And then it snowed....

Front cover of the journal made from file folders

I stitched the covers to the signatures, leaving the spine open

Reinforced the front cover to the first page with scrapbook paper, then painted some flowers

Just in a general pissed off mood the other day

abstract spread that didn't go well. Moving on

NeoColor II and acrylic in the new Canson journal with a napkin as collage

Jake Saturday night. Open the door, mom, now!

Story below

The finish from the above start

waiting for color

First of all, if you google "clowns" for images of clowns, you will get those two pics of disgraced former President trump. I about fell out of my chair at the computer. I had completed the spread, and wanted just a generic clown photo to add to it. The two vintage elephant pieces came from an old schoolbook. I couldn't resist. My journal, folks.

Second, do NOT use masking tape as a border to paint on old file folders. I did lightly press the tape to my jeans first to remove some of the stickiness. That did not help. The first layer of paper came up with the tape, so I ended up painting the edges around the abstract with two coats of Antique White from Apple Barrel. If you look closely at the abstract, you can see the roughness of the border. Turn the page and move on. 

The girl in the Canson journal was done with NeoColor II crayons, then a wet brush to move the color. I did paint the background with acrylic, then stenciled some new leaf stencils but didn't like the bottom at all. The collage is a napkin I purchased online.

Poor Jake. Both dogs came in just soaked with that heavy snow this past weekend. 

Jill Faust is one of the artists in the Gulfsprite group. She is an amazing artist, and if you are interested you can watch her videos on YouTube. We are trying to convince her to sell some art. Her latest video is a journal flip for the last half of 2020, and she discovered an art form called Neurographic Art, or Neurographic Drawing. You hold the pen/marker in your non-dominant hand and move it around. Then you go to every line junction and round off the sharp edges. The drawing with water color was my first. I added some circles and lines after the initial drawing. There is no right or wrong, it is from your brain, and yes there is a science behind this. You can find short tutorials on YouTube, and tons of posts on Pinterest. I haven't checked Instagram yet, but I'm sure it's there as well. I am now working on a girl with neurographic drawing in the hair. This is meditative, calming and I just think it's fun. The tutorial I used is here. Enjoy! Linda