Hello! I'm here today to share how to make a simple yet striking art journal page from one ArtStacks pack. In this case, the pack is Wonderful World by Tamara Laporte (#willowing). I used both the physical papers plus digital files to make this.

Step 1: Take the stunning pink leaves page from the pack and add messy stitching around the edge. I didn't have access to a sewing machine when I made this as I'm travelling at the moment so I added the stitching digitally. The leaves image is printed on a fine deli paper. If you'd like to layer it onto your art journal page, try adding it with staples or tape, not a wet media as wet media could buckle the delicate paper.
Step 2: Cut out the bird and add it to the page, adding thread behind it.
Step 3: Add the quote. Again, I added this digitally.

You can find Tamara Laporte's stunning new pack at www.artstacks.com.au/shop.

Happy creating!

Heather

Be Bold at ArtStacks

Hello! 

I had a long, drawn-out flu recently and I wanted to create but I didn’t have a lot of energy. I just felt like slowly doodling, so I created my background for this page entirely from painting and doodling! I found this a very relaxing thing to do.

I love this quote by Deb Weiers. The quote is printed on tissue so I layered it onto a blank space on the page and coloured some of the letters. I added a cluster on the left side of the page with one of Deb’s quirky little birds.

I used one of Deb’s amazing paintings to support the quote and finished with a few of her flowers.

Deb has four ArtStacks packs. I used three of them - Wonky Faces, Wonky Bits and Wonky Critters. You can see all four of Deb's packs here.

I think Deb Weiers is an amazing artist. I hope you love her unique style as much as I do!

Happy creating!
Heather

Guys who Played Accordions

Hello there! 

This month the challenge over at More Than Words is to be inspired by Tea or Coffee. I'm not a tea or coffee drinker so I chose to use a coffee wash as my background.

My art desk was a mess so I made myself only use scraps and things that were close at hand. I started with the coffee wash but didn't have a plan on what I would do after that. I read the words on some of the scraps of text paper on my desk and saw this quote about accordions. I immediately thought of this adorable little accordion player from the ArtStacks "All Dressed Up" pack and ran with this. The background marks and images are all from ArtStacks' new-release "Tissue Backgrounds" pack.

I hope you can join in this month. You could win a prize from ArtStacks!

You can find the challenge details here.

Happy art journaling!
Heather

"Untamed Hearts" Mini Journal

Hello! I'm busting to share my art journal I made using Tracy Verdugo's papers from ArtStacks!

I was really inspired by the gorgeous women and hearts in Tracy's "Love Lives Here" pack. I got to thinking about women and their hearts and I realised I know so many women who use their love and their hearts in different ways. I wanted to journal about that.

I simply glued the pages together to make the journal and I stitched a contrasting piece of paper along the spine.

This is the cover of the journal:

The title on the second page was an obvious one for me. I think we all know people like this! I typed my titles. I love Tracy's colourful moons that I could use to decorate the pages.

I inserted a pocket and tag into the journal.

The next page is printed on translucent paper. I left it unadorned as I love the gorgeous colours and it allows us to partly see the next page which is arouses our curiosity.

Once we turn the page we can see the following page in detail:

The final page is the back cover of the book. I used a quote from Khe Sanh by Cold Chisel and I crocheted the 'chains'.

All the papers in this journal are from Tracy Verdugo's packs. The women, hearts and moons are from her Love Lives here pack:

Those gorgeous background papers, dripping with colour, are from her Under the Sea pack:

I hope this gives you some ideas how you can incorporate these stunning papers into your work!

Happy creating!
Heather

I'm Back!

Hello and welcome back! Sorry for my absence - I've been away.

I was keen to get back to my craft desk and I was excited to get to play with some recent releases over at ArtStacks. This page was created for December's More than Words challenge using Tracy Verdugo's "Under the Sea" pack.

The theme at More Than Words this month is "Seasons". Summer is my favourite season so I chose to create about that. Even though the papers in this pack are sea-themed, I felt the page I used for my background captured the feeling of a hot summer perfectly. I enjoy using papers in a different way than the obvious uses.

The woman is from Tracy's other pack - "Love Lives Here". She's printed on tissue so I painted the background behind her white then adhered the tissue image to the page with gel medium. I put another coat over the top and the tissue disappeared. I then used watercolour pencils to colour her features.

I love the paint dribbles on the background page so I highlighted them by adding the rest of my title along them: "and the livin' is easy....."

I hope you can create an art journal page and join us this month. You can find the challenge here.

Happy journaling!
Heather

Hello! I’ve been having a blast playing with the new Gelatin Printing Enthusiasts packs over at ArtStacks! I love that we can create art and support artists at the same time! I used one of Nitsa Malik’s images from the Art & Life pack.

In keeping with the gelatin printing theme, all the papers are my own geli-prints.

I thought the image of the surfer against a colourful sunrise was very evocative and it inspired me to write these words. I find it challenging to write lettering like this but I really like the result and I’m glad I took the time to do it.

Have you seen the new packs at ArtStacks yet? You can find them here.

Happy creating!
Heather

Embrace Life

Hello and welcome to a new month! The challenge for May at More Than Words is to create an art journal page inspired by the word "Celebrate"!

Here's what I made:

I adore this little boy from ArtStacks' "All Dressed Up" pack. The books and flower are from the same pack while the heart is from Lisa Oxley's "Bright and Bold" pack and the title is from the "Inspirational Words" MiniStack.

Will you join is this month? There's an ArtStacks prize for the winner! 

You can find the challenge here.

Happy creating!
Heather

Light in Your Heart

 Hello! 

I'm back today with an art journal page made using Tamara Laporte's new images over at ArtStacks. Tam, known as 'willowing' on Instagram, has released two packs. The owl and leaves are from her Artsy Animals pack and the quote is from her Fabulous Faces pack.

Pop over to the ArtStacks shop here to see what else is in her amazing packs!

Happy creatin'!
Heather

Tamara Laporte has New Releases at ArtStacks!

Oh my goodness - I'm so excited to share my first post using Tamara Laporte's new releases over at ArtStacks! Tamara, known as willowing on Instagram, is an incredible artist and I'm thrilled to be able to create with her images.

To make my background I layered up random offcuts of my geli-prints. I adore these colours! I tore out the tissue lady from the page of images using a small wet paintbrush to get edges that blend in well then I adhered her with gel medium. I love how you can't see at all where the tissue is (no - it's not the large white rectangle - that's the geli-print paper underneath!) I used watercolours to add a few pops of colour to her lips and the butterfly/flower in her hair. I embellished her "Tam style" by adding a wing to her shoulder and an 'earring" to her ear. These, plus the flowers and the word "Shine" are all printed on tissue.

Gosh these images are wonderful to play with! They've only just been released. You can find them at the ArtStacks shop here.

Happy creating!

Heather