No Plan Art Journaling: How I make it work!

If you are starting at a blank page with absolutely no idea what to create, this video is for you. So, welcome back to my channel. After a wonderful summer break, I'm back in the studio sharing a step-by-step no plan art journal page that everyone can recreate just by following the steps. No inspiration needed. So, I'm a little bit rusty after so much time away from my craft room. And today I want to start slowly and create something with no plan at all. I'm going through some of my background pages and I'm just going to grab a page that looks kind of uh neutral in colors so that I can have a starting point and I can work on top of it without too much effort. I am going to cut this pattern paper into size so that it fits inside my journal. I will be working on this pattern paper and then stick it uh on my page. So, uh my journal is 6x6 in size. I'm going to cut this at 5x5 to end up having a lovely border. So, you can recreate easily this step. Just grab any pattern paper that is quite neutral in color and uh cut it out to be slightly smaller than your journal. Now, I don't want to throw away the leftovers. So, I'm just cutting out uh rectangle squares, uh pieces that I don't really measure, and I'm going to to use them to stick them on top of my page to create some kind of a tile effect, uh without too much effort. Uh so, I'm going to grab my scissors and rough up the edges. This is going to give some kind of dimension and interest on the pattern paper before I stick it down. And I'm going to grab my glue to stick that down. And as I turn the page around, I absolutely love the look. So, I'm just debating which side I want to use. Do I want to use this busier and more vintage looking background or the other side which is more subtle? But since I don't have a plan on what I'm I'm going to stick on top, I decide to grab that page and I'm going to make two pages at once. For this video today, I will be following the exact same steps for both those pages, but the one will end up looking fresh and bright. The other one is going to look uh vintage and uh old. So just by using the same steps, you will see the difference. It is super fun video and I think you will enjoy it and hopefully it is going to inspire you to create similar pages. So I will create first my backgrounds and then I will stick them on the journal. I'm starting with a subtle one and I'm just sticking all those uh little squares and rectangles that I cut out previously. Uh it doesn't look too much uh of a difference, but trust me, in real life it is because it adds all those different layers. Although it keeps everything quite subtle, just randomly sticking everything down and you can definitely bring those edges more into life with many different options. I will not be doing that for this project. So hopefully you can recreate something similar with the pattern papers that you have at home. Now for the other page, there are lots of things going on in the background. I could repeat the same um technique, but um I think that it already has enough rectangles. I don't need to add any extra on top, so I'm going to leave it as it is. And now it's all about making those pattern papers uh your own. I am going to grab a couple of acrylic paints. And I'm just going through my acrylic paints. I'm trying to find something that is similar. Picking colors from underneath. So, I'm going with those warm oranges for uh the vintage one and with those two blue shades for the uh subtle one. And let's start with the first one. You see, I'm uh following the exact same steps for both the pages. Two colors that um were inspired for from the background. And then I'm going to apply those two colors on top of my page randomly with a brush. You can go with a a stiff brush or with a a smooth brush, a soft brush like I'm doing here. But make sure that the brush is completely dry. I'm doing dry brushing here, which is going to uh give a completely different look because if your brush is wet, um it's going to kind of overwhelm the page and it's going to go all over the place. Now, I'm not trying to cover up what is underneath. And since I do have uh some extra paint, I'm just going to add some splatters. And I'm happy with how that looks. Let's repeat the exact same process on the other page. And so that you don't get bored, I will repeat the same steps but uh with uh small differences. So here for example, I'm applying again two colors of acrylic paint but instead of using a brush I'm using a spatula for a completely different look. You see this is more dramatic effect and uh the colors don't blend as much. But in any case, no matter what tool you uh decide to use to apply your acrylic paint, whether it is a spatula or a brush, don't try to cover up completely the whole uh pattern paper. We want to still be able to see the design underneath. Just go randomly in a few areas here and there, and you will see it's going to make a huge difference. Before I move on to the next step, it is very important to make sure that this acrylic paint is completely dry. And then the next step is to do some stamping. For the subtle background, I'm going to go with a big font. And uh I am going to stamp everything with a black archival ink. Very important. I need to make sure that this is permanent because at this stage I have no idea what I'm going to do next. to I better uh be safe. Everything I apply on the page is permanent. The acrylic paint and the stamping. I am going to stamp on a few areas completely randomly. I'm not using an acrylic block because I don't want to end up with perfect stamping. The more imperfect, the better it's going to look. Now for my orange background, I already have lots of text stamped by design in the background. So instead of using another text stamp on top, I'm just going to go with something different. So here I just chose one background stamp that gives you a circle. And I'm just going to stamp again with black permanent ink in a few areas. This uh already has lots of stamping, lots of um black lettering, so I don't need to overdo it. I'm just going to stop here. I'm going to bring in another little small stamp that gives me some numbers which are not um in the pattern paper already. So, I'm just going to stamp with that again. Mainly staying where I stamped previously. Kind of creating a cluster so that it doesn't look too busy too busy all over the place. And I'm happy with the stamping. I'm going to stop here now. And since I'm going for a vintage look and feel for my orange background, I am going to do some inking on the edges. I'm using a brown ink distress ink. And I'm going all around the edges. This is going to create kind of a darker border. It's going to give the look of a vignette. and it um instantly turns any background into vintage looking. Now I want to have a more a dramatic effect of a border. So I'm going to uh use black suit as well. And I'm going to ink up the edges. Not uh going as far into the center of the page as I did with the brown. Mainly staying on the edges, but it really makes a huge difference. So all around the edges with this one. And I'm not going to do any borders for the other page, the blue one, because I don't want to turn it into looking, uh, vintage. So, uh, I'm going to skip this technique for the other one. And let's move on to the next step. Now, I want to add some details on the border. One way that you can do that is to grab your sewing machine. I'm too lazy to do that. And you can add somehal stitching around the borders. And uh another way is to use uh rabons like stitching uh designs that I have here. Or if you do have a stamp set, you can use any of those stamps to go around your borders. Now, I'm going to do something uh similar but different on both my pages. So, for the vintage one, I'm going to use a stamp and I'm going to stamp that with black ink around the borders. I'm not going to go all over the border. I'm just going to choose a few areas where I can do the stamping. And I have zoomed for you so you can probably see better exactly the effect. But trust me, if you do it with a sewing machine, it is going to give a different texture and dimension. Plus, you will have those strings coming out here and there. And uh it is really a great look. Now, I'm really happy with how this orange background is looking. Let's do the same thing for the blue page, but this time I'm going to switch from the stamp into those rabons that I have. And I'm going to use the white ones. If you don't have rabons for the stitching, but you do have a stamp, just go with a white ink pad. Or you can definitely use a white embossing powder and do some embossing to get the white effect. And of course, if you are actually using a sewing machine, just switch threads. Now, again, for this background, I'm not going to create a border all over all around. I'm just uh choosing a few areas to uh transfer this design. And of course, I'm mainly going where I have a darker uh blue area at the background to allow for this stitching to show. Next step, I'm going to play with a stencil and add some texture with paste. And because I'm doing the same steps, but slightly different. Uh, for these pages, on the blue page, I'm going to use white paste on the vintage orange one. I'm going with black. I chose a stencil that is very generic. Just some shapes, geometric shapes or um even patterns would work for that because they are generic and they work for pretty much anything no matter what I choose later on to use as my focal point because remember I have no idea what the focal points are going to be for both those pages. Now the thicker the paste the better the design is going to transfer. However, I don't want to end up with um a complete pattern all over the place. So, you see again I'm going randomly mainly in three different areas. And my black paste is a little bit dry, but I'm going to make it work. I don't want to waste any paste. And it worked just fine. Now, I'm super happy with how those two backgrounds are looking. So, I'm just going to use some glue and stick them inside my journal. You can definitely use any glue that you like. You can go with matte medium at this stage. I just chose to go with my Nova Deluxe because that's what I had on my desk. And I'm being very careful because the paste is not dry yet. I'm going to stick the pages next to each other so that you can easily see what I'm doing on both pages and compare. Now for the vintage one, if the border was black, it would look even better, a more dramatic effect. You can definitely h do that if you wish. And as my paste is drying on the background, I'm going to go ahead and look into my stars for focal points. I had so much fun creating the backgrounds. I don't want to uh cover them up completely. I don't want to uh do anything crazy on top of them. So I am going with uh these box of ephima. These are by art by Mar. I have them for months. I have used them in many many art journal pages that I'm sharing. This has so many inside. You cannot really choose which one to go with. So I'm just uh trying to decide which ones I want to use. I place them on top of the background to see how well they stand out and if they fit with what I have already because remember I didn't have a plan in the beginning. Um you will find here that you get frames as well. So anyway, it's a fun little thing that gives you lots of options and I think it is on discount and I do have a coupon code. Check down below in the description. Uh I will add the coupon code. I think you can get this at about $5. It's super cheap and uh great value for money. Anyway, you can use any focal points that you have. You can go with flowers, you can go with uh whatever you have. You can use magazines and just cut out images. You can definitely stamp an image, color it, cut it out, and stick it on top. Here is what I decided to use. And I will show you a little trick. Now, sometimes your ephemera might be a little bit shiny. If you don't like that shine, you can definitely use um matte medium glue. I'm using rice paper glue by Samaria, which is exactly the same thing, a matte medium glue. And you can go over your ephemera. This is going to turn anything that is shiny into matte. just apply your uh uh matte medium glue, let it dry, and it is going to be completely matte. So, I'm going to do that for both my ephemera. And then I want to create a little cluster for both those uh focal points without overwhelming the page. I don't want to cover up everything. So, I'm just going to grab a few tickets or some ledges, whatever you have. You can definitely use uh background pattern paper that you cut out into size. And for the pieces I will use on the vintage space, I'm doing inking, roughing up the edges, adding all those little details that I did add on the background so that everything kind of comes together. And I'm going to use uh washi tape, a black washi tape that I had in my stars. I'm going to use corrugated card stock and just create a little cluster. You see the cluster is super easy. Just the cut on top of that little uh piece that I have. And this is going to help the cut stand out against the background. I created a little cluster on front of the cat by adding corrugated card stock. And then for the boat to represent uh the waves, I just used some uh medical go and a couple of tickets. Now, I didn't like how clean the corrugated card stock was, so I'm going over it with some white paint. And then for the sentiments, I'm going with H white for the light one and black for the vintage one. This is a sticker booklet that I have for ages. It is definitely out of stock now, but I like to collect them, and I have a big collection of sticker uh quotes. So, I'm using a couple of them here to finish off my page. When the phrase is very long, I like to cut it in smaller pieces. And you can call this pages done. You see, I use the same steps and I got completely different results. I always like to do some finishing touches. However, some doodling with a black fine marker and some white gel pen. Sometimes I go and outline the cutout pieces. Sometimes I add some highlights here and there. Everything however is not perfect and I always like to do all those lines completely sketchy and not all over the place. I don't perfectly outline everything. So I am going to finish off my both my pages with my favorite thing that I always like to do the white splattering. I like to use white uh calligraphy ink for that because it's just super handy. And this finishes both my pages for today. I hope that you had fun and that you got inspired to follow this process with what you have at home. Down below in the description, you can find some of the supplies that I used. Thank you all so much for watching and I'll see you all next time.