Art Journal

Actually, I can or … In my Art Journal today

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Actually, I can!

Sometimes, when you think things are just not working out and you want to give up, this is a good reminder. As you can see I was in the mood for a grungy art journal spread.

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I painted the art journal background background in different red and magenta acrylic paints and stamped a border using the Toledo, Santiago, and Buenos Aires  Foam Stamps and black acrylic paint.

Next, I layered gesso and unbleached titanium and scraped away some parts. Then I stamped with the same foam stamps using the red and magenta colors of the background on top. I stamped mixing different tints and shades with the colors I already used but also incorporated gold and copper in between.

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For the middle section of each side of my journal spread, I painted a music sheet with gold and copper acrylic paint, and then stamped using the positive and the negative Stamp of the Versailles set and black paint on top of it.

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I tore the music sheet up and pasted it to the spread left and right and added  a couple more layers of stamping and over-painting.

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I added some charcoal pencil marks and wrote out the text.

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I love the result and the weathered pattern look.

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I felt so much better when I was done with this spread  – yeah for art journaling *wink

Here is what I used for the page – some links are affiliate links:



Wishing you a wonderful day and – hey – remember “You actually can!”

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Yes to all or … In my Art Journal today

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Make something, be creative, be fun, wild, original, imaginative….etc ….YES to all

So much fun to play a bit in my art journal using the new ArtFoamies Batik Stamps 1, 2, 3 and 4

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I painted the background and then rolled out two different color next to each other with a brayer- so half the brayer was covered in cobalt turquoise and the other half in unbleached titanium and applied the brayer to the stamps

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and just went with it. Loved the two colored patterns and the texture this created.

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It tied the background and collaged paper snippets together. The text on the kraft paper is actually from a paper bag.

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I overpainted a magazine image with the same colors using a small brush and then went over with a soft pencil.

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It was a quick and fun art journal page – a much needed creative time after a bit of a long stretch working on a computer.

Here are some of the supplies I used for this spread – note that some links are affiliate links

SuppliesCJS



Hope you have a wonderful day full of happy YES :)

Comments (2)

  • Sherri Scott

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    Dear Nathhalie
    I wanted to tell you I had the best weekend ever when you where at the Ink Pad. Thank you

    Reply

  • Kathy P

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    Awesome journal pages, Nat—& I love those bold new stamps!

    Reply

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ART JOURNAL YOUR ARCHETYPES by Gabrielle Javier-Cerulli—Book Giveaway

I just received two copies of this wonderful book by Gabrielle Javier-Cerulli

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ART JOURNAL YOUR ARCHETYPESMixed Media Techniques for Finding Yourself

“In this unique book, you will learn processes for discovering your core archetypes and using that knowledge to create highly personal visual expressions, all the while embracing the personal revelations and creative breakthroughs that result”. -Gabrielle

Gabrielle asked me along with a couple other wonderful artists if I’d contribute to her book. I was super honored and of course I said yes. Gabrielle had a long conversation with me to explore my archetypes which was very interesting to learn about. After the interview and after she told me my archetypes I created art journal pages based on those. It has been so much fun and I learned a lot about myself. Here are the pages I contributed:

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Find out more about Archetypes, your own archetypes and how they can prompt your art journal pages in this book. Thank you so much Gabrielle for including me!

Get yourself a copy or leave a comment here for a chance to win one of the copies of the book I received. You can comment until October 26, 2016 midnight EST and I will pick one lucky winner randomly and announce the winner shortly after.

Comments (25)

  • Sandra L.

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    Gorgeous book and your pages are always so powerful. I am new to art journals and for months have sat and stared at the blank pages. Winning a copy of the book would hopefully spark what is needed to get me on the correct path. Thanks for the opportunity.

    Reply

  • Kim Johnny

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    Love your bold and bright pages! Fabulous! The book looks so wonderful and would love to learn from it. Thanks so much for sharing and a chance to win!~kim

    Reply

  • Crystal Korzep

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    Oh my goodness, I grabbed a bunch of books here in Barnes and Noble, looking at page 25 in Art Journal Your Archetypes, and came across your blog Nathalie. I am looking you up on my cell phone, and saw you are friends with Jennifer and were in Boston. I live 30 minutes out if Boston. I am in time for your deadline to win this awesome book. Oh boy, would I live to win. I am on a new journey iny art; going to try to paint, draw and do mixed media daily.

    Reply

  • elle

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    First I heard of this term! How fascinating. I’m intrigued.

    Reply

  • esther

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    looks really interesting! would love to win a copy!

    Reply

  • Julie B

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    What a cool experience for you! This is intriguing and looking forward to more revelations on your blog and can’t wait to you visit to California in January. Thank you!

    Reply

  • Martine M.

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    You always have great pages! Book seems a very interesting. Thanks for the chance to win!.

    Reply

  • susan debourguignon

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    wow, Nathalie! your pages are always so colorful — the black and white pages are so striking to me. glad you are included in your friends’ book. the whole archetype business is intriguing to me. if i don’t win it, i will likely buy it.

    Reply

  • Gill K

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    This sounds a fascinating book. Thank you for the opportunity to win a copy. Your pages are powerful and striking.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Hi Gill, you won the Archetypes book! Congratulations! I send you an email directly- so please contact me until November 7th, so that I can send out the book to you -Nat

      Reply

      • Gill K

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        Hi Nathalie,
        Thank you so much for your generosity. I look forward to working from the book in due course. Gill

        Reply

  • Linda S Richards

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    Awesome giveaway & such a great book! Thank you for the opportunity!

    Reply

  • Suz

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    This looks like a lot of fun! I’d love to win this book and learn more about myself and my art. Thanks for the chance!

    Reply

  • April Lopez

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    This looks like an I tersting book to dig into. I love your pages.

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    JUDGE really caught my eye. I think that black and white just makes it stand out more (as much as I love how you mix bright colors Nat).
    Thanks for the chance to win this very cool book.

    Reply

  • Lori B

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    Wow your work is beautiful. This book looks very interesting. Thank you for offering this.

    Reply

  • Bec Miller

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    How interesting!! Congrats!

    Reply

  • Bea Savellano

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    Looks like an inspiring book. Love your pages…

    Reply

  • Gwen L

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    I’m so intrigued by everything I’ve seen about this book – what an interesting concept! Love your contributions – gorgeous!

    Reply

  • Kathy P

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    As a relative newcomer to mixed media art, this is a new term to me. I’m intrigued! Will have to get a copy because it sounds like it will expand my knowledge of ‘self’, which I am discovering is so important to making art.
    And I love the pages you’ve included in it, Nat!

    Reply

  • Susan

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    I have always struggled with what I want to put on an art journal page and hopefully this book would help me to overcome that uncertantity.

    Reply

  • Melinda

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    Archtypes are so interesting to me — in some way they make me feel more connectd to the rest of the world,

    Reply

  • Nancy

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    So bold and colorful. There is always so much to learn and this looks like a wealth of information.

    Reply

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Stepping Up The Game or … In my Art Journal Today

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“Be the kind of girl that makes other girls step their game up”

I started this page in one of my classes with the middle pattern showing one of the Versailles Foam Stamps stamped with acrylic paint.

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and then kept on going at home adding more patterns using the Buenos Aires Border Stamp and the Buenos Aires Tile Stamp on top.

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On the bottom I used one of the Chicago Stamps. To finish it up I layered some acrylic ink on top which was mostly resisted by the stamped images. This is a good way to add some color to the background after you stamped.

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But it looked also very good without the colored backgrounds – next time I guess *wink.

Here are some of the supplies I used for this journal spread – some links are affiliate links:

SuppliesCJS




Hope you are having a wonderful day

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Battles Won or … In My Art Journal Today

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For this Art Journal Spread I played a bit with my new Versailles Positive and Negative Foam Stamp Set.

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I created a flap for the journaling by using a shipping tag which I applied with artist masking tape to create a hinge.

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I love this quote: She never seemed shattered to me. She was a breathtaking mosaic of the battles she has won! (unknown source)

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I used the Versailles Stamp Set  which comes with two Foam Stamps – positive and negative pattern- and I also used two StampBuddies, one for each stamp. Now what can you do with the StampBuddy? Wellllllll…some seriously cool stuff. Instead of applying acrylic paint with a brayer onto the Stamp -like in this Rule of Three Video – 3Ways to “ink” up foam stamps – which also shows you two more application ways, you can also use the nifty StampBuddy the following way :)

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Using Archival Ink (any ink pad that is waterproof) I stamped each of the stamps on a StampBuddy.

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The picture above also shows you how the stamps look like when stamped with a solid color – pretty cool – huh?

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What I want to do though is coloring the stamps with different colors – like in the picture above.

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So I gathered the colors that I would want to have appear on the stamps

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and started to apply grey  acrylic paint using a palette knife into the middle section of the StampBuddy. This is never going to be a perfect circle but that is beyond the point  in my view. Soft Body or Fluid Acrylic paint works best, and you have to work a bit fast to not use too much paint as it soaks quite quickly into the StampBuddy.

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Next I massaged some teal acrylic paint into the remaining uncovered area.

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which results into this fuzzy guy – but don’t worry- since your StampBuddy is always approximately the size of your stamp – you will get the different colors at the areas where you want it.

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Your StampBuddy has now become your “Ink” Pad – filled with acrylic paint instead of ink.

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I stamped a tile background into my art journal by lining up the stamp in rows. You can easily see how to line up the stamp when you look from the side. LOOOOOVEEE!

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Now I did the same thing with different colors on the second StampBuddy. Since the yellow I used is not opaque you can still see the stamped image peeking through. I could have stamped different rows but HA – here is another cool thing you can do with those stamp sets :)

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You can actually just line up the second stamp on top of the other stamped image – again you will see where it lines up from the side – and it will stamp perfectly into the white space filling it up with juicy yummie colors.

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I love this – such a cool tile pattern, don’t you think???? Yes- I jumped up and down like a little kid when I did this because it was exactly how I envisioned my stamps to work *Wink.

Just a couple tips:

  • The StampBuddy will contain a lot of paint, so use it only if you have time to actually use it up in one session or when you want to do the different color method
  • I used the paint up by stamping a sheet of gift wrapping paper – boom – one sheet down for the next presents.
  • Clean the StampBuddy when you are done with your creative time, wash it out with water until the water is clear. The stamped archival ink impression will remain on your StampBuddy.
  • Clean your Foam Stamp – I know there are different approaches- I do not clean it super crazy scrubby, but I want most of the acrylic paint off. For me this is a foam stamp and it should remain cushiony as this is what creates this kind of impression and it also let’s me use other paint media than just acrylic paint on it – I will get back to this some time later.
  • Do only use a small amount of paint with your StampBuddy – you will be surprised how far it will get you and it also prevents seeping paint into the creases of your stamps- which a) wastes paint and b) makes it harder to clean up your stamp and c) gives less nice stamped images.

I cannot wait to show you more fun stuff and patterns with my new ArtFoamies Foam Stamps.

Here is what I used for the art journal – some links are affiliate links:

Hope you enjoyed this post and wishing you a wonderful day!

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City Blues or… In my Art Journal today

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“Sometimes the city beats to the pulse of my heart, sometimes slightly off”

Last week the city was beating slight off my heart pulse, meaning I was grumpy at the city – yup that can happen – but playing with some of my brand new ArtFoamies Designs helped *wink. In case you have missed the big news- check them out  – you can order them now in my store

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I used the Manhattan Border Stamp and the Manhattan Positive & Negative Stamp Set and went to town for some fun pattern play.

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The Manhattan Positive and Negative Stamp Set comes with both stamps and you can use them either alone, together or …even cooler on top of each other – yeah!!!

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I played with all three variations and added the Manhattan here and there and then outlined some areas for a city scape.

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I added the journaling with a black marker and traced on top with a white signo pen. And…I felt way better about the city again – no more City Blues *Wink

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Here is what I used (some of the links are affiliate links):

SuppliesCJS


Which of my new ArtFoamies Stamps do you like the best and would take away any Blues from you?

In case you are in the NYC- Area – there are still a couple seats open for my two day and super duper awesome Art Rules Workshop at The InkPad this coming weekend. Check it out- it is going to be amazing and we will use all the new stamps and even some other fun secret things *wink

October 8-9, 2016 in NYC at The Ink Pad  in NYC, NY

ArtRulesWorkshopNat

Registration open now

Have a wonderful day!!!

Comments (1)

  • Joi @RR

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    Wow – awesome new stamps Nat. How exciting. And super fine journal pages created with a new one too!! Xj.

    Reply

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You Are At The Right Place or… In My Art Journal Today

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“you are at the right place, when you travel and have a splendid time and come home and fall over in love again with your home”

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Loved making this grungy spage using a handcarved stamp as well as my Urban Scribble and Grunge Stamp Set.

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I added some marks and painted details to blend the elements together and I like the overall feel of this page.

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This art journal spread reminds me how excited I am every time I come home from traveling and how happy it makes me to see the statue of liberty and the skyline of Jersey City and New Jersey and sometimes even my house from the airplane. I guess I am home here now *wink

Here are some of the supplies I used for this art journal spread – some are affiliate links:

SuppliesCJS

Wishing you a beautiful day!

Comments (1)

  • Joi@RR

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    Oh wow – these pages are just amazing Nat. There is so much to see and so much dimension – the buildings go in and out and up and down and it’s just sooooo awesome. Seems like THIS needs to be a painting SOON. It’s really splendid. Xj.

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Always Believe or… In My Art Journal Today

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“Always believe that something wonderful is about to happen”

Word!

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For this spread I had painted some happy colors onto the art journal pages and then used a pencil to scratch in some journaling. Next I colored in circles and before the paint dried, I layered the stencil which his included in the Fashion Dame Stamp Set over the wet paint. I took off the wet paint through the stencil with a baby wipe. I used the rubber attached to my pencil and dipped it in paint to add little circles throughout the spread.

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I stamped the Fashion Dame and layered the skirt and jacket on top and colored it in with acrylic paint.

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As you can see, lot’s of layers and it was fun to create.

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Here are the supplies I used for this art journal spread – some links are affiliate links:

SuppliesCJS

Have a gorgeous day and …always believe!!!

Comments (2)

  • Sue Clarke

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    Attitude is everything!
    Thanks for spreading some joy with your art and blog Nat!!!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Sue for your support and making me believe :)

      Reply

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I have a song or… In My Art Journal Today

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“A Bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song” Maya Angelou

Such a beautiful quote! I used my Bird Stamp Set and my initial bird that was the start of my stamp design.

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I created a background using the masks and stencils in the Bird set, and then used the patterned foam stamp and painted inside with brush.

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I played with overpainting areas and revealing them again as well as shadows.

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I really love the outcome .

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It was a good song :)

Here are some of the supplies I used for this art journal spread – some are affiliate links:

SuppliesCJS


Hope you have a gorgeous day!

Comments (2)

  • Joi@RR

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    Yes – I agree with Janet! Thank you Nat for singing your song to us today through your bright and happy pages. You have started my day off with a smile. Xj.

    Reply

  • Janet

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    Love this! Thanks for singing a song this morning!

    Reply

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