Art Journal in the Works

Inspired by Jenniebellie's tutorial on making a journal from cereal boxes, I pulled out the paint and created a pile of painted cardboard and papers.  Included in this heap are also some drawings and ATCs I had laying around in the studio.

I am not making the same style of journal as Jenniebellie, so I have cut my cereal box paintings into different sizes/shapes.  I cut all the little pieces - the tops and sides off, too.  I think they will make cool embellishments to the pages.

I love the idea of upcycling empty boxes and junk mail.  Why waste all that free cardboard and paper? Just think about all the trees that went into all those cereal boxes.  Gesso, paint, collage and fabric can turn it into something fun, creative and useful.

I'm working on getting the journal together now.  Got a few ideas circulating in my head . . .

Do you like to upcycle stuff for your  art journals?

Linking up with Paint Party Friday and Art Journaling Everyday

ATCs

My online art group hosts a monthly swap of ATCs (artist trading cards) and since I am being brave and trying to share more of my artwork, I thought I'd give it a try.  I have never made ATCs before, but it was fun to experiment yesterday.  The theme for this month is "Love."

I decided to work with inks and here is what I did.  First a background.  I used heavy, smooth watercolor paper.  I used a brush to wet it with water and then dropped ink from the dropper, let it bleed and run, blotted with a paper towel . . .

Then I used brushes with more ink to create a design and added some pen work to a couple of them.  This is what I ended up with:

  Not sure if I want to add anything else. I need to take a look with fresh eyes later today.


Then I played around with making some fabric ATCs.  Still need to work out the kinks on the fabrication method, but here's a couple of designs I have so far:

So what do you think?  Have you made ATCs before?  What are your favorite media to use?