Art Journal With Terri Sproul

This is the first page of my first art journal!
Sin City Stamps has a new plate of Art Journal stamps just in time for Terri Sproul’s online art journal class!
Terri offers a free online mixed media art class every Tuesday night at 9 p.m. Eastern time.  To get all the information and links for the classes, visit the All Things Terri Sproul Facebook page.  Terri is a great teacher and I love her classes.  She is knowledgeable and generous with her knowledge, laid back and fun.


Right now, Terri is presenting a series of Art Journal classes.  Each week, she shares an idea or technique and then asks the class members to interpret the idea or technique in their own ways.   You don’t have to participate to watch, but it is pretty fun to try out new things!  If you missed the first couple of classes, you can watch recordings of them.
The new Sin City Journal stamps include the words “Art” and “Journal” plus some interesting textures and patterns, as well as an alphabet block, a number block and a pretty flower.  I will be using these stamps throughout my journal.
My page is the first “homework assignment” for the class.  Terri asked students to buy or make a blank journal and to get some supplies.  The supply list appears at the top of the All Things Terri Sproul page.  But you don’t have to get everything on the list!
For the first page, students were asked to get some acrylic paints in colors they liked.  I found these on clearance:

I got the Strathmore Mixed Media Journal that Terri recommended, and I’m really glad I did.  The paper is nice and heavy, so it stood up to all that I did to it.  Before I did anything messy, I inserted a piece of wax paper under the first sheet, to protect the rest of the book.  I applied a coat of white gesso.  Then I added my colors.  I don’t paint that much, and the only paint  brushes I knew the  location of were foam brushes, so that is what I used.  I liked the pink and lavender but I wanted to distress it a little, so I added a little of the slate color.  I didn’t like how that looked, so I used a paper towel to remove some of the paint by dragging from side to side.  I liked the texture that gave, but the colors still looked too pure and new.  I like things a little aged, distressed, or antiqued.  So I mixed some maple Gel Stain into some acrylic glaze and brushed that over the top.   That gave it a look I liked.

Terri painted and inked her first page.  I love fibers and fabric, and I knew that I wanted to incorporate them into my page. So I gathered up some pieces I thought would coordinate well with my background.  It turns out that the samples from my very first cold water dye batch looked great with my background color!

Using the Sin City journal stamps, I stamped the phrase “Art Journal” onto a piece of pattern tissue paper with dark brown ColorBox Chalk Ink.  Then I cut the paper to the size I wanted.  I cut a piece of the embroidered trim and a piece of hand dyed burlap, decided where I wanted them, applied Mod Podge to the page, and adhered the pieces to the page.  Then I added some Mod Podge on top.  The tissue paper tore, and I mended it with a little extra piece.  I didn’t apply to Mod Podge to the bottom of the scalloped trim, which gives it a little difference in texture.

Finally, I used a transparent ruler to mark dots for threading my seam binding through the page.  I put a line of dots one inch away from each other and one inch away from the top of the page (starting and ending at ½ inch away from the sides of the page).  Then I put another line of dots two inches away from the top of the page (one inch away from the other line).  I used a long-reach punch to punch holes where I marked the dots.  Then I cut two equal lengths of seam binding.  I used transparent tape to hold the ends together so I could thread them through the small holes (sort of like the plastic that binds the end of a shoelace).  Then I trimmed the ends and tied a bow.

Here’s another shot of the finished page:

Don’t be afraid to try this!  Everyone’s first page looked different and they all looked great. This is a chance to learn something new and use it your own way in your own art.  It’s free and fun!
As always, please let me know if you have any questions!