art journaling Archives -

A Year’s Worth of Art Journal Spreads

Hello everyone. As promised, today, I am sharing a variety of art journal pages, I created this year. I must admit, I never considered myself an art journal artist, but I think it’s safe to say, I am one of them! This year, I challenged myself to experiment with art journaling, and it was fun.

Come take a look at the variety of pages I created using acrylic paints, molding paste, gel beads, and much more! By the time you’re finished watching my video, you’ll be ready to order your own art journal to play with! As you watch the video, you will see, just how easy art journals can be. It doesn’t need to be complicated…just have fun and enjoy the process!

Thanks so much for watching!

Independent Spirit

/1 Comment/in Inspire Me/by Michelle Sanders

Happy Monday girlies!!

So I have been patiently waiting to use this beautiful transparency page in my Haute Mess Cobble Stone Lane Journal and today is the day y’all!! I hope you are loving it as much as I am! I made you a little video to walk you through the process but first take a peek at the pics.

I used lots of cut out layers from old books and some tulle scraps as well as one of my favorite new A Vintage Girl stamps to stamp the corset.

This page is also heavy on texture with lots of molding paste, glass bead gel and glitter!

Now y’all hop on over to the link below and catch that process video for more details!

And thanks for stopping by today! Now go make something beautiful!

Bad Girls Couture Supplies Used:
Haute Mess Cobble Stone Lane Journal
Matte Gel Medium
Molding Paste
Glass Bead Gel
Couture Pink Acrylic Paint
Torrid Acrylic Paint

A Romance of Life

/2 Comments/in Uncategorized/by Michelle Sanders

Happy Friday girlies!!

Today I’m mixing things up with some vintage sheet music, a tag, some string and fun embellishments. And of coarse the yummy Haute Mess mediums and acrylic paints.

I started out by using the Matte Gel to apply the sheet music on to my Cobble Stone Lane Haute Mess Journal. Then I smeared on some gold crackle medium I had in my art stash and allowed it to dry well. As that was drying I moved on to my tag.

For the tag I wrapped some twine around the tag and then smeared it with a generous amount of molding paste and allowed it to dry well. You can use a heat tool to speed the drying process up a bit. Once dried I applied some watered down acrylic “Dive Bar” paint.

I then applied the tag as well as my other embellishments on to the page. I painted the ribbon flower with the same watered down “Dive Bar” paint and then painted the center stone with “Drop Dead Gorgeous” as well as doing some dry brushing along the edges of the flower.

I added some Haute Mess Glass Bead Gel and allowed to dry to various places on the page. Next I applied some watered down “Drop Dead Gorgeous” just under the embellishments and added some paint splatters of watered down “Torrid” and “Million Dollar Baby“.

I finished it off with a Tim Holtz paper doll die cut, some title stickers and a metallic gold rub.

Thanks for stoping by today! Now y’all go make something beautiful this weekend!

Fly Home Mixed Media Journal Page

/in Junque It Up/by Michelle Sanders

Happy Tuesday girls!! Ready to get junqie?! So today I’m in my Haute Mess Cobblestone Lane mixed media journal showing you some more ways to incorporate found junk in your journal and make it part of your art work!

For this page, I used some paper packing mesh as well as some old silk flowers I had hanging around. I’m telling you…you can throw just about anything that will fit on a page, cover it in molding paste and texture and it’s beautiful! Art journaling is so much fun when you just look around and this about the possibilities around you!

I’ve made a process video to show you how this page came together but long story short, I just slathered on a bunch of Haute Mess Molding paste under and over that paper packing mesh and used that as my starting point then added the flowers in the same way.

I waited for it to dry then white washed it a bit with “Fallen Angel” Haute Mess Acrylic and once that dried I gave the whole page a coat of Haute Mess clear gesso to prepare if for some color.

For the color I dabbed on some “Make it Rain” Haute Mess Acrylic paint and blended it well with some water.

I applied glass bead gel for texture and added some metallic touches with a rub of gold acrylic. Then I added some Matte Gel to the areas where I wanted to apply the glitter to, sprinkled the glitter and pressed it in well.

I finished the whole thing off with my photo, butterfly embellishments and title stickers.

Click HERE for the complete process video and more details on this page!

It really was a fun page. The Molding paste & glass bead gel are my favorite products so I always have a ball and love the results when I use them on a page or project! I hope this encourages you to go find some junk and make it into some fabulous art today!

Song Bird

/1 Comment/in Inspire Me/by Michelle Sanders

Happy Monday y’all!! I hope you are inspired today to create something beautiful! I was inspired this week to create by this amazing sheet music page in my Haute Mess Cobblestone Lane Journal.

For this page I went to my scrap box and grabbed a few things to use that I thought would add interesting texture and layers and convey the feeling I was looking for.

My jumping off piece was this beautiful bird illustration and I just really went from there, gathering scraps of tissue paper and mesh that I liked.

I applied them down with some Haute Mess clear gesso and then secured the mesh down with some Haute Mess molding paste. The background of the page also got a bit of a dry brushing of the “Naked” Haute Mess acrylic paint. I added some extra texture and interest with some Haute Mess glass bead gel in some places and then gave the whole thing a light metallic rub.

The finishing touch was a sweet little die cut butterfly by Tim Holtz.

For a step by step instruction and more close up pictures, check out the link below

Thanks for stoping by today!!

Supply List:

Clear Gesso
Glass Bead Gel
Molding Paste
Naked Acrylic Paint
Cobble Stone Lane Canvas Journal

You Are Lovely

/1 Comment/in Junque It Up, Nicole Martel/by NICOLE MARTEL

Good morning! I have a fun art journal spread that I created for you lovely ladies today! Sometimes, we need that gentle reminder that we are all “lovely” in our own way. For this art journal page, I used the Black stitched cardstock/chipboard page with stitching. Before I started painting this piece, I was going for an abstract design. I grabbed a few colors and different size brushes along with my gesso. I just love the stitched border…and how the different colors along the edges add so much texture.

I coated the black cardstock/chipboard page using the Drama Queen acrylic paint. My favorite thing about these paints is that they are not thick so they are easy to work with! Also, you can add a some molding paste to the paint to thicken it up if you would like. I like my paint thin and runny because it goes onto the cardstock much easier. This is my opinion. Once the paint was dry, I smeared some Broken Doll and Last Sin paint all over the spread.

Then I grabbed a thick brush and gesso to create a heart in the center of the page.

After allowing the gesso to dry for a few hours I grabbed the Bad & Tatted acrylic paint along with a tiny brush and splashed black paint all over the spread.

Once the paint was completely dry, I added a few word stickers and some gems.

This spread was very therapeutic for me. I think I’ve discovered a new love… Art journaling can be so fun and freeing… If you haven’t given art journaling a try, we have so many tutorials and videos to get you started! The art journals are made from great quality fabric and they are amazing. All of the pages are bounded together by pretty trims and you get the journals come with pages stitched and ready to use! You have to see it to appreciate it’s beauty. Click here to order yours today! Each journal comes with stitched pages!

Thanks for visiting today!

Maker’s Mind

/1 Comment/in Inspire Me/by Michelle Sanders

Happy Monday y’all! For today’s inspire me Monday, I’m working on my vintage comic book page in my Haute Mess Journal.

I had the idea to have it look as if it was exploding, exposing the inside of a toy maker’s mind. So I got to work…splitting open the comic book paper, giving it a white wash and adding molding paste to the cardstock that was exposed under the comic book paper.

I then filled the center section with chipboard gears (these are from A Vintage Girl) that I added Haute Mess glass bead gel then painted and distressed with Haute Mess “Bad & Tatted”, “Distortion”, “C-Note” and “Kiss & Don’t” Tell paints.

I added Tim Holtz Paper Dolls and A Vintage Girl & Her Daughter Stickers for the title.

I also added some A Vintage Girl & Her Daughter Stickers to the bottom to carry the toy maker theme.

I then distressed the entire page with a black stamp pad.

You can see the entire process in this process video. Check it out here!

Give Me Eyes to See

/in Inspire Me/by Michelle Sanders

Hey girlies! Happy Monday! Today I’m gonna show y’all what I did with this wonderful tab page in my Haute Mess journal. I’ve got a bit of a theme going in my journal right now so I’m rolling with it and continuing what I have going on and this is what is on my mind and on my heart so in my journal it goes!

Take a look at the process video for details on how I created this background using a technique I like to call “paint smushing”.

VIEW VIDEO HERE

It’s basically adding dashes of paint to your page or canvas then covering it with another paper or in this case I used a sheet of clear acetate so you could see the process take place. You cover the paint with the second sheet of paper and smush it, smoothing it out so the paint can blend and come to the edges a bit. Once you peel the paper up it makes a wonderful blended and textured design.

Throw Kindness Around Like Confetti

/2 Comments/in Junque It Up/by Michelle Sanders

Hey guys! Michelle here and I’m getting all messy in my journal today and I know I say this every time…I am having way too much fun doing it! Today’s piece didn’t end up anything like my original vision but it’s totally ok because I love how my vision for the page changed as I was working on it. I did “junque” it up a bit by using a vintage hymnal page as part of my background. So let me show you how it all came together!

I started out by preparing my page with a nice layer of molding paste

Next I painted over the dried molding paste with a thin coat of the Haute Mess Acrylic paint in “Grunge” and watered down some “Distortion” paint to give it a subtile aged effect.

Once those layers had all dried I moved on to applying the vintage hymnal page by brushing on a thin coat of matte gel under the vintage page and on top. Again allow to dry before moving on.

Next I applied some strokes of Haute Mess Acrylics in “Last Sin” and “C-Note” with a pallet knife, making sure to leave some texture for added interest.

After that had dried I rubbed and dotted on some gold acrylic with my fingers before applying a thick line of Haute Mess Matte Gel with a brush to the center of towards the bottom of the page.

I then sprinkled coarse gold glitter over the matte gel (do not allow this to dry)

Before this has the opportunity to dry I came back over it and fanned it out with a brush and more matte gel medium. This forms an anchor for my title and the photo that will go on the page.

Finally I applied some phrase stickers and a cardstock cutout of a vintage girl and inked the whole thing up with a black stamp pad. Turns out it’s one of my favorite pages now!

Supplies:

Bad Girls Couture Haute Mess Molding Paste
Bad Girls Couture Haute Mess Matte Gel
Bad Girls Couture Haute Mess Acrylic Paint “Distortion”
Bad Girls Couture Haute Mess Acrylic Paint “C-Note”
Bad Girls Couture Haute Mess Acrylic Paint “Grunge”
Bad Girls Couture Haute Mess Acrylic Paint “Last Sin”
Phrase Stickers & Cardstock Photo Die Cut – Tim Holtz
Vintage Hymnal Page
Gold Glitter

“I Am Transformed” Journal Page

/2 Comments/in Inspire Me, Tutorials/by Michelle Sanders

Happy Monday Y’all!! I hope you are having an inspiring start to your week! Today I’m going to share a journal page I did that was inspired by some awesome paper butterfly cutouts that I’ve just been hanging on to for just the right project!

For this one I gessoed one of the cardstock pages in my Haute Mess Couture Journal and began applying matte gel under and over the cutouts to adhere them to the page. Then stenciled molding paste and layered on various Haute Mess Acrylic paints and blended with water. Finally I finished it off with a stamped title, accented with some Haute Mess Glass Bead Gel, rubbed on some metallic and splattered on some blue liquid ink. Curious? Well check out my process video I did for you! Check out the link below!

CLICK HERE FOR PROCESS VIDEO: