Alphabet Journal - Z

The latest letter for our Alphabet Discovery Journal is Z - so what else than Zebra's, Zentangles and Zetti?

Haven't yet decided if I want to add some colour to this page

Drawn with Pitt Pen on multi-medium paper

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Inspired by Eliece's blog By My Hand I decided to start a reading journal to keep a record of some of the books I have read. I have decided not to keep it chronologically, but paint pages in advance and find a page that suits the mood of the book (as does Eliece). That will also give me some flexibility in going back to cover books that I have read in the past.

Having said that I started with a book that I have just finished reading - the wonderfully named "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows. This is a very easy book to read as it's epistolary style makes it easy to pick up and put down, but I whizzed through this charming story in a couple of days.

For this journal spread I chose some pages that I had previously painted with shades of blue acrylic, then as the book is partially set in Guernsey, I printed out a map of the island and cut it out to use as a mask. I also used images from the book cover, both collaged and painted on.

Another challenge...

Well, I've signed up for yet another workshop... I have just discovered the Artists of The Round Table yahoo group (A.R.T. for short) - they have study groups, where you can sign up to work on exercises based on published books. I have always liked Gwen Diehn's books on journaling, so I was delighted to see that they were just starting a study group on her book 'The Decorated Page'. Again, it's free to sign up, so this is my favourite kind of group :)

Week 1's assignment was to alter some pages in your journal. I purchased a really cheap (but functional) Seawhite journal - just 20 A4 pages, which will be just right as I will be treating this as a 'technique' journal. Here is a compilation of my altered pages (click the image for a larger view) -

If you want to join in, here is a link to Workshop joining instructions

Alphabet Workshop -T

My T page. This hasn't been one of Trish's prompts yet, but as I will be sticking this page to the back of the S page I decided to finish it now. I cut out the 'see-through' star from the previous page which on this page represents 'transparent' :) and hung a star shaped tag below it. I also added a few more tags on the page, one of them is tucked into a pocket with a stamp of a Tower on it. There are representations of trees, travel, truth and time, and there is some Turkish text mounted on some tissue.

The background is painted with Teal and Turquoise acrylic paint.

Alphabet Workshop - S-Stars

My S page for the Alphabet Discovery Workshop. The background was dark blue acrylic craft paint - great for journaling as it is matte and doesn't stick to the opposite page when the book is closed.

I cut out the star shapes, then used the smallest cut out as a negative stencil to create the shaded stars. The cut outs have different surfaces behind them. The top one has acetate (see through), the large star has Sheer Heaven behind it - painted with watercolour washes then with rubbing alcohol dropped on the surface to create the white areas (this was supposed to be a sky effect, but didn't quite work!). The smallest star has aluminium duct tape behind it to create a shiny effect. The last star is awaiting some sandpaper which will be pained black then silver. Eventually this will all be sandwiched together with sticky tape :)

The word South is from a clothing label. The page is finished off with silver swirls, stamping and silver embossing.

Alphabet Workshop - N-NegativeNumbers

Trish Bee has started a new Yahoo Group - Alphabet Discovery Workshop, it's FREE and you can start at any time, so you can't get much better than that!

Trish is selecting letters in a random order, so it doesn't matter if you are late starting - head on over to the Yahoo Group and join the fun

This is my spread for the first letter - N - done simply with black acrylic, white gesso, and black and white Staz-On ink.

I am using a multi-purpose paper (for acrylics and watercolour) and will be binding the pages into a book later.

If today was your last day...

A great video from Nickleback, makes us think about our preconceptions...

So, what would you do?

Laugh, Live, Smile, Love

I found this wonderful picture of a brides henna'd hands and thought it was perfect for a collage, and that it would go well with the quote - "Laugh, Live, Smile and Love - for what you get out of life comes from what you put in"

Background created with Ranger Adirondack Dye inkpad in Cranberry (direct to paper technique), collage, Pitt Artist Pen and Posca White Paint marker

Shades Of Grey - 3

Week 3 of Pam Carriker's Shades of Grey workshop

Moleskine sketchbook, Shades of Grey Pitt Artist Pens

Shades Of Grey - 2

Week 2 of Pam Carriker's Shades of Grey workshop

Moleskine sketchbook, Collage, Shades of Grey Pitt Artist Pens