Book and Paper Arts (page 9 of 15)

Tea and Coffee Stained Journal pages

How to Get Past Your Fear of the Blank Page in Your Journal Work

April 22, 2020 / by Kelly

I have heard from several people this week, in different degrees of anxiety, say that they want to – they need to – start a diary or journal but their fear of the blank page has only increased during these strange days. Well people, this will not do. In addition to being the record you need to be keeping of what is happening, keeping a journal is cheap therapy that can make a difference.

So. Here is a short video tutorial showing ways to knock this blank page fear thing out of the park. You are going to deliberately, on purposely get your pages dirty. Well, not dirty, but you are going to stain them with a variety of elements so that you will have a nice, grungy, comfortable, welcoming paper to begin with. Turn the idea of order out of chaos on its head and instead make chaos out of order, then play with it.

Drizzle tea. Dab coffee. Spritz ink. Splatter paint. Doodle, then scribble, then doodle some more. Make a grid and fill it with notes in the form of teensy images. But no excuses.

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How to Make a Simple Ink Wash

April 10, 2020 / by Kelly

Using an ink wash is a fun and easy way to add interest to your illustrated journal or art journal pages. It is especially handy way to start a page if you are not confident in your drawing as it is by its nature a messy look. (“See? I meant it to look like that.”)

In this short video, you can see how the technique can be done with pen and ink as well as other water soluble materials. Let me know if you have any [read more]

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Making Illustrated Journal Pages While Stuck Inside

April 10, 2020 / by Kelly

There is something special about the ability of an illustrated journal to capture the details of our days and these are strange days indeed that need recording. If you make notes in your visual diary now, you will have an account of what this time was like: isolating or working on the front lines; keeping your kids home or keeping connected virtually while you are on your own; what you are watching or reading; privations, resourceful ideas, what you are doing to cope, how you have adjusted your day to day. Anything. Seriously – anything.

(Click on any photo for a larger view.)

My experience in teaching journal keeping tells me that some of you are already off and running while others are overwhelmed by the idea of beginning. If this is you here is what you need to know: you can and should do this, and here are some hacks to get you started, no excuses.

(To read more about what an illustrated journal is go to this earlier post.)

  • Use what materials you have on hand. This is not the time to go out buy art supplies so use printer paper or a school notebook, a pencil or [read more]
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Illustrated Journal Pages, France (Burgundy)

April 2, 2020 / by Kelly

These are some recent illustrated journal pages from last Fall’s trip through Burgundy in France. Santé ! (Click on photo for larger image.)

And below is a flipthrough with commentary about how I made some of the [read more]

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sketchbook

What is an Illustrated Journal?

April 2, 2020 / by Kelly

Recently, someone said they admired the way I kept up with my illustrated journal pages while on vacation. I stared at her slackjawed. No matter how many museums, road trips, hikes, or meal – I can’t not keep up my journal. If I don’t get it in my diary, it didn’t happen, without my pages my journey feels flat and black and white. So I thought maybe it was time to do a little preaching about keeping a visual diary.

(

An illustrated journal is somewhere between a diary and a scrapbook: drawings, ticket stubs, lists, maps, postcards, and photos combine with handwritten lists, notes, and stories and the end result is a whimsical field guide to your days. Unlike a photo album alone, it provides a strong sense of witness.

While it is invaluable for travel (the French call it un carnet de voyage) and capturing unfamiliar sites, food, wanderings, scenery, memories, it can do these things for your everyday life as well, your day-to-day journey: what you’re cooking, reading, pondering. A map of your neighbourhood with a story. Your shoes, a leaf, your cat, your coffee cup. (Click on photos for larger view.)

 

In the weeks to come I [read more]

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vintage postcards

Vintage Postcard Poisson d’Avril for Download

March 31, 2020 / by Kelly

As in other parts of the world, on April 1 French children love to play pranks. Instead of April’s Fools Day it is called Poisson d’Avril. The origins are murky but for whatever reason, there is a tradition of sticking a paper fish to someone’s back and when they finally find out, you shout “C’est le poisson d’Avril !” This post is not to dissect those wacky French fish jokesters but to offer you these vintage postcards from back in the day for you to download. To use, right click and copy then add to your favourite program such as Paint or Word. Print at will and use in your collage, art journal, or mixed media projects. Happy April and Joyeux Avril !

[read more]

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8 Free Things to Do to Keep It Together

March 21, 2020 / by Kelly

The funny thing is, some of us enjoy being isolated. I do. It gives me time to do what I already love doing: drawing, sketching, reading, making. But for others, it is a source of stress and anxiety, so without further ado, here is a list of fun, creative, and FREE things you can do to keep your mind from feeding on itself while we isolate ourselves.

 

Get in shape without the gym. Come out on the other side of this in better shape than when you went in.

Few things can help you now more than self-care, so when you are finished with your stress eating (and drinking!), consider doing something simple that will improve your mental well being as well as how you feel. The variety of free workout videos on YouTube is staggering. Yoga, pilates, zumba, HIIT, chair aerobics (for those who are disabled), light stretching, bootcamp – you name it. Scared to begin? Search for work outs of five or ten minutes or that are labelled “easy” or “beginner.” See if you can get your kids or your cat to join you. NO EXCUSES.

There are a variety of sites online that offer what is effectively [read more]

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Paper in Paris: Handmade, Artisan, and Journal Arts

January 28, 2020 / by Kelly

Oh, sure, Paris is good for a lot of things: art, food, history, culture, and style. In the Marais district of galleries, ateliers, boutiques, and studios, there are plenty of nooks filled with treasure for book and journal artists, tucked close together on or near the rue du Pont Louis Philippe, sometimes called the “rue du Papier”.

The cornerstone of this little piece of paper heaven is Calligrane. Its name blends the words”calligraphie” and ” filigrane” (French for watermark) and it describes this small gallery perfectly. For over 40 years, this family-run business has expanded the field of creative stationery and paper artistry, both in the creation of paper itself and in its innovative use, drawing on materials and inspiration from India, Mexico, Thailand, Germany, Japan, Italy, Nepal, Bhutan, and a host of other far-flung places. Run by second-generation paper maven Vanessa Barth and her husband, paper sculpture artist Maru, Calligrane prides itself on its quest for the new and its commitment to the classic, as well as to being a creative laboratory for paper artists.

Here is a small sample of their fibre papers. (Click on photo to enlarge and see detail.)

They also carry papers made of fruit [read more]

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No-Fail New Year’s Resolutions Part 2: The Practical Stuff

January 1, 2020 / by Kelly

Once you have your written your no-holds-barred manifesto of how you would live your one precious life if you could do anything you dreamed of, you need to turn it into something more practical in the form of no-fail New Year’s Resolutions, which is just a way to say: name the tasks you need to get you from here to there.

I know that one big reason people famously “fail” at resolutions is that they make so few of them: if you only make three big, overarching resolutions and you stumble over two, then you can wail that you knew you couldn’t do it and making New Year’s resolutions is lame. But what if you made 23 very small, very specific resolutions and kept nine of them? Or seven? Keeping up with seven, tiny resolutions might turn your life around and keep it turning.

While I sincerely hope your burner journal now contains details about your desire to live in an Italian farmhouse and grow your own olives, or be a wildly successful junk journal maker or the next Tim Holtz, let’s start with something universal: the desire to get in shape; to be sexy, fierce, lean, and bold. (I coach [read more]

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How to Make No-Fail New Year’s Resolutions That Will Change Your Life

December 29, 2019 / by Kelly

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” – Annie Dillard, A Writing Life

Making New Year’s Resolutions is a kind of religion for me. I believe in it so much that I make my resolutions at the new year and again at mid-year for tune up. If you are reading this and you think that resolutions are corny or a waste of time, I strongly suspect that no one has ever sugested ways that are meaningful and guarantees success. So give it a chance and join me, won’t you? You are about to change your life.

In my experience, expressing your deepest, wildest dreams, even in a private diary, can feel scary and sometimes even wrong, as in: “Who am I to allow myself to imagine a life this big and gorgeous and successful? And if I write it in my day-to-day journal, what if someone sees it? What if I see it, what if I read it again in a few months and I’ve failed because of course I will and these words will humiliate me because I should know better and…” Sound familiar?

The Burner Journal

Now, you can “kill” your [read more]

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