Pretty Spring Flowers Mixed Media Page

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Hi lovelies! 

A year ago I decided to create a YouTube art channel, which was a big step for me, as I had never before considered doing art videos. In fact, I had never made any video before, apart from one or two personal travel videos! Suffice to say, it was a very steep learning curve :) I had a few hiccups at the start, as my audio wasn't up to standard, but I later invested in a better microphone, and I do believe the sound has improved since. My goal from the beginning was to create fun videos in under 10 minutes. I'm well aware that most people are simply too busy to watch hour-long tutorials. I also wanted my tutorials to be beginner-friendly and to encourage people of all ages to explore art making, specifically mixed media art journaling. If you have watched any of my videos you'll have noticed that the general tone is quite relaxed. Above all, there is no pressure to create a "masterpiece". It's more about the process, the playing with paints and tools and exploring different styles etc. You can check out my blog post on mixed media supplies here. 

In honor of my one-year-anniversary I made this Spring-inspired tutorial featuring cherry blossoms.

I taped off the edges for a clean look and added stamping in some areas with my silicone text stamp and black ink. 

In a somewhat messy manner I brushed on a layer of light and candy pink acrylic paint. 

After this has dried I applied watered-down green acrylic ink with a brayer making a curved motion. I simply let the paint flow without touching it and letting it dry completely, before adding stencilling on top. 

I had prepared my flowers in advance, by stamping the images on a sheet of white drawing paper. I colored those in with watersoluble crayons and spread the color around with a small round brush. Once those have dried I carefully cut them out.

 

I arranged all the pieces on the page to my liking and then simply adhered them with a glue stick. I also added a little sentiment to the page. The entire process can be watched here:

Winter Birdies Art Journal Tutorial

Hello lovelies!

I was thinking about my blogging journey the other day, and how this little blog of mine has changed direction several times. Last year, due to circumstances beyond my control I wasn't able to post a single article. Therefore it makes me especially happy that I was able to pick up blogging again this year, even though not quite as often as I had hoped. 

I know that mixed media art might not be your cup of tea, but I combine this with other crafts, such as card making and gelli printing, for example. Who doesn't love those?!

Anyway, today's tutorial is a full spread in my art journal. If you are wondering what type journal I am using - it's from Hahnemühle, my favorite brand. Since it's a German brand it's readily available here, but foremost, I use it for its smooth, natural white paper quality. At 200 gsm it takes a lot of wet media surprisingly well. I also like the different formats they come in. The art journal above is a nice A5 size that opens up to an A4 spread. 

I've chosen a Winter theme and primarily use acrylic paints for this project. In this first layer I have chosen Burnt Sienna and Yellow Ochre, reflecting a bit of the colors of Autumn, which you can still see here and there. To get this interesting texture I have used a piece of sandwich paper. 

After the first layer has dried, I add another paint layer, this time with a small brayer.

I let this dry again, before adding the next layer with some stencilling. I like dabbing the paint on with a make up sponge - just be sure to pop it into a jar with water after use. Then rinse thoroughly under a tap.

You can watch the whole process from start to finish in my video tutorial here:

Be sure to give me a "thumbs uo" or leave a comment...this helps to circulate my video to a wider audience, so more people can enjoy it! All the supplies are listed in the video description.

And here's my finished spread! I have chosen an excerpt from Mary Oliver's book "Winter Hours" and printed it out, then cut out the sentences and glued them down with a glue stick. 

Let me know if you like these type of spreads or if you wish to see more card making, collage fodder type of tutorials? Thank you.

Have a beautiful day,

Tutorial: Colorful flower collage fodder

Hi everybody!

I like to make batches of floral paper embellishments - also known as collage fodder - for future mixed media projects, card making or junk journaling. 

To make these you'll need acrylic paints in the colors of your choice, a couple of text stamps, crayons and your favorite floral and leaf stamps. The process is quite simple! You can watch the whole video here:

If you're watching on YouTube, do give me a "thumbs up" - this will help my video reach more people to enjoy it. And if you have any questions you can ask them in the comment section or here. I read and appreciate every comment :) 

Have a beautiful day, wherever you may be 🌺🍃🌸

Autumn Girl Mixed Media Art Journal Spread

Hello friends!

Autumn is upon us, with the leaves gradually changing their colors to lovely warm yellows and reds. The days are getting shorter and there is a chill in the air in the mornings. I appreciate the last golden rays of sunlight that we get!

This fall season has inspired me to create this leaf-themed art journal spread 🍂

I am sharing a free tutorial over on You Tube:

In this video I am having fun with various types of mixed media techniques: dry brushing, stencilling, stamping, collage and drawing/illustrating. While it's not difficult to create this spread, some drawing experience would be helpful. I used graphite pencils in HB/4B/6B, as I find this tool is accessible to most. All of the supplies are listed in the video description.

I chose one of my favorite Autumn quotes by Albert Camus and stamped this onto paper scraps with my silcone alphabet stamp set. Be warned - It takes quite a while to stamp, cut and glue onto the page :)

For her "hair" a simple leaf-shaped stamp works best. Just make sure it's a single leaf without any branches etc.

I hope you enjoy this tutorial. Happy Autumn 🍁🎃

And the winner is...

First of all, I want to thank EVERYONE who participated in my giveaway! It was so much fun and please don't be sad if you didn't win this time around. I'll be planning more giveaways in future! Okay, the moment you've all been waiting for. Watch the video to find out who won!!! I'll be in touch with the winner! Happy weekend!