Make your own color mists...

I have been having some extra fun this past week playing with color mists and stencils. I saved some money by making my own mists and so far I feel they work just wonderfully. 

I know there are many ways to make your own mists, such as using water colors and acrylics, but I tried something I haven't tried before. Easter Egg dyes. A few years ago I bought a Easter Egg Dye kit. I never used it and when we were simplifying our lives to get ready to go on the road I threw out the whole kit except the little dye tablets. It had 5 little tablets: pink, orange, yellow, blue, and green. 

You can buy these little 2 oz finger tip sprayers for about a buck. Fill them about halfway with water and drop a tablet in. Shake well and you are ready to go. You can add more or less water depending on how intense you want the colors. I only had the one pack of tablets, but I plan on raiding the grocery stores once the Easter Egg Dye kits hit the shelves again. 

For stecils I used a few found and a few bought. Alphabet stencils are always fun and make for a cool prepared background. And of course sequin waste looks great on almost any page. My favorite stencils though are the found ones. I like to use plastic canvas, especially the circles. Those are fun and if you layer them you can get some cool effects. This week I also used some of my many silk flowers. Pull them apart so the leaves and petals can be flat on your paper and spray away. 

It the photo at the top I used silk flower petals. I first layered a few different flowers and sprayed with the blue mist, then removed the petals and added a few sprays of pink and yellow.

Here are a few more pages that are now ready for more fun (collage, paint, journaling, etc).

Do you make your own color mists? Want to share your recipe? Please feel free to leave a comment, we would love to hear from you!

Word Droppings - FREEBIE

I shared these Word Droppings a few months ago, but thought I would share them again with those who didn't have access to them before.

There are a total of 4 different Word Droppings. Each come in both black and white.

You can use these for some of the challenged posted here on the blog. 

[DOWNLOAD HERE]

Sharing pages...

We had a quiet New Years Eve here at the park. We played board games during the day, ate some good food, and then watched DVD's at night. The new year started with us all getting colds, sore throats, and coughs. Rudy and Ben are doing great but I am still dealing with a cough. Oh well. We are all doing much better though and that is all that counts.

Since the New Year, I havent had much energy for art journaling, but I do have a few pages I made just a few days before that I would like to share with you.


Peace - Just a simple page made with watercolors, collage, and plenty glitter.


Chaos - This page started out with a bunch of colored dots. Then I painted over with watercolors. Added a doily, and wrote 'Chaos' in chunky letters.


Proof - Not really sure where I was going with this one.


Dream - I used a lot glitter glue on this one. Doesnt show much in the photo though.


Smile - When life gives you a thousand reasons to cry, show life you have a thousand reasons to smile.

These pages are all from my little 'owl journal'. They are more like doodle pages really. Some of were made on a previously made background, some not. Mostly I am just trying out tools. Various coloring pencils and crayons. My favorite tools are still watercolor pencils and crayons, but I am also starting to enjoy using wax and oil based crayons.

Have you done any art journaling, visiual journaling, mixed media or doodle journaling in 2013? Would you like to share? You can share your image (digital, hands on, AND/OR hybrid) at our Flickr group.
You can also find some inspiration in my online store Twisted Scrapper Boutique.

These posts are made from my Android Tab, and photos are taken using my Android phone. I am without a computer at the moment, but trying to get back to "normal" using the tools I have :)

Just don't do it...

It is the beginning of a new year and we are all excited to get started on new things. Especially all the 365 projects, the index card a day, the ATC Daily projects and so on. I start at least a couple of these projects every year, but not this time. I have never finished any of these projects so why set myself up for failure again. Nope, not this time. I am going to spend 2013 finishing up all previously started journals and hopefully work on a few new ones.

The last few days I have worked on the covers on a couple of larger size journals. A 7x10 inch and a 9x12 inch journal. They are cheap Canson Mix Media journals I bought at Michael's BOGO sale a few days ago. On the smaller one I did put '2013' on the cover and I plan on it being my main journal for the year.

That is the only commitment I will make for 2013. No promises of making 365 ATC's, or write so many journal pages. I alway end up disappointed in March when I realize I am 2 months behind. So this year I just wont do it.

Do you have plans for a year long project? Have you made such commitments before? If so, did you finish it?

If you decide to follow me into a 2013 without daily promises, but still would like a little help in means of prompts, ideas, and challenges you can always check out some of my past challenges and of course check in here regularly for new prompts and challenges.

Hope you have a wonderful New Years Eve. If you must venture out, please be careful!

And remember when art journaling it is not about the beginning or the end. It is all about the process. The journey!

New Beginnings...

It is almost the beginning of a new year. I thought that since the last couple of months have been a little different for me I would strive to make this beginning of a new year a new beginning for Art Journaling for Less as well. Our members know what has happended these past months so no need to bore you all with that again. Without going into the past let me tell you about the future. Art Journaling for Less is now a public blog. A place for you all to come and participate in challenges and read about how I do art journaling the Soto way. I try my best to do it as cheaply as possible and only for me. I do not plan on my art hanging in museums so Crayola is good enough for me.

I do not have a computer to use for digital art journaling at the moment so my art journal is entirely hands on, but most of my challenges can be done digitally if you prefer. If you have never done art journaling hands on maybe you will want to try when you read some of my blog posts. It doesnt have to be expensive. You don't have to follow any rules. And you certainly do not have to share your end results unless you want to.

Most people when hearing or reading about art journaling focus on the journaling part, however I like to focus on the art part. I hate writing and I usually can't think of what to write. I LOVE to show my feelings and my mood through images and that is what I focus on when I do my journal pages. I might use a song lyric or a poem or a quote to add a little extra to my pages, but mostly I focus on the images, colors, shapes, etc.

With that said, I will leave you to look around and enjoy some of the older posts. I have removed some posts that are no longer working for this blog, so if you find some "dead links" please let me know.

If you check out my store Twisted Scrapper Boutique you will find a lot of art journal supplies. Most are digital which you can use in your digital art journals (or scrapbooks) or you can print to use in your hands on books. I also have a few packs that are physical (non digital). These packs are limited and are available when I have some. I have a few packs available at the moment, but not a whole lot. Feel free to browse the store, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask questions.

Challenge Week 17 - I want to be there...

I want to be there... - I think we all have a dream of a better place to live, for our children to grow up, to vacation, to relax, to? A different location than where you are right now. Maybe it is a place you have dreamt of since you were a child, something you saw on TV, or maybe even visited in the past.

This week I would love to see you make pages of places where you want to go/be. You can do this digitally or hands-on. You can do it with symbolism or you can write a story.

You place can be a physical location, a fantasy island, a state of mind... It is up to you where you would like to be today!

I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

REMEMBER: Art Journaling is not about the beginning or the end. It is all about the process. The Journey!

And if you feel up to it, please share pictures of your art journal pages at our Flickr gallery [HERE]

I want to be there...


Today I want to be there. On the beach, looking out of the Pacific ocean, watching the sun set, while dolphins frolic in the waves.

Challenge Week 16 - Moving Forward

Moving Forward - Some of you know that my family and I are going through some serious changes with our lives at the moment. Only weeks from hitting the road and spending several months in an RV. Right now we are selling everything that we can't bring, so we are having what seems like a never ending yardsale. We should get the RV at some point this coming week. I am looking very much forward to that.

Anyway, I think this week challenge fits our life and I would love to see how you all would use the phrase in your art journals.

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "Moving Forward"?

Are you moving forward or do you feel your life is at a stand-still? What would you like to do to move forward? Do you need to relocate to grow, or can you move forward without actually moving?

I would love to hear your ideas, and see your pages.

I hope you have fun doing this challenge.

REMEMBER: Art Journaling is not about the beginning or the end. It is all about the process. The Journey!

And if you feel up to it, please share pictures of your art journal pages at our Flickr gallery [HERE]

NOTE: For the next couple of months I will be having some trouble following the schedule, but promise that you will get a couple of challenge and of course your weekly member downloads each week. Might not be at the regular schedule, but you will get them. My week goes from Monday through Sunday. So check back often :)

Also, thank you to those of you who bought journal fodder packs and mini kits, and of course thank you to you all for your continued support.