Sweet Art Journals

 I am so glad you stopped by. I have not forgotten that I told you I would post my "dance tips." It's just I worked in my art journal a lot this weekend and I thought it would be a fun thing for you to see and maybe do in your own art journal this week. A friend of mine challenged me to paint a big painting in oil every week. Of course I took the challenge. I started by sketching in my art journal some things that I was thinking. I worked on a few color charts finding the perfect color. I painted a big painting for the week and then back to my art journal. I love playful, fun, whimsical collage as much as I love my oils. I decided to take a break this weekend and play in my journal. Maybe I was hungry or needing some sugar. I'm not sure what led me to cupcakes, but I painted, collaged, glued, sketched, and  cut fun cupcakes in my studio this weekend. So enjoy!



I absolutely love working in my art journal. If you don't have one you need to buy one or make one. It is a fabulous place to think, sketch new ideas, try new techniques, and keep notes of future ideas. Some of my must haves in my studio besides my journal are gel mediums, markers, paint, ink, stamps, gesso, and paper made or bought.



Here I took a blank page in my journal and covered it in old book pages and bordered it in paper of my choice. I showed this paper because by the time I'm done this will be unrecognizable. Layer layer layer.



I then began to cut all different types of papers into shapes and collaged them onto my journal page. I made cupcakes out of collage paper. I then added paint to everything. The key here is layer layer layer. When you think you're done, layer some more! Be brave! Keep going. Layer with markers, pen, and ink as well as paint and paper! 

This is my journal page. Am I done? For now. I layered everything from paper to ink. I even printed my favorite words "love love love" and glued them down with a gel medium. Who knows, tomorrow I may come back and layer more. For me the process is the most fun part! The more you experiment the more you learn.



I love this picture because it shows you that my journal page inspired my canvas. I took the idea from my journal and put it on canvas. My art journal inspired a line of cupcakes to put in my etsy shop. So this week I will be designing cupcakes in my studio.

I hope this inspires you to play in your art journal today! It is a fun and easy way to be creative and try new things. Send me your pics of your pages! I'd love to see what you create! Thank you for stopping by! This was so much fun! Go create!!                                               Love love love Ruthie