Homemade for the holiday for me starts with an album. i have been documenting my december since 2005. It all began with Shimelle's class Journal Your Christmas. i love her classes and her prompts always make me think. Last year i decided to do an art journal type album and completely fell in love with this type of documenting. This year i am going to do another art journal album. Now i don't know about you but i tend to have lots of supplies left over including papers and embellishments. So why not build your own album with the supplies you already have on hand?
i started by pulling out leftover patterned paper. Call me crazy but i don't feel like i have to use only Christmas paper in my album. i did pull some Christmas papers but i also pulled colorful paper and some paper i have been keeping hoarding. i trimmed down the scraps and pieces down to 5 x 7 inches. i have 20 papers knowing i am going to use back and front but sometimes i will do two page spreads.
i then started pulling other ones and two items for my self made kit. i pulled both Christmas items and some "regular" embellishments, stickers, washi tape, etc. for my kit.
i printed off my "Merry & Bright" Life Fragments downloadables too. i love these colorful cards & embellishments and know they will be perfect in my art journal.
i don't mind using leftovers or pieces that have only a few things left on the sheet. In fact, i like the challenge.
i then grabbed a woodgrain paper to use on my cover and pulled a few items from the kit to create my cover. i wanted something colorful and that really reflects me. i never really know what i am going to create but trust that i will find my way in the middle of the journey.
i started by gluing down the woodgrain paper onto the chipboard using matte medium. i also sealed the top of the paper with the matte medium.
i knew i wanted to add that transparency from Hambly but it needed some pop. i added some gesso and paint to the top of the woodgrain and some light touches to the the edges of the transparency. The red washi tape looks so good across the bottom. While the paint was still wet, i added the transparency on top. Because acrylic paint has adhesive properties, it sticks to the woodgrain paper.
i added the tree journaling card from Merry & Bright to the top of the transparency and then layered bits of embellishments on top. The last layer was the black paint splatters across the cover. i love this cover and how it reflects me! So now i just need to prep the interior pages with some gesso and get them ready to go for December 1st. i will share my prepped pages & supplies soon.
Here's a sneak from Jessi's Album. She put together a beautiful mini album to capture this holiday season. Jump on over to her blog to see all the beautiful details of her album!
