GETTING READY for 52 Weeks of Gratitude (Starts Sunday!): part 4 Art Journaling!

Hello friends!
I cannot WAIT for Sunday where we will BEGIN our 2013 Sunday Scripture Challenge of 52 WEEKS OF GRATITUDE!!  If you haven't heard of this until now, please go to our first post and we have linked ALL of the GETTING READY parts 1-4 there:  CLICK HERE   If you are joining us in any capacity (weekly, monthly, or as you can) please copy and paste this to your blog or your facebook page to let others know what we are doing so they, too, can join in the fun:

Ok, today I have a really fun post to share with you!  This is my Art Journaling post.  Art Journaling is journaling (where you write your thoughts, what you are thankful for in our case, etc.) but some or all of that message can be done with art.  Any art.  Lots of art.  Just a little art.  And art is truly in the eye of the beholder, so do what YOU LOVE.  Do you love to draw? Then draw.  Color? Then color.  Play with paint or airbrushing Copic markers or collage?  Then incorporate that.  Seriously, this is for YOU.  

I love all of the things I mentioned above plus I do miniature clay sculptures and dabble in lots of mediums, so I am going to change it up as the mood strikes!  You can too! And remember, you never have to fill a page with color.  A simple corner with color and your Bible verse can be STRIKING in its beauty.  What do you have time for?  What is your style?  Those should be your guides.

Ok, I used acrylic paint, distress inks, a tag that I embossed and one I didn't, and a sturdy piece of cardstock for this one and of course, my sample Bible verse.  I am keeping all my Gratitude Artwork in a Simple Stories binder (you can do whatever you like; this is just my personal choice):

Here is a peek into my Simple Stories Binder (from now on referred to as my Grateful Binder).  So I wanted a piece of mixed media paper to fit inside a page protector AND be sturdy enough to handle all my mixed media.  If you are doing an ART JOURNAL, you may want to get the Mixed Media bound books you can find at your local art/craft stores (Joann, Michaels, Art&Education, etc all have them).  One note about the size you choose:  start small.  Unless you are sure you want an 8x10 or larger, remember it's gonna require more material (usually) and more forethought to complete a large page than a small one.  I love to work in the 8x8 size, but that is my preference (and I love little bitty journals, too).

I started my page off by adding some acrylic paint with a dry brush (love the lines the brush bristles make!):

 I usually use a permanent ink (like StazOn) when I know I will be wetting the paper after stamping:

 I used the stitching stamp from BIND AND STITCH and the swirls from JOURNAL SHAPES

 Above you can see the blue paint and some white paint I added to give it a little more dimension

 I use the 12x12 Scrapbook papers you can get that are designed (see above) and cut them into fourths to use as masks for my color mists.  I used the Glimmer Mist over this 2 times on my page and then dried it with my hair drier. 

 Next I used my distress inks to ink around my stamped Bible verse and the page.

 I took a kraft tag and embossed it and distressed it with the distress inks (love this look!)

 A couple of options for writing out what you are thankful for.  You can make 2 art journaling pages as shown above and then a black Sharpie marker to write out on one page your grateful items in a list or fill up the page in a journal fashion OR if you want to do the journaling privately, you can attach a smaller tag to the back using twine (like I did above). You could attach a tag for each day or just the one for small private notes.

 I added a little bling, my matted bible verse on the tag, and used a metal clothes pin to 'attach' the tag to the page (so I can take it off with ease to turn it over and write on my journaling tag).  OR

You can put the page into the page protector THEN attach the tag to the outside of the page protectore with the metal clothespin at the top of the page.  This would make your book a lot more interactive and dimensional.

I'll be back tomorrow with a CANVAS idea you may want to do if you love to make canvases and want to have 52 complete with Bible Verses at the end of the year!

Be sure to leave us a comment if you plan to join us and let us know what art form (scrapbook, card, art journal, pen and paper, etc) you plan to use!

Thanks so much for joining us AND for sharing our 52 weeks of Gratitude with your friends!
Blessings,
Antoinette

www.inspiredstamps.com

We ship MOST orders the same day they are placed!  We still have a handful of January's Grateful Bible Verses left, if you are hoping to get those, please order soon!  Those are listed in the first post.