Up-cycle with Ellie.

Up-cycle with Ellie.

Hello Monday!

Ellie is back and she is beginning her Art Journal BUT while she waited for her preparation of her pages to dry she got busy and made some fabulous cards with the off cuts from her journal. I LOVE this. Using what you have. Bouncing from one project to the other. WONDERFUL, and just how a crafter should be.

Hello PDC friends, it’s Ellie here!

Today I’m sharing my process of how I came to make these cards, when I actually set out to make and start my Art Journal.  Sometimes I start out with an idea or a plan in my head of what I want to do, but often I go where the creativity leads me and I end making something else.

The other day Jodie asked me if I art journaled, and I have not for a long time. It got me thinking and itching to use/make one again. I was going to use a regular visual art diary, but I love to up-cycle so I headed down to my local Salvos store and grabbed a hardcover novel/book for $2.00.

Later that night I stared cutting out rectangles on multiple pages to make an internal frame. I then had all the sheets of paper I had cut out, my next thought was to paint and mist these and make flowers. I made flowers (using dies) and painted some extra sheets with watercolour paints.  I had a whole plan to use these paper flowers in my art journal, and I also wanted to put some of my favourite quotes in there.  Not being a huge fan of my lettering (I’m so out of practice) my next plan was to use the sketch pens on my Silhouette, which are great as the lettering looks hand drawn. What I wanted to do wasn’t quite working, so I decided to put my art journal aside and go on with my next idea, using the sketch pens to draw word art greetings for cards. Knowing that if I tried to draw onto the printed book paper the words would be hard to see, I opted for hand painted drawing paper. The paper had to be painted first before using the sketch markers as they would smudge with water. Once dry I then used the silhouette to draw/sketch my greeting on and cut around the design.  

While I was waiting for the watercolor paint to dry I had some sheets of book paper that had been misted/painted already. I used some texture paste mixed with white paint and a Mr. Huey’s chevron mist mask to add some textural interest to my cards.

These cards were quick and fun to make. I will get back onto my art journal later, but I feel that I’m not ready to keep going with it yet. If something is not working for me the way I planned, and I feel I should go in a different direction by trying something else, then I do. Yes I do have a few unfinished projects, but do get onto them, when I’m ready!

Ellie xxx

I have used Mister Huey’s mists and masks from Polka Dot Creative. You can find them HERE. For my full materials list please visit my blog, My Little Bunny Cupcake.

Tags: art journaling, cards, creative team, ellie shouten, upcycle