Paper Towel Collage Paper

Hey there! Today I am bringing you a fun tutorial using something you already have in your kitchen or in my case my studio! Paper towels! I am constantly wiping or even smearing my paint with paper towels and well they are always to pretty to throw away!  So I wanted to find a fun way to use them in my art! So here goes some fun collage paper made out of inky paper towels! 

What you need

Paper Towels

Gel Medium (I used Sparkly Collage Pauge)

Markers

Puffy Paint

Anything else you might want to add (think stamps, glitter, embossing powder, flat sequins etc.)

So the first thing you want to do is have two layers worth of paper towel, then completely cover the  bottom layer with gel medium. Once you've done that had your second layer and completely cover that with gel medium as well. I put four coats total of the gel medium all over my paper towel making sure to get the ends  and corners really well covered with the gel medium.

Once the gel medium is dry,  now you can start having fun! I added some marks with my thick paint markers, added a bunch of doodles with different colors of puffy paint.  I decided to stop there, but you could keep going and add stamping even add collage elements on top or pour some glitter on it,  just have some fun with it! 

 Here is the art journal page I finished using some punched hearts and some other cut pieces of the paper towel. The cute digital stamp is my own design and one you can find in my Etsy store for only TWO dollars! You can check that out here! 

DIY Envelope Journal

Hey friends I am here sharing a fun little tutorial to help you make an envelope journal!  

Some things you need

Envelopes

Something for the cover

Needle

Twine/Bookbinding Thread/Embroidery Floss

So to start us off I am going to show you what to do using two different color envelopes to make it a bit easier to understand! The first thing you do is take one flap of the envelope add some adhesive and slide it into another  

Do that as many times as you like so you get a good amount for your journal. 

Cut your cover to size, I am using this fun holographic pink paper for mine!  

Your going to want to punch a hole ( I used a metal punch for jewelry) on each side of the journal. 

Do the same for the cover. Start your string going through the cover on both sides.  

Then do the same to your stack of envelopes and tie tightly! That's it your all done! So easy right?  

Here is my first art journal spread in the new journal! I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial and I hope you come back and share if you decide to make one! Have a great day!  

Find end me on Instagram @rebeccajanousek

DIY Graffiti Collage Paper

Hi there! Hope you are having a great week! Today I am sharing one of my favorite ways to make collage paper (cause I am all about Collage paper lol) so let's get to it!  

I took three pieces of bright colored paper and with the blue paper I started writing in messy cursive with a white pen. 

On the yellow and pink paper I wrote with black sharpie

I grabbed some paint pens and doodles and wrote some big bold words  

I added some white to the pink and some fine black writing to the blue. Lastly I used some clear glitter glue and black glitter glue and made some messy scribbles.  

I used my die cutting machine and made some hearts and circle shapes then used them on my journal page!  

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial! There are tons of possibilities of how you can do this so if you decide to try it let me know! Have a great day and happy Arting! 

Magazine and Gelli Print Fun!

Hey there today I am bringing you a fun technique using a gelli plate and some magazines! So find a figure (or a flower or any other fun shape you might think of!)   

Then I covered my gelli plate with different colors of paint stuck the image down and squished my journal on top of it!   

I then decided to paint in the silhouette black! 

I did some white outlining and then splattered some paint on it! I added some white writing and collaged some hearts! I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial have a great week! 

Life Documented

Hi there! Hope you all are having a great weekend! Today I am going to share a quick technique to add a little bit of fun to your journal!

So I started by getting out my gelli plate and spread some color all over it with a brayer. Then I cut down this fun piece of clear plastic to fit in my journal and put it on the gelli plate and then flipped it over and did it again!

Then I drew a heart in the center and cut it out to make a little window!

Then I taped it into my journal! I drew a pretty girl on one side of the page and then left the other side for journaling.

Lastly I colored some fun Days of the week stamps I got from a pen pal and glued it into my journal!

I really hope you guys enjoyed my little walk through! I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Prompt- Add a clear tip in

Technique- Add a window to one of your pages

Inspired by...

I know we all have them.... Pinterest boards full of inspiration that we are going to use someday.... am I right? Well I decided to use one of mine for a source of inspiration for and art journal page. The theme??? Japanese Street Fashion! It's so fun and colorful and bold! So I did a little drawing inspired by some of these fun pictures!  

So I challenge you to use one of your inspiration boards to inspire something in your art journal!  

Life Documented

Hi there! So recently The Documented Life closed which I was super bummed about! A friend and I decided to work together to form a new group with new weekly challenges! So you can click here to join us over on Facebook! This week it's my turn to share with you so here goes! Today I am sharing my favorite process for making backgrounds as well as what my weekly set up looks like! So here's what you need

•white gesso

•fluid acrylic paint or ink

•palette knife or old credit card

So the first thing I did was spread gesso over my page and then let it dry completely

Once dry I add a few drops of paint and then spread it out with a paper towel

Then I switched to teal and purple and do the same thing for both!

Every week I write down what I did each day as a way to document what's going on in my life so I set up my page in a way that allows me to do that! I added a flap for extra journaling, some fun bits from my scrapbooking stash and pop dots!

So this week I challenge you to try this background technique and add a flap to your page!

DIY Recycled Collage Paper

Hi friends! Today I am bringing you a fun tutorial on how to make collage paper from junk mail!  

We all have junk mail so why not take advantage of the free paper? What I used were similar to postcards so they were thicker but you can use any of those ads or even magazine pages! You can use this paper in your art journal, for due cuts, to make cards and tags and in junk journals and scrapbooks too!  

Start out by gessoing your papers, once dry use a palette knife to spread three complimentary colors

Ahh look at that texture!  

Now break out your stencils and add some more color!  

I then used stamps and doodled on the paper  

Here they are finished! Super simple! 

Here you can see I punched out some hearts and used it in my art journal! I also made some fun gift tags!  

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Happy painting and recycling!  

Documenting my week in my Art Journal

I recently started doing weekly pages in my Dylusions Art Journal. It's so fun to be able to go back through the pages and see what was happening and how things were going from previous weeks. It's very similar to last years Documented Life Project and I am super inspired by artist Anita Tillman! Her weekly pages are stunning and super creative! Here is a glance at a few of mine! 

Here is what this week looks like before all the writing!  

I love using a bit of my scrapbooking supplies as well as different alphabet stickers! It's also fun to use up some of my (hundreds) of project life cards!  

So there you have it! I hope you are inspired to try something new in your journal or try just actually journaling in your journal! I am really enjoying it!  

Links to some of the websites I mentioned above! 

 Dylusions Art Journal

The Documented Life Project  

Anita Tillman  

DIY FriYay Spray Ink Resist!

Hi friends and happy DIY FriYay! Tofay I am bringing you a fun little tutorial/technique you can use in multiple ways! It's great for making collage paper and would be great in your art journal or mixed media projects! 

Supplies

•Spray Ink (I prefer Dylusions)

•Glossy Accents

•Paper of your choice (I used watercolor paper)

Start with a clean sheet of paper and your glossy accents and start doodling! While you are doodling with the glossy accents you want to be sure you are making fairly thick lines that will raise up above the paper. 

Fill the entire page with doodles and designs then let dry! I left mine to dry overnight just to be on the safe side!  

Now for the fun! Take your spray inks and spray your entire paper! I wanted my glossy accents to really pop so I really saturated certain areas of the paper.  

Here is the final result, super fun right? There are lots of possibilities with this technique, I know I will be using it more in my art journal!! 

I was dying to use some of the paper so I made these fun ATC's for a friend!! 

Well friends I really hope you enjoyed my little tutorial and I hope you have a fantastic Friday!  

DIY FriYay!!! DIY Black and White Collage Paper

Hello friends! Welcome to another DIY FriYay! I hope you have all had a fabulous week and are ready for the weekend! I know I am! This week I am bringing you a super fun and easy DIY that you can do with all those random craft supplies you hoard..... I mean have!!! This is also a fun project for the kids to work on as well!  

Basic Supplies  

•Large sheet of white paper (I used 18x20 watercolor paper) 

•Black Paint

•Black Ink  

•Black Pen/Marker

•Stamps

•Paintbrush

•Washi Tape  

•Stencils

•Random Found Supplies (I used an old washi tape roll, a dried up paintbrush etc.) 

I started pretty simple with my stamp roller and some stamps! You don't have to worry too much about placement because you will be cutting it up anyways!  

I added some music note washi, some stenciling and then started to make some circles with an old tape roll!  

Here I've added more stencils, some doodles with paint and x's made with a hard foam brush!  

Lastly I added some random handwriting and dashes with my leftover paint! Super quick and easy! Below are some close up shots!  

To show you one of the many ways you can use your collage paper, I made some cute but quick and easy tags!  

Well that is all from me this week I hope you enjoyed this DIY and please comment below if you try it out! Happy Friday friends!!! 

DIY FriYay Splatter Paint Beads

Hi friends! I am back for another fun DIY and this one you get to wear! Not to mention this is something you could easily do with the kids! Here's what you need;  

 •Plain wooden beads

•Paint

•String of your liking  

•Beads/Charms etc.  

So start off by protecting the area you are working in, right now in Arizona we are in the 110's so doing this outside doesn't quite work but it's definitely something I suggest if weather permits!  

Grab some paint and a brush, lay your beads out and start flicking the paint on the beads! Use whatever colors make you happy, in my case that was neon and black! 

I kept splattering til I felt like my beads were totally covered and that's it! You can spray them with a sealer if you feel it's needed but I just went for it and started making fun stuff with my beads!  

Well that is all for me today, I hope you enjoyed my little DIY! Happy crafting and happy Friday!!! 

DIY FriYay! DIY Collage Paper!

Hello friends and Happy Friday! I hope everyone has had a great week and is ready for the weekend!  

This weeks DIY FriYay is a super fun and easy way to make some fun collage or wrapping paper for all kinds of projects! The best part is you can get the main supply for free at the supermarket! I LOVE brown paper and Kraft paper! It's such a fun way to experiment with color!   

So here's what you need; 

•Brown paper bags (from grocery store) or large sheets of Kraft paper

•Markers

•Paint

•Stamps

•Any other fun mark making tools!  

So just start by making some marks to fill the page I like x's and circles and plus signs to start with! Once I feel like the paper has enough doodles I move on to using my stamps! 

I use a few different stamps a across the pper, filling in the blank space! I add some paint with a palette knife and some of my favorite glitter paint as well! 

Lastly I added some black sparkly stickles and even some washi tape! 

 I used my punches on them and even covered a little notebook with my collage paper so there are tons of possiblities! 

DIY FriYay Altered Rolodex Cards

Hi friends and Happy Friday!!! I am back today with a quick and easy DIY project that I did for Guache Alchemy and well I wanted to share it here as well!

So confession time... I love Rolodexes! I own two and I have about five packs of just the cards floating around my art space! You can find them at thrift stores and goodwill and they are usually under three dollars! So be on the look out because there are so many fun ways to use them!

Today I am going to share the way I am using one of mine which is to make simple art prompt cards!

Each card is simply decorated and then on the back it has a super fun prompt for those times when you are feeling stuck!

Some of the prompts are really simple like add a stamped image or only use three colors or no paintbrush allowed!

I hope I inspired you to make some of your own prompt cards, they are super addicting once you get started!!! Happy Friday friends!!

DIY FriYay Handmade Stickers!!!

Hi friends! Today I am back with another fun DIY FriYay project! Today I am sharing my little process for making stickers for your Art Journal!! You can use them tons of other ways as well, I just know mine are waiting to make a home in my journal! 

I started with two kinds of sticker paper, one has little one inch circles and the other is shipping labels! You can go out and buy plain sticker paper but I figured I would just use what I had at home!  

On each page I started with three colors and just smeared the paint quickly with an old card!  

I added some black stamps, one is just a letter l stamp and the other is my favorite stamp roller!  

I then went through and added a variety of doodles with my paint markers and then finally just added white dashes to finish off this particular page.  

I made four different sheets and I love them all, they are all pretty much the same process, some have more stamping some have more doodles and some have random written words on them!  

I used my favorite punches and die cuts to make some different shapes! I think my favorite is the feathers! Then you can also see some of the circle stickers as well! 

Well friends that is all from me today! I hope you have a creative and crafty weekend! Until next time!!!  

DIY FriYay!!! Altered Train Case

Hi there friends! I am starting a new series called DIY FriYay where I share a fun project every Friday! Today I am here to share a fun project, one you can do  for fairly inexpensive and it's super easy as well! I am always spotting train cases at goodwill and local thrift stores and yes some are better than others but there are so many cool ways to upcycle them! They are the perfect summer project since you are decorating cute luggage for all your summer travels and adventures! Even if you arent traveling this summer, they are perfect for storage and make great art boxes for art on the go! I'm a big fan of taking something old and generic and making it your own, I love vintage but I love the idea of taking something old and giving it new life and putting my own funky spin on it!  So let's do this!!

Supplies:

•          Train Case
•           White Paint Primer
•           Assorted Spray Paint
•           Stencils
•            Fluid Acrylic Paint
•            White Acrylic Paint
•            Black Marker 
•            Paint Sealer 

I started off by wiping down the entire case with a wash cloth and warm soapy water and then used a white spray paint primer all over the case. Make sure to get all the little crevases and hardware covered as well!

Next I used neon pink, yellow and orange spray paint and my favorite stencils and went all around the case with them. I didnt worry too much about them being perfectly placed simply because a lot of it would be getting covered. 

I took some fluid acrylic paint and added drips going all around the box with the exception of the top. I then got out my trusty sharpie and drew out some flowers on all sides of the box, keeping in mind placement and semytry while working around the case. I then went over the flowers with a coat of thin acrylic paint (I used craft paint) this was just to simply make the flowers pop and stand out!

Finally I took a thicker sharpie and went back over the flowers and added some little plus marks for variety! I sprayed a coat of sealant and violia my train case was finished! 

There are tons of possibilities here friends, in fact I already am altering another one! 

Well friends that is all from me today! I really hope you enjoyed watching the process of me altering this fun case! Feel free to comment and share any fun altered travel cases you may have done yourself I would love to see them! Happy Friday!!! 

My Summer Bucket List!

Well friends believe it or not it's already July!!! Where does the time go??? Well I recently sat down and thought about what fun things I want to do and accomplish with what's left of my summer. Nothing to crazy but definitely lots of things to do and fun to be had!!!  

Some of the things on my list include some fun outdoor adventures, spending time with my dogs and some crafty things too! So what's on your summer bucket list??? Feel feel to comment and share I would love

to hear from you! 

Using Stamps in your Art Journal

Hello friends! Today I want to talk about my newest addiction.... stamps!!! I started buying stamps to use in mail art and they gradually made their way into my art journal! The best part??? Most of them are from the dollar bin at Michaels!  

Well I hope I inspired you to try something new in your art journal! Break out your stamps and have some fun!!!  

Getting Past the Blank Page

We all know how it goes, you decided you wanted to Art Journal today.... You sit down at your desk and open up to a blank page and suddenly you are stuck with the pressure of filling this blank page and making it something amazing. You start looking on your phone for inspiration and before you know it an hour has past and you feel even more frustrated than when you say down! 

This is happens to me really often but I have found a three really easy ways to just get paint on your page and get you going!  

1. Swipe it!  

This is so easy and takes no time at all! Just take an old credit card and swipe a few different colors across your page!  

2. Drip it!  

I love doing this! Just drop some fluid acrylic or ink on your page and spray with a bit water and then turn your page around and let the colors bleed and drip! 

3. Smash it!  

This is similar to dripping but has such a fun effect! Drip some paint onto your page, grab some paper towels and smash the paint into your page! I just continue doing this until the page is full of fun color!  

Well ill I really hope these quick background techniques help you get past the fear of a blank page! Just remember to go for it, it's all about the process not perfection!  

Bold and Bright

Lately I have been making it a habit of journaling daily even if it's just for a little bit! I love working in my journal and trying new things! My new favorites are paint markers and acrylic ink! Here are some of my most recent pages!  

I have been playing with my stamps a lot lately as well as writing/journaling on my art journal pages!  

I have also been experimenting with the fun contrast of black and neon! Let's just say black gesso is my new BFF!  

Another new favorite of mine is going through vintage magazines to find fun ads! I got this awesome typewriter and the vintage cameras above from an old magazine my friend had!  

Well friends that is all for today! I really hope you take some time to just play and have fun in your art journal!!! Happy Arting!!!