Tuesday, August 9, 2016

CreativeTeam Tuesday: Hand Made Journal by Karen Gaunt



Hello everyone it's Karen here with another Team Tuesday post! I'm here to share with you a tutorial to make your own little custom made journal using some beautiful Stencilgirl stencils. Specifically I'm using some yummy designs from the talented Rae Missigman.

It's not surprising to anyone who follows my work online that I've got a rather large Art crush on Rae. My inspiration behind making this journal is from watching her YouTube videos. She always has such cool paint patches and designs already on her page before she starts to give her a starting point in her work. So decided that I wanted to make myself a little journal that I can just open at anytime and get started without staring at a blank page.


So I gathered all my Rae stencils together so I'd have them to hand. I'm going to be using them with my Gelli Plate to create some cool backgrounds that I can build on.


I gathered together a selection of papers, I wanted a nice variety of textures. I have brown kraft paper, old book paper, a vintage music score and some plain white cartridge paper.

I gathered all of my Sennelier heavy body Acrylic paints. You can use any acrylic paints you like that work with your Gelli Plate. If you see these paints in any of your art supply stores you need to buy them. The are like butter and are such great value for money. I love using them on my Gelli Plate and with my stencil they go so far.



I love how the paint looks against the kraft paper here so perfectly imperfect. The colors react so differently again the brown.



So to create some variation for my journal I added the stencils over the top of the paint loaded Gelli Plate so I would have a negative image left where the stencils were on the plate. I'm not looking for a perfect impression I'm only going for a base here which I will add to later on when I come to work in the journal.


Here you can see the different papers and colors I've used. When I work again in the journal I can add more stencils to it and build on the interesting textures and shapes I already have.


So I am now going to start binding my journal together. I've cut all my papers down to 23cm by 15cm but you can make yours to be any size you like. Just make sure that you cut all the papers to be the same size so they will line up when you bind them together. I'm using some corrugated card for the outside of the journal and I cut that just a little bit larger than the inner pages.




I've used a pamphlet stitch to bind my journal together. I followed this tutorial by design sponge and I found it very easy to follow. But don't do what I did, please follow the instructions! I jumped ahead a few steps and wasn't paying close attention and needed to take out the stitches. So do as I say not as I do ok?

I poked the holes using a paper piercer but any sharp implement will do, such as a meat skewer. Although the tutorial called for linen thread I did not have any to hand so I used three strands of embroidery floss and it worked just fine for me.



The outside of the journal is not quite as pretty as the inside but I'm very happy to have learned a new skill and I know I'll be making quite a few more handmade journals in my future!












7 comments:

  1. I love making simple little journals too. Love the idea of making a basis for starting on. Love Raes art as well.

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  2. I love making simple little journals too. Love the idea of making a basis for starting on. Love Raes art as well.

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  3. Karen, have you tried Golden Open Acrylics on your Gelli Plate? If so, how do these new acrylics compare, when used on the Gelli? I've been seeing a lot of press lately on these new paints and wonder if I should try them too... Your gorgeous journal shows how delightfully bright these paints are!

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    1. Hi Celia I really can't get Golden paints over here in Ireland and if I can they are very expensive. I love the sennelier paints they are great value and as you said the colors are just beautiful

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  4. I like the idea of working ahead and making a base....to work on later. That would be a no stress day for me, just fun!

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  5. This is just awesome Karen! Thank you for sharing your lovely hand made journal. I LOVE having some 'pre-colored" pages to begin with as you know, so this made me smile! Happy Creating!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Rae I've been working as bit in it already and its making creating a lot easier!

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