PRIZES, PRIZES, PRIZES to be won by YOU ... at GELLI JAM this summer!

Hi all;

Well, we're winding down the last two weeks before our ONLINE workshop "Gelli Jam" premieres with Artful Gathering.

Just in case you missed the details, check this out.   In addition to all the fun we are going to have in the workshop, you can win one of over 20 different prizes that will only be available to those who are registered in the class.  All kinds of original art by me and other cool stuff will be available.

Sure hope you'll join us.  More details at:

Artful Gathering 2014

We'll create all this cool handmade art journals in the workshop

PRIZES, PRIZES, PRIZES TO BE WON!

Just a few of the many, many prizes you could win!

Win one of these limited edition art notebook/journals

Lots of my original art will be available to win!

Lots of my original art will be available to win!

Lots of my original art will be available to win!

Head on over to Artful Gathering to get registered and we'll see you there for all the fun this summer!

Cheers!
Joanna

HUGE GIVEAWAY with BIRDNUTS MIXED MEDIA BLOG ! CHECK IT OUT !!

AND THE WINNER IS ...

KIM JOLLEY ... CONGRATULATIONS!

And thank you to all of you who entered and for your support.  

I so appreciate it.  

Hope to see you at Gelli Jam this summer!

WOW!!  
My friend, Denise Phillips from BIRDNUTS MIXED MEDIA
and I have a FANTASTIC giveaway for YOU!

To promote my GELLI JAM ART JOURNAL WORKSHOP with Artful Gathering this summer, Denise has so generously agreed to host a HUGE giveaway on her blog for me.  This is an ONLINE workshop starting July 16 and running through August 26.  

Denise, a fellow Canadian artist, has a fantastic blog about her artful adventures.  Here's the link.  You'll want to hop on over there to check out the giveaway as well as see samples of her fun, irreverent art.

BIRDNUTS MIXED MEDIA BLOG

All the giveaway details are there for you.  

And here's the link to my workshop.  I hope you'll join me! We are going to have SO much fun using a gelatin plate and recycled materials you already have to create awesome handmade art journals for yourself or others.

GELLI JAM ART JOURNAL WORKSHOP

Here are some of the things we'll be doing in this ONLINE, work-at-your-own-pace workshop.  

I`ll show you how to make ALL of these awesome journals!

SEE YOU THERE!

Cheers!
Joanna

MY ONLINE ART CLASS with ARTFUL GATHERING

Hello All;

As some of you may know, I have been honored with the opportunity to teach my first online art class this summer with Artful Gathering, the PREMIERE venue for mixed media online classes.  I am so excited about this!

I will be teaching a class called "Gelli Jam" which will be all about making handmade art journals with gelatin prints and objects you have around the house.  If you're thinking of participating, you can use either a homemade gelatin plate (there are lots of recipes for these on the Internet) or a Gelli Arts (TM) Gel Printing Plate.  Either will work just fine for the projects we are going to do.

I have just finished filming my classes which will run from mid-July through the end of August on the Artful Gathering website.  You can find out more about it at:  Artful Gathering 2014

Here is a little video SNEAK PEEK at what we 'll create in the class. Hope you can join me!

Cheers!
Joanna

SNEAK PEEK VIDEO

Guest Blog Post - "How To" Mini Art Journal With Old Office Supplies

Art Journal Made With Recycled Office Supplies

Hi everyone!

I thought you might like to see a recent guest post I did over on the "12 Months In View" website.  The theme was gratitude and thanksgiving, and I made a small art journal with recycled office supplies.

You can find the link here:

How To Make A Mini Art Journal With Recycled Office Supplies

And here are a few photos from the post, just to pique your curiosity.

Thanks for looking and happy art-ing!

Joanna

Featured Artist - Ginny Markley "Playing With Paint"

Handmade Art Journal By Ginny Markley

Artist Trading Cards By Ginny Markley

The absolute BEST thing about joining online art communities is the wonderful friendships you make with other artists from all over the world.  I can't even begin to express how important these people are to me and how much I value having them in my life.

Case in point, my dear friend Ginny Markley.  We have never met in person.  She lives in Florida and I live in Western Canada.  While it is my heartfelt wish that we do meet one day, even if we don't she has a special place in my heart.  A talented, generous soul, Ginny has a terrific blog you may want to check out.  She offers tutorials of how she creates her wonderful work.  Here is the link:

Ginny Markley's Blog

Ginny recently surprised me with one of her wonderful handmade art journals, along with some of her fabulous ATCs (see photos above).  If you are interested in how she created the journal, here is the link to that tutorial:

Paper Lunch Bag Art Journal Tutorial

And here is a link to her ATC work too:

Ginny's ATC Tutorial

It will be my absolute pleasure and honor to use this beautiful gift in which to create my art and I will think of my dear friend, Ginny, whenever I use it.

Cheers!
Joanna

More Free Downloads For July 4th Celebrating!!

Hello again!  If you're planning any creative projects for the July 4th holiday approaching, perhaps you'd like to use these vintage images from my personal collection.

Just right click on each image and save it to your own computer.  They are all in simple JPG format so they can easily be altered using Photoshop or other editing software.

As always, I'd love to see what you do with them.

Enjoy!

Joanna

Another CD Giveaway - Enter Now !!!

Hello, my friends!  Well, it's the first of the month so you know what that means.  It's time for another of my CD giveaways.

All you need to do is click the Networked Blogs link directly to the right of this post and follow this blog.  That's it!  Comment here that you've done so and you will be in the draw.  If you have already done this with Networked Blogs, just indicate in your comment that you are already following my blog (thank you so much, by the way) and you'll be in the draw.  You can be entered a second time by sharing this post on your Facebook page, just write a comment with the share and you'll double your chances of winning!  And don't hesitate to enter if you've already won from me before, do try again!

The winner will get one of my vintage images collections CDs, which has OVER 3,000 beautiful Victorian and Edwardian style images in simple jpg format.  These are copyright free (public domain) images that you can use for all your artsy endeavors.  Because they are in simple jpg format, you can resize them or alter them easily in Photoshop or other editing programs.

You may use the images for your own artwork, including that which you intend to sell.  The only restriction is that you cannot reproduce the images for resale (in print or digitally) in any form because the collection itself is copyrighted by me.  If you use the images in work you intend to sell, I would appreciate it if you would cite your source.

Good luck everyone!  The draw will be held on May 3rd!  Below are just a few examples of the types of fantastic images in this collection.

Cheers!
Joanna

Sally Lamont's "Journey Of An Art Journal" Project

Artist Sally Lamont started a fantastic project around the beginning of the year.  I was lucky enough to be part of it, courtesy of an invitation from my friend and fellow artist, Sharon Parcel.

You can read about Sally's project here.

I received the journal from Sharon and really enjoyed seeing what Sally and Sharon had done with it so far.  It is a handmade journal using standard No. 10 envelopes on which to journal and also to use as holders for extra goodies.  I took my cue from Sharon who had enclosed a couple of cool little collages in her envelope.

Here are some of photos of Sharon's pages and then mine, which follow right after hers.

It was a great little project and I have now sent it along to another friend to add her own touch to it before it carries along its way and ultimately back to Sally.

Thanks Sally for a great project!  And thanks, Sharon, for inviting me to participate!

Cheers!
Joanna

Sharon Parcel's art on two facing envelopes

Sharon Parcel's little collages added as inserts into the journal

Sharon Parcel's journal page on the left, Joanna Grant's on the right

My journal page on the back of the previous one

Two inserts and two mini art bookmarks I added to my envelope page

"Gypsy Spirit" Art Journal

I can't believe this project is FINALLY done!  I have been working on this little journal for about five years on and off.  I never thought I'd finish it.

It sat three-quarters done for the longest time.  I deliberately left it sitting out on my workspace so I would feel guilty about leaving it undone and do something about it.  That was at least five years ago.  To make matters worse, from a procrastination standpoint anyway, I even packed it up, still unfinished, when we moved from Vancouver Island back to the Okanagan Valley two years ago.  Then, when my studio space was done here, I unpacked it and AGAIN put it out on my limited workspace.  I knew I would have to see it regularly if there was any chance of it getting done.

Well, finally the last few finishing touches have been done and it is complete.  It measures about 4.5" X 6.5" and has twelve pages (not including the front and back covers).  "Gypsy Spirit" is an homage to those with a restless, wandering soul.  It has several quotes in it about gypsies.  I used a lot of vintage images from my huge collection of Victorian and Edwardian ephemera for this project.  These beauties lent themselves very well to the project.

Also used were all kinds of salvaged art supplies and embellishments that had been headed to the trash when I acquired them.  Ironically enough, I think the journal itself was from Seven Gypsies but it's been so long I can't be sure.  The string closure for the journal has been embellished with a beaded dangle featuring a glitzified recycled puzzle piece and salvaged ribbon in red and purple (see last two photos).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy looking at this project.  I will be listing it in my Etsy store but if you are interested prior to it getting there, just send me a message.  It will sell for $79.95US and if you purchase it here through my blog, I will cover shipping costs (saving you approximately $10-$12) anywhere in North America.

Many thanks, as always, for your support of my artistic endeavors!

Cheers!
Joanna

FEBRUARY GIVEAWAY - ENTER TO WIN!!

Whew!  So glad that January is done with.  It has been long and cold and I, for one, am tired of it.  What say we do another giveaway to brighten your day?

This month's prize will be another of my CDs from my collection.  This one is for Volume 1 which has more than 3,000 vintage images of women, children, pets, etc.,  all from the Victorian/Edwardian time (both black and white and hand tinted).  They come from the huge collection of vintage post cards I had years ago, which I spent several months scanning and sorting into collections that made sense from the user's perspective.

These are public domain images that you are welcome to use for all kinds of artful projects like art journaling, collage, mixed media, scrapbooking, card making and more!  They are in simple jpg format on a CD so that you can easily load them into PhotoShop or other editing software.

To enter the draw, all you need to do is start following this blog and leave me a note here that you have done so.  Easy peasy.  Those who have entered my draws before are welcome to do so again.

I will make the draw on February 3 and post an announcement here.

Good luck.  Here are a few sample images of the more than 3,000 (yes, you read that right) that are in this collection (most shown are hand tinted but there is a large assortment of black and white images as well in this collection).

The Great Canadian Travelling Art Journal Challenge

I'm always full of ideas.  Rarely though, do I have enough time to follow them through. However, when I thought of this idea, I really wanted to carve out enough time to see it happen.  It just seemed like the thing to do!  I wanted to get a few of my fellow Canadian art journalers together to each do a page or two in a handmade travelling art journal.  I have been fortunate to meet some incredibly talented artists online, and a number of them are Canadian.  Lucky for me, they were as enthusiastic about this project as I was.  I will talk about the participants in this challenge in a subsequent post.

So, I started making a little art journal out of four Christmas cards received this year.  I wanted to keep the journal small (and the project too, for that matter) so that it was easily manageable.  With only four cards, each no larger than about 5" X 5" I started distressing, painting, and texturizing to make the base pages onto which others would journal or do mixed media or collage art or whatever.

I sanded the cards that had a glossy finish.  Experience in making art journals from greeting cards has taught me that it is hard to get paint to adhere to glossy cardstock.  Then, I slopped on (and I do mean slopped) a bunch of different types of paints  including spray dyes, liquid watercolors, acrylics and poster paints.  Below are photos of the four greeting cards(front and back) with their base coats of paints.  You'll note that one of the cards has cutouts in it.  I thought this would make for some interest in the journal.

You can still see the writing coming through the paint and various treatments on some of the cards.  You can also see where I used large scale punchinella and a crackle stamp to get create some extra interest on the pages. 

I then added some bits and pieces of scrap papers to make each page more interesting.  Scans of the fronts and backs of each card are shown here.

At this point, my plan was to position or fold the cards so that the blue/green pages alternated with the pink/orange/yellow pages throughout the journal.  The simplest way to put all the pages into one was to use my decorative duct tape, which was super easy, quick and looks like a million bucks!  I chose to stick with various types of black and white duct tape for continuity throughout the journal.

Below are photos of all the pages, just waiting for some artsy souls to embellish the heck out of 'em.  In an upcoming post, I will fill you in on who the other Canadian artists are who are participating in this project.  And by the way, there are still one or two pages available for any fellow Canuck journalers who want to take part.

Thanks!
Joanna

FRONT COVER OF JOURNAL

PAGES 1 AND 2

PAGES 3 AND 4

PAGES 5 AND 6

PAGES 7 AND 8 (CENTER OF JOURNAL)

PAGES 9 AND 10

PAGES 11 AND 12

PAGES 13 AND 14

BACK COVER OF JOURNAL