Fabric Spray and Doilies

 When I flip through different "how-to" books on art and journaling I always find fund ideas to try. I find a blank page on my altered book journal and experiment away. Here I chose a page that had white gesso with exposed words. I positioned two doilies on the page and spritzed with several colors of fabric spray. Then I blotted up the excess paint with paper towels which added additional texture to the background. And then these pages sat, and sat, and sat. I never felt inspired to go back and do anything on top of the basic background prep. Part of the disconnect is the word I had left exposed: February. It is my birth month so it seemed obvious that I'd go back at some point and add some collage/thoughts here on the birthday theme. Nada. These mostly blank pages were the final ones left to fill before my 2013 art journal was completed. I switched themes from February to using it to jot down encouraging Bible verses that had been sent to me by ministry colleagues during December. Nothing fancy, but I had half an hour of thoughtful reflection transferring the emailed Bible verse to my journal plus then the book was done

VBS 'Dump Sheet'

Doing a "dump sheet" in your art journal is a quick way to jot down key moments you want to remember about a particular event or activity. Here I used four colors of pilot markers to write down the positive points of our week-long vacation Bible school. The journal page is in an altered book which was layered with white gesso and then spritzed with the fabric sprays we had used in one of the VBS activities. The simple layout also includes the group photo from VBS and my name badge. I used the block print from the t-shirts we had made at VBS to imprint the theme design with orange acrylic paint across the center of the journal page. The stacked journaling words describe the experiences of the week. Every time I flip through my journal it will be a reminder of the love and joy and fun and community of this this special week.

Prayer Flag Illustrates Prayers of the Congregation

 This simple project is made by using an old sheet cut into rectangles and Pentel Fabric Fun Pastel Dye Sticks and/or fabric stencils and stamps with specialty fabric ink pads. The completed piece is ironed to "set" the colors.

 The children at summer VBS made prayer flags to illustrate the various local and global missions that the church participates in. The individual flags are made from a white sheet that had been cut into rectangles with pinking shears and then the pieces ironed smooth.

 An adult prepared the flags with the words of the various missions using foam letters and fabric ink. During the teaching time, the leader talked about the ways this particular church serves the local and global community. For example, teens and adults volunteer at Connections, a shelter for teens at risk; the pastor helps with two new church developments (Filipino-Austin and Bastrop); a mission team goes to the barrios in Los Cabos, Mexico to work with women and children and the Cabo Kids mission; the church sponsors a child in Ethiopia through Compassion International, and the church supports local food banks.

Block Imprint(ed) Tee Shirts

 Use craft foam to cut out designs, glue on wood blocks, and make "custom" block printing images for t-shirts. We used the theme "He came; He died; He rose; He ascended; He's coming back" theme to make custom shirts for our VBS with the theme: Witness the Jesus Way. We had everyone BYO their own shirt in whatever style they chose. They selected three complementary colors of fabric paint and "spritzed" their shirt front and back. The fabric paint dries fairly quickly, particularly in the Texas HOT summer heat. TIP: Make your own fabric sprays by mixing 1/3 acrylic paint to 2/3 water in a small (hairspray) bottle OR refill the fabric spray bottles using the same paint-to-water ratio. After the spritzed paint dries use already prepared block prints to imprint the five symbols. Have teens or adults help the smaller children do the block imprint.  TIP: do a prototype ahead of time so the design concept is readily available for everyone to see. Also, begin your design by positioning the middle element and imprinting it first in the center; otherwise you might misjudge the amount of space and run out of room on either side. To avoid this, begin in the center and work your way out.

 Use a paintbrush to "load" the stamp with acrylic paint. Position the imprint slightly below the neckline so it is "above" the chest. Press the block with a firm hand that doesn't wiggle/move the stamp once it is placed on the fabric. The same homemade block stamps can be customized for virtually any "chunky" design that doesn't require a lot of detail.

Begin in the center and work out.

The completed imprint.

June: Sew In Love

 The catalyst for this art page was dragging my sewing machine out of storage so I could sew two simple seams for a summer VBS project. As long as the sewing machine was finally set up & threaded, I figured I might as well see what happens when you sew fabric to a journal page. This altered book journal was originally about the twelve month cycle of a particular garden. I left "June" as the single exposed word when I went through and randomly painted various pages with white or black gesso. Because I always think of June as "our month" since is our wedding anniversary I figured the artwork would ultimately have something to do with love and marriage. I kept flipping past these two blank pages until one day I had a super short time to experiment with sewing in a journal, and these blank black gesso pages jumped out. I spritzed fabric paint on the right side, and I sewed fabric on the left page with strips sitting in a pile I uncovered that I had cut for quilting 9+ years ago. Then I layered cut pieces of fancy handmade paper cut in the shape of a heart and topped it with H + M cut out of thin silk ribbon.

The back side of the page shows the purple thread (I thought it was black when I put the bobbin in the sewing machine) and the pattern of the stitching on the "front" side of the page. As you can see I used straight edge and zig-zag stitch and inadvertently created interested texture to begin another journal page.

Kick-start with Exposed Words

Leaving a single word exposed on a page can become a catalyst for a later journal/art reflection. Begin by covering the page with white or black gesso, carefully leaving the selected words exposed for future (reflection) reference. You can continue to the background prep with fabric spray paints, acrylic glazes, and/or your favorite art materials. OR you can leave the exposed words bare...for another time.

 

Fabric Spray Paint

Use fabric spray paint to create a splatter background. Here, three colors have been sprayed over two lace doilies as "stencils." Gently blot excess paint with a paper towel which also will enhance the textured effect of the paint.

Still Waters

The catalyst for this reflection is a combination of exposed words from a previously prepared background ["The obvious quite often is ignored."] combined the familiar words from Psalm 23: "...he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul." I was struck by the simplicity of resting beside quiet waters and having one's soul restored...which is quite obvious and is often ignored. The net result of noting the obvious-and acting upon it (i.e. resting beside still waters) is PEACE.

Background is white gesso in an altered book with one sentence left exposed plus part of the floral picture.



Spritz fabric spray paints over fabric stencils; carefully remove stencils and allow to dry.

 Close-up detail.

 Use various colors and overlap stamping.

 Stacked journaling with colored pencils: stating the obvious for "you" that has been ignored.

Lettering done with dimensional fabric paint.