BACKGROUNDS
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Backgrounds, paint, layers, stencils, stamps, fine-liners, NO RULES!
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You can plan ahead and decide on a colour for your background that goes well with what you plan to journal or scrap or whatever you are busy with, BUT, best creations evolve as you go. Embrace the uncertainty, embrace the unknown.
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However, before you start with a mixed-media journal, you have to consider getting a journal with "tough" pages, paper that can withstand paint (250gsm or 350gsm paper). If you cannot find any, no worries, you can even journal in an old story book. We can toughen up the pages.
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Imagine, just imagine working on a journal like this below:
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OK, let's talk about backgrounds. There are no rules, you can paint, smidge, stamp, stencil, layer. Traditional Zetti journals are bright with orange, yello, limey green, bright blue, but at Zetti, we do not only do Zettiology, we do art journaling, bible journaling, junk journals, mixed-media journals, travel journals, we play on canvas, fabrics, we create, we play. You choose you colour range, or you do not choose a colour range and the journal just grow and evolve. I just loooove the process.
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Paint it, smudge it, mask it. Just create.
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STENCILS
Add effects with your favourite stencil. Masks masks, stencils create gaps for you to draw in, doodle in or just trace the object.
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You can also use your stencil with modeling paste to create a raised effect, then just paint over it.
WORDS
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Words, feelings, quotes. A journal can be a visual diary where you relay your desires and day-to-day happenings in a very creative way, but for those of you who love crafting instead of writing, this might be a challenge. There are various ways to approach the "writing" part of your page: Find a quote and write it on your page, decorate the page to match your quote or decorate the page and find a quote that fits in the open spaces of the page. Do a feeling-a-day page or join a art journaling challenge that provides a theme per page. It needn't be work.
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Be Bold and just create a page and write: TODAY IS AWWWWESOME! The fun part about mixed-media, art journaling, junk journaling etc, is the no rules part. "There are no rules!" is the only rule.
To write on paint can be challenging. Not all pens work. This is something you have to experiment with. Sharpies, Paint Pens, Tip-ex, Gel Pens, fine liners, china wax pens. There are so many pens and each one to it's own, but you have to find the pen that works for you.
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Now the other part of writing onto your page are layout, emphasis, font. Stretch those letters, write them narrow, add a white shadow to black lettering, cut out clips of magazines. Vary your fonts on the page. Make it interesting and bold. Find a stencil with a saying and trace and decorate. I find it helps to have a few "wordy" stencils at hand and combine words from different stencils - it creates an interesting effect with different fonts.
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FACES AND STUFF
You created the perfect background, you have the perfect saying, but what about the rest. Traditional Zettiology combines magazine faces with paper-made clothes, a bird somewhere on the page and maybe a tree for hair. But this is not for everyone, and we do not have rules. You can doodle or draw, you can cut and paste from scrapbook paper to magazine paper.
Take a stencil and trace the shape of a flower on a magazine page, cut it out, use a brown ink stamp on the cutting edge and stick it down. Or skip the ink and draw a line around the flower for emphasis and doodle a flower centre.
Paint on a spare piece of paper, just cover it with a colour. Use a stencil, trace your shape and cut out. Find a spot on your page and stick it down. I found it helps to have a good craft or scrapbooking glue or double-side adhesive. Or use a stencil and create a silhouette.
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