Category: Art Journal

Cereal Box Crafts #4 – Personal Stationary Journal/Diary

2 Comments

title page

Hi Everyone!

Can you believe it is already September!? I know I can’t! I recently started a new job and time has been flying by.

This is #4 of Cereal Box type crafts..if you missed the first three you can find them here:

Cereal Box Makeover #3 – Cereal Box into Notebook in 30 minutes or less: https://goo.gl/YmTLlt

Cereal Box Makeover #2 Cereal box to bookmarks and dividers, you can find it here: https://goo.gl/brvJgG

If you missed Project #1 Cereal box to postcard you can find it here: https://goo.gl/F2CuK4

My next project well…It is much like the notebook, but a tad different. I don’t know about you, but I have been hoarding stationary since I was little. I love it, but I never use it. I always feel like I like the pages are too nice to use. So I just stash it. I use some of the sheets, but I always keep some. I realized this is an issue when I found stationary from the early 90’s when I was like 10. My name is Brandie and I am addicted to stationery!

Since I love it so much I thought I would collect it all up and make it into a weird journal. That way I can keep my pages all nice in a book, keep adding pages if I need to and still use them for personal writing. The unique and fun pages I have collected over the years will make me want to write. The random makes my head happy. 😀

So without further ado…

The cereal box personal stationary journal. Woof, that is a mouthful.

First Things First, You will need:

  • A few cereal boxes or food boxes
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • 2 or 3 Small Ball Chain with Connectors
  • Stationary Pages
  • Envelopes
  • Marker (optional)
  • Mod Podge
  • Fabric
  • Hole Punch

Instructions:

  1. Gather your supplies

IMG_1IMG_2

2) Find A box that will fit your stationary, use the ruler and cut the box down to size if needed.

IMG_3

3) Next, Figure out where you want your holes. Then punch the holes on all your stationary, the front and back cover and any additional pages you may have.

IMG_4

4.) Link everything through with the small ball chain and connectors. Make sure you put everything in order. Front, stationary, back. Plus any extra dividers. You can add and move things around later if you don’t like the order. You only need about 2 inches of chain, if that, plus a connector for each hole.

And PA-Zow! Journal…

IMG_5

Close up of Chain and connector.

IMG_6

IMG_7

IMG_15

Now you can stop there…But I didn’t.

Although… I did do this kind of the lazy way.

What I should have done is:

Mod Podge down a background page to the inside of the cereal box, and the front divider…then laid down the envelopes to make pockets, but I didn’t.

Instead, in my haste, I just Mod Podged the envelopes to the inside of the front cover, and the front of the first page, which is also cereal box divider.

IMG_8

Then for a cool effect and to make the pocket a little bigger, I flipped another envelope upside down and glued that one down on top. I really like the way this part looks.

IMG_9

Let everything dry.

IMG_10

cool pockets

Also added a back page pocket.

IMG_11

Then, I decided I did not like the way the cardboard looked behind the envelopes, so I hit it with a black marker.

The quicker fixer upper 😀

Oh and added some stickers.

IMG_14

So then I removed the front and back cover, and Mod Podged Fabric to them.

Then Let dry.

Sorry there are no pictures, but you get the picture.

IMG_12

Once completely dry, secure everything with the ball chain and connectors again.

IMG_13

IMG_16

And there you go a handmade personal journal, made with your own collection of paper.

Now if you’re not like me, but still love this idea, Michaels Crafts scrapbook paper is great for this. You could also use old maps, old notebook paper, pretty much any paper. I am all for recycling old paper.

This is a fun way to make custom journals or gifts. I hope you enjoyed it.

This is the last of the Cereal Box Crafts, Next week we move on to something new.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Composition Notebook Cover Re-Do #1 (Decoupaged Paper Mix Media Style)

Leave a comment

title

Tutorial by Sugar Beet Crafts

Composition Notebook Cover Re-Do #1 (Decoupaged Paper Mix Media Style)

Hi Everybody!

It’s tutorial time! I love to customize my own office supplies. I use composition notebooks for everything so keeping them easily identifiable is a must. I am going to create a few tutorials over the next few weeks showing you different ways to maximize the fantasticness of your notebook, so keep an eye out!

This week I thought I would start with a fun one. Its basically paper mixed media. I use these techniques when I make tags and art journal entries. I had fun with it and really like how it turned out. I hope you like it too.

So here we go!

Materials Needed:

  • Composition Notebook
  • Mod Podge
  • Ink Spray or Watercolors
  • Paper cut outs or Stickers
  • Embroidery Thread
  • Beads
  • Markers
  • Glitter Glue
  • File Folder
  • Scissors

First off, let’s make a reusable template. Now of course you do not have to do this step, you can just trace around your composition book. I personally like a template, easier to handle.

I use file folders, they are the perfect thickness and I usually have a whole bunch of extras around. *You could also use a cereal box, they also work great.

Place the folded edge of the composition book along the folded edge of the file folder.

I like to make templates I can re-use.

I like to make templates I can re-use.

Trace. Cut out.

cut out template

I always keep the scraps for later. You never know when you need a random piece

The bendable line farthest from the folded edge of the folder is the same amount of space the black tape on the composition notebook. This comes in handy if you are not going to cover the entire book and want to keep the black tape on the notebook exposed.

4

I usually bend it over then trace on that line to get the right size.

folded

Now the fun stuff.

You can use anything you like as a background. For the tutorial I decided to use 2 pages that were photocopied out of a vintage dictionary. One for the front and one for the back.

copied page of vintage dictionary

Gather your materials:

Gather your template and your background page.

Gather your template and your background page.

Trace the template onto the background image.

Then cut out.

Cut out your Background page

Gather your ink sprays or watercolors, Spray with color!

I used Dylusions Ink Spray, but you could use watercolors or anything you like.

 Dylusions Spray

I colored up the page by spraying  Ink Sprays around the page.

Then I added some water to get the colors to run together and combine.

Let completely dry.

I used Ink spray and water

I used Ink spray and water

  1. Once the spray is completely dry, Open the composition book so that it’s flat.
  2. Make sure your finished background fits the top of the composition book the way you like.
  3. Smear the cover page of your composition book with Mod Podge then stick the background in place. I add a layer of Mod Podge, then lay the page on top, then carefully smooth it out.
  4. Repeat with the back page on the back of the composition book.
  5. Let completely dry. The drying time is the hardest part.
  6. Once everything is dry, it’s time to start adding the fun stuff. Gather all your cutouts or stickers or whatever you would like to stick to your composition book.

Arrange your cutouts, once you’re happy use the Mod Podge to stick them down.

Stick down cutouts

Now Carefully cover everything with the Mod Podge. The Mod Podge will pick up the color of the ink even after drying, so I usually pour some out into a container rather than re-dipping the brush in the main container.

11

Sticker for the back
Back

Front Cover Dried

Let completely dry.

You can now cover with a spray clear sealer if you want too. I like to use it. Keeps things nice.

Now, You can stop here… but I didn’t.

I like to add bookmarks. And random stuff.

Usually, I just tape a ribbon to the inside of the front or back cover as a bookmark, but I decided to have a little fun with this one.  

I had some left over tags that I previously decorated.

  1. I placed them side by side and taped just the outside side on each tag. So they open towards each other.
  2. I then strung some embroidery string through the Tags hole, and added a pretty little bead to the bottom, just for pizzaz.
I used pen to add some detail to the leaves

I used pen to add some detail to the leaves

Flaps

Bookmarks & Beads

Here is a link to some earlier Mixed Media tag projects, you might like some ideas to use for your Composition book covers. https://goo.gl/CdvZcc

I would love to see what you come up with! Send me some pics!

Next week I will be doing Composition Notebook cover RE-Do #2! You will have to check it out to see what it is.

Have a wonderful week everyone! Let’s get crafting!

Before & After

Valentines Day Upcycled Tags on Etsy

Leave a comment

A few months ago my mother contracted me to make her a bunch of tags she could use for gifts and cookie trays. She loved them so much I decided to take a stab at some for my Etsy store.

They are made out of old recycled file folders and index cards.

Here are the one’s I made for my mom:

tags 1tags 2 wtmr

Here are some Valentines Day versions Available now on my Etsy store:

If you’re looking for an awesome way to add beautiful detail to a gift, cookie tray, or anything, these tags are a fantastic addition. They are very sturdy and make wonderful bookmarks.

If you would like something custom for a wedding, bridal party gift, graduation gift, or sweet 16 party favors, let me know, I can do custom orders.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Tags wtmk #1 2#7#5 2#2 3

Adventures in Art Journaling – Black and White Tree Sketch

6 Comments

Hi Everyone!

I was cleaning out the craft stuff (It’s that time of year again already!) and found myself going through some of my older sketches and journals. I found this picture I drew in college (about 16 years ago, yikes!). I went through a phase of sketching trees, no color just black and white. I can’t explain it but there is something very therapeutic about seeing an object then sketching it out.  Maybe because it takes so much focus…and the focus is on something beautiful and natural.  Anyways, I had about 3 hours between classes and one day I just sat outside and drew for the whole three hours.  It was awesome and one of my clearest memories. So I thought I would share it….

Black and White Tree

Alrighty now its a new year lets get out those pencils and get sketching!

What is your favorite thing to sketch?

Recycling! Re-Using Paperboard as Art Canvas

5 Comments

title page img

Hello Everybody!

It’s time to talk trash!

Did you know 40.4% of our garbage is paper.  40% is a whole lot… let’s talk about that in terms of pounds, well its is 71.6 million tons! And according to the EPA only about 40 million tons of paper and paperboard were are recovered for recycling.

We can all do our part

We can all do our part

Some of the recovered paper is used to make things like paperboard. Paperboard is not quite cardboard but much stronger than paper. It is what everything is packaged in.

The EPA states that “Approximately 70 percent of paperboard is used to package food and other consumer goods.”  Paperboard is everywhere and if you  really think about it, it is mostly unnecessary.  Cereal boxes yet the cereal is in a bag..inside the box? Individual sized everything? unnecessary! Too much over-packaging!

I personally, was very tired of adding to the garbage or even the recycling with all this paperboard, that in my crafting mind I could do something with.

So I decided to kill two birds with one stone, pardon the expression…I love and respect birds. 😀

I decided instead of throwing the cereal boxes and well most packaging into the recycle bin I was going to reuse it. I discovered they make wonderful art canvases, journal pages and bookmarks.  Art supplies are expensive!! I do not necessarily need the super expensive nice canvases for my art. Part of what makes my art my art is recycling and reusing what’s around me in a different way.

Recycled Beauty Art Page on Cereal Box by Brandie Bell

Recycled Beauty Art Page on Cereal Box
by Brandie Bell

Once cut down, the possibilities are endless!

They are thick enough to make stencils & stencil masks, the ink sprays and acrylic paints I used did not seep through. Create your own works of art with decoupage, paint, fabric, embellishments, it is even strong enough for those steam punk projects. Cut out Tag shapes and make your own tags.

The skinny sides make great bookmarks!

Here is how to do it the way I do:

1. Cut down the boxes right away. Easier to store and easier to start projects if the cutting is already done.

Cut up and Store paperboard

Cut up the boxes. I cut off the tops and bottoms but keep every side.

I have a nifty storage box (box my cat door came in..I liked the way it opened. I keep them in. One day I will decorate it and use it as a cover for all my projects. You can make one with a cereal box just cut down the center.

store         store 2

2. It’s best to prep your box, art work just comes out better.  But this step is really up to you. I cover the image side of the box with Gesso.

prep 1

prep 2

prep 3

Once dry you are all set to craft away!

Recycled Beauty Art Page on Cereal Box by Brandie Bell

Recycled Beauty Art Page on Cereal Box
by Brandie Bell

I hope this post gets those creative juices flowing!

How do you use recycled products in your art? I would love to know and maybe even blog about you! 😀

Fun Free Download: Home is Wherever YOU Are

Leave a comment

Home is Whereever YOU are Title page

Greetings and Salutations!

I don’t know if you’re like us, but we seem to move…quite a bit. I have always found that no matter where you go, it’s important to make your surroundings yours. I love to surround myself with weird things that make me happy. 

I made this cute little canvas to remind me that my man and I make the home, the home doesn’t make us. It was made a while ago while I was just starting to experiment with paint.  It always makes me smile, so I thought you might enjoy making your own too. 

I used a canvas I believe its 8 1/2 x 11 inches, and used acrylic paint for the background.

  1. Once the paint is completely dry, I used carbon paper to trace out the lettering.
  2. at this point I also drew the flowers around the print free hand. 
  3. I filled in the letting with gold paint, and the flowers with more acrylic paint.
  4. Once that paint is completely dry, outline everything with puffy paint. 

Here is the link to the lettering:

Home is wherever you are free download

Home is wherever you are free download

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5qXFuCPM1ZsZWpUZjllUEJaQkE/edit?usp=sharing

Enjoy.

How do you make your home your home?

Have a great day! It’s almost Friday!

Playing with Water Color

7 Comments

Hi Everybody!

I have had a bug to watercolor lately. My mom bought me a cool pack at the dollar store. I loved the colors, they were florescent! Also, instead of having the typical shinny finish they were matte, which is really neat. 

This was one of my first experiments 

I drew the image first with pencil, then water color then outlined in black marker

I drew the image first with pencil, then water color then outlined in black marker

Have a wonderful Day!! 

Photo Friday – Birds Nest Fungi!

1 Comment

Birds Nest Fungi

It’s no secret that I have had a life long obsession with fungi.  I dig mold, lichen and Mushrooms! I am completely fascinated on all levels. So I was so excited when I found this Bird Nest Mushroom in Oklahoma last spring. I have always wanted to find this kind but they are so tiny! They are only about 1/4 inch in diameter.

We were out walking with the neighbor’s dog when she lead us down the street to a neighbor’s pond. I was looking for mushrooms but not that kind. It was fate, I dropped something and when I picked it up I noticed the Birds Nest Fungi right next to it! I took some home and experimented. I watered it everyday and it actually grew! It was fun!

birds nest fungi

The little “nests” or fruiting body holds the little “eggs” which are spore filled.  The nests are called “peridia” (“peridium” in the singular), they work like splash cups, raindrops fall into the nest, then the eggs (called “periodoles”) are thrown into the air, where they latch onto twigs, branches, leaves, and then continue to grow.


 birds nest fungi 3

Adventures in Art Journaling – Spring Butterflies

Leave a comment

 

Dylusions Ink spray!

I love this stuff.

Also used were stamps, black archival ink stamp pad,

and Tim Holtz distress dabber in white, markers, white gel pen.

Art Journal Mothers Day

 

 Spray the card with a fine mist of water.

Then  spray with Dylusions color ink spray.

Let dry.

 

Dylusions Art Mar 2014 3

 

Using the Tim Holtz Distress dabber in white,

I dabbed a flower stamp with the Distress paint then

stamped around the bottom of the card.

Using the same stamp, re-stamp the pattern slightly

off the first white pattern with the black stamp pad.

 Use accent stamps for boarders.

The diamonds were dabbed with white, then outlined with a white gel pen.

Dylusions Art Mar 2014 4

 

Grab a blank index card, and spray with ink spray for butterflies.

Then stamp the inked index card with a butterfly stamp a few times. Cut them out,

To add detail, color in your stamped butterfly with markers,

 then glue in place.

Let Dry.

Have fun!!