Kid Friendly Art Prompt Cards

I have nieces who look perpetually bored. Come on! I have a craft room filled with literally everything you can imagine and they still want to stare at their phones. Drives me nuts! I made these art prompt cards and for an hour or two, they actually come to life for a little while.  Art prompts inspire you to jump into a blank page without hesitation. No more "what do I draw?" or "I don't know what to do!"  I even love using them when I de-stress in my art journals.  Check out the video below and the links to my digital downloads, too!  Have fun and Make Your Mark!

Watch how I use my art prompt cards here!

Link to my digital download set:  https://etsy.me/3OTbsxI

A few of the pages I created using the cards! I promise, they are really 

fun to use!

Have fun and MAKE YOUR MARK!

 

Fun Art Journaling Techniques

Sometimes I'll take hours and hours on an art journal page and other times I like it to be impactful and fast. It depends on how much creative energy I have running through my body!  When I have the need for speed, there are a few techniques I always use and I'm sharing them with you today.  First I glue ripped book pages down with indoor spray adhesive.  Next, I apply color on every page with something that dries quickly like liquid watercolors. It's a great base and it's light enough to build on.  After that it's all about big foam stamps and paint markers.  That's it.  Just a few simple things and you can fill up a journal in no time and have beautiful pages to jot down your amazing thoughts.    Check out the video below to see just how I did it and make sure to check out Discount School Supply, Joggles and Artistro for some of my favorite art journal supplies!  

Now get out there and  Make Your Mark, my creative friends!

 I filled in the circle shapes with acrylic paint

Be fearless with color! 

Watch how I do it here!

 Work on a few journals at a time!

 Huge fan of Joggles Foam Stamps!  Big and BOLD!

Happy Journaling, my thoughtful friends!

Art Crayon Art Journals

I'm cuckoo for Marabu's Art Crayons and all of the beautiful art journal techniques you can create with them!  I was so excited about my pages I decided to bind them with fabulous marbled covers. What I've created are my initial pages which will eventually be rubber stamped, decoupaged and written on.  You know, like a real, organic art journal that just keeps on keepin'-on!  What I love most about the art crayons is that you can manipulate them with sponges and water and when you're finally satisfied, you can spray them with a fixative for further work with other mediums.  I had some scrap wood pieces from another project and they made perfect covers.  Turn your work into beautiful art journals and don't forget to Make Your Mark!

A few of my new journal pages

 The clear school glue technique is my favorite!

Bound for glory!

Watch how to make them here!

STUFF I USED

5 1/2" x 7" thin wood pieces

Marabu Art Crayons

Watercolor paper

Swing Arm Paper Cutter

Clear washable school glue

Pad/Book Compound

Stencils

Clamps

Black and white gesso

Marabu Easy Marble

HERE'S HOW TO MAKE THE PAGES

Technique One

1. Moisten a cosmetic sponge

2. Rub an Art Crayon on the end

3. Dab onto watercolor paper using different colors

4. Repeat with a stencil in a contrasting color

5. When dry lightly spray with a fixative

Technique Two

6.  Go crazy with Art Crayons on watercolor paper

7. Blend the colors with a lightly damp cosmetic sponge

8.  Stencil over the page with black gesso

9.  Lightly spray with a fixative

Technique Three

10.  Coat a piece of watercolor paper with white gesso and let dry

11. Use a generous amount of Art Crayon color

12.  Blend the colors with a dry cosmetic sponge

13. Stencil with white gesso or a fun paint

Technique Four

14.  Paint over a stencil with clear, washable school glue and let dry

15.  Go crazy with Art Crayons

16.  Blend the Art Crayons with a dry cosmetic sponge allowing the color to be removed 

from the dry glue

17.  Stencil over the pieces with black gesso or another color

Technique Five

18.  Stencil with black gesso on watercolor paper

19. Add a generous amount of Art Crayon over the top

20.  Paint over the Art Crayon with a brush and water for a beautiful watercolor effect

HERE'S HOW TO BIND YOUR JOURNALS

1. -4.  Make sure your art journal pages are the same size as your wood covers

*I cut my pages first and then filled them with different Art Crayon techniques

5. Fill a tub with water and sprinkle your favorite colors of Easy Marble on top

6.  Place paper face down on the Easy Marble to pick up the beautiful marbling

7. Let dry

8.  Moisten the marbled pages with a light spray of water to relax the paper

9.  Add glue or decoupage medium to the wood piece

10.  Center it on the marbled paper making sure it's completely flat

11.  Cut out the corners at a slight angle

12. & 13.  Add glue to the flaps and glue them to the other side

14.  Clamp your art journal pages between 2 covers making sure everything is 

completely even and flat and then spread Book/Pad Compound along the edge and let dry

15.  Cover up the binding with matching paper using more glue

Bound art journals ready to embellish even more!

 Go crazy with color and stencils!

If you don't have wood, you could use a sturdy cardboard OR chipboard

Magazine Art Journals

For years I've been subscribing to a very expensive magazine called The World of Interiors.  I rarely splurge on things like this, but I'm addicted to this magazine and I have STACKS AND STACKS of them!  It has wonderful, inspiring photos and thick, gorgeous, glossy pages.  When it's time to declutter, I save my favorite issues and turn the rest into art journals.  For some reason because these art journals are recycled, I feel more at ease going CRAZY in them.  I fill them with tons of color, experiment with all kinds of paint techniques and have no guilt about "wasting" pages.  It's liberating!  I thought you might want to know how I make them so here it is.  Remember to find ways to re-use and recycle and to always MAKE YOUR MARK!

Just a few of my journals

Americana Acrylics are the best because they're matte and don't cause the pages to stick together!

Watch how to make them here! 

STUFF I USED

Art Foamies Stamps

Drill

Americana Acrylic Paints

Magazines with thick paper (National Geographic works, too)

Ribbon

Band saw

Citri Solv (Natural Cleaner)

 HERE'S HOW

1. & 2.  Mark and cut your magazine in half with a band saw

*I prefer a band saw to a jigsaw because it's easier to control the magazine

3. & 4.  Drill holes at the binding 1" from each edge and then thread and tie ribbon in a bow or knot

*This keeps the pages from falling out

5.  Coat each page in Citri Solv to dissolve the ink a little

6.  While wet, close the journal and let sit for about 20 minutes

*When you open the journal your pages will look mottled and marbled!

7. When the pages are dry I like to stamp them with Art Foamies using Americana Acrylic Paints

*Americana Acrylics dry matte so they're perfect for glossy pages (no stick)

8. & 9. I create ombre effects by blending paint on the Stamp Buddy and then carefully pressing my Art Foamies into the mixture

10. Next I embellish the pages any way I want

11. & 12.  Go crazy with different Art Foamies designs and paint away!

Don't forget to paint your covers, too.