Mixed Media and Art Journaling for Beginners

If you follow any arts or crafts sites online, you have have seen Mixed Media and Art Journaling.  Both are wildly popular right now, and they look like so much fun.

I am more of a crafter than an artist, but Mixed Media, Art Journaling, scrapbooking, and card making use many of the same supplies.  Since I have a few supplies, I’ve really wanted to give them a try.  (Did you just laugh when I said I had a FEW supplies??)

This beautiful tag was made by Maricha Bulger.  She has an awesome video called What is an Art Journal?

Mixed Media is exactly how it sounds.  You use a mixture of techniques and supplies to create art.  The art can be framed or it can be on a stretched canvas.  I’ve also seen some amazing Mixed Media scrapbook layouts and handmade cards.  Generally, it is more dimensional than just layers of paper, but not always.

Wanda Von Bogerijen made this pretty piece called You Are My Heart.  You can see that they style and materials are completely different from the tag that I showed you above.

Imagine creating a piece of artwork with different types of papers, paints, inks, buttons, metal pieces, dimensional flowers, glitter, and ribbon.  There is such a variety of supplies in every color of the rainbow, that the possibilities are endless.

This art journal cover is by Fran from Fran on the Edge.  You can see that she used many colors and textures to create this work of art.

The part of mixed media that really appeals to me is how it is free flowing.  It doesn’t have to be perfect and planned.  Sometimes when working on a scrapbook page or handmade card, I get so caught up in how I want it to look.  I get frustrated if it’s not coming out exactly how I envision it.

I really wish I was a better painter. That is a skill that takes more time and patience than I have.  This First Quarter Moon art journal page was painted by Sandee with In the Hills of North Carolina.

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Don’t get me wrong, the real mixed media artists do plan out their projects, and are very specific with what they are creating.  However, they are often surprised by a texture or color combination and rework the piece to create something a little different.

To get started, I bought a Dylusions Art Journal by Ranger Ink.  Since it’s a journal, I won’t be using really thick dimensional materials.  I thought it would be a fun way to play with inks and sprays though.  Even after my first project, I can see how after experimenting, I might carry over some of the techniques to my handmade cards.

So here’s how my first art journal page turned out.  Honestly, I was just “winging it”.  I was doing this project for a Creative Arts Collaboration with a very talented group on YouTube.

I videoed my creative process, even though I didn’t know how it was going to turn out.  I figured it my project was a flip, no big deal, I’ll just delete it.  Well, my project turned out OK, but I couldn’t get the video to upload to save my patootie!  After two days of frustration, I finally threw in the towel and deleted it.

Instead of watching a video, I’m going to have to tell you what I did.

1. I started with the background.  I had a Heidi Swapp floral stencil that I wanted to use for part of the background.  I sponged it with hot pink, bright orange, and bright yellow in the upper right corner of the page.
2. I spritzed the background with bright pink and green Tattered Angels.
3. I cut a large heart free hand with a pair of scissors and glued it to the page.
4. I had some watercolor circles have “playing” last weekend.  I used circle punches to cut them out and attached them to my page.
5. I have an awesome set of Puppy Love Stamps that I got from Oriental Trading for under 5 bucks.  I used the LOVE, XOXO, and patterned hearts.
6. I had large rhinestone circles that had been in a my stash for years.  The smallest one fit perfectly in the O of the XOXO.  I scattered the others randomly and cut one of them, so that the pieces could be on the edge of the page.
7. I had a sheet of silver wedding rub ons from K&Co.  They said, “He Loves Me”, I Love Him”, and “Bliss”.   They were small and perfect for finishing this project.
8. I went back and added a few doodled details in black, silver, and white pen to add a little more detail.

And there you have it!  I’m pleased with it for my first Art Journal project.  I have been doing some researching and looking at new supplies.  I see a trip to Michael’s in the near future.