My Story, I Will Journal (Part II) by Lynne Moncrieff

Sharing the second half of the Journal made as a sample for That’s Crafty’s recent HOCHANDA appearance.

This journal was the first time I had completed a journal. Even if I had the luxury of time, I am not sure I would have had the confidence to have actually journaled but it is something I am going to push myself to do. 

It is odd that this is seen as art journaling when essentially all those pages could have canvas as a substrate – art journaling, without journaling, is a strange concept for me. I’d really be interested in people’s thoughts on this.

Supplies

That’s Crafty! Clear Stamps Lynne’s Affirmations Sets 1 and 2

That’s Crafty! Surfaces 6”x 6” White/Greyboard Journal (with tabs)

That’s Crafty! Surfaces Acrylic Shapes

That’s Crafty! Word Series Stencils – Journal and Time

That’s Crafty! Dinky Stencils – Bubble Background, Star Shower

Gesso – White, Black

PaperArtsy Infusions

Grunge Paste

Memento Tuxedo Black

Mister Bottle

Foam Brush

Glue Stick

Gel Medium

Acrylic Stamping Block

Sharpie Black Paint Pen and White Paint Pen

Black Watersoluble Pencil

Extras:- Found papers/re-cycled materials, re-cycled sari silk ribbon, vintage book

As explain in my post from two weeks ago…..

Preparation of white/greyboard pages

Apply Gesso, varying the application to provide texture. With a glue stick, adhere torn pieces of book page, work randomly yet at the same time, consider balance. Also adhere other found papers and Grunge Paste. Apply a thin layer of Gesso, focusing on the book page areas

Apply Infusions, also staining calico, sari silk ribbon, corrugated cardboard, anything that catches your eye! Leave all to dry. 

Spread out all the pages, deciding which Affirmations to use on which pages, whether the colours and effects of the Infusions suited an Affirmation relating to flying/soaring, the stars or something more grounded.

Notes

Working with two pages side by side, I would adhere torn mop-up papers and other stained papers so it appears as though it is only one 6”x12” page I am working on. When the double page spread was completed, I cut down the centre. This provided a better flow to the pages.

All Affirmations were stamped onto Gesso’d book pages. For some, I doodled a box around the word tiles to give definition. 

All stamping and stencilling was carried out after adhering the papers to the pages.

Cover

After preparing with Gesso and Infusions, I had a happy accident. I laid the cover down onto my work surface, re-cycled brown paper packing, forgetting that the Gesso had not dried. When I prised it away, the brown paper was sticking to the cover – I decided to roll with it!

An acrylic shape layered over two words stamped from different Affirmations (Set 1).

Below are some variations to the pages.

Pages Seven and Eight – Don’t Doubt The Strength Of My Delicate Wings

Stamp butterfly wings onto Infusions stained book page, layered with various found/re-cycled papers with torn notebook edge (Time Stencil) stencilled with black Gesso.

Pages Nine and Ten – Reach For The Stars And Light Up Your Life

Adhere various torn papers on a slight diagonal, reaching up to the top right corner. Stamp the stars and apply white paint pen to form a scattering of small dots.

Pages Eleven and Twelve – Dare To Dream, To Dream Like No Other

I extended this Affirmation to help with the composition of this spread. To left side tab, stamp the word Dream, doodling some circles beneath the word.

Assembling

The journal is supplied with book rings but I used Infusions stained sari ribbon to bind the journal.

Wishes,

Lynne