

 The first thing we needed to do was to create inspiration pages in a book - either a sketchbook or journal.  The pages could be filled with images from magazines, colour, our own pieces of art work, images that we liked and which appealed to us in some way.  My pages came together really quickly and I was surprised at the amount of images I found with a similar theme - in this case, colour.  I raided my scraps box and also my gel print stash.  

I knew there were certain colours I was drawn to, but hadn't realised how many things I had which were these colours, collected without thinking about this. Above is the teal/blue page . These colours have been a favourite of mine for many years.

The next page was all about the rich jewel colours - pinks and purples.  Again, another favourite but also a surprise at just how many images and pieces of gel prints and papers that I had already got in these colours.

The third page was one I was more concerned about - neutrals.  I am not really a 'beige' person and have no clothes in these tones.  However, again I was surprised to find lots of images with these colours, beige, grey, cream and some light purple, which appealed to me and which I had kept, thinking they would come in handy.  The owl feather was sent to Chris from someone in America, as part of sendsomething.net.

So far, just three double pages, but they were so enjoyable to put together.  

The next part of the workshop moved on to using the inspiration pages and finding small bundles of collage to add to four small pieces of art work.  More to follow... 

Star and Hare mixed media picture

I have been working through the bonus videos from Wanderlust 2021 and one was a workshop with Laly Mille called True North Star.  I watched the videos and then created my own version of the image.  I used a piece of cardboard packing for the base and then used collage, patterned papers, texture paste, embossed paper, tissue paper, die cuts, acrylic paint, watercolour pencils, stamps, glitter and words.  I learnt that by mixing acrylic paint with matt medium, you can create glazes of paint and then layer them up.  This is a technique I shall be using again.  For my text, I thought of 'Vincent' by Don Maclean, (which is one of my favourite songs, with such beautiful words), wrote it on tissue paper and applied it backwards onto the top hill.  The other words are from a little French Christmas song which came back into my memory from a previous job as a teaching assistant.  It just seemed to fit well.

I added my own touches, such as this little hare.

My star was a small glittery one, set within a swirling star die cut.

Above is the piece by Lally Mille which she created in the workshop. I did try not to look at it again until I had finished my piece.  Hers has a more dreamlike quality I think, where as mine is much more solid-looking.

Here's another look at mine.

I really enjoyed creating this piece and it is something quite different for me.

A Creative 2021 - Wanderlust 2021

 I was in need of a creative project for 2021 and I have found one that looks perfect for me.  I am very excited to say that I have signed up to 'Wanderlust 2021'.

"What is this?", I hear you ask.  Well, it is a year long online course about art journaling using mixed media.  It is made up of weekly lessons by art practitioners and each lesson will bring something different.  I already follow several of the teachers on their blogs or on Youtube, so I know a little bit of what to expect. 

As I have signed up early, I also have access to bonus videos and handouts and downloads, which I have been working my way through.  The cost for the year is $99, until 9th September, which worked out to £72.00 and I think this is very good value.  After 9th September, the price goes up to $175.00, but people can still join until 31st December 2020.  I am hoping that the course will help me to develop my own style and 'voice' as well as show me lots of mixed media ideas and techniques.

I will also be given bonus videos on 'Braving the Blank Page' which will appear on 14th September, again, because I signed up in good time.   The other good thing is that I have pretty much all the supplies suggested and I have just bought a new and rather nice art journal to work in.  I also have a journal for notes, sketches and other bits and pieces - more of a working document.

Here is a link to the website, in case you are interested/curious - Wanderlust 2021.  I have enjoyed the videos so far and am working on a mixed media piece with a star theme which I will share when it is finished.

I am hoping that 2021 will be my most creative year yet and I am looking forward to getting started in January.